#I second that this DLC is needed

[myvampyrez]

i cant get over the fact that capcom made him so beautiful just to merge him back with urizen

[marsbotz]

hes a bruise fan 💖

[gamebunny-advance]

Kun3h0 Custom Doll Repaint

So, here's what I've been working on for the past month or so. I've wanted to do a custom doll project for a long time now, and I finally got the opportunity to actually do it. I don't think she's bad for a first doll, but there's a lot I feel I could do better and differently.

Once again, my pictures hardly do her any justice... mostly due to color balancing.

I tried to edit these pics to make them a little more accurate, but it also yellowed out everything else, so... yeah. A photographer/image editor I am not.

That said, aside from the poor quality of the images, I'd say that the pics capture both her good points and her jank.

(More about the process and other thoughts under the cut.)

So, she started with a Cave Club doll as the base (I believe her name was Fernessa).

I unfortunately didn't take any pics of this doll with her clothes on, but I'm sure you can search pics of the original base doll yourself.

Besides being very cheap, I really liked the proportions on this doll for Kun3h0. I like the short torso with the long legs and the huge feet. Even the face is kinda Kun3h0-esque (though, a little more on that later).

I've had the idea to customize a Kun3h0 doll for a while, and I always thought the best base would have been an LOL OMG doll since they also have the big head, small torso, and long legs. But, I was always on the fence about them because their hips are a lot wider than Kun3h0's, and I felt like that would always bother me. But once I found out about Cave Club and also found out they're bascially cheap as dirt for the amount of articulation you get, I knew that this was the best match for Kun3h0.

Sadly, the hands aren't as big, and I did consider resculpting them to be more accurate to Kun3h0, but I lack the materials to make that look good enough to be worth doing, so in the end I just repainted the original hands. So I guess this doll is gonna have the non-standard 5-fingers XP. (I forgot to take pics, but the back of the hands do have the heart detail on them. )

Because I have to tie this back to NSR somehow, I think this doll would be a great base for some NSR characters, or really any other stylized character like this. I could def see a cute Mayday coming out of one of these (but not from me~ If I made a Mayday, then I'd want to make a Zuke to go with her, and I just cannot imagine how to make a Zuke doll without him becoming way too top-heavy).

However, I did resculpt the legs to become her boots, so she stands a little taller than the base Cave Club. While I think doing this works for Kun3h0 since she's a robot, if I want to make some alternate outfits for her, they're gonna have to include these boots, or I'm gonna have to get another doll to make some alternate legs.

Unfortunately, my only material I have for body mods is air-dry paper clay, and it doesn't transition as well into the plastic the same way something like apoxie sculpt probably would have. It's not super noticeable at a distance when they're painted, but under scrutiny, you can see a clear transition. I also forgot to detail her heel, so the shoes are flat even though they shouldn't be~ They do help her to stand on her own though, so I guess it's not the worst thing in the world~

While I was doing the sculpting, I also made the wig.

Finding a yarn that would properly convey Kun3h0's hair color is nigh impossible, given the cartoony shading of them, so I settled for a median between the dark rasperry and hot pink and got this regular raspberry yarn. The unaltered pics make it look a little more purple than it actually is. It really is a warm raspberry color.

(I'd say that this is closer to the actual color, maybe a tad darker.)

Let me tell y'all, brushing out yarn wefts is not fun. I also felt like I wasn't doing it right since I lost a lot of material brushing it out. From the little research I did, this seems to be a common problem, but it doesn't sit right with me for so much of it to get wasted like that~

Another challenge I had is that there (of course) aren't very many resources for getting yarn wefts curly or how to make curly hairstyles using yarn wefts. I know that this is relatively easy to achieve with actual doll hair through boil washing, but that wasn't really a viable option for a yarn wig like this. Since I really wanted the hair to look naturally curly as opposed to looking like it was curled after the fact, I curled the hair before gluing it onto the wig cap, which was a mini-nightmare. I followed a video tutorial about how to make a pigtails wig, I just applied the methods to the curly hair.

I don't know if I just didn't make enough wefts to make the tails poofy enough, or if this method just wasn't suited for curly hair, but I just didn't get the volume I was looking for.

To achieve the fuller look that Kun3h0's puffs have, I glued some scrap yarn fluff in the center of the original puffs and just tried to manage the shape from there. It's not perfect, but I think I've more or less brought her original hair to life. It's hard to see since they get lost in the mess of hair, but I was even able to get those stray curls that she has to look nice~

However, for some reason, the wig really doesn't like to stay on. I dunno if it's the ears pushing it off, or if something else makes it loose, but it really doesn't like to stay on her head. I might try applying heat to the cap to see if I can get it to reshape around her head properly, but I don't have high hopes for that.

Overall, having made the wig and seen it in real life, I've confirmed something that I've kinda felt for a while: Kun3h0 really needs something on her head between her antenna. I feel like her antenna and the top of her head create a sort of "empty box" that is just asking to be filled with something. I recently did a drawing of Kun3h0 where I have her an ahoge, and I think it helps a lot.

It's a little too late to add this to the doll (and I don't even know how I'd go about it), but I think from now on, she's gonna have a curl that sticks up on the top of her head.

Moving on: the face.

I really wish I could get some clearer pictures here, because the eyes really aren't as bad as the pics make them look.

While I am trying to keep her right covered as much as possible, I did still paint both of them with acrylics. I don't have MSC or watercolor pencils like most of the pros do, so I made use of what I had. I'm certainly not getting that "crisp lineart" look that Kun3h0 is basically built on, but I don't think the results are horrible. They're sealed with a gloss varnish, so they don't photograph well, but I do like how the texture is very different from the skin, it almost sells that they're made of glass.

As for the other details, I did do the lining in dark purple, like I usually do for her lineart. I'm on the fence on if this works IRL or not. On the one hand, I feel like the purple lineart is a part of the character design, it helps balance out all the pinks, but when I only use the purple on the doll for the face (and her stomach paneling), I do wonder if it looks strange, and if I would have been better off lining her with dark brown instead.

In fact, I did the original sketch with brown for the paneling.

(Right eye not canon.)

But when I made the actual doll, I wound up doing purple anyway to match the eyelashes, so they wouldn't look as out of place.

Other details I wanted to mention are that the upper eyelashes/eyelid is actually a piece of painted foam that I glued on. I really wanted to achieve that cartoony look of how I usually draw the lashes over her hair, even if it doesn't make logical sense.

I wasn't able to do the same thing for the brows, but I still did something a little "special" with them.

Instead of making myself cry trying to get an accurate color-match with paint, her eyebrows are actually flocked using some of the leftover yarn. I've hardly seen anyone do this for a doll repaint, but I don't think this look would suit most brows anyway~

Overall, I'm only a *little* unsatisfied by the face-up, but my disappointment is mostly in the eye-shape. I didn't want to go against the face mold too much, but that meant that I couldn't really make the eye taller like Kun3h0's actually are. If the eye was any taller, the brows would have been right against the hairline, and that wouldn't be a great look IMO. I feel like 80% of Kun3h0's identity is in her face, so having it be even a little inaccurate does bring her down a little.

Lastly, I think all that's left to talk about is clothes and accessories.

I am personally really in love with the shorts and it's why I chose them to be the preview for this project. I added the beltloops after I took that pic, and I think they turned out so cute, even if you can see the stitching of the belt to the shorts.

I went through quite a few patterns trying to get them right. The Cave Club dolls don't seem to be super popular in customizer circles, so there aren't many if any patterns out there for them. At first I was just eyeballing a shorts pattern from this video and going through some trial and error trying to adapt them to the doll's body.

I made 3 or 4 pairs of shorts this way, but they all ended up too tight. In the end, I wound up using the "wrap-and-tape" method of pattern making, and made the shorts from there. I honestly wasn't too confident in the results, so I very haphazardly made the trial pair with this new pattern, but they fit so great that I wound up using the test shorts for the final product.

The top was not as successful. Unlike the shorts, I didn't start making test tops until I'd already done the wrap and tape. So the pattern making wasn't actually the hardest part: it was putting it together that was a nightmare.

While I was making the top, I would of course have Kun3h0 put it on to test the fit, which stretched out the fabric to a noticeable degree. This was one of the last things I worked on, so I was getting really fed up with working on this for so long, so I told myself that I would probably just hide it with paint later.

That was mistake number 1.

As I should have learned from painting Green's face, the paint hardened the fabric tremendously, giving it almost no stretch. Originally the plan was to use velcro to close the top in the back, but the pattern didn't account for the lack of stretch, so it's actually too small to close edge to edge. So, I had to cut velcro to extend beyond the actual clothes to close it up. So basically, there's a gaping hole in the back of her outfit and is the main reason why I refuse to post back pictures of this doll.

For the time being, I do consider this top to be a "prototype" and I'll probably remake it in the future with some improvements. But, painting the fabric after stitching it together is not the only mistake I made.

Since this top is a prototype, there's a lot of other things that I did in a bad order: I really should have done the hemming and put on the accents before putting the pieces together, but since I wasn't sure if the pattern would fit first, and thought I would have the energy to make a second better top, I didn't bother with it. This included the cuffs of the sleeve.

That was mistake number 2.

The way I made the sleeves is that the arms are really just a large trapazoid with the shoulder shape at the top. The idea was that I would just sew the large side to a piece of shorter elastic band which would serve as the cuffs. I figured this would cause the sleeve to look "ballooned" at the end. And it kinda worked. You can kinda see how it turned out on her right sleeve in the first picture, but actually sewing it together was kinda terrible because the only way I could think of to do this was to sew the cuff and sleeve separately first, then sew them together, and that just seems ass-backwards to me, but I couldn't think of any other way to do it, and it came out with the cuff being mostly obscured anyway. I tried a different method on the left sleeve, so the cuff is more visible, but the sleeve shape is worse.

So if/when I remake this top, I'm still gonna do this in my ass-backwards way, I've just got to figure out how to keep the sleeve from eating the cuff.

Otherwise, I think the top would actually be pretty cute. I was really getting tired of working on it at the end, so a lot of the details are actually hot-glued on instead of being sewn. The faux-zipper pull is a *little* large, but it's something I had that I thought would work, and I actually really like the oversized look. It works for the proportions of the doll and helps bring in the heart motif that's getting a little lost in the sloppiness of my painting~

The last thing I think worth talking about is the mini GAB.

I thought I'd taken a pic of it by itself, but I guess not. Anyway, the only thing I wanted to say about it is that there's a little "clip" on the back made from wire that allows it to hook onto Kun3h0's belt and be held in her hand. I dunno, I just really like the little accessories, and that little feature amuses me~

But that's it for now. I am actually working on two other accessories for her:

The doll came with a pet dinosuar that I'm currently turning into her GAB.

It's just about the right size to be in scale with Kun3h0, and the hair is basically already the same as GAB's. I've already modified the base with clay and cut off the bits I don't need. It's mostly a matter of sanding and painting right now. I have no idea how or if I'm going to get the collar onto it without it looking bad, but I'll give it a try. If all else fails, I'll just make a tiny bow-tie like GAB!classic~

I don't have a pic of this one, but the doll also came with some sort of flower pot thing that I'm turning into her drill using a metal piping tip for the drill head~ I'll post about them in an "accessories DLC" when they're both finished.

But wait... if you've made it this far, and you saw my preview post, then you might notice that there's one accessory missing.

Well, this mask doesn't actually fit Kun3h0...

But it does fit someone else.

[robo-dino-puppy]

:D

[iamthekaijuking]

A Review of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon

I just finished up my 13th play through (this is the most I’ve ever replayed a video game), and I know I’m technically reviewing this game but there isn’t really anything I can say that hasn’t been said.

The controls and movement is smooth, and while there’s a learning curve it’s incredibly satisfying. Boosting requires you to manage your energy. It can be depleted, but will also recharge after a few seconds. But in the incredibly explosive combat of AC6, every second counts. Energy weapons also requires further energy management. Different generators can make things easier, and different thrusters can determine how you move and how much boosting uses up your energy. But you also need to worry about weight management on your AC. Your legs can determine how much you can carry as well as how you move. Ultimately you’ll need to spend time looking at stats and testing things out in the garage, but that’s part of the draw of Armored Core. Fine tuning your mech.

Combat is hectic and fast, feeling more like dogfights than anything. Both parties are pelting and trying to outmaneuver each other in a hope to stagger their opponents and get a chance to deal massive damage. Unlike in soulsborne games, there is no invincibility frames in AC6, so dodging is used to dart away from incoming damage and mitigate it, not negate it. You’ll also have different “core expansions” which can give you shields, cover, or an extra means of damaging enemies.

Every part has some use, and while there are weapons that are obviously The Metatm and you can get through a lot of missions with whatever build you feel really comfortable in, different situations will reward different things and you’d be surprised at how satisfying it is when replaying missions to bring different weapons and set ups directly catered to the task. Every weapon has at least one situational use. Fighting in an open space with no roof? Vertical missiles. Enclosed space? Grenades or napalm. Opponents have pulse shields? Use pulse guns to destroy the shields. Also use flamethrowers, songbirds, and the wheelchair tanktreads on the “Escort The Weaponized Mining Ship” mission you will thank me.

The customization and image making system is incredibly freeing and allows for a ton of self expression. It’s incredibly fun. You’ve probably seen some funny looking mechs circulating through the internet in the last year.

Ultimately, the game wants you to experiment with different builds, and even allows you to save up to 160 presets, gives you the presets of every enemy AC you’ll encounter in the story, and even allows you to download up to 40 builds that other players have uploaded online (sadly only on the same platform as you though).

As far as music goes, it’s super good. Fromsoft pretty consistently delivers, but the Armored Core soundtrack is different from their lineup from the past decade. Fitting of a SciFi setting, the AC6 soundtrack features heavy use of synths and droning sounds. There are some exceptions of course. It’s not EDM music (I doubt anyone is breaking it to Coral Guardian or C Weapon) but it’s probably somewhere within Techno.

As for the setting, it’s somewhat par for the course with Armored Core and to an extent the mecha genre itself. A hypercapitalist world where the average person has few rights, the ultra rich wage wars, and mass murder is not only entirely acceptable but is in fact encouraged if it turns a profit. Uniquely though, hyper-industrialization is a thing as well, and the landscape is peppered with inconceivably massive sprawling megastructures that can reach into the sky. There are some firsts for Armored Core as well. The series usually takes place on earth or places importance on its (always) ruined state. In 6 though, earth is completely out of the picture; it’s not important. Instead the game takes place on Rubicon 3, which is… somewhere in the galaxy. Interstellar travel is commonplace and for the first time in Armored Core, sapient aliens appear.

For themes, there’s always a feeling of isolation (as is normal for the franchise), but a not insignificant amount of attention is given to the idea, and importance, of choice and human will. There is importance to your decisions and the human will to live and desire to be free is a strong one, and ultimately you are in charge of your destiny and what you want to do.

All in all, 10/10 game. Please play it and make the funniest mechs ever.

[satellites-halo]

sad day for spheal lovers. still no confirmation on Spheal being able to be transferred to scarlet/violet anytime soon

[pillowenvelopchair]

…did anyone else notice how the when the moons shown its always in a crescent??

It does remind me of that glowing gold thing we saw that resembles a shard bearers rune

So like a crescent moon and a star???? Thinks…

[invinciblerodent]

i think Shadowheart is just..... permanently the character who my pcs wind up feeling intensely protective over.

like even if she's not in the picture quite so much (first game she was the designated bff, third game she's the love interest, this second one she's just........ hanging out. being pretty.), my heart just squeezed so hard now that I could actually hug her in this scene. 🥹🥹🥹

10/10 update

[paladincecil]

Thinking about giving cyberpunk 2077 a go now it's available for a little over £10 on thegamecollection since it had some kind of update that made it not absolute trash or something?

Not that I think I'll have time to play it. I've only just finished my first playthrough of fate samurai remnant and have at least one more to go for the second ending. Then about a month from now there's the guaranteed to be mega beefy like a dragon infinite wealth. A month after that there's ff7 rebirth so I've got a lot of game to play and enjoy for first quarter of 2024 before we even get into the year itself xD

[vonlipvig]

if i had a nickel for everytime someone gifted me a game on steam for christmas out of the kindness of their heart i'd have two nickels. which isn't a lot but it's incredible and touching that it happened twice.

but yeah, you guys have no idea how much that means to me, thank you so much. to my friend anna, a million thanks for that (and if you're seeing this, anna, i have a GREAT idea for that thing i told you about, you stay tuned ;3). and if anyone here is birdman/swablu/jon from canada from steam, please tell me who you are because you're so kind (and please go look at your messages on steam, i need to thank you properly!).

but yeah, wow. merry christmas, guys.

[antirepurp]

i hate the wyvern all my homies hate the wyvern

[royalphantompain]

[sol-flo]

soo impatient for my packidges today.... i wanna see what 20gb ram can do..... the year of the gamer.......

[spitzyyyy]

gnost matter (big ouchie)

[todayisafridaynight]

We need a Yakuza x Ace Attorney crossover.

rgg, capcom when will you let us play majima's trial

[monstertsunami]

CHAT

im literally soo fucking cool my wrist hurts sooo fucking bad