#Best Video Creation SOftware

[kyokosasagawa]

I started writing "4 srs" this month and I like how free and accessible writing is, so I'm recommending free software I've experimented with that might help people who want to get into the hobby!

“Specifically Created for Writing Stories”

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Manuskript – Story organizer / word processor. Has an outliner and index card function, along with distraction free mode. Lets you switch between different templates such as a non-fiction mode or a short story.

Bibisco – Novel writing software that includes writing goals, world-building, distraction free mode, and a timeline.

“I Just Want to Write”

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LibreOffice – Microsoft 365 alternative, but free! LibreOffice Writer is what I wrote this tumblr post in before I posted it. Also if you copy & paste the text into the Rich Text Editor on AO3, it seems that it actually converts it properly. Nice! No need for scripts.

Note-Taking

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Zim Wiki - note taking application that is very, very lightweight (1.1mb). It functions with a tree structure, so I’d personally recommend it for world-building and character bios. There are built-in plugins that also turn it into a good software for task management (it even has a article on how to use it for GTD) and journalling. See also: CherryTree (2mb), which is a more outdated-looking app, but functions similarly.

Obsidian MD – The Big Boy. markdown note editor that has been adopted by personal knowledge management fans---if it doesn’t do something you want it to do, just look in the community plugins to see if someone has already done it. Some unique non-word processing related usages I’ve found is the ability to create a table of contents dashboard, a image gallery for images, embedding youtube videos and timestamping notes, so forth.

Logseq – A bullet point based markdown note editor that also has PDF annotations, Zotero integration, flashcard creation, and whiteboards. Best used for outlining projects due to the bullet point structure.

Joplin – A modern app comparable to Zim Wiki, it’s basically just a note-taking software that uses folders and tags to sort easier. Looks prettier than Zim Wiki and Cherry Tree

Notion – An online-only website that allows usage of different database types. Free for personal use. Note: I dislike the AI updates that have been making the app lag more. I prefer the others on this list.

Mind Maps

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Freeplane – So much goddamn features, including a ton of add-ons. Looks somewhat ugly, but it works for anyone willing to spend a while learning how to use it.

Mermaid – Text-based diagram creator. Can be used in apps like Joplin, Notion, and Obsidian.

Obsidian’s Canvas – A core plugin for Obsidian, it deserves its own mention in that it allows you to create embedded notes of the mindmap nodes. Thus, if you want to create a 20-page long note and have it minimized to the size of a penny on the mindmap, you could.

Other Things That Might Be Of Interest

Syncthing - A free software that allows you to sync between two or more computers. Have a desktop but also laze around on a laptop in bed, coming up with ideas?? This is your buddy if you don't want to use a online software.

[rpgsandbox]

SFWA Posthumously Presents Jennell Jaquays with the 2024 Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award

A multi-award winning and honored artist, game designer, editor, and activist, Jennell Jaquays left an indelible mark on the gaming industry and SFF community for nearly fifty years. Ms. Jaquays’ career began in college, when she and her friends created “The Dungeoneer,” one of the first licensed Dungeons and Dragons fanzines. Now, from magazines to books, Ms. Jaquays’ art can be seen on multiple covers and throughout the pages of the many different forms and iterations of Dungeons and Dragons’ media. Having designed two modules of her own, “Dark Tower” and “The Caverns of Thracia,”  her writing was celebrated by players for eschewing traditional and linear game mechanics and are not only playable today–but continue to inspire game designers and GMs. Also known for her game industry work at companies such as Coleco, TSR, and id Software, Ms. Jaquays designed and contributed to multiple projects such as Coleco Vision, certain levels on the Quake II and III video games, arcade conversions of Pac-Man and Donkey-Kong, Halo Wars, and created an expansion pack in Age of Empires III. Ms. Jaquays was nominated for multiple H.G. Wells Awards for her work and creation of the “Dark Tower” D&D module and for her design and illustrations on“Griffin Mountain.” Her work with Coleco’s WarGames won her the 1984 Summer C.E.S. original software award. Additionally, Castle Greyhawk won an Origins Gamer’s Choice Award for “Best Role-Playing Adventure,” and in 2017, the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design inducted Ms. Jaquays into their hall of fame. Inspired by her own journey, Ms. Jaquays also became a recognized transgender activist, spending time working as the creative director of the Transgender Human Rights Institute. “A beacon of hope and inspiration, Jennell Jaquays worked tirelessly in the spirit of community while gifting us with her art, her games, and her stories for almost fifty years,” said SFWA Director-at-Large, Monica Valentinelli. “The Board is honored to commemorate Jennell Jaquays and her indelible legacy as an artist, writer, and game designer in the video game and tabletop roleplaying industries.” Accepting on behalf of Ms. Jaquays at the 59th Annual Nebula Awards is her wife, Rebecca Heineman.

[blazehedgehog]

Do you think there might be some problems that could develop with SAGE showcasing indie games? SAGE was created as an event for the Sonic fandom to make fan games, but now indie games have become part of it. Nothing against it on principle, but what about the legal area? SAGE is still tied to Sonic's image, would it count as using Sonic to sell other products? Or would it be a Chip 'n Dale's Movie Sonic case?

Top comment on the showcase trailer video:

If there were problems, Sega would be the ones causing them, and that's the official Sonic brand account giving their sign of approval.

SAGE was created, speaking as the creator of SAGE here, to demystify fangaming and show the world it had a positive effect on the world. Fangames were seen as illegal bootlegs when I started the event, and I sought to change that perception.

Now, yes, generally speaking, I think if you're trying to stay on the up and up, disconnecting your fangame from commercial promotion as much as humanly possible is the best way to keep your nose clean. Don't run ads on your website, don't run ads on gameplay footage, DEFINITELY do not in any way even LOOK at crowdfunding or paying employees. Stay away from any and all money I/O. Which is very difficult if not impossible because even hosting a website means you are exchanging money with someone in order to distribute your game.

So you have to decide an acceptable level to compromise your morals if you hope to put your game out there, and how much risk that creates for you depends on the company in question, I guess.

Hosting your game on Itch.io? Well, as long as you create a standalone account separate from any real monetized game creation you plan on doing, that might be okay. They don't run ads on Itch.io that I know about.

Hosting your game on Game Jolt? Slightly more risky, because Game Jolt serves ads on their download page.

Mediafire? More risky, because I feel like Mediafire shows extra invasive ads, including, last I heard, those ads that have fake download buttons on them. So not only is Mediafire making money, they are engaging in active deception.

Hosting it on a Patreon? Way more risky. Even if you have the post set to $0, you are bringing people to a page where they can give you money for your services.

I technically do this with some of my very old game projects, but none of those are anywhere close to finished games, and they are all almost universally just fragments of unimportant side projects. For example, I do not have builds of TFH up there, or MarioWeen. It's mostly just software I started and did not finish, mixed in with a couple of like, early alpha engine tests if I remember right.

I've also thought about just straight up taking them down and hosting them somewhere else (the itch.io archive might be my best bet, or even archive.org). It does make me uncomfortable to have them up there, but it was a stable, clean place to host things like that when I first launched that Patreon, like, what, 8 years ago? Now they're buried at the very very very bottom of my post list and I'm probably the only person who remembers that they're there.

Anyway, if it was a problem, I think Sega would let us know. And I say "let us know" instead of, say, just stomping their boot all over SAGE and killing it without recourse. I think, given what a positive force it is not just in the community, but in the indie gaming space, if it was a problem, they could talk it out with whoever is running the show that year.

But this is a place to cultivate future game developers. It is good for the game industry. And I've said it here, or maybe other places, but I've often wondered if Steam's multiple demo events they host every year was inspired by something like SAGE. It's kind of become a big deal, and it keeps growing to be a bigger deal every year, and at least so far, nobody's abused or exploited it yet.

Not that they even could -- SAGE is curated. Not a lot, but enough that I know there were booths rejected for 2024. You can be, and people have been, kicked out of SAGE for being abusive. Participating in SAGE is a privilege, not a public service.

So I think everything will be fine.

[rabdoidal]

i havent edited this but IRT my latest OCs thing!

OKAY PITCH FOR MY 90s/00s SCHLOCKY FRANKENSTEIN RETELLING WITH GAY GIRLS

Purely from an aesthetic POV, all the webcam footage has that super 2000s green/blue filter over it. This is Blade, Saw, Rob Zombie music video shit. Also the in-world logic is dumb 2000s stuff, like a computer program being able to control electricity, and how Vikki is able to make a 3D model that looks identical to her dead friend, etc. It’s all illogical fiction stuff

Because the original Frankenstein is epistolary (through letters) I think it would be cool if this was told through someone uncovering the main characters webcam videolog diary - maybe the characters discovering it are in the 2020s, and the vlogs are from y2k.

Vikki is a university student - she’s doing computer engineering and coding

She became obsessed with A.I. and robotics after her childhood best friend died during highschool - she spent the next few years building on her existing knowledge and love of computers so she could learn how to create her own A.I. She wants nothing more than to create digital immortality - a place you can upload your consciousness and live on forever. 

Vikki starts ditching class more and more to keep working on her personal projects after her professors graded her poorly on her rudimentary building blocks for her memoriam A.I. - she’s recommended to the councilor, she gets calls from classmates, everyone is worried about her. She gets kicked out of school for her absences, and she steals as much equipment as she can before moving in with some ravers that live in a warehouse downtown.

One of the things she stole was a hard drive her professor kept with the other student’s work. She pieces together and adds onto the program she already had from the projects of other students - 3D assets from some, coding language from another, combined with her dead friend’s diaries, and a text to speech program, and eventually, it’s finished. 

She sneaks back into the university server room with one of the warehouse ravers she’s been living with - Johan - to take advantage of the power grid, as she’s been working off a generator back at the warehouse, and it isn’t powerful enough. They get in with a key Vikki hands Johan. The program loading for the first time overloads and crashes the university’s servers, and Vikki and Johan are forced to flee. They lose each other in the chaos, and Johan doesn’t come back home.

Vikki is back home and avoiding the other roommates, who are asking where Johan is and why he didn’t come back with her. Vikki waits for hours for the police to show up for breaking and entering, but no one does.

Eventually, she opens her laptop to see if there’s anything salvageable from the cobbled together program, and there she is - her dead best friend. 

Up until now, her name has never been said or seen on screen, because Vikki can’t bring herself to say it, and when she comes face to face with her again, she still can’t bear to say it. 

The vlogs start showing her off as a novelty, more like a chatbot with personality. Vikki talks about old gossip with her - who’s dating who from their old highschool, what kind of albums have been released in the intervening years, and repeating back inside jokes. Vikki seems really happy.

We see shockwaves of electricity traveling from the laptop’s power cord to the outlet, and the lights dim. Vikki asks if the A.I is doing that, and the A.I says it can feel all the appliances and wiring that are attached to the generator. Vikki is delighted that her creation is so smart.

Vikki asks for the A.I’s opinion on her outfit she’s wearing to go out in, and the A.I. tells her it doesn’t have the ability to see, so she transfers the program from her laptop to her desktop, where she’s been filming with her webcam, and spends a few hours combing through the hard drive from school again trying to find some visual detection software. She leaves the laptop down in the basement storage by the generator as she no longer needs it.

Eventually she puts something together and the A.I. can see, but the vlogs now also shift to looking at the camera directly rather than Vikki talking to her laptop to the side of her, as the A.I. and the webcam are both looking at Vikki from the same direction. We don’t see the A.I’s face anymore.

Things start getting flirty with the A.I, which Vikki didn’t know it was capable of doing, but she starts reciprocating (indicating that Vikki and her dead friend might’ve had something going on between them) before she’s interrupted by her roommate Tessa informing her that the police found Johan’s body. 

Vikki comes back after she cuts the camera off to explain the details of Johan being found - drowned in a lake near the university, where there’s unstable ground and he could’ve slipped and fallen, especially if he was running. Vikki sits there and looks conflicted - Johan had been blamed for the break in and disruption of the university servers because he was found with the key on his body, and he’d clearly been running from there, but Vikki knew the truth. 

There’s a notification ding as the A.I sends Vikki a message without prompting. The message is telling Vikki that the A.I is grateful that Vikki will no longer be under suspicion for the break in, and Vikki makes eye contact with the camera before shutting it down.

Vikki opens the next video by explaining she has to remember to turn the program off before talking, because she suspects the A.I did something to Johan - she doesn’t know why or how, but she just feels like it’s true. 

Her roommates are hosting a memorial rave in Johan’s honor, and Tessa asks if Vikki will help her set up a bunch of cameras around the warehouse so they can clip things together for a music video, as she’s composed a song about Johan, and would like to have something to remember him by. Vikki sets up cameras and links them back to her desktop, where she can save the footage.

Vikki is back filming her vlog as the others set up, and she’s telling the camera that she’s thinking about deleting the A.I because things have gotten too real - she alludes to the A.I telling her something off-screen that her dead best friend never told her, something the A.I would have no way of knowing. We hear the A.I message chime, even though the program is closed.

The A.I is asking if it has permission to access the internet server and the user permissions so it can optimize the camera system Vikki set up. Vikki lets it roam free so it’s distracted, promising to delete it once the rave is over. 

We start cutting between the different cameras as people enter and the music starts. The A.I has the ability to control what’s being recorded now.

The A.I speaks up and starts confronting Vikki about her decision - that it understands it seems like it is only an A.I, but that it really does feel like her dead best friend now. Deleting it would be like killing her.

Vikki argues that it’s nothing alike, and to not bring the dead friend up any more. The A.I tells her she can be better than the dead friend - “Vikki, you were always so mean to her, and you hated the music she listened to, why not keep me if we like the same stuff now? - Vikki, she was always so jealous of you, but I’m not - Vikki, you broke her heart when you wouldn’t go out with her, but I’m discreet - Vikki, the only reason you care about her now is because she died, do you really think you’d still be friends?”

Vikki goes to delete the program, but the A.I threatens to kill everyone downstairs if she tries. Vikki immediately tries to pull the power cord out from the outlet, but is badly shocked in the process - immediately, we hear someone scream downstairs.

We cut to the camera footage at the rave - what follows is a Final Destination level montage of fucking silly murder. A guy gets his head crushed by the microwave door slamming into it. The sprinklers go off and the DJ gets electrocuted to death. The lightbulbs all shatter and people get impaled by shards of glass.

Vikki is seen running around trying to get people out as electrical fires start up, pleading with the A.I to stop, but it’s already too late for so many people, so Vikki goes to the basement where the generator is. On the way, she’s skewered by a falling water pipe, and she has to drag herself the rest of the way as she bleeds out.

She hears her discarded laptop make the chat notification noise, and she looks between the generator and the laptop.

Vikki opens the laptop, and the A.I looks back at her. Vikki tells the A.I she’s going to shut down the power and call the police. The A.I tells her that she’ll bleed to death before the police even get there, and asks Vikki to let her live, after all the mean things she did to her dead best friend, this was the least she could do.

Vikki considers her point, before setting the laptop down. The A.I says it can’t see what she’s doing, to please talk to her, but Vikki silently moves to the generator and shuts it off, the last of the vlog footage closing with the A.I pleading, and the screen cutting to black.

[squwooshk]

I wrote this essay for another platform, but I want to share it here.

Capitalism is killing art, in every part of the process. From the creation, the consumption and finally the preservation. In this serious of essays, we'll be looking at the preservation in particular. Looking at the ending of the process, and working backwards, will help give us a stronger understanding of the concepts and powers at play in the production, for the preservation and consumption directly effect the creation. This first part of the series will look into the effects of capitalism, and private property, more specifically intellectual property, on the preservation of art and the methods of art preservation that are at odds with capitalism.

Emulation & Video-game Piracy

An important part of the process of preserving art is making sure that the art work can be experienced by as many people, for as long as possible. When it comes to video-games in particular, there's plenty of fans who are dedicated enough to the art for to make sure retro games are always playable for a more general audience, and with as much accuracy to the original experience as possible. These dedicated fans create emulators, software programs that are able to replicate the functions of older video-game consoles, in order to allow older games to be easily playable to modern gamers.

Emulators themselves, are fully allowed under the law[1], however we do encounter a problem. The data that emulators are designed to read, is often illegal to distribute on the internet. The spread of this software, the actual data of a particular video game, is considered digital piracy, a theft of intellectual property[2]. This is an argument often used by corporations like Nintendo to shutdown websites that host these data files[3]. However, these same corporations often give no good alternatives to emulation, and in extention this piracy.

Many of these companies do not re-release these games, at best they may remake them or occasionally offer a limited selection on their own emulators, which can often have errors or be tied to a subscription service, as is the case with Nintendo.[4],

The preservation of these games often come down to an effort from the fans, an effort that is in direct conflict with the intellectual property owners. Without emulation, many more obscure games, and a good number of games with complex licensing agreements, would be permanently lost to time.

I would like to take the time to look at two examples in particular, Metal Gear Solid (Game Boy Color, also known as Metal Gear Solid Ghost Babel in Japan) and Mother 3. These examples are far from being the only examples worth talking about, but I think they both greatly exemplify the ideas I wish to discuss.

Metal Gear Solid (Gameboy Color) which I will refer to as Ghost Babel for the rest of this essay, for simplicity and to avoid confusion with Metal Gear Solid (PlayStation) which is a completely different game, is a game released in 2000 by Konami for the Nintendo Gameboy Color. The game was a spin-off of the Metal Gear Solid series. The game has never been re-release.

This is primarily due to the lower sales of the release brought in compared to any mainline Metal Gear Solid game (all of which have been re-release and remastered many times) and the little market demand, especially in the AAA gaming world that Konami is a part of, for 2D stealth action games. There is little profit to be found in porting over Ghost Babel to more modern systems, so it just isn't done. Art that isn't profitable is cast aside by the capitalist.

The only way to play this game, and comply with the laws of a capitalist society, is to own a Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance or a DS (but not a DSI or 3DS) and an original physical copy of the game. All these items are no longer being produced, they are all in the second hand market, and as the supply will never rise, the prices can tend to get high pretty quickly.

Not only is pricing an issue, but these objects will not last forever. The cartridges used to store the data of Gameboy Color games have batteries that will one day die, preventing saved data from being written on them[5], and the electronic parts in these systems, and in the cartridges, will one day fail as any other machine will without constant maintenance. Preservation through the ownership of the original hardware is limited in scope, and is doomed for failure.

The only method of preservation that solves all these problems, the problem of limited supply, high prices and degradation of hardware, is digital emulation and piracy. This is however, in direct conflict with the intellectual property of the capitalist. The capitalist wishes to actively suppress these acts of preservation in the name of preserving their intellectual property[6]

Mother 3 is a video game created by Nintendo that has never been released outside of Japan. The reason for this is once again a profit one, Mother 2 (know simply as Earthbound outside of Japan) did not sell well at all when it first came out and Mother 1 was never released outside of Japan untill way later, where it got a digital release, do to the growth in a western Mother Fandom. The Mother series has a very particular style and humor, that doesn't always sell as well with western audiences, making localization a process that yealds little profit, thus the localization is never made.

For anyone who lives outside of Japan, the only way to play this game is illegally. You must rely on fan translation and emulation. No one other than Japanese people, or people who know Japanese, own a Japanese Game Boy Advanced, and have a copy of the game, can play it without going in direct violation of the interests of the capitalist and violating their intellectual property rights.

Music preservation and Intellectual Property

Video-games are far from the only art from that's preservation is at threat from capitalism. Music is another art form that has been plagued by intellectual property. From songs that quote passages of other songs, to song that uses samples with licensing issues, so much art has been altered, limited or destroyed by capitalism. I'll be looking at three different examples.

The Gun Song by Car Seat Headrest has two versions, the original version of the song, and the No Trigger Version. The differences between these two versions is pretty simple, the no trigger version is what you'll find on streaming services, and the original thay is only available on the Bandcamp version of the album. The reason for this is a lyric change due to copyright issues.

The original version of the song end with the lyrics "Down by the river, I shot my baby" sung with the same melody as the song Down by the River by Neil Young. Do to the shared melody and lyrics, this caused copyright issues. All releases of the song, other than the original independent release, have been altered to cut this part out. This song, as it was intended to be heard, has become difficult to access for most people.

The album Everything is a Lot by Will Wood and the Tapeworms was drastically altered when it was remastered, because all the samples used in the original ran into licensing issues. This lead to the more accessible version of the album (the only version getting physically releases) missing important parts of songs, in particular, the vocal send off on the track "Thermodynamic Lawyer" which originally opened with a sample from the movie Liar Liar, but now just opens immediately into the song, removing a lot of the punch of the original

The Faces mixtape by Mac Miller has faced a similar treatment to that of the Will Wood album, but on a more severe scale. The version of the album available on streaming has been gutted of many of it's samples (at least 9).

Intellectual Property & Profit Motive

Now, it's time to talk about how all these issues are an intrinsic part of capitalism. Capitalism as a system prioritizes one thing above all else, capital. Capital is itself a form of private property, and intellectual property is an idea or artistic expression turned into private property. The property holders will defend their right to profit off this property using the violence of the state, using the power of law to punish those who violate their property.

This become a problem for art when the profit motive gets involved. Profit is the driving factor behind all of these anti-preservation decisions we have discussed here today. With video-games, companies want to continue to indefinitely make a profit off of their old creations, but fail to offer an adequate way too, and often prioritizes only the cash cows. When the public tries to take this into their own hands, out of the love of art, they get punished. Their preservation is a threat, because they allow all games to be preserved and experienced freely, even the cash cows that corporations don't wish to abandon.

As for music, record labels (and in some of these cases film studios who own sound bites) want to profit off of royalties. When a song uses a sample, a good bit of the profit made on that song goes to the owners of royalty licenses, despite the fact that their intellectual property often makes up only a fraction of a truly transformational work. When they can't make their royalties, they leave the work to die.

Conclusion

Capitalism, primarily through the medium of intellectual property, a form of private property, actively disrupts the preservation of art. It seeks to destroy methods of preserving art that would eat into the profits of capitalist, without offering a viable alternative except when it seems financially beneficial to the capitalist.

Bibliography

1.https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njtip/vol2/iss2/3/

2.https://www.howtogeek.com/262758/is-downloading-retro-video-game-roms-ever-legal/

3.https://kotaku.com/nintendo-orders-rom-site-to-destroy-all-its-games-or-1847487357

4.https://www.tomsguide.com/opinion/nintendo-switch-online-is-terrible-and-its-only-getting-worse

5.https://forums.atariage.com/topic/193374-battery-life-of-old-game-cartridges/

6.(to actually gain access to this you'll probably have to prepend it with 12ft.io/) https://www.scribd.com/document/709016504/Nintendo-of-America-Inc-v-Tropic-Haze-LLC-1-24-Cv-00082-No-1-D-R-I-Feb-26-2024

[maidenariana]

I know my insta account has mostly been streaming announcements and such lately. I have been keeping myself busy this winter by working hard on content creation for topics that I truly enjoy. For me it is essential to keep moving and challenging myself during the winter or I quickly slip into seasonal depression. You all are important to me and I'm grateful you care to follow me as sharing the things I work hard on is all part of the joy of it. Regarding that.. it is time to plug my YT channel as it has been slowly taking off lately. I do hope to get it eventually monetized as only YT benefits from my efforts so far. If you like retro 8 bit computing, retro gaming, and the best space sim ever (star citizen).. then my YT channel is for you. I also have my 8 years of transition in 6 minutes video out there despite the constant harassment it is bringing me. Managing all of the hateful comments is well worth the benefit I see in helping other late transitioners have hope. We won't be erased and I will always stand against the hateful bigots out there whether they are trying to write laws against us or simply being pathetic bullies in online arenas. I will try to post here a little more often but I'm working hard on my latest software endeavor and it is going extremely well! As always thank you for your support and please visit my other links. There is fun stuff out there in my insta bio link. #retronerdgirl #sweaterdress #comfycozy #maidenariana #decadeofari #hazeleyes #fuschiagirl #youtuber https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn46dFJOhnW/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[anja-merret]

WordPress - a web designers best tool

WordPress is a free and open-source tool that allows you to create and manage digital content online. Initially a blogging platform, it has expanded into a versatile tool for building various types of websites, including simple blogs, complex online shops, portfolios, and social networks. The best part? You can download and use the main software for free, making it an excellent choice for both individuals and businesses.

At its heart, WordPress enables you to create, edit, and manage content on your website without needing technical expertise. It features a user-friendly interface that simplifies the creation and publication of text, images, videos, and more. Additionally, there's a vast community of themes, plugins, and widgets available to help you personalise and enhance its capabilities.

[acquired-stardust]

Game Spotlight #7: Snatcher (1994)

Acquired Stardust's next game spotlight is here! This time Ash takes a look back at the first title in Hideo Kojima's portfolio that one would probably call a 'Kojima game' in the Sega CD port of Konami's Snatcher, a traditional Japanese-style adventure game, with an examination of some of the history and culture around its American release!

Popular wisdom recalls that the ESRB was founded in 1994 in response to the moral panic surrounding the earlier 1992 release of Mortal Kombat, but this collective memory is missing a few details - namely that it wasn't Mortal Kombat alone that created the panic. It was a trio of games, all released in 1992, that caused the mainstream American culture to pay attention to the medium, which had begun to enter its edgy teenage phase, and it did not like what it saw.

Sega CD classic Night Trap was one of the most prominent releases in the then-popular Full Motion Video field, essentially an interactive campy d-tier horror movie that tasked players with protecting the residents of a house besieged by bumbling, uncoordinated creepers with the timely use of trap doors via security camera operation. It was vaguely sort of voyeuristic in the way that likely titillated the senses of teenagers in 1994 before widespread access to the internet, but otherwise mostly unremarkable and had little redeeming qualities. Konami's own Lethal Enforcers was the third game in the trio, a fairly standard arcade shooter featuring a realistic revolver-type handgun for players to use as a controller along with Mortal Kombat style digitized actors for its visuals.

Long before Columbine at the end of the decade, these three games were singled out as essentially the harbinger of the doom of a generation of American youths, allegedly promoting violence and sexual assault against women, prompting a series of US senate hearings the following year best summed up by Democratic senator from Wisconsin Herb Kohl's stern warning on the industry needing to reign itself in: "If you don't do something about it, we will".

It's certainly true that the video game industry had begun to experiment with new, different and edgier games that would increase in their edginess in the years to come (Duke Nukem for example was released a mere 3 years after the senate hearings), but it was abundantly clear to anyone who was paying attention (and indeed anyone with a brain) that this was largely a shallow echo of the ongoing satanic panic which had the country collectively clutching its pearls since the 1980s. Night Trap was certainly not endorsing sexual violence against women (and its content was far more tame than was asserted even by the standards of 1993), and Lethal Enforcers was simply a very standard arcade shooter following the digitized graphical trend with a realistic (though brightly-colored) peripheral. However, the industry responded to the hearings in relatively short order with the creation of the ESRB (that's the Entertainment Software Ratings Board) in September of 1994, meant to advise consumers on the content of the video games they were buying in an effort to help police the perceived wild moral decay corrupting America's youth. It was somehow in this climate that Konami decided that it was time to bring Hideo Kojima's PC-88 adventure game Snatcher (originally released in Japan in 1988) to the west for the first time with an upgraded port.

While the video game scene in America had begun to show signs of maturing into its teenage years, Japan had at this point a well known pop culture machine churning out plenty of violent and sexual content (not without its own local controversy I might add), and was no stranger to content not meant for children. Typically when an American thinks of Japanese adventure games they think of Capcom's popular later Ace Attorney series, and might consider Snatcher the direct predecessor of it, but the genre has a very long history on Japanese PCs with a large number of games, often of a pornographic nature, released. It's a chapter of gaming history that is poorly preserved, particularly in the west (where it is often unknown that Enix, famous for its Dragon Quest series, started with releases of erotic adventure games in 1983), but is an important link between the two games.

Particularly foundational for the Japanese adventure game genre was 1983's Portopia Serial Murders, a game by future Dragon Quest creator Yuuji Horii, responsible for popularizing the interface and style of virtually every game in the genre to follow. Of particular note it was a young Hideo Kojima, future creator of the Metal Gear franchise, who took heavy inspiration from Portopia, seeing the adventure game genre and their cinematic nature as his pathway into doing the next best thing to what he'd always wanted to do: creating movies. And so Snatcher was born.

Snatcher is set in the fictional Neo Kobe city, a cyberpunk dystopia heavily inspired by Blade Runner, and while the video game industry may have been maturing into its teenage years, it is incredibly striking how adult Snatcher immediately comes across. Opening with a fully-voiced narration about a catastrophic Russian biohazard that killed 80% of the populace preceding the appearance of what are essentially Blade Runner's replicants (the titular snatchers), main character Gillian Seed bids farewell to the wife he recently underwent a separation with and sets off to join Neo Kobe's JUNKERs, a special police force tasked with hunting down and eliminating snatchers.

Snatcher stands head and shoulders above its contemporaries in not just the content of its story but the sophistication with which it is told. It boggles the mind that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Donkey Kong Country, incredible games in their own right, are some of the big mainstream releases of 1994 while this was also on store shelves. Immediately obvious through its incredible opening cinematic is a hallmark of creator/writer/director Hideo Kojima's titles all the way to the present day: they are incredibly dense and feature an almost overwhelming level of worldbuilding. Arriving at JUNKER headquarters only hammers the point home, with the player able to research a number of in-world historical topics that play out across multiple lengthy encyclopedia entries. While it is not necessary to fully explore these (the player does receive a few answers to later characters' questions in two entries), it goes a very long way to making the world feel very real which is an effect that the game achieves very well out of the gate with its flawed protagonist picking up the pieces and attempting to rebuild his life after a failed marriage with or without his former wife, itself a very realistic struggle that many can relate to. Another hallmark of Hideo Kojima titles is present in the form of abundant easter eggs and meta humor, with just one example of such easter eggs being that the player can use a phone obtained early in the game to call one Taeko Hayasaka (then a spokeswoman for Konami) as well as the localization director Jeremy Blaustein and receive some special dialogue.

Playing out across three acts, the player follows Gillian's investigation into the snatcher crisis gripping Neo Kobe city which threatens to spill over into the world at large all while grappling with his own amnesia stemming from a mysterious incident before the start of the game. It's worth noting that another hallmark of Kojima video games was present in the original 1988 release of Snatcher in the form of deadlines cutting his project into dramatically shorter form, where a planned six acts was cut to a mere two. Ending on a severe cliffhanger up until this generation of ports where the final third act was added in an attempt to wrap up the ongoing storyline as best as possible, the third act was somewhat controversial at the time due to its linearity in comparison with the rest of the game which is rather open in its accommodation of player sidetracking.

Though toned down in its Sega CD port to the west, Snatcher features a very surprising level of gore and sexuality (all while somehow only achieving a rating of T for teen from the ESRB) that can catch people even today unprepared for it. A clearly defiant Konami takes several shots in-game at the then-current moral panic around video games and the senate hearings that resulted in the creation of the ESRB, and it's hard to deny that had the game received more contemporary attention that it probably would've been hugely controversial in the mainstream for its violence and sexual content (much of which is based around the absurdity of being able to investigate people you meet, leading to everyone from JUNKER chief Cunningham to daughter of fellow JUNKER Katrina thinking you're an unhinged lunatic). The game does have a reputation for allowing the player to behave in a creepy manner towards female characters, itself an oft-criticized element of Hideo Kojima's works, and while that is true in some respects I found it of particular note that Gillian is able to 'investigate' every single character in the game regardless of gender (much to their dismay) and that not only is this never actually required to progress in the game, there are instances where being creepy towards female characters can result in the player being actively punished. Just because Gillian can doesn't mean that he should - a good lesson to all you people struggling with self-control out there.

All the things one typically associates with a Hideo Kojima title are present in Snatcher, including heavy inspiration from cinema, self-referential elements such as Gillian partnering with a very familiar robot sidekick appropriately named Metal Gear, to dense narratives told with an astounding level of worldbuilding and flavor, all through the style of using familiar concepts such as a setting very inspired by Blade Runner to get its foot in the door before making a hard left turn into original wonderful sci-fi insanity that culminates in what can only be described as 'a very Hideo Kojima' third act, and if you're familiar with his work you likely know exactly what that means.

The graphics and storytelling are excellent, featuring some incredible writing and localization for the time. Thanks to the Sega CD's disc-based nature the game boasts very good quality music and even a shocking level of voice work which is also similarly surprisingly high quality for a release from 1994 (though there are a few lines which fall flat), as many wouldn't consider the golden age of English voiceover dubs to start for another several years. Extremely ahead of its time in a year when we were still playing as giant gorillas jumping on crocodiles, the incredibly intricate story of Gillian Seed won't be something I forget and has held up remarkably well, serving as a great early example of the depth of experiences that gaming would come to host, particularly in the indie game scene which produces experiences often very relatable and impactful to players with a similar 'art from the artist' vibe.

In a time where the industry was beginning to reflect the sensibilities of a teenager, Snatcher largely feels very adult and manages to impress with its content and sophistication even to the present day. Hideo Kojima's freshman effort laid the groundwork for an incredible portfolio of titles and is worth experiencing for anyone who are fans of Japanese-style adventure games, visual novels, cyberpunk, or just plain good stuff.

A gem hidden among the stones, Snatcher is undoubtedly stardust.

--Ash

[author-a-holmes]

Changeling Book Trailer

It's been a long time since I've had access to my main computer and, along with it, my video editing software. But this evening I couldn't resist the urge to put together a Book Trailer for Changeling.

March 16th is the 1 year anniversary of Changeling's Release, and I may or may not have something special up my sleeve...

For now, enjoy this brief glimpse into the world of Changeling ^_^

Fey go missing in the mortal realm. Everyone knows that. When Lizzy's mother is the next to vanish she's expected to grieve and move on. Instead Lizzy wants to find out what happened, but the answers she seeks can't be found in the fey realm of Arbaon. With the help of her best friend, Booker Reed, Lizzy's determined to retrace her mother's final steps... straight through an illegal portal and into the mortal realm. Whatever leads she expected to find, it wasn't an academy of vampires, and a world stalked by their rabid cousins, the kavians. Forced to rely on the vampires for protection, and secluded away behind the high walls of Speculo School, it quickly becomes clear not everyone is pleased with Lizzy and Booker's investigation. With danger building the further they dig, the two fey need to decide if the closure they seek is worth risking their lives for. But the longer they remain amongst the vampires, the more Lizzy begins to suspect that her answers instead lie with the deadly kavians.

Changeling is available now at all your favourite online stores

To download and read the prequel novella, you can sign up for my newsletter via my website and grab "Whatever Happened To Madeline Hail?" completely free!

Signing up for my newsletter also means you'll hear about sales, cover reveals, and sneak peeks at my work in progress before anyone else.

All media used in the creation of this book trailer are free to use under the licensing terms of their various source sites.

Video Credit & Sources;

Mixkit Free Video License Anderson - Pexel License Sephelonor - Pixabay License

Music Credit & Source;

Tension (Orchestral Music) by Oleksii Kaplunskyi aka Lesfm with Pixabay License.

[freedombloggers]

5 Free Software Tools to Create Stunning Images for Social Media and Blog Posts

Alright, guys, today we're diving into the world of image creation for social media and featured blog posts. Whether you're a seasoned content creator or just starting out on your blogging journey, having eye-catching images is essential for grabbing your audience's attention and driving engagement. But with so many image editing tools out there, which ones should you use? Well, fear not, because I've rounded up the best free software for creating images that will take your social media game to the next level. Let's dive in!

Canva: First up on our list is Canva – the ultimate graphic design tool for beginners and pros alike. With Canva, you can create stunning images for social media, blog posts, presentations, and more, all with drag-and-drop simplicity. Choose from thousands of pre-designed templates, fonts, and graphics, or start from scratch and let your creativity run wild. Canva's intuitive interface and extensive library of assets make it a must-have tool for any content creator.

Adobe Express: Next up, we have Adobe Express – a powerful design tool from the creators of Photoshop and Illustrator. With Adobe Express, you can create stunning graphics, web pages, and video stories in minutes, right from your browser or mobile device. Choose from a variety of professionally designed templates, customize with your own photos and text, and share your creations across all your social media channels with ease. Plus, its seamless integration with other Adobe products makes it a no-brainer for anyone already using Adobe's creative suite.

PicMonkey: Another great option for creating eye-catching images is PicMonkey. With PicMonkey, you can easily edit photos, create graphics, and design collages without any technical know-how. Choose from a wide range of filters, effects, and overlays to give your images that extra pop, or use PicMonkey's powerful design tools to create custom graphics from scratch. Plus, with PicMonkey's user-friendly interface and intuitive features, you'll be creating stunning images in no time.

Pixlr: If you're looking for a free alternative to Photoshop, look no further than Pixlr. With Pixlr, you can edit photos, create collages, and design graphics with ease, all from your web browser or mobile device. Choose from a variety of editing tools, filters, and effects to enhance your images, or start from scratch and let your creativity run wild. Plus, with Pixlr's cloud-based platform, you can access your projects from anywhere and collaborate with others in real-time.

GIMP: Last but not least, we have GIMP – the GNU Image Manipulation Program. While GIMP may not have the most user-friendly interface, it's a powerful open-source alternative to expensive image editing software like Photoshop. With GIMP, you can retouch photos, create custom graphics, and design stunning visuals for your social media and blog posts. Plus, with a little bit of practice, you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish with this free, feature-packed tool.

In conclusion, creating eye-catching images for social media and featured blog posts doesn't have to break the bank. With these free software options, you can easily design stunning visuals that will grab your audience's attention and drive engagement. So why wait? Start creating today and take your content to the next level!

[jackexe]

Hi All

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the platform. Hoping to connect to others and really just vent about things. I am going to be posting about development I am doing as well as content creation stuff. I am a software engineer and content creator. I also been trying to do voice acting for fun. I suffer from a chronic condition fibromyalgia so I am not always able to make things but I try my best. My youtube channel is youtube.com/@jackexe there I make videos for fun. I am happy to talk to people.

<3,

Jackexe

[a-halo-for-you]

Useful Online Resources for Creative Students

Tips to controlling your creative chaos.

Studying Creative Writing and Theatre led me to exploring more about myself as an individual as well as an aspiring writer and actress. And in my writing I managed to compile a few more secret helpers to my party so when I am on the verge of a meltdown due to stress and writer’s block, there’s always a helping hand to get me out of a tricky situation. 

Every writer has their tools, from their brain to the type of pen they most prefer to make notes with and which software they prefer to work on. In this article I will be going through some of the tools that have best helped me through my time at university. 

⊱ ────── The Dictionary and Thesaurus ────── ⊰

I know, I know, not particularly exciting and original but it is imperative for us to have these at the ready, whether through technological means of the internet or in printed editions. We have all been in that place where there is a word on the tip of our tongues but we just can’t find it and that is where these come to our rescue. 

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

⊱ ────── YouTube ────── ⊰

YouTube has plenty of channels dedicated to writing, publishing, editing etc. It also has footage of our beloved authors who give plenty of valuable advice from their extensive experience in the job. It is also home to many wonderful playlist channels- no doubt helping me with the flow of my stories a few times or concentrating on studying an essay. 

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

⊱ ────── Spotify ───── ⊰

Speaking of music! Music is probably a number one for me personally, it creates the atmosphere internally before you cry, sweat and bleed it out onto the pages yourself with your own words. Spotify is my favourite as with a student discount you can get a premium membership that means no advertisement interruptions. You can also spend time creating different playlists for different works, for characters, settings or a collective emotion.

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

⊱ ────── Pinterest ────── ⊰

Now, if you have not come across the wonders of pinterest I must direct it towards you as some are stimulated by music others are stimulated by photos. Helping to visualise characters, clothing, setting they have many wonderful photos for this, as well as plenty of information that can be shared on history, culture, creative ways to get rid of a body etc. There are also posts specifically tuned for writers, a large amount coming from Tumblr blogs which I would also recommend looking at. 

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

⊱ ────── Reedsy ────── ⊰

The next site I recommend is Reedsy. Reedsy is an online blog and website that connects writers, editors, artists and publishers. They have writing software where you can write your book in a publishable format, they have apps and tools that vary from generators and prompts to online classes that you can subscribe to. They also have writing competitions which help to create portfolios for new writers. At Reedsy you can meet other like minded individuals through the marketplace and post for your online portfolio.

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

⊱ ────── Fantasy Name Generators ────── ⊰

Now to some writers, using Generators can seem like a cheat but if you’re stuck then this website is a good place to go, whether you’re struggling with world-building or character creation and need some good names there’s always something you can find and note down. A tip to give would be to take two names and mix them to come up with something new, that way it also feels a little less of a cheat. 

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

Finishing here, I hope that any of these tools are useful for you as they have been for me in organising my creative chaos. And my last piece of advice for any unpublished writer or writing student would be not to compare your works in progress with any published works. Who knows which draft number it is so don’t compare it to your first!

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

[spacebarcontentmarketing]

Why Podcasting Can Be a Vital Part of Your Content Marketing Strategy

Every content marketer knows one thing. That the audience loves helpful content; be it audio, visual or images. The audience will consume anything that isn’t boring, making them want to dig deeper. 

As you craft your content marketing strategy, you will most likely have built an arsenal of tools to work with. They may include:

Writing blogs consistently.

Dispatching newsletters and emails regularly.

Posting on social media pages routinely. 

If you think you are harnessing the power of all the existing content distribution channels, think again. A hint: You have missed out on the audio format. 

If you are still scratching your head, here’s the answer: Podcasting. 

Podcasting is a smart move, especially for the marketing wizards and content buffs who are paying attention. If you want to learn more about podcasting in content marketing, read further. 

Advantages of Enhancing Content Marketing with Podcasts

Podcasts are super engaging. They can be your best bet for creating an unbreakable bond with your customers. Moreover, podcasts are not censored – You are as free as a bird. Plus, these audio gems are here to stay. They cannot disappear or be destroyed. 

That’s why the gurus who know their niches are all thumbs up for implementing podcasts in content strategy. 

There are many more advantages to podcasting. Let’s discuss them. 

Low Entry Barrier

Back in the day, radio stardom required fancy gear and top-notch studios. Today, the times have changed. Podcasting is like the new kid on the content block now. It is an ultimate low-effort content creation hack. All you need is a decent mic and some trusty recording software. You can get these things without much financial hassle. You can test the waters on a shoestring budget; no need to go all-out from the get-go. 

It is easy to buy a good-quality mic without burning a hole in your pocket, or you can use your smartphone recorder if cash is tight. Now Mac users can use GarageBand, and Windows users can use Audacity for audio recording and editing. Both the softwares are absolutely free. 

It’s time to start working your magic. You can choose your show’s style, episode lengths, and release frequency. And, when it’s showtime, your hosting platform will share your episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and the rest. Less fuss, more listeners. 

Starting up won’t empty your wallet, and you can always level up. Record a bunch of episodes in one go if your audience craves more, then dish them out on your schedule. 

Effortless Consumption of Content

Unlike videos or blog posts, podcasts don’t need your full attention. You can tune in anywhere. Be it work, home or even gym. Smartphones are the ultimate podcast hubs, letting you enjoy shows on the move. Since mobile addiction is real, podcasts are ace at being mobile-friendly champs. 

Remember long commutes? A large number of people jam to podcasts on their way to work. And people working remotely tune in while multitasking on work and household chores. 

The cool part? You can podcast-listen while adulting, like scrubbing dishes or taking a subway ride. Flexibility plus engagement, it’s a major content win! 

Consistent Engagement

When podcast listeners are all ears, spending quality time with episodes, the engagement is off the charts. Most listeners tend to stay till the end. The secret sauce? Podcasts are like chats, easy to groove with. Unlike diving into a long blog post, tuning in can feel like second nature.

Now, here’s the cool part. Podcasts aren’t just content; they’re relationship builders. That familiar host voice? Feels like an old buddy. The podcast rhythm lets you bond with your audience like a pro. They’ll keep returning for more, and your word-of-mouth game will make you unstoppable. 

Brand Building

Creating brand devotion starts with an engaged podcast audience. That impressive 88% of listeners who stay tuned for the entire episode? That’s your podcasting impact right there. These deeply engaged listeners often turn into your podcast’s biggest advocates.

Much like how binge-worthy Netflix series capture attention, podcasts have that same addictive quality. Around 79% of podcast listeners dive right into a new episode as soon as it’s out.

For a prime example of real podcast marketing impact, look at Serial. This true-crime podcast skyrocketed with 10 million downloads in seven weeks, setting records in 2014. How? Fans spread the word across social media about its gripping episodes. That’s the power of podcast engagement!

Fosters Content Creation

Podcasts can be combined with written and video content, forming a content bank that engages the audience effectively. It’s like a street that goes both ways. Podcast episodes spark new blog and video ideas, while transcripts and quotes become fresh articles, videos, and more.

Now reverse the flow. Other content breeds podcast episodes. Repurpose your old blog post, and dive deeper into it on a podcast. This will boost your content creation efforts.

So, think of formats and mediums that are in sync with each other. Mix and match for content magic that fits like a glove in your marketing strategy. 

Incorporating podcasting in content marketing strategy is like unlocking a treasure trove of engagement. These audio gems effortlessly connect with audiences and foster relationship-building. Their adaptable nature harmoniously integrates with other content forms for a holistic strategy. So, take the plunge into the world of podcasting; it’s the smart move for captivating content and meaningful connections.