#content configuration update

[thepastisalreadywritten]

[allthose3amthoughts]

Ladies, gentlemen, friends, foes, earthlings and other interested parties...

Desktop Buddy! Peter is officially out on Itch.io

I'm finally confident that the Beta version of of the Your Boyfriend Desktop Buddy is good enough to share. The link is here, and details are under the cut! It's a free game, but your comments and feedback mean everything to me, so please drop em, even if they're short. Thank you so much for your support everyone - I'm so proud of my first game, and so excited to share it <3

Features:

Idle Dialogue: Peter will say random things while idling on your desktop, with his dialogue evolving based on how you interact with him. If you'd prefer peace and quiet, you can also mute him.

Interactions: You can kiss Peter by moving your mouse over his head (without clicking) or hit him by double-clicking his face. His reactions will change based on how often you do each action.

Standard Functions: Peter can:

Set images as your wallpaper

Empty your recycle bin

Display your computer’s stats

Check for new emails (if you've configured your POP settings in SSP)

Relationship System: Peter tracks how you treat him, adjusting his dialogue and reactions accordingly. You can check your status with him or reset his memory to start fresh if you want.

Dialogue Depth: While Peter may not talk much at random, his menus contain a lot of dialogue. You can ask him questions on various topics, and his responses will vary based on your interactions. Even familiar questions might lead to unexpected answers.

Gifts: You can give Peter gifts, and what he accepts may change depending on your relationship status.

This is a beta version of the desktop buddy, with more content and updates to come. But please do leave a comment or reach out if you encounter any bugs, weird-looking sprites, or just anything that seems off. This is my first game, and there'll be kinks to work out!

[cutecipher]

People will tell you all sorts of nonsense about how to set your TV up to run off a computer instead of the tvs software. Here's what has worked for me over and over.

Disconnect your TV from the internet so it can't update/pull in ads

Get a computer with at least 4 gigabytes of ram and 32 gigabytes of disk space (thin clients are great for this), if you already have one even better!

Connect it via Ethernet if possible

Connect it to your tv, if your computer is older you may need a visual adapter, these are widely available but I recommend buying off ebay because that's the cheapest place ive found and the quality is almost always good

Install VLC

Install Firefox with ublock origin at least for ad blocking

Now you can watch off yt, twitch, whatever other sketchy sites for free content

If you want to torrent public domain media download qbittorrent

If your ISP is weird about it you can set qbittorrent to use a vpns network connection in the advanced configuration section of settings (mullvad is recommended for this but ymmv)

You can watch your public domain media with vlc now

[patrycarro]

TS3 - Scarlet Club (No CC)

ENG:

The Scarlet is an exclusive club that opens its doors only to the most powerful and wealthy creatures in town. Its relaxed and intimate atmosphere makes it the perfect place to build connections, forge new alliances, plot wicked schemes to eliminate your enemies, and celebrate with sophisticated cocktails when those plans succeed.

I built this club for a warlock in my supernatural gameplay, which is why there’s a small apartment and an office on the top floor. If none of your Sims are going to own this lot, I recommend locking both doors to prevent other Sims from interacting with objects in those rooms, like the computer or TV, so they’ll stay mostly on the other two floors.

Features:

Lot type: Community, exclusive lounge

Lot size: 40x40

Location: Moonlight Falls

Furnished lot value: 330.091 §

Unfurnished lot value: 152.220 §

Packs used in this build: EP01, EP02, EP03, EP05, EP06, EP07, EP09

Requirements:

Misukisu's exoticDancersStage Mod Updated by Arsil. It’s not strictly necessary, but I recommend it because it helps set the mood and is quite fun to use—though I should warn you that you’ll need to configure it manually. For those of you playing the game in Spanish, don’t forget that you can download the translation for this mod and many others for free on my Patreon.

Terms and conditions:

DO NOT claim my creations as your own.

If you want to use any of my builds in your custom world or save file, you are allowed to do so, BUT make sure to credit me as the original creator.

DO NOT re-upload my content under any circumstances; share it with your friends using my own links.

If you experience any issues, let me know and I’ll try to fix it as soon as possible.

Download it here. 🤍

SPA:

El Scarlet es un club de lo más exclusivo, cuyas puertas solo se abren a las criaturas más poderosas y ricas de la ciudad. Su relajado e íntimo ambiente resulta ideal para establecer vínculos, hacer nuevos aliados, tramar malvados planes para deshacerse de los enemigos y brindar con sofisticados cócteles cuando estes salen bien.

Construí este club para un brujo de mi partida sobrenatural; por ese motivo hay un pequeño apartamento y un despacho en la última planta. Si ninguno de vuestros Sims va a poseer este solar, os recomiendo que bloqueéis ambas puertas para que el resto de Sims no interactúen con los objetos de esas estancias, como el ordenador o la televisión, y así se mantengan mayormente en las otras dos plantas.

Características:

Tipo de solar: Comunitario, salón bar exclusivo

Tamaño del solar: 40x40

Ubicación: Moonlight Falls

Valor del solar amueblado: 330.091 §

Valor del solar sin amueblar: 152.220 §

Packs utilizados en esta construcción: EP01, EP02, EP03, EP05, EP06, EP07, EP09

Requisitos:

Misukisu's exoticDancersStage Mod Updated de Arsil. No es estrictamente necesario, pero lo recomiendo porque ayuda a crear ambiente y es bastante divertido, aunque os advierto que tendréis que configurarlo manualmente. Y para aquellos que tengáis el juego en español, os recuerdo que podéis descargar la tradución de este mod y muchos otros en mi Patreon de forma gratuita.

Términos y condiciones:

NO proclames mis creaciones como tuyas.

Si quieres usar alguna de mis construcciones en tu mundo personalizado o save file, tienes permitido hacerlo, PERO deja claro que yo soy su creadora original.

NO resubas mi contenido bajo ninguna excepción; compártelo con tus conocidos usando mis propios enlaces.

Si experimentas algún problema, házmelo saber e intentaré solucionarlo lo antes posible.

Descárgalo aquí. 🤍

[theresattrpgforthat]

How To Find Cool Games: On Itch.io!

As I drift into a reduced posting schedule, I figured I’d give everyone a peek behind the screen for how I cultivate ttrpgs for recommendations! Some of these tips might even help you find your next favourite game.

This is a long read so let's put most of this beast under a read-more. Keep in mind that many of these strategies work best when you're checking itch.io a little bit every week, and when you're engaging with the platform as more than just a store page. There's a lot of features that you can choose to engage with if you want to find the game for you!

browsing physical game recent releases. This helps me see what’s new and happening, and it helps with a number of things. First of all, I get to see new games pretty much every time I browse recent releases. Secondly, I get a good sense of what’s currently popular in the design space. Thanks to my weekly browsing, I recognize Cy_Borg, Shadowdark and Mausritter as games whose content shows up rather regularly - if you see a lot of products attached to one game at once, that’s a good sign that there’s a related game jam going on (in this case, Shadowdark), or that a game is really resonating with its player base.

sorting games into collections. I personally organize by genre, system, player configuration and (in Games That Intrigue Me) games that I’m personally really hyped about. This works for me because of the nature of my work, but a few collections sorted according to level of interest or game style might work better for you.

Depending on the need, I might have a collection that works specifically for the request - Neon Lights & Cyber Nights is perfect for cyberpunk games, but I might also reference this folder for combat, inventory mechanics, resistance themes, or interesting tech rules. LUMEN is great for folks who want fast-paced games, folks who are looking for certain kinds of video games, or folks who want to feel powerful. If you follow other people on Itch, you'll probably also be able to see their collections, which is a great place to browse.

searching game tags. I don’t typically use the regular search feature, although recently the website did update the toggles to restrict your results to physical games, video games, etc. Instead what I usually do is type what I’m looking for into the url: so in this case, [deck-building]. I might use a couple different wordings, such as [deck-builder] and [deckbuilding] (no spaces). You’re not going to find everything that includes the thing you’re looking for, but you’ll definitely find places to start.

Game Jams! I find these either by looking at the “Jams” tab (although you'll have to wade through video games here) or by noticing that a number of games being published recently have the “for the _” jam in the description. Alternatively, I might be reading the page for a game and see the little “Submission” badge in interaction buttons. There’s game jams for specific systems, game jams for various themes, game jams with special restrictions, and game jams that are titled things like “finish your damn game jam.”

Bundles. I typically buy big-ass bundles and then sort through the games in my downtime. These games are sorted into collections for future reference, and if a game really pops out - into the Intrigue Me folder it goes! And the best part is that I already own it, so if I want to learn more, I can just download it and start reading.

following game designers that I like. This way I’ll get notifications if they release a new game, update an old game, rate someone else’s game, or sort games into their own collections. I also get to see what other folks in the space are excited about - on the day I was browsing, Plasmodics by Will Jobst was really hot.

If you follow me on Itch, you’ll get a notification every time I add a game to one of my non-private folders! Also - you can interact with designers on Itch by liking their updates, and even commenting on their posts, which is a great way to get involved in the design community - and also just make a designer’s day!

[techav]

On Celebrating Errors

Isn't it beautiful? The lovely formatted tables of register and stack contents, the trace of function addresses and parameters, the error message ... it's the most beautiful kernel panic I have ever seen.

Why on earth would I be so excited to see a computer crash? What could possibly be beautiful about a kernel panic?

This kernel panic is well-earned. I fought hard to get it.

This kernel panic came from a current NetBSD kernel, freshly compiled and running on Wrap030, my 68030 homebrew computer. It is the result of hours upon hours of work reading through existing code, scattered documentation and notes, writing and rewriting, and endless compiling.

And it's just the start.

As I've said before, a goal of this project has always been to build something capable of running some kind of Unix-like operating system. Now that I finally have all the necessary pieces of hardware, plus a good bootloader in ROM, it's time to give it a shot. I'm not that great with this type of programming, but I have been getting better. I might just be able to brute force my way through hacking together something functional.

It is hard.

There is some documentation available. The man(9) pages are useful, and NetBSD has a great guide to setting up the build environment for cross-compiling the kernel. There are some published papers on what some people went through to port NetBSD to this system or that. But there's nothing that really explains what all these source code files are, and which parts really need to be modified to run on a different system.

I had a few false starts, but ultimately found an existing 68k architecture, cesfic, which was a bare minimum configuration that could serve well as a foundation for my purposes. I copied the cesfic source directory, changed all instances of the name to wrap030, made sure it still compiled, then set about removing everything that I didn't need. It still compiled, so now it's was time to add in what I did need.

... how ... do I ... ?

This is where things get overwhelming very quickly. There is documentation on the core functions required for a new driver, there's documentation on the autoconf system that attaches drivers to devices in the tree, and there's plenty of drivers already to reference. But where to start?

I started by trying to add the com driver for the 16550 UARTs I'm using. It doesn't compile because I'm missing dependencies. The missing functions are missing because of a breaking change to bus.h at some point; the com driver expects the new format but the cesfic port still uses the old. So I needed to pull in the missing functions from another m68k arch. Which then required more missing functions and headers to be pulled in. Eventually it compiled without error again, but that doesn't mean it will actually run. I still needed to add support for my new programmable timer, customize the startup process, update hardware addresses, make sure it was targeting 68030 instead of 68040 ...

So many parts and pieces that need to be updated. Each one requiring searching for the original function or variable declaration to confirm expected types or implementation, then searching for existing usages to figure out what it needs ... which then requires searching for more functions and variable types.

But I got something that at least appeared to have all the right parts and compiled without error. It was time to throw it on a disk, load it up, and see what happened.

Nothing happened, of course. It crashed immediately.

I have no debugging workflow I can rely on here, and at this stage there isn't even a kernel console yet. All I could do was add little print macros to the locore startup code and see where it failed. Guess, test, and revise.

I spent a week debugging the MMU initialization. If the MMU isn't properly configured, everything comes to an abrupt halt. Ultimately, I replaced the cesfic machine-specific initialization code and pmap bootstrapping code with functions from yet another m68k arch. And spent another day debugging before realizing I had missed a section that had comments suggesting it wasn't for the 68030 CPU, but turned out to be critical for operation of kernel memory allocation.

Until this point, I was able to rely on the low-level exception handling built into my bootloader if my code caused a CPU exception. But with the MMU working, that code was no longer mapped.

So then came another few hours learning how to create a minimal early console driver. An early console is used by the kernel prior to the real console getting initialized. In this case, I'm using the MC6850 on my mainboard for the early console, since that's what my bootloader uses. And finally the kernel was able to speak for itself.

It printed its own panic.

The first thing the kernel does is initialize the console. Which requires that com driver and all the machine-specific code I had to write. The kernel is failing at its step #1.

But at least it can tell me that now. And given all the work necessary to get to this point, that kernel panic data printing to the terminal is absolutely beautiful.

[the-sleepy-archivist]

Blocking Ads on Mobile Devices

Blocking ads on our phones is way harder than it should be so I figured I'd make some recommendations. These are not the only options out there, just the ones that I know and have used.

Please note that browser-level and system-level adblocking are complementary; you'll have the best experience if you use both of them together as they each block different things in different places. If you want a basic idea of how effective your combined adblocking setup is, you can visit this website in your mobile browser.

Lastly, there is some additional advice/info under the readmore if you're curious (EDIT: updated March 2025 to add more adblocking options for iOS and to add info about sideloading altered versions of social media apps that don't contain ads on Android and iOS).

Android

Browser-Level

uBlock Origin (for Firefox)

System-Level (works in all apps, not just browsers)

AdGuard

Blokada 5 (completely free version) OR Blokada 6 (has some newer features but they require a subscription)

iPhone/iPad

Browser-Level

AdGuard (Safari extension; free for basic browser-level blocking, requires a subscription or one time purchase of “lifetime” license for custom filters)

1Blocker (Safari extension from an indie developer; can enable one built-in or custom filter list for free, requires a subscription or one time purchase of “lifetime” license for enabling multiple filter lists and updating filter lists to the latest version automatically)

Wipr 2 (one time purchase from indie developer; simplest option to use, but also the least configurable. Best if you are looking for one time set and forget and don’t need any custom filters. Note that it does not have a system-level blocking option)

System-Level (works in all apps, not just browsers)

AdGuard (requires subscription or one time purchase of “lifetime” license for system-level blocking)

1Blocker (can activate without a subscription, but requires subscription or one time purchase of “lifetime” license to enable system-level blocking AND browser-level blocking simultaneously)

AdGuard DNS only (this is free and does not require the AdGuard app, BUT I would only recommend it for advanced users, as you can't easily turn it off like you can with the app. Credit to this Reddit thread for the DNS profile)

Some additional info: browser-level blocking is a browser addon or extension, like you might be used to from a desktop computer. This inspects the HTML code returned by websites and searches for patterns that identify the presence of an ad or other annoyance (popup videos, cookie agreements, etc.). System-level blocking is almost always DNS-based. Basically whenever an app asks your phone's OS to make a connection to a website that is known for serving ads, the system-level blocker replies "sorry, I don't know her 🤷‍♂️💅" and the ad doesn't get downloaded. This works in most places, not just a browser, but be warned that it might make your battery drain a little faster depending on the app/setup.

Each of those types of blocking has strengths and weaknesses. System-level DNS blocking blocks ads in all apps, but companies that own advertising networks AND the websites those ads are served on can combine their services into the same domain to render DNS blocking useless; you can’t block ads served by Facebook/Meta domains without also blocking all of Facebook and Instagram as well because they made sure their ads are served from the same domain as all the user posts you actually want to see. Similarly, browser-level blocking can recognize ads by appearance and content, regardless of what domain they’re served from, so it can block them on Instagram and Facebook. However, it needs to be able to inspect the content being loaded in order to look for ads, and there’s no way to do that in non-browser apps. That’s why using both together will get you the best results.

These limitations do mean that you can’t block ads in the Facebook or Instagram apps, unfortunately, only in the website versions of them visited in your browser. It also means ads served by meta’s/facebook’s ad network in other apps can’t be blocked either (unless you're one of the rare beasts who doesn't use facebook or instagram or threads, in which case feel free to blacklist all Meta/FB domains and watch your ads disappear 😍; I'm jealous and in awe of you lol).

One note: some apps may behave unpredictably when they can't download ads. For example, the Tumblr app has big black spaces where the ads are, and sometimes those spaces collapse as you scroll past them and it messes up scrolling for a few seconds (UPDATE: looks like the scrolling issue may have actually been a Tumblr bug that they have now fixed, at least on iOS). Still way less annoying than getting ads for Draco Malfoy seduction roleplay AI chatbots imo though. And honestly *most* apps handle this fairly gracefully, like a mobile game I play just throws error messages like "ad is not ready" and then continues like normal.

One final note: on Android, you may actually be able to find hacked versions of Meta’s apps that have the ad frameworks removed. In some cases they are a little janky (unsurprisingly, apps don’t always take kindly to having some of their innards ripped out by a third-party), and they are often out of date. BUT in return you get an Instagram app with no ads whatsoever, and some of them even add additional features like buttons for saving IG videos and photos to your phone. However, use these apps at your own risk, as there is functionally no way to validate the code that the third-parties have added or removed from the app. Example altered IG app (I have not vetted this altered app, it's just a popular option): link.

It is technically possible to install altered apps on iOS as well, but Apple makes it much, much harder to do (unless you are jailbroken, which is a whole different ballgame). I'm not going to cover sideloading or jailbreaking here because even I as a very techy person eventually grew tired of messing with it or having to pay for it. If you're interested you can read more about the different ways to do sideloading on iOS here.

[thesovereignsring-if]

Hello! Your IF story inspired me to start my own IF game

Im thinking of using twine

And I would like to ask you if you had any tips or advice

Thank you!

Also side note I’m really excited and very interested in how this story is going to play out I already love the cast and can’t wait to see the rest!

OOoo thank you so much! I'm very flattered the game inspired you!

Twine has many different story formats, each with their own pros and cons. I personally use Sugarcube (I think next to Harlow, it is the most popular) so all my tips will be for Twine Sugarcube:

Basic tips:

Bookmark the Sugarcube V2 Document. This is your bible. It will have everything you need to use Twine. It's a daunting read, but I use it to troubleshoot when I forget how Macros work. I always have tab open for it.

Download a Twine Template. If you are brand new to Twine and making IFs, I heavily suggest downloading a template or two. Most of them come with tutorials and examples on how they work. Sometimes they even provide more helpful resources on Twine. I use Vahnya's Template II that I modified myself afterwards.

Study from pre-exisiting Twine IFs. Might be controversial, but I personally believe that diving in and seeing how other authors code and structure their stories helps a lot. Eventually you'll figure out a system and structure that works for you. It might not work for all games, but most Twine games can be downloaded and opened up in the twine editior. If you're worried about spoilers or upsetting people, feel free to download my game and see whats inside. I make multiple copies of the game, so any build I have out in the public is not the original build and therefore have no spoilers. I know it will look insane when you open it, but there's a method to the madness.

Writing and Planning:

Making an IF is no joke! Plan your story out, know your big variables, your branching routes and at least some part of your ending!! Try to stay as organized as possible. These projects and can will spiral out of control if you're not careful. I suggest having a giant excel sheet with tabs for important variables, chapter/scene breakdowns, wordcount and characters ect. Updating it will be a pain (that I am guilty of not doing) but will make developing easier. Even if you don't make a big project, its still good practise to do it.

#Stylesheet:

All the code in here relates to how the game looks. You can fiddle in there to configure the game to look how you want it to look. If you even want to see what element is tied to what ID code, the best thing to do is playtest the game (build >> play) and then leftclick and select "inspect element" you browser will open up the developer window and you see what elements are tied to what and even play around with the contents to test out CSS elements you like.

This website is a great resource on using CSS and other coding language. I personally used it many time to modify my game.

Helpful resources and Macros:

Chapel has made a LOT of custom macros that you can add to your game. You can find the list here.

But the most important one is the Pronoun Template. It might be confusing at first but one you understand how it work, its a great tool to have. You can even add gendered titles so that they work with the pronoun template.

Idrellegame is a great resource on coding in Twine. You can find the list here. It helped me out when starting out.

Exporting to Itch:

I never see people talk about Butler when it comes to uploading If games onto itch.io, so i'm doing it now.

What is Butler? Its a command-line tool that Itch made to upload your game onto Itch.io quickly and reliably.

The documentation is here. And I suggest coping and pasting the export codes onto a doc so you can use them for every update afterwards.

Here is a youtube tutorial you can follow along as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JCJa5iWREM

I personally have the Butler on the Itchio.app so that's its always up to date.

Thats all I can offer off the top of my head, if you or anyone wants some help on something specifically, feel free to DM me or drop another ask in the inbox. Always happy to help. Working in twine is very overwhelming for newcomers.

[changes]

Friday, July 28th, 2023

🌟 New

We’ve updated the text for the blog setting that said it would “hide your blog from search results”. Unfortunately, we’ve never been able to guarantee hiding content from search crawlers, unless they play nice with the standard prevention measures of robots.txt and noindex. With this in mind, we’ve changed the text of that setting to be more accurate, insofar as we discourage them, but cannot prevent search indexing. If you want to completely isolate your blog from the outside internet and require only logged in folks to see your blog, then that’s the separate “Hide [blog] from people without an account” setting, which does prevent search engines from indexing your blog.

When creating a poll on the web, you can now have 12 poll options instead of 10. Wow.

For folks using the Android app, if you get a push notification that a blog you’re subscribed to has a new post, that push will take you to the post itself, instead of the blog view.

For those of you seeing the new desktop website layout, we’ve eased up the spacing between columns a bit to hopefully make things feel less cramped. Thanks to everyone who sent in feedback about this! We’re still triaging more feedback as the experiment continues.

🛠 Fixed

While experimenting with new dashboard tab configuration options, we accidentally broke dashboard tabs that had been enabled via Tumblr Labs, like the Blog Subs tab. We’ve rolled back that change to fix those tabs.

We’ve fixed more problems with how we choose what content goes into blogs’ RSS feeds. This time we’ve fixed a few issues with how answer post content is shown as RSS items.

We’ve also fixed some layout issues with the new desktop website navigation, especially glitches caused when resizing the browser window.

Fixed a visual glitch in the new activity redesign experiment on web that was making unread activity items difficult to read in some color palettes.

Fixed a bug in Safari that was preventing mature content from being blurred properly.

When using Tumblr on a mobile phone browser, the hamburger menu icon will now have an indicator when you have an unread ask or submission in your Inbox.

🚧 Ongoing

Nothing to report here today.

🌱 Upcoming

We hear it’s crab day tomorrow on Tumblr. 🦀

We’re working on adding the ability to reply to posts as a sideblog! We’re just getting started, so it may be a little while before we run an experiment with it.

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

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

[elysianfieldsarchive]

So, things on the archive have been a bit dicey the past month as the Mods have been investigating the ongoing DDoS attack and various options available to us to mitigate both the current attack and future attacks. I’ll lead with the big thing.

Planned Archive Downtime

The archive will be down for a bit as we configure the new security settings on the back end. The downtime could be as little as a few minutes or up to 72 hours and we anticipate some people will get access sooner than others. We don’t like it, but it’s for the best, and will hopefully allow us to resume full accessibility to all members.

When Is the Site Going Offline?

Approximately 9PM EDT, May 13 (Tuesday evening). While you have a couple of days, you should start preparing immediately.

Prepare? What Do You Mean By That?

Mostly, just be forewarned that the downtime is coming. Don’t panic if you can’t access the site or receive an error message.

You might want to take the time to download any ePubs for fics you are reading or plan to read soon. Likewise, while we don’t anticipate this will impact the site’s content, it’s never a bad idea to back up important things, such as story comments.

What’s the Security Solution You’re Implementing?

A very common, highly trusted, and broadly used security solution called Cloudflare. It’s the same that AO3 implemented following their DDoS attack. We have completed troubleshooting this solution on our test site.

How Did You Troubleshoot?

Once we got Cloudflare up and running, the Mods went to the test site and tried to break it. We wanted to replicate the errors we initially experienced, like the Forbidden/Forbidden 403 error message. A solution that works for only some people isn’t a viable long-term solution.

This is an imperfect process, but we were able to post stories, comments, news items, images, emojis, and all other normal archive activity without incident, while maintaining the strictest security settings available on the back-end.

What Happens if I Still Experience an Error Once Everything Is Back Up?

All members should continue reporting any unusual errors, messages, and so forth as they occur to elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com. 

How Do I Stay Updated While The Site Is Down?

Important updates will be made on all of EF’s active social platforms: Instagram, Bluesky, Threads, and Facebook. You may also join our Discord server. Please note that only EF members are allowed in the Discord server, and your server name must match your EF username.

Why Was EF Targeted?

No clue, and we’re not going to speculate on who is behind it or their motives. Doesn’t matter — Spuffy always walks through the fire and emerges stronger. So will we.

[thegrayascendancy-if]

Game update

The Gray Ascendancy is a dark fantasy interactive fiction game where the flow is controlled by player's choice, set in the world of magic that is as capricious as its very first wielders. It tells a story of revenge, court intrigue, age-old ache, self-determination and agency, with the player straight at the core of it all. [learn more]

play on itch.io

In this release:

set out on a journey again, this time with no clear end in sight

act your way into traveling with the Daelan trio, on whatever terms

get assistance from the Gray Regent

spend an uncomfortable night

and maybe, just maybe, recall a fragment of your forgotten self...

Coming next:

settle into a nice inn

investigate a small town of Wyrm's Nest

get on the path of uncovering what plagues it, magical and human

for better or for worse, spend time with your new companions

Extra features:

the settings menu now offers another font and a selection between the light theme (the prior default) and the all-new dark theme!

tidied codex page that does not look so crammed

starring Secrets that you can collect, discover and use to your benefit. This mechanic will replace Achievements because the two overlap a little too much for my taste, and Secrets make more sense to me narratively.

relationship stats page is now available

an alternative font, configurable in the settings

character stat screen now shows respective numerical values on the personality/mastery bars

small restructuring: former Chapter 1 is now a Prologue, and this update kicks off Chapter 1

added a few more suggested dialogue choices to the prologue section

lots and lots of fixes to what is now the prologue

This update is about the size of all the previously released content, driving up the total to upwards of 70k words.

My recommendation is to replay the game from the beginning as I did some work on the stats. In theory, it should not break your saves as the update guesstimates the missing variables, but for the most intentional result you should start from scratch.

Huge thanks to the fantastic people that tested the game, scoured it for errors and typos!!

[goblin-social]

A quick example of the current state of Goblin:

I imported my following list from mastodon and started following everyone with my goblin.band account too, so I basically read all my mastodon content from there already. Even if no one but me using the tumblr-like features I'm adding, I already enjoy Goblin more than Mastodon.

Things that I've added since my last post:

Integration with mastodon (and well, any other fediverse platform that use plain text instead of html)

Copy/pasting images in the editor

Sanitized html input when saving & updating posts

Improved the landing page

Cleaned the menus and improved the UI in general

Current "next" to-do list:

Fix posts displaying images twice when you paste an image

Fix RSS feed including the inline files again after the post

Sanitize html inputs on incoming federated posts

fix several style issues around different settings sections (black texts on dark blue background, white text over white background, etc)

Figure out if I can create a tumblr-api app so the posts from goblin can be automatically shared here without having to go through Zappier.

Figure out what kind of server I need to run a, let's say, 500 people server.

Find someone to do some security review of my server (Long story short, I've only a very slim idea of what I'm doing when configuring a server and I'm sure I've left some huge security holes around).

This is happening, folks. I think Goblin is going to be a reality. At least https://goblin.band will be.

[caelwynn]

New Additions to Caelwynn's Stardew 1.6.9+ Mod List — April 17, 2025 Edition

Went through and alphabetized/reorganized each page in the modlists, so hopefully they're easier to navigate. 💖

Expansions/NPCS

Always Raining in the Valley — adds best boi Sterling, his cousin Henry, and their housemate Mia, to Sunberry Village. Now with Sterling's Marriage Update!

Always Raining in the Valley Kids - Children Grow Up — A delightful surprise from Hime. This mod turns your children with Sterling into real NPCs! Includes dialogue not just for the children, but also 150+ lines for Sterling too.

Dynamic Shane and Sterling — Allows you to befriend Shane and Sterling in any order without breaking immersion, with optional rival heart events for Shane/Sterling.

Jonghyuk and Spanner - Custom NPCs for Sunberry Village — The world ended, but Jonghyuk survived. Adds a dateable bachelor and adoptable child NPC to Sunberry Village. From the author of Lucikiel and Lavril!

Rose and the Alchemist - Custom NPCs for Sunberry Village — Rose and the Alchemist are two new custom NPCs living in Sunberry Forest! Enjoy two charming storylines full of events and silly shenanigans, plus unlockable animal familiars, a magical forage questline and more!

Wren the Plumber — Custom NPC for Sunberry Village — An older transgender woman has come to Sunberry to be gay and fix pipes. From the author of Jorts and Jean!

Dialogue/Character Changes

Harvey Attends Aerobics — Changes Harvey's schedule so that he officially joins the aerobics club after his 6 heart event. Check-up schedules are moved to a Monday.

Gameplay/QoL

Actually Lucky Rabbit's Foot (Rebooted) — Makes the Rabbit's Foot actually give you some Luck. A passive luck bonus is applied to your character whenever you carry around a rabbit's foot.

Auto Heal and Energize — Automatically consume food to recover when your health or stamina is low.

Boss Battles — This mod adds 7 new unique bosses to the mines with varying difficulty settings and arenas, each dropping cool costumes and valuable materials.

Catalogue Filter - Continued — Adds a filter field for shop menus and catalogues that lets you filter shown items based on text input.

Challenging Community Center Bundles — A bundle overhaul mod which tries to create a challenging but not frustrating experience playing Stardew Valley. My first time playing with it, so we'll see how it goes.

FarmHouse Lights — Lets you have light at night in your home without placing torches. Island house included as option.

Fruit Trees Unblocked — Brings some of the unblocking functionality from Fruit Tree Tweaks to 1.6

Growing Valley - Child NPCs — See your toddlers grow up into walking, talking children who take after your spouse! A content pack for LittleNPCs. [Requirement for ARV Kids]

Legacy Cellar — Spacious cellar expansion, with a large main floor, plus a lower level for indoor planting.

Legacy Coops and Barns — More spaciously laid out coops and barns for your animals, with a dedicated area for produce machines or storage once fully upgraded.

Legacy Farm — Large farm map with its own quarry, waterfall cave to replenish your energy, farm forest with foragables and re-spawnable hardwood stumps, a vineyard and winery/storage shed area and a Junimo treehouse with warps to the Mountain, Beach, Desert, Ginger Island, Ridgeside Village and East Scarp.

Legacy Farm Cave — Three-story farm cave, created for the Legacy Farm, though it should be compatible with most other farm maps! Includes foragables, planting areas, a hot spring to replenish your energy, a treasure chest to help you in the early game, and your very own small quarry. Works like a greenhouse, and you can use casks here.

Legacy Farm Progression Unlocks — Adds progression-based locks to ItsLunatyx's Legacy Farm with configurable added large debris and an optional (temporary!) barrier to the winery.

Legacy Greenhouse — Large Greenhouse, originally created for the Legacy Farm but should be compatible with most farm maps. Three large planting rooms, a large basement, and a garden area to have fun with.

Little NPCs — Turns your children into little NPCs. Requires ContentPatcher. [Requirement for ARV Kids]

Lnh's First FarmHouse — Sizable new farmhouse with both first and second upgrades. Trying it out in my newest save in order to (hopefully) avoid bugs in a couple of Sterling's Marriage events.

The Museum Pays - Get Paid Donating to the Museum — This mod adds a new way to get paid in the valley and that's by your own donations to the museums, for every 10 donations to the museum you'll now receive a letter the next day with thanking you 1000/5000/10000 gold. Configurable.

PFM Indoor Apiary - Indoor Bee house Mod — This is a Producer Framework Mod that allows bee houses to produce honey indoors from either potted plants or the ground. It works in sheds, barns, coops, your home, greenhouses, the sewer or where-ever else you could think to place a potted flower and beehive.

Furniture, Flooring, & Wallpapers

Cute Cottagecore Furniture Catalog — Makes Furniture from "Cute Cottagecore Furniture for Alternative Textures" by Luny as new object in new catalog instead of Alternative Textures!

Decorator's Dream Furniture and Textures by Ilyeana (With Functional Shelves) — A modpack full of textures, functional display items, and decorations for your best SDV life!

Guxelbit's Catalog — Adds vanilla style furniture to the game without replacing the original.

HxW Boutique Bakery — This mod adds 50+ beautiful pieces of furniture for you to build your dream bakery and coffee shop with.

HxW Romantic Fountains and Arches — This mod adds 15+ seasonal outdoor buildings you can have Robin instantly built for you.

HxW Romantic Furniture — This mod adds 50+ beautiful outdoor items (can also be used indoors) for you to decorate, house and unleash the romanticism with this classical set.

Kedi's Kids Furniture — Adds new furniture for your children in-game!

Nursery CP — Robokit12’s nursery furniture for Content Patcher.

Orangeblossom's Functional Suitcase Dressers — Adds 7 suitcases that act as dressers.

Seasonal Fantasy Lamp-posts — This mod adds four new lamp-posts and one lantern! They have seasonal day and night textures and use sconce light type (with the exception of the spirit lamps and firefly lantern that use colored and lantern lights).

wooden furniture S1 — Adds 37 pieces of furniture and 17 wallpapers and flooring.

Alternative Textures

Aster and Nari's Japanese Wallpaper and Flooring

Asters Walls and Floors Megapack

Cerri's Walls and floors for AT

Dustbeauty's Seasonal Path and Flooring

Hojichas Seaside Furniture, Wallpapers, and Floors for AT

K10_FTW's Woods Wainscotting Walls and Floors for AT

Muski's Recolor of HxW's Fairy Fountain

NPC Furniture and Wallpaper

Old-Timey Cottagecore Furniture

Shyzie's Rugs

Shyzie's Seasonal Rugs

Shyzie's String Lights

Shyzie's Witchy Goblincore Rugs

Too Many Swatches II

West Elm Furniture (AT) by Atlas

The Masterpost for all of the mods I use is located here.

[daily-nikki]

Optimization Preview | Version 1.5

From the Official Nikki Website.

Breaking News: Version 1.5 Drops MASSIVE Optimizations + FREE 10 Pulls!

Keep Reading for more in depth coverage of what's in store.

[Camera] Optimization: Enhanced Photography Experience!

Momo's Camera is getting a major update in Version 1.5!

Version 1.5 will introduce vertical photo mode for PS5 and PC platforms. For mobile devices, due to the wide range of models and screen specifications requiring extensive optimization, this feature is still under active adjustment and will be released once fully polished. We sincerely appreciate the patience and understanding of our mobile players!

The new update will also allow you to save and share up to 20 custom photo settings. Preserve your favorite configurations, then effortlessly share them with friends.

On top of that, we've addressed feedback about limited composition options due to Nikki's fixed poses. After the 1.5 update, Momo's Camera will debut a free movement mode, enabling Nikki to move freely during photoshoots. This "small step" for Nikki could lead to a giant leap in capturing stunning shots—get ready to immortalize even more dazzling moments with her!

*This is an in-development version of the game. Please refer to the actual in-game content.

Leila has arrived! The previously teased camera merchant Leila arrives in Version 1.5! you can use camera modification tools to unlock 8 new photo poses, including "Drowsy Yawning," "Play the Pipa," and "Graceful Floating." In the future, Leila will also offer additional poses, filters, and other photography goodies for purchase or exchange—so stay tuned!

After snapping your shots, you'll now be able to rotate photos and edit them with stickers and text! Experiment with a variety of stickers to personalize your memories and craft dazzling keepsakes!

*This is an in-development version of the game. Please refer to the actual in-game content.

Embark on an Adventure with Nikki: New Storyline Unlocked!​

Version 1.5 Bubble Season brings a thrilling new chapter.

What begins as a lighthearted graduation trip soon spirals into an epic journey. Guided by a mysterious stranger, Nikki witnesses a world in crisis and steps into a rift in time and space, venturing toward the primordial Sea of Stars. There, she'll uncover secrets about her past, present, and future—and encounter countless versions of herself from parallel worlds.

A brand-new multiplayer map will open, featuring unique gameplay mechanics and co-op challenges. Co-op is entirely optional—solo players can enjoy the map at their own pace, with a focus on relaxed, stress-free exploration. Dive in and savor the adventure!

Alongside the update, Nikki's MV "Echoes of the Stars" will debut, where Nikki will tell the story of her celestial journey. Follow /@InfinityNikkiEN for updates—prepare to be swept away by the harmonies of the Sea of Stars!

But the adventure doesn't end there! Nikki will visit the secluded Serenity Island, where she'll meet new Piecey companions and unravel long-forgotten tales. Immerse yourself in the island's rich bathing culture and leisurely charm—a perfect respite before your next cosmic quest!

Unleash Boundless Creativity With Custom Ability Styling!

As Nikki's journey across Miraland unfolds, she gets better at harnessing her Whim. After collecting a set number of Ability Outfits and completing their story quests, Nikki will be able to use abilities freely, unbound by specific outfits.

Once an Ability Outfit is fully collected and its power unlocked, head to the Ability Setup interface to customize its appearance. Mix and match your favorite aesthetics to create unique looks for each ability.

Some abilities require specific items to function (e.g., handheld items). For these, you can swap the design of the required item (e.g., choosing a different style of cleaning brush for the Default: Animal-Grooming ability) but cannot replace it with an item from unrelated abilities (e.g., scissors from Tailor: Animal-Grooming, fishing rods, or bug-catching nets).

Some outfits, like ​​"Daughter of the Lake"​​ and ​​"Spectral Mist,"​ feature special effects. These are tied to their full sets and can only be activated by wearing the complete outfit.

*This is an in-development version of the game. Please refer to the actual in-game content.

Visual Upgrades & Ability Enhancements!

With the launch of customizable ability styling, we've upgraded the visual effects of select Ability Outfits to make their powers stand out even more! The following outfits have received art upgrades and ability refinements: "Crystal Poems," "Froggy Fashion," "Breezy Tea Time," "Shark Mirage," and "Forest's Fluttering." The "Crystal Poems" outfit now features a special purification animation: Nikki will wield her wand to cast Purifying Orbs, accompanied by a shimmering snowfall effect around the wand. While many stylists requested customizable orb colors, these hues are tied to future story developments—stay tuned for Nikki's evolving abilities on her adventure! The "Froggy Fashion" outfit has been upgraded to the new [Croaker Chorus: Whimsicality] ability, allowing Nikki to summon four Croakers for a lively choir session. This ability upgrade will debut alongside the [Croaker's Whisper] rerun event during Version 1.5's 4-Star Resonance period. Outfits available in the permanent Resonance event like "Breezy Tea Time," "Shark Mirage," and "Forest's Fluttering" also receive polished ability animations. Upon acquisition, their ability items—a bug-catching net, fishing rod, and cleaning brush—can now be swapped for exclusive new designs during use!

Glow Up & Recolor! Enhanced Benefits Await!

An upgrade will elevate the Glow Up experience: 5-star/4-star outfits and pieces unlock new color variants after being fully glowed up. For 3-star outfits and pieces, glowing up won't unlock new colors directly, but you can now use materials in the dyeing feature to unlock additional unique hues.

Starting in Version 1.5, fully glowed up outfits will grant color variant pieces directly via the Glow Up interface. More outfits will gain this feature in future versions.

*This is an in-development version of the game. Please refer to the actual in-game content.

Interaction & Gameplay Improvements​

We have been continuously enhancing visual performance across mobile and PC platforms. Detailed improvements will be announced separately via our official channels.

In addition to visual optimizations, we have also optimized button interactions during gameplay. We've added ​​X/Y-axis inversion for keyboard/mouse and controller, and the ​​custom keybinding system​​ will now support ​​combo key customization​​ (e.g., assigning keys for the ​​Timeless Melody's​​ exclusive skill).

Additionally, we have reduced grind for the two PS trophies ​​"I Swear, This is the Last Time"​​ (using Surprise-O-Matic 1,000 times) and ​​"Heart Full of Wonders"​​ (100 Iridescent Eurekas), allowing everyone to obtain Platinum trophies within a more reasonable timeframe.

Other Ongoing Optimizations

Album Sorting Fix

The display order problem in Momo's Album will be resolved in Version 1.5. Thank you for your patience!

​​Streamlined Main Interface + Immersive Mode

In Version 1.5 Bubble Season, a function hub button will be added to declutter the main interface, grouping and organizing secondary features into a tidy menu.

Additionally, a new immersive mode hides all UI elements (except an exit button) and interaction prompts while retaining shortcut functionality. Perfect for distraction-free exploration and photography!

Whim Calendar

Track event progress and manage Vital Energy efficiently with the new Whim Calendar on the main interface. Plan your adventures smarter!

The path of optimization never ends—future updates will bring even more refinements to your adventure. To all our beloved stylists, thank you for your unwavering support of Infinity Nikki. Your feedback and passion have been the guiding stars lighting our way forward. As a token of gratitude, 10 Revelation Crystals will be gifted to all players upon the launch of Version 1.5 Bubble Season. Let's set sail toward new horizons together!

The celebration of creativity goes on, and our pursuit of excellence never rests. Ahead lies the boundless Sea of Stars, where every twinkling star holds a story waiting to be heard. Together, we shall march onward, embracing a future sparkling with endless possibilities. Here's to brighter days ahead!

[bogleech]

Mortasheen

Given that I think your Mortasheen page has over 700 monsters while the latest Kickstarter update said you'd have 100 included, what should we think of those not included? Are they still 'canon' to the setting? Will the whole website page need to be revamped?

The book was never meant to be a one-off project but was always planned as the introduction to an entire tabletop gaming brand meant to keep adding content every year, at least in smaller batches. Like Pokemon the goal is to release playable monsters as "generations," and they'll always be a mix of old, new, or reinvented concepts, though @gutsygills who took over a lot of essential work doesn't want to leave a single one behind and stops me from completely scrapping any unless they truly just won't work. The Mortasheen archive on bogleech.com is just there for posterity now and might never be modified again, except to add links to where people will eventually be able to buy the books or visit a more dedicated official website. I guess you could say the release of the RPG will be a "reboot," especially since a lot of aspects of its world had to evolve a little to make more cohesive sense as a game setting. I'll still share my own new monster art and concepts as I go along but some will be book exclusives while some might get released with their gameplay stats for free, it'll vary with the monster. This is supposed to be basically my new job from here on out, it may be an independent project but it's being run as a serious business endeavor in partnership with the gameplay devs.

Here's one new monster I did for this first book though, its name is Pestode and it was designed to be the most basic common Wormbrain class monster, the Rattata of Wormbrains, just a large deadly parasitic worm whose "host" is reduced to barely more than a second skin it can contract into. Every monster also has a "retro sprite" from an imaginary nonexistent gameboy game and in many cases I'm using that to show a monster's other possible poses or configurations; Pestode can scrunch up like a frog if it wants

[sacredechoes]

Sacred Echoes - v1.1 Release

The Valentia demake returns, with new features, a host of bugfixes, and a full Spanish translation!

Added in this update are:

All 46 fully playable chapters, 8 dungeons, and 1 side chapter in both English and Spanish patches

Options to customize your playstyle with growths configuration and RNG settings

Pitchforks to customize your team and max out your favorite units

New CG graphics

Better UX for equipping and unequipping rings, shields, and accessories

Several new music tracks

Turn count tracking across your entire run

The game is now available on FEUniverse!