#Amarantus

[0re]

Amarantus menu screen

[greekmythcomix]

Between 2018-2021 I worked with archaeologist Dr Sophie Hay, Ancient Historian Prof. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, Director of the Cambridge Schools Classics Project (who make the CLC Latin course!) Caroline Bristow and her gorgeous team, and legendary historical children’s fiction author Caroline Lawrence, to illustrate a novel and ancient history course about the life of Pompeiian freedman Amarantus and his neighbours in Insula 1.9

The story is a year in the life of Amarantus, following the events he experiences, including the devastating earthquake of 63BCE and his manumission (by a certain local natural-history-loving magistrate), the traditions of a Roman life, and the likely inhabitants of the rest of his block, based on the buildings and finds in Insula 1.9.

It acts as an Ancient History/Classical Civilisation (non-language) prequel to the Latin Caecilius stories (CLC Book 1) and there are some Caecilius-themed visual easter eggs 😁

The course has been designed for even non-specialists to be able to pick up and teach, entirely for free, to help bring Ancient History/Classics into schools.

We made the images in grayscale so they could be cheaply printed and reproduced in PoD books/PDFs for schools, but made some images in full colour for the website and book cover to show the diversity of the Pompeiian world. They’re all based on archaeological evidence and research and each one took hours of discussion and argument (and occasional paper models) to get right. (And I’m proud to say my rebuilding of some ruined structures like the Herculaneum Gate has been approved by other Pompeii experts, like the Cooleys 😁)

The entire book and course is massively researched and based on archaeological findings, and is FREE on the CSCP website: https://CambridgeAmarantus.com/home

Or you can buy the book PoD via these links: https://www.cambridgescp.com/array/buy-book

Bonus Roman Chickens (the precursors to my Roman History Chickens series!): the cockfighters Odysseus and Polyphemus! (And yes cockfighting is terrible and I’m glad we don’t have it any more)

[ub4q]

Messy relationships & revolution visual novel Amarantus is 40% off on Steam this week, as part of the Game Devs of Color Expo (hello, that's me, and also most of the other contributors).

The artbook and soundtrack are discounted too!

And if you already have all of the above, drop by the Steam page anyway and enjoy watching me play through the first hour of the game, where I spend many minutes

avoid the rampant urge to drop spoilers

getting a huge amount of glee out of character animations

[rpgchoices]

Useless rpg recs. Videogames (rpgs or not) where new game plus adds/change the plot

SPOILERS

Sorcery!: With Sorcery! playing again will allow the protagonist to meet some new characters and experience some different dejavus.

Undertale: I have not played this one, so I am not fully knowledgable on what happens with the new game plus. All I know is that if you played a full pacifist run you will get new content.

Starfield: Also not played this one, but I know that new game plus carries over skills and you create a new universe so some plot choices/information carries over in a new game.

Amarantus: In this visual novel a new game plus will give much more context to the story, adding a whole new character and fully explaining who the protagonist is. Only on a second playthrough you will be able to fully experience the plot.

Heaven's Vault: This game deals with loops and every playthrough (for about 3 or 4 games) will add more complext translations and story changes.

I was a Teenage Exocolonist: To fully understand the plot you will need at least a few playthroughs. In the first game there are choices that are not available, and in general the game deals with multiple realities where the protagonist an live different lives.

[mav3rick-hyde]

making another post sorry guys im insane

if youre into teenexo i highly recommend amarantus. Its the same genre of "You cant fix everything" in story based game form but in completely different spectrums of where the story is based. theres romanceables but sometimes relationships don't work out and you are fully capable of wingmanning and never are forced into a relationship (its rather advised to Not get into them, actually.) theres delicious fuckign art. theres a main character who thinks about what decisions you decide to make for him. it has major replay qualities (please do). i have used up 3 pages of save slots trying to get all the achievements. please play i know teenexo is a small community but I Will give you brain worms right now

[wormdramafever]

Goodbye Volcano High among Eurogamer's Favorite Games of 2023!!!

Another great visual novel in 2023, this one focusing on the final year of high school for a bunch of dinosaurs. The writing's sharp and the music is even sharper. This is not a game to miss.

You can read Eurogamer's full review of GVH here!

[talientravere]

I've been doodling some Amarantus off-stream too, because, as previously mentioned, this game has taken over my brain. Of course I had to start with my most special boy.

Them being so close but unable to interact was fucking me up so bad...

[reanimatestar]

been playing a lot of amarantus recently <3

[purplecritter]

Sometimes a flower is so thematically good that it's used not only for the game's title but also for some of the characters' names, so you simply have to draw the protagonist dramatically posing with it.

Happy one year since @ub4q's Amarantus was released <3

[loopingpyre]

Great soundtracks for games that are neither made in Japan or by Maxis?

I'm gonna use this to promote a fave. Check out the soundtrack to the peak visual novel Amarantus, starting by me linking the track 'Oh shit, we're fucked', which plays a few times during some scenes that are a whole lot.

Whole soundtrack is here, it's a phenomenal vibe. 'As long as you're with me' and 'Only ever been here' are some of my favourites.

Another favourite title is Buried Stars and I only have to post 'Betrayer' to sell this ost.

Betrayer is a favourite in a game that involves high stress communication.

[notomys-mordax-blog]

Go Play Amarantus

I've had brainrot about this game since I played it. Spoilers under cut. You should play it. I might've overdone with with the chromatic aberration on this one, but I'm digging the ~moodyness~

It's hard to say who my favorite character is, but I really am a sucker for ... slightly understated tragedy, so Reckon gets my vote. Something is really compelling about the idea of an empath who has spent so much time alone.

I wanted to illustrate the sort of first moment he got a brain tingle of Ari and his friends and wanted to try to capture a feeling of hope, fear and 'oh shit these kids are going to get themselves killed'

His facial expression comes across better in the lineart

Here ya go! @ub4q

[0re]

Happy bi visibility day ft. Raeann, Arik, and Marius!!!

(Based on that one pic. You know the one.)

[littleforestbat]

more amarantusposting but this genuinely made me cry laughing a little bit. poor arik........

[ub4q]

Revolutions are messy. Relationships are messier.

Arik's been told two things, all his life: the country's being ruled by a tyrant, and somebody should do something.

When an unexplained attack sends him fleeing home in the middle of the night, his parents captured and his house torched to the ground—it's time to gather a party, hit the road, and take the Lord down.

Amarantus is a "messy relationship visual novel" where romance won't always go well and revolution takes priority

Play as a defined and illustrated player character with his own personality, affected by and responsive to your choices

Develop a variety of relationships across four different party members (three women, one man), including romantic, platonic, sexual, antagonistic, and polyamorous

No bad endings: every choice affects your story without ending it

Releasing June 27 2023.

Play the demo NOW on Steam or Itch & follow for updates.

[rpgchoices]

uhm,... guys... I am right here... while you do your thing

[mav3rick-hyde]

i don’t know if i’m proud that this is my first amarantus art