It has come to my attention that a number of you are not really aware of how I make video walkthroughs for new PC games. At the time of this writing, the one I'm currently working on and posting videos for on my Youtube channel is Borderlands. To clear up some misconceptions, let's use this as an example to explain in some detail how I go about making a video walkthrough.
First of all, let's define exactly...
What is a 'Walkthrough'?
Unfortunately, on Youtube, many have begun to apply the term "walkthrough" to any recording of someone playing a video game for the first time and this is simply not correct. This is strictly a Youtube phenomenon. If you check out some classic video game walkthroughs, e.g. Doom walkthrough, you'll see in the days of old, the term 'walkthrough' clearly meant some kind of instructional guide created to 'walk' newbies 'through' video games in order to help them play the game effectively, find all the pickups, locate special items to open doors and the like.
These walkthroughs —which back then required a tremendous amount of work since they were all written up manually instead of recorded to video— were obviously created by people who knew the games well and had played them many times before.
This is a walkthrough.
Now warp to the present day where it's much more common to find walkthroughs in video format on Youtube, many have begun to apply the term 'walkthrough' to a recording of anyone playing a video game for the first time.
This is NOT a walkthrough.
This is more correctly termed a "playthrough" or a "Let's Play".
It Takes More than 20 Minutes a Day
As for my video game walkthroughs, I adhere strictly to the classic definition, i.e., I have already played the game before a number of times and I am now recording myself playing the game with the intent of helping newbies figure out how to proceed through the game, how to play effectively, where to find hidden stuff, etc. This takes a lot more work than a simple "Let's Play" (not to undermine LPs as they take a lot of work as well) because you must first get to know a game well enough in order to be able to instruct others with any credibility.
So regarding Borderlands, once again, I actually finished the game, both Playthrough 1 & Playthrough 2, BEFORE I even began the Borderlands walkthrough on my Youtube channel. Many of you are posting comments as if the videos I just posted were a recording of me playing the game for the first time, like, yesterday or something. And then I'm continuing as such, e.g., I'm candidly recording myself playing 20 minutes or so of Borderlands every day and then uploading those videos immediately.
This leads to a lot of comments where people are trying to advise me on what to do next as if (a) I've never played the game before and (b) I can simply take their advice and immediately apply it to my current playthrough and post the results in the next day's recording.
Oh and of course, many of you are under the impression that this all takes no more than 20 minutes a day. You know, like, I just make the recording and then instantly upload that recording and it only takes a minute or two to upload the videos. ...(*chuckle*)...
And that's it.
Seriously dudes (and dudettes)...
THIS IS NOT THE WAY IT HAPPENS.
Like.. This is SOOO wrong.
Just for the record, the following is...
wow just got done with your resdent evil cool
The ironic thing about Major is that he isn't a slacker, the proof is in the videos (not the pudding; he doesn't make pudding....actually that would be a funny video, "Slack makes pudding.")
Slack I've religiously been watching your Dead Island walkthrough and I have to say it's really helping me out. Thanks for the help Major! Pvt. Airfireshot out!
I love u.. nuff said
Thanks for the borderlands walkthrough. Just finished playthrough 1 and I found it invaluable. Posting here as I don't have a youtube account.
One thing.... ' All good men should be in the shadow rakk in the morning.' Any reference to a military type? should it be wrac ?
Thanks slack, and keep it up. enjoyed the bioshock as well and had a side-spliting time with the unrehearsed releases.
Juicy.
Also old enough to enjoy red alert, 3d wolfenstien and upgrading video cards by pluging the ram in yourself.
Ei !slack i think ur the best guru out there..great sense of humor hehe and without your tips and tricks i wouldn't be able to complete far cry 2. *salutes*
do you ever die? u indestructible game- god. borderlands was made for u keep it up man :)
slack ur a maniac, sometimes i have lyk 4 of your videos runnin at da same time they're insane, i love ur work, u keep up the shootin and we'll keep-a-learnin
Ok Borderlands is one of the best games ive ever played. I love the story and how its made. Now, a note for The Mighty Slack: You are the best gamer on the internet, you post funny and helpful things. YOU ROCK
woops i didnt think the first one went through... sorry
Slack, you are my videogame guru, without your help i would have never been able to get through borderlands (especially when we had to find those darn data recordings), it is important to me and all the rest of your fans that you keep up the good work!!..... oh yeah one more thing... GET SOME!!!!
slack, you are my video game guru, without your help i wouldn't have gotten through borderlands (especially when we had to find those data recordings) its important to me and all the rest of your fans that you keep up the good work!
slack ur videos r like a drug if i dont get my daily fix i get all restless and angry. keep up the good work
i nly watched the prototype PC walkthrough, and, serieousley, it was cool
you are the best slack