Let's Play (With Draygone)
From RPGMMWiki
| Let's Play (With Draygone) |
|---|
 Genre: Let's Play Format: Video Created by: Draygone, Dracoon Creations Original run: February 6, 2009 - Present No. of games: 14 No. of LPisodes: 69 Official website: Let's Play (With Draygone) Video host: Viddler Reruns host: YouTube |
"Let's Play (With Draygone)" is a series of videos that caters primarily towards games created with entries of the RPG Maker series. In these videos, Draygone plays various games on camera while giving commentary on them (as is the case with most let's plays). Though he tends to focus on RPGM games, he also handles the occasional commercial game on the side.
Officially, Draygone started his run of let's play videos on February 6th, 2009. However, his first LP was of his own game, Jester's Hunt, which originally uploaded to YouTube on October 7, 2008. His Jester's Hunt LP was meant as a practice run, though, and it is not included among the numbering of the rest of his episodes. In a sense, it could be considered a pilot.
The majority of his LPs would use live commentary (as opposed to editing the commentary later; post-commentary), on account he feels that the viewers and, more importantly, the game developers would have a much better idea of how he experiences the games if they heard those experiences as they occur.
Though there have been a few short hiatuses, his LP series continues after a full year of making them, though he remains relatively unknown in the Let's Play community.
History and Development
A Place to Call Home
While the Jester's Hunt LP was created for YouTube, Draygone would start his newer LPs at a site called MegaVideo, favoring the extra allowed video length due to his videos' typical length of 40 minutes of longer. However, MegaVideo's limit of watching 72 minutes of video in a day would prove to be a nuicance, and Draygone eventually found another site, Viddler, which not only had no limits to video length whatsoever, but had a feature allowing users to comment on specific points of others' videos. While Viddler has some of its own issues, they were minor enough that Draygone has stuck with the site to this day.
Meanwhile, back at YouTube, Draygone twice attempted to upload episodes there. The first time was around June 2009. This attempt went awry when a video failed to process, and he didn't feel it was worth the effort of splitting the episodes. He then proceeded to post previews of all the episodes, at first featuring the first several minutes of an episode, then later featuring a portion in the middle. Eventually he felt dissatisfied with this as well, and stopped uploading anything related to his LPs to YouTube.
However, feeling that the games he goes over could use the extra attention, starting February 12, 2010, Draygone has restarted his attempt to upload all episodes to YouTube. They currently upload a year behind their original upload dates.
Recording and Editing
Draygone has gone through several pieces of recording equipment over the course of his LPs. His most-favored would be Audacity to record his commentary with. Earlier editions of Audacity were glitchy, and the program would sometimes crash, causing Draygone to almost lose his commentary. The program would back up the recorded audio, but in 6-second incriments that needed to be pieced back together manually. He would have likely moved on to another audio recording program, if not for the fact that an update appeared that resolved the issue. With Audacity working flawlessly now, it is likely Draygone will continue to stick with it for the long run.
His first video capture device was an Adaptec GameBridge. Though the video quality was a little fuzzy due to his computer's lack of power, the framerate was good enough and it served its purpose. When Draygone's older computer with Windows XP died, he got a newer one with Windows Vista. Unfortunately, the GameBridge wouldn't work on Vista except through a rather complicated compatability managing, and it seemed that any time it came unplugged, he would have to try installing it again. Frustrated, he broke the installation disk in half and got a Diamond One-Touch Video Capture device (VC500). The video quality seemed to be better, however, the device came with a few glitches. Every so often, the signal would fail, causing the screen to go black momentarily. Lag would also sometimes occur, potentially causing the sound to go out of sync with the video. Any attempt to record older games (such as on the NES) would result in the sound making the occasional crackling noise. The worst glitch was when certain color saturations were onscreen, causing the video to flash out of control, possibly with crackling noise. Yet, despite its drawbacks, Draygone would continue to use it for 64 episodes. Finally, Draygone would get a GigaWare VHS to DVD Converter. The video quality of this device was a drastic improvement. The downside is that the capture program it came with only recorded in one format, a format that used more memory than his previous videos. However, he found that the device worked well with the VC500's program, though he'd have to record in a different format due to a slight incompatability. At this time, he has not used the device to record an LP, so it remains to be seen how well it works for such videos.
Ever since Draygone has been making videos, he has been using Windows Movie Maker for video editing. As the game and his commentary are recorded by two separate programs, video editing is an absolute necessity. Though Windows Movie Maker has served him well, Draygone currently searches for a fancier video editor to perform a few new tricks.
The last piece of equipment is a microphone. He started off with a Logitech headset that he had bought years beforehand. But by the time he started, it had begun to wear out, and made audible creaking noises whenever it shifted. Once again, Draygone would use it for 64 episodes, regardless. His next LPs will use a freestanding mic, also made by Logitech.
From Rags to Fancier Rags
Jester's Hunt was a straightforward LP. Aside from splitting the video for YouTube and a couple sight gags, very little editing was done. When he reached the last two videos, he added an episode title to each. He would continue on to add episode titles to the majority of his LPs. The first game not of his own to be fully aired was A Ronin Story, created by Tsunami. During this playthrough, he made a little more effort in editing, mainly editing out redundant gameplay such as repeat battles, and adding the occasional extra text commentary.
Starting with the LPing of Untamed Madness (created by Sage Productions), Draygone would begin to get more fancy with his videos. Videos would begin with a rating card, the image contained credited to KumoShinagi. And later, a credits sequence would be added to the end of videos. It was when the credits sequences were added that Draygone's new studio name was made public: Dracoon Creations. This would become the name associated with all his LPs, separate from his game creation studio, Great Dragon Gaming.
It would also be during the let's play of Untamed Madness that Draygone would first coin the term "LPisode", a portmanteau-pun of the initials of "Let's Play" and of the word "episode". And one LPisode of "Untamed Madness" ended in one of Draygone's first cliffhangers. These have generally occurred in Draygone's LPs when an LPisode runs too long, whether due to lost track of time or due to a portion of the quest taking a large chunk of time, and needs to be cut into multiple parts as a result. Finally, the LP of Untamed Madness would feature one of his first non sequiturs: a fake advertisement for an animated graphic based on the Zelda CD-i games. Non sequiturs like this would prove to be a rare occurrance, as they're also usually quite extravegantly created.
First-episode intros of Draygone's let's play videos would begin to improve with the Super Mario Bros. let's play, featuring a live videography showing his NES and recording device.
The let's play of Kirby's Adventure would introduce title cards to the start of LPisodes, though the first ones were basic, featuring text. The let's play of Kirby's Adventure also forewent displaying a custom episode title, using the level opening titles instead. His next RPGM game to be LP'd would do the same.
It was when Draygone did a let's play of Fu-Fu The Acid Trip Bunny that Draygone's official name for his LPs would appear in canon: Let's Play (With Draygone). Ironically, this LP would instead feature a voice-altered version of himself named Erika, and the title card had "Draygone" scratched out and replaced with Erika's name. Unfortunately, the voice altering was not of the greatest quality for this LP, and coupled with the awkwardness of using his/her Second Life avatar to open and close the LP, it is unlikely that such an attempt at a narration change would happen again.
Starting with the special LPisode focusing on the Atari 2600, his title card would be upgraded to a full-blown opening, featuring clips from three previously LP'd games: A Ronin Story, Untamed Madness (from the non sequitur), and Kirby's Adventure; and two clips from then-unaired LPs: The Spiteful Dead and Paper Mario; before finally ending with a sprite of Draygone's furry self-character presenting the show's title. This intro continues to be used to date.
During the airing of Let's Play "The Spiteful Dead", RPG Maker Pavilion admin Valkysas gave Draygone permission to post his LPisodes on the site's front page. Shortly after, Draygone became the second person to take advantage of the new Project Pages feature at the site, creating his own subsite for his LPs. Finally, Draygone would begin to split his LPisodes into "Mini-Sodes", in an attempt to appeal to those who can't watch his length LPisodes in one sitting. Due to lack of praise, the feature was dropped upon completion of The Spiteful Dead.
Draygone's newest idea was to have an alternate version of each LP, without his commentary. He had hoped to attract attention from those who do not like people talking while playing the game. But the extra feature gained absolutely no interest, so the idea was quickly dropped.
Despite all the advancements and changes during the LPs, Draygone has stuck with the font choice of JasmineUPC, bolded, for episode names, notes, and credits since LPisode #1.
LPisode List
All LPisodes and games, in order of game appearance, including those not created with the RPG Maker series, are listed here. More detail on each can be found on the official site. "Ep. #" denotes the episode number of the specific game, "LP #" denotes the episode number of all aired LPs. Titles of unaired LPisodes are tentative.
Jester's Hunt (RPGM1)
Note: This was Draygone's own game, played as a way to test his ability as an LPer, and not counted among the rest of his LPs.
| Ep. # | LP # | LPisode Title | Original Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-24 | 0 | Let's Play Jester's Hunt | October 7, 2008 |
A Ronin Story (RPGM3)
Note: Ep. #11's first airing was an April Fools gag.
| Ep. # | LP # | LPisode Title | Original Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Rubbin' the Walls | Febrary 6, 2009 |
| 2 | 2 | Mmhmmm | Febrary 9, 2009 |
| 3 | 3 | Breakin' the Walls | Febrary 10, 2009 |
| 4 | 4 | Language Warning | Febrary 11, 2009 |
| 5 | 5 | Miss | Febrary 15, 2009 |
| 6 | 6 | Revenge Is at Hand! | Febrary 20, 2009 |
| 7 | 7 | Lag and Confusion | Febrary 25, 2009 |
| 8 | 8 | Plot Twist! | March 1, 2009 |
| 9 | 9 | The Obligatory Subquesting before the Supposed Final Area Episode | March 3, 2009 |
| 10 | 10 | Nobody Likes Me | March 6, 2009 |
| 11 | 11 | Dragon Quest | April 1, 2009 (Gag)
April 5, 2009 (Real) |
| 12 | 12 | Apparently, the Final Episode | April 8, 2009 |
Untamed Madness (RPGM2)
Note: Ep. #8 featured the first non sequitur.
| Ep. # | LP # | LPisode Title | Original Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | Firey Flowers | April 9, 2009 |
| 2 | 14 | Rekindled Flameship (1) | April 13, 2009 |
| 3 | 15 | Rekindled Flameship (2) | April 16, 2009 |
| 4 | 16 | Marvin
-or- Wasting Time | April 20, 2009 |
| 5 | 17 | Something Stinks | April 23, 2009 |
| 6 | 18 | A Spearited Welcome | April 27, 2009 |
| 7 | 21 | The Blood-Sun Children | April 30, 2009 |
| 8 | 22 | Bogged Down | May 5, 2009 |
| 9 | 24 | Goodbyelands to the Highlands | May 7, 2009 |
| 10 | 25 | Doom and Gloom or Some Such Stuff | May 14, 2009 |
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
| Ep. # | LP # | LPisode Title | Original Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Part 1 | April 28, 2009 |
| 2 | 20 | Part 2 | April 28, 2009 |
Donkey Kong (RPGM1)
Note: This was a test-play of a then-incomplete game.
| Ep. # | LP # | LPisode Title | Original Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | The RPGM Game | May 11, 2009 |
Kirby's Adventure (NES)
| Ep. # | LP # | LPisode Title | Original Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | Vegetable Valley | May 18, 2009 |
| 2 | 27 | Ice Cream Island | May 21, 2009 |
| 3 | 28 | Butter Building | May 25, 2009 |
| 4 | 29 | Grape Garden | May 28, 2009 |
| 5 | 30 | Yogurt Yard | June 1, 2009 |
| 6 | 31 | Orange Ocean | June 4, 2009 |
| 7 | 33 | Rainbow Resort (1) | June 9, 2009 |
| 8 | 34 | The Fountain of Dreams (2) | June 12, 2009 |
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (WiiWare)
Note: This LP was never completed. Six episodes had been recorded, but only the first two were uploaded.
| Ep. # | LP # | LPisode Title | Original Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 32 | Prince of Baron | June 5, 2009 |
| 2 | 35 | Plight of Baron Castle | June 12, 2009 |
| 3 | -- | -- | -- |
| 4 | -- | -- | -- |
| 5 | -- | -- | -- |
| 6 | -- | -- | -- |
Fu-Fu The Acid Trip Bunny (RPGM1)
Note: This LP was titled under "Let's Play (With Erika)" and was narrated by a voice-altered Draygone.
| Ep. # | LP # | LPisode Title | Original Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 36 | Midnight Ghetto | June 23, 2009 |
| 2 | 37 | Genshi Castle | July 20, 2009 |
| 3 | 38 | Anime Spaceport 2006 | July 28, 2009 |
SD Paradise (RPGM2)
Note: The second non sequitur would appear in Ep. #3.
| Ep. # | LP # | LPisode Title | Original Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 39 | Dave Carter Special | August 17, 2009 |
| 2 | 40 | Oscar the Grouch | August 20, 2009 |
| 3 | 41 | Issue 3, Volume 1 | August 24, 2009 |
Atari 2600
Note: Along with let's plays of Robot Tank, SwordQuest: Fire World, and Berzerk, this LPisode also highlighted Frogs and Flies, Jungle Hunt, Video Pinball, and Laser Blast.
| Ep. # | LP # | LPisode Title | Original Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 42 | Triple Feature! | September 30, 2009 |
The Spiteful Dead (RPGM1)
Note: Ep. #8 contained the third non sequitur.
| Ep. # | LP # | LPisode Title | Original Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 43 | Knight to Pawn (1) | October 26, 2009 |
| 2 | 44 | Knight to Pawn (2) | October 30, 2009 |
| 3 | 45 | Unholy Breath of Life | November 3, 2009 |
| 4 | 46 | The Recluse | November 9, 2009 |
| 5 | 47 | Quoth the Zombies... Ever Moan | November 12, 2009 |
| 6 | 48 | Carmageddon | November 16, 2009 |
| 7 | 49 | Need Not Tread Lightly | November 19, 2009 |
| 8 | 50 | Shattered Lives (1) | November 24, 2009 |
| 9 | 51 | Shattered Lives (2) | December 2, 2009 |
| 10 | 52 | Shattered Lives (3) | December 8, 2009 |
| 11 | 53 | Picking Up the Pieces | January 25, 2010 |
| 12 | 54 | A Bittersweet Reunion | January 28, 2010 |
| 13 | 55 | Running Blind | February 1, 2010 |
| 14 | 56 | The Resident Evil | February 4, 2010 |
| 15 | 57 | Death in Glorious Light | February 8, 2010 |
| 16 | 58 | Enlightenment | February 11, 2010 |
| 17 | 59 | The Spiteful Living (1) | February 16, 2010 |
| 18 | 60 | The Spiteful Living (2) | February 22, 2010 |
| 19 | 61 | Leave No Man Behind | February 25, 2010 |
| 20 | 62 | Rough Road to Freedom | March 4, 2010 |
| 21 | 63 | Unrest | March 8, 2010 |
| 22-23 | 64-65 | The End Days | March 17, 2010 |
Presto's Broken Dream (RPGM1)
Note: Ep. #7 contains the third non sequitur.
| Ep. # | LP # | LPisode Title | Original Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 66 | Docile Woods | April 21, 2010 |
| 2 | 67 | Splash Cave | April 23, 2010 |
| 3 | 68 | Creepy Estate | April 26, 2010 |
| 4 | 69 | Frost Summit | April 29, 2010 |
| 5 | 70 | IQ Tower | May 5, 2010 |
| 6 | 71 | Tanuki Power?
(Mecha Fortress, part 1) | May 12, 2010 |
| 7 | 72 | Enter the Dracoon
(Mecha Fortress, part 2) | May 21, 2010 |
A Demo (Various)
Note: These games are incomplete at the time of their recording. These LPs were created as filler.
| Ep. # | LP # | LPisode Title | Original Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 73 | Sword of Vengeance (1)
First Half | June 9, 2010 |
| 2 | -- | Sword of Vengeance (2)
Second Half | -- |
Let's Plays by Others
Thanks to members of the community such as Draygone, Lantis, and Sarah's Knight, let's plays had become popular enough that a subforum for them was required at RPG Maker Magazine. Lantis has actually uploaded more LPisodes than Draygone by around three times. However, few other RPGM let's plays have been made by those other than Draygone. Other RPGM LPs include:
- Usuru: Ultimate Story (RPGM1), recorded by Lantis (2nd Part)
- Tetris (RPGM2), recorded by Damien
See Also
- A Ronin Story
- Donkey Kong
- Draygone
- Fu-Fu The Acid Trip Bunny
- Great Dragon Gaming
- Jester's Hunt
- Lantis
- Sarah's Knight
- SD Paradise
- The Spiteful Dead
- Untamed Madness
- Valkysas
