#I was TRYING to find feedback on how the games run on a technical level

[firestorm09890]

if you love kingdom hearts but think kh3 had some issues, that's pretty understandable. the expectations placed on it, the massive number of threads it was set to wrap up, it was all too much, and future games might not have that issue. but if you think the series should've stopped at kh2 and are for some reason still following the games, you'll never survive the winter (read: kh4 will absolutely not be what you want it to be so you should probably just look for something else)

[katy-133]

Feedback for the Noiramore Academy Demo

(Played: Oct 11th 2024.)

I wanted to give feedback and my thoughts on the demo for Noiramore Academy.

Housekeeping and context: I'm a video game developer with 9 years of experience in mainly visual novels and narrative-heavy games. I'll write out my notes in bullet points, going from narrative-related thoughts, to more technical thoughts at the bottom.

Opening cutscene: The long opening before starting the demo was risky (the rule of thumb is to drop the player into the game as quickly as possible), but I think it worked here because it gives you enough needed information in the beginning without overexplaining (we learn who the main character is, that she's a known delinquent, and that she's curious and resourceful, in an boarding school-style academy).

(Image: Kickstarter trailer)

Premise: This looks and feels like a game that uses the "boarding school mystery" format I read a lot of as a kid, mixed with the "wizard school" genre (The Terror of St Trinian's, Worst Witch, and Golden and Gray spring to mind). Detective games are my jam, so I was happily surprised to be recommended the trailer to this game on YouTube.

Lore: I like that the lore regarding the war was given an infodump scene using shadow puppets. Infodumps run the risk of being too overwhelming or taking up too much screen time over play time, but I understood what was going on. And then more details of lore would be breadcrumed around the room as I explored it (which I like in fiction in general since I get to piece things together slowly).

(Image: Kickstarter trailer)

Starting puzzle: It's a good starting puzzle that's just tricky enough to get your brain going and makes you feel smart for solving it. The "how many windows" part was the more confusing of the puzzle, as I wasn't sure if I was meant to include the stain glass windows along the other wall, and if so, whether they counted as 3 or 6 windows.

Animation: The animation for the characters feels bespoke; I was happily impressed by how much personality and detail was put into conversations between different characters. Judith's animation is different from Gina's animation, as so on.

(Gif: Steam page)

Inventory screen: I love the transition the the inventory screen (moving the camera to face Judith), it's so stylish!

(Image: Kickstarter trailer)

Voice acting: I really liked the voice acting quality. The actors sounded like their characters, the acting was very good and has personality, and the audio was good on a technical level as well (volume levels for the characters felt the same, like they were all recorded in the same place, there wasn't background noise polluting the audio, and there were no audio peaking issues when characters spoke louder). A very good job!

Camera motion blur: I urge you to add the option for players to turn this off as soon as possible. If you plan on including motion blur for turning the camera at all, I recommend having it off by default, instead of players starting the game with it on. Some players find camera blur nauseous to look at, while others find it distracts from the graphics (as you are obscuring the view of the background by blurring it).

Controls: The controls for the sewing and war map puzzles for some reason are odd. The mouse sensitivity becomes very very high, making the cursor incredibly difficult to control. It got to the point where I couldn't progress past the war map puzzle of the demo because trying to place the pieces on just the right squares felt impossible. For both the sewing and war map puzzles, I also tried using just the keyboard to nudge the cursor to the right spot, but even then, these nudges would move too far in the direction I pressed. The page number puzzle was easier to control, but a clearer option to input the number by typing it in a text parser would be more convenient than clicking and dragging to the right number. Control is very important to the overall gamefeel, as it helps the player feel like they are in the world of the game the more in-sync their button presses are to what is happening on-screen.

(Image: Kickstarter trailer)

Textbox: The textbox design is very good in my opinion. It follows many of the design principles of visual novels. The textbox is semi-transparent not solid (so it doesn't obscure screen space of the background), the text uses a readable font typeface, the text is light over a dark background (for dark mode style reading), and text appears instantly instead of being typed out (instant is good for fast readers). To take it further, I would suggest adding Dyslexic-friendly font options in the Options menu (such as the typeface OpenDyslexic).

(Image: Kickstarter trailer)

Main menu input: This is a nitpick, but the Press Any Key to Start screen will only transition to the menu if the player presses Enter or Space.

Audio cutoff issue: I noticed that once in a while, the audio for a line of dialogue would get cut off before it reached the second-half of the line and continue with the next bit of dialogue (two lines with Gina and one line with Deacon).

Object Clipping issue: I noticed in conversations with Deacon that his left arm would clip through his notebook as he gestured. It was noticeable because he was talking about his paper, and the camera has the notebook in the centre of the shot, so the eye is drawn to it.

Wall Collision Bug: The wall with the chalkboards in the starting room doesn't appear to have collision. I walked through it into the Unity stage:

Overall, I'm very excited to see the final version of the game's release!

[feejee-mermaid]

Turn and Face the Strange

Read on AO3 | Written for the X-Files Flicked Switch Fanfic Exchange

My second ever fic. A million thank yous to @dsmulder4u​ for the prompt, and to @cecilysass​ for the incredible beta, feedback and advice 🙏❤️

A late night conversation - some truths are revealed. Missing scenes in the middle of 'Rush'.

“I spy with my little eye, something... chartreuse,” Mulder said, inching the Taurus forward. I-95 was a sea of red taillights.

“Come on, at least make me work for it,” Scully said. “Mountain Dew bumper sticker, Buick Skylark, three cars ahead.”

Mulder sighed. “This game’s no fun with you. I should start playing with Skinner.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I’ll try not to be so aware of my surroundings.”

“Please,” he agreed. “It's the least you could do.”

“I just thought, those details aren’t going to notice themselves. Silly me.”

“Downright absurd of you,” he said. “Stay in your lane, Scully. Leave the details to the details.”

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel to the time of David Bowie’s Changes, which was crackling softly on the radio.

“You weren’t kidding when you said it was slow going,” he said.

They’d decided to head back to DC after leaving the police station and grabbing a bite to eat, anticipating the same bumper-to-bumper traffic Scully had crawled through that morning to get to the Pittsfield, Virginia morgue. Mulder had wanted to deliver the evidence locker surveillance tape to Chuck Burks ASAP, he’d said, so the man could work his spooky tech magic. Scully knew Mulder hoped Chuck would substantiate his theory – find hard evidence of a force, a specter, a poltergeist – whatever alleged entity was seemingly responsible for the theft of the murder weapon.

Scully didn’t know how the flashlight had vanished. But a terrestrial suspect was far more likely, and if she had to lay odds, one mired in the turmoils of adolescense, as her partner would say.

The case had intrigued Scully. And if she was honest, she was drawn to it simply because it felt lighter than their usual fare. Yes, the Sheriff's deputy had been brutally murdered, flashlight through the skull. Yes, a 16-year-old kid, whom she was inclined to believe was innocent, was terrified, in serious trouble and on the verge of throwing his life away.

But for once, there was no conspiracy. There were no alien forces at work. There were no cigarette smokers slinking in the shadows, no black oil, no toxic green blood, no bad remnants of a sci-fi b-movie, no fraught hospital bedside vigils. They were both clear-headed, whole, healed – as much as possible anyway – and by God, they were constantly smiling at each other.

And she was still remembering his lips, pressed flush and warm against hers at the stroke of midnight, ushering in a new millennium.

Well, she amended, not technically. 2001, etc, etc. But it felt like something new. It felt like the start of a possibility.

“Whatcha thinking?” he asked, crunching a seed he’d grabbed from the bag tucked into the car console and licking salt from his index finger.

From the passenger seat she watched his long, thick digit disappear into his mouth. God.

“Max Harden is bad news,” Scully said.

“Hmm,” Mulder said. “He definitely wants to play the bad boy. I’m not sure if that makes him a murderer, though. Maybe. Or maybe he’s just showing off for his girlfriend.”

Scully thought of Chastity and involuntarily bristled, then chastised herself for the juvenile feeling. She wasn’t sure she wanted to examine it very closely. The girl had shamelessly checked out her partner and Mulder had done a double take. She’d leveled him with a look, and he’d chuckled sheepishly, and that was that. But she worried about her reaction. She knew she had a possessive streak running below the surface, buried deep like a copper vein.

It tended to flare whenever he got appreciative glances from waitresses, rental car agents, flight attendants, or even the more overt come-ons from the Shelia Fontaines who seemed to inhabit every pocket of small town America. Wherever they went, women were undressing him with their eyes. Not that she could really blame them. She had eyes herself.

“You think so?” Scully said. “Just showing off?”

“Well, you know, the rebel persona – cliched as it sounds – when it comes to women, it has a certain appeal,” he said, clearing his throat. “Or so I’m told.”

Scully absorbed that token of information. She thought of what she privately labeled “Covert Ops Mulder” – black leather jacket, black turtleneck, two days worth of scruff and sweat – breaking into top-secret biotech facilities, jumping onto speeding train cars, eyes ablaze with recklessness, vengeance or virtue. She had to admit, it was hot. It was the same Mulder she imagined lying awake in the dark, save the glow of the TV, reclined on his leather couch surrounded by sticky VHS tapes, hand wrapped around his cock.

She flushed.

“Hmm,” she said. “Not speaking from experience, are you?”

He grinned. “Who, me? You know me, Scully, I’m like an altar boy on Sunday.”

She shook her head and smiled. She shouldn’t encourage him.

Mulder glanced her way, eyes playful. After a beat he returned his attention to the road.

“Hopefully Chucky can crack this one open,” he said, switching tack, punctuating it with a crunch of another seed. “Wanna grab dinner tonight? We can go over case notes at my place.”

****

They were slouched shoulder-to-shoulder on Mulder’s couch, papers and Thai takeout containers strewn across the coffee table.

He was chewing his nail, eyes scanning Tony Reed’s police statement for about the fifteenth time.

“Mulder, when Tony said he got to the woods –” Scully started, but got distracted by the pink flesh of his tongue running across the jagged edge of a hangnail.

“Huh?” he said, dropping the finger from his mouth and turning to face her. He was surprisingly close, his mossy green eyes looking into hers, their noses almost touching. She forgot the rest of her sentence. An inch forward and she could give him a bunny kiss. Which was not the kind of kiss she usually thought about when she thought about kissing him. Which was embarrassingly often.

She leaned slightly towards him, drawn like a magnet, feeling his gentle breath across her cheek. He radiated heat, and she could smell the notes of his cologne – woodsmoke and sage and sandalwood. She had the urge to play with his tie again – if he hadn’t flung it off hours ago – to grab it and pull him into her, pressing his perfect full lower lip to hers, slipping her tongue against his.

His cell phone rang. He leaned back, noticibly irritated, searching for the source of the sound, and eyed the device on his desk. He rose to answer it.

“Mulder,” he said.

Scully swallowed back both disappointment and relief. She sat up and started tidying the coffee table, collecting food containers and trash.

“Thanks a million, Chuck,” Mulder said into the phone. “We’ll meet you at the office first thing in the morning.” A pause. “Any hints?”

Scully made her way into his kitchen, depositing the rubbish in the bin under Mulder’s dish-filled sink.

“Right,” she heard him say from the living room. “Yes, that’s no problem. Alright, thanks again.” He clicked off.

“That was Chuck,” he yelled.

Scully walked back into the living room. “So I gathered,” she said. “He find something?”

“I think so, but he wouldn’t divulge much over the phone. He ran the footage through a couple of cool new toys – said the results were surprising. He’ll give us the full rundown tomorrow.”

She felt the weight of the day hit her suddenly, and the familiar urge to retreat after a charged moment. “Okay,” she said with a yawn. “Maybe I should get out of your hair then. We’ve gone over the file so many times I can’t really see straight.”

He shrugged, his gaze straying down her body and then back up to her face. “Stay for a drink.”

Something warm and fluttery settled in her gut. Against her better judgment, she accepted.

****

“What were you like in high school, Mulder?” she asked, sipping her beer.

It was late, and he was invading her personal space, face soft and open.

He took a sip of his own drink, thinking about the question.

“I was... coping,” he said finally.

“Most of the time I put my head down and buried myself in school work. Extra credit, honors curriculum – anything to get myself as far away as possible. I applied to schools all over Europe, schools on the west coast. I couldn’t put Martha’s Vineyard in my rear view mirror fast enough.”

“What about the rest of the time?”

“The rest of the time… I might not have made the best decisions. I was angry. I was trying to keep things together at home, keep my mom functioning. My dad was just silent, drinking, absent. I was furious with them both for making me be the parent. And I blamed myself for what happened.”

She swallowed back a wash of empathy and anger. God, everything he’d gone through – every person who had failed him. She wished she’d known him then. She would have held him to her fiercely, destroyed anyone who hurt him.

“Imagine we’d met in high school,” she said.

“You probably wouldn’t have liked me,” he said.

“I would have.”

He smiled. “That would have been something. Wow, a young Dana Scully.” He elbowed her gently in the ribs. “You definitely were a Betty, by the way. Some things never change. I bet all the boys fought over who got to be your lab partner.”

She snorted. “If they did, it was only because they knew they’d get an A.”

She thought of herself then – introverted, studious, desperate to be taken seriously, aching to make Ahab proud. Sneaking out with Missy to parties, secretly thrilled, feeling guilty about it for weeks afterwards and burying herself in books like an act of contrition. If Mulder had known her then he wouldn’t have given her a second glance.

Mulder shrugged. “I doubt that’s true. And if it is – well – boys are idiots.”

“And what about you?” she said. “You must have done alright yourself. All that angst, all that personal tragedy. Oxford bound, basketball and swim team captain – young Fox Mulder must have been beating them off with a stick.”

He laughed. “I might have been beating something off, but it wasn’t prospective dates,” he said.

She rolled her eyes, taking another sip of her drink.

“Seriously,” she said. “No girlfriends?”

“There may have been one or two,” he said. “Nothing serious. Although when you’re sixteen, everything feels serious.”

“You mean no one seriously fell for that trademark Fox Mulder charm?”

He cocked his head. “I have trademark charm?”

“Come on Mulder,” she said. “You must realize the effect you have on people. On females, in particular.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Do tell.”

“You know exactly what I mean,” she said. “I’ve seen it a hundred times over. It doesn’t matter where we are – you flash a smile and they… react. They get ideas. Like Chastity today at the police station."

Mulder rolled his eyes. “She’s a kid, Scully. I mean, flattering that I might inspire teen admiration, but a kid’s a kid.”

She waved her hand, conceding the point. “Yes well, that’s just an example,” she said. “I’ve got plenty of others. And you do lay it on especially thick when you want something. Why do I get the feeling that started at a young age?”

He grinned. “Did I just hear, on the record, that Dana Scully thinks I’m charming?”

She shook her head, a parade of women running through her brain, that same possessiveness roiling in her gut. That wolf woman, Bambi, Detective White. Detective White. That damned case, she thought. Mulder had been infuriating and insufferable and unprofessional and she had understood with a clarity she’d never known before how much she truly wanted to fuck him.

“I admit nothing,” she said.

“Does it work on you?” he asked.

“Of course not,” she said. I see it coming a mile away.”

He nodded, scanning her face, a half smile lingering on his lips. “Especially when I want something,” he said.

****

They were both three drinks in and he was kissing her, really kissing her, his hot tongue plunging inside her mouth. Irresponsible, she thought. Thank God.

One of his big hands was cradling the back of her head, the other was holding her at the hip as his body pressed hers into the couch. She could feel him rigid against her belly. She was feverishly hot and out of breath and soaking wet and she should absolutely stop this right this second. She kissed him harder, snaking her hand around the back of his neck to draw him closer. She was out of her mind, blissed out, her nerve endings fried. And they still had all their clothes on.

Mulder pulled back first, coming up for air. He was panting, wild eyed, tucking strands of loose hair behind her ear. She saw questions in his face. But also something that looked like certainty.

“Wow,” he said.

She kissed him again, slow and deep, like taking the first drink of water after years spent wandering through the desert. If you drink too fast you choke.

He pulled back again, pecking her lips, kissing her cheek and her temple, and pressing his forehead to hers.

“Scully...” he started, then fell silent.

The enormity of the moment hit her square in the chest.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

She frowned, pulling away, defenses poised.

“No, I just mean – this wasn’t the right time to start this,” he said. “We’re in the middle of a case, we’re meeting Chuck in seven hours, we’ve been drinking–”

Trust Mulder to choose now to be reasonable for the first time in his life.

“It’s the perfect time,” she said, eyes turning glassy.

“I just want to do it right is all,” he said, cupping her cheek. “It’s you.”

“It didn’t feel right?”

He closed his eyes. “You know that’s not what I mean,” he said. “Of course it felt right. It felt like the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

“Me, too,” she said.

“It felt unbelievable,” he said.

“This from the man who’ll believe just about anything.”

He smiled. She took his hand, lacing her fingers through his. He lifted their hands, brushing his lips across her knuckles.

“You – this – God, Scully, it means everything to me.”

She nodded, overwhelmed.

“I think… with us, Mulder… how can there be a wrong way?” she said. “There’s only forward, there’s only together.”

He wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close. She rested her face against his neck, breathing him in.

“After the case is finished, let me take you on a date,” he said.

She chuckled. “Really?”

“Yes,” he said.

She had been everywhere with Mulder. He’d been the face across the table at a thousand greasy diners, he’d been asleep on the other side of countless motel room walls, he’d been next to her through endless road trips, hands steady on the wheel as their high beams pierced the dark. They’d played a million games of Rummy and Go Fish, biding their time in airport lounges, McMurdo station, quarantine.

He was there through cancer, through Missy’s death, her pillar through every one of her saddest and most terrifying moments. Beside him, she’d had the space to develop into her professional best. He’d given her agency and contributions the respect and value they deserved, and the work had been better for them.

He’d protected her, he’d saved her, he’d shouted at her, he’d infuriated her, he’d told her bad jokes, he’d told her the truth, he’d held her hand. And vice versa.

He’d shown her ghosts on Christmas Eve and a baseball diamond for her birthday, even though he was months early or months late.

She had absolutely no idea what a date with him would bring.

“Okay,” she said. “I’d love to.”

He dropped a kiss on her head, then pressed his cheek to her hair.

“Good,” he said, “good.”

They held each other for a few moments. She didn’t want to let him go.

“We don’t have to rush anything,” she said. “But Mulder – I’m not waiting another seven years to kiss you.”

He laughed, pulling back to look her in the eyes. His gaze dropped to her lips, and he cupped her face. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers firmly, with reverence and intent. A promise.

“Deal,” he whispered.

[an-aussie-button-masher]

Order Up, Up, Up - A Quick Review of Splatoon 3: Side Order

   The colourful world of Splatoon is a chaotic one, so maybe it’s time for a little order on the side - but as demonstrated in Side Order, too much order can be a bad thing. This new add-on story campaign for Splatoon 3 shifts gameplay gears into the meta-progressing replayability of roguelikes, unlike the more linear platform-shooter-puzzler levels of the previous campaigns. Agent 8 - the first playable character to return from a previous game, last seen in Splatoon 2’s Octo Expansion - once more awakens in a strange place with a new mystery to solve. Accompanied by Splatoon 2’s idol duo hosts Pearl and Marina, and the until-recently-brainwashed DJ Acht, 8 finds Inkopolis Square seemingly consumed by a strange force, bleaching the world white and infesting it with dangerous skeletal fishy foes.   Together, the team must climb the Tower of Order, a randomly-generated series of challenging puzzles and battles, earning upgrades and reaching the ominously-dark and glitchy top floor to determine just what is going on and who is responsible. In true roguelike fashion, even losing helps progress; once you’ve run out of lives, you’re booted out of the tower, losing the gear you’ve acquired along the way - but you can then spend points on permanent upgrades to help make the climb just a little easier every time. Enter the Tower, fight your way up, die, upgrade yourself, enter the Tower again, reach a little higher this time, and repeat until you’re face-to-face with the Tower’s powerful mastermind. How many attempts will it take you to save Inkopolis?

   I was honestly surprised at just how well the roguelike formula translates into Splatoon’s style, even if it lacks some of the massive sheer variety of full roguelike games. Growing stronger thanks to the permanent upgrades between each run is incredibly satisfying - I quickly went from getting mobbed and overrun on the fifth floor to consistently and flawlessly beating the final boss seven times in a row, even with weapons I wasn’t accustomed to using! Even in the early stages, it never feels too frustrating to lose; there’s always a sense of “alright, time for more upgrades, let’s try that again!”   One thing that Side Order falls a bit short of is the more interesting and continuous storytelling from the other campaigns, especially Octo Expansion. The plot effectively freezes entirely between beating the first and second runs of the Tower, which can last quite a while without upgrades. There’s plenty of fun dialogue and character dynamics between the main cast, but it’s all relegated to a handful of conversations that occasionally play out between floors (and frequently repeat themselves), with the actual storyline only really progressing every time you reach and beat the final boss with a new weapon. The DLC might seem “short” to those unfamiliar with roguelike gameplay - the credits roll after beating the final boss for the first time, which technically only takes two successful climbs up the Tower, but that’s just the beginning. The true meat of the DLC is then beating the boss eleven more times, with the player getting stronger each time instead of the boss; the plot continues to progress with every final boss defeat, long after the credits are finished. The first battle against the true villain is also one of the most hype moments in the entire series - a real, unparalleled power trip.   So, while the storytelling engagement isn’t quite up to scratch with the series standard, the handful of character moments still there are just as entertaining as usual, and the gameplay beyond is excellently fun and addictive - that last run was good, but how about just one more attempt?   I hope you enjoyed this quick review of Splatoon 3: Side Order - feedback, reblogs and likes are much appreciated!   Thanks for reading!

An Aussie Button-Masher

[veebs-hates-video-games]

Overall, this is a short and sweet game about a unionized team of magical girls fighting for better working conditions. The beach episode was done tastefully, the villain was interesting, and there was non-binary representation among the cast. 10/10 and I would read a fanfiction about this game.

I saw this in a review of Hero Hours Contract and thought it sounded amazing and like something I needed to play. After spending maybe a little under an hour with it I can say I like basically everything about it except for actually playing it, which I'm straight up not having a good time with.

Characters? Great.

Art style? Great.

Story premise? Great.

UI? Passable, and it has some clarity issues about what effect doing certain things will have or what effect they did have, like the feedback for what you do at the negotiating table is pretty ambiguous, and it took me longer than it should've to even figure out how to tell how many of what resources I even have because it's not clearly displayed anywhere.

Explanation for how to progress through the game? Technically exists, barely, I guess? What am I supposed to be doing, playing through the normal levels and getting happiness gems to get money/free time to spend on doing stuff with people to get nebulous upgrades that may or may not actually do anything meaningful? Going through the levels in the tower that seem to be what probably progresses the story? I am guessing about all of these things because it doesn't really tell you when you start playing.

Heavy dependence on RNG? Uh, whatever the opposite of great is. Doing the normal levels seemed fun at first because there's no way to really fail, you just get better rewards for completing more stuff within the turn limit. The rewards for fully clearing a level seem to be a lot better than just mostly clearing one though, and whether or not you can fully clear one seems to come down to enemy RNG deciding to cooperate or run away from you.

And then on the tower levels that are (presumably) the story progression ones there actually is a fairly low time limit and they're very possible to fail. And the fourth one of those seems much more dependent on RNG than on any of my own decisions for whether I can beat it or not. Did my character with a random chance of getting extra attacks not get the extra attack I needed? I lose. Did one of the enemies randomly move in the wrong direction so now I can't chain my attack between the enemies? I lose. Did [insert any other thing up to the whims of RNG here]? You get the idea.

The UI stuff would be easily fixable by just putting a little thing on the screen in the home base that actually shows you how many you have of money/time/gems at all times and by actually having clear feedback when you select options at the negotiating table (which would already be much clearer with the previous suggestion because you could see the counters increase/decrease if there actually were one on the screen). It was not obvious at first that I was literally just directly purchasing money/time instead of offering gems as a bargaining chip to negotiate for more of them.

And then the actual strategy sections...well, either make them a lot less RNG-based, which is relatively straightforward, or give the player more ways to compensate for unexpected/bad things happening, which can be more complicated, both to figure out how to implement and for players to engage with if it adds complexity.

Also give me a pause menu or something so I can change the settings while I'm in the game. If it exists I couldn't find the button for it, and needing to exit out of it to see if it'd let me change the difficulty from normal to easy so I don't have to deal with the annoying level made me lose any interest in trying it again.

Great idea, love some stuff about it, but the overall execution isn't really doing it for me. The stuff I liked about it I liked more than P5R and had more fun with it overall than with that though, so that's something.

[zoydraft]

Scare School Playtest Notes - March 15

My kid has decided he only wants to try new games, but my dad really wanted to try this game out so I ran a session. Some observations...

Okay, pre-observation, this was my first time ever running a TTRPG for anyone other than my son. So that's a milestone. I think I did... okay?

Skill Checks & Progression. I decided to run the encounter on Level 3 - that is, all rolls of 3 or less are failures, which meant that the player's skills increased rapidly. I think that worked well for a one-shot, but was too generous if there's any continuity between sessions.

Setting the Scene. I again found moderately detailed illustrations of children's bedrooms online, but this time invited the player to add some detail to the room. I did not characterize the child at all. I think there's an opportunity to build that out.

Retry Rule. In an attempt to force some variety in tactics and add some non-narrative bite to failures I ruled that you can't repeat a skill-check you just failed. I think this reduced the feeling of brute forcing through a check and encouraged some more creativity.

Failures, narratively. I found it a little difficult to consistently give narrative explanations for failures. I think I should have differentiated 1's vs 2's vs 3's, but that doesn't work if you're at a lower difficulty level. I didn't do a good job of communicating what would happen on a failure; If I was better at that it probably would have solved the problem.

Failures, in scoring. The scoring system is purposely convoluted to appeal to my kid (final calculations was the only part he participated in on this day), but I had a hard time knowing how much to penalize the Suspense score when there was a failure.

Delayed Parents. I slightly tweaked the parents mechanic. Now, if you or the child do something to alert the parents (mainly but not exclusively making a loud noise), the parent countdown does not start immediately. It only begins after a second alert. At that point, after every subsequent action, the GM rolls a D4. When the cumulative D4 rolls reach 8 the parent arrives in the room and you fail.

Multi-Part Skill Checks. Towards the end of the encounter the player started combining skills, which I wasn't sure how to assess. In one situation, it was synergistic enough that I felt passing 2 out of 3 skill checks felt appropriate, but in another I felt it was almost entirely dependent on one skill, while the other two could be auto-passes. If this were someone else's game I was running I would want more direction, as I had to make up those approaches in the moment.

Teacher Feedback. I didn't do much within-world communicating with the player character. I did have what I thought was a really good idea, but I was hesitant to offer it (and did not end up offering it) because I didn't want to steal away the opportunity for the player's own creativity.

Finding the Fun. The fun here is definitely in stretching the creativity. I am not sure (here expressing sincere ignorance, not doubt) whether the scoring system is helpful or not. I think in best case, it might be something like Balatro (I can't stop talking about Balatro!) where the scores are technically calculable to the player, but in practice more fuzzy. At minimum, the scoring provides a little bit of momentum and tension, just from a number going mostly up. I am not sure how much that encourages creativity

Scoring Sheet. The character sheet (at the top of the page) did its job, but I still had to track the actions. If I were to develop this game further (and keep the scoring system) I would want to create a GM sheet for tracking actions and their effect on suspense. However, it hasn't been bad tracking it freeform.

Unless my kid re-expresses interest in this game I don't think I'll be picking it up again any time soon, but I really enjoyed the experience and will keep thinking about it.

[monriatitans]

MonriaTitans

Let's Play Some Demos! - Part 20

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Welcome to Part 20 of the Let's Play Some Demos! | LPSD series! For those who are new, I aim to introduce gamers to, usually, Indie games and to provide commentary and feedback for educational purposes! For this episode, I used some of the demos I had grabbed from the Myths & Legends Steam Event! I think... RULES! Typically, there are 4 demos. Each demo gets 30 minutes, not including the adjustment of settings and character creation. I might up it to 5 and/or play a great game for longer if there are technical issues. And NO AI's spit, aka. plagiarism laundering.

Today, I played 4 demos for your enjoyment:

AI LIMIT - Coming Mar 27, 2025 In the distant future when civilization is on the verge of extinction, people follow the legend of the Elysium in the last city, Havenswell. In this post-apocalyptic wasteland sci-fi ARPG, you will play as Arrisa, a Blader with immortality, and explore the city ruin to find the hope of a new life.

Harmony's Odyssey - Available Harmony's Odyssey is a 3D fantasy adventure puzzle game set on mythical dioramas full of riddles, perky creatures and magic. Embark on a fantastic journey through remote fabled lands tangled by a rowdy cat and bring peace to its inhabitants.

Last Time I Saw You - Available First loves. Family issues. Yokai. 'Last Time I Saw You' is a coming-of-age adventure set in 1980s Japan. Explore a haunted forest hiding a terrible secret, and interact with a vast cast of friendly and dubious characters in this beautifully hand-drawn story with some light action elements.

Whiskers & Wizardry - Available 2025 Step into the magical paws of an overconfident wizard cat in this action-packed roguelite! Craft unique spells, battle hordes of minions and powerful bosses, cleanse the forest of evil, and rescue your Human Wizard Owner. From the creators of Margoq's Lair, a studio focused on roguelite games.

The links above are to the games' Steam pages. Also, Harmony's Odyssey's demo is available on itch.io!

With all that out the way, here are my opinions, via the "Layered Compliment Sandwich":  AI LIMIT LOOKED FAN-FUCKIN-TASTIC! I loved how Arrisa was animated! I loved how the enemies were animated! I loved the design of the entire level! AND the game suffered from what many games I've played suffer from; their tutorial was not as clear as they thought it was. It said items could be assigned to shortcuts, but didn't say how to do it. Even when I went into the Controls at the end, it wasn't there. Also, unless I missed it, it would've been nice to know how the healing item worked when we got it. I wouldn't have waited until I was almost dead to use it had I known. Dying gave me the opportunity to look at the pretty ruin, though. Dying multiple times did, too. What got on my nerves, though, was the lack of guidance. I beat, what seemed to be, the big bad, and yet... had I not run out of time, I would have rage quit at some point. I want the game because it has promise. I'm hoping it will have more guidance in it. IT LOOKED/S GREAT!

Harmony's Odyssey was incredibly confusing, but it being adorable made up for it. When I read the description and saw "puzzles", I was certain I wasn't going to like it. Then it reminded me there were certain puzzles I liked! And it did them in a unique way. The "Find the Differences" puzzles moving was distracting. If it was supposed to be, then fine. Job well done. The mini-games were a surprise, but ended up being fun. The story was, is, my biggest problem. It makes. No. Sense. So, a cat steals one of a witch's wands and now we're chasing the cat trying to get it back. Why are we chasing the cat when we could teleport the cat back? Then, while we're chasing the cat, instead of teleporting the cat, the witch alters the world and turns it into the "rearrange the tiles to create a picture" puzzle. Why? I wanna keep playing because how the puzzles were created was incredibly unique, but... Why? Last Time I Saw You has an AMAZING color palette! And it taking place in 1980s Japan didn't really hit me until Ayumi, our main character, made certain comments about wishing people had their own phones. You say that now, child... The art style was, is, sublime. I want a movie in this art style. And it was the art style, the story, and the fact I could make all the dialogue appear with the press of a button that made me keep playing. The beeping-like sound that played as the text was coming in was... ich. Why do developers do that? STOP IT! I didn't think until now to check and see if I could make the dialogue immediately appear... I also felt like I was "playing" a teenager. They were relatable. And how they introduced the little bit of action was well done as well, even though learning the action was annoying. If I was supposed to be spooked a bit, they succeeded. Well done! Gimme more! Whiskers & Wizardry was more adorable than I expected it to be! And more difficult. Apparently, I SUCK at aiming. Thankfully, the dodge-roll made up for it. Part of the issue with aiming, though, was the paw you're aiming with. At one point, it hid behind the Wizard Cat, and then I couldn't tell where I was aiming, which made me even more shit at aiming. The premise kept me going. That and the art. A magic cat trying to find their Wizard Owner? Sign me up! I have allergies, I need to have a cat somehow! Every game like this I cannot help but think of Hades or Cursebane. The "create your own spell" mechanic was, is, genius. This, combined with a leveling system to allow for personal, and changeable, improvements allowed for a customizable playstyle. I will DEFINITELY be pointing this one out to my partner! It's creative AF and deserves some attention! Overall, despite some of my gripes, I want all of them, and they are on my wishlist. I'll have to play AI LIMIT in moderation, though, since the camera will give me a headache if I forget to use the "Lock On" mechanic. As a reminder, AI LIMIT will be available on Mar 27, 2025. Whiskers & Wizardry will be available in 2025. Harmony's Odyssey and Last Time I Saw You are both Available. Lastly, I advised in the video I would be streaming Doloc Town on Sunday, February 23rd, and would link to Parts 1 and 2 for the curious, so, here you go!

And that's it for Part 20! Thank you for reading! If this series of videos is something you're interested in, they're available on YouTube, The Titans' Discord, Steam, Rumble, Odysee, Ko-fi, and on multiple blogging platforms! Don't forget to hit the Subscribe and/or Follow buttons to know when there's more!

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TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Welcome Gamers! 1:58 - Artist Shout-Out 5:23 - Demos' Intro 10:05 - AI LIMIT - Coming Mar 27, 2025 47:53 - Harmony's Odyssey - Available 1:28:30 - Last Time I Saw You - Available 2:05:50 - Whiskers & Wizardry - Available 2025 2:40:54 - Demos Line Up 2:43:43 - Artist Shout-Out 2:45:32 - Thank You/Links 2:46:49 - Rendezvous Point Bookshop Plug/Viewing 2:48:32 - Up Next - Doloc Town 2:49:47 - Farewell

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"Let's Play Some Demos!" Video Series YouTube Playlist" Let's Play Some Demos!" Video Series Blog Posts

Pilot: CrossCode, Dumpy & Bumpy, Ynglet, Zero Ranger

Part 2: A Dance of Fire and Ice, 2064: Read Only Memories, Death and Taxes, Underhero

Part 3: TEKKEN 8, Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition, Secrets of Grindea, Forspoken

Part 4: Death’s Hangover, Fae Farm, Fate/Samurai Remnant, Mini Settlers

Part 5: All-Star Fruit Racing, Indivisible, SaGa Emerald Beyond, Visions of Mana

Part 6: Glorious Companions, Tales of Arise, Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge, Cozy Island

Part 7: The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, Cursebane, Dex, The Lady Puppet

Part 8: Detroit: Become Human, Little Goody Two Shoes, Luma Island, Tinkerlands

Part 9: Backpack Battles, Glaciered, Ratopia, Slime Rancher

Part 10: Captain Contraption’s Chocolate Factory, Maid Cafe on Electric Street, Neon Noodles, Tiny Glade

Part 11: Critter Café, Grimoire Groves, Pixel Cafe, Wizdom Academy

Part 12: AdventureBarStory, Bone’s Cafe, DELTARUNE, Mudborne

Part 13: Food Truck Simulator, Magical Bakery, Magical Delicacy, Seaside Cafe Rush Hour

Part 14: Chef’s Tail, Espresso Tycoon, Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo, Tavern Talk

Part 15: Chicken Journey, FANTASIAN Neo Dimension, Terra Memoria, Until Then

Part 16: Cornucopia®, Hipster Café, Let’s Café, Spells & Secrets

Part 17: Doloc Town, Feed the Cups, Manitas Kitchen, Mushroom Picnic Party, Rift of the NecroDancer

Part 18: Meadgard: Beer and Plunder, BOKURA: planet, Teeny Tiny Town, Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos

Part 19: Dungeons of Hinterberg, The Mildew Children, Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island, Yaoling: Mythical Journey

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MORE INFO & TO SUPPORT - About MonriaTitans | WGS - Rendezvous Point Bookshop - Artist Shout-Outs Criteria- The Titans' Discord - Throne Wishlist - #SubOffTwitch - YouTube - Rumble - Odysee - Twitch - Steam

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Originally published to https://opinionsandtruth.wordpress.com on February 18, 2025.

[shield-of-wesnoth]

Analyzing why BMR Episode II’s “Forest Confrontation” scenario felt bad to play.

In my previous post, I rambled in the tags just a little bit about how there’s a scenario in BMR’s second part that felt especially unfair and unfun at the time I played it.  While I’m in the mood, I thought I’d explain why and dissect the scenario a bit in the process. I haven’t played it in a few years, this applies at least to the 1.14/1.15-branch compatible releases, so if the scenario has changed dramatically since then, uh... I didn’t know that.

The give context, the BMR/Trinity series is hard.  They’re expert level campaigns, so of course I always brace myself for a challenge in that case, but it feels safe to say that they are especially hard for various reasons.  Despite being one of the older campaign series at this point, there are still several points at which I feel they’re more reliant on luck than strategy... maybe this is because there’s no walkthrough, maybe I have yet to find and watch any replays of people successfully beating them, or maybe I’m just not as good a strategist as I think, but by categorizing the campaigns as “expert” even the dev admits that they are objectively difficult. If you haven’t made an attempt at BMR in the last several years, modern versions introduce two massive new mechanics: An inventory/equip system for your heroes and units, and limited recruit quantity campaign-wide.  Because Wesnoth campaigns’ design generally are supposed to run on the KISS Principle, the fact that these mechanics are present at all could be enough to make the campaigns “expert” on their own, as they are nonstandard and require the player to adopt vastly different strategies (compare: UtBS’s RPG elements and unusual day/night cycle, and SotA’s unusual zombies and game progression).  In theory, I really like these mechanics!  I enjoy inventory management in LoTI and Five Fates, and forcing a player to carefully preserve their army throughout a campaign as they receive a trickle of new available recruits sounds like a fascinating challenge that could drive me to better-tune my unit survival strategies!  Unfortunately, the campaign still plays like it expects you to have a massive army that you can replenish as you have more gold (or to, as I said, be very lucky).  Let me elaborate a bit, now...

“Forest Confrontation” is a level that I got stuck on, and had to cheat to get past it at all (fun fact: my first experiences learning WML were making its sequel Trinity (at least the version for 1.6) easier!); I immediately got stuck on its following scenario “Fort Kuhle” for similar reasons and stopped playing, but this post isn’t about that one.  When I get stuck or make a bad enough mistake, or get unlucky enough in a Wesnoth scenario, I’m not shy about going back a turn or five to try something different.  The officially recommended Wesnoth experience from back in its early days is to roll with the punches and never reload from a mid-scenario save, but the “landmines” and punishing positive feedback loops in many campaigns have all but completely made me give up on that play style.  I try to avoid having to reload too often, but sometimes I may feel my hand is forced if a scenario is arduous enough... and when it’s too much even when I try over and over, even save-scumming mid-turn, I crack the thing open in Notepad++ and try to see what I’m missing.  What I found in Forest Confrontation’s .cfg had me fascinated and offended.

Forest Confrontation is a 48-turn long (on its easiest difficulty setting, of course), winter-themed level with a river down the middle with Fog Of War where you have to defeat two allied enemy leaders-- one Loyalists and one Outlaws-- while constantly keeping the Loyalists from reaching your camp.  You start with 350g, Loyalists start with 100g + 15 income, and Outlaws start with 100g.  The Outlaws start with a few Thieves already on-map, but this isn’t too weird.  As you are playing with the Ukian faction, you technically have the terrain advantage here.  Sounds fairly normal and straightforward, yeah?  Not quite.

General Burton-- the Loyalist leader, has a nasty little mechanic working in his favor in the scenario’s code.  Literally so that-- and I quote-- he “has a big army”.  And remember before I explain it your army’s mechanic: You have a campaign-wide maximum total number of units you can recruit per type, this number is only increased by making progress.  If you need another Ukian Dog mid-scenario, and you’re out of Ukian Dogs because you recruited them all and your others died, and there are none in your recall list, you’re going to have no dogs until you find more dogs or the game decides you can have a few more later.  It’s more “realistic”, very interesting, and makes every single death utterly devastating.  Even if the campaign weren’t winter-themed, you’d constantly be walking on thin ice!  Sometimes you’ll find some minor NPCs who want to join your cause and thus strengthen your army with more recruitables and recalls, but this isn’t all too common.  I can’t say it doesn’t fit the story’s bleak mood.

“What is this nightmare mechanic, then?”  It’s several smaller things, actually, but I’ll give you the big one, first.

In the scenario code, there’s a variable called “b_deaths” (presumably abbreviating something along the lines of “Burton’s deaths”), and an event tied to it on turn 4.  The first thing this specific event does is give Burton 200 gold because of course it does.  The second thing it does is set b_deaths to a value of 12 (20 or 28 on the harder difficulties). This is vital for the meat of the mechanic to work, in another event that depends on it.  This event is programmed to go off every time one of Burton’s units dies if b_deaths is greater than zero.  And so every time it activates, Burton receives 21 gold, and b_deaths’s current value is reduced by one.  This means that, on the campaign’s easiest setting, Burton gets a 21 gold gift for each of the next twelve units of his you kill after turn 4... or a total of 252 gold on top of the previous 200 he received on turn 4.

As a programmer, I find this very cool and a pretty genius concept.  It indeed does give the enemy the appearance of magically always having the bigger, unending army (subtly enough to where it could just be mistaken for income, too!), and could provide great incentive to flee in scenarios where you have to run to a checkpoint instead of staying to defeat enemy leaders.  Unfortunately, this scenario isn’t one of those, and as a player this was an absolute nightmare to have to go up against.

It all sounds pretty nasty, yes?  There’s even more that makes it worse!

Remember that river that both you and the enemies must cross in order to get at each other?  The scenario objectives hint-hint at you to “get to the river as soon as possible and avoid letting the enemy across,” and they are not screwing around with that advice.  Every time you or an enemy crosses it, it increases one of two variables-- each representing you and the enemy having crossed the river a certain number of times.  This does something with the rest of its event, of course... If the Outlaws get even one unit across the river enough, then Burton receives-- for free-- 3 Horsemen and 2 Knights.  But if before then, you have at least one of your own units across the river, then instead the Outlaws get (for free) 2 Outlaws, 3 Trappers, and 2 Thieves.  Once the Outlaws get six of their units across the river, then for free Burton gets 4 Knights and 1 Grand Knight, and the Outlaws get 3 Outlaws and 2 Bandits.

A fun fact: You don’t actually have to defeat the Outlaws to win!  It’s just Burton.  They flee if you defeat Burton first, and then you’re victorious. An unfun fact: If you do defeat the Outlaw leader-- which would make sense to do, since they’re also attacking you and are weaker than Burton-- Burton gets a free Dragoon and Iron Mauler right next to him.

And of course, once you get your units close enough to Burton’s keep, he receives 54 gold for good measure.

Have I also mentioned that the AI is set to aggressively press for your camp (and you will lose instantly if enemy troops invade it), and just as aggressively defend Burton himself?  No?  Well, it also does those things.

And so, Burton can receive a maximum of 451 gold’s worth of units for free.  Burton is essentially guaranteed to receive 506 gold throughout the level on top of his starting gold, base income, and village income unless you somehow take him out before his army obscenely fast.  None of the units he gets for free are loyal, but 500+ gold is nothing to sneeze at.  And remember: No matter how much gold you, the player, save up, your recruit amount is capped.

You have that seemingly-merciful long turn limit, but with Burton having a 15 gold income bonus compared to yours while he relentlessly pushes across the river, not much can come from its hypothetical benefits.  Where in other campaigns you could hunker down on the defensive for about a day or two to build up your troops, protect your base, and enlarge your army, the recruit cap you have combined with the bountiful boons Burton has make that idea pretty impractical.  He’s just going to take his big income, increase it with all the villages he can get on his side of the river, and steamroll you as hard as he possibly can.  You can’t even be content to chip away at his troops at the river’s edge as they swarm you, because that gives him more money for more troops! He is inevitably going to overpower you.  You cannot reasonably maintain enough troops to defeat him or hold him back, nevermind keeping enough alive for the next scenario.  You can recall your veterans from previous scenarios, but recalling is expensive, and losing experienced units that may have useful gear hurts really bad.

Oh yeah, the equipment system!  It definitely helps out a bit, and makes individual units more valuable and memorable, but not enough to withstand scenarios like this one.  Not even close.

So, that’s the problem!  All of that “ruined my day” so to speak, and really tired me out.  When I forced it to be more tolerable and finally moved onto the next level, only to see that it was yet more incredibly wealthy royal army that I had to take out with my feeble forces, I was done.  I want to finish it someday, but I haven’t picked the campaign back up in years. What could be done to “fix” this?  I don’t know.  I honestly don’t!  The computer I played that round of the campaign on is dead, so I can’t check what exactly I did to the WML those two-ish years ago (I’m pretty sure I at least removed Burton being able to suddenly get an Iron Mauler and Dragoon, though).  Even cutting out the biggest of Burton’s bonuses wouldn’t make it perfect; it’s something that would take a lot of testing and tweaking to really narrow down the main issue, not even getting into the rest of the campaign... Forest Confrontation has some cool novel mechanics backing it up, and interesting well-crafted ideas, it just feels awful to deal with and impossible to truly win.

I try and keep an open mind about game design.  Sometimes a creative vision is for a really hard game, and that’s valid!  But I honestly believe a lot of veteran UMC Wesnoth devs fall into a spiral of solipsistic difficulty-- where eventually they’re getting so good at the game, at their own campaign, that they’re compelled to make it progressively harder and harder until it’s nigh on impossible for anyone of different skill levels to complete.  It becomes punishing rather than challenging.  The player feels less like they’re missing something and more like the design is intentionally unfair.

When you get good enough at the strategies, it becomes harder to test for possible player mistakes yourself.  You can be utterly blindsided by something unwise that a player chooses to do!  Something that could possibly screw them over for the entire rest of the campaign, giving them a cruel, slow end that you absolutely did not intend!  I’ve had this problem even while trying to make my games intentionally easy!  In this case, having playtesters give feedback over time is incredibly valuable.

But... BMR has had plenty of time.  Either everyone having given feedback over the 10+ years isn’t bothered by the difficulty, or the developer doesn’t care to make it easier even on its easiest setting.

A lack of forgiveness for mistakes in gameplay is really pretty evident throughout the author’s work.  In Trinity it’s incredibly easy to get overpowered by foes in the earlier levels, especially when you’re playing as the humans’ team.  Every time I’ve beaten the “Join the Dark Side” scenario in BMR part 1-- the only campaign in the BMR/Trinity series that I’ve been able to fairly consistently win over the years-- I always feel more that it’s out of frantic luck than careful strategy, and I’m still unsure what the intended experience really is.  In the long-abandoned Tales of the Setting Sun, your small handful of troops become immortal only after the first scenario, and even though I managed to get to the end and “win” the thing after having had one of them die at the beginning, I really, really felt it during the entire campaign that I was meant to have kept them all alive.  I’m not sure if it’s intentionally so malicious, but it feels like it is, and that’s kind of the problem.

Believe it or not, I like a challenge in Wesnoth.  Beating the 1.13 branch version of UtBS without a walkthrough was one of my proudest moments after spending nearly my entire childhood stuck on the first two scenarios, but I still want to go back and beat a different version of it someday, because I feel like completing it right when the Desert Elves were first overhauled meant that it hadn’t been properly balanced and I didn’t get the true experience.  Even when I cheat, I don’t want to bring out all the big guns at once.  I may only tweak one or two things-- usually just enemy starting gold-- to level the playing field slightly so that I can (hopefully) continue through the rest of the campaign without having to get so drastic; it’s if I can’t win even then that I have to resort to meddling with AI, income, free enemy units, and enemy gold bonuses all at once. I know that a scenario being hard and seeming hopeless does not make it impossible.  The first scenario of Northern Rebirth still daunts me, but having seen a relative just barely scrape by it without guidance has proven to me that it’s certainly not quite as awful as I’d feared.  As a younger teen, when I followed walkthroughs, I was able to make considerable progress in UtBS and FtF-- proving to my young self that they are balanced if you know what you’re doing.  I’ve had moments when I was struggling in a campaign, fearing the worst, only to discover with awe that the designer had not only intended this, but that the strategies they’d guided me towards with their design had benefitted me even as I thought I had no hope of completion!  A balanced campaign is a magical, wonderful thing to experience.

I like BMR and Trinity.  I want to like them so, so badly.  Their coding, artwork, and worldbuilding is some of the most impressive in Wesnoth UMC, has been for years, and continues to be.  As I said way above, I can’t say that these design decisions don’t suit the vibe the campaign has!  In this chapter, you really do feel like you’re playing as just some guy leading a ragtag group of untrained militia through the bitter cold, in a seemingly-hopeless fight you’ve stumbled into against the vast and powerful forces of a corrupt royal military, while unknown dangers lurk around every corner.  It’s immersive, and goodness knows that marrying themes and mood with game design is quite a challenge in its own right.  Ever since I first found out about them, I’ve avoided reading ahead into spoilers, and been determined to finish them.  It’s been at least twelve years since then, trying them on and off, and I thought I’d have improved enough by now to be able to complete the series with minimal cheats, but... it just hasn’t happened.

I assume that, if a Wesnoth campaign is well-designed, that it can technically be beaten by anyone who knows how to play the game, regardless of skill level.  At least, if they had a walkthrough to follow to guide them through the beats.  I feel like, even if BMR and Trinity did have walkthroughs, that I’d still be needing some serious luck to reach their endings.  Like even if I followed it to the letter, some minor human error that made my gameplay not perfectly efficient would come back to bite me at the last second and keep completion just out of reach.  If many campaigns have what ESR calls “landmines” and “tomato surprises”, then the BMR series installments are minefields that are also full of assassins sneakily attaching time bombs to your back.  Or maybe I just happen to suck even though I’ve been playing Wesnoth since I was seven years old.  Who knows, really?

BMR and Trinity have changed a LOT over the years, and with these changes, re-balancing has to happen to bring everything back into order to make it “playable”.  It just feels to me like BMR hasn’t caught up with its own ambitions.  Forest Confrontation could be a cool scenario!  The bridge collapsing if too many human units (not dogs!) stand on it at once it is a cool touch, and Burton dissing his mercenary ally by calling him a “little hussy” is really funny.  At the very least, while it’s completely unreasonable with its challenges, BMR moderates its edginess and expletives gracefully.

tl;dr, to quote your protagonist Lorenzon himself, from a later scenario that I accidentally clicked on while trying to find the file for Forest Confrontation:

“We are still outnumbered.”

[atomicfilm]

INTJ pairings

I'll make this into a fun short "put you in my pocket and take you `to my mom's Thanksgiving party" version too.

I'm not an INTJ, but I do converse with them (and by them, I mean maybe 3 total and 1 regularly) and I've been asked to talk about my thoughts on this, so for tonight only, I'm giving myself a really cool sash that says I'm an authority on the subject. I also think as an INTP I run into somewhat similar issues with certain types.

* means I like this pairing.

Typically, the INTJ's golden pair is the ENFP. I think that works for some people, but is probably a kind of short-lasting passionate fling rather than the ideal pairing. ENFPs are great people, they're lots of fun to be around, they care a great deal. They bring out the INTJ's soft side, which they may hate but they secretly quite admire. But ultimately, ENFPs can be flaky. They see something new and exciting and they move on. Novelty is the greatest motivator in a lot of ENFPs. New friends, new places, new things to do. And while the INTJ may deeply admire that and may find it quite exciting, it's not going to last forever. Eventually, the INTJ will become tired of playing games and want to settle into their ideal lifestyle pursuing their carefully strategized goals and the ENFP will become bored. The INTJ I speak to and I have the same issue, which is that ENFPs by nature are manipulative. It can be used for the good of inspiring people and bringing them together, but it can also become quite selfish and unstable. This leads to the ENFP saying things like "You try to apply logic to everything" or "you don't really respect me" or something like that when in reality, if someone loves an INTJ they'll love that they apply logic to everything and they'll love their snarky edges.

INFPs. I have not heard a lot of feedback about them as I think INTJs tend to be drawn more to extraverts. But as someone who spends quite a lot of time with INFPs, I would imagine that a lot of INTJs who can't make it work with ENFPs can also not make it work with INFPs. Once again, INFPs are great at engaging our minds but they are terrible at accepting that we live by rationality. INTJs use Fi a little bit, so to some extent they'll have similar engagements with their emotional side, but INFPs live by thinking "what can I do to nurture myself" and INTJs live more by "how can I best mold the world to fit my vision of efficiency". You'll see the commonality of Fi at the worst point possible when the INTJ is breaking down. INFPs kind of never stop using Fi and as someone who is thinking-dominant, that is almost impossible for communication. Ultimately, they'll eventually hit a point where their love languages and ways of interactions may be so disparate that they feel neglected.

ENTPs **. This is a golden pair that I can kind of get behind. The INxJs I know are obsessed with ENTPs and tend to think they're quite attractive. They're not only gregarious (when they're not arguing) but they're also quite intellectually stimulating and since they have opposite functions from the INTJ, there is still quite a bit of difference to make it fun. There shouldn't be too many emotional issues, aside from the fact that both these types tend to bottle up their emotions and resent vulnerabilities. The ENTP will probably be the more caring of the two in a conventional sense, but I would think both would have similar love languages of caring both through action and thought. ENTPs also tend to not be quite as flaky as a lot of xNxPs are, but, I would rate both of these types as highly likely to ghost. My best advice is that if you want to be around ENTPs, pick one who can be honest about their real values and whose values align with yours. If they make a lot of bigoted jokes, take that at face value, no matter how "ironic" it is. ENTPs can be a little fake in the sense that they will blend in just enough and hide behind so-called irony to be friends with a lot of different people.

INTPs. I don't really see it. I think INTPs are lovely as an INTP who likes other INTPs. Likewise, I enjoy a good conversation and friendship with an INTJ. But I find it not only difficult to tolerate relationships but also being told what to do. I make every decision in a relationship as a compromise and I think that would eventually quite interfere with the INTJ's ambitions because I wouldn't back down on mine...at least, not without resentment. So perhaps an INTJ and INTP with similar life goals could work out romantically, but personally, I view them as platonic and the one time I liked an INTJ it ended beyond poorly. I don't bring out their softness and they don't bring out mine. We're more like buddies who complain about other people when we do the entire group project by ourselves. Of course, romantic preference is a preference.

ENTJs. When has it ever worked out for someone to date their sister-type? Name one time! If someone names one time I'll update this. I think an ENTJ and an INTJ would be quite an argumentative couple even if they were on the same side about everything. Then again, INTJs do admire extraversion and it is always nice to be around people you don't have to explain yourself to every sentence.

INFJs ****. Oh, I like this pairing. I have not heard much about it, but I think it would be really cute. INTJs are complete badasses. They're very "I'm going to take over the world and you're just going to have to deal with it. And if you say no I will secretly cry". INFJs are very "I'm going to do everything in my power to heal everyone and the world and I am probably crying because I saw a baby bunny". INFJs are The Best! They have the softness of ENFPs but they're logical and they use Ni like INTJs but have Fe, which means they are thinking about harmony 24/7 and not that Fi-version of harmony. That genuine "I will make sure everyone is cared for at no social benefit to me" kind of harmony. They do socialize with a lot of people, but INTJs sometimes like to be social and party, they just aren't typically regarded that way. Do Fe and Fi mix that well? Maybe not. But as an Fe user who is quite fond of INFJs, I think they could potentially be a very cute power couple with the INTJ and there would be fewer issues with communication than other types as Ni-doms (but this also might be boring at the same time).

ENFJs. Similar to INFJs. They might work together a little less simply because of the change in function positions.

ESFPs *. Do I know for sure that this is a good pairing? No! But gosh, do I like it. INTJs become ESFP-like when they're sad. So, you know, maybe the ESFP will draw out the worst version of the INTJ and that could really suck. But this is the perfect little theatre kid dates total nerd trope and I like that. ESFPs have the social circle that the INTJ desires and the INTJ has the "got their shit together" vibes that ESFPs, despite being quite talented and successful, may lack. They both have skills one another can benefit strongly from, but it may come at the cost of a lot of arguments. Not sure. But I think this is actually my personal favorite since they have near-opposite strengths but a common reason to respect one another.

ISFPs: Pft. Idk. This is not the same as ESFPs. ISFPs are lovely but they sort of fill the same niche that INFPs do. Perfect for an INTP like me, but I don't think INTJs are looking for the quiet, artsy, weirdo so much because they already often fill that niche to some extent, even if it's more technical. I've noticed that INxJs really want to be around people who are the life of the party and very socially dominant (and ISFPs can fulfill that role, but there are other types who win via extraversion). The ISFP will likewise appreciate a little practicality, but I've noticed they're more likely to gravitate towards other xxFPs. Probably a better friendship and as a relationship would take more effort.

ESTPs: I think this one comes with its own difficulties and will work less than ENTP/ESFP pairings. This is because while they can have the same charisma that ENTP and ESFPs have, they can also have that same fakeness as a defense mechanism. Both will value action but the ESTP will probably drain out the INTJ more than ENTPs will (who are more ambiverts) and more than ESFPs too. With ESFPs, there's a good amount of the right kind of opposites. INTJs are action-driven, but they're strategic and take a while. ESFPs are action-driven, but they're more spontaneous. And ultimately, that leads to a lot of arguments about how to get things done. Whereas, the ESFP and ENTP might give the INTJ complete room to "manage", the ESTP seems less likely to do so.

ISTPs: This would be so stale. INTJs tend to show big emotions (to their own despise) when they're upset and ISTPs love to ghost at any sign of emotion. They would dip so fast. Top-tier friendship on an intellectual level but never particularly deep and unlikely, albeit not impossible to evolve into a relationship. Same issues as with INTPs, there's going to be a lot of admiration and probably not a lot of emotional attachment. I have witnessed an INTJ have a crush on an ISTP but that ISTP had a crush on me so that tells you how that went. Messy business. 

ESTJ: Yeah, I guess. I don't like ESTJs as a general concept but I suppose INTJs aren't necessarily as opposed to capitalism and tradition. Sounds dry. Next.

ISTJ *: This is probably a really solid pairing for the INTJ. Very marriage material, have the same job, raise cool kids. But I think that sounds boring. So if you want the "perfect life", this is probably a good type for you but I couldn't do that. You would probably only have minor arguments and the INTJ would have to learn to trust that ISTJs are incredibly good at reading situations while the ISTJ would have to learn to love that the INTJ is more fantasy-oriented than they are. Odd, right? Ultimately, you have two people who can be very commitment-oriented, who care for people the same way, who want to fix society, who analyze everything. You just have two generally different ways of doing that, where the ISTJ is probably actually better at being in society and the INTJ wants to change it in more drastic ways (although, for moral reasons they both want to change it).

ISFJ: I don't imagine it working particularly well. I honestly can barely imagine it at all. An ISFJ is my best friend and he is THE MOST gentle buddy. You cannot make fun of him even playfully and keep the friendship. Probably a deal-breaker for a lot of INTJs as they tend to love a good tease. My ISFJ has dated an INTJ before and while they’re still friends, it was a bad experience to witness all around. INTJs are very competitive and ISFJs are very open with their affection so that ran into issues but also, the ISFJ is not as likely to stand up for itself in a way that INTJs easily respect, which is to say, when they do it it will be something like “hey, you hurt my feelings” and if you’re the kind of person to  respond “then you’re too sensitive” you’ve got a whole ass toxic relationship on your hands. 

ESFJ: I think this could work a little better than the ISFJ pairing and a little worse than with the ESFP. Of course, there are general grounds for arguing over emotion vs. logic, but both types can have quite a good bit of talent and practicality coexisting. ESFJs tend to be a little better with criticisms (although they are still sensitive and should be treated very gently too) and they're more likely to want to accomplish goals that the INTJ finds easier to respect. For a lot of ISFJs, their goals are sweet and simple like raising a family, working as a computer scientist. The ESFJ might be a little more oriented towards large goals similar to that of the ESFP, which is more of the category that INTJs tend to fall into. However, the INTJ is going to have to accept that ESFJs love a LOT which means throwing a LOT of parties, probably the most out of any type and its probably going to lead to some burnouts. 

Overall, INTJs are great but need to learn to practice kindness and put their natural tendency for intellectual superiority aside. They shouldn't be with anyone that doesn't want to accomplish things they can respect. They shouldn't be with people who want them to compromise too much (they probably won't). They should be with people who bring out their nurturing capabilities and who they want to do things for, but not people that they see as incapable of taking care of themselves. They may prefer more social people and admire people who can network while being direct and genuine. Based on these criteria, INFJs and ENTPs are my highest recommendations while ESFPs (my favorite) and ISTJs also make the list for various reasons.

BUT, that being said, RELATIONSHIPS (including friendships) ARE A SKILL. They are most successful when someone becomes good at learning respect and compromise that doesn't cause resentment, regardless of type. All individuals will have different specific interests as well as red flags. And if you need me to tell you if your relationship works, it probably doesn't and you can DM me.

[void-galaxy-shenanigans]

Infodump/Long Post: Caffeine, Sugar, Dopamine, & ADHD

Hi. I’m Nico. I don’t usually infodump on here but Aiden did before & fellow neurodivergent people seemed to enjoy seeing nd centered content, & people gave him a lot of attention, so…

Here goes I guess. I hope y’all like it.

It’s gonna be a bit long but I found it fascinating so—

So first important thing is, this is based on research studies I found & theories I know, as well as my own observations, & may not be absolutely perfect because of that. But for the purpose of sharing information I’m going to tell you the theories & findings & build from there. Just bear in mind these aren’t set in stone & knowledge could change in the future - this is based on recent/current findings & understanding.

((& I don't want any arguing about the theories, the existence of ADHD, the addictive nature of caffeine/sugar (that's not the central topic here), or the way I formatted this in replies/reblogs please))

——

So many of you may know that ADHDers are affected differently by caffeine (coffee) than non-ADHDers (& neurotypicals). It’s actually been so consistent that I can tell if someone is ADHD or not based on their reaction to coffee - even before they’re diagnosed. It’s generally accepted that stimulants affect ADHDers differently. Coffee/caffeine usually puts ADHDers to sleep, or makes them drowsy, or makes them very focused, & it’s sometimes baffling as an ADHDer that some people can drink coffee to feel energized & jittery (it feels like a lie sometimes). That’s not to say that people who aren’t put to sleep by caffeine can’t have ADHD, but it’s very common to be put to sleep/calmed down by coffee.

Based on my personal experience with coffee, I’ve had a 20 ounce black coffee put me to sleep for four hours. I also, just yesterday, had a 20oz sugared latte & ended up hyperfocusing on this (topic of infodump), rewriting an intro template we made around a year ago, & writing stories (a special interest of mine) for around 6-8 hours total.

Now I think I might know why.

So I suspected the other day that maybe it had something to do with dopamine, & I did some research on how caffeine affects the brain. But because I also know sugared coffee (e.g. syrup-flavoured lattes, which is what I prefer) seem to have a different affect (especially depending on how much sugar you use), I looked into how sugar affects the brain too.

——

This is gonna use a few technical terms so I’ll explain them first for anyone who doesn’t know—

Adrenaline/Epinephrine: “A hormone your body can release (especially when you’re under stress) that increases blood circulation rate (quickens heart beat, strengthens force of heart’s contractions), breathing speed, & carbohydrate metabolism, & prepares your muscles to be used. It’s part of the human ‘fight or flight’ response to fear, panic, or perceived threat. An adrenaline rush can feel like anxiousness, nervousness, or pure excitement as your body & mind prepare for an event.”

Adrenaline Simplified - It gives you heightened energy, excitement, strength, & alertness, & a lot of it will make you jittery, anxious, or panicky.

Serotonin: A neurotransmitter compound which constricts the blood vessels and acts as a neurotransmitter. It’s responsible for influencing/stabilizing mood, feelings of well-being & happiness, cognition, reward, learning, memory, & numerous physiological processes (nausea & vasoconstriction (narrowing (constriction) of blood vessels by small muscles in their walls to slow blood flow)).

Serotonin Simplified - reduces depression, regulates anxiety, heals wounds, stimulates nausea, maintains bone health, helps with sleeping, eating, & digesting, & regulates happiness, well-being, & mood stability; it’s a soother & a happy chemical. A lot of it will make you extremely energetic & jittery.

Dopamine: “A neurotransmitter compound. When dopamine is released in large amounts, it creates feelings of pleasure (happiness, achievement) & reward, which motivates you to repeat specific behaviours; low levels of dopamine are linked to reduced motivation & decreased enthusiasm for things that would excite most people. It controls mental & emotional responses but also motor (physical) reactions. Known for being the “happy hormone”; responsible for the experience of happiness. The anticipation of most types of rewards typically increases the level of dopamine in the brain (anticipatory pleasure), & then you get a larger dose later when you get the reward.”

Dopamine Simplified - It’s your happiness/pleasure response to achievements, rewards, praise, etc. It functions as both motivation & reward, & when it’s functioning properly it’s what keeps you focused on tasks until they’re done.

Residual Dopamine: Dopamine that’s “floating” around in your brain, ready to be deployed as needed to motivate you & help you get through less fun tasks.

Temporary Dopamine: Dopamine that you get as a reward from things like beating a level in a video game, winning the lottery, etc. (accomplishments); is released after an accomplishment or event is over.

Note that typically, these chemicals (dopamine, serotonin, & adrenaline) are supposed to be balanced, & they’re supposed to be generally not very difficult to get. In mentally ill or some neurodivergent brains, however, these chemicals are imbalanced.

——

Now that the technical stuff is out of the way -

Caffeine lowers your serotonin levels, majorly increases dopamine, & releases adrenaline.

Sugar raises all three - serotonin, dopamine, AND adrenaline.

So sugared coffee will raise serotonin, dopamine, & adrenaline levels.

So how does that make them affect ADHDers differently?

——

This part is based on something called Low Arousal Theory (& no that’s not sexual).

Basically, the theory states that what makes an ADHDer appear inattentive or hyperactive has to do with dopamine in the brain - both how much we have & how easy it is to get it.

ADHDers, according to this theory, have lower residual dopamine. This causes an imbalance between dopamine and other neurotransmitter compounds/hormones.

Because of this, then, ADHDers have to rely on temporary hits of dopamine, both to focus & to boost their mood. There are often less ways we can get enough dopamine, since our brain doesn’t pre-produce enough & we thus need more dopamine total to be able to focus. So we end up hyperfocusing on anything that automatically gives large doses of dopamine - which usually ends up being things like TV shows (binge watching), video games (blackout hyperfocus where you play for hours & lose time), & social media (like, scroll, comment, scroll, lots of feedback/reward).

——

(Note in this case sugared coffee can mean coffee with sugar cubes/physical sugar added, coffee with sugary creamer added, coffee with milk added coffee with sugar syrup added, coffee with flavoured sugar syrup added, & coffee with any combination of those added (because those will all add at least a little sugar); & black coffee means coffee/espresso with not even milk added)

So if black coffee raises your dopamine levels, that means, for non-ADHDers, that it makes them energized, jittery, anxious, motivated and alert. Sugared coffee has a more significant/amplified, but similar, affect & this often shows up as shakiness & inattentiveness.

Non-ADHDers will get an artificial imbalance & a whole lot of dopamine, adrenaline, &/or serotonin. Since they already have enough dopamine naturally, this spike causes hyperactive/inattentiveness.

For ADHDers, however, their dopamine levels are low, so black coffee will cause an artificial imbalance but will leave the ADHDer with enough dopamine (higher levels of dopamine) to be motivated to do tasks & focus, & this usually causes focused drowsiness in small doses. Large doses (usually 20+ ounces of black coffee) will put the ADHD brain to sleep.

Sugared coffee though, for an ADHD brain, will cause an artificial balance with higher levels of dopamine, so this usually creates either blackout hyperfocus (medium dose of sugar + medium (16-20oz) coffee), calm focus (large coffee (20-32oz) + some sugar), or amplified hyperactivity (small coffee (8-16oz) + a lot of sugar or large coffee (20-32oz) + a lot of sugar; jittery, jumpiness, running around).

((Note the oz are an estimate & will vary depending on your personal tolerance for caffeine & sugar))

Essentially, sugared coffee could have a similar affect to prescription meds for ADHDers who don’t trust meds, get bad side effects from meds, or aren’t allowed meds? (I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it or say anyone should ditch their meds to try it, especially since coffee can be addictive, but I found it fascinating either way (since it explained (potentially) why black coffee could put me & other ADHDers to sleep).)

It also means being put to sleep by coffee, or suddenly able to Do The Thing™ because of coffee, is ADHD culture. (/lighthearted)

~Nico

[playernumberv]

Returnal may be the best game I’ll probably end up leaving unfinished

But wait, I hear my imaginary audience ask - if a game is that good, how and why would I possibly leave it unfinished? And indeed, when I leave a game unfinished, it’s usually because I don’t have much good to say about it, and no longer deem it worthy of my time. I left Assassin’s Creed Valhalla unfinished after 30 hours in it, for example, because it just kept dragging on and on and on and I just got incredibly bored. That’s not the case with Returnal at all. 

In what has been for me a relatively lull year in games (with nothing having reached my personal standard for being a GOTY contender yet), Returnal has been the most compelling and fascinating title I’ve played. It is just utterly stellar. I love how intriguing the sci-fi psychological horror/thriller setting is, and while sparse, the little narrative there is compels me to want to find out more about Atropos and Selene. The third-person shooter combat is visceral and fluid, and is a mad rush of pure adrenaline and exhilaration that is complemented by an overwhelming smorgasbord of eye-melting visual effects. Audio design can only be described as majestic, with thunderous combat soundtracks that catalyze the already sky-high intensity of the game’s combat, and the deafening roar of enemy cries truly tear right into you, making you feel as if you were truly confronted by terrifying alien monstrosities. Level design and art design are similarly masterful, creating an alien world that genuinely feels alive and horrifying. And have I mentioned how indescribably good the dualsense implementation is? You can feel the pitter-patter of raindrops; you can feel the kinetic rush of dashing; you can feel the recoil of gunfire. If Astro’s Playroom was a technical demonstration of what the dualsense could be capable of, Returnal is an applied demonstration of how the dualsense can truly elevate gaming experiences. Every aspect of this game comes together and just oozes an unprecedented level of quality in the level of immersion it achieves - it bombards you with near-endless bursts of visual, auditory, as well as sensory feedback, and in so doing creates a truly next-gen gaming experience that feels extremely immersive. Short of VR experiences, I daresay no other game has ever come close to such an immaculate level of immersion, so much so that can say unironically that the game actually makes me feel like I’m stranded on an alien world.

Again I hear my imaginary audience ask - this makes no damn sense, if Returnal is as magnificent as I claim it to be, why would I leave it unfinished?

And to that, my answer is this: Returnal is simply far too punishing and inaccessible. For a working adult who—I’m ashamed to say, despite my immense love of games—isn’t especially skilled at gaming and who has relatively limited time and energy for gaming, Returnal simply demands far too much. It’s utterly soul-crushing. To begin with, I am not a fan of the repetitiveness of roguelikes, and even a roguelike as polished and well-designed as Hades did not especially impress me, as I mentioned in my earlier review of it. Yet Hades’ roguelike is, ironically enough, heavenly compared to the genuine hellishness of Returnal’s roguelike, where permanent upgrades are extremely scarce to the point of being nearly non-existent. Virtually everything resets with each death. Your weapons: gone, reduced to ashes. Your suit upgrades, health upgrades, all gone. And that may have been fine were the game itself not nail-bitingly hard—it’s not uncommon at all to have to spend an hour or even more on preparation, only for one small mistake to be severely punished before you even manage to reach the boss, and to have to restart from zero all over again. Furthermore, as is standard of the roguelike genre, there is a fair bit of randomness—and so how successful each run is may in part be determined by whether you luck out on obtaining the desired suit upgrades or your desired weapon. This randomness further compounds the amount of time that needs to be spent on preparing, failing, being unlucky, and trying all over again. That may have been fine once in a while, but repeat this cycle enough times, and Returnal becomes a miserable punishment. It’s utterly soul-crushing to have to waste hours on preparation, only to fail and have all the preparation completely reduced to nothing. And this isn’t even accounting for how gruellingly tough the boss fights can be. Returnal makes you squander hours upon hours—it severely punishes failure, to the point where its rewards, majestic though they are, become overshadowed by its punishment.

Yes, yes, I can already hear a portion of my imaginary audience chanting. ‘GIT GUD’, they say, and I don’t deny at all that I am not good at Returnal. But I am certain that there are other gamers, who like me, do not play games to be punished, challenged, and pushed to our limits—we play games for entertainment, for relaxation, and for escapism from the stresses and difficulties of the real world, something that may be especially important in the broken, pandemic-stricken world we live in currently. Returnal is the utter opposite of relaxation, and if a (mostly) healthy, able-bodied person like me finds it inaccessible, I imagine it to be even more so for a huge proportion of others out there. To be fair, I hesitate to call any of this a ‘flaw’ on the part of Returnal, and I do understand the sentiments of the ‘git gud’ crowd—there’s a strong charm to Returnal’s unflinching adherence to its vision, and its insistence on having an identity of relentlessness and challenge is in its own way very respectable and charismatic. I also do understand the immense elation and satisfaction of surmounting a seemingly-impossible challenge—beating the bosses of the first and second biomes of Returnal filled me with a raw euphoria no game has given me in ages. In part, having no recourse towards an easier way out is part of this charm. Knowing that one cannot simply choose an easier option, for there is none, truly does magnify the immense satisfaction of conquering a challenge.

With all that being said, I cannot help but think that sacrificing a small part of that charisma and charm in the noble pursuit of accessibility is a worthy cost. This need not even involve sacrificing the roguelike genre in favour of a more generic third-person action-adventure style of gameplay—although admittedly, given my general disdain for roguelikes, this would probably have been a better fit for me. I do have to say that the roguelike genre is perfect for Returnal. Its central narrative theme of being stranded on an alien planet where the main character returns by death—wait, wrong series—provides perfect ludonarrative harmony when melded with the roguelike genre, and this harmonious complementation between game-play and narrative is truly brilliant. Even maintaining its roguelike genre, I sincerely believe that Returnal could have been made to be substantially more accessible and less punishing, and to shift the mechanics away from randomness and towards granting more player control. Having difficulty options provide a convenient way to accomplish this, but I do believe the roguelike itself could also learn a number of lessons from Hades. For example, even maintaining its present difficulty levels, a larger number of permanent upgrades would go an incredibly long way in making Returnal’s roguelike far more meaningful and palatable. More forms of permanent suit or health upgrades, as well as more permanent weapons—being stuck with only a pistol at the start of every run is extremely unwelcome—would be immensely appreciable as well. Implementing these changes would indeed compromise some of Returnal’s unflinching and unrelenting vision. But would it not be a worthy trade-off if a greater number of people can experience the utter majesty of what Housemarque has accomplished here in terms of audio design, game design, art design, and narrative?

I truly am impressed by Returnal, and when awards season comes by at the end of the year, I think it unquestionably deserves every accolade it will almost surely obtain, be it in audio, narrative, or gameplay. It is the best game I’ve played this entire year so far, and even as I type this, I feel a rush of sheer awe at just how unbelievably excellent Returnal is. Unfortunately, my affections for Returnal feel unrequited. My circumstances and my relative incompetence as a gamer make it near-impossible for me to ever experience in full all that Returnal has to offer, despite my great desire to be able to. So, it seems, despite my deep affections for Returnal, I may never finish it, and I will think back to this years later with deep regret, wishing that I were in more suitable circumstances, wishing that I were a better gamer, and wishing that Returnal could have been more accessible. Alas, these wishes were not to be.

[haroldtea]

i wrote something!!

soooo I’m a pathological “i have a fic idea and i’m never going to write it or I write a few pages and then fall off” writer buuuut I had this very cute idea and wrote 4k words of it! I wanted to post it here before ao3 because 1) not sure if I’m a fan of starting a multichapter WIP because I still may abandon it like my other stuff 2) i want feedback before i continue!!

here’s the gist: it’s princess prom except it’s a high school au and princess prom is actually homecoming. Adora is very happy and supportive of Glimmer and Bow running for king/queen. Glimmer is very, very passionate about winning. The problem is they’ve naturally got competition, in the form of Perfuma (who is equally as passionate about winning, for her own reasons) and her new girlfriend Scorpia. In a sitcom-style mishap, Adora sort of accidentally signs up to run as well...with Catra, Scorpia’s best friend who Adora doesn’t not have a crush on. The two decide to go through with it with the intention of getting eliminated from the race as soon as possible. Then, their friends come up with a different plan for them.

so, take a read below at 4k of stupidity and let me know what you think, and if you would be interested to read more :) (fyi there is a lot of swearing lol)

“I’M GONNA BE THE QUEEN!”

Adora shrieks, flailing her arms and almost knocking her lamp over in the process. She whirls around in her desk chair to face the intruder, arms raised in karate chop form (she does not know any martial arts), and finds Glimmer, who has flung her bedroom door open and has that crazed Glimmer look in her eyes that only means trouble.

“Fuck! Glimmer, you can’t just sneak up--wait, how did you get in my house?!”

“Didn’t you hear what I said?! Also, the door was unlocked,” Glimmer replies, kicking off her shoes and launching herself onto Adora’s bed, which she had just painstakingly made.

Adora presses her hand into her face, sighing. “I was kind of busy trying not to piss myself. Haven’t you heard of knocking? What if I was, you know...” she says, gesturing vaguely.

Glimmer rolls her eyes. “Please, Adora. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Anyway--the student council decided to bring back the homecoming pep rally!” she squeals, gleefully kicking her feet in the air.

Adora leans back in her chair, brows furrowed. “Bring back? Didn’t we have one last year?”

“Yes, but after the water balloon thing they weren’t gonna let us have it anymore, but it turns out that one senior who wasn’t gonna graduate did graduate so I guess they figured it would probably be fine, ‘cause like, who’s ever gonna try and top that?”

“Right,” Adora hums, thinking back to last year’s pep rally. Just before homecoming court was announced, a group of rogue seniors had risen from the bleachers, unleashing dozens of water balloons they had stashed in their backpacks. What ensued was a pandemonium Adora could only remember in flashes, resulting in almost the entire student body and the school’s hallways being completely soaked.

The catch was that the seniors had filled the balloons with blue paint. It had taken the janitorial staff weeks to get the gym bleachers, the lockers in the science wing, and the cafeteria ceiling (don’t ask) to look normal again. Classes were cancelled for almost an entire week because the paint had messed up something with the internal plumbing. It was single-handedly the coolest thing Adora had experienced in her living years.

It was all led by the legendary Mara Hart, notorious for sticking it to the man during her K-12 years. The prank had all but gotten her and her friends expelled, but given that she was otherwise an A+ student and no one could technically prove who was behind it (her friends were loyal to each other to the bitter end), she walked at Bright Moon High’s graduation to uproarious applause from her classmates.

Adora knew some of the more grisly details because Mara had been captain of the girls’ lacrosse team last year--effortlessly cool Mara, endlessly caring Mara, definitely part of Adora’s gay awakening Mara--but it had become something of an urban legend at BMHS over the past year.

“Wait, how do you know any of this?” Adora asks, because while she was personally connected to Mara in a small way, she hadn’t been aware that they were going to cancel the pep rally indefinitely.

Glimmer arches an eyebrow. “Um, hello? My mom’s the principal?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“And Mermista totally let it slip when I asked her about it after the student council meeting,” Glimmer adds, then pauses. “Okay, it was more like I didn’t even wanna be there and I wish no one had ever voted for me and I’ll tell you whatever, but still. I’m...” she props her face in her hands and bats her eyelashes, “in the know.”

Adora smirks and rolls her eyes fondly, turning back to her desk to shut her textbook and put her notes away. She can never get anything done when Glimmer’s around. “Okay, so, pep rally’s back--that’s cool,” she says.

“It’s not just cool, Adora,” Glimmer scoffs. “Being homecoming queen is literally all I’ve wanted since I was a kid. I thought my dream had died with Mara’s academic career, but now there’s hope again--it’s meant to be, Adora. It’s destiny.”

Adora had literally never heard Glimmer talk about this, but, “Um, okay.”

Glimmer huffs and dramatically rolls onto her back, flinging her arms out and further messing up Adora’s sheets. Lesson learned, it isn’t worth the effort for Adora to make the bed anymore. “My mom was the homecoming queen like a hundred years ago, and my aunt was the homecoming queen before that. It’s, like, my birthright!”

Adora lifts a shoulder, twisting around in her chair to look at Glimmer. “Okay, then we’ll just get you to be the homecoming queen too. Can’t your mom just...make it happen?”

“Ugh, no,” Glimmer sighs. “I already asked. It’s a student vote.”

“Oh!” Adora brightens. “That’s easy, then. Everyone loves you.”

Glimmer pouts. “I know, but it’s not just a popularity contest--it’s, like, a whole thing. Me and Bow are gonna have to do a talent show, and there’s a relay race, and other stuff that if we don’t do well in we won’t even get to be in the final vote.”

“Wait, what?” Adora doesn’t remember any of that from last year. “What do you mean, Bow? Is...he's running for homecoming queen too?”

“Ha! No,” Glimmer laughs, then her expression darkens, eyes narrowing. “I would crush him.”

“Right...” Adora says. Actually, Bow would make a pretty good homecoming queen. But Adora values her life, so she decidedly does tell Glimmer this.

“No, every queen nominee has to also have someone to run with them as their ‘king,’” Glimmer explains, making air quotes with her fingers. “There’s no boy/girl bullshit, but you do have to be in a pair.”

“I don’t remember any...talent shows, or whatever,” Adora points out. “I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of one of those happening in real life.”

“Well, obviously you never went. It would’ve all been during your lacrosse thingies and you would've been too busy making googly eyes at Mara Hart,” Glimmer replies, wiggling her fingers at Adora.

Adora crosses her arms and blushes a deep red. “I would not. I would’ve been playing lacrosse. And stuff.” Okay, maybe she did make googly eyes at Mara, but only sometimes, as a treat, and Glimmer doesn’t need to know that.

Glimmer flips back over on her stomach and levels Adora with a pout. “Adora, this means a lot to me. We’re gonna need your help to win this.”

Adora has no idea how she could possibly be of any help with this, but hey-- “Of course, Glimmer. Whatever you need. I’m there.”

Glimmer grins, eyes sparkling. “Yaaaaay. Also, my mom’s making meatloaf tonight, you in?”

Adora pumps her fist in the air. “Sweet. Hell, yes.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This is a joke, right? Like, you’re joking?” Catra says into the receiver as she shoves another handful of popcorn into her mouth.

“I am usually a pretty funny gal, it’s true--but, ah, no. This time I’m serious,” Scorpia replies on the other end.

Catra hoists her phone higher up on her shoulder while she adjusts her grip on her Xbox controller. “Okay, please explain,” she says between chews.

Scorpa sighs, and Catra visualizes her sitting cross-legged on her bedspread, hugging one of her many stuffed animals to her chest. “I know it’s kind of silly, but Perfuma sounded really excited about it, ‘cause I guess if you win, you get to pick what charity the proceeds from the dance ticket sales go to, and...I just couldn’t say no?”

Catra smirks, mashing a series of buttons on her controller as her TV screen lights up in front of her. She’s been trying to get past this level for weeks, but she’ll probably die right before the end again whether she’d answered Scorpia’s call or not. “You are so whipped,” she says.

Scorpia sighs again, but this time Catra can hear a smile in it. “I guess so, kitty cat. Still, it sounds kinda...fun? I mean, it’s more time spent with her, if anything else. She’s talking about writing an original song together for the talent show and incorporating her Tibetan singing bowls into it.”

Catra takes that in and barely suppresses a laugh. Her New Year’s resolution was to make fun of her friends less. Some days are harder than others. “Um, wow,” she says instead. “That’s, uh...that’ll be interesting. Do I have to call you Queen Scorpia if you win?”

“Oh, Perfuma doesn’t believe in gendered royalty,” Scorpia replies. “She wants us to be known as Homecoming Monarchs.”

“Of course she does,” Catra mutters. Perfuma is endlessly kind and patient and makes Scorpia smile, so by default Catra likes her, but otherwise they...don’t exactly share identical values, let’s say. Catra brings her own point home by pressing a button on her controller and chainsawing an alien in half on screen.

“Do you...think it’s a stupid idea? The whole...running for homecoming thing, I mean.”

Catra hears the telltale signs of Scorpia-doubting-herself in her reply, so she pauses the game. “Nah. If it’s something you guys wanna do, you should go for it. Fuck what anyone else thinks.”

“Okay, thanks,” Scorpia says, sounding lighter. “I think it means a lot to Perfuma. It would be cool to win it for her.”

“Well, hey,” Catra continues, un-pausing her game. “If you need any help, let me kn--oh, fuck!”

“Catra?” Panic sets in Scorpia’s tone. “Kitty cat, speak to me--do I need to call 911?!”

“No, no, Scorpia, please don’t do that,” Catra groans, tossing her controller aside. “I just got blown up in my stupid game again, that’s all. I’m never gonna beat this final boss.”

Scorpia sighed in relief. “Aw, don’t give up, kitty cat. One of these days, you’re gonna really give it to--what’s the dude’s name again?”

“Prime something-or-whatever,” Catra grumbled, reaching for her popcorn.

“Yeah, that guy. He’ll never know what hit him.”

Catra snickers into the receiver. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Scorpia.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The lunch period at BMHS is, naturally, chaotic. Being a regional high school, every inch of the place is usually crawling with students, and the cafeteria is no different. The student population is small enough and the cafeteria big enough to condense into one lunch period, although Adora has oftentimes heard Perfuma lament about the ethics and health concerns of overcrowding.

Adora likes chaos. She likes that the overlapping sounds of chairs scraping and garbled chattering combine to form a comforting din that allows her to drown out whatever weird TikTok plans Bow’s making (ok, to be real, she will be asking about them later) and quietly observe the antics happening at tables around them.

She takes another bite of her pudding and her eyes land on the table to their right where Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio from her math class always sit together. Lonnie is mechanically chewing her gum as she stares into a compact mirror, examining her eyebrows with fierce concentration. Across from her, Kyle is holding up something on his phone to Rogelio with one hand and gesticulating wildly with the other as he holds a corn dog. Rogelio is nodding along but is staring down fondly at Kyle rather than at the screen Kyle’s pointing to, one arm hanging loose around Kyle’s shoulders. Lonnie slaps her compact shut and shouts something at them, pointing emphatically to her eyebrows. They all pause for a moment before bursting into laughter. Then Kyle drops his corn dog.

Adora pointedly does not observe the table across from theirs. She’ll gladly watch the Star siblings silently and intensely do their homework for the next period, or listen to Mermista fight off Seahawk’s PDA attempts, but nothing could compel her to look at the table straight ahead.

That table was where Catra Weaver and her friends sat.

Including: Perfuma’s new girlfriend, Scorpia Garnet; Entrapta Dryl, who was dating one of the Hordak twins (Adora was ever completely sure which one); the Hordak twins in question, one of which who usually broods silently and one of which who usually stares around smiling at nothing and everything; the stylish and blonde ruler of the theatre kids who has been nicknamed Double Trouble for as long as Adora can remember; and finally: Catra Weaver. Effortlessly cool, effortlessly gorgeous, effortlessly effortless Catra Weaver, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed, coolly regarding the rest of the cafeteria as she holds court at her table of wonderful misfit toys.

Today’s effortless ensemble: cool jean jacket, a cool crop top, cool black jeans, cool combat boots, she got a haircut recently so--

“Um, Earth to Adora?”

“Huh?” Adora says, jerking her head up.

This is why she avoids looking at Catra Weaver’s table. Or Catra Weaver in general.

“We were talking about homecoming,” Glimmer says from her seat across from Adora, raising an eyebrow. “You were totally spaced out.”

Adora clears her throat, willing herself not to blush. “Sorry,” she replies, digging back into her pudding.

“Glimmer’s trying to convince me not to run for court,” Perfuma continues, crossing her arms.

“What? Why?”

“Because it’s totally lame and stupid and a waste of time,” Mermista answers from beside Perfuma, inspecting her nail polish. She glances up when she senses everyone at the table staring at her. “What?”

“Mermista, you’re on the homecoming committee,” Bow says.

Mermista shrugs. “So? I said what I said.”

“Look, Perfuma,” Glimmer starts, sliding her hand across the table toward Perfuma. “I just don’t want you to be disappointed if you lose. Homecoming’s a really big deal to me, and I really want to win.” She smiles saccharinely, tilting her head at Perfuma, eyes gone wide. Bow and Adora exchange a look.

Perfuma smiles back. “Oh, don’t worry about me, Glimmer! I’m sure our classmates will select the most deserving and talented couple to win,” she says, then goes back to stabbing a fork into her salad.

Glimmer’s eye starts twitching. Bow slowly and gently takes Glimmer’s hand and slides it back to her side of the table. “Glimmer, we’ll do great. The most important thing is to have fun,” he says, patting her hand.

“The most important thing is the charity,” Perfuma mutters.

“That too.”

“Is anybody else we know running?” Adora asks. Glimmer and Perfuma both shake their heads in response, until Mermista sighs dejectedly.

“Unfortunately,” she groans, raising her hand.

“Wait, what?! You just said it was stupid and lame!” Bow squawks.

“It is,” Mermista rolls her eyes. “But the rest of the student council said it would look really bad if I was on the planning committee and didn’t run. I was forced against my will.”

“Isn’t that a conflict of interest?” Glimmer asks, gripping her lunch tray so tight Adora wondered if she was going to launch it at Mermista’s head.

“I don’t know? I guess not? I’m planning on getting cut as soon as humanly possible though, so whatever,” Mermista replies, flicking her hair behind her shoulder.

“We won’t win with that attitude, my love!” Seahawk roars, throwing his arm around Mermista’s shoulder and raising a fist triumphantly. “You and I are going to be the greatest King and Queen this school has ever seen!”

“Oh my god, please stop,” Mermista groans, hiding her face in her hands.

“Picture it: you, me, newly crowned, gliding down the science wing--the students stop and stare! Could it really be our King and Queen in the flesh? The teachers stare too! I am going to give them both straight A’s!”

“Please just sit and eat your sandwich,” Mermista begs.

“Never,” Seahawk says, then kisses her on the cheek and acquiesces, taking a big bite of his sandwich. Adora tries to hide her smirk when she sees Mermista blush a deep red. She elbows Glimmer and nods in their direction so she can see.

“Aw, how cute. I’m going to destroy them,” Glimmer whispers in Adora’s ear.

“I know,” Adora whispers back. “But try to at least be nice about it.”

“No promises.”

“Ok, I have to pee,” Adora announces to the table, grabbing her lunch tray as she stands, grinning at Bow’s groan of TMI, Adora!

She makes her way over to the trash cans by the cafeteria exit, waving to her friends on the lacrosse team as she dumps her leftovers in the trash and sets the tray in the dish bin beside it. She should probably go over and check in with them about practice tonight, but she really has to pee, which reminds her that she forgot her water bottle all the way back to the table and needs to refill it before her next class.

“Damn it,” she mutters to herself, still smiling at her lacrosse friends as she whips around to head back--

And crashes right into someone, their heads knocking smack together.

“Ow!” Adora yelps, losing her footing for a moment. She rubs at her stinging forehead, glancing up as she apologizes, “Shit, sorry, sorry, that was totally my fault, I--”

And stares right up at Catra Weaver.

“I...I...I...”

She blinks a few times, but yes, that is Catra Weaver, rubbing at her own forehead and fixing a few strands of hair that had come loose from behind her ears. Catra Weaver, up close and personal, who she hasn’t talked to since...

“Your forehead is fucking hard. And big,” Catra says, holding her tray in one hand as she narrows her eyes up at Adora.

“Oh, um, you too...I mean! Thanks? I grew it myself,” Adora replies spectacularly, and then promptly wants to crawl into a hole and never come out.

Catra raises one eyebrow at her. “How hard did I hit you?”

Adora scrambles to answer. “Oh, not at all! I mean, not hard. It was my fault. Are you, um, are you okay?” This is going amazingly.

“I’m fine, Greyskull,” Catra replies, sending a tingle up Adora’s spine. She goes to deposit her tray. “Just watch where you’re going.”

Adora grins dopily. “Yes. I mean--I will. Sorry. Again.”

Catra glances Adora up and down, eyebrow still raised, and goes to say something else, when they’re interrupted by a foreboding, familiar voice.

“Ah, Adora! I’m so pleased to see you taking an interest in student affairs.”

Adora turns to see Glimmer’s mom looming over them, hands neatly clasped together. Maybe looming isn’t the right word as she’s smiling brightly down on her and Catra, but she’s tall, ok? “Oh, hi Ang--,” Adora starts before remembering they’re at school, “um, Mrs. Moon. What’s up?”

Angella gestures between her and Catra. “I was just observing how wonderful it will be that Glimmer will have a friend to share the homecoming experience with.”

Adora tenses again, remembering that Catra is still standing very close to her. “Oh, haha, yeah, super great. Wait, what?” Sharing?

Then she notices that her and Catra are standing in front of the wall where the Homecoming Court Signup Sheet is hanging. A sparkly pen tied to the clipboard is dangling within Adora’s reach.

“Oh, um, actually, Perfuma’s already--”

“I think this activity will make a fine addition to your college applications, Adora. And you know how Glimmer gets,” Angella leans in conspiratorially, not bothering to lower her voice. “I think it will calm her nerves to have a friend by her side. A bit of friendly competition, even!” she claps her hands together, delighted. “I remember having so much fun with my friends back in my day.”

“But, I’m already on the lacrosse team...” Adora mumbles, scratching the back of her neck. She glances down at the pen.

“Oh, but you know schools these days, always looking for that something that makes a student stand out,” Angella says, waving her hand dismissively. “And don’t worry, I’ll speak to Coach Huntara about any scheduling conflicts. You’ll get to have the best of both worlds!”

Wait, but lacrosse was Adora’s whole thing--does she not stand out enough? Will she seem boring to UEternia? “I...”

“Oh, Ms. Weaver!” Angella says, as if she’s just now noticing Catra. “I didn’t take you for the...school spirit type.”

“I’m not,” Catra replies, crossing her arms. She smiles saccharinely and adds, “ma’am,” for good measure. God, she’s cool.

“Ah,” Angella says, creating an awkward pause before brightening again. “Well, still, here you are. Are you Adora’s running mate?”

So, sometimes Adora panics.

Look, she’s in a high-stress situation. The girl she doesn’t not have an embarrassing crush on bumped into her, talked to her, and then her best friend’s mom swooped in basically saying that lacrosse is boring and dumb and running for homecoming court will get her into UEternia. At least, that’s what Adora got from all that. And then she insinuates that she’ll be doing that with Catra Weaver.

So, she panics. She panics, and she grabs the glittery pen, and she continues to panic.

“Yep! We’re running together!” she says, grinning.

“Say what?” Catra hisses.

“Oh, wonderful!” Angella squeals, clapping her hands together again. “I must say, I think this will turn out to be a very interesting competition. You’ll have to come dress shopping with us, Adora.”

“Haha, yeah...” Adora says, quickly scribbling Adora Greyskull & Catra Weaver on the signup sheet. Oh fuck, oh god.

“Hang on a fu--” Catra starts, then clamps her mouth shut, because the goddamn principal is still talking to them.

“Oh, I wonder what you’ll do for the talent show! I can’t wait...well, I’m off. It was great catching up, girls!” Angella says, and winks, and does weird-mom-finger-guns, and then she’s gliding away as quickly as she came.

Adora continues to grin and wave awkwardly until Angella is out of sight, then she deflates. That was so weird.

Then she turns and sees Catra reach for the pen that’s still in her hand. Adora has half a mind to snatch it away. Or half a brain cell, at least. “Hey!”

“Cross our names out. Right. Now,” Catra growls through gritted teeth, still trying to grab the pen. Adora tries to hold it up out of reach, but it’s still attached to the clipboard, so the best she can do is weave her hand in and out of Catra’s way.

“Um, no? I just told her we were running!”

“Well, we’re not. Give it to me!”

“No!” Adora grunts, yanking the pen away. “You heard her--she’s gonna talk to Coach Huntara. I can’t back out now.”

“Well, I can!” Catra says, grabbing at Adora’s arm, where she has the pen tucked under her armpit. “Find someone else to run with you!”

“I can’t! They’ll want to win!” Adora says, twisting her body away from Catra. She’s having a slight meltdown over Catra touching her so much, but she’s focusing on the pen for now. “No one’s gonna want to run with me anyway.”

Catra mutters something under her breath that Adora doesn’t catch, then she snakes her hand under Adora’s and takes hold of her wrist. Adora stifles a gasp. “Wait, you don’t want to win?” Catra asks, eyebrow quirked.

“Noooo,” Adora furiously shakes her head. “No, no, no. Glimmer would kill me. She wants to win. I just, um, panicked. I guess?” The heat from Catra’s hand is searing into her wrist.

Catra glances down at their hands and back up at Adora. “So, your friend will kill you if you run for homecoming. And you just signed up in front of her mom?”

“Um...” Adora thinks for a second. “Yes?”

Catra huffs out a laugh. “Wow, you’re even more of an idiot than I remember.”

Adora feels her face redden, shocked at Catra’s casual mention of the past, and glances away. “Look, let’s just get eliminated as quickly as possible and then we can forget it ever happened. Deal?”

“Ugh,” Catra lets out a groan, leaning her head back. She tugs at Adora’s wrist a few times, finding that she isn’t budging. “Fine! As quickly as possible.”

“As quickly as possible,” Adora nods, finding herself grinning as Catra loosens her grip and pulls away. “I’m gonna take this pen home, by the way,” she calls out as Catra begins to head back to her table.

“Fuck!”

After Adora finally pees and refills her water bottle, she gingerly sits back down beside Glimmer. Poor, sweet, deadly Glimmer, who’s chattering away excitedly with Seahawk about some new music video or something.

She says, in a very tiny voice, “So, um...I think I’m running for homecoming queen?”

Glimmer whips her head around, nose flaring. She stands up, slamming both hands down on the table with a smack.

“You WHAT?!”

And then the bell rings.

[just-things-things]

Hey! I LOVE THE IDEA OF INVISIBLE PETER PARKER!!! PLS PLS PLS WRITE SOMETHING! I LOVE READING YOUR WORK! (also, I hope you're safe and healthy in the quarantine)

Hello, love, I am doing alright in quarantine, and I hope you are too, including anyone who sees this! Stay safe, people, oh, AND WEAR YOUR MASKS!!! Also, thank you for the ask, I will do my best to meet your expectations! :)

So, with Invisible! Peter Parker you have two options. (I’m sure there’s more, don’t come at me) But obviously we have Peter being able to turn invisible after his spider bite. The second one would him having a lab incident and causing temporary invisibility. Basically, in this post I’m going over both options cause why not:

Peter Parker becoming invisible In a Lab Accident Au:

Btw, to me, this is more of a crack idea, but it's still really fun to think about, also it includes Harley, so bonus points:

The accident happens of course when Tony isn't there. Harley and Peter are in the lab, probably touching things they wouldn't be aloud to touch if Tony were there, but Mr. Stark's on a very important buisness trip.

Basically how it goes is they're both there, something spills, and then the next moment Peter's gone. Harley can still hear him AND he can still feel when Peter touches him.

Peter's immediate response is to call Mr. Stark, but Harley, being the little shit that he is, claims that it would just be an inconvenience for Tony to have to come all the way home when the effects might where off in an hour or so.

Long story short, the effects don't wear off in an hour, so Harley's next big idea is to prank the remaining workers and Avengers in the Compound. Peter agrees, easily. (They're two reckless teenagers, what do you expect?)

So, Harley goes bursting into the common room, invisible Peter in tow, complaining about there being a ghost at the Compound. The Avengers are not impressed.

Instead, Harley claims he can now lift things with his mind. And this leads to Peter following behind Harley all day and just picking random things up.

It works ever better because Peter can lift up to 10 tons, so the Avengers just go around asking Harley to lift cars and fridges and whatnot.

The day before Tony gets back, everyone finds out Peter was turned invisible after the boy accidentally walked in on Steve and Bucky ✨ passionately ✨ making out on the couch when they thought no one was home.

(To lesson it up the two men were broken apart by the sounds of a sixteen-year old screaming like a girl)

And because the Avengers are now in on the fun and games, they decide one last prank on Tony couldn't do any harm.

So, when Tony gets back the next day and as he goes for his cup of coffee, Peter has the great idea to just say 'boo.' That's all, nothing harmful.

What Peter doesn't expect is for Tony to throw his hot-steaming coffee at the invisible boy.

Tony's freaking out because there's just floating coffee splatters in the air and Peter's screaming because his t-shirt is soaked with a hot liquid. It hurts, ok?

Tony doesn't stop screaming until Harley explains that it was a joke and he's like, "My heart can not take your bullshit, Keener."

Harley then has to explain that Peter's the one invisible and that just leads Tony into more a fit by trying to find a cure for the boy.

_____

Ok that was kind of a rush, but it was also just a crazy idea I had planned in my head and I just wanted to get it out there. The next part is Peter becoming invisible after the Spider bite and a legitimate short story! Please enjoy!

First, before we get into the story, imagine Peter turning invisible after the spider bite and him not knowing what to do as he watches May and the police frantically trying to find him because he’s labeled as “missing.”

On to the story:

Peter's been watching Mr. Stark and the rest of the team run around the quinjet for the last forty minutes. They were supposed to be inflintrating a Hydra base by now, but after Clint and Natasha went in a half a hour ago and went radio silent, the Avengers have been freaking out.

Their two spies were supposed to be in and out, place the bomb, give a warning through the coms and leave and escape on the plane. Obviously their plan backfired, and now Peter's sitting and playing with the thread of string coming from the bench he's on.

He's not worried, he can still hear the two's heartbeat within the building. Actually, at the moment, his only job is to focus on his teammate's breathing, but for a second his mind slips and picks up the remaining Avengers in the background, "We aren't getting in Rogers, that is a secured building that Romanoff couldn't get in! They were caught, unless you can turn invisible, then we're at a lost cause!"

Peter rolls his eyes, the only thing this leads to is each Avenger trying to out-yell the other while Bruce tries not to Hulk-out. But then he's lost his teammates heartbeats, and all he can hear is the others screaming. Focus. He's trained for this. Hell, he's locked himself in a room with screaming robots and focused soley on Tony's heartbeat three floors down. This shouldn't be hard.

And Peter thinks he can hear Clint's again, the rhythmic beat of only his heart. Ba-dum-thump, ba-dum-thump. It's there, he almost has Natasha's now. Sooooo close, he thinks. Then something crashes to the floor and it's all gone.

He glares at the Avengers, there's no point, they don't see it. And then, in a last moment of thought, an idea pops into his head. The words replay in his head, "something something, invisible." Correction, the words sort of replay in his head. And then he's smiling because it reminds him of that one John Mulaney episode andddddd he's getting off track.

Peter takes a jump from his seat and points at Tony, the man pauses and raises an eyebrow, "Pete, what're you doing, I thought I told you to-"

"I know!" He grins, "What did you say earlier?"

The adult's stare at him, "What?"

Peter takes another step forward, catching Bruce's eyes from the corner of the jet, "You said, 'something, something, invisible!'"

Mr. Stark nods, "Kid, that was five minutes ago. What are you talking about?"

Peter blinks, "Oh," bounding closer to the group, he surprises them with his high tone, "Doesn't matter, look!" And the boy raises his hand, the group quizzically stares until they watch his hand disappear.

Bruce is the first one to say something as he steps out from his chair, "How are you doing that?" Peter let's his hand become visible as Bruce takes it in his reach, examining it like it's some kind of relic. Mr. Stark's mouth is wide open. Peter wishes he had a camera.

"I can sneak into the building and rescue Nat and Mr. Barton! That way, I won't get caught, cause I'm invisible! Literally!"

They all stare at him, "Remember, you said 'something, soemthing-' oh! You said, 'unless you can turn invisible-'" Peter does finger quotes as he restates Tony words, getting lost in his little rant, he jumps when Tony grabs his shoulders.

The man bends a bit to get eye level with him, which to be honest, isn't very far, but that's alright, "Since when can you turn invisible?"

Peter shrugs, "Since I got bit by the spider-"

Sam interrupts him, "Wait you actually got bit by a spider? That's how you got your powers?"

He nods, but Tony's waving a hand to silence the other man, Peter continues his story, "But, yeah. I got bit and just disappeared." He laughed, "Looking back on it, I went missing for like two days technically. I wonder if it's on my record."

Mr. Stark looks flabbergasted, oh to have a camera right now, "You- you're worried about your record?"

"Well, yeah, that's kind of important, I think. I mean, it's not like I did anything wrong-"

"Kid, kid, stop. Why didn't you tell us?" Tony looks concerned now. It's not like he was hiding anything.

The boy shrugs and grins at them, "I didn't think it was important." The group in general makes various noises of disapproval. "What! It wasn't!"

"Well," Mr. Stark grabs the boy's shoulder and spins him towards the jet's door, "How do you feel about getting a bit more engaged in this mission?" Peter grins, he's definitely ready.

_____

Hehe, I'm sorry this is so short.... I really hope you like it though, the ask box is always open if you want more! I would love some feedback as well!

@unofficial-spiderman

[bltngames]

SAGE 2020: Indie Games

SAGE may closed more than a day ago, but thankfully, the website remains up for those who still want to download its games. So even though this article is technically very late, nothing listed here is out of date. The event may be over, but the games live on! Which is honestly a relief, because I think doing ten games per article is taking its toll on me. Normally, when I’d write for TSSZ, I’d do somewhere in the realm of 5-7 games per article, and even that would eventually burn me out. After writing about 20 games this year, I was clearly starting to feel like I was running out of steam. Oh well. We live and learn. Here’s another ten games!

There’s one more article left after this, a sort of “honorable mentions” round-up that will feature much shorter blurbs as I blow through way more games way faster. If I didn’t talk about your game here in these three articles, now’s your chance to let me know so I can say something about it in the final article.

Anyway, onwards to our ten indie games.

Victory Heat Rally

I’m all for any game channeling the spirit of Sega’s old SuperScaler arcade technology, and Victory Heat Rally is all about that. Everything about this game seems so MY AESTHETIC that my only complaint is that I’m hungry for more. A lot more. This demo is a simple time trial on one race track and I’m itching to sink my teeth into literally anything else this game has to offer. There is an older demo from back in April with more content, but it’s running on a different version of the code base -- this newest demo is significantly improved both in terms of visuals and control. I really don’t have anything else to say about it. There’s not much here, but what’s here is charmingly retro in the style of Sega’s Power Drift, but cuter and even more colorful.

  Sondro Gomez: A Sunova Story

I had been interested to revisit Sondro Gomez after playing the first demo last year, but I don’t know if I just wasn’t in the right mood for it this year or what, but I kind of bounced off the game this time. To my memory, Sondro Gomez is a kinda-sorta side game in the Kyle & Lucy universe. You may remember Kyle & Lucy as one of a growing number of games coming out of the Sonic fan gaming community trying to break out as an original title. A while ago, the developers announced a partnership with Stealth to use the Headcannon engine to make the game with, something that extended to Sondro Gomez here. The problem is, it feels kind of weird now, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. I think it’s the little stuff -- you don’t get a lot of positive feedback when attacking using your whip (the sound is a bit quiet), and the difficulty balancing errs on the side of caution. I died a couple times in my time playing this newest demo, but I wouldn’t characterize Sondro Gomez as a game that feels challenging. Some of that probably has to do with the fact this is still just a demo, which means you spend a long time fighting the same four enemy types in every single level. There’s a lot of charm to the story and the characters it involves, but that only takes you so far when it feels like you’re doing the same things over and over in the actual levels, you know? Either way, the touched up visuals and the new boss fights are welcome. Interested in seeing what the full release looks like next year.

  Delta Gal

In retrospect, a Mega Man Legends fan game seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? Where Delta Gal has a leg up is in controls. Even considering the era Mega Man Legends was released in, it had very awkward controls. Delta Gal’s response is to embrace standard third person action game controls with a mouse and a keyboard. Now, there is controller support, but even once you get it set up, you have button layout presets like “Bad” and “Almost Good.” Honestly, if you can, just play it with a keyboard and mouse. The demo offers about 30-40 minutes of gameplay, with a bit of the town, a forest section, a cave, and one whole dungeon. Visuals nail the best parts of the Mega Man Legends low-fi aesthetic, colors are vibrant, and the pixel art textures look very good. The town is full of characters with lots of personality, too. A particular favorite being the guy who runs the junkyard who likes to show off by flexing his muscles but then ultimately chickens out when it comes to exploring the cave he discovers. The only downside I’d say is the sound design. The game sounds okay, but some of the music is a little bland, and certain sound effects lack the right kind of punch. Granted, this style of sound design isn’t easy, so I can empathize with the developers in that respect. Honestly, it doesn’t really detract from anything at all, so maybe it’s not even worth bringing up. Either way, good stuff, and I’m looking forward to the full release.

  Bun n’ Gun

Here’s a cute little game about a bunny in the old west. I’m absolutely in love with the visuals and the music here, but the gameplay is… interesting. Bun isn’t a typical shooter or platformer, thanks to the fact that he appears to only have one arm, which is occupied by his gun. Now you wouldn’t think this would matter, as it’s pretty easy to design a game around only having to jump and shoot, and that’s fair enough. But there’s a strange heft to this character. It takes them a little bit to pick up speed, and it takes them a bit to slow down, and there’s an unmistakable, split-second delay between pushing the jump button and actually jumping. I know enough about this kind of game development that a delay between pushing a button and actually jumping has to be a deliberate design decision, and I split on whether or not I like it. I don’t think I hate it, because it’s pretty easy to get used to the way it feels, but it does mean you’re working with a handicap when it comes to split-second movements. Given the bunny seems to only have one arm, though, perhaps that’s the point. Either way, it’s cute. Give it a look.

  Shield Cat

I feel like I’ve been over-using the word “charming” to describe games at SAGE this year, but you know what? Shield Cat is charming as heck. People also tend to think it’s reductive to describe things by comparing them to something that already exists, but I say nuts to that, too. Saying “It’s like…” is an easy shorthand, and besides, if somebody is saying your project is like one of their favorite games, it just means they’re giving you praise and might lack the words to accurately describe that praise. Thing is, that’s actually kind of hard to do with Shield Cat. The nearest relative to this game would be The Legend of Zelda, but Shield Cat honestly plays very little like Zelda, beyond having a top-down perspective. Secret of Mana, maybe, with the stamina meters? I don’t know. Regardless, this is a charming (!!!) top down action game where you roam around exploring an overworld and solve light puzzles. It controls well and the aesthetics are nice. Can’t really get much better than that, though I do have to wonder what it is you’re supposed to be doing in this game. It took me about 30 minutes to see everything available in this demo, but there’s no story setup and only the smallest pieces of what could be considered a dungeon. What’s on offer here is interesting enough that I find myself wanting to know more about this world. For example, it’s called Shield Cat, but clearly you’re some kind of ferret. What’s that about? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

  Prototype N

I’ve sat here staring into the void wondering what to write about for this game for a long time, because it’s one of those demos that’s just… a solid and fun game that nails exactly what it’s going for. I would say that Prototype N leans a little too far towards the easy side of things, but the third level provided in the demo ramps the challenge up enough to be just about perfect. And, really, that’s it. That’s the game. You get two softer introductory levels to get you acclimated to the controls (which are similar to Mega Man, but different enough not to be a direct clone) and one “real” level to actually give you a bit of a work out. There’s nothing else to really say. This has the vibe of a 1993 or 1994 Capcom game, or maybe something from Data East. Every single part of this game’s presentation is laser-focused on that aesthetic, and it pulls it off flawlessly. Sound design, music, visuals, it’s a bullseye. This game fell out of a time machine in the best way possible. Definitely give it a look.

  Yan’s World

From a game that nails the SNES aesthetic to this, a game which pays tribute to the Virtual Boy… but not really? I actually became aware of Yan’s World many years ago through a mutual Discord, and it always looked interesting, but simultaneously a little confusing, something that still mostly holds true to this day. Per the game’s own Kickstarter sales pitch, Yan’s World is “stylized as a lost title for Nintendo's Virtual Boy.” I can get down with that, but the game almost instantly breaks its own rule because Yan’s primary method of attack is to shoot a missile from his head that can only be aimed using the mouse. As such, Yan’s World doesn’t have controller support, even though one of the stretch goals currently listed on their Kickstarter page is to make a version that can be played on real Virtual Boy hardware. And, honestly, what’s the deal with this game’s whole… everything else? Why is this kid an onion? Why are the platforms made out of clocks? Why does all of Yan’s dialog make him seem like he’s sort of pissed off when he’s got such a big happy smile? There’s a bit of a hand-wave to suggest the entire game takes place inside of a dream, and for once that actually means throwing logic out the window, I guess. Oh, the missile is a pillow? Fine, whatever. Use it to blast this demonic apple, and then threaten to kill an innocent NPC. It’s a dream! Despite how little sense that makes, it… kind of works? The sprites are big and lovely, the game controls well, and the level design is plenty creative. I can’t fault the game for that, it’s just trying to figure out everything wrapped around the game that feels so bizarre.

  Cosmic Boll

I don’t know if I really understand what’s going on in Cosmic Boll, but I love to play it just the same. This plays like if Treasure made Dragon Ball Advance Adventure while strung out on cocaine. The end result is pure hyperactive chaos. There is a whole complicated combat system at play here, and a very lengthy in-depth tutorial when you first start the game, but you can figure out a lot of it by just skipping the tutorial and playing the game for real. You can get by pretty easily by just mashing buttons and seeing what happens, and that’s not a complaint, because a lot happens in this game. Like, constantly. It never stops, it never really slows down. You’re always zipping around, spinning and flipping and punching soldiers, explosions everywhere, collectibles everywhere, just utter madness. It’s Sonic the Hedgehog plus Devil May Cry plus Gunstar Heroes and all of it is mixed up in ways you probably don’t expect. All of this is to say that Cosmic Boll is messy and cool and fun and you should probably play it.

  Brock Crocodile

This is a game I’ve seen a lot of around social media, and it’s nice to finally be able to try it. Weirdly enough, this is the first game all SAGE that has flat out refused to see my controller. For the last few years at SAGE, I’ve been using a Playstation DualShock 4, which typically causes me all kinds of headaches with games expecting an Xbox controller. This year, I’ve been using an 8bitdo SN30+. These things are designed primarily to be used on the Switch, but using a controller macro, you can change it to Xbox or Playstation modes. The “Xbox” mode has served me well so far, but Brock here fails to let me use the controller at all. Fortunately, with only three buttons, Brock manages to be mostly playable on a keyboard. That being said, a lot of this game feels a little bit off. The camera is kind of swimmy, as it's almost constantly in motion trying to get a better angle on what's around you. Brock himself doesn't have a smooth acceleration curve either -- it's more like shifting gears in a car, where you reach one top speed and then click up into the next highest speed. That can work, but Brock changes gears much too quickly and without much feedback, making it look like one jerky acceleration curve instead of two. And then there’s the visuals. Level art looks great, character portraits look great, but I’ve never been the biggest fan of the sprites I’ve seen in this game. Take Brock himself, for example: he’s got insanely thick thighs for some reason but the rest of his body looks thin and wispy, and he stands with kind of weird posture. The good news is, despite these complaints, Brock Crocodile is actually really fun to play. You eventually get used to the game’s control quirks, and the level design and included boss fight are excellent, striking that perfect balance where they aren’t too easy but don’t feel unfairly difficult, either. Plus, even though the cutscenes aren’t skippable (annoying as I was dealing with controller issues), the writing is snappy and the dialog is funny. It may not be perfect, but there’s still a lot to like here.

  Marble Launcher

Here’s one of those games where you can tell the creator is just starting out making games. And that’s great! These sorts of endlessly complex, winding mazes are exactly the kind of levels I started making when I first got into game development when I was 16 or 17 years old. One could spend hours searching every nook and cranny in these levels, which is simultaneously awesome and exhausting. Thankfully, near as I can tell, nothing FORCES you to go exploring, so if you’d rather just finish the game, it’s easy enough to head straight for the goal. Gameplay is extremely simple, otherwise. You’re a marble, you can attack enemies by bouncing off of their heads, and you have a slam move. That’s it. You might think that with this being a marble game, you’d get real rolling ball physics, but all you get is simple platformer controls. They’re good enough, especially considering how esoteric the shape of the levels can get, but it’s hard not to be a little disappointed. Still, it’s not a bad little game for what it is. Controls a bit better than some of my earliest attempts at game development, too.

Thirty games total! That’s a lot of games to talk about. And there’s still more to come, so stay tuned for that.

[gaminggrabs184]

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Rich Dad Poor Dad Summary

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Rich Dad Poor Dad Book

“There is a difference between being poor and being broke. Broke is temporary. Poor is eternal.”

“Money comes and goes, but if you have the education about how money works, you gain power over it and can begin building wealth.”

“People’s lives are forever controlled by two emotions: fear and greed.”

“So many people say, ‘Oh, I’m not interested in money.’ Yet they’ll work at a job for eight hours a day.”

“Thinking that a job makes you secure is lying to yourself.”

“Intelligence solves problems and produces money.”

“You must know the difference between an asset and a liability, and buy assets.”

An asset puts money in your pocket. A liability takes money out of your pocket.

“Illiteracy, both in words and numbers, is the foundation of financial struggle.”

“Money often makes obvious our tragic human flaws, putting a spotlight on what we don’t know.”

“Cash flow tells the story of how a person handles money.”

“Most people don’t understand why they struggle financially because they don’t understand cash flow.”

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“The number-one expense for most people is taxes.”

Higher incomes cause higher taxes. This is known as “bracket creep.”

“More money seldom solves someone’s money problems.”

“The fear of being different prevents most people from seeking new ways to solve their problems.”

“A person can be highly educated, professionally successful, and financially illiterate.”

“Many financial problems are caused by trying to keep up with the Joneses.”

Once you understand the difference between assets and liabilities, concentrate your efforts on buying income-generating assets.

“The problem with simply working harder is that each of these three levels takes a greater share of your increased efforts. You need to learn how to have your increased efforts benefit you and your family directly.”

“Wealth is a person’s ability to survive so many number of days forward—or, if I stopped working today, how long could I survive?”

“The rich buy assets. The poor only have expenses. The middle class buy liabilities they think are assets.”

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“The rich focus on their asset columns while everyone else focuses on their income statements.”

“Financial struggle is often directly the result of people working all their lives for someone else.”

“The mistake in becoming what you study is that too many people forget to mind their own business. They spend their lives minding someone else’s business and making that person rich.”

“To become financially secure, a person needs to mind their own business.”

“Financial struggle is often the result of people working all their lives for someone else.”

“The primary reason the majority of the poor and middle class are fiscally conservative—which means, ‘I can’t afford to take risks’—is that they have no financial foundation.”

“One of the main reasons net worth is not accurate is simply because, the moment you begin selling your assets, you are taxed for any gains.”

“A new car loses nearly 25 percent of the price you pay for it the moment you drive it off the lot.”

“Keep expenses low, reduce liabilities, and diligently build a base of solid assets.”

Kiyosaki says he owns business that do not require his presence. “If I have to work there, it’s not a business. It becomes my job.”

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According to Kiyosaki, real assets fall into the following categories:

Stocks

Bonds

Income-generating real estate

Notes (IOUs)

Royalties from intellectual property such as music, scripts, and patents

Anything else that has value, produces income or appreciates, and has a ready market

“For people who hate real estate, they shouldn’t buy it.”

Kiyosaki generally holds real estate for less than seven years.

Start minding your own business. Keep your daytime job, but start buying real assets, not liabilities.

When Kiyosaki says mind your own business, he means building and keeping your asset column strong. Once a dollar goes into it, never let it come out.

“The best thing about money is that it works 24 hours a day and can work for generations.”

“An important distinction is that rich people buy luxuries last, while the poor and middle class tend to buy luxuries first.”

“A true luxury is a reward for investing in and developing a real asset.”

Kiyosaki’s rich dad did not see Robin Hood as a hero. He called Robin Hood a crook.

“If you work for money, you give the power to your employer. If money works for you, you keep the power and control it.”

“Each dollar in my asset column was a great employee, working hard to make more employees and buy the boss a new Porsche.”

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Kiyosaki reminds people that financial IQ is made up of knowledge from four broad areas of expertise:        

Accounting

Investing

Understanding markets

The law

“A corporation earns, spends everything it can, and is taxed on anything that is left. It’s one of the biggest legal tax loopholes that the rich use.”

“Garret Sutton’s books on corporations provide wonderful insight into the power of personal corporations.”

“Often in the real world, it’s not the smart who get ahead, but the bold.”

Kiyosaki sees one thing in common in all of us, himself included. We all have tremendous potential, and we all are blessed with gifts. Yet the one thing that holds all of us back is some degree of self-doubt.

In Kiyosaki’s personal experience, your financial genius requires both technical knowledges as well as courage.

Kiyosaki always encourages adult students to look at games as reflecting back to them what they know and what they need to learn.

“Games reflect behavior. They are instant feedback systems.”

“Financial intelligence is simply having more options.”

“The single most powerful asset we all have is our mind. If it is trained well, it can create enormous wealth.”

“The world is always handing you opportunities of a lifetime, every day of your life, but all too often we fail to see them.”

Richard uses two main vehicles to achieve financial growth: real estate and small-cap stocks.

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“Simple math and common sense are all you need to do well financially.”

“The problem with ‘secure’ investments is that they are often sanitized, that is, made so safe that the gains are less.”

“It is not gambling if you know what you’re doing. It is gambling if you’re just throwing money into a deal and praying.”

“Most people never get wealthy simply because they are not trained financially to recognize opportunities right in front of them.”

“Great opportunities are not seen with your eyes. They are seen with your mind.”

“You want to know a little about a lot” was rich dad’s suggestion.

“Job is an acronym for ‘Just Over Broke.’”

“Look down the road at what skills they want to acquire before choosing a specific profession and before getting trapped in the Rat Race.”

“Education is more valuable than money, in the long run.”

“The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on building a better hamburger and know little to nothing about business systems.”

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The main management skills needed for success are:

Management of cash flow

Management of systems

Management of people

“The most important specialized skills are sales and marketing.”

“To be truly rich, we need to be able to give as well as to receive.”

“Giving money is the secret to most great wealthy families.”

“The primary difference between a rich person and a poor person is how they manage fear.”

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There are five main reasons why financially literate people may still not develop abundant asset columns that could produce a large cash flow. The five reasons are:

Fear

Cynicism

Laziness

Bad habits

Arrogance

“For most people, the reason they don’t win financially is because the pain of losing money is far greater than the joy of being rich.”

“Failure inspires winners. Failure defeats losers.”

“Real estate is a powerful investment tool for anyone seeking financial independence or freedom.”

“A great property manager is key to success in real estate.”

The most common form of laziness is staying busy.

“Rich dad believed that the words ‘I can’t afford it’ shut down your brain. ‘How can I afford it?’ opens up possibilities, excitement, and dreams.”

“Whenever you find yourself avoiding something you know you should be doing, then the only thing to ask yourself is, ‘What’s in it for me?’ Be a little greedy. It’s the best cure for laziness.”

Richard has found that many people use arrogance to try to hide their own ignorance.

“There is gold everywhere. Most people are not trained to see it.”

“To find million-dollar ‘deals of a lifetime’ requires us to call on our financial genius.”

A reason or a purpose is a combination of ‘wants’ and ‘don’t wants.’”

“Most people simply buy investments rather than first investing in learning about investing.”

Richard believes one of the hardest things about wealth-building is to be true to yourself and to be willing to not go along with the crowd.

“The rich know that savings are only used to create more money, not to pay bills.”

“The sophisticated investor’s first question is: ‘How fast do I get my money back?’”

If Richard could leave one single idea with you, it is that idea. Whenever you feel short or in need of something, give what you want first and it will come back in buckets.

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In the world of accounting, there are three different types of income:        

Ordinary earned

Portfolio

Passive

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