RKI Channel Progress Update

Just thought I'd drop by and leave a little progress update since it's been about two weeks now since the last video.

I'm working on everything at once. But it will be a little bit longer unfortunately.

I've filmed the RKI Radio Theatre episodes and am QUITE pleased with these early efforts, it's something I see lots of potential with in the future to have fun with. I filmed about 52 episodes worth in one night so they'll be GREAT output boosters. I've just got to edit the footage down into the individual episodes, which still takes a bit of time. Mostly because I'm still shaping the series as I'm doing so. The next batch will go a bit faster because I won't have to make intros and outros and the like. I'm REALLY looking forward to posting these.

Collecting Game is in the can, and just requires editing. I need to get some quick gameplay footage to add but mostly it'll take some editing.

I've also filmed 7 episodes of Rantin & Raven. Unfortunately, this is what's slowing me down. As I was editing the episodes today, I realized... They're just TERRIBLE. Once again I'm reminded that speaking is not my forte. The footage is just chock full of pauses (not a terrible problem) and overused words. (a HUGE problem) The introduction episode turned out well enough, but I just was not happy with the following episode. I didn't do justice to the topic. At all. I'm a writer for a reason, it's how my mind focuses and works best. So, because I want to produce the best material possible for you, I'm jettisoning the original unscripted approach and moving over to a scripted series. (This is not abnormal for me, as stated in the episodes, I played Mega Man X 8 times trying to figure out a way to approach the whole thing.) This will delay things a bit, but will result in something FAR more watchable in the end. I'll begin working on scripts after posting this. These will still be produced quicker than Game Knight episodes but it's frustrating to be slowed down. But again, such is the nature of forming a new idea. You gotta do things wrong before you can do them right.

Game Knight will begin filming soon. No other updates there. The main problem is I must work on these at night to reduce environmental sound. Everything else I can work on in the daytime.

Speaking of sound... guys... really... The terrible sound in the Game Knight episodes? Yeah, gone. I can't tell you how happy I am with the new sound. Huzzah for knowing your equipment better! So, another part I'm excited to share.

So, I've got a ton of cool stuff coming. I just want to get a good backlog before I begin posting them again so we don't have these long hiatuses in the future. I'm trying to get a rhythm going where I have stuff to post WHILE working on the behind the scenes stuff. But that of course means working on a ton right now and holding onto it for a bit.

But rest assured, when the RKI Channel returns, it'll be bigger and better than ever!

Game Knight: Mega Man X - Episode 8, THE FINALE! Plus Bonus!

Here it is, the overly long conclusion of Mega Man X!

With that done, here's a small bonus, a scripted episode I didn't even film! (Because who wants to watch me ramble about the intro for a whole episode?) If you were curious as to compare what an episode "script" looks like prior to filming.

Prologue

“Though they go to great pains to indicate the year is 21XX, the little computer prologue tells us that it is no earlier than 2114, per the Copyright date on Dr. Cain’s Computer.”
“Also: NOM comporation?”
“NOM NOM NOM.”
“That is a SHIT TON of memory. I’m guessing Dr. Cain likes Illegally downloading High Def Movies.”
“Who wants to bet Dr. Cain’s passcode is ‘CAPCOM’?”
“Woah! Hang on! ‘Broad-range Eye Camera’? …Aaaand it points to the gem thing? Soooo… X is a cyclops? …And the eyes are just like… painted on…? *Nervous look*”
“HAYATOM Inc. Was originally MOKUDO Inc. In the Japanese version.”
“HAYATOM could be a refrence to the given name, Hayato, which has origins as a regional people and Samurai title, literally meaning ‘Falcon-Men’. MORE likely however, is that this is a coincidence and whoever translated it was all like ‘Let’s come up with some nonsense word that sounds vaguely electronic, like Hitachi or whatever.’ ‘Got it! Like in kung fu! HAI-YAH! Toss an OM on there and we’re good.’ ‘Brilliant!’”
“Mokuoo on the other hand… I’m having trouble pinning down… It COULD reference the word ‘Moku’ which tends to mean ‘Tree’ but is also used in computer science meaning a data structure.”
“‘Accumulative Energy Generator’ is pretty much the definition of Technobabble. You could have an Accumulative energy COLLECTOR, which would collect the energy that has accumulated in X. OR you can have an (insert other word) generator, which generates that form of energy. The name COULD mean it generates progressively more energy, but then that would mean X would just explode. (Kinda like the Mavericks… Hmmm…) Instead that name seems to indicate it accumulates energy that it has generated… in other words, it generates energy that just sits there to be collected by the generator, which doesn’t sound like a very efficient energy system. At this point, why not just call it a Zero Point Energy Generator? At least base you technobabble on an actual theoretical concept. However, they can’t because…”
“Fuel Tank. X has a Fuel Tank. Which is no surprise as that’s what his life bar is. He drinks glow balls (NUCLEAR glow balls, X is definitely not green.) and recharges. But then, why have this nonsense generator bunk?”
“If, at this point you said ‘It’s just a SNES game!’ Get out. Just get out.”
“Now check out the arm diagnostics. This is just fine technobabble. An ‘Energy amplifier’ which would just be the charge shot, and the ‘variable weapon system’ which is boss goodies. See? Simple.”
“As an aside… The variable weapon system is Nanomachine based, right? That’s… really the only way he can convert energy into solid objects like cutters and torpedoes.“
“Also? Mega Buster Mark 17. SEVENTEEN! That’s WAY higher than any Buster the Previous Mega Man was shown to use.”
“I’d also like to point out that the original Mega Buster was supposed to be Solar Powered. Which MAY be what the whole Accumulative energy nonsense was all about.”
“Not much to say about the legs, other than it’s a nice little detail that the Dash is listed as optional.”
“Uh…Shouldn’t X have a ‘Lightweight Titanium X Alloy Skeleton’ and a ‘Reactive armor skin’, not the other way around?”
“By the by… X has ‘Lightweight Tutus’ in his head.”
“Woah, now hang on… so… the original Mega Man… didn’t? He was just a robot? He didn’t think, feel or make descisions? That uh… makes him extra creepy, especially in his Rock form. Just imagine a little robot kid staring at you with dead machine eyes…”
“Yup, I just ruined the original Mega Man for you. You’re welcome!”
“Oh look! Asimov rules!”
“This… opening note and the ending seem to indicate this game is WAY darker than it seems to be presented… THIS seemes to indicate X is like on the verge of snapping at every moment from his prototype brain, and thus is always depressed about having to shoot stuff. I mean, jesus Light, way to paint a bleak picture.”
“Hey look! 30 years. So we can assume that, based on the copyright date, that X was sealed around the 2090s at the latest. Though it COULD have been MUCH earlier as Mega Man clearly started in 2008. (200X in the first game, one year passes for the second game, then the third game takes place in 20XX, thus requiring an x to hide the tens digit.)”
“…Yeah, Mega Man is an anachronism! Feel old yet?”
“But as Light specifies ‘Do not disturb UNTIL that time’, the idea must be that Dr. Cain was heeding this warning to not awaken X, meaning only that amount of time had passed.”
“Now, I mention all of this for two reasons.”
“One: 30 years is NOT that long for people to forget all the advanced robots that Doctor light built back in 2008. Dr. Cain acts like Reploids are a huge leap, and not a natural evolution of those original forms, like he’s never seen a humanoid robot. Unless there was some major catastrophy that wiped out that information in the years between.”
“Two: …uh… Dr. Light is clearly a man in his fifties or sixties in 2008. So that means that he lived to the ripe old age of ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY! At LEAST…”
“Dr. Thomas Light. Depressed Old Bastard.”

There you have it! Stay tuned for more updates on the next Game Knight series that will take us on a little FANTASY... It'll be a long one!

Plus of course, the previously announced three further shows. It'll probably be a few weeks while I work on these, but we'll see!

Upcoming RKI Content

Editing will begin on the Final Episode of Mega Man X here soon. Then, as previously stated, I'm going to be filming quite a bit this month BESIDES the next installment of Game Knight. I plan to have a daily content release schedule over four shows in total at the moment. One video a day will be uploaded consisting of one of the four. Two of them will be easier to do batch episodes of, buying me time to work on the other two.

So... Would you like an official announcement? Of Course you would!

First up is Collecting Game!

This is the actual impetus behind coming to youtube. It annoys me to no end how deep one has to dig for info on collecting individual games. Many, MANY titles have unique eccentricities, such as multiple versions. So, the intent is to have a guide to EVERYTHING you need to know on a given title. It will enable you to tell at a glance what you need to know before picking up a particular title. This series is done in conjunction with Game Knight. (I need footage of the games, so why not make "Let's Play" videos at the same time?) Every other Game Knight series will feature an associated Collecting Game episode following. See if you can guess what the first episode will be.

Next up, RKI Radio Theatre!

A newer idea, based around the want of giving you guys daily content. I'm a big fan of old Radio Anthologies. And, given the Public Domain nature of these shows, I can bring them to you in full. With little production needed, I can make large batches to hold ready. I've got four series I'm going to begin with, bringing you one episode of each in rotation. More radio series will follow in the future. The secondary intent is to let you guys know that RKI is not going to be an exclusively Gaming oriented Channel.

Finally, Rantin' & Raven!

Is there anything simpler to shoot and edit than a vlog style video? Well, I don't know... but we'll see! If you're familiar with my Writing in Geek Blog, this is sort of like that. Highlighting something I enjoy or less so. It wont normally be gaming related, but more opinion pieces on other topics, but gaming issues may arise. I'm not going to be doing many of these for now but we'll see how it goes. Also, to keep things in balance, there will always be one of each. So if I'm rantin about something, expect some Raven to come in the following days. Or vice versa.


So, there you have it!

It'll take a couple weeks to get all this together, so be patient after Mega Man X concludes, as you see, there's a deluge coming. And this is only the beginning! There's some more stuff I'd like to do, but for now, these four shows will be the focus.

Keep on watching, liking, subscribing and sharing RKI content so things can grow even more!

Game Knight: Mega Man X - Episode 7!

One more Episode remains after this special musical episode of Mega Man X on Game Knight!

Game Knight: Mega Man X - Episode 6 is Live! Plus a News Nugget

Let's chat Vile with the voices in our heads! ...Or Not...

Anyhoo! Only two episodes remain in the series! Then I'm gonna go on a filming bender. I have SO MUCH coming guys and gals, so much. But there may be a bit of a hiatus after the conclusion of Mega Man X as I get all my ducks in a row. (Like I've said, I'm new to this whole Youtube thing.) But when I return, I SHOULD be able to get you guys daily content. Featuring not only the second Game Knight series (Featuring a little title from the late 90s...) but THREE additional series to go along with it. One of them is going to be tied with the Game Knight releases and be more spread out, one episode per every other Game Knight series. But the other two will be their own thing. Both will have lesser production requirements, meaning I can shoot a bunch of them and edit them in a short period of time aka the Daily Release Holy Grail! I'll post more info as we get closer.

Until them, keep on watching!

Game Knight: Mega Man X - Episode 5!

Finishing the last Maverick and uncovering secret desires... All in the newest episode of Mega Man X on Game Knight!

Game Knight: Mega Man X - Episode 4! Plus some future release info!

Halfway there as Mega Man X continues on Game Knight!

Also in other RKI News, I'm currently working on another show idea that, given it has less editing involved, should allow me to assume a daily video release schedule for you guys. (And it's probably not what you expect as the RKI Channel was never intended to be Gaming only.) Sorta filling in the blanks as I edit the Game Knight Episodes and coming future content.

So be on the lookout for more info coming soon!

Game Knight: Mega Man X - Episode 3 is up!

The Third Episode of Game Knight is Here!

Mega Man X - Episode 2! Plus A Few Notes on the RKI Schedule.

Another Episode of Mega Man X is now live!

Now, If you're here on the blog, you're no doubt seeking out a bit more info. And Today I'm gonna basically spell out how frequently you can expect updates and new videos, plus give a little insight on the process that goes into these videos.

Video Schedule Part 1 - Gaming

I film the game play footage for the coming episodes. This one will vary considerably based upon the game. Mega Man X I managed to run through in about two hours. (This is of course not counting the previous SEVEN play throughs as I tried to figure out the process.) The next game on tap will... probably take a bit longer.

Video Schedule Part 2 - Script Writing

Fun fact, playing a game and commenting on it is... not easy. Instead, I decided to focus on what I was good at, writing. So, After the Game Play session is in the can, I go back and begin watching the footage and breaking it down into episodes and writing scripts. (From my EXCELLENT job at acting, I'm sure you could never tell it was so, but I assure you, all scripted in the commentary videos.) This one is a bit of a crap shoot depending on how favorable the muse it. I got about two or three episodes scripted a night.

Video Schedule Part 3 - Commentary

With the script ready, I begin filming the commentary segments. Depending on how many takes I need, (Read: A TON) I averaged four episodes a night.

Video Schedule Part 4 - Editing

This is the big one. The editing is easily the most time consuming process. As you may be able to tell, the time between Episode 1 being uploaded and Episode 2 being uploaded was Three days. That was all editing time. So, every episode should take about three days to edit. (Which should give you an idea of when to expect new episodes.)

Video Schedule Part 5 - Uploading

For the most part, I lose a day to just uploading as I cannot work on anything else while the file is rendering and uploading.

So, that should give you an idea of how episodes will be released in the future. I have a small single video to film and edit after the Mega Man X series completes, then I will set in on the next game. So hang in there dear fan as this is a ton of work for one person! Like, subscribe and help the channel grow and MAYBE I can speed up production on these. But, we'll see!

One more note before I wrap up this post. There will be two important changes after the Mega Man X series concludes. (Two problems I realized as I was editing) Firstly, the Gaming versus Snarking placement. I realize now that they should be both filmed from the same angle so they can be placed in the same area. So, beginning in the next game series, expect less of a jarring shift from left to right. Secondly, and the big one, sound quality. I screwed up on this one, plain and simple. I'm still learning this whole thing so, I got it REALLY wrong. Since filming, I have already figured out the way to remedy it, so after this series, the sound quality will be far better in the commentary. More uniform, and no more icky peaks and echoes. (It's... astoundingly stupid how easy a fix it is, but must be done at the time of filming.) So look forward to better voice quality and fewer ear bleeds!

With that said, stay tuned for more Game Knight and other RKI productions to come!

Welcome to Game Knight

Raven's Knight Industries presents the first Episode of Game Knight, a series dedicated to playing, overthinking and snarking about the pastime we love. Launching with the first episode of the 8 part Mega Man X Let's Play! This video also launches the Official RKI Youtube Channel! Be sure to Like the Videos and Subscribe to the Channel to help us grow as more content will be coming in the future!

But for now, lift your sword, don your armor... This is Game Knight!

Come Back Tomorrow For the Premier of Game Knight!

On February 14th 2016, RKI shows its love for video games with the premier of the new Let's Play style series on Youtube, Game Knight! Join us for lots of Gaming, Overthinking and Snarking about a favored past time! With this new series, RKI goes full motion video with Game Knight only the beginning of more content to come! Be sure to visit any RKI page for a link to the first video tomorrow!