#2017 game hack

[acquired-stardust]

.hack//G.U. Last Recode PC 2017

[eyes-0f-etro]

just got ending D in Nier Automata and I need to go lie down for a few weeks

[felidae-sims]

Sims 2 Databases Database

(Alright it's an index, I just had to)

Made it for myself, I might as well share. If there's something I've missed please let me know. This list is being updated, Tumblr is being a pain and updates won't show up on re-blogs. Visit the original post to view the most current version. Mirror: Dreamwidth.

CC:

By Type:

Sims 2 - Object Default Database [Discontinued - DW].

Sims 2 - Object Default Database [Active - Spreadsheet].

Sims 2 - [CAS] Default Database.

Sims 2 - Hair Database.

Sims 2 - CC: Afro Hairstyles.

Sims 2 - Shoes Database.

Sims 2 - EA Store Items 2016.

Sims 2 - The Maxis Match Repository Project [CAS] [Pinterest Ver.]

Sims 2 - Repository Finds [CAS&Objects] [sorted into categories].

Sims 2 - Functional Finds [Sorted by function].

Resource list: Clutter and decorative items [massive index at GoS].

Sims 2 - Wall Hanging Decor Recolors Database [New!].

Sims 2 - Lot Database [Maxis ones emptied out].

Sims 2 - Lot Makeover Database [of Maxis Lots] [Note the Uploading Tutorial].

SkyBox/Horizons/Skylines Database.

Maxis Career Conversions TS1+3+4 to TS2 [Sorted by Game&EP - Under Downloads].

Fractured Moonlight's Stone Super Set Database [Creator Unknown, let me know if you know].

By Theme:

List of Maxis Lost & Found Objects Converted into Usable Items.

Stories to Sims 2 Conversion Database. [DW Backup]

TS1 to TS2 Conversion/Recreation Database.

TS1 to TS2 Catalog Conversions [Active, Includes OG Object Descriptions].

TS3 to TS2 Conversion Database [DW Backup].

TS3 to TS2 Traits Project Mod Tracking Sheet [Blog Ver.]

TS4 to TS2 CAS Conversion Archive [EA].

TS4 to TS2 CC Clothing Conversion Database [Custom - ts4 only?].

TS4 to TS2 Build/Buy Conversion Database [EA].

TS4 to TS2 CC Build & Buy Database [Custom].

The Sims spin-off games to the PC TS2 [&3+4].

TSM-to-TS2 Conversion Database [DW Backup].

Sims 2 Historical Finds [CAS&Objects] [Sorted by Era/Period].

Historical Sims 2 Wiki [New!].

Grunge Masterlist Project 2025.

List of Asian Sims 2 Sites With Working Downloads [As of 2017?].

CC Archives:

Sim Archive Project, at The Internet Archive [Introduction Post].

Sims Cave.

Sims Graveyard.

Simblr.cc - Dead-Site Repository.

Liquid Sims - Community Archives.

The Booty, at PSMBD.

Sims 2 Packrat, on Tumblr [Watch out for the recent SFS Hacking problem].

Ekrubynaffit (a.k.a bestbuild4sims) has re-uploaded a lot of archives of defunct creators. Albums with DL on her pinterest. Mainly build and buy mode, thanks a lot!

Resources:

CEP-Extras List, Huge Lunatic at Sims 2 Artists.

The Sims 2 Tutorials Database [Active] (Really needs a backup outside of Tumblr).

Several Lists of Maxis Resources for Modding,Pick'n'Mix Mods, own website, under Notes.

Sims 2 GUID Database Revival (Yes I'm shamelessly promoting it).

Sims 2 Trait GUID Database, by FireFlower.

Sims 2 Painting Sizes Database.

List of all Color Actions, With DL, ZeroDark/Graphic at GoS.

List of all WSO Actions, by Blue Heaven Sims, under Resources.

List of Hacks & Mods That Use Tokens, Bulbizarre at MTS.

Giant List of Simlish Fonts - Collect ‘Em All!, by franzillasims.

Masterlists of Recolouring Templates; MTS [+Cloning] | Hafiseazle | ZreoDark [not a list but a tag].

Index of Effects Names & Definitions [+ Guide], by AmmarAskar at GitHub.

Update notes are under the cut:

Update: Custom Clothing Conversion db [4t2], by @brandinotbroke/ Hair db, by @krabbysims/ Sims 4t2 CAS Conversion Archive [EA], by @mdpthatsme/ CEP-Extras List, by @hugelunatic/ Lists of Maxis Resources for Modding, by @picknmixsims/ Sims 2 Tutorials db [Active], by @sims2tutorials/ Sim Archive Project at The Internet Archive, by various - see @simnostalgia. Update 1: added EA ts2 store items at GoS/ Painting sizes db/ Tutorials db, by @sims2tutorials. Update 2: GUID db Revival. Update 3: believe it or not, there's more - Shoes db/ Sims 2. Functional Finds [sorted by function], by @sims2functionalfinds. Update 4: Resource list: Clutter and decorative items, at @gardenofshadowssims. Update 5: added archives section. Update 6: added @ekrubynaffit's Pinterest Archive. Update 7: Fixed TSM link, added Stories db/ Afro Hairstyles db, by @letomills/ SkyBox/Horizons/Skylines Database, by @simmergetic/ Grunge Masterlist Project 2025, by @pixeldolly/ and DW backup links (Everything that's exclusively on Tumblr/LJ should be backed somewhere else). Update 8: List of Asian Sims 2 Sites With Working Downloads [as of 2017?] by @0201-sims. Update 9: added Sims 2 Repository Finds [sorted into categories], by @sims2repositoryfinds. Update 10: added Sims 2 Object db [Discontinued], because the more the better. Update 11 Yet another (!): The Maxis Match Repository Project [CAS], by @whattheskell [how did i forget?]/ TS3 to TS2 Traits Project Mod Tracking Sheet, by  Rowena Sims & @noodlebelli. Update 11: Maxis Career Conversions TS1+3+4 to TS2 [Sorted by Game&EP - Under Downloads], by @sims2idea-lientebollemeis2i. Update 12: HS I found another one: List of all Color Actions - Names, Creators, and Download Links. Maintained for over a decade by @zerographic at GoS :P Update 13: separated by type & theme. added Sims 2 Historical Finds [CAS&Objects] [Sorted by Era/Period], by @ts2history. Update 14: added to resources Trait GUID db, by @fireflowersims. Update 15: I shit you not, there's more - Sims 2 Lot Makeover db [Maxis Lots], by @ts2lotmakeoverdb/ List of Hacks & Mods That Use Tokens, Bulbizarre at MTS/ TS1 Catalog Conversions [Active], by @kitteninthewindow/ WSO Action Masterlist, by Blue Heaven Sims under Resources. Update 16: List of Maxis Lost & Found Objects Converted into Usable Items, @kirlicues. Update 17: Sims 2 Lot db [Maxis ones emptied out], by @mikexx2 @mrsktrout @ts2lots. Update 18: Historical Sims 2 Wiki [New!], by @theacmecatalogblog. Update 19: under archives; Simblr.cc - Dead-Site Repository by @simblrcc-site. Jackpot! Update 20: added Giant List of Simlish Fonts - Collect ‘Em All!, by @franzillasims. Update 21 [can't believe there's more]: Masterlists of Recolouring Templates; MTS [+Cloning] | @hafiseazale | @zerographic [not a list but a tag]. Update 22(!): Index of Effects Names & Definitions [+ Guide], by AmmarAskar at GitHub. Update 23: added Sims 2 - Wall Hanging Decor Recolors Database [New!], by @sims-for-semi

[talesfromcordonia]

Choices Book Release Dates - Date Order

English books only

Alphabetical Order is here

Release Date

2016

The Crown And The Flame 1 - 17 August 2016

The Freshman 1 - 17 August 2016

Most Wanted - 17 August 2016

The Freshman: Love Bites - 19 August 2016

The Freshman 2 - 22 August 2016

The Freshman: Chris Luxury Getaway - 22 August 2016

The Freshman: James Masquerade Ball - 22 August 2016

The Freshman: Kaitlyn Perfect Date - 22 August 2016

The Crown And The Flame 2 - 7 September 2016

Rules Of Engagement 1 - 22 September 2016

The Freshman: Snowed In - 7 December 2016

Endless Summer 1 - 15 December 2016

The Freshman 3 - 22 December 2016

Love Hacks 1 - 22 December 2016

2017

The Haunting of Braidwood Manor - 4 January 2017

Rules Of Engagement 2 - 25 January 2017

The Freshman: Game Of Love - 8 February 2017

The Crown And The Flame 3 - 29 March 2017

The Royal Romance 1 - 13 April 2017

The Freshman 4 - 3 May 2017

Hero - 12 July 2017

Rules Of Engagement 3 - 21 June 2017

Endless Summer 2 - 30 June 2017

The Sophomore 1 - 12 July 2017

Love Hacks 2 - 2 September 2017

High School Story 1 - 7 September 2017

The Royal Romance 2 - 22 September 2017

High School Story 2 - 6 October 2017

It Lives In The Woods - 18 October 2017

The Sophomore: Hartfelt Halloween Special - 18 October 2017

Rules Of Engagement: Newlyweds - 8 November 2017

The Sophomore 2 - 6 December 2017

Home For The Holidays - 13 December 2017

Red Carpet Diaries 1 - 15 December 2017

Endless Summer 3 - 22 December 2017

2018

High School Story 3 - 28 February 2018

Perfect Match 1 - 28 February 2018

The Royal Romance 3 - 2 March 2018

BloodBound 1 - 30 March 2018

The Junior - 9 April 2018

Veil Of Secrets - 1 June 2018

Red Carpet Diaries 2 - 13 June 2018

America’s Most Eligible 1 - 27 June 2018

Desire And Decorum 1 - 30 July 2018

Across The Void - 20th August 2018

The Senior - 14 September 2018

Perfect Match 2 - 5 September 2018

Big Sky Country 1 - 21 September 2018

High School Story: Class Act 1 - 8 October 2018

It Lives Beneath - 10 October 2018

The Elementalists 1 - 24 October 2018

A Courtesan Of Rome - 14 November 2018

The Heist: Monaco - 10 December 2018

Desire And Decorum 2 - 17 December 2018

2019

America’s Most Eligible 2 - 16 January 2019

Ride Or Die - 25 January 2019

High School Story: Class Act 2 - 11 February 2019

Open Heart 1 - 22 February

The Elementalists 2 - 15 March 2019

Passport To Romance - 20 March

Wishful Thinking - 15 April 2019

The Royal Heir 1 - 22 April 2019

Nightbound - 24 April 2019

BloodBound 2 - 17 May 2019

Platinum - 30 May 2019

Red Carpet Diaries 3 - 7 June 2019

Sunkissed - 26 June 2019

Bachelorette Party - 18 July 2019

Big Sky Country 2 - 27 July 2019

Desire And Decorum 3 - 4 August 2019

Mother Of The Year - 30 August 2019

America’s Most Eligible 3 - 18 September 2019

Save The Date - 29 September 2019

The Royal Masquerade - 18 October 2019

High School Story: Class Act 3 - 30 October 2019

BloodBound 3 - 9 November 2019

The Royal Holiday - 16 November 2019

The Elementalists: Winters Past - 27th November 2019

Baby Bump 1 - 9 December 2019

Hot Couture - 19 December 2019

With Every Heartbeat - 19 December 2019 (VIP)

BloodBound: Dark Solstice - 21 December 2019

Desire And Decorum: First Winter - 22 December 2019

2020

The Royal Heir 2 - 24 January 2020

Blades Of Light And Shadow 1 - 29 January 2020

A Very Scandalous Proposal - 5 February 2020 (VIP)

Open Heart 2 - 29 February

Witness: A Bodyguard Romance - 16 March 2020

Distant Shores - 3 April 2020

The Nanny Affair 1 - 13 May 2020

Queen B 1 - 26 June 2020

The Unexpected Heiress - 22 July 2020 (VIP)

My Two First Loves - 27 July 2020

The Royal Heir 3 - 21 August 2020

Baby Bump 2 - 20 November 2020

Ms Match - 23 October 2020 (VIP)

Rising Tides - 28 October 2020

Wolf Bride - 23 December 2020 (VIP)

Foreign Affairs - 30 December 2020

2021

With Every Heartbeat - 27 January 2021 (General)

Open Heart 3 -  19 February

Slow Burn - 26 March 2021 (VIP)

Laws Of Attraction - 27 April 2021

A Very Scandalous Proposal - 19 May 2021 (General)

The Nanny Affair 2 - 18 June 2021

The Royal Finale - 28 July 2021

The Unexpected Heiress - 20 August 2021 (General)

Shipwrecked - 27 August 2021 (VIP)

Queen B 2 - 22 September 2021

Wolf Bride - 13 October 2021 (General)

Shipwrecked - 22 October 2021 (General)

Wake The Dead - 27 October 2021 (VIP)

Surrender 1 - 26 November 2021 (VIP)

Crimes Of Passion - 22 December 2021 (VIP)

Wake The Dead - 29 December 2021 (General)

2022

Ms Match - 28 January (General)

Surrender 1 - 11 February (General)

Untameable - 25 February (VIP)

The Princess Swap - 25 March (VIP)

Crimes Of Passion - 6 April (General)

Untameable - 15 April (General)

The Cursed Heart 1 - 27 April (VIP)

The Princess Swap - 13 May (General)

Immortal Desires - 25 May (VIP)

The Cursed Heart 1 - 8 June (General)

The Nanny Affair 3 - 24 June (General)

Immortal Desires 1 - 6 July (General)

Murder At Homecoming - 29 July (VIP)

Slow Burn - 19 August (General)

The Phantom Agent - 31 August (VIP)

Murder At Homecoming -  14 September (General)

Laws of Attraction 2 - 30 September

The Phantom Agent - 19 October (General)

Guinevere - 26 October (VIP)

Kiss Of Death - 25 November (VIP)

Surrender 2 - 28 December 

2023

Guinevere - 6 January (General)

Getaway Girls - 25 January (VIP)

Kiss Of Death - 10 February (General)

Roommates with Benefits - 24 February (VIP)

Getaway Girls - 15 March (General)

First Comes Love - 29 March 2023 (VIP)

Roommates with Benefits - 14 April (General)

The Duchess Affair - 28 April (VIP)

First Comes Love - 17 May (General)

Kindred - 26 May (VIP)

Crimes Of Passion 2 - 28 June (General)

The Duchess Affair - 7 July (General)

The Billionaire’s Baby - 26 July (VIP)

Kindred - 4 August (General)

Dirty Little Secrets - 18 August (VIP)

Blades Of Light And Shadow 2 - 1 September (General)

Dalton Affair - 13 September (VIP)

The Billionaire’s Baby - 20 September (General)

Bloodbound: Origins - 23 September (VIP)

The Promise Of Forever 1 - 27 September 

Alpha - 13 October (VIP)

Dirty Little Secrets - 18 October (General)

Ship Of Dreams - 25 October (VIP)

The Dalton Affair - 1 November (VIP)

The Cursed Heart 2 - 15 November (VIP)

Alpha - 24 November (General)

The Cursed Heart 2 - 27 November (General)

Unbridled - 13 December 2023

Blades TTRPG Companion - 20 December (VIP)

Ship Of Dreams  - 22 December (General)

Guarded - 29 December (VIP)

2024

The Deadliest Gambit - 12 January (VIP)

Hot Shot - 26 January (VIP)

Unbridled - 3 February (General)

Villainous Valentine - 14 February (VIP)

Guarded - 28 February (General)

Immortal Desires - 28 February (VIP)

Hot Shot - 6 March (General)

The Promise of Forever - 6 March (Region Locked)

The Deadliest Game - 15 March (VIP)

Along Came The Treble - 27 March (VIP)

Make That Date! - 1 April (VIP)

Immortal Desires 2 - 19 April (General)

The Ghost Of Us - 24 April (VIP)

Crimes Of Passion: The Proposal - 8 May (VIP)

The Deadliest Game - 10 May 2024 (General)

Along Came The Treble - 22 May (General)

Filthy Rich - 24 May (VIP)

Open Hearts On Fire - 7 June

Hearts On Fire - 14 June (VIP)

The Ghost Of Us - 21 June (General)

Rivals with Benefits - 26 June (VIP)

Filthy Rich - 10 July (General)

Hearts On Fire - 19 July (General)

Terror Fest - 26 July (VIP)

All Of Us His/Her Story -  7 August (VIP)

Rivals with Benefits - 21 August (General)

Plus One - 28 August (VIP)

Terror Fest - 6 September (General)

All Of Us His/Her Story -  18 September (General)

Texts from HSS - 20 September 

Blades Of Light & Shadow 3 - 25 September (VIP)

Crimes Of Passion: The Proposal - 9 October (General)

Bitten - 11 October (VIP)

Knock Knock - 16 October

The Shadow - 16 October

Plus One - 18 October (General)

Crimes Of Passion 3 - 25 October

Tap That Date - 8 November

Years Apart - 13 November (VIP)

Best Served Haute - 29 November (VIP)

Bitten - 6 December (General)

The Holiday Bakeoff - 11 December 2024

Boardroom Alpha - 13 December (Pilot)

Do No Harm - 13 December (Pilot)

Crimes Of Passion 3 - 18 December (General)

Inheritance - 18 December (VIP)

2025

Years Apart - 8 January (General)

Our Summer Crush - 15 January (Pilot)

The Spy I Married - 15 January (Pilot)

Immortal Desires: Paths Not Taken - 17 January (VIP)

Best Served Haute - 24 January (General)

Hot Shot 2 - 29 January (VIP)

Inheritance - 7 February (General)

Into The Woods - 14 February

My Fake Valentine - 14 February

Immortal Desires 3 - 28 February (VIP)

The One - 14 March (VIP)

Hot Shot 2 - 26 March (General)

Main Character Energy - 1 April

Do No Harm - 16 April (VIP)

Immortal Desires 3 - 25 April (General)

Olympus Rising - 25 April (VIP)

The Royal Wedding Planner - 30 April (Pilot)

The One - 2 May (General)

[fantasyfantasygames]

Sorcerer Cats

Sorcerer Cats, Magicat1666, 2017

The Warriors novel series, perhaps better known among middle-schoolers of a certain age as Warrior Cats, was extremely popular in the mid 2010s. So naturally someone wanted to cash in. I'd call it an homage or a tribute or say that it "pulled inspiration from," but no, it's a hack job. Sorcerer Cats was written by someone with no idea what Warriors was about. The clan names are almost the same, the locations are knockoffs,

First off, the characters in Sorcerer Cats are humanoid.

I know, right? Like, I don't feel like I need a "next off" after that.

Let's just get into the rules part. Sorcerer Cats is a bit OSR - it has the standard six attributes, levels, HP. It simplifies all saves to a 50-50 shot. No attack roll, just a "damage save". Combat works basically the same.

Instead of OD&D's usual four classes, we have Sorcerer (Wizard), Templar (Cleric), Songblade (Elf) (Elf was the warrior-mage half-caster class back in the day), and Treewalker (Druid). An unpublished supplement was to add a half-caster Cleric and a necromancer, where they totally fumbled the chance to use the word "Nekomancer" (thank you, Monstress).

The spells themselves are reskinned OD&D spells. Haste is Ferocious Agility, Detect Invisible becomes Scent of the Unseen, Speak with Plants becomes Hear the Wild, the cure-type spells require grooming, etc. Fireball, Lightning Bolt, and a few others are identical. There's no Light spell because you are cats and you can see in the dark.

Your characters explicitly have some cat-like abilities and drawbacks. You can leap very high. You get a bonus to stealthy actions, but if you're caught it's assumed that you forgot to hide your tail. This is accurate to life, can confirm. You get some minor bonuses based on your "race", like Maine Coon or Stripey.

...you know, I do sort of wonder whether Magicat1666 went into this with a more sincere homage, got a bunch of art where the artist Didn't Understand The Assignment™, and rebuilt the game the best they could around it. The art is very well-done, in a quite professional painterly style. It doesn't have any of the... for lack a better word, "bite" of the Warriors novel series. If I ended up with some really beautiful art for a game that I had different ideas for, and I couldn't just request a re-do, I might make this kind of change myself.

I was sadly too old to be in on the Warrior Cats craze, but what I'd really like to see is a heartfelt take on the "Young Wizards" series spinoff about magical cats. Diane Duane does a fantastic job with non-human characters (Mr. Athendë! K's't'lk!) and The Book of Night with Moon is just dripping with fun stuff to play around with.

[shychick-52]

As we know, DuckTales 2017 is FULL of clever, subtle parallels and callbacks to other episodes (not just to the 80s series, but within the reboot itself). Here's one I've never seen anyone talk about:

Compare this scene in season 2's 'Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake' where Doofus hacked poor Boyd and reprogrammed him to tie Louie up like a pinata and attack him-

-to this scene in the final episode of the series 'The Last Adventure':

The scene in 'The Last Adventure' was the second time Boyd attended a birthday party and the second time he was involved in a pinata game. But it was the first time doing so while completely free of anyone else's reprogramming/hacking (enslavement, essentially). He was actually enjoying his life as a free person, just having fun like the real kid he wanted to be, alongside his true dad who loves him and wants the world for him.

Ever since Gyro finally gave him the validation Boyd desperately needed to hear from his creator's own mouth in the episode 'Astro B.O.Y.D.' ("You are not evil! You are good! You're more than your programming! You are a definitely real boy!"), allowing him to snap out of Akita's evil programming, he became truly free for the first time in his life with the ability to make his own choices, his systems completely free of all the other reprogramming others forced on him for their own selfish, ignorant purposes. He truly embraced what it was to be a real person- his own person- choosing his own identity (the 'real boy' programming Gyro himself created him with long ago, but Boyd still chose it for himself at the end of 'Astro B.O.Y.D.').

And that's why the parallel between these two scenes is so powerful.

[the-monkey-ruler]

For Honor (2017)

Date: February 14, 2017 Platform: PC / Xbox One / PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 5 / Xbox Series X|S Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Studios Publisher: Ubisoft Entertainment Genre: Action / Strategy / Fighting / MOBA Theme: Medieval Type: Crossover

Summary:

For Honor is a third-person multiplayer arena-based hack-and-slash game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on February 14, 2017.

Set in a mysterious post-apocalyptic fantasy world, the game features a neverending conflict between three factions (each based on real-life medieval military): the Knights of the forests of Ashfeld, the Vikings of the tundra of Valkenheim, and the Samurai of the swamps of Myre.

Source: https://www.giantbomb.com/for-honor/3030-49967/

Link: https://www.ubisoft.com/en-au/game/for-honor/hero-skins/monkey-king-wukong-shaolin-skin

[crusherthedoctor]

🔥 Eggman

Eggman has been usurped too many times. Eggman has teamed up with Sonic too many times. Both of these trends need to stop, or if that's not realistic for a long-running franchise, then it should at least be a lot more rare than it is. If your story has someone else as the main villain like in the Storybooks, but Eggman is present, you could give him a different role instead of relying on the upstaged/team-up schtick over and over again. Think outside the box.

The issue with Eggman getting upstaged by other villains 24/7 runs a lot deeper than him simply not being the final boss in some games: I complain because the more it stacks up, the more long-term damage it does to his image. It leads to the misconception that he's a joke and not capable enough to lead a heavier story on his own. This leads to hack writers like Flynn and Stanley pandering to it by having their own villains talk endless shit about how lame Eggman is and how much more competent they are despite relying on Eggman's resources and achieving fuck all. Which of course loops back around to fueling that fandom belief, ouroboros-style.

Do you know how sad it is that out of all games in the series that are considered to have notably darker plots, Eggman has only been the final threat in a grand total of two of them (CD and Forces)? Do you know how infuriating it was to see the "Eggman (1991-1997) VS Epic God Monsters (1998-2009) VS Eggman (2010-2017)" meme gain so much traction in the community? Do you know how confused I was when fans claimed that Frontiers, the game that went right back to upstaging him with another villain, restored him? These are the consequences of doing him dirty for so long, and the themes in a story also become a lot harder to give kudos towards when they rely on screwing over the main villain for the millionth time, especially when they're sandwiched between other stories that are guilty of the same thing.

I realise that fans may never be swayed at this point even if Eggman were to be treated more respectfully as a villain from now on, but by providing less ammunition, it would certainly be easier for anyone paying attention to see that the image of him being a harmless buffoon is a load of shite. People can say what they want about the Pontaff era, but I know for a fact that some fans did start catching on to how great Eggman can be when he's allowed to actually be the villain with no strings attached.

[canmom]

proceduralism

continuing to read about TTRPGs (today has been a TTRPG blog reading sort of day)

if you read my RPG posts - well first, thanks!! I'm glad someone does x3 - but also you might notice that my reference pool of games is... kinda old, innit. story games like Apocalypse World, Burning Wheel, Microscope, Fiasco etc. on the one hand, the OSR milieu on the other, Chuubo's and other Jennagames on the third hand, D&D on the fourth - these games are all at least a decade old, they've spawned countless successors, etc. etc. I'm not with the times!!

partly that's because a lot of the more recent games I've looked at have seemed pretty derivative of paradigms that were established during the 2010s. there's a lot of PbtAs. a lot of lasers and feelings hacks. and often the first game made the most definitive statement. I have yet to find a PbtA game that reads half so strikingly as Apocalypse World itself.

when you've read enough RPG books it's easy enough to be like 'ok this is a dice pool game with some PbtA-style inter-player character creation dynamics' and just focus on some more nebulous question of like, whether the prose and prompts given are evocative at all, or if they have some cool new specific subsystem. there is a danger there of being too dismissive - maybe these familiar components bring out something new in synergy. I look at thirsty sword lesbians and wonder what the point of it is (I don't need a book to make my character a lesbian, and it seems a bit corny to make a book that's just telling you how gay you are over an otherwise standard fantasy scenario), but I ask someone who's actually played it and she explains it's essentially a vessel for IRL flirting. it didn't occur to me that a game could be that! suddenly it makes sense.

but like, I want to know what the next big paradigms are, now that the previous movements are kinda-sorta dead.

so what's the hot new thing? the next major paradigm?

one answer seems to be something called 'proceduralism'. i was vaguely aware of this trend from games like Blades in the Dark (also now quite old, published 2017) with a clear session structure - you use these rules in downtime and these rules while on the job, essentially making the 'loop' of the game more explicit. but I didn't have a name for it. now I do!

Prismatic Wasteland (I can't find any other name for this author, so I'll use the name of the blog) defines the difference between 'procedure' and 'rule' based on whether they 'provide the order of operation for a game and structure play', with most of them being loops. the D&D combat turn is a procedure. in Blades in the Dark, the whole session is a procedure. this provides a framework for other rules, like actions you can take, to fit into.

since I'm a programmer, I would describe this as essentially the state machine of the game.

you can cast the basic 'loop' of certain types of trad RPG (particularly, OSR games) as an implicit procedure - the post there goes into some detail about the parallels and differences between this and the more trad end of story games like AW.

as an example of a proceduralism-oriented design from the same author, we've got this frame for 'social combat', to provide a context and direction for roleplaying with a bit of dice rolling to make the outcome determined by dice rather than the GM's whim.

the prompt-writing duel system I wrote back in 2021 is in retrospect a "procedural" design for a specific scenario that might come up in a game. the game I was responding to, The King is Dead by the usual suspects (vincent and meguey baker), is essentially a collection of such scenario-specific minigames - they don't loop for the most part, but they still fit Prismatic's definition.

anyway, I'm not sure that's a new paradigm per se - a whole lot of what the story games were doing was playing around with procedures for things like scene framing and so forth. but, as with all things, having something to focus on inspires creativity.

(all RPG design is in a sense iterative - we're taking small hops around the space of all possible RPGs into unexplored corners, looking for what vibes. we might keep the setting and role of characters but change some of the procedures for how they act. or we might use a familiar framework on an unfamiliar scenario. whenever designers' and players' focus moves to messing with something new, particularly something I hadn't even realised we were taking for granted, I think it's interesting. this is an art form of constant evolution and reinvention - never let it settle!)

edit to add: another, more detailed explication of 'proceduralism'

[saturdaymournings]

DS tour :)

Hiiiiiiii y’all :) I’m finally making this after putting it off for ages! It’s not going to be completely coherent and I don’t care because I’m making it purely for the pleasure of myself and bestie jay xiaomiao on spacehey <2

I have a New Nintendo 2DS XL in white and orange. I’ve had it since September of 2017, making it almost seven years old! It’s held up really well in my opinion, especially seeing as it has been thoroughly abused and enjoyed by me since the age of 11. A particular incident springs to mind that occurred on a school trip— I dropped the damn ds on the floor and it slid around the aisle of the coach I was on until we stopped Dx

This is the top and bottom half of my ds. As you can see she has been stickered to fuck, I have no shame and if you’re going to be like bitches on Reddit and start bitching about it getting all sticky then I’ll have to inform you that 1) you are like bitches on Reddit. Embarrassing for u and 2) I have used alcohol wipes to get gunk off of this fucker a concerning amount of times before and I’ll fucking do it again. Isn’t she beautiful tho don’t we think so

This is my splash screen I just think it’s a vibe don’t u. It is a good reminder to see this pop up every time I open my ds

This is my theme it’s Miku admittedly I’m not big into the miku I like to listen to like three of the songs, simp over kaito and play the 3ds game that’s about it but the theme is cute and it plays one of the three songs I really like

Some examples of my games!!! I originally took pictures of every single game but it was too many files for tumble to handle lol. The games I’m currently like super duper playing are Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (fan translation), miitopia and animal crossing new leaf! Casually tho I will occasionally pick up tomodachi life, project mirai dx and ofc I do my daily wordle on the ds lol.

My Bluetooth headphones broke a while back so I was exclusively listening to music on my disc Walkman, but I managed to get an mp3 player on my ds and now I can use this for all my music! It’s very handy and it works with the clam shell hingey thing shut :) plus because I have the rainbow light mod I can look at the rainbow light while my music is playing it’s kinda silly but it makes me happy idk if the reason is goofy lol. Also admire my sick ass taste in music!!!! You WISH you had as good taste in ska as me

I also have an mp4 player chock full of Dan and Phil and Shelbizleee videos for on the go which is fun especially seeing as I can no longer get YouTube working on my ds because they fucked up the app and the other app and the website :( thirdtube works for a lot of people but not me unforch

I also do most of my drawing on my ds nowadays purely for 1) the gimmick and 2) the chunky glitter pens that I hacked into swapdoodle. It’s nice to be able to do more drawing for fun again because I totally fell off last year and it’s good to enjoy things

BONUS: archive of our own is more than functional on the 3ds browser. It is a thoroughly enjoyable experience to use it on my ds! Purely for research purposes I have also found Pornhub is difficult to navigate but ultimately useable. And for once I haven’t actually been utilising this feature I literally just get curious. Rare lack of perversion from silly girl we ball <2

anyways tysm for reading this! Jay tysm especially for allowing this to happen in the first place, you rock 🎸 peace

[vague-humanoid]

@ubernegro

In 2015, when I was about three years into a 14-year prison sentence, the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) started rolling out the first JPay tablets. The JP5s look more or less like clunky versions of what people in the free world probably picture when they think of tablets, but any resemblance is superficial.

“These ruggedized tablets will come pre-loaded with inmate handbooks as well as motivational books and educational materials specific to an offender’s case plan,” GDC stated in its 2015 announcement. “Devices do not have internet access.”

Everyone incarcerated was issued their first tablet for free, though some people got them long before others. In addition to the underwhelming educational materials and motivational books, each tablet came with educational videos, some essential documents like the PREA manual and the “Inmate Handbook.” And some games like solitaire, but there’s only so much you can do with that. 

Despite GDC’s assertion, some devices had internet access within weeks of being issued. Though prison tablets are designed to operate on closed networks—no information in or out that isn’t controlled—tech-savvy prisoners set about bringing the devices online. But it was a while before most of the prison population really became aware of that, let alone administration.

If you didn’t have family or anyone else outside who could send you money, for the first six or eight months your tablet was basically a paperweight. However, hacks for various other features began to hit the mainstream. I knew someone who, as one of many investments, got $1,000 worth of pre-paid text messages on his tablet. He then found the program code that tells the tablet it has that $1,000 in credit, copied it onto a thumb drive, and would transfer it to anyone who wanted it for $5 or $10.

By 2017 most people had been issued a tablet. And found a way to get online.

GDC touted the arrival of tablets as something that addressed the understaffing crisis. Tablets purportedly helped us report sexual assault, and prepared us for re-entry. Tablets did none of these things. What they did do, however, was democratize internet access. Or at least move it in that direction.

[laurarolla]

And now I've finished my first playthrough of Prey. Maybe I'll go back to it in the future, as there's a lot of options that exist outside the path I chose. Perhaps the most important thought I have to take away from this game is that the post credit scene is what the game is all about, and without it, you'd just have a pretty fun and creative immersive sim that gives me all the best vibes of System Shock 2 from my first time playing that many years ago. The finale, which I will not spoil here because the game will probably be on sale soon and I highly recommend checking it out for yourself, is what makes this game damn near a masterpiece.

So first, a few minor issues I do have with the game. Autosaving is a bit unreliable, and the biggest threat in battle on normal difficulty is not running out of resources over the course of exploration, but being one or two shot in a fight with little chance to respond. In an all Human power playthrough, you will find so dang many resources that creating what you want or need will be a piece of cake. Once you can manufacture Neuromods, Disruptor ammo, and Typhon Lures, you'll be able to pretty much kit yourself out however you want and be able to handle nearly any encounter with ease as long as you keep your cool. I don't know what Typhon powers change for the playthough except that you don't get much in the way of gun enhancements and you can't hack anything without human powers, along with turrets being hostile. I can't speak for how the unique powers change things, but I suspect they are pretty viable overall. A lot of creativity is encouraged in any playthrough, and the tools the game gives you are built for that. I also have to point out that on lower difficulties at least, the survival mechanics are pretty superfluous unless you struggle to find a schematic to make one of the injury healing items.

The thing that kinda bothered me the most in terms of a strange one-off decision was the Artemis Golden Pistol. It's the only unique weapon in the game, and it's a straight upgrade to the standard Pistol, which has some of the best DPS in the game if upgraded. Having some other unique weapons to find would have made hunting around the station and solving little environmental puzzles a more worthwhile endeavor, but by the mid to late game I kinda fell into looking around everywhere out of habit instead of need. Supplies were absurdly abundant and I was never in danger of running out as long as I varied my tactics a little bit.

As for what I liked, the exploration encouraged really looking everywhere and anywhere for items and bodies with possible audio logs. Additionally, giving the player the GLOO cannon as the first ranged weapon in the game was brilliant, as well as prodding you to use the wrench to break out of your room at the beginning. Each of these elements and areas showed you how you can interact with the environment in ways that would be useful for the entire game. Adding a tracking system to the security rooms helped with hunting for collectables on bodies, and space movement was very fun and exactly as disorienting as I felt it should be. Most of all, the story, worldbuilding, and themes are consistent and rather delightful. I won't go much further than that except to point out that your character's computer password is a reference to the Fermi Paradox, a scientific conundrum about why humankind has never met life or found evidence of life from another intelligent species in our galaxy. The Fermi Paradox has more or less lived rent-free in my head since I first learned about it many years ago.

Loved this game, might pick up Mooncrash during a sale, also Prey is part of a Humble Bundle right now for the next 17 days so maybe that would make this a good time to pick it up. X3

[focusontheheart]

Meet the Team - Pseu

You can also find @picksleydust on: Twitter @ pseuboo

Ahoy friends, from the Land Down Under. I’m a fandom artist who spends my days as a barista and painter and nights hunched over my computer drawing or my ps5 playing something. Should I get more sleep? Yes. But we all know it doesn’t work like that. In 2017 a good friend of mine was constantly insisting I had to play Horizon, and that I would enjoy it, but I was so down the BotW rabbit-hole I was a bit blinkered. I also didn’t have my own PlayStation. But in the year 2020, my then GF had a PS4 she wasn’t using and let me borrow it and that’s when I played Zero Dawn. I adored it and the story but I never fell into fandom because I personally didn’t see Aloy with anyone in the first game (maybe Petra…?) and so I continued on until I caught the Spicy Cough on the release week of HFW and played it endlessly while hacking up my soul. And of course, at one point I was sucker punched by my sweet, earnest and rather poetic Marshal of the Tenakth and the rest is history.

See the Q&A with Pseu below the cut!

Q: What is a favorite piece of work you've done (i.e. completed, working on, in concept)?

I think my commissions and my comic adjacent pieces are my faves, but honestly, I don’t think I’m the best to judge, I can be a little harsh on myself. Most of my work is inspired by the strange goings on in the different channels over on the Kotaloy Server. I really enjoy drawing facial expressions and fun poses as well as funny comics and tableaus that amuse me.

Q: What are some of your favorite tropes to write, draw, or read?

My old desire for enemies to lovers is strong, but this fandom has further kindled a love for subservient men who love their feral wives. I’m also very keen on accidental marriage and “oh no there’s one bed” tropes, but who isn’t >_>

To draw? I’m basically one big rubber arm, if you can make it appeal to me then I will draw it with gusto.

Q: What is an unexpected thing or fun fact about you?

I live in one of the HOT parts of Australia but I’m originally from the frigid Northern hemisphere in Scotland. Ironically though, I feel like it was my destiny to be Aussie. I love beaches (including the sand), hot weather and vegemite with all my heart.

Q: What has been your favorite thing about working on this project so far?

Honestly, I have really enjoyed working on the sprites for this game.  My main inspiration here is the other incredible artists and writers in this fandom. I’ve never been part of such a kind and encouraging one before and while I can only speak for the Kotaloy crew, I have found a frankly staggering number of amazing people in the general fandom. Y’all keep me going, I swear.

[illusivesoul]

Mass Effect Trilogy Tag

Was tagged by @nowandthane Thank you :)

I'll tag @marythegizka @vorchagirl @judithmactir @drelldreams @messydiabolical and @secretagentdragon . Only if you feel like doing this, of course.

I'll put the blanks here and my answers under the cut.

I am a fan since:

Favourite game of the series?:

MShep or FShep?:

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer?:

Biotics or Tech:

Paragon or Renegade:

Favourite Class:

Favourite Companion:

Least favourite Companion:

My squad selection:

Favourite In-game romance:

Other pairings I like:

Favourite NPC:

Favourite Antagonist:

Favourite Mission:

Favourite Loyalty Mission:

Favourite DLC:

Control, Synthesis or Destroy:

Favourite Weapon:

Favourite Place:

A quote I like:

.

I am a fan since: 2017. I had finished the Dead Space series and was emotionally devastated, and wanted to try out more sci fic games. I had heard about Mass Effect (in particular the mess that the original ending for me3 had been and the Andromeda hate wave that was going around back then) and decided to give it a go. And I ended up emotinally devastated once more lol

Favourite game of the series?: ME3. The story, the soundtrack, the whole emotional weight and all the heavy moments make it my favourite of the series.

MShep or FShep?: Femshep, but I've definetely grown to like Maleshep over the years, especially cause of the Cortez romance.

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer?: Most of my Sheps are earthborns, but I have a couple colonists and just one spacer. Love me some tragic backstories lol

Biotics or Tech: Tech 4 ever. Incinerate, hacking, tech armour goes brrr.

Paragon or Renegade: Have always leaned more towards renegade or paragade or renegon, mostly cause I feel that a pure Paragon Shep feels almost too naive and innocent with some of the responses they have.

Favourite Class: Infiltrator, followed closely behind by Sentinel and Engineer.

Favourite Companion: A tie between Javik, Kasumi and Zaeed.

Least favourite Companion: Legion. Not that I dont like Legion in particular, its just that i dont care much about the Geth overall.

My squad selection: I dont really have a set squad. Im always rotating characters to hear their dialogues.

Favourite In-game romance: Shiara was my main ship for many years, but now my favourites are Shaynor and Shortez.

Other pairings I like: Jack and Kahlee Sanders, Javik and Zaeed, Ashley and Samantha, Kaidan and Steve, etc. Rarepairs are my jam and I have so many lol.

Favourite NPC: So many, but just to name some. Gianna Parasini, Kelly, Lorik Qui'in and the turian mechanic in Noveria.

Favourite Antagonist: The Illusive Man without a doubt.

Favourite Mission: ME1 - Feros, ME2 - Kasumi's Loyalty Mission, ME3 - Thessia.

Favourite Loyalty Mission: Kasumi's.

Favourite DLC: Omega and Leviathan.

Control, Synthesis or Destroy: Low EMS destroy is my favourite ending, cause I love all the angst and how it really shows just how destructive the war really was, and how hard the rebuilding will be. Its imo the most "realistic" version of the endings. Also really like Control and Refusal.

Favourite Weapon: The Black Widow and the Phalanx cause I like the sound it makes.

Favourite Place: Ilos cause it always makes me so nostalgic about the first time I played.

A quote I like: "There. Earth. I wish you could see it like I do, Shepard. It's so... perfect". This quote from TIM devastated me when I first heard it and it keeps giving me all the feels to this day.

[chopprface]

i forget im multifandom sometimes so heres a list of all the pieces of media that get my neurons firing

transformers (current main fixation, im pretty sure beast wars is turning into a full on special interest for me now)

littlebigplanet (been into lbp for ages its served as passive inspiration for a lot of projects/characters)

object shows (more broadly the community less than the shows atp, i havent actually watched an object show since ONE came out, though recently the objectified webcomic has hooked me back into object worldbuilding) -cutting it here cause i just start yapping at some point

projectmoon (big lobcorp fan, havent finished ruina, briefly played limbus, gregor is my goat)

portal, very recently got into it

plants vs zombies has been an on and off hyperfixation for me (some of my oldest drawings are of pvz2 which is embarrassing)

weird rpgs (yume nikki,.hack, passing interest in like any rpgmaker game tbh)

homestuck............. but mainly problem sleuth and intermission related stuff, i reread them every year or so cause theyre wayy more digestible than doing a whole homestuck readthrough and i enjoy mafia and noir aspects

stickfigure stuff like hyuns dojo and ESPECIALLY gildedguy, weirdly enough ive never been into animator vs animation it just doesnt hit like gildedguys hand drawn stuff (my personal favorite gildedguy animation is vs oxob but close second is vs. green eyed cowboy theyre just. so good i could dissect them frame by frame honestly)

scp foundation is a big inspiration for a current project im working on with a friend, personal favorite scp article is probably SCP-8400 but 8888 is also amazing i LOVE heists as previously mentioned

okay this is where they get really niche because i got ABSURDLY hyperfixated on spark the electric jester i still have my plushie of him somewhere along with my gildedguy plush. big inspiration for a number of my projects i love the robots. and the music is SO GOOD LIKE GO LISTEN TO IT IF YOURE READING THIS ITS ON SPOTIFY

this is probably the nichest one i have but nefarious. the video game. released in 2017. where you get to play a villain. its literally one of my biggest inspirations i still follow the webcomic to this day it is GREAT and im probably alone on that

oh also? also? monstrosity on youtube. istg theres like no one who knows about junosaturna theyre so cool. worldbuilding kicks ass and is currently fueling my weird creature obsession i highly reccomend checking out their vocaloid songs and their lore if it interests you.. theyre peak

some obvious ones here like pokemon, sonic, popular kids media of the 2000s in general because im an autistic nerd

oh also madness combat.. i check in on it occasionally

AND TOONTOWN HOLY FUCK NONE OF YOU KNOW THIS BUT MY OLD BLOG USED TO BE TOONTOWN FOCUSED im a chainsaw consultant kinnie. that sad chainsaw man. we can take fentanyl together

[ismahanescorner]

All Systems Red | Book Review

Author: Martha Wells

Genre: Adult Sci-Fi

Publisher: Tor.com

Release Date: 02/05/2017

Rating: 4.5/5 🌟

Synopsis:

"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure." In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid--a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.

Review:

TW//: violence

i was recommended this story by a friend years ago as a part of a twitter challenge, not because of personal tastes. i picked it from my tbr list in december last year in my quest to reach my yearly reading goal. i saw it was a novella and knew that i could finish it off in one setting in two or three hours tops. what i did not expect was that it would open my appetite for stories with sentient robots/ai!!

i immediately felt a kinship with murderbot. “her” hobbies of scouring the inter-webs and binge watching dramas and game shows instead of just drowning herself in tedious tasks reminded me so much of myself that i kept laughing whenever she mentioned her dramas.

the plot kept moving at a breakneck pace that kept me engaged and entertained and honestly i can’t wait to delve into the next instalments of this series to see what’s murderbot next adventure!