#since i can't make actual gameplay gifs

[galasgamingcorner]

Subnautica by Unknown Worlds Entertainment (2018)

[executables-sims]

Get to know you: Sims Style

Thank you so much for the tag, @goatskickin! :D I am ill rn, so please excuse the rambling. x) Long post ahead!

What’s your favorite Sims death? Maybe fright? I've only ever had it happen once via ghost, the anim is pretty funny. :)

Alpha CC or Maxis Match? My Simblr probably says otherwise, but I don’t have a preference! I’ve had nearly every possible CC style under the sun throughout my years of playing, and I constantly think about reviving my 'semi-realism' folder (living vicariously through you, other simmers!). I didn't play with CC until early 2006 though, so MM is a little bit more nostalgic. :)

Do you cheat your sims weight? Hell no! I'm still in awe of Nysha's townie body diversity mod finally letting townies be fat. :D I wish the game had a better way of managing bodyshapes so I could add more variety that way.

Do you move objects? Of course!

Favorite Mod? Of all time? Impossible! My continued interest in gameplay is always because of new mods. :)

I did gain a new outlook thanks to a mod recently, though! My wild romance sim Blaze Biermann ended up 'mood swinging' to fortune before he went to uni, and instead of reverting, it got stuck.

He had a few flings still (pleasure secondary), but after he returned home and met his daughter (for the first time since her birth), he started cringing whenever I directed him to romance his dates. It felt like he had grown as a person, and I loved it!

TL;DR: Randomly change your sims' original aspiration/s to give them interesting character arcs! First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack? I mean, not my decision, but our first TS1 EP was Hot Date. I'm pretty sure I got TS2 EPs/SPs in order of release (miss those days of unwrapping a new one every birthday/christmas!).

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing? We're LIVE, baby! 🎥

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? I don't usually get very attached to my first-generation sims, but maybe Evonne Milos, from the gameplay/story hood I accidentally destroyed in four days? Never actually played her, but I had a lot of ideas for a corrupt 'sexpot' politician. x)

Have you made a simself? Lots! 99% of the fun I had playing TS2 as a kid was me and my best friend making ourselves and our respective crushes of the week, and we'd always live in one of those Veronaville lots that was two houses connected by a balcony. I can't even tell you the amount of times she got me pregnant against my wishes whilst I went to the bathroom, lmao.

Which is your favorite EA hair color? For colour consistency, probably brown? But there are a lot of brunettes in Brunwick (must be the name!), so I enjoy the recessives popping up in gameplay. :)

Favorite EA hair? Does an EA download count? Jeanette is lovely.

Favorite life stage? Ohhh dude, that's so difficult to answer. They all bring different challenges and dynamics to the household! I feel like I've started to appreciate the child lifestage more since Brunwick has grown large enough to have multiple friendship groups. It's fun watching them goof around with each other and be actual kids, instead of sitting indoors skilling. I really need to build a park! :)

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

Are you a CC creator? Yes, I really love how this game has led me to so many creative hobbies! Would like to tackle BHAVs one day. :)

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad? Yeah! I consider us all friends over our shared enjoyment of the game really, but as a chronic lurker I'm not the best at cultivating connections. x) Does anyone wanna make a secret club? xD

Do you have any sims merch? No, but I do have a bunch of rad sims memories. 👉😎👉

Do you have a YouTube for sims? Nope, but I watched plenty of sim music videos back in the day! Found a lot of songs that way. :) Some formative memories here: One / Two

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing? I sadly don't have screenshots of my oldest saves thanks to a combo of no external HD and no screenshot program, but here's one example:

But gameplay-wise, a lot! My early years were probably based around creating stories more than actively playing, but when I did I would just emulate perfect families, attempt legacies, and restart BG hoods over and over. x)

Now I'm all about wants-based gameplay; witnessing and interpreting a story, as opposed to creating one from scratch. But I will add drama if I find my interest waning! x)

Who’s your favorite CC creator? Again, super-duper impossible to answer because everyone's CC makes the game fun, but my most recent CC shopping spree was Honeywell and HugeLunatic! :) 🛒

How long have you had Simblr? Technically 2011, officially 2013, but if we're being pedantic, I finally made a dedicated Simblr (this) in 2016. x)

How do you edit your pictures? These days, just sharpen and shrink! CC previews aren't too complicated either- a blurred out screenshot for the BG and a shadow.

What expansion/gamepack is your favorite? Ooh… maybe Nightlife, by a smidgen? I feel like it gave us a lot of new features and items, and the subhood was nice (as a non-builder at the time!).

Tagging: @daman19942 @aondaneedles @eulaliasims @profesionalpartyguest @tvickiesims @and everyone else, I love reading these! :D

[cassiesdevblog]

Dual Purpose Design in...

Hey all! I've been working on something I can't show you yet, but I've been thinking a lot about the design of one of my existing games!

I'm a big fan of dual purpose design and I try to pull it off where possible! I think it's cool for something to have both a downside and an upside. It can mean players will have to make lots of decisions, but it can also just add an interesting texture to a game! Or, if one mechanic has multiple uses, a game can feel more intuitive and "complete," because it makes the most out of every little thing!

If you've not played Pyo, there's a gameplay video on the store page to give you the gist, because I'm about to talk about a bunch of instances of dual purpose design in it!

Beans!

Much like in Bird & Beans (Pyo's inspiration!), the beans in Pyo are both a hazard and a prize. They're responsible for the destruction of the ground you stand on, but they're also how you score points, how you build and maintain big combos, and how you stay in the air. They can even save you from the very holes in the ground that they create, or help you bounce up to @bisthefairy so you can repair the ground. They're not good or evil, they're just beans!

Because of this dual purpose design, beans were super difficult to balance. If there were too few beans, protecting the ground would be a trivial task and big combos would be impossible to build, but if there were too many beans, it wouldn't be challenging to keep up a big combo, and it would be so easy to stay in the air that you'd never lose the game even after the whole ground was lost. Keeping this balance even as the game speeds up was really tricky!

By the way, beyond just being extra destructive, bombeans solve an important problem! If not for them, you could leave the game running forever and slowly rack up a huge score without even touching the controller

The dive!!

Margie's dive is absolutely loaded with purpose. It's so central to Pyo that it puts Margie's jump to shame. A real virgin vs the chad situation if you ask me

The dive was originally a double jump, but I quickly realized more horizontal control was sorely needed. It's a quick burst of lateral speed to get you over to the next bean, but it's also a way of turning around quickly. Margie's acceleration is very slow to accentuate this. The dive can also delay your fall, because it sets your vertical speed very slightly upward

Of course, it also leads to another important mechanic: the bonk! Diving into a wall will make Margie bounce up and away from it, giving you a little height, letting you stay in the air longer, and giving you a chance to double back in case you dove over or under a bean and missed it. It can even save you if you fall into a pit! It's a lot like a wall jump, but more streamlined, and it solves the problem of one sided wall jumping since you use up your dive in order to bonk.

The dive also leads to the game's most important subtle mechanic: The skid! If you touch the ground while diving, you'll skid off it without losing your combo, getting a very small bounce that affords a little bit more distance so you can bonk or grab a bean and keep your combo going

So, beyond filling several important roles on its own, the dive leads to two more extremely important and useful mechanics!

Ground!!!

For how many mechanics center around it, the ground can feel like an underused aspect of the game. Because the game is all about staying off the ground to get big combos, it's easy to undervalue it, but don't take it for granted!

You're able to drop blocks anywhere to mould the ground however you want it, and there are a few ways to strategically take advantage of this! Blocks jutting out of the ground can be bonked off of to keep a combo alive. The skid is your friend in this situation! It makes it much easier to hit the side of a single block without landing on the ground

Ironically, even a hole in the ground has its uses. You can actually fall pretty far into a pit without losing the game, and you can take advantage of this to chase green beans down into the abyss or bonk into the side of a pit to keep a combo going. That's a pretty sick trick I do a few times in the video on the store page! Block hitboxes actually extend down below the screen to make this easier!

(As a sidenote, this is actually why bombeans blast Margie up into the air if she gets too close when they explode. I kept dying by instinctually trying to chase them into pits even though they go away when they touch the bottom of the screen. Oops!!)

Damb!! That's a whole lotta DPD!!!

It permeates all throughout the game! Bis drops blocks but they also bounce you to help you keep your combo going! The stripes make the game look more interesting, but they also show at a glance where it's safe to land and where you should drop blocks to fill pits. The stomp lets you fall quickly to catch beans before they hit the ground, but stomping into the ground will also make Bis drop her block (at the cost of your combo!) I couldn't talk about Pyo's design without mentioning how many roles everything fills!

By the way, I think the term "dual purpose design" was coined in this GMTK video:

Thanks for reading :))

[askfallenroyalty]

If it's that important, could you put the player control + lab stuff in like... in its own mini-chapter if it doesn't fit in the main chapter storyline anymore? just a suggestion since you said it feels important for leading up to the darkworld arc ;0

Yeaaaaah Maybe?? I WAS about to say that the side stories all fit the theme of being backstories. but then I remembered there's a Christmas arc that's thrown in there in the middle like it's got any business existing in that format.

I do like this idea. I just didn't have any room set up for it, and I don't think it'd be enough to warrant a full side story honestly. Like, it's really just

1-5 room explorations, maybe a puzzle?

boss fight

end cutscene (different depending on how u played the fight)

My idea was to have every chapter have some form of interactivity, with it honestly getting a lil more ambitious each time.

(chapter 1: choose if Frisk texts Toriel or not. 24-hour poll. Chapter 2: Warship board game, which was a Twitch stream. Chapter 3: a boss battle you can play. Chapter 4: ???? Chapter 5: The Whole Chapter Is a Game.)

but the problem with making an isolated experience that's intended for gameplay is that... it's isolated. I can't have it involved with the actual plot of the chapter cause player choice would drastically change the shape of the chapter and I am not, obviously, making 2 versions of the comic to account for this. So keeping it isolated is necessary. But then it's hard to justify it in a complex plot.

I mean. I guess. MAYBE it could work where the comic happens, it sets up the gaster stuff, we get the game, and boom, it's not touched again for the rest of the chapter. you're in, you do the thing, you're out.

For the sake of the Darkworld arc existing (and like, I have to make it Darkworld, cause logically how else are they going to have such a big adventure post-pacifist? AND make it have the very specific plot development I want with living symbolism characters that I adore doing) I need to do that chapter. It's like, the literal midpoint of the story that drives Chara to cut out Asriel. The plot doesn't work without it, Chara needs that character development. And, it helps justify their goat form after the fact.

[tophattrio]

TOP HAT TRIO ARCHIVES: Part 1

Warden: Look at all this lovely art of us! We could fill a museum! Professor: There's so much it seems like we can't keep up... Once-ler: ..... Y'kno what guys? I'm gonna take a break...

((A small fraction of my old old old trio art, most of which has never seen the light of tumblr (under the cut)! None of this is colored. Some of this is pre-blog or just... REALLY early-era Trio art, so some of it is... dated. Also, as indicated by the top, this is part 1. Meaning there will probably be more, LOL...))

((I hope it's okay if I ramble some fun facts in the middle of this!))

We're gonna start off with this silly lil doodle of the lads! This was drawn during the era where I did my silly crossover drawings, before I mustered the courage to turn them into an askblog.

Based on the date, I must've drawn this next one while I was in the process of actually making the blog... potentially their original "profile" images? Or just a doodle I did to get me hyped...

As you can see, all the drawings so far are pencil and ink... that's because (if I remember correctly) this is when I was VERY new to computer tablets! I felt more confident in my traditional art so I would slap quick colors onto the back of a bunch of ink-drawn replies and make minor adjustments with the tablet. I remember being hesitant to switch to a fully digital style since I felt the sketchiness was almost part of the style of trio? But I've come to accept change is good! Everything post-Greed M!A is all (or mostly) digitally lined (with the occasional trad sketch), but if you look closely at the trio in this (and many other) early-day responses, you can definitely see the pencil marks!

Unposted Thneedville High Trio!!! I was SO obsessed with the Once-ler Askblog AU's back in the Once-ler Fandom's hayday... they were a lot of fun to observe on the side and I wanted to be part of that in my small way, but unfortunately, I was a coward so I never did LOL... I'm thinking this was drawn in February or March 2013...

And, something I drew on the same page, Truffula Flu Trio!!!! I think I briefly thought about making it (and thneedville high) a sideblog but I felt like I couldn't commit for multiple reasons: (1) AU hype was dying down a little, (2) It was a bit too serious a concept for Trio; I wanted to keep them lighthearted and silly (covers bad end with a hand). And (3) I was still doubting whether or not my blog counted as a Once-ler blog (being only 1/3 once-ler) and whether I was valid to participate in events. Eventually I got over that fear when I joined Camp Weehawken and participated in the fandom revival of 2015, but the fear was definitely there at the very beginning and I hesitated to jump in on some stuff because of it!!

These were some of my earliest (unanswered) asks! I think for a while I thought I accidentally deleted the Pinkie Pie one, but it mysteriously came back one day?? I don't plan to finish these but might as well get some closure since I already drew them. I had to look up which troll typing was the one being used here so I might be wrong, I know nothing about homestuck except chapter 1 and 2 and whatever I osmosis from my mutuals LOL...

Peacock was drawn before I knew anything about Skullgirls...... within the past few years I recently watched her gameplay/storyline! She's defs a fun character. Trio are probs neutral about her. I'm not confident enough to do anything major with her, but I would love to cameo her more!

I got a few asks / M!A's about genderbent versions of the trio back in early 2013 and these were my doodles for that. The designs were based off of different designs floating around tumblr at the time that I liked. I'm not interested in doing this M!A anymore, but the dresses are cute!

Some glasses shenanigans I never posted for some reason?? (For reference: (1) (2) (3) (4).) It's silly stuff like this that make me realize Trio!Professor is a little bit like "Cheerful Mystery" Professor but like... waaaaay more tame HAHA (I never read the manga back then because I was upset they made Layton OOC, but from what I've seen he's... a lot more chaotic there). Which, ykno, good chance explains why Trio!Professor stays sane around Once-ler and Warden and their wacky selves.

Some wardlers and layclaires!! Also a few super old things I doodled out for Lovestruck M!A part 2 (including warden being a perv and oncie being flustered and confused, LMAO) but... idk if I have the energy to commit to it at the moment... partially bc thinking about getting an influx of shippy-type asks gets me overwhelmed and idk if I can commit to another magic anon all my magic anons manage to kill the blog somehow 😭, but ykno... saving the anons in my inbox in case I change my mind... Love these guys dearly regardless,,, <3

Some doodles of Layton and his rivals!! I think someone sent a small "Descole takes over the blog" M!A (hence the itty bitty chibi head LMAOO) but (again) I don't have the energy to commit to anything but vanilla THT right now. I still thought the idea was fun enough to draw out and anticipate in advance! If I change my mind y'all will know about it...

My first drawing of Wilson from Don't Starve!! I didn't even play Don't Starve at the time, but I wanted to do research if I was going to properly execute the magic anon and I fell in love with him immediately. Unfortunately he (and his game) became my new brainrot and I still feel really bad about that LAUGHS, but hey! Was worth it! Maybe someday I'll redo trio mods for DST...

I may have him cameo again, but potentially after his character update in Don't Starve Together eventually drops, of course, :3 chants give us lore lore loRE LORE-

Aaaaaand that's all I'm gonna show for now... until next time everyone!

PART 1 (you are here!) || PART 2 (TBA) || PART 3 (TBA) || …

[pix-writes]

They also said David was right that he and Ellie have a violent heart and then compared Joel to him like a parallel. Like its purely to justify the second game/season beacuse he knows audiences wont receive it well in the first one.

Like its not in the first season beacuse it would ruin the story which is why they try so hard to justify their position to trick us into thinking seeds of violence were planted when they clearly weren't. If anything the actual show makes the second game look even MORE unrealistic.

And Neil recently reaffirming he does not care for people who dislike the second game. Like im sorry thats not a valid opinion he unironically based this game around Palestine and cycles of aggressive violence and promoted it through sabatoging beloved characters in favour of his new actual facist fave youre forced to play.

A good game is not devisive amongst the fanbase like the sequel was. Thats bad. And I think he will be in for a rude awakening at the reception to season 2. Beacuse general audiences will watch the show more then go out and play a game. Gamers paid already it doesnt matter if we stop playing half way through.

But TV shows with audience drop offs are much more brutal for a shows reception.

The amount of people already who refuse to tune in for a future season just from what ive seen on here is staggering.

Its a bad, brutal, punishing story with no mercy. And it'll be an even worse show.

I agree with these senitments, mutual!

I find it intersing making Ellie more used to violence (or using violence) in the TV series - of course she is a girl who's grown up in a miliatry school in a post-apocalypse, so it would make sense for her to be used or more ready to utilise violence in terms of survival. But I don't like the idea that she is violent like David is, or comparing his version of violence to Ellie's (or Joel's, for that matter) because its totally different - especailly as neither of them seek violence as a way of abusing people or to gain power like David most certainly does.

When I think of Ellie I don't think of her having a "violent heart" I think of her as a scared and yet feirce girl. I think the only thing David ever got right about her was that she is very loyal. I'd say that she has a loyal heart and one that puts loyalty into people who she cares deeply about & that show her that she can trust them/that they won't abandon her/that they can protect her.

^^^ I mean???!!!!??!!!!!! looook! the sweetest <3

Its intersting to hear Neil said that, I haven't seen much about what the creators have spoken about since the first game came out (/little snippets from the podcasts), to be honest, but its very disheartening. (And as a writer myself, I can't imagine having that perspective or lack of thought for fans by saying something like that publicly!)

I could go on about how I don't trust a lot of the men involved in this story (Pedro excepted ofc), for the way they treat David, like he's not an obvious predator, and how I didn't like that Joel doesn't intercept Ellie during the restaurant scene, but I'd just end up getting mad! ^^' and on top of that, the mentioned narrative that Ellie is 'forever changed' by what happens to her in her run-in with David & his cannibal crew (according to Craig/Neil). I've always taken issue with such things, as much as Ellie is a wondeful well-fleshed out female queer character (mad props to Ashley Johnson for being pivotal with that <3); and it makes me feel that tlou 2 was just made to be a rug-pull type story (as has been used in GoT and TWD) like 'oh you thought this? haha, well think again! your fave is dead because of tragedy!' --> its edgy for the sake of being edgy and missed out on being a meaningful additon to the first game & DLC and its themes...

I'm thinking the same, that the second season is going to be just as divisive - all the people who haven't been spoiled by the gameplay etc., are going to have a similar rude awakening to fans when tlou part 2 was released, and I don't think they'll get the reception they were hoping for (but then again, perhaps the writers don't care?). BUT it'll probably affect viewership dramatically, especiallly if (as I've heard other fans say) that they will sequence it much like in the game where it jumps back & forth in time/perspective (meaning *spoilers* - Joel 💀 in the first half of the series, most likely). I just can't fathom that going down well with general audiences. That's a recipe for a tv series bomb if ever I saw one.

... ... ....

Its probably kinda bad I do partly want the second season to bomb, isn't it? 😅 don't get me wrong, I love the first game/season, and the actors etc who've worked on it - but I just have so much issues with how they've handled the story since then/their interpretations of it, like I do with a lot of other tv series/tv in general right now, that I would just feel pure justified satisfction from it if it did!

[blaiddfailcam]

Hi! I really love your work with gifs, they're always so cool. How do you record what you do with Bloodborne? I'm very uneducated about gif making but I usually only see that stuff from games that are available on PC? Or at least a photo mode?

Oh wow, thank you so much! 🥲

Yeah, it's a bit complicated recording GIFs for Bloodborne without a PC—less so the recording part, actually, more the camera trickery.

As for recording, downloading, and converting, these are the basic steps I follow:

Find whatever I want to make a GIF of in the game, then set up the shot. I play without the HUD to make sure I get as much screenspace as possible, so it takes some deep familiarity with Bloodborne's gameplay as a whole.

Using the PS4/PS5's feature to save previous gameplay, I retroactively record the last 15-30 seconds after I get the shot I wanted.

I've downloaded the Playstation App on my phone. The PS4/PS5 will automatically upload saved gameplay there, which I can then download directly to my phone's storage. (I'm definitely operating on a low budget, lol.)

Via my phone, I trim the video to get only the exact shot I want to convert into a GIF. I'll also mess around with contrast, saturation, sharpness, etc. to get a clearer image, and ideally to minimize the resultant GIF's file size.

This is where it gets laughably cheap: I upload the video to a site called ezgif.com. It's a little hokey, but true to the name, it's very easy to use and has a good bit of options when it comes to resolution and framerate. Most importantly, it's free. I haven't had any issue with it thus far! (🤞)

Once I have the GIF I want and under 10 MiB, I just download it straight to my phone. I might edit this GIF later, but it's essentially finished.

That's it for the technical side, but as for how to actually go about recording gameplay in lieu of a photo mode? Well, there are a myriad of techniques I'm still experimenting with, but most rely on one simple in-game mechanic:

Gesturing. Specifically, the Sit Down gesture.

Since there's no way to obscure the player character (at least not entirely), the simplest solution is to have them sit down so you can either crop them out of view, or hide them entirely by having them sit by a wall or object that forces the camera close to them.

You can also sit while using the monocular, which drops the player character out of view so you can get close-ups of the environment, or simply record pristine images without need for a wall.

There's a lot more I've learned as far as camera movement, but those are the basics of simply removing that pesky hunter from the picture. No modding necessary!

Of course, this means there will always be a degree of diegesis, so I can't easily get high-angle shots or slip out of bounds. Furthermore, enemies will still try to beat my ass, so I have to be careful. It's a bit like wildlife photography in that sense, lol. (But that can be a good thing!)

I hope I was able to answer your question!

[rockethorse]

Get to know you: Sims Style

I was tagged by @goatskickin

Yippee! Talking about myself!!

Q: What’s your favorite Sims death?

Probably running with scissors. It's really just dying of fright (like when a ghost gets ya) but it was such an easy way to cheese the "defeat Death"/"be rescued from Death" Knowledge Sim Wants. Electrocution also feels kind of rare to me, though I'm sure it's far less rare than other deaths, and the yellow ghost is radical. Death by flies is also a classic.

Q: Alpha CC or Maxis Match?

I think I'm known as a Maxis Matchhead, and I do love MM, but it's not because I dislike realistic CC. I actually really like it when it's well-done and I respect realistic CC makers a bunch. When I first dipped into CC, I played a more semi-realistic game myself. I love how flexible and adaptable every Sims game is depending on what CC you load yourself up with. But, MM always has a special nostalgic place in my heart.

Q: Do you cheat your sims weight?

Only when I'm making a Sim to be a Townie or NPC or some other sort of character. If I'm doing regular gameplay, I won't use cheats, but I might put a Sim on an enforced pizza-and-cookies diet if I feel like my neighbourhood is severely lacking in minuscule body diversity.

Q: Do you move objects?

I literally can't play without it any more, lol. I'm always stunned when I pop in to a lot to "just quickly make a minor edit" and realise how soon I need to turn moveobjects on.

Q: Favorite Mod?

Hands-down, it's Shiftable Everything. It completely changed the way I decorate since not only is it less tedious than fiddling around with OMSPs but it allows lots to stay CC-Free and thus more easily shareable. I adore that mod lol, and buyable accessories + Nopke's walk-under spiral stairs mods for the same reason.

I also really like Phaenoh's holiday calendar (which I consider to be a mod, even though it's purely flavourtext and doesn't affect gameplay) and the version I use with modified holidays. It gives me mini goals to keep my gameplay exciting and I haven't taken it out of my game since I found it.

And lastly, it's not an exaggeration to say Meduza's mod to make hobby blogging increase social as well as fun made my week when it was shared. It may not be the most game-changing mod in the world, but it scratched an itch I had been holding in for DECADES.

Q: First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

I strongly remember my first - and, for a while, only - TS1 expansion pack was Superstar, and I hardly learned how to properly use a lick of it. I was young and TS1 was ridiculously hard for a sandbox game. But sooo many of that game's objects and functions and songs are instant nostalgia bait for me because of it, moreso than TS1 already is. (Also, like many it seems, I was never allowed to get Hot Date, LOL. I remember my mother promising I could get it when I turned 13 and then chickening out of that promise when the time came.)

I played without any TS2 EPs for an unnecessarily long time. A friend at school who also played TS2 mentioned something about Lifetime Aspirations and I had no idea what they meant, which was highly confusing to the both of us. I think my first Sims 2 EP was possibly University...? I remember the first time I got the "your teen can go to uni!" message I panicked and thought it meant right now, so I sent my poor Sim off to Young Adulthoot on, like, day 2 of teendom. The guy never got to let loose! Nowadays I don't let move my Sims off to college until they're on their final day of teendom anyway.

Q: Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing?

I always and still do pronounce it in my head as liv(ing). On the one hand, (a)live mode - as in, the game is no longer in stasis, and time has resumed - makes more sense and is probably what the devs intended. But in my defense, build and buy are both verbs, so to me, it makes sense that "live mode" is where you go after building and buying to live in the house that you just set up.

Q: Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

Most of my favourite Sims tend to be born-in-game, so not really ones that I've "made"... I do like the townies I've made with the semi-randomised method, though. It was always hard not to keep them to play with myself, but so far none of them have had great chemistry with my Sims to become playables, LOL. I'm gonna have to say Iris Kopper will forever be special to me. (Not that the Koppers are done yet!)

Q: Have you made a simself?

I tend to make a Simself first in every new Sims game I play as a way to test the system, but I usually don't play them. I had a Simself running around in my old TS2 'hood as a Townie, and I let myself wander around unbothered in TS3 until "I" aged up into a hot pink minidress and I had to interfere.

Q: Which is your favorite EA hair color?

I like making MM black hair recolours because they're the easiest and soooo satisfying, but I think my favourite is brown, especially the more complex ones that have purple/blue cool undertones. It's always struck me as such a tasty mahogany treatment that bown hair usually doesn't get.

Q: Favorite EA hair?

Since there are so many to choose from, let's go by age group!

For EYAM Sims, it was hard to pass up the classic Rocker, but i think Caesar is a very classy handsome hairstyle that suits a wide variety of Sims, and it's nice to have been given the option by EA.

I've always really liked this TM hat-hair from TSS and the fact that it came with a matching hatless version too. I like teens having their own styles, I just wish EA had given it to us for TF Sims too.

For EYAF Sims it was a difficult skirmish at first - I've always had a soft spot for the silly pointy-ear hat that came with M&G, and the matching hatless hair it came with, but that's so similar to longpart from BV I also enjoy - but in the end I realised it was clear;

Sweep sweep. It's versatile, it's nicely modeled and textured, it can be sexy or professional, it's as gender as you want it to be, it's TREMENDOUS on Elders, and it reminds me of Sailor Uranus. What's not to love? Other than its lack of age options.

For TF, JUST LOOK AT THAT. How perfectly Y2K! The fact that it reminds me of Minako "PGSM" Aino is just an added bonus.

Combining CU into one tier - look at these. Look at how precious the little doggy face is. Augh.

And finally, for PU, the most perfectly darling hair in the entire game they knew they had to limit to toddlers or else nobody would ever bother to use anything else. No wonder we all immediately converted it for other ages. It's the perfect boho pigtail look. No notes, Maxis. (Wait, it was introduced in Nightlife?? Why? Whose baby is that on the dance floor?)

And an honourable mention for updo, which would be my favourite EYAM hair, if not for the fact it's technically an EYAF hair.

Q: Favorite life stage?

Probably teens, because they were such a fascinating introduction to me when I shifted from TS1 to TS2. Sims aging and passing away intrigued and terrified me all at once, but the unique middle-ground of autonomy vs. immaturity of TS2 teens must've resonated with me. They could have a job, but not a great one. They could date and go steady and make out, and it could be deathly serious to them, but they couldn't cross the line or get married or start a family. They could look after younger Sims and drive and drink (probably illegally) and buy things and run the household if need be, but they were still trapped with limited freedom or opportunities.

I know other games have given teens more agency and there are mods to do the same in TS2, but as a pre-teen who was just playing TS2 for the first time, it was a really perfect encapsulation of the middle-ground between adulthood and childhood and the excitement but frustration it brought.

I also really like Elders for similar reasons. In many ways, they often have more freedom than Adult Sims, but they can also be harder to play in other ways. Plus they get the short end of the stick in terms of content so I gotta cheer for them.

Q: Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

I used to hate building (or at the very least, think I sucked at it) and was 100% dedicated to gameplay. Gameplay is still important to me, which is why I'll probably never move on from TS2, but these days I've really been enjoying building and decorating a lot more. It's also something I enjoy being able to do in TS4. Setting myself limitations like "CC Free" also adds interest to the challenge.

Q: Are you a CC creator?

Yep! Try to be at any rate, lol! It's interesting to see how I used to almost exclusively make build-buy content and now a lot of it is BodyShop CC.

Q: Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

Not on a private/personal scale. I have lots of people I recognise from Simblr who I chat with and reblog from frequently, and I think we have a good rapport, but I'm not around enough to really engage 1:1 with other Simmers like that. But I'm also really happy and proud to be a part of the little TS2 Simblr community and always smile when I recognise the same URLs and new posts popping up.

Q: Do you have any sims merch?

Other than physical copies of the games, not really! I've been meaning to invest in some fan-made merch like a pair of earrings or something. Any recommendations? (I also want that unofficial cookbook so bad.)

Q: Do you have a YouTube for sims?

No, but I keep thinking about it...

Q: How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing?

I've always been a rotational player, whether it be a specific challenge or not. I think the most interesting change in my style has been my intentional choice to cut CC back as far as possible. It's really pushed me to not only embrace a Mega Maxis Match aesthetic but it's also encouraged me to get more creative with the content already in the games.

Q: Who’s your favorite CC creator?

If I listed out all my favourites I'd be here all day and then I'd forget someone and feel terrible. I'm so lucky to be around at the same time as so many incredible CC creators, builders, storytellers, and modders here on Simblr who still make for TS2, and trust me, if you're here still posting updates for TS2 in the year 202X, I see you and I love you and I'm sending you all the positive energy you could ever use.

As a CC creator, though, I'd say my biggest inspiration is @crispsandkerosene. Their textures, models, animations, and especially their eye for the Maxis Match aesthetic are everything I aspire to some day, especially in their authentic TS1 recreations.

Q: How long have you had Simblr?

Since 2011... wow.

Q: How do you edit your pictures?

With The GIMP mostly just to resize. If it's an important screencap I might edit lighting/saturation for clarity, or mess around for storytelling purposes, but mostly it's just to crop and resize, lol. You guys all have to put up with my game's borked lighting.

Q: What expansion/gamepack is your favorite?

For TS1, I never had Makin Magic, so probably Pets. The animals themselves were fun but I was always transfixed by Old Town and gardening. Vacation is pretty close in my nostalgia, though.

For TS2 it's Bon Voyage. It's just such a jam-packed and well-thought-out EP, and you can tell it was Maxis's final love letter to the Sims franchise before they knew EA would put out their fire. Obviously I love Seasons and OFB as much as the next guy, but I think BV adds a surprising amount of replayability.

For TS3 it's 100% World Adventures. I love those gimmicky little tombs, lol. I always yearned for more life sim/time management elements to other exploration games, but I had never considered adding exploration/puzzle elements to a life sim instead. It's the perfect balance for me, lol; the tombs themselves may not be the most difficult puzzles, but having to manage your Sim's needs, finances, time, etc on top of those puzzles is exactly the kind of gameplay I was waiting for. (Why is the vacation EP basically my favourite for all these games?)

I don't have any TS4 EPs and I doubt I'll ever buy any, simply because I don't play the game enough, only decorate, but the one I'm most tempted by is the Tiny Living pack. I think I like the concept of it more than I like any of the objects it actually comes with, though, and technically I don't need an EP to make a tiny home.

Thanks for letting me ramble so much! For anyone who wants to do this, I add the following new questions:

What's your favourite in-game Sims food/meal?

What's your favourite supernatural life state?

What's your favourite way to grind for each skill?

If you haven't done it already then I tag @sixamese-simblr, @persimmonthusiast, @vegan-kaktus and @tvickiesims!

[mooshs-crack-headcanons]

Do you have any gameplay ideas for Lucia (Devil May Cry)?

Oh okay, that's a new type of question I've never been asked before. People on here don't tend to talk about gameplay aspects on here that much and tend to just talk about the characters - or at from what I've seen my three years on this site. But I'll take it sure!

Well, I'm not the best person to ask since I'm not really a game designer but I think I can think of at least a couple ideas to put her in more on how modern dmc 3-5 characters play with more complexities than Dante/Lucia/Trish had in dmc 1 and 2.

Okay to start off if Lucia would ever be hypothetically playable in a future dmc game she doesn't necessarily need new weapons, pretty much everyone else who isn't Dante with his ridiculous amount of weapons that only gets larger and larger with each game, specifically Nero, Vergil, Lady and Trish in dmc 4 proves this that small arsenals and tools you can work with like the devil bringer which you can throw in a buster whenever in a combo you like to add a little ✨️style spice✨️ A small rotation I find easier to work with and even so everything in that small rotation has a long list of moves and combos that you can steadily form your patterns you can strategize certain take downs for specific enemies.

But that's not saying you can't add anything new for her though, however including all the unlockable blades and knifes she could get in dmc 2 I think she should be okay as long as maybe you change some of their move sets to moreso differentiate them and make them each more unique instead of same knife/blade but reskinned and stronger. Again while you don't have to change anything like what she comes with, just look at Vergil the guy has had the same 4 weapons (counting summon swords) and basic play style since he was more formally introduced in dmc 3 and therefore being playable. However if they do go down this route with adding new things I hope they pull a dmc 4 revamp on us because playable Vergil from dmc 3 and playable Vergil from dmc 4 are very different beats. Dmc 3 Vergil is very, very simple and basic in his move set, similar to current day Lucia actually but - and this is true about every single version of Vergil since he's been playable - he is very overpowered. Like I don't know if this is because I've been playing dmc 3 since almost day 1 that it came out and I'm old but I don't know maybe it's just me but even in very hard and dante must die he makes the entire fucking game feel like a joke. Dmc 4 however (and don't get wrong he is still fucking overpowered as shit compared to everyone else in the game, he can absolutely break the entire game like he can in 3 if you know how to properly use him) I think he's less as OP in higher difficulties (I'm going to be 100% real here enemies in dmc 4 on human and devil hunter are like punchable paper once you play those higher difficulties just once and its veeeery noticeable) however to compensate for more heavy tankable enemies (Vergil in every mode is still a boss deleter no matter what) they they completely revamped his 3 moveset, keeping the all the simplicities and they MEGA built off it in literally every way; new moves, new combos, the motivation concentration meter and mechanics, new summon sword abilities, playable executable judgment cut end 💀, ect. But Lucia doesn't have to be as overpowered and game breaking, I think personally that should stay with just Vergil as like a gimmick afterall he has been that OP since day one and no other characters except Dante in a good several amount of occasions (dmc 4 and 5 particularly) have been able to be on that same level. But in a way story wise her being more strong and confident in her abilities moreso than in dmc 2 would show off more character development and being able to show that off in gameplay would be just perfect.

Sooo learning from that take her simplistic moveset and just revamp it in a similar fashion and that way she could still feel like better dmc 2 version of herself but she'd get more unique moves and combos and maybe build up her older playstyle in a way that feels more in tune with modern dmc without disrespecting her original playable debut despite the unfortunate game she came from, which I always thought anyway that out of the main two out of box playable characters (so not counting Trish who is better out of all three of them by miles) that she always felt good and better to play than the clunky, sword useless, Dante in that game.

Devil trigger gameplay? Since 2 and besides Dante's sin trigger in dmc 5 which is its own can of worms mechanically and runs off its own system very different then how it was dmc 2, no one else really has had a flying form and how it worked in 2 so if they just kept that exclusive to Lucia and modified it where A. It'd feel comfortable to play in modern gaming standards B. Expand on it, maybe make her airborne like 99% of the time and incorporate that into trigger exclusive moves maybe she can switch between the elemental moves that where in dmc 2 just you can switch between them on the fly without having to go through subscreens and menus and it doesn't cancel out your trigger gage and maybe each one has its own pool of moves besides being just that element boosting already established attacks, making it when you do trigger you do have more options and moves to integrate into your combo chain each time ect.

Uhm and I think that's all I have to say about it? Sorry if this was rambled and I didn't explicitly give much ideas this was just the way I think if Lucia ever were to be playable again (which honestly I really do hope, it fucking sucks she's chained down to such a "Yes it is actually that bad as everyone says it is." of a game) this is the technical ways I think Capcom should go about it.

Tldr: Take Lucia's very simplistic moveset from dmc 2 and treat it with a make over like they did with Vergil's from dmc 3 going into 4. Devil trigger should be mostly the same taking in the flight mechanics from dmc 2 and making it Lucia's own while incorporating the element mechanics that would also give her new moves to work with while in trigger.

Thank you for the ask btw!

[kelyon]

Did you play the Last of Us game? if so what do you you think of the television show adaptation?

As I said in my TMI Tuesday post, The Last of Us is a topic I feel Very Normal about. To celebrate the incoming premier of the HBO show, @wayamy27narf and I spent the last week re-playing the game on hard mode. We watched the premier the second it came out, then listened to the official podcast on the same night. Then since we were both off the following day, we watched the first episode again, just to see if we missed anything.

So yeah, I kinda like the show. Every good thing that other people say about it is true. I'm kind of in a weird place where I care less about them giving us exactly what's in the game, and more about... every other possible scrap of TLOU content. I'm here for the expansions from cannon (super looking forward to the episode about Bill and Frank). I'm here for aspects of the game world getting clarified. I'm here for little niggling issues I've had with the game getting dealt with.

(This is why I'm on board with the tendrils as a means of infection. Getting infected via a bite is fine for a zombie movie, but if they're saying it's transmitted through blood/saliva contact, how can anyone shoot an infected and not worry about getting any blood in their mouth or eyes or something? There may be a real explanation for all that, but for me the idea that an infected has to actually do something to a person makes it more believable. Also it gives a reason why some people are infected by zombies and some people just killed.)

Anyway, yeah I'm hungry for more. I'm glad Neil Druckman is staying in this world. My biggest questions about TLOU come as a result of the stories being so isolated and linear--if something doesn't happen to Joel or Ellie or Abbey, we don't see it happen. I can't wait to see more expansions, more stories from this universe.

Also, for the record, the game "easter eggs" that I freaked out over weren't the shot-for-shot, line-for-line references. (Though I'm so happy they kept the twelve year old girl saying she sells hardcore drugs.) What made me shout and point at the screen were the references to the literal gameplay. Joel using a pipe wrench as a weapon, a rag and an alcohol bottle being used to patch up Tess' wounds, a pair of scissors on a table, the flashlight scenes. The second somebody uses a brick or a bottle to stun an enemy, I'm probably going to cry.

This is the most hyped I've been about anything in a very long time.

[ilaiyayaya]

Ngl I Just Wanted To Complain About Arthur That's All This Is Really About

Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest Chapter 10 is like, so bad but also like so good but also like I fucking hate it but also like it's so good but also like. There is not a single map in the entire Fire Emblem series that I think about nearly as much as Chapter 10 of Conquest, I cannot think of any other map that lives rent free in my head like this piece of shit. I'm not even replaying Fates right now, just sometimes Conquest Chapter 10 just pops up in my brain and I spend 3 hours thinking about it.

When I play Fire Emblem my playstyle is generally super defensive, I like playing on the highest difficulty most of the time and I REFUSE to ever let any units die so like, why would I ever want my defenseless healer or my shitty low as fuck accuracy axe-user to be anywhere near danger, and this map is like the perfect counter to that type of playstyle. It's a super well-designed map, like it's really good, but I hate it so much, it's super early in the game, in Fates the first 5 chapters are a prologue shared between all 3 version, so it's effectively only the 5th chapter of Conquest, and so you don't have a lot of units to choose from, and those units are still pretty weak. I think by Chapter 10 of Conquest you can have 10 units I believe? you get 3 more a few turns in, and those new units are really good and make the rest of the map a lot less stressful, but it's still pretty bad even with those. The whole point of the stage is defending a 4 tile wide gate, but while you would probably assume this means it would be good to play defensively, absolutely not, enemies come in large waves from all sides and if you don't play extremely aggressively you will get overwhelmed within 1 turn. This is really hard to do on this particular map at this point in the game because of the available units, 1 of them is a healer that cannot attack (Elise), 1 is a dancer that technically can attack but does so little damage that she's only really useful for finishing off enemies with like 1 or 2 hp (Azura), and 1 is an optional trainee unit that is probably still too weak to do any more damage than Azura (Mozu). So basically you have 7 actual damage-dealing units to fend off large waves of enemies coming from 3 directions. The worst part is that of these 7 remaining unit, half of them were not at all made to be defensive, 1 is an archer that can take 1 or 2 hits (Niles), but obviously since they're an archer they can't counter attacks from one space away, 1 is a mage that will die in 1 hit (Odin), and 1 is a maid that really is meant more for healing than damage (Felicia), but she can at least do some debuffing and a bit of damage, still dies in like 2 hits tho. That leaves 4 units at the start of the battle that can actually reliably be put in the center of combat without instantly dying AND EVEN THOSE 4 KINDA SUCK AT THEIR JOB, the only truly outstanding unit is Effie who is a fantastic armor knight, whichever spot you place her at she can pretty much solo if you've leveled her even a little bit since her introductory chapter. The other 3 are Corrin (the protagonist) who isn't necessarily bad, and the exp they get from constantly being attacked is really good since they're a required unit for the entire game, but if you haven't levelled them enough by this point they can get overwhelmed pretty easily, another is Silas, who is potentially as good as Effie, but I personally rarely plan to use him long-term, so I usually don't level him a ton before this chapter so he's really weak for me, that's entirely my fault, but like, that valuable exp, I gotta give it to my other more useful units I can't just waste it on someone I'll drop later. The last of the available units at the start of the chapter is Arthur, Arthur is possibly my least favorite character in the entire series, I hate his character, I hate him in gameplay, I don't like his design, there is nothing about Arthur that I like, but you need to use him in this chapter AND HE'S FUCKING USELESS, he is the prime example of axe-users never being able to hit anything, even if you level him a decent amount, he isn't very defensive so he dies pretty quickly, he doesn't do much damage, and it wouldn't even matter if he did do decent damage because his accuracy is laughably poor, I have literally had attempts of this map where I have had him miss every single attack within the first 5 full turns, which is more than enough to kill a run and pretty much require a reset, he is useless, I hate him, I'm not talking about him anymore, fuck Arthur, hate that guy.

The first 3 turns are by far the hardest part of the map, dealing with the first few smaller waves of enemies and setting up your initial walls before reinforcements get to you is strangely enough a lot harder to deal with than the much larger waves of enemies that arrive in later turns, mostly because after turn 3 you get 3 more units and they are all very good. At turn 3, you get 3 extra units, Camilla, Beruka, and Selena, without these 3 this map would be a fucking nightmare (even more than it already is), Camilla alone is extremely strong and can solo most enemy units as long as they're not bow-users, and the other 2 help a lot in picking off every enemy that isn't already being walled off by Camilla or Effie. As the map goes on each new wave of enemies gets bigger and bigger, so it definitely does maintain it's difficulty throughout the entire stage, but once you've gotten a decent foothold after the first few turns, the rest becomes way more manageable. It's still hard, very hard in the 2nd half of the stage, 100% still nightmarishly difficult, and extremely frustrating if you do fuck up and now have to redo nearly an hour's worth of progress, however, whenever I play chapter 10, like 90% of my resets happen within the first 3 turns, those first few turns are brutally difficult, and if you don't simultaneously push the enemy back far enough, and create a good enough wall in the beginning, you will not make it very far once enemy waves start getting bigger in the 4th turn and beyond. It's such an interestingly, and also somewhat frustratingly designed stage, like in most Fire Emblem stages, once I get into a difficult situation I go "hrmm how do I get out of this situation hrmmrmrmrmr" and then I figure it out and I go "yipee!" but in chapter 10, if you make a mistake, and you realize you've made that mistake, it's probably already too late and it's just going to snowball into a much bigger problem within a few turns. I love resetting on turn 9 because a pegasus knight slipped by and killed Elise oopsies.

The way I've been talking about this makes it sounds like the most frustrating, least fun thing you could possibly ever experience in anything ever, and like, yea it kinda is, but it's also weirdly like, really fun??? Like, I feel like there aren't a ton of maps in any FE game that feels quite like Conquest Chapter 10, there are plenty of maps where you have to defend a point, but I don't think there's any others where you have to defend a point, while not playing defensively at all, because if you just sit there and let the enemies come to you, at least one is going to slip by. Like I said at the start of this, I play super defensively in Fire Emblem, I like to minimize risk of any units dying as much as possible, but the best way to minimize risk in this map, is to do the exact opposite as in most maps and just throw all of your strongest units directly into hordes and hope they don't die. Yea it's annoying, yea it's really fucking hard, yea it's really frustrating to reset like 30 times before getting past the 3rd turn even once, but like, it's fun frustrating, it's refreshing, I like it, but I also fucking hate it, fuck this map it's too well designed.

I had like, a lot more things I was gonna say about this map, but like, I forgor a lot of my points l had to go to work mid-writing this and so all thoughts evaporated from my brain and were replaced with PSO2 thinking gif and Soleil brainrot.

It's so sad that Chapter 10 happens too early to get Soleil, really it's probably the biggest actual objective issue with the map, unfortunately an issue shared between many early Conquest maps, if only the devs had the foresight to make Soleil available in Chapter 1, truly a major blunder. God why did they fucking write Soleil so poorly like fuck, her supports are impressively bad, like even for Fates she's written poorly. Soleil truly is the Conquest Chapter 10 of Fire Emblem characters, see I didn't just start talking about Soleil for no reason, there was a reason, it's called circular narrative, yea, yea that's what it is, I'm so good at this writing thing frfr.

[thekrazykeke]

I posted 745 times in 2022

73 posts created (10%)

672 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@tallulahchanel

@sweetoothgirl

@spicyvampire

@tchallasbabymama

@bakarilennox

I tagged 137 of my posts in 2022

#out of context - 79 posts

#thekrazykeke - 14 posts

#college craze - 8 posts

#ask - 7 posts

#reference - 7 posts

#college craze oc - 5 posts

#college craze fandom - 5 posts

#anonymous - 5 posts

#original character - 5 posts

#misc fics - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 72 characters

#did that paragraph say she had an animal on her whole ass titty?????????

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Because I got some writing done, I decided to do a two-for-one special regarding my MC’s for @the-kingshound demo release

On the left is Gwenvaël; he/him, 6′5″, stoic, reserved and in control. I’m thinking he’s gonna be my main Arthur romancer, slow burn style.

On the right is Gwenhael; she/her, 4′11″, emotional, open, but fierce. Because I adore height romances, I’m thinking she’ll be with Yniol or this will be an Arthur/Gwyar poly romance. 

27 notes - Posted February 5, 2022

#4

I know I’m not active all the time on here, and what I’m about to suggest could imply me leaving the BP fandom and Tumblr community for good (I ain’t never leaving 💀). However with BP: Wakanda Forever coming to theaters in like 9 days, and me getting hella into sims 4 again, I was thinking of writing a Black Panther story but in the sims 4 game? We could make it a BP community event too? Since it’s a large country with lots of culture. Also if y’all don’t play sims 4, then sims 3? Featuring casual gameplay screenshots of rocking T’Challa’s world, being besties with Nakia, or storytelling from anyone interested? @tallulahchanel @muse-of-mbaku @bakarilennox @supremethunda (It’s forreal an open invite, anyone can join)

27 notes - Posted November 2, 2022

#3

Got home and I was so exhausted, I just showered and fell into bed pretty much immediately. However, I’m up for now and I decided to actually get to making these character Picrews like I said (in reality I said moodboard but I’m tired--). 

1.) Ri’en The Mistaken Divine

I'm off the deep end, watch as I dive in I'll never meet the ground Crash through the surface, where they can't hurt us We're far from the shallow now

My Elementalist. Sweet as sugar and protective of Shian, Ri’en casually adopted the homunculus, (or were they surprise kidnapped?) and escaped the facility with Ae-ri. Compassionate, humble, stoic and cautious, she fully plans to disappear from the world at first opportunity. It’s nice to be alive once again, but she’s done her part for humanity. 

Honestly, I think I ship her with Frieda. 

2.) Sirius The Eldritch Elder

Oh, my love What have I done? There's nowhere left for us to run And now I'm standing in the sunlight And I can't bear the sight of you

My Blood wielder. Stoic and proud, merciless and bold, but apathetic, he’s taken Shian with him from the facility, uncertain of his feelings regarding the fact that his heart resides in the homunculus. Literally lost control of his Abyssal form, chomped Amaryllis’ arm, and killed everyone except Ae-ri (the massive loss of control has this boy shook). Regardless of anything, it’s imperative that the child is protected, lest he expire again. 

I ship him with Meidh. 

See the full post

42 notes - Posted March 6, 2022

#2

People on my posts tryna argue with me. //They deleted the comments because I’m spreading the truth

Legit reblogging and complaining in the comments, and thinking I’ll be quiet.💀 I can do this all day but I won’t since I have work in a couple hours. It still entertains me that they keep reiterating the same thing. Fanfics are literally created for this sole reason: if you disagree with what canon is, you can change it. I know some of y’all clearly enjoy complaining because the creators aren’t doing exactly what you the fans are wanting them to do but you know what that’s called?? 

Entitlement. 

This is a story that they write for themselves and we as fans get to enjoy it for free. It is not a group project. It’s a visual novel, some plot points are going to remain the same no matter how much you cry and ponder sending anon hate over. It is not an IF game where your choices actually can change the story, that is the difference. 

Here you go @trashy-corvian since you made a statement about free games. This list consists of IFs and VNs. Remember, don’t send anon hate; that’s 2013 funsies <333

Magician’s Voyage @magiciansvoyage

Honor Amongst Thieves @leoneliterary

Fell Star @fell-star-if

Sinner and Saints @sinnersandsaints-linwrites

College Tennis: Origins Story @allieebobo

College Craze @prettyinkgames/https://www.patreon.com/prettyink

When The Night Comes @https://lunarisgames.itch.io/wtnc

Cute Demon Crashers @https://sugarscript.itch.io/cute-demon-crashers

Our Life: Beginning and Always @gb-patch

When Twilight Strikes @evertidings

but wait, there’s more 😊😊😊: ya just have to look for them.

53 notes - Posted May 9, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Spoilers for Andromeda Six episode 6 under the cut. Don’t read if you ain’t finished and can’t handle an opinion.

Truth be told, I think I annoyed myself going in the a6 tag, expecting something different. I was tricked yet again. Some people would be happy Nerissa stayed dead???????? Her being alive erases us from the narrative? 

...Wut?

Did y’all forget that big ass post the creators made awhile ago saying that this is not a romance game? It’s mainly geared towards sci-fi and action/adventure, maybe with a dash slice of life and found family trope sprinkled throughout. That’s the whole reason the Traveler exists, that is the point of the story. The players getting to smooch the cute characters occasionally and get close is fan service and the story reads fine without any of that in there, regardless. 

So what the real problem is? 

I think y’all want Nerissa to be dead so y’all characters can be king/queen/ruler of the galaxy which is everybody’s dream, of course. There’s no guarantee that won’t happen anyway??? The FAQ suggested like 10 episodes, who knows, she could actually kick the bucket and die, Wanderlust could give us choices that lead to her being hurt, etc. and our Travelers still end up ruling anyway. 

If y’all don’t see foreshadowing with how the tyrant king became ruler after his family died, to the situation with the Traveler and Nerissa being put in similar situations, I don’t know what to tell you. 

103 notes - Posted May 9, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[nissakii]

"Ssum"-one Special - The Ssum: Forbidden Lab by Cheritz!

"Ssum"-one special that captures your heart, your very own soulmate...

We humans are naturally social.

Although you could be a very closed off introvert, there are hardly any people out there who thrive off of no contact at all. Even so, building relationships is something that every person does subconsciously. It doesn't even have to be another human, we create relationships with our pets, with plants or other things.

Why is that so?

Well, deep down inside everyone can get a little lonely sometimes.

Especially with the pandemic that has rattled our daily life and turned many things around for us. It's still just as important to have a special person in our midst that we can talk to.

As sad as it may sound to some, not everyone has the time or the capacity to actually go out there and find their special soulmate. It can get harder for people with difficulty building commitment or trust especially.

"Ah, I'm so busy with everything right now, I can't imagine actually getting involved with someone..."

"Oh yeah, I've tried, but somehow I just haven't found the right person..."

"Well, we worked great together, but our schedules just did not align!"

Sound familiar?

For just this sort of predicament, appears the perfect little solution if you wish to at least get a slight feel of a relationship.

Otome Games:

For the readers that aren't familiar, otome games are a certain genre of 'dating-simulation' games that have gained popularity very quickly. Generally, these games are primarily made for young women with the purpose of building romantic relationships with characters in-game.

One of the most popular otome-games that you might or might not have heard of is none other than- Mystic Messenger!

The Korean company Cheritz has brought Mystic Messenger onto the market in 2016 and has gathered a huge fanbase. With incredibly realistic gameplay and characters, Cheritz has made its reputation as one of the most renowned otome-game creators. Which is no wonder, since to this day, Mystic Messenger still has a very active fan culture behind it. If you've noticed, we have already talked about Mystic Messenger in some of our blog posts.

After six years of completely focusing on their previous franchises, Cheritz has now made a very exciting announcement. The creation of a completely new game!

The Ssum: Forbidden Lab.

The Ssum: What is it?

For the very dedicated fans among you, you might have caught the open beta of the groundworks of "Ssum" in 2018.

To 'sum' it up quickly, "The Ssum" is going to be another otome-game, this time focusing much more on human relationships.

Supposedly, you are to start a relationship with an A.I. that is so advanced, it will cater to you and not the other way around. Instead of pursuing a character and getting their route just like in most otome-games, in "The Ssum", your 'ssum-one' will adapt to you! You can text and call with your Ssum, in a very calming manner according to the developers.

The first launch date was the 27th of april 2022, but sadly Cheritz pushed it to early May of this year. We can also assume from the official Cheritz posts and website, that this game will be very long-lasting and time consuming.

To quote the official website, "Make your day happier with daily conversation! You can process the conversation up to 200 days". This already tells us that compared to Mystic Messengers' 11 day route system, we're in for a new ride!

Users of the beta in 2018 should know this, but "The Ssum" will have a high level of personalisation.

With Cheritz' promise to find something close to your soulmate, the expectations of fans are very high. On the official Ssum website, we get some more information but not very much on how this game will be.

What can we expect?

We know that there is one main character called Teo. He is 27, and an aspiring film-director. In the first pictures we see of him he has dark hair and purple eyes, but his appearance seems to change as well. According to theories from all around, Teo will most likely change his appearance according to the player.

Next to Teo, who seems to be the main character, there are mentions of unknown characters being unlockable later on.

Similar to Mystic Messenger, you can chat with your Ssum and call as well. The new and very interesting feature that was also confirmed through the beta testers is the sleep schedule. In the beta, you were asked to type in your daily schedule to have chats in times that are beneficial to you. On the website and in the trailer, we can also see “wake-up calls'' which sound like they will be some sort of alarm to wake you up.

There was also a personality test that determined how your Ssum would react to you. From the advertisement on the official website and the announcement on tumblr, we can assume that the A.I. called PIU PIU will be much more advanced.

PIU PIU, the A.I that determined your personality and sleep schedule in the beta, has a very cute bird design. According to Cheritz, the little bird has undergone many changes and is now much more cutting-edge.

Lastly, the whole reason why there is a "Forbidden Lab" in the title, is a function we know nothing about since Cheritz wants to surprise us. Supposedly, the "Forbidden Lab" should emulate human emotion. We're not sure if it's a function that we can use from the start or if another A.I. exists, but Cheritz is really putting emphasis on new technologies.

Conclusion:

The game will be available in English and Korean, and will have a global launch on the 11th of May 2022. 

Until then, we can only hope that this game is just as interesting as previous games, although the feeling arises that this will be much more than just any otome-game. 

Cheritz promises us real life relationship building based on chatting instead of a choice-based visual novel like Mystic Messenger.

Is this the new step into the e-boyfriend culture? And how do you think this will affect our future?

If you're just as excited as I am, make sure to tell us your opinion in the comments!

And if you're interested in the beta testing and want to potentially spoil your experience a little to find out more, here is a link for gameplay from 2018, as well as the official website and announcements!

Beta 2018 Gameplay:

Cheritz Tumblr:

Make sure to write this down in your calendar!

Until then, let's hope we all get our special ssum-one! 

-Nissa

[ejsuperstar]

SOULBREAKER DIGEST: MARCH 2024

Welcome to the second Soulbreaker Digest! An unofficial log of Soulbreaker related updates! This one is a little smaller this time. Formatting has changed a little bit since the last Digest too, as I'm still getting the hang of this.

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Since the Digest is an unofficial source, for the best information, go watch the Update video itself! Though if you prefer reading, stick around!

Welcome to the main post! Time for the meat and potatoes!

MISC:

Fool's Gold will be at GENCON! They're working on getting their panel but it seems like it will be a Fool's Gold: Sands live play! (That's awesome and I'm so sad I can't be there)

GAME UPDATES:

There's less updates this time round because the Cryodon crew all got sick! Felix has also been traveling. Understandably this means they all have had less time/ability to work on the game. Still though, some work has been done and that's awesome! Good work Cryodon team! Keep it up!

Revised Dash:

The dash animation has been revised to feel better, add some spice, and include more effects (like particles!). Its to Felix that the game feels rock solid and responsive, so he's been taking inspiration from Mario 64's movement, and making sure that every movement option feel's the best it can, even something as simple as a dash.

The dash is also upgradable! So far we've heard about chain dashes, aka: Being able to dash multiple times in a row, flying across the screen and cutting enemies down.

New Enemies:

Quinn-ora's cultists! The animations look amazing (loving that slash!). These are going to be Quinn-ora's main grunt enemies, who are there to mess you up. There's a handful of variants, some more focused on melee, and some on ranged. They're still in the balancing phase, as of right now they're far too strong, but they're going to be fun, to fight and to interact with‽

"You'll see what I mean about that some other time" FELIX WHAT DOES THIS MEAN‽‽

Boss Fights:

There's a Quinn-ora boss fight in the works! As the first boss fight implemented being implemented into the game, her fight is helping the team figure out a bunch of details. Like how boss fights should flow with dialogue (because you might be able to romance (and probably just talk) to bosses), so whens the handover between kicking ass and romance?

Apparently the boss fight has been really fun so far though! Mel's animations are also apparently really good (I bet! Mel has been doing amazing work on the game so far!), and Quinn-ora has been really menacing, and a really fun fight (I'm excited!). She's also been kicking Felix's ass.

Q&A:

Q: "One thing I've been curious about since seeing the trailer is if the character customization is still going to be a thing or not? I recall it being spoken about a little back when it was still just a dating sim, but now we actually have a face for the protagonist I'm wondering if that's still going to be the case?" A: "Not really, because after we redesigned the protagonist, you know they now have their own unique look, if we were going to make them customizable it would actually take a lot of time to implement that, which would take away from my time to you know, add new enemies and new designs and gameplay into the game. So character customization has just been kind of shoved to the back, however we are still tinkering with NPC customization, so you might be able to, for example, gift a hat to a certain NPC and you'll actually be able to see them wear it around the game. So that's something I'm still tinkering with, this is not an official confirmation that it's going to be in the game, this is very much in the camp of 'I'm playing around with this it might be in the game'. "

Q: "Will this game have a skill tree?" A: "Not exactly a skill tree but, permanent upgrades yes. As I've mentioned that it's a roguelite, you are able to actually carry over some of the stuff that you get in your runs, and... Kind of similar to games like Hades, you know you'll be able to, for example upgrade your dash permanently, and little upgrades like that, so it's not exactly a 'skill tree' but there are upgrades available for your character, which will carry over into all of the other runs."

Ending Regards

Thanks for reading this Soulbreaker Digest! The Digest has been my first experience writing anything like this, so if there's any errors or inconsistencies my bad! And please remember this is an unofficial source, done due to my love of the game! I'd love to be picked up as the official writer for Cryodon's devlogs on their blog (which they haven't updated really lol) but I'm happy to support the community and the game any way I can!

Soulbreaker means a whole lot to me, it's precursor, Dice Death and Dating, is the whole reason I've made some of my best friends, so I want to support the game the best I can, I'll definitely be donating to the kickstarter once it's out!

-EJ out!

[askagamedev]

Why do you think parody video games aren't more popular compared to parody movies and music?

The general reason is that parody games just aren't financially feasible. I can't say much for parody music (since the only successful musical parody I can think of is Weird Al Yankovic), but I have done some research on parody movies. Parody Movies are made on a shoestring budget and their releases are very carefully timed to fit into the lulls in the release calendar (e.g. August and September, after all of the summer blockbusters are done) alongside the low-budget comedy movies. The marketing for those movies is cheap as well. They're basically engineered to be as cheap to produce and market as possible.

Games are just too expensive to build and market on their own compared to movies. Even if you cheap out on the game assets, you still need significant engineering to build all of the necessary gameplay systems and back end stuff to handle the necessary microtransactions to actually make money. Beyond the development costs, the marketing are still significant - especially on mobile, where development costs are lower. There are so many other games to compete with that the cost to acquire users in the mobile space is enormous.

The video game analog to those parody movies used to be tie-in licensed video games about movies or television shows. We used to build them fairly cheaply and use the movie or television marketing to help sell the game. Unfortunately, as gaming hardware improved, the minimum bar for quality on those games has been increased to the point that they aren't financially feasible anymore, at least not on console or PC. The only platforms where such things can be financially feasible are mobile titles, but (as mentioned) the marketing cost to acquire users is extremely high. That's why the tie-in is so important - it allows the mobile app to draft off of the marketing for the movie or television show in order to reach more potential users more cheaply.

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The FANTa Project is being rebooted. [What is the FANTa project?]

Got a burning question you want answered?

Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter

Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr

Frequent Questions: The FAQ

[ambivalent-anarchy]

The Spidey Squad Playing Among Us

Masterlist

Welp, this game is all the rave all of a sudden and irdk how since the game's pretty much been here forever lol but it's still fun so I had to jump on the bandwagon and here we are! Make sure you check go out @chaoticpete's new fic. Anyways here it is! If this gets enough likes I might do an avengers headcanon too.

Thanks to @angelsparkers for helping me realize I wasn't writing complete garbage and helping me to get through it even though she didn't even know she was doing that. So yeah thanks for that.

Peter

Crewmate: Peter is that crewmate that will 100% call you out on your bs, because he knows the game a little too well for you to be able to pull anything over him(because of all that free time waiting on patrol). You think all that stuff with the avengers didn't teach him strategy? Ha! This guy is PEAK detective. Gets his tasks done fast and when he's done is probably spending his time monitoring people on security or vitals. It only took him like 2 weeks to memorize all the maps and where everything is, so if you say you were in navigation, you better believe he's gonna ask you what task you were doing there. And if you don't answer to his liking, Peter will sound the "sus" alarm on you in two point five seconds and have everyone voting you out. He's probably the only person that could figure out MJ when she's the impostor. So if you're the impostor, watch your words and make sure your alibis are strong cuz little Petey ain't playin' no games. Definitely gets attacked from time to time by those people that are always like "sMaRt PpL rUiN tHe GaMe"

Impostor: He's pretty much the most average impostor. Sometimes he doesn't know what to say when people call him sus and he'll get voted out because he's being "too quiet" or because Ned keeps defending him. He'll mess up every now and then but for the most part, he's pretty decent. His style is usually to stay in the vents most of the game and kill when only one person's around. He probably bribes Ned to not rat him out by promising him that he won't kill him.

Name: It used to be just Peter, but soon he wanted an actual cool name so he chose Sherlock because of all the times when he was "too smart" and won the game too quickly and people would go "pack it up Sherlock" and vote him out.

Favorite color to be: It used to be red, but he quickly found that the more he was red the more people found him "sus" so now he's usually either blue or cyan

Ned

Crewmate: Pretty average crewmate. 80% of the time is covering for Peter, even if Peter is the impostor. Won't do much calling people out unless he's absolutely sure that he saw a kill or vent. Pretty chill and easily persuadable. You'd definitely want him on your team. If he ever gets wrongfully ejected he's the one that pitifully tries to plead his case saying stuff like "what???" and "guys it's not me!!!!" which doesn't really convince anyone and just makes him look more guilty. He'll still do his tasks after though.

Impostor: He's the impostor that doesn't want to be the impostor. If you're texting then maybe he can hold his own, but if you're doing voice chats, there's no way this guy is getting past ANYONE. He has so many tells that it's ridiculous. Is actually scared to vent too much because he's always paranoid that someone's gonna be right there when he jumps out. 8/10 the crewmates win when he's the imposter because he'll just kill like only two people the entire time or gets caught really early on.

Name: Probably some sci-fi reference like r2d2 or Potter

Favorite color to be: Yellow or white because he says those are the most "innocent" colors and he'll be less likely to get voted if he's those (not true but we'll let him believe it)

MJ

Crewmate: Suspicion times 100. Her motto: trust no one. Will get you kicked out in a heartbeat with a quick "trust me. if it's not them vote me next." An absolute unit but will never be caught getting emotional over a game. If she's ever wrongfully ejected her last words will be "whatever. go ahead. vote me and lose." She'll just come back in the next game with a vengeance and false accusations ready, not caring if the entire team loses because of it. She's especially dangerous to have because people usually trust her word. She always finds a way to seem the least suspicious. Though sometimes she'll get suspected because of her quiet nature. There's always that one guy that's ready to go "uR qUiEt ThAt'S sUs!!"

Impostor: If MJ is the impostor, you can just throw your whole phone away. You're not winning that game. Like, ever. She will do whatever it takes to win, even sell out her own her partner. On the off chance that you catch her being suspicious, she'll sabotage a bunch of things so that you can't call meetings and then she'll kill you when no one's around. She is ruthless and will hurt your feelings with the way that she will own everyone in the game. Hardly anyone ever expects her. Thrives on venting. You won't see her you'll just be doing a task and suddenly you'll be dead.

Name: Used to be just MJ but she got annoyed with all the people in the messages who always assumed she meant Michael Jackson or Michael Jordan so she changed it to Michelle

Favorite color to be: She literally doesn't care either way. Won't change the gameplay so why bother? Whatever color she ends up with she'll be fine.

Betty

Crewmate & Impostor: The most average player of them all. She wins some, she loses some. Nice partner to have though, because she'll never give you away. Probably the first to die most times. If she ever gets wrongfully ejected she's the one that uses her last words to say who she thinks it and doesn't even try to plead her case once it starts to look bad for her. She just finished the rest of her tasks.

Name: Probably either her name or some nickname or inside joke. Idk she just seems like the type of person to have a reference to something that absolutely nobody knows

Favorite color to be: Pink. Just because she likes pink.

Flash

Crewmate: Claims things are sus even if they aren't. Will totally be biased based on names. Anybody who knows him will never count him as a credible source. Gets voted out quickly alot because of how annoying he is in the game.

Impostor: He's the easiest to figure out. He's the impostor that obnoxiously accuses literally everyone else. And in all capital letters too. "ITS RED I STG. IF IT'S NOT HIM VOTE ME NEXT!" Calls everyone sus and always claims he's seen people running from the body. He usually self-reports and goes for the easy marks in electrical. He's not that good (even though he thinks he is) and it takes anyone with a brain to figure him out. Peter and MJ are bane of his existence in that game. If he gets wrongfully ejected he'll rage and probably leave the game like the little crybaby he is.

Name: Spideys#1 because he's really just THAT obsessed. Or when he's really feeling "teenage boy" he'll be cOchieman

Favorite color to be: Red because sPiDeRmAn'S hIs BeSt FrIeNd (ahahaha if only he knew)

May

She didn't know this game at all until Peter introduced her to it one day because he was bored. She LOVED it. He had to pry it out of her hands after she kept repeating "Hold on, one more!" So she downloaded on her phone and now she plays it whenever she's bored.

Crewmate: Average. Same as Betty.

Impostor: The way May can actually dominate being the impostor is sort of scary. And she'd always be the last person you'd expect because she just has that trusting vibe about her. Sometimes she'll mess up and give herself away, but for the most part, she's pretty good. Doesn't vent much. Just like Ned, she doesn't trust it.

Name: Madonna

Favorite color to be: She doesn't care much but she prefers to be purple, cyan, or orange

Funny Moment

《Peter calls an emergency meeting 10 seconds into the game》

- Michelle: what

- Betty: what

- Michelle: skip

- r2d2: bro already?

- Sherlock: okay everyone just listen

- k0chieman: bruh

- Michelle: okay listen to what

- Sherlock: flash what task are you doing

- Betty: alright were listening

- k0chieman: the divert thingy in navi

- r2d2: pete what is this

- Sherlock: yeah dude that diverty thingy is the second of two steps

- Sherlock: u never did the first

- Sherlock: which means ur an impostor faking

- Michelle: flash?

- k0chieman: no

- k0chieman: i did do it

- r2d2: the times low we gotta decide guys

- Sherlock: if you did it wouldve taken you 12-15 seconds to get there and were not that far in the game

- Sherlock: u cant already be doing it

- Sherlock: everybody vote flash

- r2d2: petes on x games mode

- Michelle: damn dude

- k0chieman: wtf parker

- Sherlock: bye dude

- Sherlock: worlds greatest detective strikes again

- Michelle: okay calm down pete

《couple seconds later》

. 　　　。　　　　•　 　ﾟ　　。 　　.

　　　.　　　 　　.　　　　　。　　 。　. 　

.　　 。　　　　　 ඞ 。 . 　　 • 　　　　•

　　ﾟ　　 Flash was An Impostor.　 。　.

　　'　　　 1 Impostor remains 　 　　。

　　ﾟ　　　.　　　. ,　　　　.　 .

Best Imposter Combos

Peter & Ned: Goes without saying. Nine times out of ten they're in the same room while playing this so they can just talk strategy to each other and take everyone out really quickly. Really annoying for everybody else, but they'll win so they're happy.

MJ & Peter: These two together are a force to be reckoned with. The second they see that they're both impostors they call each other up and get to business like they're on a mission. This stuff is serious. (More for Peter than MJ. She has to keep telling him that it's just a game.) He stays on security stuff, telling her when it's safe, and she racks up the kills. When things get heavy, they sabotage and then go on a spree. These two hardly ever lose. (When the whole squad is together whoever's in charge [if it's not Pete or MJ] usually puts the kill cooldown at max just in case these two get that they can't be at full power)

MJ & Betty: Betty isn't afraid to sacrifice herself so that they'll win and MJ is ruthless and quick with her kills. Both have the smarts to be able to be extremely persuasive and you'd hate for them to pick you to frame. Because being put against those two in the chatroom will lead you nowhere but abyss of space.

May & Peter: Parkers united. 'Nough said.

Tagging: @spideyyeet, @soft-petey, @spidey-reids-2003, @spidey-boy-89, @sovereignparker, @bubblebucky, @underoosjae