#besides the tiny bit of JavaScript i know (i mean. tiny tiny bit)

[crows-of-buckets]

Man learning coding is really good at making me feel like an idiot

[demifiendcruithne]

my thought for multi-line would be copy the post into a file instead of terminal directly, and get it to read it from there and make each line into a list entry -> iterate over the list -> stick it back together and write to an output file afterwards

you could do it in terminal using pyperclip to just get it from the clipboard / write it back to the clipboard after, but using files means you can check over it and don't have to re-copy it every time (assuming you don't have a clipboard manager anyway. gnome extensions rise up) either of those you don't have to worry about terminal size doing weird stuff to the input/output

but this is all on the assumption of running python on a terminal anyway rather than website, i do Not know js besides the tiny bit i copied from w3schools for srd-site-still-wip :v if someone did make a javascript for utility them i wouldn't mind hosting it though :) the site is mostly for srd right now but i made it a subsection so i can put other random stuff there. the layout sucks but working on it

I hope you're using something like regex to comb through posts otherwise i can only imagine what kind of hell maintaining this blog looks like

i am not assisted by any code :)))

[codematurgy]

you could definitely say that what follows next is a quarentine diary of sorts, but i’m writing it up here because it relates to theme making in some ways; additionally, i just want to write something positive in the middle of this!

stay safe, of course - if your finantial conditions, likely because of the government of your country and/or your employer being criminals, aren’t good enough for you to stop working, i can’t say i’m exactly praying for you because i don’t have that practice, but i do hope you’ll be fine. this moment shows us how capitalists are willing to treat the working class. mandatory class struggle aside:

for starters shout out to tumblr because i love the new dashboard ok. i’m using the cybernetic palette and i really wish it was available on the app too. of course, my love of it isn’t related to the colors alone - i always thought the dashboard looked a bit messy in structure, so building it again from zero was a fantastic decision. love that i can see the words for image or avatar while the images are loading as well; they really took care of accessibility here, which was already an ongoing process with stuff like page order or focus, etc.

i just wanted to write that shoutout because i’ve seen a lot of people complain about it - mostly because xkit stopped working - while ignoring that the folks at xkit did explain how they’re helping the tumblr developers directly, and in turn their work at rewriting xkit would be even smoother. i don’t think people actually give tumblr developers credit where is due, and i’ve been fascinated with their work ever since i found out about official blogs such as @javascript or @engineering. it also clarified a few problems i’ve had when dealing with the mechanics of reblogs, even if some bits of it still drive me nuts! in a sense, thinking about theme making for tumblr has become more gratifying when you get to understand just what you’re doing. anyway, moving on.

i haven’t really done a lot of “theme making” for the past weeks - i did do a bunch of bug fixes to the npf photosets plugin, but nothing related to designing or creating and so on. it doesn’t mean that creating was completely lost to me, though i did channel it to something entirely different: movie reviews.

yeah. that sounds pretentious, i know.

i’m not a big fan of cash grab movies(read: pretty much most of recent disney work, and anything that feels similarly souless), but i never found the strength to watch the ones that are new and more popular around here; namely, stuff from a24. which is not to say those are bad! i’ve watched my share and they are really good - i’m absolutely enamored with the vvitch, for example. however, i’ve realized that i want to discover new worlds, and not all of them too serious neither constantly bombarding my tumblr dashboard or twitter timeline. people have been doing movies for such a long time and i keep wondering, how many incredible gems i’m missing on solely because i can’t be bothered to look back?

thanks to that, i’m watching movies i never thought i would watch. and more importantly, i’m writing about them - about the things that make them this single, incredible work. much like being in a show’s fandom, i guess, and writing such long metas on it, except i get to write shorter essays because i’m not getting an entire season, ahaha. i had never watched an art film up until now, i think, and although it wasn’t my favorite format from this first experience, it was nice and i’m actually willing to try it again.

one great takeaway from this experience, besides how awesome film-making is, relates to my creations here. a fascinating thing about movies is when their envisioners work to have this coherent, complete piece of work filled with all it needs to be solid, instead of letting these loose threads. this is not in a plot sense strictly, but for so many aspects like choosing to add something to costume, set, or prop design; the choice of a weird but so incredibly telling original score; a photography that goes beyond having a pretty centralized shot and adds weight to every shot... wow, that stuff is unreal, and it is so full of purpose!

this feeling of completeness is one i think i have been working on gradually, but still could do better. i have this terrible process in which i barely have a full sketch for a theme - i just think that i want this one thing and build the whole theme around that detail live on the code instead of actually planning it. i believe that, likely because of this, it feels like my themes are just this tiny design in the middle of a blank website. Chamamento, SETE and Ágora feel like outliers in that sense, even though the process was still chaotic, solely because at one point i actually sat myself down and i said “i want this”.

hopefully, i can take this knowledge with me on the next themes coming around! i don’t know when they will come, but i do have an idea for post styling and another one for a “complete” layout - i’ll try not to merge those in my weird process so it’s not too much information, though. there’s one theme in the works for a while too, which is based on the one i mentioned working on as i first mentioned Temporal, but it’s been reworked into an entirely different beast which i’m quite happy with; mostly because there is no pixel based post size! in fact, i’m considering not having typical post sizes for all next themes, choosing a more typical blog approach. it sounds weird but so far it looks really cool, although probably not as much if you’re doing graphics with set sizes... well, graphic makers were never my demographic to begin with.

and well, on an entirely different note: i keep forgetting that when you have a theme uploaded to tumblr, you can check active installs. actually seeing people using your themes, when before the only way you could see it was by hoping whoever reblogged or liked it had in fact installed it, is so exciting!!! it actually confirms that the people using my themes, or at least using Temporal, are often just your average blogger sharing memes, fanart and talking about the latest podcast - you know the one. it’s a pleasure to be making themes for y’all!

[blood-and-cigars]

what do you think alucard does in his free time? i mean, besides sitting alone in the dark.

​Hrm what Alucard does in his free time…

Well canon makes it clear he’s an absolute action movie nerd :D

Then there’s the fact that it’s the 90’s and he has one of the tiny newer phones. (Sure Hellsing probably gave it to him but he USES it at all) Like this dude is with the times, ok.

I think he’s really interested in modern technology actually. But he goes about it like a cat; he’ll constantly deride the thing, sniff at it with contempt…. and as soon as no one’s looking he’s going to try it.

I don’t think he’d ever be caught dead asking for a computer, but I bet there’s a bunch of cutting edge *snerk* Windows 98s sitting around the manor for various uses that he fiddles around with constantly.

Do any of you remember those old “How To Internet” type books? Or like those MASSIVE fucking textbooks in tiny tiny print about how to learn HTML and Javascript that while technically correct also somehow made basic coding sound like arcane blood magic? (Dude this ask is making me feel old)

He’s read a lot of them. Unfortunately he has a bad habit of skimming, so he doesn’t understand it exactly. But he tries to code super ugly webpages and they kind of work? Kind of? I mean he’s got hyperlinking down, so not too bad for a 500+ year old curmudgeon.

I think Integra would notice his interest and invest in the silliest techy toys whenever funding would allow, even if they’re obviously fad items that will be obsolete in less than two years.

She got an interactive whiteboard for him once, like the really really early ones that were utterly and totally useless as far as functionality. And she kept waving the thing around at him during pre-mission briefings until he finally caved and tried to use it. 

Walter used real markers on it and destroyed the calibration. 

I think Alucard actually has a great relationship with the Hellsing staff, not the soldiers mind, but day to day employees that handle maintenance and clerical work.He sits down and just gossips with them for hours on end. He’ll also get them to teach him bits and pieces of their trade.

He knows how to get stains out of ANYTHING. And revarnishing antique wood? He’s a pro at it now.

A florist comes by every other week, because Integra likes to decorate with flowers and funerary bouquets are in high demand at Hellsing. Alucard chatted her up once on various flower types and floristry. 

The next delivery, she left a bouquet for him too. He’s not quite internalized the fact that he can have things. It stressed him out so much that he just put it with the other flowers Integra ordered for the manor without telling anyone about it. 

The bouquet ended up on the dining room table, and suddenly Alucard keeps finding reasons to pass by the dining room.

…Then the flowers wilt. 

[operationrainfall]

Title Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight Developer Bombservice Publisher DANGEN Entertainment Release Date January 10th, 2019 (Switch) Genre Metroidvania Platform PC, PS4, Switch, XBox One Age Rating T for Teen – Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Suggestive Themes Official Website

I first bought Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight when it released on Steam a couple years ago. Though I enjoyed it after starting it up, I found the hassle of allocating time to set up and play on my laptop to be a bit daunting. As such, I didn’t get that far. But then I saw Momodora was headed to the Nintendo Switch, and despite already owning it, I knew this was the perfect fit for the indie Metroidvania. There’s no setup involved in just playing portably, so I bought Momodora: RUtM for a second time. Was it worth the wait, or should I have beat it on Steam?

As a fan of the genre, I was quickly drawn into the world of Momodora. This is a beautiful, gothic world being poisoned by darkness, and only a lone priestess from the village of Lun can stop it. That priestess is named Kaho, and while she is well animated and capable of doing great damage with her trusty maple leaf, I can’t say I knew much about her. That may be due to the fact Reverie Under the Moonlight is my first experience with the world of Momodora. I haven’t played the other 3 games which preceded it, so there’s a very distinct chance I was missing out on some context fans of the series already had. Regardless though, I can’t help but wish the game had given me a more complete portrait of the protagonist. Thankfully, where the game falters a bit in the storytelling, it more than makes up in the gameplay.

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Right from the get go, Momodora gives you almost all of the tools you’ll need at your disposal. Yes, Kaho’s weapon is a leaf, but she wields it like a short sword, doing fierce 3 hit combos effortlessly with a push of the Y button. She is also capable of doing powerful aerial attacks with the leaf. For long distance assaults, she’s armed with a crossbow equipped with infinite arrows, which can be fired with a press of the R button or charged for more powerful attacks. For agility, B provides a double jump and A does a dodge roll, which is utterly crucial since it grants temporary invincibility. Meanwhile, the L button is used to alternate between equipped items (of which you can have 3 in your inventory at a time), and they can be expended with X. I was very fond that each item, once found or bought once, had a set number of uses which were recharged whenever you saved your game. That’s a really nice feature that’s lacking in most Metroidvanias, which require you to either scrounge for or buy copious amounts of items.

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The controls are perfect on the Switch and everything feels natural, which is a good thing, since Momodora is no pushover. Unlike most Metroidvanias, you won’t constantly be leveling up, and though you can increase your starting health, you never really improve your initial stats. What that means is that most every foe in the game can demolish you if you’re not careful. A few well placed hits will put Kaho in the dirt, and that goes double for the powerful and challenging boss fights. Thankfully, the combat in the game never felt overly punishing or unfair. It just quietly pushes you to do the smart thing and learn enemy attack patterns and smartly dodge to survive. I died several times in my first playthrough, and I guzzle Metroidvanias more greedily than coffee.

One of the only ways to get stronger is by collecting Crest Fragments.

Besides the basic combat, you’re also able to mix things up with your inventory. I said earlier that you can equip 3 items in your inventory, but you can also equip up to 2 passive items at a time. These can do anything, from drawing Munny towards you to increasing your resistance to status ailments. If that wasn’t enough, active items in your inventory have a variety of effects, from healing Kaho to summoning eldritch forces to even temporarily increasing your attack power. So while you by no means have to try the various items out, it’s very much in your best interest to experiment. That said, if you’re a purist like me, you’re more than capable of defeating the game just with Kaho’s leaf and bow.

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It’s a little hard to explain the platforming in the game. On the one hand, Momodora feels very minimalistic and linear. Yet at the same time, it somehow feels a bit open ended. Sure, you can go wherever you want most of the time, but you’re also driven in the right direction by smart contextual clues. You also will rarely know when you’re around the corner from a boss fight, since they come upon you unexpectedly. Thankfully, most of the platforming is pretty easy. Sure, there are instant death spikes strewn around pretty liberally, but I found those were rarely a problem so long as I didn’t get overwhelmed and rushed through an area. While you won’t get tons of new skills to traverse your environment, the one you do get is quite fantastic. Kaho will eventually be able to turn into a feline using the Cat Sphere, which allows her to access narrow tunnels. Better yet, she’s more than capable of combat while in kitty form. So if you want to get through part of the game as a cat, you’re able to! Just keep in mind, you can’t use your inventory in that state.

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Visually speaking, Momodora: RUtM is dripping with gorgeous pixel art. Honestly, that’s what first drew me to the game, and it doesn’t disappoint. There’s almost a hand painted quality to it, and everything feels very fluid and organic. That goes double for the action, which is very dynamic. I loved the art for the foes and bosses, ranging from cackling witches with fancy hats to ethereal wolves to tiny thong wearing savages. The bosses especially shone, though perhaps my favorite was the Witch Lubella. Rarely have I seen such a marriage of dark necromancy and pillowy bosoms. The music for the game is a bit hard to describe. Most of the game is actually devoid of music, and features more ambient noise such as the grunts of foes as they attack you or the sound of your leaf swishing through the air. The points where the music always shows up are in boss fights, and there it’s ominous and full of energy. Much like the rest of the game, it’s minimalistic but charming.

As is often the case in real life, evil witches usually have large bosoms.

Most of my experience with Momodora was very positive, with one small proviso – it’s an incredibly short game. My first playthrough took 4 and a half hours, and that was with getting 97% map completion. Granted, I got the bad ending the first time, but that only encouraged me to play again, and then I was able to get the true ending in under 3 hours. I’d wager a true speedrunner could beat the game in less than 2 hours, which isn’t to say the game isn’t worth your time, it very much is. It’s just that, as enjoyable as the experience was, I really wanted more of it. More plot, more character development, and more areas to explore. Hell, if they decide to add content via DLC, I’ll be one of the first people to buy it. I enjoyed the game that much. Having said that, there were a couple of minor niggling issues which bugged me. First, while the controls are mapped brilliantly to the Switch, I wish I didn’t have to pause the game to access the map screen. Map it to the ZL or ZR button instead. And a weird issue I encountered was that when I went to load a game and tried to return to the title screen, it wouldn’t respond. So I would have to load it and select Return to Title instead. Other than those, it was a pretty rosy time.

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All in all, Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight was worth the wait. It’s a wonderful experience on Switch that I’d recommend to all fans of Metroidvanias. While it’s true that it is very short, there is a bit of replay value. First, there are two endings to get. Secondly, there are different difficulty settings you can try, if you crave a bit more challenge. There’s also a hidden boss fight and New Game + with added difficulty. Sadly the achievements found in other versions aren’t present here, which is a missed opportunity. While I do wish there was more to do, I can’t deny I had a good time playing it. $14.99 may sound a bit pricey for a short adventure, but I feel it’s worth it. Worst case scenario, you can always pick it up on Switch when the game goes on sale. If you want a short and sweet game to play, you can’t go wrong here.

[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″]

Review Copy Purchased by Author

REVIEW: Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight Title Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight

[hunterwee899]

Fivem Single Player Not Starting

Fivem Not Opening

Fivem Single Player Not Starting A Game

CitizenFX.log file( 0) Initialized system mapping! it should look like this: with this edit, my fiveM singleplayer worked again flawlessly for now. - Run the file and select your GTA 5 directory. System specifications To avoid unnecessary/duplicate topics, please browse the forums before creating a topic.To improve your chances of your issue(s) being solved, please provide as much information as possible about the issue(s) you are having. Steam/CD/Social Club? Tried deleteing 5M folder and re-install…same message. Just trying to apply common sense. Uninstalled steam. Hello, this is a friendly reminder because this is your first time creating a topic (or it has been a while since your last topic) in this category.Please note that most of the support is provided by the FiveM community on a voluntary basis. ( 16) I tried to search it, but every tutorial is about putting custom cars in a FiveM server. Error screenshot (if any) unable to resolve dependency for citizen:resources:client (0.0.0.0.). Hello all ! Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled. I would like to play singleplayer with new cars or replacements. Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled. Hi, I wasn't playing for the game for a long time. “scrbind:base”, “citizen:scripting:core”, “citizen:resources:client”, Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled, Citizens error what does this mean im trying to mod fivem single player. Legit or Pirate copy? I just want it to be in singleplayer. There is no “Rockstar Games Singleplayer” official launcher Here you go How would one go about using add-on vehicles or maps on FiveM SP? Also —whenever possible— please use the template given to you when creating a topic.Thanks for keeping these forums tidy! Did you try to disable/uninstall your Anti-virus? I’m here just to tell you that FiveM Singleplayer savegames are not located anymore in “DocumentsRockstar GamesGTA VProfiles” since last update I think 10 Hako converted from AssettoCorsa for FiveM and single player by AspireHD FiveM Installation: 1) Open the 'FiveM' directory in the download. What is FiveM? 2) Extract the 'hako' folder. Legit Steam/CD/Social Club? My next plan is to make a live broadcasting application inside FiveM where one player can livestream and other players can watch. So anyone know current max player count with - Enjoy playing FiveM. How would one go about using add-on vehicles or maps on FiveM SP. - FiveM will start downloading all required files. GTA V/update/x64/dlcpacks screenshot make sure you don’t forget the comma. What server did you get this issue on? Deleted GTA5 through Steam, re-install GTA5, copied GTA5 to new folder for 5M install, ran 5M install…same error. To avoid unnecessary/duplicate topics, please browse the forums before creating a topic.To improve your chances of your issue(s) being solved, please provide as much information as possible about the issue(s) you are having. This was documented in the latest update progress post. ( 172) If you require immediate support, please visit FiveM.net and mention the details in this window. ( 156) FiveM has encountered an error yes However I don’t know if this is an actual issue. to the last line of your components-sp.json (before the ) symbol) it will work, ima try what theindra said and see if that works, kinda silly the singleplayer dosnt work but MP does…, Worked at me hour back, another solution would be maybe open normal fivem then press F8 and type “storymode” without “”. yes. ( 156) Process crash captured. We ask you to be patient; there is no guarantee we have a solution to your problem(s). Performed manual deletion of all Steam and 5M folders. I have latest FiveM version (as well as GTA V) and Windows 10 v1809. You talk about modded launcher maybe …. I use the single player quite a bit, so it’s unfortunate that i can’t access it. New replies are no longer allowed. This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. Possibly because you are playing FiveM single player and not Rockstar Games Singleplayer? ( 172) Unable to resolve dependency for citizen:resources:client(0.0.0.0). Crash dialog content: I just want it to be in singleplayer. I would like to play singleplayer with new cars or replacements. FiveM How to install - Extract the rar file into a folder anywhere on your computer. ( 172) Social Club unable to resolve dependency for citizen:resources:client (0.0.0.0. Windows version? Legit or Pirate copy? Up to date? unable to resolve dependency for citizen:resources:client (0.0.0.0. How do I add vehicles to FiveM singleplayer? Did get a social club login that never happened before, after login, GTA5 will launch, 5M will not…same error. GTA V version? Hello, this is a friendly reminder because this is your first time creating a topic (or it has been a while since your last topic) in this category.Please note that most of the support is provided by the FiveM community on a voluntary basis. GTA V folder screenshot How do I install these? I tried to search it, but every tutorial is about putting custom cars in a FiveM server. Re-installed Steam, GTA5, 5M…same error. Any help it much … Thats not what he said, he said maybe hes simply opening FiveM Singleplayer instead of Normal single player for GTA5. - Once launched choose a nickname in the settings panel. ( 1516) Crash report service returned si-f8463e38850946b38452b4c10727ba46, If an issue with starting: Possibly because you are playing FiveM single player and not Rockstar Games Singleplayer? ( 172) Filepath to FiveM folder 3) Place the 'hako' folder into your resources directory 4) Add 'start hako' in the server.cfg (make sure to remove any other map) SinglePlayer Installation: 1) Open the 'SinglePlayer' directory in the download. However I don’t know if this is an actual issue. Hey all wondering if anyone can help me with how to install car mods in fivem single player or if there is a video on how to do it. Also —whenever possible— please use the template given to you when creating a topic.Thanks for keeping these forums tidy! Did you try to delete caches.xml and try again? They are now in “C:UsersYour UsernameSaved GamesCitizenFX” folder … I don’t know why they did this and I spent 4 hours finding this thinking my issue was coming from elsewhere Thank God, I thought I was the only one with this problem. When I long on to the server which I was playing before have now max player count of 128. Same problem when i try to launch Fivem SP. To avoid unnecessary/duplicate topics, please browse the forums before creating a topic.To improve your chances of your issue(s) being solved, please provide as much information as possible about the issue(s) you are having. But before it had max player count 32. We ask you to be patient; there is no guarantee we have a solution to your problem(s).

Select one of the following categories to start browsing the latest GTA 5 PC mods. Hako ADDON FiveM Single Player v1.2. Ah cool just finished the. Take the fivem folder rename it to what ever you want 2. Drag and drop it into your rescources folder 3. Start the file name 4. Spawn code gc3shit -Single player- 1. Its a replace so Copy files inside 'OPTION 1 Car Only replace' to 'x64e.rpflevelsgta5vehicles.rpf' and overwrite existing files.

1: Start FIVEM traditional launcher (not single player one) 2:Click on START. 3: Click on Story (this option is above of the window, besides home, play, supporters option) but is not clearly visible cuz the letters are TINY OR SMALL. 4:After clicking on story just click on start story mode.

I’m here just to tell you that FiveM Singleplayer savegames are not located anymore in “DocumentsRockstar GamesGTA VProfiles” since last update I think 10 Hako converted from AssettoCorsa for FiveM and single player by AspireHD FiveM Installation: 1) Open the 'FiveM.

Building upon years of development on the Cfx.re framework, which has existed in various forms since 2014, FiveM is the original community-driven and source-available GTA V multiplayer modification project.

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This is an O’Neil Brother’s Farm Enhancement.

What does this file include:

– a bunch of working lights around the perimeter – fences around the perimeter in some areas – trees – a helipad

If the pictures aren’t enough, you can always come and check it out in my FiveM server by joining the discord and getting the IP. https://discord.gg/u42EnYq

How to install:

Single Player: You will need menyoo for this. Take the xml file and go to menyoo stuff (in your gta v directory) —> spooner and then copy & paste it there

Fivem Not Opening

FiveM: FiveM —-> select folder called ”ONBFarm” & then just drag the folder to your server resources, and then go to server.cfg and simply type ”start ONBFarm”

Usage Restrictions You may use this modification in your FiveM ”communities” or ”servers”, but it is required you do not say this is your own work! that would be considered copyright infringement, plagiarism and will be dealt with severely. Furthermore, this notice must stay intact with any copy of the modification.

Credits:

Fivem Single Player Not Starting A Game

ScytheGGG

[travel200899]

Sitting in our cozy accommodation back in Nordagota which seems more and more like home, I am going over the gazillion of pictures I have taken of this beautiful, by far the least touched by tourists, vacation destination of our choice. The view from the window is that of the towering green hill, where the farmer limps over with his bucket of feed to entice the sheep to come close to him. His border collie isn’t allowed in, so he circles around the thin metal wire fence till he gets gestured over to either come in, or go around the fence, to round up the stubborn set of sheep. I will miss waking up to this but the memories have all been recorded in the tiny sandisk.

I had started by penning down all the places we were visiting and what to see there, but then what are books for? Internet has all the available information at our fingertips, leaving little for us to actually discover. We walk around with Lonely Planet in our hands making sure that we don’t miss out on anything but in reality all we are doing is re-living someone else’s research and taking pictures of the same pictures we find in these books. I am guilty of doing the same. Of taking pictures but not really reading too much related to useful information, that would make me very smart. Let’s be real here!

Meeting the family hosting us and interacting with them and their 3 kids has been the highlight of my trip. Jon is a musician by trade and his lovely wife Elisabeth works as quality control in a fishing plant. Both Jon and Elisabeth are extremely knowledgeable in their respective trades and provided us with unforgettable conversations. This island still has that innocence which is non existent elsewhere on this planet. The trust is alive here. I hope it stays this way. Change is inevitable but this remote group of Islands have preserved it and am positive will continue to do so in the years to come. Fire Pro and his youtube channel will keep us informed regarding the happenings in this part of the world.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VylZ9jpOcIQ)

Flovin, the name of the creator of the youtube channel, is only 10 years of age but a gifted musician, like his dad. He can simply on hearing an instrument play tell what note it’s playing. He has two sisters ( twins) Sunneva and Elna. One of his sisters is a gifted fisherwoman like their mother. She is only 8 and  can scoop up a fish with her bare hands right from the stream. Impressive! She also knows how to give a real good funeral to the departing souls.

Featuring – RIP Trout

There seems to  be a job available for every kid here. They know the meaning of work and don’t shy away from the challenge. For eg,  The Old School Cafe in Hvannasund.

This is a community run cafe and they are proud of it, as they should be. The cafe is actually the old school where a lot of locals and their parents studied. It goes back to 1932. A challenge was put forth to the community to come up with an idea for the now redundant school. All ideas were put through and the best idea won. That idea was to turn the school into a functioning cafe. There isn’t any formal advertisement except for an active facebook page, but you would need to know of this place to be able to stumble upon their facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/oldschoolhvannasund/ Address: 31 Sundsvegur, Hvannasund 740, Faroe Islands

The day we visited, a young girl, probably around 11, max 12, was taking care of the register and ringing in the orders. I got talking to Myrna, a working professional and also a volunteer at the cafe, who studied at this school, just like her mother.  The kids during their summer holidays pitch in and are paid for their time. The Old school cafe hosts the same old blackboard from the years past, along with the map of the world, as old as the school. People from the village have their knit-ware displayed for sale. A great interest is shown in knowing how the visitors get to hear of the cafe.. in our case, since we like to probe into every remote bit we stumbled upon it simply by chance.  Whoever their baker is, I have to say I have never tasted such delicious chocolate cake in my life, made perfect with the combination of Vanilla ice-cream. They had me raving!

Immigrating to the Faroes is easy for the people of the Nordic countries but more and more Asians are finding their way over to this remote part of the world which one would wonder, how it is possible? We met May in Torshavn. She runs the Matstovan Seven restaurant, on the road leading to Skansin. She has been living in the Faroe Islands for the last 10 years and is married to a Faroese man.

https://www.facebook.com/MatstovanSeven Address: 21 Yviri við Strond, Tórshavn 100, Faroe Islands

May is from the little town of Haikou. The food served her is delicious but besides that the welcome you get from May is warm, caring and friendly. She has not only adopted the Faroese way of life, language but her own sweet mannerism has probably been amplified 10 times over thanks to the place she calls home. She spoke of her grandmother who is known in her hometown of Haikou to make tea and food for the weary passerby’s. She had me at that. I need to go to China now.

We will call him PJ. The Mccafe, in Saltangará is run by a Bangladeshi gentleman who, like May is married to a Faroese national. PJ met his wife in the UK while studying there. He has been living in the Faroe Islands for the past 17 years and agrees that it is a very beautiful place to live in, people are very nice and humble and there is trust amongst them. His sister lives in Canada and so he had been to the city we live in. Like May, his mannerism was quite similar to how the Faroese people are. Extremely polite, hate saying no, you literally say no for them, and very very friendly.

https://www.facebook.com/saltangara/posts_to_page/ Address :  44 Heiðavegur, Saltangará 600, Faroe Islands

It’s amusing how this blog is supposed to be about the Faroe Islands, but people make a place memorable with the experience they leave you with. On the same token, we will never forget the encounter with the famous Angry Farmer of Saksun. Jon had warmed me of the angry farmer but we never thought we would get the chance to be on the receiving end of his wrath. He is infamous for it, and basks in that negative attention he gets for fighting for his ” lost” cause. In his defence, we were completely in the wrong by being on his land, but then how else could we have met him, spying from his bedroom window- that was at least 2 kms away, sneaking up on us in his battered red van, marching down in his bottle green wellies, with a purpose in mind?

Perfect depiction of the Angry farmer and US—-> the sheep 

Faroe Islands you have shown us beauty in its real form, you have proven that heaven is a place on earth, the place as pure and rich in natural beauty and human beings as kind as you only ever hope for. All this is true. All this is real.

Visit Faroe Islands.

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Nothing like it : Faroe Islands Sitting in our cozy accommodation back in Nordagota which seems more and more like home, I am going over the gazillion of pictures I have taken of this beautiful, by far the least touched by tourists, vacation destination of our choice.

[manishadhingra-blog]

I have only one motivation to travel to Delhi in Winters, I mean.. of course besides meeting my family.. and that’s food. It’s a known fact that Delhiites love their food, but in winters, it goes up a notch.

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Well… I traveled to Delhi.. and took a trip down to Old Delhi. The narrow lanes of Chandni Chowk not only has its old-school charm but also has some of the best flavors from some legendary outlets here.

Natraj Dahi Bhalle

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Very delicious aloo tikki from an iconic Natraj dahi bhalla corner. Best of street food in chandni chowk, Delhi.! _________________________________ #food #foodie #foodporn #foodies #instagram #instafood #instagood #foodstagram #streetfood #chaat #delhi #olddelhi #ifoundawesome #photography #tasty #healthy #musttry #potato #musttry #delicious #yummy

A post shared by Manisha Dhingra (@cookieforthought) on Feb 14, 2018 at 8:34pm PST

We took the metro to purani Dilli, and as soon as we came out of the metro station through a very very narrow lane, on the corner was a small shabby shop selling the best Dahi Bhallas and aloo tikki. Its called Natraj Dahi Bhalla Corner ESTD 1940. The shop is just big enough for 3 people to be sitting there. Very moderately priced, these are the best dahi bhalle ever! And Delhi’s most famous winter food.. is aloo tikki. We order a plate of each, stood on the corner on a road and enjoyed the piping hot aloo tikki and the deliciously soft bhalle. The popularity of tiny joint is so much, that when I was taking a picture of the shop for my Instagram handle, one of the shop uncles said that, “I don’t know how to accommodate more customers. I don’t need more publicity”.

Basically, if you haven’t had dahi bhalle here, you’ll never know wat the dish is supposed to taste like.

Parathe Wali Gali

Have a great start to the day, we headed on to a far more narrower lane to find another treasure. Some tiny lane on the opposite side of Natraj leads to Kinari Bazaar. As you enter the lane, you first hit Parathe Wali Gali. But parathe is not what I’m excited about yet. Over the years parathe wali Gali has said to have lost its charm. But you can relish some delectable buttery parathas here. Me… I passed on the paratha and kept heading to Kinari bazaar to find a true hidden gem…Daulat Ki Chaat.

Daulat ki Chaat

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I have been waiting to try daulat ki chaat since a long long time. This brilliant dish is only available in Delhi in winters in chandni chowk. There are a lot of copycats now, so tracking the original one was a task. This brilliant dish is prepared over night and is worth every hype. I absolutely loved it!!!😍😍😍 You should definitely give it a shot. Having such dishes are a treat to the pallet! __________________________________ #food #foodie #foodporn #foodies #instagram #instafood #instagood #foodstagram #dessert #desserts #delhi #olddelhi #streetfood #chaat #legendary #musttry #mindblowing #delicious #foodblogger #followme #foodiesofbengaluru #foodiesofinstagram #foodiesofindia #foodiesofDelhi #delhiblogger #foodwalk #foodphotography #photography

A post shared by Manisha Dhingra (@cookieforthought) on Feb 9, 2018 at 7:25am PST

I will get to the brilliance of Daulat ki chaat in a bit. But be warned that there are a lot of copycats of the same now, so make sure you go before 2 pm to the Google location of Daulat ki chaat, which is the original one. It is difficult to spot in the extremely narrow lanes of Kinaari bazaar. Ask the shopkeepers of you face difficulty.

But as you get to the original Daulat ki chaat, savor that first bite. Because it is going to blow your mind. The texture, the lightness, the creaminess, the perfect amount of sweetness is sheer bliss. This is one dish I fail to describe with words. It is that good.!

With the divine feeling of this delicacy which is cooked overnight and some more parcels of this sweet, we took a rickshaw to head to Karim’s. Make sure you bargain with the rickshaw walas. They quote a higher amount once they spot tourists. If you feel like you can even walk to the place, it’s just 1km away.

Check out on Google

Al-jawar and Karim’s

Opposite one of the gates of Jama Masjid, are two very famous outlets, Karim’s and Sons and Aljawahar. Both are extremely popular and serve amazing food. Needless to mention, you should skip this one if you’re a vegetarian. I only went to Karim’s but my brother and trusted friends have been to both, and some like Al-jawar better. You can try mutton and chicken delicacies here. We had a tummy full of lunch and came out to enjoy some touristy vibe of Jama Masjid.

Jama Masjid

I was slightly intimidated by the crowd at the Masjid on Friday, but the courtyard is absolutely beautiful. Enjoy some pictures and get ready to head to our next destination. We took a rickshaw back to a destination 1 km away, Old famous Jalebi Wala.

Old famous Jalebi wala

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Jalebi rabdi from a very old and famous jalebi wala. He is so old and famous that name of his shop is "old famous jalebi wala". Its next to the gurdwara in chandni chowk. Delicious stuff! ______________________________ #food #foodie #foodporn #foodies #instagram #instafood #instagood #foodstagram #dessert #desserts #bangalore #foodphotography #blogger #followme #foodiesofbengaluru #foodiesofinstagram #foodiesofindia #indianfood #india #foodiesofDelhi #delhiblogger #foodwalk #photography #tasty #delicious #ifoundawesome #foodwalk #legendary #musttry

A post shared by Manisha Dhingra (@cookieforthought) on Feb 9, 2018 at 9:59pm PST

Old famous Jalebi wala is actually on the same road as Natraj, and I was now ready for something sweet. Another small outlet on the corner of a street. Makes piping hot and fat jalebis and serves with Rabri. Yumm…! The outlet serves Samosa as well, which I skipped, if you have been reading so far… you know why.

Sisganj gurudwara

With a sugar rush, I walked a few hundred meters down the road to Sisganj gurudwara. Prayed for the ability to eat as much without getting fat, amongst other things, tasted Kadha prasad and felt the need to stop eating finally.

Mughal Gardens

Delhi is the national capital, which means it is the place with Rashtrapati Bhavan. As a tourist, when you visit Rashtrapati Bhavan, you see the huge residence and office of the president of India. Situated on Raisina Hill, it has 320 rooms, beautiful presidential gardens. A little known fact is that for a month around February-March, Mughal gardens are open to Public for a tour and it’s something I’d recommend seeing. The sheer variety of flowers and colors and being in the President’s backyard is very exciting. Except for the fact that you have to walk a lot.

I ended my day with a tour of Presidential Gardens, more commonly known as Mughal Gardens.

That was my day in Delhi in winters. As such I am a native of Delhi, but since I have not stayed there much in my life, I become a tourist when I visit the city. Despite what you hear about Delhi, the crime, the pollution, the traffic.. it is a place with a lot of treasures, both in terms of food and otherwise. And I’m delighted to explore the city every time. So here are my bits and pieces on one small unit of treasure from our capital city.

Winter food walk in Chandni Chowk I have only one motivation to travel to Delhi in Winters, I mean.. of course besides meeting my family..

[shrinkingwmn]

Only three days in and I already started organizing.

I’ve decided the best way to go about this whole self-isolation thing is to try to maintain some sort of routine. My normal work shift is 10am-6pm so I’m getting up in time to be at my computer for 10am, which means I’m getting up around 9:45am, puttering my way to the bathroom, then the kitchen for a cup of tea, then to my laptop. At 10am this morning I didn’t have full access to be able to work remotely so while technically available to work I was physically incapable of working, so I sat in my cozy pjs, with a blanket over my lap, my laptop beside me, a cup of tea within reach, and watched YouTube.

Gotta say, it was the best way to start a work day!

Eventually IT called and got me online, sigh. So I caught up on emails, learned there is a glitch with my access so emailed IT for help, was told they will get to me tomorrow, and was pretty much done for the day, thanks to the glitch.

But now what?

The library had emailed me saying an item I had was overdue and I figured that for a legitimate reason to go outside, so out I went. I know I know, not exactly self-isolating but I don’t want a larger fine than I was already getting! I chose to walk to the library, get some sunshine and it was glorious. Warm but not hot, sunny but not sunny enough to burn me, the walk is a decent length so I can get a bit sweaty if I push it but not so long I regret taking it.

When I got to the library I was grateful I went today as there were signs up everywhere that after today the library would be closed. They were also only letting 50 people be in the library at a time and had signs requesting everyone form a line. It was the most orderly line I’ve ever seen. Not only were people standing in a line, but they kept themselves to one side so as to not block the sidewalk, and they all kept minimum an arm lengths away from each other. It was quite polite lol

After that I stopped at Safeway for a couple items I realized I did not have and saw the empty shelves for myself. Every other time I went in to a shop there might be shelves dangerously low on items but not empty. These were empty. Entire sections in the produce area were bare, and the apples they had were nasty looking. I ended up buying two apples from the organic section, desperate times call for desperate measures. Two apples cost me two bucks and change! These better be the best tasting apples I have ever had in my life.

After I grabbed my couple items I enjoyed one last walk in the sun home. And have been stuck inside ever since. sigh.

I hit a level of boredom that resulted in me taking every item out of my pantry, wiping them down, wiping down the inside of the pantry, and reorganizing the whole thing.

Then I did the same with the fridge.

If this is happening on Day 3 how much worse is it going to get? Am I going to start organizing my sock drawer or something?

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  And yes I know, it still looks cluttered for something I said I organized, but c’mon, I have a tiny space to work with and two weeks worth of food is a lot, no matter what I did it still looked cluttered…just a cleaner cluttered lol

Self Isolation Day 3: The Organizing Has Begun Only three days in and I already started organizing. I've decided the best way to go about this whole self-isolation thing is to try to maintain some sort of routine.

[anadventurousgirl]

‘You’re going to run around Malta. On your own. Call that a holiday?!’

What is a holiday? A holiday is our time to relax; to do exactly what we want to do. For many it is sitting by a pool or on a beach, leaving only occasionally to stroll around some ancient ruins. For others it is sleeping until midday before rising to eat, drink and party the night away. I have tried both of these and at some point they suited me. Nowadays I like activity and adventure. So for my end of summer holiday I chose to run around Malta on my own.

I was warned about the heat and reminded of the perils of solo female travel. But I don’t respond well to caution. I had four nights on the island and a route plotted; let’s just see how it goes!

Day 1: Thur Sept 6th 2018 – Valletta to Bugibba

Getting there

My alarm calls me from blissful sleep at 3am. Brew Dog gazes at me from his bed, perplexed. He’s not an early riser.

A surprisingly fast passage through security is frustrated by the fact my clear plastic bag is the wrong size. Who knew?! The hideously patronising security lady calls me ‘my darling’ at the end of every sentence as she insists I jam my toiletries into a bag specially designed not to fit them all. In return I deliver world class eye rolls in her direction. I’m pretty sure she was unaffected by their intensity.

In years past I always traveled dressed to the nines, wearing my highest heels. Today I fly in full running gear with my 8kg backpack containing all I need for the next five days. Everywhere I run this pack will be on my back. It needs to be as light as possible.

Instead of having the 6am beer most people are having (time doesn’t count in an airport) I go in search of a bar which will fill my water bottle and pouch for me. Once I get to Valletta I will be running straight away, so I need to be well stocked.

I always imagine that when I fly I may end up beside a deeply interesting person. We will engage in conversation, swap life stories, leave the plane friends, stay in touch and meet again in a far flung place in ten years time. Bless my romantic mind. Instead I am beside a couple whose aroma is booze and fags. She stares desperately out of the window as he complains about:

Having a female pilot

The plane not having taken off yet

Daylight

Being awake (we’re all wishing he weren’t)

There not being a television (despite wanting to be asleep)

The fact his wife wants a drink (I’m not surprised she wants one!)

That he’s flying Jet2 and not EasyJet (what’s the difference?!)

Blissfully he falls asleep quickly (I suspect his wife slipped him something) and man-spreads himself across us for the rest of the flight.

Better get running!

The bus from the airport is cheap and straightforward, depositing me at the Triton Fountain, which just happens to be my start point. After a few pack adjustments I am good to go and off I run. Oooo, downhill, yay! Just around this corner…oh, a shipyard with a security fence. That doesn’t look good. Back up the hill then and my first route diversion. The best laid plans eh!

Back on track and it is every bit as hot as I had imagined and then some. For 6 miles I follow my route fairly easily before it is blocked again…by a shopping centre. They may not have wanted a sweaty runner passing through but I’m grateful for Debenham’s air con. Resisting their Blue Cross Sale I emerge from the underground carpark and continue.

The heat is starting to take its toll and I’m briefly revived by a lemon Fanta from a street stand. A rub has started on my back from the shorts I am wearing. Wearing a backpack creates a fun new opportunity for pain when running. Any seams on your clothing are gently ground into your skin and I had made a mistake with the shorts I was wearing today. Luckily me reserve shorts had less seams and therefore less pain. But there was no where to change now, so it was a case of out up and shut up.

I am an idiot

My way is blocked again. Signs tell me my path crosses a military zone. You can cross it but not if red flags are flying. In the distance I can see one building with a red flag fluttering. It seems odd to only have one flying and I consider crossing anyway. Then I think about how stupid I would look if I got shot or blown up. Sigh. I divert again and have to run along a busy road. The views are lovely but the close proximity to cars is not. That evening, as I tuck into beer and pizza, I spot the Maltese flag flying from a nearby building and do a huge mental face palm. That was what I had seen in the distance, not a warning flag.

Cooling off in the sea at last

Other than my stupidity the only thing slowing me down is the heat. I stop for juice and water but this causes me stomach cramps. After 12.5 miles I spot a small bay with just one couple swimming. It’s time for a dip in the crystal waters. There is nowhere to change so I just swim in my shorts and sports bra. It feels perfect.

It is just a couple more miles to my Air BnB accommodation in Qawra, near Bugibba bay. Having showered I head out for the evening. Feeling strangely un-hungry but thirsty for beer. My host for the evening has told me where to go to enjoy the sunset and I do so before the beer awakens my hunger and I inhale a pizza.

The day has been eventful but little do I know how easy it will feel looking back. As I walk back in the darkness I decide to rise early and be on the road by 7am to try to beat the heat.

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Day 2: Fri Sept 7th 2018 – Bugibba to Bahrija, Rabat

Let’s go

Despite the sweltering heat and lack of air con I slept well. Rising at 6am, breakfast is a cup of tea and slice of flapjack. I leave the apartment by 7am, into the dawning day. Malta is already hot but bearable. For the first hour I happily jog along. Attempts to run in the shade are thwarted by others trying to walk there also – selfish. By 9am the heat is oppressive once more.

As I track the undulating coastline I lose my path once again. I regain it by dropping down barely used paths through allotment type areas. I look at my bare, scratched ankles and wonder idly about snakes. Losing my path had meant losing time and I am feeling low on fuel. Wherever I can I stop to take on sugary drinks but the heat stops me from wanting to eat a thing.

I am walking all of the uphills but more and more I am walking other sections too. The path is rocky and I have a slight propensity for falling over when running. Despite the fact I am getting better at falling without injuring myself I still prefer not to do it. With the backpack on my feet are not light on the ground. If I do go down the extra weight of the pack will take me down hard.

At the times I drop down to meet the sea I stop and pour water over my head. At some point I remove my trainers and let my feet soak in the salty water. My toes are getting pretty battered and sore. It’s trainer change time. After my experiences in Iceland I have chosen to bring a second pair of trainers. Pair two are lighter and more comfortable but have less grip; something which will make for some nervous moments later on!

Finally the fall comes, not on rocky ground but a concrete step. Only my pride is bruised my my GPS takes a slam as I hit the ground. This may explain why it keeps freezing during the rest of the trip.

The heat has me feeling lightheaded now. I force down a tiny bit of homemade energy food (plumpy nut!). It is a reminder once again of how far the human body can go on a small amount of energy…and a lot of stubborness.

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My holiday, my choices

It has been a while since I saw a town or village and my water is running out. Sitting under a low tree for some small amount of shade I make a deal with myself. I have covered 16 miles; if I want I can stop at 20. Once I have made this deal I am able to carry on. At the end of the day, this is my holiday. Being alone is not always great but at least I can make my own choices.

After another mile I come to a small beach area. I don’t know it at the time but I’m just above Popeye Village. A ramshackle fishing village built especially for one of my childhood favourite films. Now anyone who knows me knows I don’t sit still enough to watch films. The very fact that I watched Popeye many times (I even had the video!) means it’s a real tragedy that I didn’t know I was at this set!

I buy 2 litres of water and a coke from a stall holder and he gives me his chair to sit on in the shade. He can’t know how wonderful this felt.

Feeling much better for a drink and a rest I strike out again. As soon as I get going the punishing heat gets to me again. I am stopping every mile or two now but shade is hard to find with the sun so high in the sky. A dead lizard at the side of the road looks how I feel.

Coming to another beach area at 20 miles I push on. Suddenly there is a scarily steep climb on unstable ground. My trainers aren’t coping well but I make it up and wedge myself between two rocks for a rest in some shade.

As I prepare to move down the other side of the climb a Maltese man comes up to join me. We pass comment about the heat. He then asks if I’m alone and would I like to go swimming with him. I decline and explain I need to move on but am unerved to hear him close behind me as I move on.

Now it is perilously steep and slippery going down. At times I have to sit and slide down on my bum to get down safely. I want to get away from my companion but have to stay calm and not rush. Finally his footsteps subside and he turns back.

Spotting the next bay, Gnejna, I gratefully (not gracefully) make my way down. I have covered 22 miles on foot, it is another 4 miles to my accomodation. Enough. I have an ice cream, go for a swim and call a cab. This is a holiday after all!

Tonight I stay in a small country village, Bahrija. There are a few restaurants, all specialising in the local delicacies; rabbit and horse meat. As a vegetarian these don’t especially appeal so I stick to one of my freeze dried meals with snacks from a local shop. Strangely in four days of running I don’t see any rabbits or horses…perhaps they’ve eaten them all already?!

My fingers are hugely swollen in the heat and my toes look as if they have had a good fight amongst themselves; always prone to blisters, they are starting to bubble now. I empty a sachet of rehydration salts into my overnight water and set my alarm for 6am. As I fall asleep my legs twitch and jump over imaginary rocky paths.

Want to know how I get on with the second part of my run? I really hope so! So that you don’t miss out on my suffering pop your email address into the box below and you will be notified when Part 2 is published.

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Call that a holiday?! Running around Malta – Part 1 'You're going to run around Malta. On your own. Call that a holiday?!' What is a holiday?

[boxyladies]

Today is a special day because it’s the four-year anniversary of Boxy Ladies! I honestly can’t believe we have kept it up this long. I think both Jill and I fully expected this phase would end after a few months, but somehow, we’ve kept it up for FOUR YEARS. It’s a lot of work, but we both agree it’s fun and worth it. Besides – we have a LOT of opinions, so we definitely need a platform to share them, duh. So cheers to us, and cheers to you, our loyal readers. Sometimes I feel like my mom is our only reader but I KNOW there are more of you out there, and we love you all. Tell your friends about us, too! We are fun girls, they will probably like us.

And onto the topic at hand – Part 2 of dumpster diving through Lauren’s trash! If you missed Part 1, click here to see my empty skincare, makeup and hair products! Today we are going to discuss makeup removers, random body products, sheet masks and nail products.

Makeup Removers

Yes to Coconut Hydrate & Restore ($4.29): I started keeping these in my car for a few reasons. The packaging is nice, so they don’t dry out like the ones with just the sticky plastic strip. But mostly I keep them in there because when I get up at 4:30 a.m., it’s nice to be able to sleep in those extra 5 minutes it would take to wash my face. So I’m able to use these wipes in my car on the way to spin. I like these in particular because they are moisturizing as well, so I feel like this sort of takes care of two steps in one. I don’t like putting on a heavy moisturizer right before I work out anyway, so this is really nice. I also will use these after spin, to wipe away the sweat while I am in transit to my shower. I don’t like the feeling of sweat on my face, so I like having these in my car for that reason as well.

Honest Beauty Refreshingly Clean Makeup Remover Wipes ($9.50): I got these in a box and honestly did not really care for them at all. I don’t feel like they were wet enough for what I like in a makeup remover. Plus they are kind of expensive.

Kleenex Eye Makeup Removers ($14.99 for Starter pack and refill): I like these little tiny eye makeup removers when I am actually applying makeup. I don’t need a whole makeup wipe necessarily, but sometimes, I’ll squeeze out eyeshadow primer or swatch some shadows or liners on the back of my hand to see what colors I want to use, so I like to use these little baby removers to get that off. I bought the main starter pack awhile ago, so now I’m working my way through a few of the little refills. I’ve bought again and will continue to buy again. It’s a little hard for me to tell if Kleenex is still making these but they are still available on Amazon.

Up&Up Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes ($3.89): I actually linked the fragrance-free version of these but I prefer the regular version that you can get in-store, next to the Neutrogena ones. I actually recently got the fragrance-free Neutrogena wipes and I think I actually hate them. They aren’t as wet, and it’s much harder to remove my makeup. But the original Up&Up dupes that sit next to the Neutrogena version are the bomb.

Body

Bausch + Lomb Bio True Multi-Purpose Solution ($15.99/pack of 2): I used to use the Up&Up Target brand for contact lens solution because… I don’t really want to spend money on contact lens solution. But I have to admit that the Bio True really makes my eyes feel better and less irritated on a regularly basis. I like that each box comes with a new contact lens case, so even if you aren’t the best at keeping your contact lens case super clean, you get a new one every time. (Recycle the old one, duh!)

Dove Dry Spray Invisible in Sheer Fresh ($5.59): This is my favorite anti-perspirant/deodorant. I know I should probably be using natural deodorants by now but… I’m not there yet, and this is my journey. I love this stuff because I can put it on before I get dressed and not get white stuff all over my clothes. I’ll be honest the spray isn’t quite as good as a regular stick deodorant in terms of wetness, so I make sure to put on a little more than I think I’ll need, and I’m good to go.

Up&Up Five Blade Disposable Razors ($8.29): I absolutely love these razors because I hate having to use a separate shaving cream, I just want to get the job done, you know what I mean? I think Jill was the one who told me about these in the first place. They are comparable to the Venus Embrace razors which are way more expensive. I think these are great for my gym bag, but I’m lazy and I use them at home, too.

Olay Cooling White Strawberry & Mint Body Wash ($4.99): I really love this stuff because it smells like a strawberry Starburst. If you know me, you already know that’s really the biggest selling point to me. I’m a big fan. I like smelling like a Strawberry Starburst while eating Strawberry Starbursts. I have the full-size of this in my shower.

Quip Mint Anti-Cavity Toothpaste ($5): I spoke about this toothpaste in my last empties blog, so as you can see, I’m still using it. I don’t have much more to say about it that I didn’t say then, but it’s my favorite, and I love both the toothpaste and the Quip Toothbrush itself, and I highly recommend both!

Jergens Natural Glow Wet Skin Moisturizer (Medium to Tan) ($8.49): As I mentioned in my last blog, I love this stuff. I have no idea how many bottles I’ve purchased, but I’ve bought it over and over again and will continue to do so indefinitely.

Masks

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KNC Beauty All Natural Collagen Infused Lip Mask ($25/5): I was incredibly skeptical when I received these in a box. At first, I thought these were a glorified chapstick until I realized they were really great for the areas AROUND the lips, which are becoming a problem for me with my love of drinking iced coffee out of straws. These are basically little jelly-esque masks that fit on and around your lips comfortably, with a slit in the middle that allows you to talk. I don’t know if I will buy these, as I do have a few left. But I now understand why they exist, and I would definitely recommend them!

Sulwhasoo Snowise Brightening Mask ($130/10): I was hoping this mask would change my life like The Shins did to Zach Braff in Garden State, but it did not. Just felt like a regular sheet mask. Shrug.

Flashmasque Illuminate ($30/5): I only had one mask to try so I don’t know what the effects would have been if I had used it more than once, but it was fine. Felt nice and my skin felt brighter the next day.

BioBelle #IWokeUpLikeThis mask ($3.99): This is similar to the Flashmasque Illuminate – it felt nice and my skin felt a bit brighter the next day, but I haven’t repurchased.

Bonvivant Botanical Mask Pack Aloe (can’t find this for sale anywhere): I used this mask when my mom was in town and was pleasantly surprised when it was more flesh-toned than a regular stark-white mask. It is apparently made out of “botanical fiber” rather than paper. I honestly do not know what that means since I think trees/paper are also a botanical fiber? But this one stuck to my face really well, and I think it was fine. I am not said I can’t get this anywhere, it was just fine, I wouldn’t have bought it again.

Too Cool For School Egg Cream Mask ($6): My mom actually used this one when she was here. It looks nice, they sell this brand at Sephora. She said that her skin felt nice and soft after using it, so that’s a pretty good review.

L’Amour Exfoliating Foot Mask ($16.99/set of 5): I am really into the “Baby Feet” Foot exfoliators. For the uninitiated, you put these little chemical-exfoliator booties on your feet for an hour and about 4 days later, your feet start peeling. About a week later, the skin on your feet will have completely come off – pain free. It’s a little gross, but your feet feel soft and new.

Feel Brilliant Bamboo Charcoal Sheet Mask ($35/4): I am trying to remember how I felt about this because I used it months ago (I will take better notes next time) – I don’t typically love this kind of mask because I mostly go for moisture when I’m wearing a sheet mask but charcoal does the opposite – it pulls gunk OUT of the skin. The mask didn’t dry my skin out, which was nice, but I will use these kinds of masks more often when my skin is a bit more “troubled” than it is now.

Nails

Julep Ta Da! Quick Dry Drops ($18): I really like to use these every time I do my nails. I feel like these drops help my nails dry just a bit faster than they would without it. I’ve repurchased and I will repurchase again!

Julep Clean Slate Polish Remover Pads ($14): I think I bought these on a whim one time but I really ended up liking them! They are essentially a small piece of felt that is soaked in polish remover. The felt helps you get off very stubborn nail polish, like glitter. But I liked that these were individually wrapped because I could easily pack them with me on trips without having to worry about packing a whole bottle of polish remover.

Miscellaneous

Ritual Essential for Women ($30): I thought I would include a mini-review of the Ritual vitamins because they are all over insta and social media for being the “prettiest” vitamins – and I have to admit, their aesthetic really appealed to me – but do they work? I’ve been taking them for going on three months now and I honestly feel like they are helping in a positive way. I’ve been feeling overall better lately, and while I can’t attribute all of that to a vitamin, I really do feel like it’s been helping with my energy level a bit. I like this vitamin because it contains the ingredients that you probably don’t already get from food. One thing that I really like about these vitamins over others is they smell and taste a bit minty (as opposed to fishy or weird) because they have this rubber minty tab in each bottle which basically infuses the vitamins with the scent without having to add anything extra to the vitamin itself. Genius. Is this as cheap as a vitamin you can get from the drugstore? No, obviously. But it’s definitely not as expensive as some other vitamins either, so I’m happy to pay for it. The first month they sent it to me, they included this little calendar card with stickers you could put on it for 21 days to help you create the habit. I mean… I love stickers. I was in.

[line]

And that’s it for this round of trash! I hope Jill will let us go dumpster diving into her trash sometime soon, but otherwise, I’ll come back at the end of Fall and share all of my trash with you again. You’re welcome.

xo, Lauren

Purchased; All opinions are my own Post contains affiliate links

Lauren’s Trash – Would I Buy Again? Part 2 | Empties Summer 2018 Today is a special day because it's the four-year anniversary of Boxy Ladies! I honestly can't believe we have kept it up this long.

[ginuhit]

What does a Php 50,000 phone feel like?

First of all, it’s bulky. Yes, the Galaxy Note 8 has all the right boxes ticked in the design and aesthetic department. It’s sleek glass feel is amazing. Too amazing, in fact, that it gets slippery with dry hands or if you’re not careful enough. One of the many factors is the sheer size of the display that crams all 6.3 inches of amazing SuperAMOLED display into an almost bezel-less body set at 18.5:9 ratio with just a little bit of both the forehead and chin left. Samsung calls this the Infinity Display which works well with both taking photos of the phone as much as enjoying full screen content on it. No, seriously, the angles are amazing thanks to the curved sides.

6.3-inches of SuperAMOLED goodness

It will be a daunting task, in itself, to attempt navigating through the expanse of the Note 8 with just one hand. Mini heart-attacks will be abundant in attempting to reply to an email while walking down 31st street with a hot cup of coffee in another hand trying to get to your next appointment. The same experience is emulated when trying to take a photo or video on its dual lens camera at the back that will only allow the default settings on automatic, zoom 2x, switch to video or apply effects and use some of the other functions. The other settings at the top will require the aid of your second hand. The sides will get in the way of your viewing pleasure as accidental touches will activate a pause, a skip, or a back button if you move a lot.

More than one hand needed.

A shimmy up or down will also be required for reaching the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner on the far left (if the phone is facing you) right beside the flash and the cameras that you will inevitably be almost always smudged for being mistaken as the sensor. The same story goes for the volume rocker near the top left portion of the edges. Meanwhile you will almost always call up Bixy by mistaking the dedicated Bixby button as a volume down button when you’re not looking. In any case, you will almost always hit the Bixy button accidentally.

The water-resistance is a gift from the gods. Sure, the build is not going to save your phone from kissing the pavement at speeds of 9.8 m/s² but trust me when I say the IP68 water and dust resistance is heaven sent from being brave enough to navigate, call, text, sext, under the rain – because you’re too stubborn to spoil your outfit with an umbrella and a coat just ruins the tropical climate approved outfit you’re wearing, or simply just wanting to catch up with you favorite series on iflix while taking a shower, or having to answer a call straight out of doing your laps in the pool. You get the idea.

Secure to the bone

A plus for getting a flagship phone means all the different versions of security will be available from the regular pin, password, the line dance to make a pattern, the fingerprint scanner, face detection (which only works with proper lighting, the sun, or brightly lit corridors) and the iris scanner (that only works if there is no sun confusing the IR blasters looking for your eyes, that you don’t have contacts on, or in corridors and hallways.)

The required swipe up is all you need to tall the phone to look for the security of choice.

Stylish stylus for some

While the stylus caters to only a handful of the number of consumers in the market, it works great in conditions that require a writing material for comfort or just that holding a tiny pen is easier to write with compared to typing with two fingers. The function and the added capabilities, however, works wonders for those that require the hardware. It’s sensitive, easy on the take, and thin enough to manage really small handwriting.

The gesture features of the phone will get some getting used to since a lot of the ones available have proprietary functions. Take for example the edge screen mini folder that allows you some navigation shortcuts of either your most used apps, favorite contacts, calendar, weather and such. The function is not available for third-party apps (if at all, depends on Samsung.)

Samsung this and Samsung that

There’s less of Samsung (insert app name here) or S (app) to great relief of many of the consumers complaining of how Samsung literally has the same number of apps that does pretty much the same things as those natively provided by Google. (Native apps allow for a more seamless experience.)

The Note 8 will last you a good day

Though the battery has been reduced, understandably, for 2016 reasons, the Note 8 manages well with regular, casual use. Messages, emails, social apps, even some screen time on Youtube manages well.

The battery meter will quickly descend, however, if you’re in areas with weak 4G reception as the phone will keep looking for better and better transmissions. It drops even faster if you find yourself using the camera/s more and more often. Specially on higher settings like UHD or 60fps video capture. The live focus seem to take its toll on the juice, too together with all the different functions of the camera like having to take simultaneous shots so can opt for the standard angle or the zoomed-in version complete with bokeh or portrait effect in case you change your mind afterwards.

Speaking of the cameras

It’s good. Saturated, as per standard Samsung affair, with every photo coming in bright and vivid with the assistance of ample lighting or mr. sun. Everything else will start to have grains creeping in slowly from the sides for those in really low light scenarios or forcing the ‘Pro’ mode to try to take in more than it has to maxing out at 10 secs (which works for most scenarios.) Night shooting will be grainy at best specially for the case of the selfie camera.

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Video capture is smooth, very smooth, in fact, with optical image stabilization. Much of the effects of photo taking are emulated with some degree of aperture drop because of the fps settings if bumped up. This is natural for any camera -phone, mirrorless, or slr, so it’s not much of a trade-off.

Overall experience

Crammed with all the latest 2017 has to offer, the Note 8 is fast. There’s no doubt about it. The only thing slowing it down will be the (legendary) paltry internet speeds of the Philippines.

The inclusion of the headphone jack is a nice touch for hardcore wired listeners.

If you’ve heard everything that has been said before, you’re basically looking at the review of the Galaxy S8 or S8+ with the inclusion of another camera, the stylus, and a larger screen.

The Php 5,000 – 7,000 difference (depending on where you get your phone) for the upgrade from an S8+ might be worth it if the functions and features are the ones you need on a phone but all things considered, they’re pretty much the same with some advantages here and there. The ‘upgrade’ is more apparent coming from the S8 or the S7 and beyond.

Here’s a little teaser of the video review we have cooking up for you guys:

What do you think? Let us know at the comments section below or over on Twitter @MNLMash. You can find Gio San Pedro here and myself here.

Mabuhay, Manila.

The Php 50,000 review | Samsung Galaxy Note 8 What does a Php 50,000 phone feel like? First of all, it's bulky. Yes, the Galaxy Note 8 has all the right boxes ticked in the design and aesthetic department.

[leislart]

Why Do We Value Technology More Than Creativity in Business?

How Do You Label Yourself?

I’ve noticed a tendency among my peers in the business world to assign themselves, and others, labels based on their chosen career path or natural talent affinity. Creatives, techies, financiers, and entrepreneurs are some of the more common labels, or “types". It naturally follows that there’s an inclination to self-identify with the “type” that affords the highest possible prestige in business culture.   

I have worn, and shed, a number of labels in my career. At present, I've arrived at a place wherein most would label me a “creative type", with “entrepreneur” as a secondary "type". I embrace these labels, feeling that they are a reasonable fit for me, and that using them provides a useful shorthand for others to understand me at a glance. I don’t assign myself labels because I particularly want to; I choose labels that others will understand and respect.

Choosing labels for ourselves is not just about finding what fits us best — it’s about finding our place in the hierarchy of labels. In most corporate cultures, there’s a ranking system — certain types have higher perceived value than others. I’ve found this is especially the case, ironically, in the world that is so fond of lauding itself as an egalitarian meritocracy: startups. It’s not the founders, CEOs, or even the VCs that seem to command the highest prestige. Here, the one type that stands far and above all the others in esteem and respect is the “techie” type: developers, engineers, and other technologists.

As a creative/entrepreneurial type who might better be described as a daydreaming visionary, I’ve always had difficulty knowing where it is I really belong, both in job roles and in the hierarchy. I'm not truly a designer, or truly a developer, and certainly not a true business guru. This is complicated by the fact that I don’t subscribe to the belief that any type has an inherently higher value than any other. This means that, quite heretically, I believe that creatives are just as valuable to the business world as techies. In my search for identity, I place being true to myself over and above commanding prestige and respect. This becomes readily apparent when I reflect on the path my career has taken thus far.

A Journey Into Technology

Before I was full-time entrepreneur, I worked as what would be called today either "front-end Web developer” or “Web designer". Before that, I was what would be called today a “hybrid Web designer/developer”. When I started my career in the mid-2000s, almost all roles in this vein were simply called “Web designer". Before that, I earned my bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from what I’m told is a fairly prestigious art school. Before even that, I was a teenager messing around with Notepad and Photoshop, utterly captivated by the fact that the simple fan-sites I created were being visited by like-minded people from all over the world.

Throughout my career, I’ve consistently been at a loss as to how to classify myself. I went to college at a time when “Web designer” wasn’t yet an established job title, much less an established career path. High school guidance counselors had no idea what to do with me. “Graphic designer” was an established job title, but it went down the path of visual arts, and I didn’t have much of an affinity for art. “Computer programmer” was also a well-worn career path, but that went down the path of mathematics — my worst academic subject by a large margin. So, art it was, and I threw together a messy portfolio of pencil drawings and Photoshop experiments that got me admitted to the School of Visual Arts.

In college, I had an identity as the most tech-savvy designer among my peers, and the only one who knew HTML and CSS while everyone else threw down all their chips for Flash. All through art school, I thought of myself as a terrible artist, since I lacked the years of experience in drawing and painting my classmates all had. Compared to them, it must have seemed like I really did belong over in the computer science world, though I still knew barely a shred of math (writing HTML and CSS isn’t really “programming” in the traditional sense, and doesn’t require any mathematical knowledge). 

The thing that finally bolstered my self-esteem was how easy it was to get work as a Web designer, both during and after college, given my multi-faceted skill set. I had my first "real job” at age 17, and worked various Web design gigs throughout school — a big help, considering how expensive SVA’s tuition cost is. The hybrid designer-developer roles I held during and after school were a great fit for me, but those sorts of multi-disciplinary jobs faded away from the industry as roles became more and more specialized.

After the ’08-‘09 layoffs season, my job search only showed me roles that were of one type or the other — designer or developer. However, as we’ve established, tech types are more highly valued than creative types. Web developer jobs were not only far more plentiful, they commanded salaries far above what I was used to. So for the next five years, I changed paths, and changed labels: I was a developer, a tech type. During that time, I sincerely thought of myself as a technologist. I’d always been a misfit in art school, so why shouldn’t I end up here? As a tech type, I’d be on the forefront of progress, continuously innovating and learning, while watching my salary climb year after year into the stratosphere. I sincerely thought I loved to code.

A Journey Out Of Technology

Eventually, I hit a wall on the the technology path when the JavaScript revolution came to the Web. Unlike HTML and CSS, JavaScript is much more akin real programming — i.e., the math and computer science I’d been consistently avoiding. It’s not as though I was unable to write any JavaScript code, but I was doing so at the level expected of a Web designer, not a Web developer — simple functionality heavily bolstered by libraries. Due to the relatively backward industries I'd worked in (healthcare and pharma), I did not abandon Flash and ActionScript nearly soon enough, putting me even further behind. To continue to find success as a tech type, I’d have to master JavaScript, and that meant learning to be a real programmer.

By this time, I’d been coming up with my own new ideas, on everything from code standards to team dynamics, often enough that I’d decided I needed to grow my horizons. What I wanted now was to be a team lead, a manager, a position that would afford me the power to implement my strong vision for how Web sites should be built. I’d been actively working on my leadership and communication skills by joining Toastmasters. However, when I interviewed for lead developer positions, all they wanted to see was mastery of hard computer science skills, not worthless “soft skills." I went on these interviews while still working a developer job that I had slowly grown to hate. I knew I’d never be promoted at that company, yet it seemed unlikely I’d ever be hired into a lead role somewhere else.

When I tried to learn hard computer science skills — and boy, did I try — I hated every moment. I hated that it just never clicked for me. Even one-on-one lessons couldn’t make it sink in. I’ve always been godawful at math; I barely passed freshman algebra in high school, and after that, never took another math course for the rest of my life. Yet now, I was being asked to do something more akin to high-level calculus if I wanted to continue on as a developer. I became discouraged, and started to lose hope. The industry was changing, but I couldn’t seem to force myself to change with it. Besides, did I even really want my life’s work to deal with mathematics — the domain with which I had absolutely no talent or affinity? 

It soon became clear that I not only lacked the ability, but also the desire, to become a real programmer. Maybe my mind simply wasn't wired to think that way, or perhaps it was my lack of genuine interest that prevented me from learning those complex concepts. It was then that I came to a surprising, stunning realization: I did not, in fact, love to code. Hell, I didn’t even like to code. I wouldn’t say that I hated it, but if I truly would never become a real programmer, and my career as a developer was truly over, I wouldn’t miss it. I was burnt out, tired of faking it, and at that point I really couldn’t have cared less if I never wrote another line of code in my entire life. 

The Hierarchy of Labels

Feeling I had nowhere else to turn, I chose to pursue entrepreneurship — that way, I’d have the freedom to create my very own dream job. I put on a new label: "Entrepreneur-type." As a founder and CEO, I was now free to implement my long-stifled vision for how Web sites should be built. I made a conscious effort to avoid acting as either a designer or a developer going forward. I knew that the business would only grow beyond a tiny freelancing operation if I focused on leadership, management, and sales. Of course, I still put my old skills to use in small ways, since we had so few staff on hand. However, being now much further removed from those old habits, I was able to gain new perspectives on how I felt about being a developer, and being a designer. 

I still didn’t miss code one bit, but I soon came to another surprising realization: I actually really, truly loved design. I realized that I had missed it dearly during my five-year techie period. I got back into being a creative with all enthusiasm, even when I acted as art director instead of designer. I realized my mind might not be wired to think mathematically, but it was wired to think creatively — freely, imaginatively, without hard and fast rules. I loved solving problems for which there wasn’t a single right answer, and for which there were multiple paths to a solution. I loved the infinite possibilities that this non-linear thinking opened up to me. I even liked to draw. So, I put on a second new label: Creative-type. “Creative entrepreneur” does have a nice ring to it.

Under these new labels, however, I soon began to feel the weight of others’ disappointment in me. As I continued my entrepreneurial journey, I was chastised by friends and colleagues for “letting my development skills rot away”. The assumption here was that other skills I’ve been gaining — marketing, sales, management — were of no worth compared to that of the Almighty Power of Code. I’d never again be able to command the unilateral and profuse praise that a developer commands. I’d managed to become the coolest possible thing to be, the highest echelon of status and respect — but according to the startup value system, I was now a failure. I couldn’t learn computer science, and thus, my value plummeted. I’d even decided to downgrade to the far inferior field of design. What a loser I was!

The startup world absolutely worships tech types, and puts very little value on creative types. Everything from company cultures to job boards to salary comparisons reflects this hierarchical value system. Even salespeople, financiers, and founders can’t measure up. I once watched an interview with a fashion startup founder with whom I’d become acquainted. She came to her venture with a business background, and had outsourced her initial app development. She stated in her interview, roughly, “If I could go back to school, I’d do computer science, because then I could do it all myself!”.

When it comes to a new business venture, no one person can "do it all” by themselves, regardless of their field of expertise. Yet in the interview, this founder completely discounted her business background as worthless compared to the Almighty Power of Code. However, chances are she went to business school in the first place because her true strengths and affinity lay in business, not in programming. If she’d become a developer instead, she’d have still needed someone with a business background to complement the venture. Even in the unlikely scenario that she possessed all the necessary sales, accounting, marketing, branding, design and technology skills necessary for the app startup to succeed, she’d have severely limited its growth by not sharing the workload with additional staff. The line of thinking that says “all you need is code” for a successful startup is misguided, naïve, and harmful.

The Danger of Homogeny

Yet, it’s not surprising that this founder thinks this way. We are constantly hearing that, in this technology-driven world, literally everyone, from designers to janitors, has to learn to code to make it. This line of thinking seems to forget that “learn to code” is not something trivial to accomplish. It takes years of study and experience, on top of a natural inclination and talent for the mathematical, to even become a valuable member of a development team. Even fewer are those that possess the brilliance and talent to serve as an entire full-stack development team unto themselves. Great software is not something a single person can build, alone, after taking one Coursera class.

Not everyone in this industry can become, or will become, a world-class developer and technologist. Not all our brains are wired that way — mine certainly isn’t. And quite heretically, I think that’s okay. Yes, it’s developers who create the software around which virtually all startups base their products. But it’s creatives who turn that software into something customers can actually use by giving it the right UI and UX. It’s creatives who craft the company brand and message that makes customers actually want to use the software, thus driving sales and growth. Ours are the sort of minds that come up with entirely new features, new marketing strategies, even whole new products with our knack for imaginative, non-linear thinking. Every business, especially a startup, needs creatives on the team in order to get off the ground, consistently satisfy customers, and stay innovative over the long term. 

In addition to techies and creatives, there are dozens of other disciplines and “types” necessary for a successful startup team. Good salespeople come to mind first; these tend to be extroverts, whereas the other two types attract mostly introverts. Homogeny can come about not only when one career type, but one personality type, is encouraged and rewarded to the exclusion of all others. I recall many a group meeting where the more dominant — i.e., loud, and usually male — personalities took over the conversation, thus rendering it more of a monologue than a dialogue. Only the loudest voices were allowed to be heard, and those with quieter or shyer temperaments were assumed to have nothing to say if they were unable to shout just as loudly. It is thus not surprising that rewards in the form of leadership positions are given to people with dominant, loud, and masculine personalities — and that subsequently, entire companies, even entire industries, are run entirely by people who think the exact same way. When they are the only ones whose voices are valued, it gives the false impression that only dominant, loud and masculine people have any value to the business.

This is not an environment where new ideas will be born, grow, and thrive. Homogeny of thought is a deadly poison for a business. Companies shouldn’t be run entirely by dominant people any more than they should be run entirely by tech people. A group in which everyone has the same work experience, the same education, and the same personality traits will most likely all come up with the same ideas. A homogenous team will never be able to create a product that serves the needs of customers that aren’t just like them. Innovation will grind to a halt, revenue will suffer, and no one on the team will have any clue as to why — because all the ideas made perfect sense to them.

Staying True To Your Own Self

I have now wholeheartedly discredited and abandoned the hierarchy of labels. Instead, I encourage others, as I’ve done for myself, to seek out their own true callings, rather than pushing themselves unquestioningly into technology against their predispositions. I am the proof that this not only makes us happier people, but encourages and preserves diversity of thought in our businesses. As a creative type, I believe that we are the least likely of all to thrive when forced into a role where we don’t belong. It’s imperative and necessary for us to be true to ourselves. We need to be solving problems for which there isn’t one single correct answer. We tend to think better of the big picture than the small details. We need a certain measure of freedom in our work. We’d most often like to be our own boss, but if we have to have one, they must be able to listen to our ideas and take them seriously. Being creative starts to feel like a curse if we don’t have the freedom to turn our ideas into reality.

However, none of us need lock ourselves into just one type, even if it’s a dominant trait of our personality. Even if you understand that code isn’t everything, and that you yourself are unlikely to become a world-class developer, it doesn’t mean that code shouldn’t interest you at all. If you feel like it, take that one Coursera class and learn some basics. Surely, the knowledge will help you in business pursuits in some way. Just make sure you put it in perspective with everything else you know and love, rather than automatically valuing knowledge of technology above all other knowledge.

Those of us not inclined towards tech-centric career paths will continue to face challenges, rejection, and feelings of inferiority for as long as the value hierarchy of labels persists. However, all of us have a personal imperative to be ourselves in order to attain true success and happiness. My belief is that all the types are equally entrepreneurial — there is no separate entrepreneurial-type that blocks out all others. Creative, business, financial, marketing, sales, and tech people can all become successful founders. Because of this, I encourage entrepreneurs of all stripes to launch your ventures while staying true to yourself and your strengths, and not getting sucked into the Cult of Code against your will. A company needs the skills of a wide variety of people, temperaments, and types. To me, the best companies are built on great leadership first, good timing second, product-market fit third, great branding fourth, and great software fifth.

To all the non-techies out there that think you have to learn to code to make it in startups — you don’t. Emphasize and hone the skills with which you are already excellent, and bring on additional staff who are masters of the other skills. Especially to my fellow creatives, I say: Stop doubting yourself, and stop thinking you have to be something you’re not. Be yourself, and be proud of your creativity. Create so much, and so well, that the techies will be jealous of you. 

[operationrainfall]

If you follow my ramblings here at oprainfall, you’ve probably noticed I’m a fan of retro and indie. So of course I’m also a big fan of the fine folks at Tribute Games. Their artistry and attention to detail is really impressive, and I have personally bought most of their games with my own money, plus one that I got as a review copy. And though all of their games definitely have a bit of a sadistic streak to them, I am often beguiled and enamored by these fine tributes to retro gaming. With the upcoming release of their latest title, Panzer Paladin, I thought it’d be a good idea to finally try my copy of Flinthook. Was this adorable space pirate just the thing the doctor ordered to sate my appetite?

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First things first, Flinthook’s story is told visually. There’s no written dialogue describing the plot whatsoever. All you know is you’re using your Goo Compass to hunt for bounties that have something you want. That said, you’ll come across an assortment of quirky characters that do trade tales with you, and you’ll also find relics and lore that provide a bit of context. What this means is I wasn’t certain about a few things in the game, such as the nature of the titular captain Flinthook. At first he just appears to be wearing a white hood, but whenever you lose, an animation plays with his spirit detaching from his body, then reattaching. As such, I think of Flinthook as a space ghost (no, not that one), and will maintain this belief until the game convinces me otherwise.

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Despite most of the tale being told visually, you can still infer a lot about the game. That’s because the art everywhere in the game is bursting at the seams with personality, from the lowliest scalawag to the meanest buccaneer. You can tell when Flinthook himself is determined, frustrated or even downcast just by looking at his face. I can’t say nice enough things about the aesthetics in the game. Tribute always has amazing art, but this might be their best yet. It’s bubbly, full of complex details, and just jubilant to look at. Which is a good thing, because Flinthook is also ridiculously hard.

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Now, I tout myself as a platformer pro. And if you talked with any of my circle of gamer friends, they’d probably back that assertion up. But Flinthook isn’t just a platformer, it’s a rogue platformer. You never know what each area is gonna throw at you, you just know it’s gonna hurt. There’s hazards aplenty here, from swinging mace balls to spike traps to laser lattices and much more besides. Most areas also have lots of moving parts, like conveyor belts or disappearing platforms. You’ll often be dealing with one or more hazards in each area, not to mention enemies. There’s a great diversity of space pirates to contend with, from enraged starfish to bomb spewing parrots to gun-slinging dastards. One thing that makes all of them a challenge is that almost every enemy can shoot through surfaces you can’t. Not to mention they’re often protected by shimmering bubbles or red barriers that can only be dispelled temporarily by your handy Chrono Belt. Fun fact, any game where slowing down time isn’t that much of a game changer is a hard game. But I digress. The true challenge in Flinthook isn’t the hazards or the enemies, but navigating around them. Which brings us to the “hook” part of Flinthook.

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I really love the hook mechanic, at least in theory. Wherever you see a golden ring, Flinthook can use his mobile Quickhook (a tiny anchor) to grapple from it. You can’t hang from them, but you can maneuver all around by launching yourself from the right angle. The trouble is, the game is built around this mechanic, which means you’ll often have very little floor to speak of. Instead, you’ll have wide open spaces covered in spikes or lava, and have to use those nifty hooks to swing safely through them. Keep in mind, each mission tends to be more challenging than the one before it, and often the early areas aren’t that easy. I’m not trying to complain overmuch, but I do want fans of platformers to realize Flinthook is not playing around. It can and will kill you repeatedly. However, you do have one thing at your disposal to help even the odds – upgrades.

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As you go on raids to hunt for treasure and find your next bounty, you’ll gain experience. As your level rises, instead of increased stats, you’ll unlock more upgrades at the Black Market. There’s a wide range you can buy, from extending your base health to new subweapons and more besides. You’ll also come across perks as you play, little cards that provide big benefits. Some examples are dealing more critical damage or making you immune to electric shock. The amount you can equip at one time is determined by the size of your meter, which itself can also be extended at the Black Market. Though none of these perks is gonna make the game easy, they do make it more fair. I had a lot of trouble with the third boss in the game, a gelatinous space baron. To deal with him, I equipped perks that increased the amount of damage I dealt to bosses, as well as extending the duration of my Chrono Belt’s slowdown, letting me deal with the lack of floor in his arena. Even then, I had to try multiple times to beat the good Baron, and even then, I did so with just a mere fraction of my health left. But there’s a special thrill you’ll get whenever you beat one of the game’s hardcore bosses. It’s just enough of a rush to keep me coming back for just one more try. That said, I’m nowhere near ready to take on the final boss yet or the harder versions of previously beaten bosses I unlocked.

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It suddenly occurs to me that I’ve neglected to talk about the sound design in Flinthook. If I wasn’t already impressed by the artistry here, I was definitely impressed by the music. I don’t normally get that excited by music in games. I’m usually fine so long as it doesn’t get in the way or ruin the mood. Here though, the music is completely outstanding. It’s very memorable and catchy, while being somewhat evocative of classics such as Mega Man. But that’s not to say it’s derivative, it really isn’t. There’s a jaunty pirate energy in every tune, and it really makes the experience that much more unique. I’m really, really impressed by it, and it’s another reason I find Flinthook so hard to put down, despite how soul crushing it can be.

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I will say, much as I’ve grown to accept the difficulty in this game, there’s one thing I’m sad about. When I first saw the images from Flinthook, I assumed it was a Metroidvania. Mostly cause there’s a minimap that populates as you explore areas. While I don’t necessarily still want this game to be from that genre, I do hope Tribute eventually makes a proper one. Cause Flinthook is great how it is, but it shows that the developers have the chops to make a really amazing Metroidvania one day, if they so choose. Unless Panzer Paladin is secretly from that genre, but I suppose that answer will reveal itself soon enough.

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Now I can forgive a lot, but the following issues made my time with Flinthook less pleasant. Though I’ve grown accustomed to all the hazards, I’m less forgiving of the fact many of them are practically invisible til you’re right on top of them. A good example are the spike traps. Sometimes you’ll see a thin gray banner that tells you where they are, but more often you’ll be on what you assume is safe ground, hear a click, and get skewered. I also wasn’t a fan of the inconsistency of combat rooms. Generally you enter one, get locked in, the klaxon sounds and then foes appear. Sometimes, however, the foes will be there before the klaxon sounds, and will get in a cheap shot or two before you realize it. Also, I hate the bubble wizards. They just sit in corners of rooms mumbling eldritch spells that shield all the other foes with bubbles. You have to kill the wizards to take away those bubble shields, and that can be a hell of a thing in cramped quarters. Oh and the purple ghosts can also go to hell. The fact you can’t damage them at all, and they just float around hurting you is a pain. Other than these issues, I can pretty much forgive everything else. But these make bad situations overwhelming.

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All in all, I am glad I finally found the time to play Flinthook. Sure it’s incredibly difficult, but it’s also really engaging and hard to put down. And yes, I know rogue games often are super difficult, but I just feel the difficulty here is tuned a little too high in favor of your foes. That’s not to say it’s impossible, but you should expect to die a few dozen times as you play. It’s just important to know you’ll eventually unlock things that make the game marginally easier. If nothing else, you’ll get great replay value out of the game, with optional challenges, infinite raid mode and lots of main game craziness. I just hope that Panzer Paladin manages to strike a slightly more balanced tone by the time it releases.

IMPRESSIONS: Flinthook on Switch If you follow my ramblings here at oprainfall, you've probably noticed I'm a fan of retro and indie.

[operationrainfall]

Title Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan Developer COLLECTORVISION Entertainment Games Publisher COLLECTORVISION Entertainment Games Release Date September 12th, 2019 Genre Retro platformer Platform PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One Age Rating E for Everyone 10+ – Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood Official Website

Given my predilection towards retro fare, it probably should be no surprise that I ended up reviewing Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan. If anything, it’s a bit more surprising that I didn’t cover it sooner. But I often face a dilemma when I see games inspired by retro classics. Are these new games true to their inspirations, or just a cheap cash in? Sometimes that not knowing will make me wait a long time to evaluate whether or not these new games are worth my price of admission. Thankfully, I recently got an opportunity to cover Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan, and decided to roll the dice. Keep reading to see if that was a wise decision or not.

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The story starts when our titular character, Sydney Hunter, wanders into a Mayan pyramid. I’d like to say there was some deep meaning or plot relevance to this, but much of the game’s story is almost treated as either an afterthought or joke. He’s just out and about and decides it’s a good idea. To nobody’s surprise, this turns out not to be a good idea, and he finds himself quickly trapped in the pyramid. Worse yet, he discovers that thanks to the antics of the mouthy sun god, Kinich Ahau, and the feathered serpent god, Kukulkan, soon time will be frozen entirely. This is apparently because Kukulkan broke the Maya Haab calendar into several pieces and stole four idols. While the story says there’s only a few days in which Sydney can fix the situation, in-game you actually have as much time as you need. Your goal is to unlock each of the 13 stages by collecting Crystal Skulls littered throughout each stage. They serve as keys of sorts to progress further. While there’s 100 or so you need to reach the end of the game, that doesn’t require finding the total amount of Crystal Skulls. I managed to get the best ending, and I missed out on a half dozen or so carefully hidden ones.

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Besides these, you’ll also find several other artifacts that aid your escape from the pyramid. Many are new weapons, such as a spear you use to hunt aquatic beasts and a crucial long distance boomerang. You’ll also get objects that do stranger things, such as lowering the lava flow to allow you access to the bottom of the pyramid, one that creates disappearing blocks and another that allows you to destroy annoying Skull blocks. Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan definitely has shades of a Metroidvania, but it’s much more of a classic platformer. You’ll constantly find ways to backtrack to previous stages and find carefully hidden treasures. Most important is a special Skeleton Key artifact you’ll find late in the game, which effectively renders the need to find and use disposable colored keys in each stage moot.

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Often those treasures will be guarded by fierce bosses. Typically I love bosses in any game, and find they can often be the highlight, but here I was somewhat underwhelmed. About a third of the bosses are identical stationary Gatekeepers which just spit streams of fire that instantly kill you if they touch Sydney. I actually enjoyed those more than the deity bosses, which all move and look like lost Robot Masters from Mega Man. Though they all have carefully selected Mayan names, I ended up just referring to them as Leopard Man, Bee Man, etc. Now, you’d think I loved them, since I love Mega Man, but unlike bosses from that series, these deities all suffer from clone syndrome. They all have almost identical attack patterns, with some minor flourishes. Worse, they have a lot of health, and tend to litter the screen with projectiles, as opposed to carefully tuned attack patterns, which made them frustrating. The other third of boss types were just random creatures, and I found them the most interesting. There’s one that’s a giant eel that fires electric bolts at you, and another that’s a malicious stone that tries to crush you. If all the bosses were as distinct as those last examples, the game would have felt much more balanced. As it is, many of them will put your patience to the test, most especially one unique Gatekeeper that fires a rapid stream of blue flames which I thought couldn’t be dodged, and only discovered they could after checking with the developer.

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The basic loop of the game is fun, and I legitimately enjoyed exploring each stage. There’s lots of deadly traps such as spikes, platforms that break apart and statues that spit flames, as well as a variety of minor enemies. There’s things like walking skeletons, Mayan warriors, ethereal ghosts and basic stuff like rats and scorpions. My primary complaint with regard to some enemies is many of them are really, really tiny and incredibly aggressive. One of the worst offenders are beehives which constantly spew tiny bees that rush forwards, and can quickly overwhelm you. Worst, they are often placed so you can’t hit them immediately, and it’s often better to run screaming in terror. Overall though, I found the enemies to be fair enough, and felt they offered a good challenge while I searched for treasure and artifacts.

Speaking of treasure, you will need to pick up a lot of assorted loot as you explore. You can use it in various shops throughout the pyramid to buy items such as restorative elixers, and even permanent upgrades like additional health. You’ll also be able to buy some bird seed from one store, and without going into spoilers, I will say it’s well worth buying all of it. You can just thank me later.

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As far as controls go, Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan plays pretty well. There’s nothing that fancy, you can just rush about, jump with B and attack foes with A. You can also use the shoulder buttons to both cycle between items in your inventory (using them with X) as well as cycling through your weapons. That’s pretty much it, and I actually admire this simplicity. It makes the game much more about your reflexes and proper timing and less about getting overpowered with upgrades. Sure, I wouldn’t have minded something like a double jump, but it wasn’t strictly necessary. One thing that would have been nice, however, is a mini-map. Some stages are quite large, and involve lots of crisscrossing corridors, and it’s pretty easy to get lost at times. Especially when you’re scouring a stage for the 8th time trying to find that last Crystal Skull or artifact. If nothing else, I would have loved an item that chimes or otherwise indicates when you’re close to a hidden item. That would have done an amazing job of streamlining things. Thankfully, there’s plenty of save statues strewn about stages that will keep you from losing too much progress when you inevitably die.

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Visually, I really liked Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan. It’s simple, it’s colorful and it has lots of 8-bit personality. The pixel art is pretty on point, and my only complaint was that some of the smaller foes didn’t do a good job of showing off what the game was truly capable of. Well, that and the fact there were so many generic enemies in a game that might have borrowed more exotic ideas from Mayan lore. But that didn’t dispel how much I enjoyed the game’s aesthetic overall. Musically, the game is nice, and has a couple catchy but mostly forgettable tracks. It also has very silly sound effects, which in a way fit the goofy vibe the game seems to be going for. Put together, the game looks and sounds pretty great.

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While I liked a lot about Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan, there’s a few things that frustrated me. Some of those I have mentioned earlier, such as annoying tiny foes that swarm you and a lack of a mini-map. Another irritation was the fact that when you return to some stages, you’d need to beat the boss all over again, whereas others you didn’t. But perhaps the worst offender is the game’s writing. Now, I can deal with a joke or two, but it goes out of its way to be a clown, which kind of renders the urgency of the plot null and void. Worse was that the game is littered with grammatical errors and typos. When you consider that most every character you talk to will be a chatterbox, that makes things a bit problematic. I don’t like being super critical, but any game just comes across as less polished and well put together when showcasing these easily fixable issues. Not to say I didn’t enjoy the game, but these kept the game from a brighter evaluation.

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In the end, I probably spent a good 7 or 8 hours playing Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan for review, and mostly enjoyed my time. Though I’m not familiar with the previous game, Sydney Hunter and the Caverns of Death, I felt this was a mostly faithful retro romp. Sure it had its share of problems, but none of them kept me from having a good time. They just irritated me in the interim. But if you like games inspired by the classics (this one definitely took notes from Castlevania, Mega Man, and even more recent stuff like La-Mulana and 1001 Spikes), you should probably pick this game up. For only $19.99, it’s hard to say no if you’re a retro game fan.

[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”3.5″]

Review Copy Provided by Publisher

REVIEW: Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan Title Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan

[operationrainfall]

Title TINY METAL: Full Metal Rumble Developer Area 35 Publisher Area 34 Release Date July 11th, 2019 Genre Strategy Platform PC, Nintendo Switch Age Rating T for Teen – Fantasy Violence, Language Official Website

I should start this by mentioning how utterly excited I was by the prospect of the first TINY METAL. When I first saw it at PAX, and realized this was a true spiritual successor to a series I had long loved, Advance Wars, I was stoked. Even though I didn’t review the first game, I did play through it, and while not perfect, I felt it was a great start. So the sequel held a good amount of interest for me. Would this be a step up from the original, cementing itself as the successor to Advance Wars? The quick answer is no, but the long answer is it’s complicated. So join me as I address what TINY METAL: Full Metal Rumble did right, and what it did wrong.

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Full Metal Rumble seemingly takes place not long after the events of the first TINY METAL. I hedge with “seemingly” since I honestly barely remember the plot from the first game, other than something about lost technology and an evil mind-controlling clown. Events start with Nathan hunting the remnants of the Dinoldan army, which are apparently AI controlled puppets, despite looking mostly human. The sci fi nerd in me wished they had some distinctive robot trait if they were a drone army, but alas the only thing that identifies them as different are their glowing eyes, which made me think more mutant than robot. Putting that tangent aside, the story is rarely the most important part of a strategy game like this, but I prefer if there’s a solid effort made. Sure, Advance Wars wasn’t known for a brilliant plot, but it did have very eclectic characters with distinct personalities. The same goes for WarGroove, which had some really colorful personalities and a solid, albeit formulaic, plot. Sadly, none of those traits are in TINY METAL: Full Metal Rumble. There’s some subplot about Wolfram hunting for her supposedly dead brother Ragnar, some nonsense about nanomachines and mutterings about a greater intelligence at work, but if so, it was never revealed in the game. So if you were hoping for some grand plot for this sequel, put that hope aside. It’s not utterly horrible, there’s some cool ideas, they just never coalesce in a meaningful way.

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Sadly, the same can be said for the writing in this TINY METAL sequel. They make an effort at relevant banter and dialogue, but at best it came across like a poorly written anime. Cause and effect are completely divorced and random things happen that only the characters understand. No character gets any significant development, and some barely show up, like Tsukumo. There were at least two separate instances where I thought I knew exactly what was happening, and then the plot pulls a complete 360, or worse, seems to totally disregard important developments. A good example is one seemingly heinous betrayal that turns out to be a nothing burger. I know I said most people don’t play this genre for the story, and while that’s largely true, I can’t help but expecting a better written adventure than this. But now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, let’s move onto the meat of the game, which is how TINY METAL: Full Metal Rumble actually plays.

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The best thing the original TINY METAL had going for it was how it emulated the mechanics from Advance Wars. This one does a good job, and actually adds some new stuff to the mix. There are new units, such as the Archelon, which is essentially an APC with a machine gun, or the Viper, a mobile anti-artillery that can move and attack in the same turn. Some of my favorite new units were from the Mecha class, which were all essentially humanoid robots of mass destruction. Think a walking tank, and you have the right idea. They’re great since they can traverse environmental hazards Metals cannot, such as mountains, even though they aren’t quite as powerful. Besides the new units, there are also some new mechanics. One good example are the Commander units. Not to be mistaken with Hero units, which are slightly upgraded versions of normal units you can deploy, Commander units take a page directly from WarGroove. These are massively powerful units with one downside – if they die, you lose the mission and have to start over. Had I not seen it done first in another game, I probably would have been more impressed, but that doesn’t mean these units aren’t useful. One cool distinction is that Commander units can be various types, depending on where you are in the story. An example is how Wolfram pilots a Blitz Mecha in one mission and a Gallant Mecha in others. They are easily the best units in the entire game, and I felt they lent a bit of extra spice to the mix. Commanders even have special abilities you can use after you’ve filled up your meter by dealing or taking enough damage, such as increasing the move distance or attack power for your units for a turn. Unfortunately, I still can’t shake the similarity to recent games in the genre.

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One improvement to the combat is now whenever you build a new unit, you can easily see what they’re most and least effective against. That dispels one of my biggest complaints from the first game, that it’s not super clear which units work best to counter certain threats. They even have a little window that appears when you are selecting a unit to clarify what they can attack. My primary complaint is the game never tells you this, and I literally found out when I was more than two thirds done with the game. That said, there are many other tutorials in the first few missions, and while informative, they tend to drag on a bit long, especially for fans returning to the series. But if you ever get too lost, there’s a handy Metalpedia that gives a brief rundown for what various units do. I just wish I could select a unit on the map and bring up that same description. You can’t even pause the game to see the map, which was a big letdown. I know there’s Fog of War everywhere in TINY METAL, but I should be able to see units once I’ve dispersed them.

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Another change is that you actually have to keep track of your ammo and fuel reserves for all mechanical units. I thought I wouldn’t like this feature, but I actually really grew to appreciate it. It made my moves more important, and added a new layer of strategy. The AI for enemy units in Full Metal Rumble also seems a bit better. It uses Focus Fire MUCH more often, surrounding you to deal more damage, but it also does stupid shit like having Infantry attack Gunships, which almost always results in Infantry being massacred. I also noticed that my AI opponents rarely used their own abilities and seemed to shy away from attacking my Commander units. For reference, I did play the game on Normal, so maybe it’s not as incompetent on harder difficulties. Just don’t make the mistake of taking it entirely for granted, cause the Dinoldan army is more than capable of kicking your ass if you’re not treating it like a real threat.

More Metal on Page 2 ->

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Most missions in the game can be beaten one of two ways – either kill every enemy unit or take their HQ. I usually preferred to go for their HQ, since on many missions your opponent has factories and airports that can continually build new units. However, there are some missions where they mix things up. Some missions you have to survive for a set number of days, inflict X amount of damage to enemy finances, or kill a powerful VIP unit. Sometimes you won’t have any way to produce more units, and have to kill all your foes on the map. There are also some missions that have optional objectives, but they aren’t required to win. They just offer an alternate path to victory. Overall, the combat in the game is the highlight, but it’s not without its problems. One is that despite the variety I just mentioned and the combat being well-balanced, the flow of the game feels incredibly repetitive. I also wish selecting a unit for attack would give a preview of how much damage I might take, instead of just how much I will dish out and critical chance percentage. That said, I do like how the pause screen displays your Commander’s abilities and proficiency. It’s helpful knowing Wolfram’s infantry is more powerful, or that all of Tsukumo’s units deal more damage, but cost more money to build.

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  On the aesthetic design portion of the game, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The music is very muted and unremarkable, but the art is top notch for the design. All the Commanders look great, and a new one in particular I was rather fond of, Nora, has crazy orange hair, hates talking with people and pilots the new Mecha units with ease. There’s some really cool cinematics that occur at various points throughout the story, and they look great, though for the life of me I don’t understand why they have no sound. Unfortunately, the level design is pretty lackluster, with the same colors and layout from mission to mission, with minor variations like desert and snow stages. Hell, there’s not even weather effects, which would have gone a long way to impressing me. There’s also some weird graphical glitches like overlap and layers not displaying all at once. Oh, and though the music isn’t great, the sound effects highlight the battles nicely. The boom and ratatat of cannon fire and machine guns are music to my ears, even if the random snippets units say whenever they’re selected gets old.

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I hate to return to the writing of the game, but I feel it’s necessary. The writing is, sadly, incredibly vanilla, and unfortunately it has plenty of grammar mistakes. The way the text displays at times is also odd. Sometimes it doesn’t fit well or even goes outside the text boxes. Worse is that I don’t care about most of the characters or the plot. It all just felt really formulaic and uninspired, at least to me. And even after playing the game for 27 hours to beat Full Metal Rumble, I honestly have no real idea about the motivation for the enemy forces at all. I kept expecting some sinister force to reveal itself as the mastermind, much like in the first game, but it never happens. In it’s place, we’re left with faceless, emotionless AI puppets, and that’s truly disappointing.

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Now let’s move onto the part of reviews I hate, which is talking about glitches and quirks. There are several I encountered in my time with TINY METAL: Full Metal Rumble. It’s possible they’re isolated to the Switch version I played, but on the off chance they aren’t, I figured I should mention them as a PSA. One of the less problematic ones occurred with the new autopilot feature. As you progress from mission to mission, you move a plane around the world map. You can select autopilot to automatically move to the next stage, and that’s great. What’s less great is once I tried it and instead chose not to enter the next level, and suddenly my plane started flying around in circles. Another quirk is that after you supply a unit with more fuel and ammo, if you hover your cursor over it, the unit shows as still empty. But if you move the cursor and come back, it instead shows as refilled. One time I attacked a unit, and instead of going to the regular battle animation, that unit just exploded on the map. Another time in Skirmish, I was moving around and got ambushed by a hidden enemy. Instead of just stopping my progress, like it should have, my unit was dealt damage without any accompanying combat animation. A more prevalent problem is the blurring visual effect that happens quite often, including whenever you instigate a battle. But easily the worst glitch I encountered is the following: on multiple occasions, easily more than a dozen, I selected an attack target and initiated my attack, and instead my unit ended their turn. In a game where every move is key to victory, that’s a giant problem. And believe it or not, those weren’t all the weird incidents I encountered, just the more noteworthy ones. I know TINY METAL: Full Metal Rumble has been updated a couple times since release, but these are all issues that need to be patched ASAP.

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In the end, It just didn’t feel like Area 35 tried anything that dramatic in this sequel, just more of the same with some minor upgrades, and taking ideas from games that did it better. TINY METAL was born in the shadow of Advance Wars, and sadly, Full Metal Rumble never steps out of that shadow. I know that sounds harsh, and much as it pains me to say, I don’t know how else the next game can improve without criticism. Because I honestly still like TINY METAL, I just expect much more from it. That said, for $14.99, you get a lot of game for your money. I spent almost 30 hours just on Story mode alone, and there’s a lot more to do, such as Skirmish, Multiplayer and many, many goodies you can unlock with in-game currency. There’s also labs you can find in Story mode to unlock optional side missions. And if you are a perfectionist, each mission has optional conditions you can achieve to get more points. If you’re a fan of strategy games, TINY METAL: Full Metal Rumble might still be worth a look. But if you’re a stickler and want a better adventure, there are far better options available right now.

[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”3″]

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REVIEW: TINY METAL: Full Metal Rumble Title TINY METAL: Full Metal Rumble