User blog:Random-storykeeper/100 and 1

There were two things I wanted to add to a blog post I planned on creating yesterday, but due to the number of blog posts added that day, I decided to hold it back for today. They are two subjects that don't really have much to do with each other, though from the looks of the title, you probably guessed what they are about!

Nitrome...Must...DIE!
Recently, I placed a WIP on Nitrome Must Die to mainly work on the Levels section, which is HUGE and might take a lot more than a week. Considering NMD has a lot of levels, some which you might not see the first time playing the game around as well as the randomization, using the Wiki's style for Level sections may not work so well. My idea was to utilize the video embed tool to put the videos into galleries, with captions describing what levels they are (ie. how many enemies, what weapon for challenge levels). Bosses and the last three levels of NMD I plan to put into their own section, as they have a definite level number and the same method to pass them can be used for every player.

This might be too much of an ambitious plan for one user, but...I guess it's always worth a try. The main issue at the moment is trying to find individual video walkthroughs for all these levels, which is obviously difficult because beating most of the levels depends on the weapons you carry on with from the previous level. So the videos in the gallery are more for showing what the level looks as well as some strategies that can be used for each level with certain weapons. I tried making a template for the case of videos that are more for "show" than "walkthrough" and it currently looks something like this:

Help will be needed for finding individual challenge and other floor levels, as I have no problem finding boss walkthroughs or the last three levels of NMD. Randomization and mass numbers of levels make it difficult to present the Nitrome Must Die page in the format of the other game pages, so I'm currently finding ways to accommodate for that.

Hot Air!
It came to me last week that I only completed Hot Air Jr up to defeating the boss, but never attempted to collect any stars during gameplay. When the weekend came, I decided to take up the Hot Air series.

I collected enough stars in Hot Air Jr to unlock the levels-beyond-the-boss stages, and spent a lot of time playing through them. I really love the last level with the boss music; it's fast-paced and involves a lot of quick thinking (plus, the Hot Air Jr boss theme is my favourite track from Hot Air Jr). I'm currently stuck on the level with the huge buzzsaws, particularly the part where two of them move parallel to each other and Hot Air Jr has to slip through that tiny gap. I'm trying to collect all stars along the way as well so I can reach the last level...wait...don't tell me what it is! Oh fine; I know, unfortunately...it's the price editors-who-don't-complete-Nitrome-games-fast-enough pay when they contribute to the Wiki...

While still on the buzzsaws level, I thought, "Hey, why not try Hot Air 2 again now that you've collected enough stars in Hot Air Jr to unlock levels?" Last time I played was probably before the release of Hot Air Jr; I was stuck on level 3. So I opened up Hot Air 2 and started to play from level 1, as all my game saves had long been erased. To my surprise, I managed to pass level 3 in two tries.

After that small achievement in the Hot Air series, I started playing level after level and soon found myself on the level with the giant green drill that descends on rocks on the screen. (I think it's level 6.) The gaps between the rocks in that level are difficult to squeeze through, and I keep popping when the balloon tries to get through that first narrow rock passage. Not sure why landing on rocks with the basket causes the balloon to pop; that's some pretty sharp rocks they have in Hot Air 2.

Once I played that level for a few more times and thought that was enough Hot Air 2 for the day, I switched to the first Hot Air. I remember first finding this game on Miniclip shortly after discovering Feed Me and grew real frustrated of it because I kept popping the balloon in level 1. A while later, but before I joined the Wiki, I finally got the hang of the controls and passed level 1 by inching Hot Air along the tall passageway slowly. When I got to level 2, I just wasn't fast enough.

And FINALLY, after all those years, I actually pass level 2 of Hot Air, and it was actually a lot easier than it was several years ago. Then I played Hot Air until I got stuck on level 5, and became proud of my Hot Air series victory.

Hot Air has suddenly made me all excited about playing Nitrome games again, and I have no idea why. It became a lot less difficult than the last time I played, maybe because I have a better understanding of the controls thanks to Hot Air Jr. I probably will never complete Hot Air or Hot Air 2, but I am quite proud that after all those years passing, I completed the level I thought was "too hard".

Reject tracks
Speaking of Hot Air, I've recently been listening to extra tracks from Hot Air that didn't make it into the game. Well, two that were supposedly extras in the Hot Air set on SoundCloud turned out to be the title and in-game for Hot Air 2. These "reject" tracks in this set are pretty good, though they probably aren't the most suiting for the Hot Air games. I love how mellow and catchy these tunes are, which brightens the mood yet still makes it easier to concentrate and do work at the same time. It reminds me more of a free-floating Hot Air rather than one trying to avoid being popped.

Final words
This blog post has been long, particularly because I have been babbling nonsense about how much I love Hot Air now that I'm close to sealing my victory over Hot Air Jr and such. Of course, I could have made this two separate blog posts, but then I wouldn't be able to call it "100 and 1" because I'd only be mentioning the 100th or 1st Nitrome game! XD

Anyways, Nitromians, that will be all for now on this blog post.

Until next time,

HAI! http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110904041806/messaging/images/5/52/Emoticon_peace.png