Annotated mod playthroughs

Other people have done so before, so I'll take the chance to advertise myself a bit. I'm toying with the idea of using my Youtube channel to host annotated playthroughs for the somewhat obscure Wolfenstein mods, or at least mods that have never been covered on Youtube yet. I'll be playing on IADI and strive for 100% ratios whenever possible, as well as provide some comments about the levels.

https://www.youtube.com/user/nawigatorpirx

So far I'm doing A Long Walk Back by Harry Mass Senior. Level 1 and 6 are uploaded (sorry for the strange order, I'll probably record and upload the remaining levels soon enough):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO8raLVXmek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei2r6kxdGNg

Well, there. Hopefully some of you will find this interesting. I'm also looking for suggestions for mods to play once A Long Walk Back is done (not too long from now, since it only has 6 levels). Ideas?

Nexion wrote:The more obscure the better.
Although i prefer more obscure, graphical stuff instead of mapset based sets. I like your approach and glad i'm not gonna see the usual victims all over again.
It could be more comments for my taste.

The idea of using annotations is ok. Personally i'm not a big fan of it and its implementation, mainly because it covers the game/video and youtube being already laggy. Normally I tend to turn it off as soon as possible.
Talking is also hit or miss in most videos.
Maybe subtitles would be an alternative idea.

Anyways, good luck with the upcoming ones!

Level 2 video is now public:

https://youtu.be/izn3E6z9TVM

Out of your suggestions, I decided to try and include even more comments. I guess it worked, there was enough to say about this level to make twelve annotations. I can't guarantee the other levels will provide as many points of interest, though!

As for annotations, I pretty much have four options and they're all suboptimal. Spoken commentary? I don't trust my English and I have a speech impediment. Annotations? As you said. Subtitles? I'm not sure if people are going to notice that and enable them. Or I could put all the info in the video's description, with appropriate time links. For now I''d rather stay with annotations and try to make them as non-invasive as possible.

And of course I'm not going to stick to mapsets only. I still haven't decided what to play next, so if you know any interesting, obscure (as in not on Youtube yet) mod with plenty of modified graphics and sounds, go ahead and tell me! Or maybe I could try something from this wacky thing:
https://archive.org/details/Wolfmods_1020
https://archive.org/details/WolfmodsII_1020
https://archive.org/details/WolfmodsIII_1020

Thanks for the encouraging comments, I hope you'll find my future videos fun!

I would love to see CHOKAGE on YouTube, older mods like Dark Dungeon, obscure things like Remake by Ken O'Brien etc... And of course for egotistical reasons I would love to see some of my own stuff that's not ATAW or NovoWolf out there lol...

I understand the speech part is not for everyone and can be quite a challenge.
About the subtitles i'm not sure if they have automatic option. Youtube keeps slaughtering the options and design to cyber bits.
I watched the new video and for me it got bit more interesting. In case you have nothing to comment on the level there is always option to say something generally about the mod, its design or give some background information.
Putting it into description sounds like the worst choice.

As for suggestions bunny-bouncing around my mind currently: Half-Life, The Ravenous, Eat At Joes

I second Chokage.. and not necessarily an obscure mod, but a funny one: Castle Hasselhoff.

Annotation > description.

Here's level 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECfCk96KdDE At this point I'm no longer going to post about particular levels, and only let you know about major events like starting a new playthrough.

I'll decide on the next mod in the following days... You guys have given me some very interesting suggestions. Chokage is a brillant idea, but honestly I'm not sure if I can handle it! I haven't actually played any of the other mods Nexion and Ron mentioned, but I'll have a closer look. The graphics style in Eat At Joe's is quite sublime and Castle Hasselhoff looks neat too. And Thomas' suggestions sure bring back some nice memories! I used to play Remake and especially the Dark Dungeon mods quite a bit back in the day, so those are strong contenders for my next choice.

I'm also considering mods like Encrapment, Secrets of the Grauburg Dungeon, or Astrostein (I believe only the WolfenDoom versions is present on Youtube). Anyone remember those? AReyeP's unnamed first addon is also a possibility eventually.

Woohoo, I have actually completed something! The entire playthrough of A Long Walk Back is now available on Youtube in this playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO8raLVXmek&list=PLWf2clpxutyAdfdf1s31yCte87fMashDm

And as a bonus video, have a mutant dancing to the music (made possible by the author's unorthodox use of floor codes):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVrzYUmn7ro

I also have a surprise for the few people following my playthroughs! I have decided to write companion articles to any finished mod playthroughs, wherein I attempt to analyze the mods a bit in-depth, trying to figure out the reasons for their relative obscurity (or at least non-Youtube-ness), accentuate their redeeming qualities, and possibly uncover some interesting, hidden stuff. The review of A Long Walk Back (which proves that even a buggy, unpolished release can still be a lot of fun if the author's got enough mapping talent) can be found on Dean's Wolfenstein 3D blog here:
http://deans-wolf-blog.blogspot.com/2014/10/review-long-walk-back.html

Lastly, I have decided that the next mod I'm going to cover will be... Spear Resurrection! No, just kidding. Next up is The Ravenous, a nine level sci-fi total conversion suggested by Nexion on this here forum. I'll start recording and posting the videos soon enough.

Triple post, wheeeee

So as stated before, I went with Nexion's suggestion first (thanks!). Here is the playlist link:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWf2clpxutyCQMNt1zDQvUA45aUXBvbGH
And the download link for the mod itself (I should start including these in the video descriptions):
http://www.brlowe.co.uk/TheRavenous.zip

Just to remind everyone, this is The Ravenous, a science fiction-themed total conversion. The mod uses numerous new graphics and sound in an attempt to create a moody military base-type environment being infested and corrupted by weird alien beings. A bit like Doom. So far the Level 1 video is available, and I'll be releasing the remaining footage at the usual pace of one level per day.

I am now recording with modified OBS settings, which should result in a slight rise in quality and no more things like the blurry recording of A Long Walk Back Level 1. I'm also trying to do a neater job with annotation boxes, limiting them to a certain area of the screen and unifying the background colours. I'm also trying to annotate the videos even more thoroughly than before.

So, have fun, everyone! And just as a teaser, here's how the mod looks (screenshot comes from the Wolf3D Dome):

Nexion wrote:Pretty neat, looking forward to more. Finally something lesser known and different than the usual victims. I'm glad it's not the usual "war" themed stuff either. The annotations look bit nicer in such centered way on top and of course interesting to read the new amount of text, hehe.

If you're still watching, you might have noticed that pretty much every level ended up being annotated quite thoroughly. There's a lot to say about the mod, but sadly few of these things are positive. It was still a good recommendation though.

In other news, copy-paste: while the playthrough of The Ravenous is progressing consistently (up to Level 6 now, and there will be a review + some bonus material too), I'll also drop a note that I'm trying my hand in original Wolfenstein level runs under the following conditions: can't get hit any time throughout the run, I Am Death Incarnate, pistol start, 100% kills if possible. Here's a playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWf2clpxutyCeieUmcsncS1q_1Fr3UxYW

It's a bit empty so far, but I actually have the entire Episode 1 done and will be uploading the videos in the nearest future. I'm already thinking about the other episodes, although there are some levels which can be flat out impossible to complete this way.

Wshew! The Ravenous is done. The mod was ambitious, but sadly flawed in some critical areas, particularly mapping. Not a very good production overall, but still with some bright sides. The completed playthrough is here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWf2clpxutyCQMNt1zDQvUA45aUXBvbGH
The review is already posted on Dean's blog, too, and available here:
http://deans-wolf-blog.blogspot.com/2014/11/review-ravenous.html

For now... I need a break after suddenly jumping into completely new territory. I'll take some rest first, then choose the next mod, consider my approach and record some gameplay in advance before I start posting again. I want to do one of Thomas' suggestions, but they're all rather daunting (the Dark Dungeon mods both have >40 levels, while Remake has 60), so I need to prepare for that. In the meantime, anyone willing to watch my playthroughs so far has a chance to catch up.