caseyexplosion

[caseyexplosion]

We’re now getting I direct comparison between twitter and bluesky.

With a 5th of the total follower count you’re above to get a higher engagement.

This is because a significant percentage of your followers on Twitter either no longer exist or they’re bots giving you the illusion of a higher fan base.

Couple that with twitter’s algorithm showing people promoted accounts over the accounts they follow means the real people that would engage with your content just aren’t seeing your posts.

I’m loosing track of who I have followed on bluesky now so once I’ve confirmed that I follow them I’m going to unfollow them from twitter. This will mean I’m more likely to see the accounts I wouldn’t normally see.

The featured data provided by @caseyexplosion

Follow them on bluesky

[caseyexplosion]

Trans panda needs job

I've been laid off as of today.

If anyone's looking for a functional programmer, web dev, writer, voice talent, or other sundry entertainment and or word related professions, hit me up.

I've got 10 years experience as a dev, multiple published tabletop RPGs, and years of acting training, public speaking, and even some time in the podcast and comedy mines. Also I'm like, hella smart, or so I'm told.

Jump into my inbox if you know something relevant; especially would love to finally take a bite out of a more creative role, but also miss that sweet Clojure and Elm life.

[caseyexplosion]

Hey, I've got a new Horror Demo Showcase video up! Please watch it, I've showcased some neat horror games I'm looking forward to.

[caseyexplosion]

My webcomic is old enough to drink.

It's May 25th, which means my webcomic is now old enough to drink.

In production from May 2003 to October 2016, finalized in early 2017 and finished for good in early 2019, ATC is... a thing. That I made. That I'm still recovering from.

[caseyexplosion]

I'm live now, come say hi!

[caseyexplosion]

[caseyexplosion]

They gave me an early copy of Pacific Drive, so I'm checking it out now! Come by and say https://www.twitch.tv/caseyexplosion

[caseyexplosion]

Interview with the Irish Vtuber CaseyExplosion (From Jan 2022)

I spoke to Casey about a lot of stuff including gaming, live streaming, being a VTuber, the origins of her avatars being a video game influencer, micro transactions, long term health issues and LGBTQIA issues we covered a LOT it’s a great chat, Casey is awesome you can catch her on Twitch here https://www.twitch.tv/caseyexplosion

[caseyexplosion]

I'm live now doing more #SteamNextFest demos, come join me!

[caseyexplosion]

How to get Project Firestart (1989, C64) running on modern systems

Project Firestart was released in 1989 by Dynamix for the Commodore 64 and it was the first fully-fledged survival horror title ever made. I’ve made a video essay on it, part of my Origins of Survival Horror series, in which I promised a guide on how to get it running on modern systems. [Video Link]

In this guide, I’ll give you quick (and hopefully easy-to-follow) step-by-step instructions on - Where to obtain a working ROM for the game - How to run and play it in the VICE emulator on Windows 10/11 Plus a tip on how to obtain it if you own the TheC64/C64 Mini Retro Emulation console

Before you start, make sure to grab the game’s Manual including Chief Ricker’s Fax Map from archive.org (I recommend printing it out, it comes in really handy)

How to get it running in the VICE emulator

The, to my knowledge, currently most stable and accurate emulator of the C64 is VICE (short for The Versatile Commodore Emulator).

(It runs on a Unix, MS-DOS, Win32, OS/2, BeOS, QNX 4.x, QNX 6.x, Amiga, Syllable or Mac OS X machine and executes programs intended for the old 8-bit computers. The current version emulates the C64, the C64DTV, the C128, the VIC20, practically all PET models, the PLUS4 and the CBM-II (aka C610/C510). An extra emulator is provided for C64 expanded with the CMD SuperCPU.)

- Visit the Website and download the newest version (I used 3.8) - and if you’re using Windows 10 or 11, go with the (64bit GTK3). Unpack the zip file to the location on your hard drive where you’d like the emulator to be. No installation required.

- Next you’ll need a Project Firestart ROM. For playing with the VICE emulator, I recommend going with this one here: Link.

It’s a cracked easyflash version that basically compresses the game onto a single disk, which saves you the hassle to constantly change or swap disks while traversing the Prometheus. Download this ROM and unpack the contents of the zip file wherever you’d like to store it. - Open the VICE emulator by going into the /bin/ folder and starting the x64sc.exe file. This one runs the most accurate C64 emulator. There’s many more exe files here that emulate different systems and configurations, but we’ll go with this one here.

- Optional: Gamepad/Joystick support Once the VICE emulator is opened, go to Preferences/Settings ... 

There, open Input Devices->Joystick

On the C64, most single player games use the Joystick #2 port for joystick controls. In VICE, this is by default set to your keyboard’s Numpad. You can alternatively also define your own keyset by clicking “Configure Keyset A/B”, setting the keys up, and then assigning the Joystick #2 dropdown to that keyset.

Or, if you have a Gamepad/Joystick plugged in via XInput, you can usually just select that one from the same dropdown. The VICE emulator also natively supports the Competition Pro provided by the TheC64 btw.

Just make sure that Joystick #2 is assigned at least to the Numpad. You’ll need it to play Project Firestart. - Lastly, start the game. Go to File->Smart Attach... In the file browser window, go to the folder where you unpacked the Project Firestart easyflash Rom and select the ProjectFirestartEF.crt file and then press the Autostart button in the bottom right.

Y’er done! The game should now run smoothly and nicely.You’ll be greeted by the cracker menu first. Select Start Game, Press Return, then with the next animation press spacebar and you’ll get to the cheat menu, where you can activate stuff like unlimited ammo and health. Ignore that (if you don’t wanna cheat) and just press spacebar again. Project Firestart will now start and show you the intro. You can skip it with the spacebar again and after a few seconds loading, you’ll be in control of Jon Hawking.

If you have the Numpad controls selected, you move him with the number keys and shoot and interact with stuff with the 0 key. P Pauses the game.

D opens the Save/Load menu

That’s it!

Playing it on the TheC64 or the C64Mini

When making the video, I played through the game both on the VICE emulator on my Windows 11 PC, as well as played it on the “The C64” – a retro emulation system in the trend of the whole Mini-Retro-Console remakes. The same company also first released a C64 Mini, but since a keyboard in mini-form is rather cumbersome to work with, they also released, after much popular demand, a full-size version of the legendary breadbox keyboard console – with a lovely recreation of the iconic Competition Pro joystick.

This console comes with 64 games pre-installed – no Project Firestart though, and a lot of classics missing in the original selection. It comes with the built-in feature to plug in a USB-storage medium and load external ROMs though.

Why am I even saying that?

-> In the community forums of the TheC64, there’s a sticky post made by user deerwings that I highly recommend for that, dubbed “The C64 Definitive Collection”. It contains a buttload of some of the most iconic games for the platform, and they’re all specifically optimized to run well on the C64 Mini and Maxi.

This one also includes Project Firestart and it’s one of the best and easiest-to-use ROMs I found for this game, since it compresses the game to a single disk - so you never need to swap or flip disks while playing. So I highly recommend this particular one, no matter if you play it on the TheC64 or on the VICE emulator.

I’m not going to give you a step-by-step instruction for this, because deerwings gives a good explanation in the forum post already. There’s way better help to find in the forum itself, but essentially, all you have to do is load the file on a flash drive, switch to the “Classic Mode” with the C64 Basic Terminal, open the flash drive via the file browser menu, and select the “Project Firestart.d81” file and let it run via “Autoload”.

Y’er done!

Hope you have a good time on the Prometheus. It’s lovely this time of the year!

PS.: if any of the instructions/steps are unclear – feel free to shoot me a private message and I’ll try to help out and also adjust the post accordingly.

[caseyexplosion]

Steam Next Fest demos!