#(edited to fix a small issue with the formatting)

[nottakingresponsibility]

🌊

[🌊 When was the last time they cried? Timeline: Past.] "No- no, no..." They can't, they can't. He won't go anywhere, he won't let them turn him in, they weren't meant to find out!

He wasn't meant to be alive right now. That should of killed him, why did he live. Damn it, they couldn't just work quicker?! Curly. Curly he needed to find him. He needed to run away, he could never come back 'home'. So he did. When they took their eyes off him for long enough, he ran away, sneaking out of one of the many windows. They wanted an excuse to get rid of him, he finally gave them one. He was running for what felt like ages, trying to keep it together. He could hardly breathe, he was barely even recovered from his attempt. That was stupid, why did he ever think that was a good idea? He was just tired of his household. His legs hurt, his throat stung, he felt dehydrated, he could've sworn he tasted blood. His legs were weak. He felt like he could pass out at any second. He was stumbling, and it was a miracle he hasn't fallen over yet. "Curly-!" He coughed violently, knocking on Curly's door aggressively and immediately clinging onto him for support when he opened it. He felt safer now, at least ever so slightly. "Jim?! Talk to me- what- let's get you inside, okay. Do I need to call a doctor? What the fuck happened?!" Jimmy looked half dead, in his perspective anyways. His breathing was hindered a concerning amount. He felt so cold, yet he felt so hot. If Curly lived any further away he might've not been able to get here in time. "...Parents- ...pills.." Lying even when he might as well be on his deathbed. He was shaking. Was Curly... Curly was crying. For him. He was concerned, he... truly cared about him. He could go into a coma here or worse, die, if he wasn't sent to a hospital. He didn't bother to say what he actually did. If they asked questions, Curly could give them that vague answer. He didn't want him to worry anymore. Curly wiped a stray tear off Jimmy's face, one he didn't even know he had. Just... how much had he been crying through his pain? Was it really that bad? Jimmy couldn't hear Curly well anymore, he was blurred. Maybe he would die here. Maybe... it's for the best. He went limp in Curly's grasp, Curly frantically had to tighten his hold as to not let his friend fall to the floor. He needed to contact someone, quick. He didn't care about the consequences right now. "Shit shit shit shit..." He nearly broke down then and there. No, he had to get Jimmy out of this alive, he was his friend. He had to try. Jimmy was breathing, albeit slowly. He had a chance. A chance to live, a chance at life.

[changes]

Friday, January 26th, 2024

🌟 New

On web, we added “View previous reblog” to the post meatball menu. Find it by clicking the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner of a post!

We also tidied up some of the other items in the post meatball menu on web, while we were there. The ordering of some items were adjusted, and “Subscribe to conversation” is now called “Follow post”.

On Android, “View previous reblog” is now in the meatball menu of reblogs for all users on the latest version of the app.

To comply with the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), you can now mark a post as containing commercial content, which simply adds a “Commercial Content” banner to the post and does not affect your post’s visibility or ranking on Tumblr.

🛠 Fixed

Users can no longer send asks to blogs that have blocked them, or that they have blocked.

On web, the blog selector in the post editor would incorrectly appear on top of the text format bar. This is now fixed.

On web, the settings page for your blog (tumblr.com/settings/blog/blogname) used to show the account settings menu in the right-hand sidebar. We updated this area to show the blog sidebar instead (Posts, Drafts, Queue, etc).

We made some tweaks which should fix that specific problem where you see a non-zero unread count on your inbox, and so you click into your inbox only to find nothing there. Let us know if you continue to encounter that issue.

🚧 Ongoing

On Android, a small number of users were unable to access their messages on app version 32.9. This issue will be fixed in the next app version (33.0).

We’re still working to fix an issue in the iOS app that’s preventing folks from editing draft posts.

🌱 Upcoming

We just wrapped up another Hack Week, where we got to build whatever cool feature we wanted! Follow @engineering to see what we made 👀

Experiencing an issue? File a Support Request and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!

Want to share your feedback about something? Check out our Work in Progress blog and start a discussion with the community.

Wanna support Tumblr directly with some money? Check out the new Supporter badge in TumblrMart!

[lingyunxi]

Self-use Sims 3 CC Tutorials List

Here is a list of tutorials from which I learn to convert/create sims 3 cc in a few months (and as a poor English speaker). I think it might help someone who also wants to try making things for sims 3 but doesn't know where to start, though it's been 15 years from the game release and even Inzoi is coming hahah.

The list covers objects, clothes, hairs and eyes. I know there're lots of tutorials not listed here, that's because I haven't tried them in my projects by hand. But The list will be updated with new things I learn. Most tutorials are in English. Thanks to all these creators for sharing their precious knowledge!

Sorry for the miserable format, cuz I wrote them in Patreon and paste here. You can also read it there, free of course.

Where I find tutorials

sims 3 tutorial hub

ts3 creators cave and its discord

Mod the sims tutorial wiki and the forum

pis3update tutorials tag

General

CC basic concepts by nightosphere (for clothes, most knowledge is shared with objects)

Tools

TSRW guide by apple (for objects, most knowledge is shared with clothes)

Blender

shortcut by Blender Guru

beginner tutorial for version 2.5, 2.8, 3.0, 4.0

3.5入门教程 (youtube / bilibili)

设置切换语言快捷键 change language shortcut settings

图片取色器网站

Mesh ToolKit with Seam Fixer for all ages

Topaz gigapixel AI guide / higher quality texture

Texture

Nicer bake / bake in blender 2.78

Bake in blender 2.93

Make normal map

small size blank texture

Reasons for black blocks on baked image

Adjust texture color without losing quality

Object

clone obejcts with S3OC

4t3

Functional Objects

Functional bed

TSRW setting

Combining Textures for Objects with Multiple Textures

Add normal map to objects

Introduction to slot categories

Add slots in TSRW

Edit in-door shadow or occluders in TSRW / Talks about 3 kinds of in-game shadow by Pocci

Clothes

4t3 by nightosphere

Reduce polycount / fix seams, holes, shadows or normals

Bone reference rule

Avoid milkshape workflow / adjust bone assignment and morphs in blender

Manually fix bone in blender

Convert between ages/body meshes

TSRW check list

Fix long clothes clip with body

Fix holes on morphs (easier in blender)

Extrude collars

Create texture in PS

Avoid TSRW workflow / CTU tutorial

Hairs

Avoid milkshape and TSRW workflow / delete backfaces / handmade morphs / DABOOBS guide

Keys pointing to in-game blank textures to save file size (for DABOOBS not TSRW)

Reduce polycount

4t3

Fix weird seam lines on hairs from s4s

Fix pigtail issue

Eyes

Convert contacts to default eyes

[numerousbees1106]

Crown of Lazarus Teaser #2 - Tumblr exclusive!

No-One Knows Just Who To Believe

(This is the follow-up teaser to the one posted yesterday, which can be read here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55069789#main). Edited on 4/12/24 to fix some formatting issues.

It began slowly, as it always did. His mind, wrapped in infinite nothingness, thought only in the subconscious, all greater thought replaced with the gentle soundless static of the hindbrain. His body existed somewhere far away, his worries and fears farther yet still. For an endless moment, he simply existed within the threads of reality, interwoven with its fabrics, cradled and protected like a dragon in its egg.

But slowly, the harsher edges of existence began to creep in as they always did, like a camera slowly zooming in, and he became aware of his own wakefulness bit-by-aching-bit.

In his mind’s eye, he saw himself, but the proportions were all wrong, with some parts far too large and exaggerated, and other parts far too small, shrunk down like some sort of twisted caricature. He was rotating in an endless void, but simultaneously he was far too still, like an image pasted hastily into a video.

He became aware of his heart thumping, a sensation painful in its sudden stimulation. His breathing echoed loudly in his ears, his blood crawling through his veins like tunneling insects, bringing with them the numbing agony of his nerves regaining sensation.

Anakin slowly peeled open his eyes, eyelids sticky with disuse, nausea boiling in his gut. He felt too hot and too cold, sweaty and shaking, as his organs and various internal systems began to reboot and reawaken.

Even as his sluggish mind slipped in and out of what Anakin called his Reawakening daze, he clung desperately to lucid thought, knowing that he had to think up a damn good excuse for why he was mysteriously back from the dead.

The morgue, he figured. I’m probably in a body locker in the morgue.

Briefly, he wondered why he wasn’t freezing, but as he clumsily felt along his body, he recognized the scratchy textures of the blankets considered damn-near sacred by the clones. The blankets - thick and one of the more expensive pieces of gear - were limited to one per bunk, and it was a pain in the ass to get a replacement. As such, they were considered special by the clones - the blankets were always neatly folded, even in the messiest of chambers, even if the various other sheets were strewn all over the place. The blankets were always kept clean, and to steal a brother’s blanket was considered to be a serious crime. A handful of the 501st had even customized their blankets with dyes or sewn-on patches, despite it technically not being allowed.

And Anakin could feel some familiar patches on some of the blankets he was wrapped in.

Tears began to sting his eyes as he gingerly ran his fingers over one of the patches, shaping it out in his mind until he was certain - this was Rex’s blanket, that was laid out underneath him, cushioning what to them was Anakin’s eternal slumber. And the blanket draped over his torso, that bound his right arm to his side but left his left arm loose, Anakin recognized as Kix’s. And the one that gently wrapped around his legs and feet, Anakin could feel Jesse’s name embroidered on. A few other blankets embraced him, and more still cushioned the body locker around him, and Anakin’s heart clenched painfully with both immense love and grief. Damn his trust issues - he should have told them long ago.

With a shuddering breath, Anakin carefully unlocked the locker with the Force, gingerly sliding it out until a dim and flickering light greeted him.

Oh-so-gently, he moved the blankets out of the way so that he could sit up - they had really tucked him in tight, and it took all of Anakin’s willpower to not break into ugly sobs right then and there. He needed to find them, now. Just the mere thought of his beloved troops mourning for him another needless minute longer… it coiled something in his chest, curdled his heart like spoiled milk, radiating bitter guilt from his soul. He needed to go to them, to explain, to apologize to them, to beg for their forgiveness. He needed to reassure them that it was alright, that everything would be okay, that he was fine, that they would be fine. But, as he clambered out of his not-so-final resting place, he encountered a bit of an unexpected issue.

His wings were back. And they were a lot bigger than he remembered.

Shavit. Kriff. E chu ta. Karabast. Damn.

How in the Sith Hells was he supposed to hide this?

A thousand horrid scenarios raced through his mind. The Jedi, furious at him for lying to them for years. The Republic, desperate for a victory, throwing him into suicide missions again and again until there was nothing human left of him. Obi-Wan’s crestfallen face as he realized the betrayal.

Experiments. Slavery. Torture. His death.

Scenarios, infinitely numerous and infinitely grotesque, raced through his mind.

Except, as he panicked, he saw as the golden feathers became awash with a sickly pale green color, the same color he had come to associate with fear and panic and terror. And, as he noticed this, the pale green was replaced with the blue-violet of confusion.

Okay, he thought. Okay, maybe there is a way to hide this.

As he thought this, a light pink-yellow shade crept into his wings - hope.

He breathed deeply, tenderly stepping around the candles that had been left in front of his body locker, drawing his wings in tight to prevent them from knocking over the lit flames - or worse, catching fire.

All around the room, tiny trinkets and objects his men had held dear were carefully laid or propped up, tiny offerings to help him in his final march towards a battle far away. That was the idea, anyway.

Anakin only realized he had paused when his drooping wingtips knocked over a small wooden carving of a bantha, the grief-gray and guilt-gray-green feathers flinching in surprise and knocking over a few other nearby trinkets. The subsequent racket, though not terribly loud, was enough to make him freeze, that pale green color returning.

“What was that?” A voice sounded from right outside the door.

The Final Guard, Anakin realized. It was a tradition the clones had inherited from the Mandalorians, wherein the Final Guard - a select group of the deceased’s closest friends and allies - would stand watch over the body until it arrived at its final resting grounds.

“What was what?” A louder voice, one Anakin recognized as Hardcase’s voice, responded.

“Didn’t you hear that? That racket?” The first voice - Appo’s voice - hissed.

“I haven’t been able to hear much of anything since… well.”

A solemn pause, a heavy sigh.

“Get that checked out, vod,” Appo muttered.

“Once the Final Guard is done,” Hardcase agreed. “Oh, and the noise was probably just some of the offerings falling over.”

“Probably,” Appo concurred, voice thick with grief.

Breathing out a soft sigh of relief, Anakin tucked his wings tight against his sides as he eyed the vents. Those would be his best best out of the morgue, unless he wanted to knock out Hardcase and Appo with the Force, which he very much did not want to do.

It would be a tight squeeze, but maybe…

Unscrewing the vent and removing the cover was the easy part. Much harder to do was actually maneuvering his body into the small space that was a few feet above his head, all without making too much of a racket. He, however, had a secret weapon on his side: sheer Skywalker stubbornness.

Alas, he mused forlornly as he kicked uselessly at the air, finding himself stuck within the vent, I am also cursed with Skywalker stupidity.

His wings prevented him from moving forwards, the feathered limbs simply being too wide to fit, but also prevented him from reversing out of the vent, as any backwards motion bent the feathers the wrong way, sending sharp pin-pricks of pain through his newfound appendages.

“Stupid… kriff… damn these wings!” Anakin hissed under his breath, wiggling and wriggling each way in a fruitless attempt to free himself. With a sigh, he went limp, resigning himself to his fate. Still, as he reminisced on the events that had led him to this point - sulking, really, though he’d never admit it - he imagined his wings simply… disappearing.

And they did.

Painfully.

Very painfully.

Feathers fused back into flesh, hollow bones breaking up into thousands of fragments before merging into his muscles, tendons dissolving into goo and sticking to his sides until the wings were gone completely, with only his bleeding gums from where he had cracked a tooth on his metal hand, biting down on it to muffle his agony, to show for it.

Gasping and panting, tears streaming down his face, Anakin forced himself to move forwards with shaking hands. He had to keep moving. He had to keep going. Somehow he knew that his wings would come back, but he didn’t quite know what would bring them back. It could happen at any moment, for all he knew, trapping him in the vents until he reabsorbed them - something he very much was not keen on.

Well. At least he didn’t have to worry about having to hide them, though it wasn’t quite what he was hoping for.

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the vent collapsing beneath him, sending him plummeting very ungracefully to the floor below…

Right in front of Rex.

The aura around the petrified clone Captain was a horrid shade of pale green and shock-silver, the man’s face draining of color as he stared down at Anakin’s frozen form, their eyes meeting.

Captain Rex collapsed in front of him, unconscious.

Well, shit.

[simthesize]

How to record videos with Sims 2 in-game camera (HD, no UI, no lag, no file format issues)

I originally planned to include this information in the behind-the-scenes video about Bring Me To Life that I'm currently working on, but it's overly technical and not that interesting. It still might be useful to some people (mostly machinima creators), so I decided to make a separate post about it.

There are two ways to record videos in The Sims 2:

Using screen recording software

This is the most common and probably the easiest way. You just need a program like OBS that will capture whatever happens on your screen exactly as it happened. If this method works for you, it's perfectly fine. No need to follow this guide then.

Using the in-game video capture tool

This way involves capturing videos directly in the game by clicking the video camera icon or pressing V on your keyboard. This method is perfect for machinima creators. It automatically hides the UI, but more importantly, the video will always be perfectly smooth, regardless of the actual performance of your game, i.e. even if it runs like a literal slide show, any videos you capture this way will look perfectly fine.

Okay, so if this method is so great, why do we need a tutorial for it? Well, as is usually the case with this game, the feature works fine, it's just a little bit outdated.

To fix it, we need to do 3 simple* things.

*If you're a Sims 2 player, you're probably used to this kind of stuff anyway

Step 1: Installing a modern codec

In the Camera settings, the game lets you choose if you want the videos to be compressed. I highly recommend choosing that option, as uncompressed videos take up way too much storage space.

The codec that the game uses to handle compression is outdated and most video editing programs will not be able to edit such files. To fix this problem, we need to download and install x264vfw, which is a free an open source codec.

Once installed, open the Configure x264vfw app. No need to change anything there (unless you want to test different settings of course), except for this one small thing:

In the Debug section, go to Log level and change it to None. Otherwise the codec will display a pop-up window each time you record in the game, which is pretty annoying.

Step 2: Making the game use the codec

Locate the VideoCapture.ini file in the installation folder with your latest expansion pack. I have Ultimate Collection, so for me the path looks like this:

D:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Fun with Pets\SP9\TSData\Res\UserData\Config

Back up your file and open the original version with Notepad. You can either replace the whole thing with my settings, or just update the highlighted parts.

While you're at it, make sure to update the LargeSettings value to 1920x1080 so that the videos are captured in HD (no need to worry about it if you're copying the whole thing):

[Config] PreferredCodec=x264vfw Folder is relative to Res/Userdata Folder=Movies FilenameBase=movie NoFillFrames=0 AudioStereoOutput=0 AudioRateDivisor=4 GlobalSettings = reset, vbr:1, fps:10, keyinterval:30, mode:1, datarate:0 SmallSettings = size: 128x128 MediumSettings = size: 320x240 LargeSettings = size: 1920x1080 LowQualitySettings = minq: 6, maxq: 16, mode:0 MediumQualitySettings = minq: 4, maxq: 10, fps:15, mode:0 HighQualitySettings = minq: 2, maxq: 8, fps: 30, keyinterval: 60 SmallLowSettings = datarate: 75 SmallMediumSettings = datarate: 150 SmallHighSettings = datarate: 300 MediumLowSettings = datarate: 150 MediumMediumSettings = datarate: 300 MediumHighSettings = datarate: 600 LargeLowSettings = datarate: 300 LargeMediumSettings = datarate: 600 LargeHighSettings = datarate: 1200 AllowAntialiasing=0 # some drivers have issues with capture when AA is enabled [Codecs] 0=VP61 # On2 VP6.1 1=VP62 # On2 VP6.2 2=VP60 # On2 VP6.0 3=x264vfw # x264vfw

Save your file.

When in game, go to Camera Options and make sure Video Capture Size is set to Large and Video Quality is set to High.

Also, you might want to change the Maximum Video Recording Time to something higher than 60 seconds.

Credit for this solution goes to this person who left the following comment under this video

Step 3: Changing the file format from avi to mp4

Before doing this step, test if everything works correctly when you try to capture videos in the game. The videos will go to the Movies folder in your Documents folder for TS2.

Try to import the videos into your editing software. If it doesn't work, e.g. the program does not recognize the file or the file appears to be corrupted, you'll need to change the file format from avi to mp4.

I personally use VLC media player for that, as it's free and open-source.

Go to Media > Convert / Save...

Drag your files into the File Selection section or select them by clicking the + Add button.

Select the Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4) profile and click the wrench icon to edit its settings.

In the Video tab, make sure to check the box next to Keep original video track. Go to the Audio tab and check the analogous box.

Save and in the next window specify the destination folder and click Start. VLC will go through each of the files you added.

IMPORTANT:

While Steps 1 and 2 only need to be done once, Step 3 needs to be done for every new video you record (unless, your video editing software doesn't struggle opening the avi files). The good news is, this step is really fast, no more than a second per a single video. This is because we're keeping the original video track intact. The only thing that is changed is the container. That's why this change is fast and does not affect video quality in any way. Ideally, this step wouldn't be needed if we figured out a way to force the game to use mp4 when saving those videos, but I'm not sure if this is possible.

Like I said, outside of machinima creation, it probably makes more sense to just record your screen with OBS. Especially if you want to capture videos in 4K, which I don't think would be possible with this method. But it works for me and as it took me a while to figure it all out, I just wanted to share all the info in a single post!

[hackeraxedev]

Day 2 - Deeper into the boneyard...

The second day of modding was a shorter one because of other irl duties that needed taken care of, but we still got a lot done in terms of exploring custom skeletons and movement! The goal was to mainly fix his knees, palm, and fingers.

The first struggle was learning how to use PyNifly, a nifty and sleek tool for importing and exporting .nifs in Skyrim and FO4. (For context, I am using Blender version 4.2 and the latest version of this plugin!)

BadDogSkyrim/PyNifly: Export/Import tools between Blender and the Nif format, using Bodyslide/Outfit Studio's Nifly layer. Supports Skyrim LE, Skyrim SE, Fallout 4, Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 76, and Fallout 3.

The instructions on the wiki made it seem pretty easy, and I have used this tool in the past for doing small edits to meshes, but I still was left in the dark about how to import and export a skeleton without it turning out wrong. I ran into a couple issues.

The common issue I found myself in was that, when I exported the skeleton, the nif file would turn out blank. Turns out this happened because I selected the "export animations and collisions" options on import, when I should have set this to false. I selected the bounding boxes for collisions alongside the armature that contained the skeleton on export, resulting in an empty file. When I ignored the bounding boxes and only selected the armature, I was able to export the file without it turning empty.

Sometimes, after I would export the skeleton, the bones would be all over the place or not there at all. I solved this problem by ticking and disabling a few settings. On import, I disabled all the settings except the skin to mesh setting, then on export, I disabled all the settings, but ticked "preserve bone hierarchy," which was the golden ticket I needed to finally import a skeleton through blender then export a skeleton through blender without it doing anything wrong!

The last issue was moving the bones, but not seeing the changes in game. You would think that it would be as simple as moving the finger bones where Hazard's finger joints are, right? Unfortunately not. Skyrim's animations will snap the skeleton back into place if you move the vanilla bones. That's why, in spite of moving the bones in Blender, Hazard's body would shrink like a soda can! What you need to do is make a parent to node on the bones you wanna move and scoot that around instead. So you take the skeleton in nifskope, select the bones you would like to move, right click it, add a parent node, then select NiNode. Then you move the NEW bone you had just created in order to move the vanilla bone, not moving the vanilla bone directly.

Importing properly:

Exporting properly:

This here was an instance of me trying to experiment with moving the bones, but I realized that it wasn't working right because the skeleton I was editing and the reference skeleton that was inside Hazard's mesh was different. Hazard's reference skeleton had the actual vanilla bones moved when they weren't supposed to, and the skeleton that was used in the mod esp was moved into position with the parented bones, causing this strange mess...

With all of these issues answered between the hours, I finally came up with a proper workflow for how to handle humanoid skeleton editing for custom models. I described the process I've made with Hazard so far in particular.

Import Hazard's Overwatch model using Overtools (You can get the tool by going to their Discord here.) in Blender, and scale it to the size of Skyrim's skeleton. Don't worry about it being too perfect because we'll be fitting our own skeleton later.

Create a jointmap.cfg that maps each of Hazard's bones to Skyrim's bone naming conventions. (i.e bone_0066=NPC L Thigh [LThgh] or something for a whole group of bones from 0066-006F.) Have outfit studio on the side so you can import the FBX and see what custom bone highlights where. So for instance, if you saw bone_08B3 highlight somewhere on Hazard's nose, you should probably put that bone under the NPC Head [Head] category in the cfg. This is the most time-consuming part, but will save you a lot of headaches of having to weight paint manually, especially if you find yourself in the position where you must reimport the entire fbx again...

After you have a jointmap.cfg that's the way you want it to be (you'll know you're there when, not only is everything mapped, but they're mapped to the proper group without any oddities), the model probably won't be moving correctly at all because the reference skeleton in outfit studio is set to the basic skeleton by default. This is when we make our custom skeleton. Take a skeleton and parent all the nodes you want to move. I had a friend of mine with a skeleton that had most of all the bones I wanted to move parented already, so I didn't have to do too much work here. But it might take a little bit of time.

Import the skeleton into Blender where your model is, and make sure you don't have an armature selected. (Pynifly might do something funky, idk.) Select the armature of the skeleton you just imported, then in pose mode select the parented bone. That's the bone that's going to look like "NPC R Clavicle [RClv]:225". It's going to have a number next to it, move that one! It's very important you make sure you're moving that one, and NONE of the vanilla bones.

When it looks right to you, go into the settings of outfit studio and set that skeleton as your reference skeleton. Create a new outfit with no reference mesh and import your FBX. If you go to the left and turn on the visibility of bones, you should see your bones in the spots you moved them. Pose your mesh around and make sure it moves the way you expect. If not, tweak the movement then repeat this step until it's correct.

Go into your mod esp in creation kit and make sure your custom skeleton is being used instead of the default skeleton. Now with the skeleton on your nif being the same skeleton used in-game, Hazard should be moving the way you expect him to. If not, repeat step 4-6 until he does, as you will have to update the mesh again. (This is why it was useful for us to have that output file made from the fbx renaming machine!)

For now, this was the result of all my hard work. Don't mind the fact he's blue! I just didn't feel like putting his textures on. I still need to do adjustments on his hand, though. But they should be simple tweaks. I also want to make his fingers connected, as for right now, they seem to all be disconnected for some reason. I also want to fix how his chains on his butt look, too.

After the tweaks on his bones, my next plan is either to begin rigging his face, or fixing his textures to look better. I think it would be best to tackle the more demanding task of doing facial animation first to get it out of the way. And besides, I'm getting really tired of looking at Hazard's sleepy, bored expression! Time to liven him up a little!

===========================

Welcome to the chicken scratch section! This is where you'll see the raw notes I write down for modding before I write it in an organized way for the dev blog. I figured the chicken scratch of raw information might help someone, and I just think it's neat, so here you go! You'll know it's the chicken scratch section by the equal sign divide and the🐔 emoji.

Chicken Scratch 🐔:

In pynifly, I think what I'm supposed to do is import the bones without renaming anything, without importing the animations, and export without renaming things... and things seem to be okay.

parent the bones with empty nodes.

move the bones with the numbers next to them in blender

export the skeleton, preserve the bone heiarchy.

use that same skeleton as a reference skeleton in outfit studio. dont import a reference mesh.

select the fbx that was outputted by the renaming fbx machine

delete the custom bones from the project or it'll crash

edit the skeleton in blender and repeat to tweak

[bioethicists]

Edit: As of 1/27/24, all applications should have been pushed through (message me if yours was not) + I posted looking for others interested in moderating!

Come join our forum, Madness + Liberation!

For several months now, I have been working on creating a forum to discuss mad liberation, anti-psychiatry, + other related topics. This space is intentionally designed around values of harm reduction, total liberation, bodily autonomy, + validation of lived experiences. We talk openly about new ways of conceptualizing 'mental illness', psych abolition, + our experiences with issues like eating disorders, substance use, disability, plurality, + more.

The intention of the space is to generate new thought surrounding psychiatric abolition + mad liberation, cultivate a space for people to discuss these issues in a radical liberation context + without fear of retribution, + connect ppl from different backgrounds in order to learn from one another + provide resources/education for the curious.

I initially admitted a small number of people to test the waters, as I am currently the only person with moderation abilities. However, conversations have been very positive, even among ppl with very different theoretical backgrounds + the current community has done a great job of communicating so far. I would love to admit a handful of more people before we create a moderator team! Our ultimate goal is to become much more decentralized, with moderators trained in restorative approaches to conflict. My goal is to build a house, not rule a city.

There are no prior knowledge requirements to join. You do need to be open to having conversations with others which are rooted in psychiatric abolition, as well as understand that there is a strict ban against contacting crisis or authorities in regards to other users. There is an unfortunately lengthy + poorly formatted entry form (which I hope to fix up once we have a moderator team lol) which explains more about the sort of content which can be expected.

Additionally, small sections of the forum (primarily Theory + Education) are accessible to the public. Others are shielded for the protection of members. If you would like to join solely to be able to read all of the content, feel free to mention that in the form! Nobody is required to engage at all, only to respect the values + goals of the forum.

[art source] [id in alt text]

[splendidsneb]

EDIT: Fan of the icons? Wanna to say 'Hey, good job!' And support me? Consider buying a sticker!

Greetings lovelies, I've been busy with another project and it's finally time to share.

As you can see, I've taken it upon myself to redraw my entire DbD Icon Pack.

This was no small task, I had a total of 73 characters to redraw, colour and format to work in game. (and not a whole lot of free time to do so)

I've been working on this icon pack since 2016, and as time has passed, both my skill as an artist, as well as the way I render certain things have changed, so I decided to go ahead and redo the entire project in a more cohesive style, as well as more closely reference official models when making the initial sketches, as quite a few of the old pieces were just me eye balling things and saying "close enough", so while you'll see some characters that look the same over all with minor tweaks to fix mistakes like Meg or Trapper, you'll also see some art that was completely redone for characters that I just wasn't happy with the quality, like Jeff of Doctor.

I even made a point of eye dropping all colours used directly from the previous version of the icons, along with reusing the same textures.

I wanted the icons to feel as close to the originals as I could make them, while still taking into account that the new UI features the icons on a dark background, which caused some visibility issues with the previous version, which were made with (at the time) lighter colour background in mind.

The new versions now have a white outline which keeps the icons from blurring into the background and getting lost.

I'm really happy with how this has turn out, and I hope you like it too!

That being said, while I will only be updating this version going forwards, I'm not going to delete the older version, so if you're a super fan of the previous version and would prefer to keep using them, you absolutely can!

The 'New and Improved' version can be found on NightLight app under "Sketched In Profile.", as well as here as a [Mega] if you'd prefer that.

If you wish to use the previous version of the icons, you can click the Mega and find them located in the folder entitled "!Legacy Icons." They'll be at the front of the list for easy access.

Feel free to take a peak at what they look like in game below!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns about using these, feel free to reach out!

[divineerdrick]

Warhammer 40,000 Balance Update for October 16, 2024 - Munitorum Field Manual and Errata for Xenos Factions

After writing, I decided to split this document up into the super factions for ease of use. I've also changed how I format rules changes. Let me know what you think! Is this more readable, would you prefer a single post, or should I do a post for each faction?

Edit: The color coding for points changes breaks every time I edit it. To fix it, I have to go into the HTML and correct where it's marking things. I just don't have the spoons for manually correcting that much text.

Aeldari

Form their lofty perch, Aeldari have gotten to a point where they could use some love. While their win rate is near spot on, they're having trouble making it to top tables. And the players that are, usually run Ynnari. But will GW give them much of anything or let them ride until their Codex comes out?

Here we run into another issue. The changes are being made directly to the Index. This is good. GW should definitely do this. But do they tell us what's changed anywhere? Answer, they've put it in the document for the Index Cards. It's important they put it somewhere, but I really wish they had it spelled out somewhere where the changes are listed.

So what's changed? The standard Autarch now has the basic Captain ability as detailed in the last Balance Dataslate. That's an important change to have listed finally. For FAQ, we get another common sense answer for Wraith Guard and clarification on how to properly position a jumping Yncarne.

All Corsairs: -2 pts/model Falcon: -10 pts Fire Prism: -10 pts Shining Spears: -10 pts/3 models Warlock Conclave: -5 pts/2 models Warlock Skyrunner Conclave: -5 pts/model Wave Serpent: -10 pts Wraithblades (5 models): -10 pts Wraithguard (5 models): -10 pts Wraithknight: -15 pts

As for the points, it's all good news! GW really is getting much better at understanding what's going on in the game! The important stuff here are the buffs to vehicles and Wraith constructs. I don't know if this brings Wraithknights back to the table, but small groups of Wraithguard might be worth taking again. I'm not sure these changes will convince anyone to bring a Conclave on foot though. All of this is good news for Eldar players!

Drukhari

The article warned that nerfs are incoming. Still I hope they only get a love tap. Their rankings are greatly bolstered by skilled faction specialists. No one is currently running out and buying up Drukhari models because the faction is good. Granted if GW successfully brings down the factions above them, there might be an issue. But I hope they don't go beyond a love tap.

For Errata, the Archon is specified as having its own ability, not Lord of Deceit. I don't think there's anything Drukhari can take to stack with it, so that shouldn't be an issue. My guess is the team is considering changing Lord of Deceit in some way. It is really strong. So this makes sure that change doesn't affect Archons. They also get a couple more clarifications for Pain Parasite, but there's nothing unusual here.

Archon: +10 pts Beastmaster: +15 pts Court of the Archon: +10 pts Drazhar +10 pts Hellions: -2 pts/model Incubi: +2 pts/model Lelith Hesperax: +10 pts Mandrakes (5 models): +5 pts Reavers (3 models): +5 pts

Yeah there's a lot there. I think that's a whole unit gone from many Drukhari lists. We also see that GW is continuing to recognize that some MSU spam is just really good. This really is a good thing, and may be slowly turning me around on purchasing units in bricks. But it sucks when you're already really nerfing an army.

Drukhari could be hurting.

Genestealer Cults

I'm about to say something that might shock some of you. I honestly don't think GSC is doing that badly. They've actually got solid numbers, though this come from the fact they're a niche faction with skilled specialists. But I think that's okay. I think it's okay for some factions to be there for the fans and require a little skill to play. It's very obvious that while GSC can struggle in match ups, you can get results with them. What they mostly need is internal balance, and I think that will come to rules.

For errata and FAQ we get a revision that makes sure you take a GSC model as your Warlord in the Brood Brothers detachment. We get a common play clarification for Tunnel Crawlers, but a very interesting clarification for Brood Brother Kasrkin. Despite not having the Voice of Command Army Rule, Kasrkin can still give themselves orders. That makes them a much more powerful and versatile unit in the Brood Brothers detachment. Still not sure that's enough to make that detachment even close to good, but it's interesting at least.

Abberants (5 models): -15 pts All Acolyte Hybrids: -1 pts/model Acolyte Iconward: -10 pts Atalan Jackals: -2 pts/model Benefictus: -10 pts Jackal Alphus: -5 pts Neophyte Hybrids: -5 pts/10 models Patriarch: -10 pts Primus: -10 pts Outlander Claw: - Serpentine Tactics: -5 pts

Oh boy! Christmas just came early for my cults! Still, I'm actually going to say these aren't the best changes. A lot of these changes benefit Outlander Claw, the Mad Max style detachment. And that is currently the best GSC detachment and my personal favorite. While the other detachments will love these changes too, I'm worried that Outlander is going to become the only way to play GSC. There's already a Wolf Jail like list running around the scene, and no one likes dealing with that list. The only good news is I doubt this is going to bring a huge flood of players to the faction spamming toxic bike lists. So while GSC isn't going to become a problem, it's only going to be a rare problem list that will frustrate players now and then.

Leagues of Votann

The Kin are another force that looks good from win rates but is actually struggling quite a bit. Like Death Guard, the Leagues struggle to secure the points they need at mid boards and up. This will hopefully get better if GW continues to get them new units, as their roster is still quite small. But for now, points aren't really the answer here.

FAQ wise we only get a timing clarification for Grudge tokens. And points don't have much either.

Einhyr Hearthguard (5 models): -10 pts Hernkyn Yaegirs: +10 pts

Okay. Yaegirs probably did need to go up, but I'm not sure this was the time for it. With so many other factions that are performing better getting all buffs, this is bad news for the Kin.

Necrons

After a brief stint as our metal overlords, Necrons have shifted to a pretty good spot. The main thing they need is some internal balance for their Detachments, and I don't think points will do that. Hypercrypt is just such a strong way to play the faction. Nerfing the models in the Hypercrypt builds threatens to drop Necrons too low. I think maybe only the Monolith can take a nerf without too much interference.

For Errata we start out with some Keyword fixes. Obeisance now benefits all Nobles and not just Overlords. And the Silent King is now officially part of the Triarch! However Plasmancers have had their ability to target Lone Operatives removed. So it's not all good news there. The FAQs are just common play clarifications too.

Annihilation Barge: -10 pts Catacomb Command Barge: -10 pts Deathmarks: +1 pts/model Doomsday Arc: -10 pts Lokhust Destroyers (1 model): +5 pts Lokhust Heavy Destroyers: +5 pts/model Monolith: +25 pts Obelisk: -25 pts Tesseract Vault: +25 pts Triarch Praetorians: -4 pts/model Triarch Stalker: -15 pts

That's a lot of shifting things around, and it's going to take me a moment to dissect it. As predicted, they bumped up the Monolith and Tesseract Vault with it, though I don't think many players were taking the latter or that it could be used as substitute. The dropped the cost on the Obelisk, but I don't think anyone's gonna try it out. Points aren't the problem there. My biggest problem here is Destroyers. While Hypercrypt did often take them, so did all the struggling detachments as well. And while faction specialists are going to experiment, I don't think these changes are enough to make Obeisance Phalanx really viable.

Things could be getting bumpy again for the Necrons.

Orks

As was said earlier, Orks are not in a good spot. While the nerfs they took didn't seem all that severe, they turned out to be nerfs to pillars that were holding the faction up. Since then, Orks have fallen hard and are the worst faction that has actual rules or isn't competing for its own players. And they're likely going to need a lot to rise back up.

The first big change is a clarification change to many rules that might help with some timing issues and future proofing. All or most rules active when you call the Waaagh now read they are active while the Waaagh is active for your army. This means if they change the timing on calling the Waaagh, as many Ork players would like, you wouldn't lose these buffs during your opponent's turn if you went second. While this looks like it might be nerf to Bully Boyz, the FAQ specifies that their abilities still work. We also get an FAQ the clarifies that when Snikrot uses Kunnin' Infiltrator, he doesn't count as moving for the purpose of Fire Overwatch. Though, he does still count as being setup on the board when he comes back down for the same stratagem.

Beast Snagga Boyz: -1 pts/model All Big Meks: -10 pts Boyz: -5 pts/10 models Deff Dread: -10 pts Deff Koptas: -10 pts/3 Gorkanaut: -15 pts Hunta Rig: -15 pts Kill Rig: -15 pts Kommandos: -15 pts Meganobz: -5 pts/model Morkanaut: -15 pts Tankbustas: -20 pts

And that is a lot of green, and a lot more green you can put on your table! As expected, Meganobz got some of their nerf rolled back. But a lot of boyz, including the popular Beast Snaggas, got buffs. Also, at some point the Gorkanaut and Morkanaut have to become playable as just a pile of wounds and guns on the table.

This is not going to make Orks into one of the top factions, but it should go a long way to getting them back where they should be.

T'au Empire

Tau are in what I'd call an okay spot. They're not where they need to be, but they're not doing that bad. They're performing just slightly above par, and only one of their detachments is struggling. They're what I would consider a textbook example of an army that shouldn't be receiving any external balance passes, so that they can rise up to where they should be when the meta changes. Internally, Kroot need help. But I'm not sure points can fix that.

The big fix here is to the Puretide Engram, which I think has been broken since the Codex came out? It now does something, letting you get a CP back on 4+ when you target the bearer's unit with a Stratagem. The new FAQs start by clarifiying that Crisis Suits always have a Pivot of 0" regardless of how you model them. Then we get two clarifications that, while they are how the rules work, are doubtless going to feel bad to Kroot players.

Commander Farsight: -10 pts Kroot Carnivores: -1 pts/model All Kroot Shaper: -10 pts/model Kroot Rampagers: -5 pts/model Krootox Rider (1 model): +5 pts Piranhas: +5 pts/model Riptide Battlesuit: +10pts

It looks like they're trying to do some internal balance, and at least help Kroot somewhat. But I don't think this is anything close to enough to make them viable. I don't think the other changes are going to affect Tau much, though we might see Farsight a bit more.

Tyranids

My beloved bugs have really turned it around with the Pariah Nexus changes. Despite losing Spore Mines, the changes to Synapse and Shadow in the Warp means we can actually get some damage now. That means we aren't always on the losing end of trading games. Neurotyrant with Zoanthropes also make for a fun and interesting tech piece. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them take nerfs, as well as the Swarmlord. Unnending Swarm could use some love though.

For errata, Surprise Assault gets some cleanup for timing and targeting. The Swarmlord gets the same treatment as Cypher, the Archon, and Ventris got, meaning it will keep its version of Lord of Deceit. Unseen Lurkers has been updated to the rules changes on Stratagems preventing your units from being targeted. Hunting Grounds, and all rules that trigger when a unit arrives from reserves, are clarified to trigger when a unit didn't go to reserves but was set back up on the battlefield. Rules that say "cannot arrive" on the battlefield during a turn take precedent over units that "must arrive" on that turn. While it doesn't specify, I do believe they can still arrive the next turn under normal Strategic Reserve rules. All the rest I believe are common play, though I was initially confused by the Neurogaunt/Neuroloid answer. But Neurogaunts specifically say that they have to be within range of a friendly model.

Carnifexes: -10 pts/model Lictor: +5 pts Old One Eye: +10 pts Pyrovores (1 model): +5 pts Von Ryan's Leapers: -5 pts/3 models Winged Hive Tyrant: -10 pts

This all seems fair to me. Carnifixes on their own got cheaper while Old One Eye got more expensive. The full unit still dropped in cost though. Pyrovores continues a trend as to how much GW wants you to pay for a single unit. And the Lictor has honestly been under-costed for a while.

I'm happy with this. I think we'll be just fine.

Final Thoughts

And with that, we have our balance changes for October! Space Marine players of all stripes aren't going to be too happy. Even Dark Angels, who initially thought would do well, will hate the base points changes in the Codex. Only Space Wolves . . . you know . . . THE ARMY THAT NEEDED NERFED THE MOST!!! . . . will be fine with these changes. Dedicated Ultramarines players will likely get something to work though, now that their Primarch is back in play. Sisters and Thousand Sons are in for a drop. Sisters probably won't drop too far, but, and I know I said this last time, I'm worried about KSons. Drukhari are really going to be hurting, though I'm sure Archon Skari will still find a way to win. I'm also worried about Leagues of Votann, Necrons, and World Eaters too.

Orks are looking like they'll start to rise again, but I don't think they're a top faction. CSM and GSC might be in a position to fight for the top spot. Wolf Jail is dead! Long live Jackal Jail! I also think Aeldari might have a reversal of fortunes too. The rest of us will only shift by percentage points, which is exactly what you want when the balance is this tight.

[2headedb0y]

I am mom's spaghetti palms sweaty right now, was up into the wee hours of the morning with my game after realizing One Drive (Microsoft's "helpful" cloud syncing it pushes) was autosyncing all my game files (and other less important files) while I had them open working on them :')

I'll spare everyone the details of why that's bad but the tldr is it almost corrupted my whole game, but I fixed it and only lost some very basic formatting (in game menu adjustments and the font settings, which I am replacing anyway with something more readable). And a few small edits to some json files which again are easy to redo.

I already back up my game to a flash drive (yeah, I know I need to get Github) so I've banished One Drive from my desktop since there's no reason for it to be there.

Definitely don't recommend allowing One Drive to autosync files while you are actively working in any kind of database. Unfortunate that I didn't realize this was happening until it started giving me all these issues!

[myheartisoutatsea]

Captain America & Superman

You know how when Marvel is compared to DC people say that Captain America and Superman are synonymous? Or Iron Man and Batman are? I would like to propose that we switch those. I don't think Captain America and Superman are good comparisons.

Argument number 1 : Captain America is a team player, Superman is not. One of Superman character flaws, something he has to overcome, is that he thinks he can or should protect the world alone. He can lift it alone, and so he should. He struggles with control because when things are outside of his control he feels responsible when they go wrong. He feels he should be able to protect everything, because he has the power, but as only one man he often fails in the scope of it. He may be able to solve every problem, but he can't see every problem. One of the first thing any adaption of the Justice League origin story has to overcome is Superman trying to fight the bad guy alone. Captain America is the literal opposite of that. He is the most team player team player, and when he can take a mission with a team he does. He doesn't shy away or panic at not being able to control every problem or fix every problem, he acts calmly under pressure. He works on teams.

Argument number 2 : Superman is the team leader, Captain America is not. Superman, at least later on in stories (And I don't mean like later editions, but just later on in the stories, like after justice league formations), is genuinely the leader of the Justice League. He calls people together, he addresses issues. Batman is nominally the leader as well, as in he calls attention to problems and offers solutions, but it's Superman who often makes the final calls. Captain American can not be said to often make the final call. He can call orders in combat, and maybe lead missions, but it's either Shield or his fellow Avengers who call missions. In fact, most of the Avengers can be the leader at different times, depending on the situation. Captain American and Iron Man are the leaders of the Avengers in equal measure.

Argument number 3 : Superman's No-kill rule, and Captain America's willingness to kill. I think this relates to Superman's feelings that only Superman can keep Superman in check. And he's not wrong, which means if Superman doesn't have hard morals, then he doesn't get to be Superman. Captain America doesn't have those issues. Captain America was taught combat in war, and made his morals there too. He has mercy, don't forget that, but he also doesn't see killing as the be all end all of morality.

Counter Argument number 1 : Both Superman and Captain America deal with the narrative question of "Are they necessary?" And the conclusion is that they aren't. Superman can retire, so can Captain America. They aren't necessary for the world to go on. But they have inspired people who often carry on their legacy. Superman has inspired plenty of the Justice League to be better heroes, and plenty of Super-boys who came after. Captain America also inspired heroes, and plenty of people who try to take up the mantel after he's gone. And their success depend on how much they understand themselves and what they stand for, and overcome who Superman and Captain America were.

Counter Argument number 2 : Clark Kent and Steve Rogers are very similar. Both are small town guys who view themselves as Clark Kent and Steve Rogers first, and Superman and Captain America second. I think their civilian identities are good comparisons.

Secondary Arguments 1 : I think Iron Man and Superman have more similar narratives. Both have these sense that their skills and powers are dangerous and they need to be their own moral compass. Both are scared of their own powers in a way. Stark is scared of his tech being misused and also running from his weapons dealer past. I've already explained Superman's fear. I know that Iron Man isn't exactly no-kill but he's one of the guys who I could see having that rule.

Secondary Arguments 2 : I think Batman and Captain America have similar fighting styles and approaches to missions. I don't think they'd agree or have similar narratives but I think they'd fight side by side well.

Closing thoughts : I love all four of these characters and I think all have incredibly intricate and interesting narratives, and so I think comparing them also leads to interesting discussions. Ultimately I think that their worlds are different to find exact comparisons, but it's still a fun draw to make. What are your thoughts?

[yuriko-mukami]

24, 29 & 35 for the fanfic writer meme

Get to Know Your Fic Writer

Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

This was years ago when I attended a creative writing class and it came from one of my classmates. She said something like this:

“You write pretty well but let me give you advice. You should drop the stupid topics you write about. No one cares about fantasy and other weird stuff. If you want to be a proper writer, you must give that up and write something truly interesting and realistic. Otherwise, you'll never be good.”

That was bad advice and I didn’t follow it. I think everyone should listen to their hearts and write about what gives them enjoyment, or what they are interested in. It shows when the writer enjoys the topic too.

What’s your revision or editing process like?

I usually do several editing rounds and take a break between each. The first round is the things I already know need fixing (in my case, usually adding descriptions and something else like that). Then I'll send the text to the beta reader and wait for their comments.

After getting those comments, I go through them and fix more things. Many times, I talk with the beta during the process to get clarifications and sometimes help with thinking about how to solve issues.

In the third round, I'll fix sentence structures and details. And then I have one final read-through when I post the thing. But if I make ebook and printed versions, I read the text the fifth time and format it into a book layout. Sometimes I need to make small changes in these versions.

What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain?

This is probably a more personal opinion than an absolute rule. But I prefer that villains aren't bad simply for being bad. Meaning, I want to give them reasons why they are how they are. That doesn't mean they are doing the right thing though.

Another thing I sometimes do is give the villain a likable trait. They aren't completely bad. They can do good deeds too or even their goal can be good while their methods are bad. This way, I feel there is more debt in the villain and they are more fascinating character too.

That were two things but for me, these are equally important matters.

[sunenjoyswriting]

A small thing on the idea of Yuune overblotting!

Possible warnings: Body horror (?) & one of the ideas implies death.

Writers note: Made this at 2AM on a kindle. Formatting may seem somewhat different lol. Also please pleaseeeee send me requests about Yuune!! I adore my silly little Yuu!! Ill probably look this over in the morning and fix its issues before releasing it to you all. (Edit: This was now looked over, all typos that I noticed have been fixed & it’s a little more cohesive!)

Yuune would likely overblot due to nobody believing him about this just being a game, and their overblot would more resemble one of the blot creatures (or perhaps more like an abstracted creature from TADC?) instead of the normal overblot look, due to my idea of blot more easily overtaking a magicless body then a magical one. He would just keep on repeating something like "You're all ignorant fools for not believing me", or maybe they'd just stay completely silent. Despite me making this character, I am unsure of whether he’d speak while overblotting… This form would be very painful for them, every second is agony. He would likely lash out at most the TWST characters due to what they've all caused him: keyword "most". They would be nice to Lilia, and perhaps Silver, maybe even the rest of Diasomnia (probably not the rest of Diasomnia, but I can dream!), due to them feeling very emotionally connected to Lilia, like how a child would feel to their father (Lilia really be collecting these children like pokemon, am I right? Laugh track plays in an attempt to make my overused joke appear funny). I believe the only person/fae, that could bring him back from his overblot form would be Lilia, for reasons stated above. If Lilia wasn't able to bring him back, then... Yeah, read the second warning. Once they're back to normal, Yuune would cling to Lilia, and be oddly passive... For a few weeks. Then everything would seem like it goes back to normal, but Yuune is even more traumatized then before and avoids the topic of games as much as possible! Oh, and [[Player]] wouldn't know anything was wrong. They'd just play TWST like normal, unknowing of what was happening behind the screen. Anyways rant over now.

[manonamora-if]

Project Status and Plans

All projects and their relevant links are listed here or here.

2023 Resolutions:

Get things off my desk and shelf it for good.

Avoid starting new ones, or at least starting new WIPs

Continue to do Word Crimes (and maybe Code Crimes)

Under the break:

Project Status and Current To-Do's

Future Projects

/ . /

Project Status and Current To-Do's:

Meeting the Parents

Remaster Completed - Maintenance when needed

Crimson Rose & White Lily

Hiatus - Correct bugs - Redesign the Codexes - Complete Scene 5 (and Scene 2 variations?)

Exquisite Cadaver

Hiatus - Fix UI - QoL update of textbox and translated text - Add missing scenes and Endings - Fix Endless Mode - Look into French localization (unlikely) - Fix the blog

SPS Iron Hammer

Complete Future: remaster with complete story and gameplay

The Thick Table Tavern

Complete - Update Planned - Fix UI (look into mobile scaling) - Fix coding bugs (esp. Arcade Mode) - Re-writes of current text - Add missing storylets - Include recurring characters

The Trials and Tribulations of Edward Harcourt

Work In Progress - dependent on writer - Complete next round of edit and code - Package as a completed product

La Petite Mort

Completed - Update in the Works - Fix UI - Add missing rooms, content and endings - Correct the Inventory Mechanic - Fix display of elements - Translate into English

Goncharov Escapes!

Remaster Completed - Maintenance when needed

P-Rix - Space Trucker

Hiatus - Fix animations (esp text) and autoscrolling - Add the missing content - Look into French localization

DOL-OS

Remaster Completed - Maintenance when needed

The Rye in the Dark City

Hiatus - Fix UI - Double check Act 1 and fix errors - Add Act 2 and 3

The Roads not Taken

Complete - Update Planned - Iron-out the UI + display element - Fix parser gameplay (esp direction) - Add missing element/actions - Look into French localization

Entre-d’œufs coquilles An Eggscellent Preparation

Complete - Update Planned - Fix current bugs and issues (wrong text display and main puzzle) - Retranslate to French - Repackage into one page - Upload to IF Archive + GitHub

The Dinner

Complete - Update Planned - Complete missing courses and Final Beat - Add alternative options + rewind endings - Look into French localization

Templates and Guides

Work In Progress - unlikely to be complete - SugarCube Guide: add missing APIs, commonly used blocks of code, functionality, UI changes, JavaScript code; fix some small errors, add SGDocu theme - Templates: make more for fun; planned: title page. Also add the missing pictures of the templates on itch.

Complete - nothing will change here - Tweego Guide - CScript to SugarCube Guide

Tiny Games

Le Jeu de la Dévotion: fix the typos + English translation

À La Campagne

Collision

Intersigne

Clarence Street, 14

Other To-Do's

Prompts: put them in separate collection

Empty Inbox

Re-design itch pages: consistent style between main games

Re-format Tumblr intro posts: consistent style between posts

Continue to Host Jams

Continue to Play and Review Games

Take care of those damn wrists and hands.

Future Projects

Those projects are TBD in everything. They would probably start then the above To-Do has decreased. The titles are WIP titles. This is not the complete list I have hidden in a drawer or other desk bunnies. They might not be Twine games, or IF games either...

Quest Town

A RPG-style adventure, where you play as a beginner adventurer on the road to greatness and treasure. Along the way, you encounter people needing your help, with promise of rewards in return.

This would include a leveling system, inventory system, combat gameplay, travelling back and forth between location, storylets...

Project Status: Not Started

IFComp/SpringThing 2024-5?

A puzzle-focus escape-room, in hypertext/visually interactive form. Multiple rooms with different puzzle and interconnectedness. Story with mystery.

I technically have a title for it, and the pun is still making me giggle. But keeping this in my sleeve.

Project Status: Mock-up, some puzzles coded.

CRWL Side-quel

A Razac-focused story, either as a prequel, during the event of the games, sequel, or plain alternate universe. Mainly because I've been playing him in a TTRPG session and he's a fun character I want to explore further.

Project Status: Not Started

Sword Vigilante F/F Rivalry

Because there are not enough of those, and I can just go all in with the humour, camp, gushing, innuendos and puns, and of course... betraaaaayyyaals. Think Zorro but with more sword ladies.

Project Status: Not Started

TTTT Sequel - Bron(m?)'s Quest

Essentially a similar gameplay from TTTT but with food instead of drinks. Help Brom(n?) prepare food for the customers.

Project Status: Not Started

[nokingsonlyfooles]

The menus don't work, the menus don't work, the menus DON'T WORK...

OK, my few readers. I took a break, I went back to fix the navigation, it's unfixable as-written.

I need some complex stuff in places, I was willing to forgive WP for putting out a new site editing interface that barely works - as long as it has the basic features someone would use on a storefront. I'm an outlier. I know this.

BUT IT IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE TO CREATE A MENU WITH A WORKING SUB-MENU IN IT. IF YOU TRY, THE SUB-MENU LINKS ARE UNCLICKABLE.

I am using their site editor and their 2024 theme, I should say.

I crossed my fingers and looked for the (now liable to vanish from anything more complicated than a paragraph) "edit as html" option. Nope! It's gone! I can't fix it. I would have to hack the interface somehow to fix this for WordPress, within WordPress.

I had to go looking for plugins. I HAD TO GO LOOKING FOR 3RD PARTY SOFTWARE TO GET A FUNCTIONAL MENU. And, of course, they paywall features I need. I found a "floating" menu that actually does work well enough (it's a little cramped on mobile unless you put the screen in landscape mode, but at this point you should really do that anyway, I can only format so much) but the sub-menu function is paywalled. And I'm actually fucking tempted to buy (haha, I mean "rent") it. Because the damn thing works in dark mode and across devices. And it sticks to the side in a fairly unobtrusive way, which WP's menu will not. It won't stick anywhere. And it sure as hell won't do that thing where you scroll up and it plops down for your convenience.

But if I use that floating menu without sub-menus, it's gonna get longer, and longer, and longer, until it doesn't fit on your mobile screen anymore, or potentially your tablet or desktop, and then I dunno what happens. Also, in order to keep it small, everything is a cryptic icon that displays a title when you tap it (on mobile) or hover over it (on desktop). That's kinda counterintuitive, I don't know if I want my one working menu to be like that.

I might keep looking and find another plugin that also works that well but... it's not likely. Or, if I do, I may run into another paywall. They gotta get their rent somehow!

This is a stupid problem and so far I am unable to come with with a non-stupid solution. I can:

Put all the links in the header menu, and you'll have to scroll through EVERYTHING to find the actual content every time.

Put all the links in the content area, in different places and different combinations depending on the page. (And this would mean doing some reformatting on every instalment AGAIN.)

Start fucking around with the sidebar - I don't know if it works and I'd have to rip up every template I've already made to add it.

Put all the links in the footer menu, and nobody will notice them.

Put all the links in the floating menu (see above for the issues with that).

Make sub-pages for Misc/Notes and similar that are just lists of links and serve the function of a sub-menu.

Actually put the content on the sub-page and have it navigable via anchors (this seems like it would be a bitch to load, but most of my content is just text).

Make a list of links that isn't actually tagged as a menu, thus losing the collapsible function for small screens.

Kill God.

That last one is probably the most doable but I feel like someone would get mad at me. Like, Hazbin Hotel finally got its first season on Amazon, and if God dies they might have to rewrite some shit.

If I don't lay out the money for the cryptic icon menu, we're probably going to end up with three or four accordions that are not technically menus at the top of every page. And I'll hafta check back every once in a while to see if WP fixed their shit yet.

If they don't stick with that site editor and make it useable, all this work is going to vanish like chalk marks in the rain.

I WANTED to put up another six-pack in February. I have it ready to go! But the site doesn't work. If I can't fix it this week, I won't even be able to put things up without illustrations. And forget having time to fill in the missing artwork. I got enough to do trying to kill God!

[eggtrolls]

This is just not true.

On 12 September 2005, an unregistered editor added that Tina Blacker was born to a Jewish family in New York City (see highlighted blue text below). No references given. Note the year (not 2015, 2005) - 2005 is part of the Wild West era of Wikipedia editing when people could and would just add whatever they wanted and very often no one would notice for years. Small editor base, still very Web 1.0.

On 15 March 2022, editor Nohomersryans added the following citation (highlighted in blue). It took almost 17 years but we have a citation!

We’re in a very different period of Wikipedia editing between 2005 and 2022. Automated tools, scripts, templates, bots to make rote edits, high vigilance especially on popular pages — we’ve arrived. And this is a very famous person so it has a lot of eyes on it. So, unsurprisingly, someone checks the added reference and sees that is doesn’t actually confirm what’s claimed. This is a particularly neat trick that vandals will do, but also just people who are kinda clueless. Many people will take the existence of a reference as confirmation without stopping to see what that reference actually says. Luckily this is not always the case. On 2 June 2022, editor HanginOn removes the claim because it is not supported by the inline citation. See the edit summary that also claims that the edits were done by a “persistent antisemitic witch hunter”. Can’t comment on that.

And this version, which has no reference to Tina Louise’s Jewishness, sticks around until May 2024. For those of you keeping up at home, the 10/7 attacks happen in the middle of this period. If there was ever going to be a time when Tina Louise’s article is going to be vandalized because she’s Jewish, this is it. And it just doesn’t happen. There aren’t even any defamatory edits or vandalism happening on her page around 10/7. All of the below are minor tweaks about her acting career.

Finally between 22 and 23 May 2024 (possibly in response to op whose post was from 20 May 2024), we get some movement on the question of Tina Louise being Jewish.

To recap these edits: very new editor Onomatopée adds that she’s Jewish (cool!) but puts it in the first sentence of the article which is against the MOS (Manual of Style) guidelines on how to discussed ethnicity, race, sexuality, etc. Then slightly more experienced editor RJ4 moves it into the body of the article under the ‘Early life’ section, but does kind of a messy job (“Jewish Enthnicity”), and so finally administrator Jayjg cleans up the formatting a little bit. You can see the changes in the little triptych below.

And that’s the format it’s been in ever since. Last edit was 29 December 2024 and Tina Louise is still Jewish. That being said, I will be looking for additional sources to see if I can expand on this part of her life and make sure it is never erased again in the future. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

However. I am annoyed by the claim (and the 30+ minutes I’ve spent looking into it) that “before 10/7, there were at least 3 to 5 references to her Jewishness on Wikipedia” - no there were not! Go through the edit history! There was one (1) statement that was unreferenced for almost 20 years and then one (1) insufficient reference was added. There are plenty of issues of antisemitism and ugly, hate-fuelled editing on Wikipedia that need to be removed and fixed without making up one. An actual problem, like the guy who went around saying the religion of Yemeni Jews is Islam, which I personally fixed, comes to mind. If anyone is interested in working on issues like this, WikiProject Judaism (which I’m semi-active in) has a backlog of articles to create, review, and edit as long as your arm. Lmk if you want to work together on something.

Fin.

Another Jew on here commented that people were going onto Wikipedia and removing references to certain people's Jewishness, and I just saw for myself that this is true. As a Jew and a fan of old movies and history, I was looking up a list of Jewish actors on Wikipedia. I saw Tina Louise (you know, from Gilligan's Island) pop up. So I popped over to her actual page on Wikipedia. And there were zero references to her being Jewish. So I hopped on over to the Wayback Machine (bless you, Internet Archive) and put in the URL for her Wikipedia page. And wouldn't ya know it: before 10/7, there were at least 3 to 5 references to her Jewishness at any given time on her Wikipedia page. Wtf is happening.