#PastebinMonday 06/05/2023 I Have No Drive, and I Must Stream Edition

'Sup, doods!

Having this past week to myself away from my day job and away from streams has given me the realization that I have no urgency to change anything about my life. If I have no time constraints, I have no drive to do anything productive.

Let me tell you about the thing I did the most this week that is a frequent pastime of mine, but I fear has even less of an audience than the puzzle games I stream that are already niche. This should tell you how much of a one-track mind I have. If the names of YouTubers like Bordeaux, CSB, MilesDawkins247 and TanMan are familiar to you, then you, too, are a fan of taking pitiful sports teams and using your general manager chops to turn them into champions. It scratches the itch I get to customize my gameplay. My earliest vivid gaming memories involve me moving players around in NFL '95 for the Genesis and steamrolling the game with the best players. On the Nintendo 64, I did this with NFL Quarterback Club 98 & 99 alongside NHL Breakaway 98. As sports games got more advanced, more restrictions got imposed on trading players and signing free agents to reflect reality. I found it most interesting in the PS2 era to try and build winning rosters so I have mostly PS2 games I play fictional GM with these days.

I have a problem.

If I have no drive to do anything productive off stream, I might as well do more things to get my name out there on stream. Maybe restricting my administrative work to the weekends will motivate me to make better use of that time. In any case, see the end of this update what I am currently going to do each week. I have determined that I must stream to distract myself from the distractions that I currently fall victim to. Expect the streams to pick up over the next few months.

Today's (permanent) extra streaming goals:

Goal #2: create a broadcast stream layout for the next LPS minor speedrun tournament game, Kirby's Avalanche. I am creating a base that I can simply switch graphics and sounds for to prepare for each game.
Goal #3: update the LPS Pokémon Puzzle League broadcast layout to be better automated like the Tetris Attack layout.
Goal #4: edit my Kirby's Avalanche runs. I'mma need a minute for this. I may need to move the priority up to get it done sooner.
Goal #5: script and record footage for my Puzzle League tutorial series. I have some scripts to touch up before feeling comfortable with moving on to recording gameplay. Then I will need to record my talking points and edit it all together. I will still want to take time during the week to do all of that instead of stream. Whether I will be able to remains to be seen.
Goal #6: clean up my own stream layout. I am brainstorming how I want the final theming to be. I probably want to give people multiple options, maybe allow spending bits to change the look. I don't have anything written down yet. I don't expect to get to this anytime soon.
Goal #7: maybe make a universal LPS broadcast layout. I am creating a base, but perhaps I should stylize one for the LPS brand. Hopefully I wouldn't over-homogenize it like SpeedGaming did.
Goal #8: release the Puzzle League tutorial series YouTube shorts once a day until they're all done. I really do think I need to time the release of the series with a ramping up of my streaming schedule so that I can take advantage of whatever there is to gain from releasing the shorts.

Each week for the foreseeable future (at least the next three months) is going to look a little bit like this. I reserve the right to switch things up depending on which itches I end up wanting to scratch, but there will be more frequent streams and more variety.

(All broadcasts will begin at 7pm CT. Fridays will last up to four hours. The others will last up to two hours.)

Tuesday – Tue-Gi-Oh! (Yu-Gi-Oh! game speedruns) – The Falsebound Kingdom's Story mode runs are fairly long for the amount of time I am giving myself. However, there is a boss gauntlet-type Challenge mode that can be played in multiple difficulties and completed in 5-15 minutes. Right up my alley.

Wednesday – Wild Cards Wednesday (whatever speedruns I feel like) – I think I'll just play Pokémon Puzzle League here. That S-Hard PB from over 2,000 days ago isn't going to beat itself.

Thursday – Opening Round (golf game speedruns) – I'm coming back to Mario Golf: Advance Tour with some palatable Speed Golf runs. One day, I will give myself enough time to do a full game category again.

Friday – Friday Night Salt Mines (community speedrun races) – If there is no community to race with this week, then I will resume the Pokémon Puzzle League grind. Kirby's Avalanche grinding will have to wait while I get to editing my most recent runs. If people want to race it, that's a different story.


That’s my life story for the week. Later, doods!

--Cards