Joe's Monologues - 12/19/23

Hello, everyone. This is the final Joe's Monologues of this year as we are nearing the end of 2023 and approaching 2024. We hope you ring in the New Year fast approaching really well. I am gonna close out 2023 with this year's final episode of Joe's Monologues, so let's get started.

Update on My Wrapper: Offline Career:

My progress on my Wrapper: Offline Career is coming along nicely, but as I said before, I will not go full blast until I get a gaming laptop with better specs. I am still on the verge of coming up with new video ideas that involve less assets and also making some more characters that I am featuring on my videos. I am using LazyPy.ro for longer speeches and TTS voices that are not on Wrapper: Offline.

The things that make Wrapper: Offline so superior is that it is used locally so that Vyond wouldn't shut it down and an internet connection wouldn't be required, it's free to use so that we can make videos 24/7 and has every non-business theme.

Super Smash Flash 2 Beta:

For over two years since 1.3.1, which gives every character their own stage and Final Smash, came out, the devs of the game have been working their butts on the upcoming update, 1.3.2 and they post screenshots every Saturday. It has a lot of content, like the original background for certain stages, new music and new costumes. What really hyped me up is Bowser's Castle getting a complete makeover. It was first introduced back in 0.9a. And in version 1.3.2, Bowser's Castle is getting a brand new look, with the throne in the background. It looks savage. Just look at the lighting. Now that's a menacing style that gets the Nintendo Seal of Approval.

I am waiting patiently for that without asking when the update will come out. I don't have to wait any longer because they are leaning towards a Q1 2024 release among others that are releasing on that date. The wait is finally coming to an end. What I want for 1.3.2 is rollback netcode, the option to choose a song to play during the match like in Smash Ultimate and fixes for public lobbies.

Crash Team Rumble:

Artisans Arena dropped days ago and an event of Icy Artisans Arena came in to celebrate that. It is Spyro's home world, similar to Green Hill Zone from the Sonic franchise. What makes it unique to that map is gems are scattered across Artisans Arena instead of Wumpa Fruit to reflect the Spyro universe's charm. Summer Forest will also have gems. I was gonna play more competitive matches, but I decided to wait until Elora and the rest of the Season 3 content release for the real deal. My first Crash Team Rumble VOD is up on my separate gaming channel on YouTube, so go check it out. You're gonna love it. And forgive me if the quality is poor in some scenes. I have a new router that is stronger than the old one. It's really barbaric, though.

I was collecting certain number of badges to unlock Heroes. I am five Booster badges away from unlocking Dr. Neo Cortex. Once I have him, I will have eight. And when Elora hits Early Access, I will unlock her. I am still on the process and source of earning enough Assist badges to unlock Ripto. In the meantime, I'll play some Party Mode rounds in grinding my Battle Pass.

Not only I have fun. I realized something interesting. The placement of the hero select screen in Crash Team Rumble reminded me of Overwatch. It's because it has three classes. But the Scorers are on the left side while the Blockers are on the middle. I feel like the Scorers should be in the middle because they are often damage dealers while the Blockers should be on the left side because they are often tanks. But the Boosters being on the right side is a good position because they are often supports.

E3 is Dead:

It's official. E3 is now cancelled forever. It is the end of the road for what was once the biggest gaming showcase. The long running event for over two decades is officially dead. E3 has been a downfall several years ago after Sony, EA and Nintendo withdrawn themselves and intended to host their own independent shows. E3 2023 got cancelled after Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and Ubisoft withdrawn themselves from the event. I am sorry that E3 faced tough challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic fueled back in the beginning of 2020.

I seriously don't understand why they are blaming Geoff for E3's death. It's bullcrap. There's no way in heck that he killed E3. He invented Summer Game Fest to fill in the gap E3's cancellation has left in 2020. No offense, but I don't blame him. Summer Game Fest is known for game announcements. Sure, it doesn't have press conferences, but they are just immature for them to blame E3's death on that man. The show is returning in June 2024 and since E3 is dead, Summer Game Fest should be E3-esque, with press conferences, demos, trailers and more.

E3 was the biggest gaming showcase known for demos, trailers and press conferences. The worst E3 that happened was E3 2008. It's because on that year, Nintendo didn't mention a ton of things in their press conference but Wii Sports and had to do a sales pitch. It really ticked them off. They did host their digital only showcase back in 2021, but they ended up losing more money than they earned because it wasn't beneficial. And now, after 28 years, E3 is officially dead after challenges that happened earlier in the decade. It's a darn shame hearing that.

R.I.P. E3 - 1995-2023

Wanting a 4v4 Online Game of the Mario Franchise:

I am a big fan of Mario. His latest game, Super Mario Bros. Wonder came out recently and it won Best Family Game at the Game Awards. The Mario franchise has sports games, regular games, party games, kart racing games and the ones on the Paper Mario universe. But there is one thing the franchise is missing and that is an online 4v4 game.

I thought it would be cool as heck if the Mario series ever gets a 4v4 online game that is Crash Team Rumble, but with Mario to have characters and maps across the Mario universe, come in seasons, three classes, cosmetics, and character-specific ultimates you see on every MOBA. Imagine Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Geno, Diddy Kong and Pauline as the Scorers, but Damage heroes; Bowser, Donkey Kong, Wario, Midbus and Smithy as the Blockers, but Tank heroes; and Peach, Waluigi, Daisy, Rosalina, Plum, Birdo, Fawful and Mallow as the Boosters, but Support heroes.

If they put in Sonic the Hedgehog characters and maps on there, imagine Sonic as the Scorer that Spyro is, Sally Acorn as the Booster and Dr. Robotnik as the Blocker. Maps from the Sonic universe must use rings instead of coins.

I want this to be announced at E3, but since it is dead after facing tough challenges, like the COVID-19 pandemic, withdrawal of developers and money loss after the digital only event in 2021, seeing it announced at the Summer Game Fest is the only option, even though it's not E3.

Farewell, 2023:

This is the final Joe's Monologues of 2023 as we are approaching the holidays when everyone takes a break as a culmination of the year until January when the New Year starts. Man, what a great year 2023 has been. Working has been progressing well since the COVID-19 pandemic and we didn't even have to worry about the dangers and I am still pleased that I get to play my favorite PlayStation oldies. It has been a wild ride, man. I am looking forward to 2024.

SG X BBTAG Update #7

Welcome to Update #7 of the Skullgirls X BBTAG update series and this one is gonna be very special as a 20th Skullgirls character in their BBTAG palette has been added to my projects and you're gonna see who it is now. And the 20th Skullgirls character in their BBTAG palette is... *drumroll*

That's right, folks! Aeon is the 20th Skullgirls character eligible for her BBTAG palette of Vatista added to my projects as she is added to the palette editor. You'll see them in later projects later on. Also updated Double to her new image that you will also see in later projects. Now, this collage is becoming even more a masterpiece after adding Minette, Feng, Venus, Christmas and Aeon in their Celica, Chie, Linne, Yuzuriha and Vatista palettes. But as it bears saying, the placement and their images are subject to change.

During BBTAG 2.0:

During BBTAG 3.0:

In both periods, the Under Night In-Birth row has been filled out after Aeon's Vatista palette is added. But in the BBTAG 3.0 period, all rows have been filled out while in the BBTAG 2.0 period, the Persona 4 Arena row is still left with one open slot.

During BBTAG 2.0:

During BBTAG 3.0:

If Aeon doesn't get her Vatista palette, it will stay on my palette pack on both periods.

Offline Screen:

Before Crossplay is implemented:

After Crossplay is implemented:

Updated my separate channel's offline screen and Discord server's banner art in tandem to have Aeon's Vatista palette and the new image of Annie in her Izayoi palette. Marie is back on the right side, but with a final image as a result of having an even number of characters in their BBTAG palettes. Also moved Umbrella, Feng, Christmas and Aeon to their new placements on the left side of the art. And with Snow Sisters being a perfect fit for Aeon so that she can be eligible for her Vatista palette, she will be legal during my online casual I am postponing until I get a gaming laptop with 144hz, which is an insane amount of hertz.

Updated my fanmade character select screen to put Marie's portrait back on the top of the middle column, Christmas' portrait on the top of the first column and Aeon's portrait on the top of the third column. Also brought the border back, but it's colored dark brown to give it a filmstrip feel and put the online timer below the potraits.

And as a treat, I have a new collage containing portraits of 20 Skullgirls characters in their nifty and fly BBTAG palettes. I mean, just look how nifty they are. Again, I am strongly agreeing with Cerebella's Mika palette because of her knack of punching and grabbing. These are the characters that will be legal during my postponed online casual. Do not worry, Minette, Feng, Venus, Christmas and Aeon will be legal once they become playable characters.

D. Violet is also added to the palette editor. Unfortunately, because she is assigned to a character theme that doesn't fit perfectly with her personality, she is not eligible for her BBTAG palette. This means D. Violet will be banned from my online casual on both periods.

And that about does it for this update. I am freaking astonished at the way that all of my projects are becoming even more a masterpiece. I know I want the 20th Skullgirls character eligible for their BBTAG palette to be a male, but it is not. It's instead Aeon eligible for her Vatista palette. But it's cool. I wanted her Vatista palette to fill out the UNI row anyway. However, Aeon's Vatista palette is not the final BBTAG palette, so there will be more to come. I rather for the next character to be the one eligible for their P4A palette.

With the 20 BBTAG palettes on my projects, let's see how this endeavor goes.

With that being said, it's time for another story on how I love making BBTAG palettes out of Skullgirls characters to support the launch party.

The Skull Heart has been destroyed, but Marie herself was spared and is now free from all influence created with the Skull Heart's power. She now sits peacefully at Hilgard's Castle. The Canopy Kingdom is at a peaceful state. From lightyears away comes a mysterious diamond shaped meteor. Seemingly with purpose, it rockets toward the Canopy Kingdom. Upon the meteor crash and explosion, the Canopy Kingdom becomes BBTAG Kingdom. From the burning rubble, Marie survives and dons her Orie palette. Others also survive and don their BBTAG palettes. But not all of them survived the meteor explosion.

Those in their BBTAG palettes have all but one goal in all of the universe... Is to become the champion.

Joe's Monologues - 12/11/23

Hello, everyone, KnockDownJoe here. It's time for another episode of Joe's Monologues. Yesterday's was interesting because I went over the story in SMITE Pro League Season X so far as the Styx Ferrymen, Atlantis Leviathans, Oni Warriors and Jade Dragons make their way to Worlds, which is around the corner. Now, today's gonna be interesting as well, so let's get started.

Crash Team Rumble:

I was playing and streaming some some Crash Team Rumble yesterday and so far, still little to no lag or network skips. This is all thanks to my new router. Shoutouts to my new router for letting me play and stream Crash Team Rumble smoothly and well, as well as other online only games. None to my crappy old router, so to heck with that.

But that's not all because Season 3 dropped and Spyro, the titular purple dragon has joined the rumble with his fire breath. But he is not alone because Elora the Faun from Spyro 2 is also joining the rumble. Ripto is the first Spyro character to make his way onto Crash Team Rumble back in Season 2. And in Season 3, Spyro and Elora, the "Sonic and Sally" of Spyro the Dragon make their debut to the game along with two new maps, Artisans Arena and Summer Forest to release later in the season.

Spyro is available during his Early Access release, so to unlock him, you must collect three dragon eggs first seen in Spyro: Year of the Dragon scatted across maps in Party Mode or Competitive Mode during the period. I am amazed at Toys for Bob adding three Spyro characters to the mix. But three is not nearly enough, so I want more Spyro characters to be added. I was able to unlock him, by collecting the first three dragon eggs on Party Mode. I get to keep him permanently too for that, along with more characters I've unlocked. It's a miracle for Spyro to make his way into the rumble, hoping this paves the way for the future of Spyro.

Now, I am waiting for Elora to drop so that I can unlock her and keep her forever. And she will soon kick butt and heal her allies in Crash Team Rumble in the beginning of January, which is when Elora drops during her Early Access. But to get Ripto, I must earn 50 KO and Relic Assist badges and they are easier said than done since they are Epic and Legendary badges.

So far, I have seven characters in my collection after unlocking four more, but still have one Booster type, so I need to unlock more of them. To unlock more Boosters, I need to earn Booster badges. And to earn Booster badges, I must capture Gems on Competitive Mode if it means unlocking more Boosters. I am five Booster badges away from unlocking Dr. Neo Cortex. I got four powers on my inventory and I will unlock more of them. I am uploading my first Crash Team Rumble VOD that will show how I earned enough badges to unlock characters and powers on my separate gaming channel on YouTube and you're gonna love it.

And by the way, since I am getting a gaming laptop with 144hz and better specs soon, I plan to buy Crash Team Rumble on Steam if it's ever confirmed and there is cross-progression across all platforms. Not only that because since Spyro and Elora are joining the party, it's time we get to see Hunter and Bianca make their debut next so that we can have a double date between Spyro and Elora, and Hunter and Bianca on our team. No third wheel will be involved.

This reminds me. You know how Spyro and Elora are the "Sonic and Sally" of Spyro the Dragon? Well, one of the Archie comics indicates that Bunnie Rabbot and Cat have a same type of friendship Sonic and Sally have, so I am considering Hunter and Bianca, the "Cat and Bunnie" of Spyro the Dragon. And I guess SEGA wouldn't allow that.

Vyond Removed Oddcast TTS Voices:

Okay, so I went to watch some videos on YouTube and there is a situation I came across that made people very angry. It's about the part when Vyond removed Oddcast voices. It is the worst thing Vyond has done to make people ticked to the max. That happened on mid-October when they had to do this. They did more than just remove the Oddcast TTS voices. They replaced them with AI voices, which requires a most expensive plan that they need to pay. That really made the community mad. I didn't know that they would remove Oddcast TTS voices and replace them with AI voices that they need to pay.

Fortunately, there is a YouTube video that explains how do you get the Oddcast TTS voices back on Vyond, by using LazyPy.ro, which has an ultimate selection of TTS voices across the TTS family. But I am using Wrapper: Offline and the Oddcast voices are on there. I need them for my YOLO Funtimes series for Sarah and Rachel to be voiced by Julie and Allison in commemoration of the show's impending new season, Rainbow Trinity. And since my first YOLO Funtimes video has less assets, I can upload it on this computer I am using.

Skullgirls Update Regarding Marie:

Yesterday, I received a tweet saying that 6.1 is gonna come out today. And now, here we are. The 6.1 update is coming out today and it makes Marie completely available. This means Marie will be available in all Standard Relics and Move Relics, will have her Prize Fight and balance tweaks. This is the real deal as 6.1 brings Marie to complete availability. Servers are going down for maintenance at noon during Standard Time. Once that happens, I'm gonna do a fun session when I play the BBTAG characters' theme and looking at their BBTAG palettes. The first phase is using the random order. Then I use the wheel to help me decide which theme to play and which BBTAG palette to display.

But that is not all. I received word from Liam at the Skullheart forums that all of Marie's animations are fully complete and she is nearing her Early Access phase, already. Time sure flies. As a matter of fact, releasing characters on Mobile first benefitted that. And in other news, the Early Access patch is gonna have the next set of Marie's new palettes. If I don't see her Orie palette, it will stay on my Palette Pack.

Now, since we're approaching the holidays when devs take a break until the New Year, I have a feeling that the Early Access patch is gonna drop later this week and they are preparing for ultimate submission, as in submitting to all three console companies to ultimately release Marie and the general balance changes on all four platforms in the New Year. Then it's off to the independent update where it gives the new characters' Story Modes their full VO and hoping for a Season 2 Pass that might potentially contain Feng, Minette, Venus and Christmas. We don't know for sure if they are the confirmed characters just because they are added to the palette editor, but they are eligible for their BBTAG palettes. I am still expecting a 20th character eligible for their BBTAG palette.

Days of PlayStation Past:

After streaming Crash Team Rumble, my stream quality is good I am officially doing Days of PlayStation Past. It is where I can stream classic PlayStation games released back in the day on the PS1, PS2 and PSP. I have bought couple of PS1 games so far, but not the PS2 games in my library yet. I am getting there.

There, this wraps up today's Joe's Monologues. And with the holidays fast approaching, stay warm and cozy.

My Wrapper: Offline Career

Before I get to the point where I monologue about my Wrapper: Offline career, I want to mention the previous points.

Now, back in 2015, I was on YouTube perusing videos to watch. I saw a couple of videos where one character watches South Park and got grounded. The animation looked like Family Guy. At the end, the outro showed that it was made by an animation drag and drop platform called GoAnimate, so I went on to the website to check it out. I heard it's gonna help me do something productive, so I purchased the cheapest plan.

I was happy at the way I was making videos. The quality was amazing and videos were all over the place, including my own copyright screen and dream logos, until my GoPlus plan has been expired and it is no longer available due to whatever reasons. After my subscription expired, I went to Google to search for alternatives; the ones that are similar to GoAnimate and free. Little did I know that the alternatives I searched for are nowhere similar to GoAnimate at all. None of them are not meeting up to my expectations. But now, I found the perfect alternative that is like GoAnimate and is free. But I'll consider this one.

In October 19, 2015, GoAnimate has shifted from Flash to HTML5, which allows mobile device compatibility, but sadly, non-business themes like Comedy World, which is based on Family Guy were sunset because they weren't compatible with HTML5. The school-safe version called GoAnimate4Schools retained Flash and the non-business themes until back in July 26, 2016 when the non-business themes on the school platform were retired, and two years later, GoAnimate has been renamed to Vyond.

The funny thing about this is that we were blaming Alvin Hung, the former CEO of Vyond because he removed the Oddcast voices and Comedy World and other non-business themes. But I realized that it wasn't Alvin that did this. It was the admins. And not only that. I also realized that removing the non-business themes benefitted missing my career that I had to go to TTS websites to do some experimenting as a memento.

There was a point of time when after I couldn't find an alternative that is similar to GoAnimate and free on that time my plan has expired, I went on scrambling for TTS websites (IVONA, Vocalware and Voiceforge) as a memento and experimenting crying voices. They are fun to hear.

After hearing the Oddcast TTS voices and the non-business themes are on the school-safe platform, I was able to sign up there. I was amazed at making videos on it despite the fact that it had no weapons because you know, bringing a weapon to school could get you in trouble. I even started my Eric the GoAnimate Agent series there. I was inspired by Dorkly's Mark the Video Game Agent series to do that. I was also making some Trails of Cold Steel videos on there under both Anime and Comedy World. These types of videos are up to my expectations. But after GoAnimate4Schools migrated from Flash to HTML5 back in July 26, 2016, the series has been discontinued. Not to mention that the VoiceForge and Cepstral voices have been removed and that really ticked us off.

Before that happened, YouTube has a lot of tutorials on how do I still use the non-business themes despite them being sunset. Several videos show that I use Requestly to bring them back. It turned out well and I was able to continue my GoAnimate career because of it. But after the shift to the Vyond-era, Requestly no longer works. I know that there are some people who are making videos on the business themes, but for some others, including myself, that is a wrap for us after how expensive the price is to get a plan on Vyond and a handful of changes the video making website has undergone in the past years, including the shift to HTML5 to sunset the non-business themes.

What things I like about the video making site is that it has gung-ho scenes like victims getting sent to the audience, Suspense playing on videos where troublemakers kill their teacher and get slapped for it. These are the ones that I'm gonna miss experiencing forever since my subscription has been expired. So I made my own copyright and safety message screen as a quiet moment from gung-ho things I mentioned, but it's scrapped for a new one.

But there is one good news. Wrapper: Offline was announced and it is an emulation of the GoAnimate server that has all of the non-business themes that aren't compatible with HTML5 and everything GoAnimate has. And it can't be shut down by Vyond because it is used locally and an internet connection is not required, hence Wrapper: Offline. Practically speaking, a paid subscription is required to make and save videos and with Wrapper: Offline, I can be able to make and save videos 24/7, including the ones that will be reuploads. YouTube has a lot of videos on how do I get it. From what I see, it has all of the TTS voices GoAnimate has and the new ones. I also noticed that the IVONA TTS voices came in two versions, the PO and RL versions, so I set them to hear the difference between them. The main difference is that the RL versions of the English American voices can read same vowels in a single word while the PO versions of them don't. I know RL stands for ReadLoud, but I don't know what PO stands for.

But due to circumstances, since I can't download videos or export videos I made to YouTube on Wrapper: Offline, I am using Bandicam to record videos and I am posting certain videos that have less assets on this laptop I am using while the ones that have more assets will be on my high-end laptop. This is because if I record videos that have more assets on this laptop, there will be any lag on them and my high-end laptop will remedy all of that. So I did and the first video is a reupload of a reintroduction of a GoAnimate Agent named Eric. I am starting my Eric the GoAnimate Agent series fresh and this time, he will have his own office instead of a principal's office. Until I get a new laptop with better specs, including an insane amount of hertz to make my Steam games run smoothly, I can't go full blast on my career.

But there's something called FlashThemes, which is a throwback to the original GoAnimate that doesn't have any business themes and it's free. I signed up for FlashThemes, but for some reason, my login credentials didn't exist, so I'm gonna stick with Wrapper: Offline

And while Wrapper: Offline gives me the opportunity to make videos 24/7, I can temporarily suspend my career and still experiment with TTS voices on the websites, which had been restructured as the IVONA voices have two versions, the Amazon Polly, which is what PO means and the ReadLoud versions, Vocalware no longer has a few American English voices and VoiceForge has moved to a new website that doesn't have the demo.

My career is buttoned up and ready to be put into action and I made a handful of characters from works I like and dislike and never do, so here is a link to my YouTube channel only for Wrapper: Offline videos, KDJ the GoAnimator. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmlG3waG8HAacC1tAEdZcSw

I have three subscribers so far, so I need a lot more subscribers so that I can reach 100,000 subscribers to get a silver play button.