#advanced steam

[whirligig-girl]

Finally ready to start showing off the project we've been working on for a few weeks.

TRAIN PUZZLE (dot exe) (title pending)

me and @msasterisk are working on a switching puzzle game set on slimegirl astronaut Eaurp Guz's homeworld. You operate an Advanced Steam switcher to move cars around. The prototype implements a single level, a model railroad Inglenook layout, but there will be other original levels as well.

MsAsterisk has done all of the programming and game engine work, I've done the game design and art assets.

more screenshots and development photos below the cut:

Until the last couple of days, the game has used plain colored boxes for its cars. The first playable version, shown here, was just a pixel art train toy, with no actual game mechanics, but with an external list randomizer you could still run the inglenook game.

The physics was apparently a monumental undertaking to get working, but now it works great!

i don't remember what this was about. Truncated the vertices to the unit cube or something.

@thefallencomet's playtesting of the first prototype revealed a severe bug with couplers where switching cars coupled at a distance between three tracks at once would completely break physics. MsAsterisk fixed it by simply breaking couplers when they're too far apart.

car concept art

u.i. concept art. The tracks are bonafide pixel art here, but they've since been replaced with all 3D assets. The loco here is a pixelated render done in blender of the advanced steam tank engine model that i made about a month ago.

control stand model, WIP. We're not sure if we're going to go for this kind of detailed control stand. Why does a steam engine use a control stand that would look more at home on an EMD diesel? It's the magic of Advanced Steam Technology! The actual engine is controlled with actuators and microcontrollers, they're merely operated from the safety of the control cabin. The gauges are for brake cylinder, boiler pressure, steam chest, and speedometer--but no promises about whether these will be functional.

and finally, portraits of the engine crew

More to come as the game continues development.

[retrogamingblog2]

Pokemon Gen 3 Keycaps made by ALLCAPSKEYCAPS

[helluvapurf]

*deep breathes* Sooo, those last couple mins from the latest "Full Moon" ep... lets talk about that🍵🍵

Welp, here it is folks... the ep that finally gave us that hyped up "Asmodeon crystal" exchange teased at in the S2 Pt. 2 trailer. And... hooooo boi, I have formed so. many. thoughts. upon rewatching that scene a few times. Some that are... kiiiinda on the rant-y spectrum the more I lingered on 'em, so how bout I share them here lmao

Fair warning in advance, this maaaaay not be particularly "nice" to Stolas in these rambling thoughts, so if anyone out there's a big Stolas(+itz) fan... yall might wanna skip reading ahead- lol .w.;;

*claps*

Okay, so to start things off on a (semi?) positive note, the animation & lighting here is quite beautiful to look at. The glittery curtains, the shine in Blitz's eyes throughout his shifting emotions, even the shots of that one broken chandelier (which I thiiink might've been the same one him & Stolas played under as kids?) was a neat bit of symbolism ngl.

Props to Brandon Rogers as well for his voice-performance on Blitz here cause... gawd did it hit me in the heart how much hurt you feel from his yelling ;-;💔

Curious to see more of the use of Blitz's new Asmodeon crystal in future adventures (esp from that one shot in the trailer w/ him using the portal effects against the DHORK crew), it looks cool~ ✨👍

....ummmm, ok I think that about covers my positives atm. Onto the problems I have with this exchange:

Stolas... okay, you were this close to actually doing a good job ending the Full Moon deal. Admitting to how "wrong" the transaction part of their dynamic was, allowing Blitz more "freedom" via-the crystal (that could also help avoid any legal issues that the Grimoire gave), even wishing him good luck with his I.M.P. business as the night drew to a close... ...buuuuut then Stolas just had to muddle everything up by his whole "even tho you don't have to be with me, I want you with me if you want it~🥺" ...which honestly came off selfish to me than anything else?? Like, dude... if you really ARE regretful of how long you let this deal go for, and truly DO want to let Blitz go... you CAN'T throw in such sappy, lovey-dovey words on top of that?? Otherwise, how can one blame Blitz for getting as confused & flustered as he was throughout that convo... you've basically just sent even more mixed-messages in the grand scheme of things, my dude-🤦‍♀️

"I have wanted you for SO long, the fact that you couldn't believe that I might have these feelings about you, that your first instinct is that its always about sex..." ...Ummmmm Stolas... did you seriously forget HOW this whole deal of yall's started?? 🤨 Waaaay back in the initial-series pilot, to the first official ep, and pretty much the majority of Season 1:

As far as I checked, Blitz wasn't the one who kept making everything about sex... that. was all. YOU. 😒Heck, literally one of the first things you told Blitz upon reuniting as adults in "The Circus", was that you expected he wanted to "ravish" you-

-so like, get outta here with the whole pushing-the-perv-responsibility-bs onto Blitz... you ain't helping your case >>

Finally... like, it was already getting bad enough by the point of Blitz begging & pleading out of fear he'd lose his livelihood without the book, AND not being allowed space to breathe after getting further pushed away (and thus, more pissed off-)... but THEN on top of all this, Stolas just haaaaad to throw in this lil gem: "Blitz... I think so very highly of you. I didn't realize you think so low of me..." ...Stolas, with all due respect... stfu with that lousy, last-minute uwu-ing self-pity party crap😑Just because you TRIED to show more attentive care & concern post-"Ozzie's", outside of the typical bedroom stuff... that ain't gonna prove shit if you're not gonna be consistent with it. Where was that "high opinion" of Blitz during the two of you getting stuck in the sitcom set during "Seeing Stars", when Blitz was having that panic attack performing live, where all you ended up doing was... just hitting on him/praising his bedroom skills again?? 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Like... couldn't you have just, I dunno... TRY to actually cheer him up/comfort him like an actual friend, would? Encourage him on his jokes, "just be yourself", promising another way out of there on his own merit... literally, anything could've worked fine and it wouldn't have come off so skeezy imho >>;;

...*sighs* so, yeah... thats basically what I had to get off my chest regarding the ending of "Full Moon". Honestly, had the writers actually committed to Stolas cutting off Blitz (even if harsh), giving the crystal with no strings, then going about their separate ways afterwards, I would've been totally fine with the scene tbh. But all this... odd lowkey-blaming of Blitz thrown in, the sappy words, and Stolas not once actually-apologizing during all this (Like, literally I checked and the only utterance of "sorry" seemed to come from Blitz's end before he got kicked out... for what, I dunno- 🤷‍♀️). Sorry for the length btw, but hopefully that about covers my thoughts on the matter-

[wazzi2ya]

I thought everyone understood season 1 of any show is mostly just expository and about introducing the characters and the world it happens in? Most shows don't even delve into the plot proper till season 2 or after. I need someone to help me pinpoint exactly when people started deciding some writing is terrible or full of plot holes just from what you see in the first fucking handful of episodes.

[clove-pinks]

Franklinheads, what is your top pet peeve when it comes to perceptions of the [historical] Franklin Expedition?

Mine is 100% the "most advanced technology of their day" concept of HMS Erebus and Terror. I think the origins of this are in the 1980s, when Owen Beattie's ice mummy exhumations propelled the Franklin Expedition into the spotlight. JUST LIKE THE SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER!—this was the pat comparison of the day. You could definitely draw some parallels if you tried hard enough, but no, I don't think the Space Shuttle Challenger is a very good analogy.

There was pretty much nothing unique or particularly new about the technology in Franklin's ships—not the tinned food, not the desalinator, not the heating system, and definitely not the puny steam engines—and Franklin's men knew this! They were aware that Erebus and Terror were beat-up old warships, one of the ships fought in the War of 1812 before most crew members were born! Fitzjames called them "old tubs," and Le Vesconte jokingly compared them to 17th and 18th century fictional vessels (Red Rover and Water-Witch).

Steam frigates with hundreds of horsepower were built even in the 1830s! But they couldn't carry fuel lasting for years; whereas Franklin's men had ~13 days of coal for their 20-horsepower engines, which at most might get them out of a harbour in unfavourable winds. As a child I read books that made such a big deal about the steam engines, I really thought they would be under steam all the time, crashing through the ice with their Advanced Technology just like the space shuttle.

If anything, the Franklin Expedition is part of a tradition of the British using obsolete ships and technology for polar exploration. Compare Terra Nova with the latest technology of the 1910s: she looks like the relic of an earlier age that she was.

[beanmochiii]

i started playing isat (pls no spoilers i have not yet finished the game)

[snugcubunny]

Final Fantasy'd ya boi

[chungledown-bimothy]

.

[amipenthe]

If the “noah clan actually lived in our modern world but it was destroyed and this is the new one” theory is true I’m going to bang my head against the wall….mostly because as much as I despise this concept it makes too much narrative sense to deny

What bothers me is it makes sense for, in my personal opinion, the dgm narrative but not the dgm ✨vibe✨

[whirligig-girl]

Not bad, for my first 3D modelling project!

Thanks so much to my friend @msasterisk who walked me through getting started and also did all of the UV mapping (which looked nightmarish)

[sunnyyflowerrs]

and when i say down with spotify

[lume-nosity]

sorry complete change of vibe but i think i need to take a little break i was just hit with devastating news and i definitely need time to process this

[hollis-exe]

i have to say i think experienced the brba stream in probably the least optimal way: running dungeons to level my rogue on the second monitor while in call with my friends who trying to coordinate. i missed several mechanic explanations and relayed stream plot beats directly over top of someone else shotcalling. and you know what. i wouldnt have changed a thing

[12freddofrogs]

Very weird to be in that stage where a show is grabbing hold of your brain, but you haven't finished the show so you cant interact with fandom because spoilers, and you're watching it with someone else so you can't even just keep watching until you finish

[rehncohro]

If I'm dreaming, I don't want to wake up.

[ultravioart]

@mango-mya

#please i can imagine him and peepers having the time of their lives together and all of the others being like “oh god there's two of them”

LOL I can absolutely see that... I ought to draw a little comic about that! Idk when I'll get to it so... here's a script?

(picture of fishlens Marvin and Peepers looking up) Wander: Hey commander! Peepers: Hi. Marvin: Greetings. - Sylvia: (looking down, disturbed) Oh grob there's two of them. Wander: Long time no see Marvin! (waves hand) {Peepers: (flips Sylvia the bird) Marvin: Don't be rude! Peepers: Let go--} - Sylvia: (to Wander) Wait, you know this guy? Wander: (still waving hand) Yep! We go way back. Sylvia: (sighes) Of course you do. (flips off Peepers) Hi Marvin. - Marvin: (peace sign) Peace be upon you! (grabs Peepers hand away) Wander: --and you too. (peace sign, still waving hand) Sylvia: (still flipping of Peepers) Uh huh. You too. {Peepers: NO! NO PEACE!} - END Bonus of Marvin quietly making a pinkie promise with Sylvia bc he doesn't understand she's flipping Peepers off lmao. --

silly ideas ahead: but YEAH LOL I can see way back when, Wander teaching Marvin how to speak up for himself which inadvertently lead to Marvin becoming a diabolical leader... but at least Wander opened up Marvin to making allies with other people instead of shooting on sight??? (insert Sylvia's judgmental stares on Wander) lmao. Wander really just tried to help a quiet lil fella find his voice, only to unleash everything that X2 can be <:') woops. idk how they would meet but eventually Peepers would think he found a nice acquaintance to shoot the shit with (metaphorically and also actually shooting random things lol) but then he learns Vinny is friends with Wander?!?! Nooooooo..... Also when Wander hears that Peepers calls Marvin "vinny".... Wander doesn't shut up about how CUTE that is. Peepers is miserable about it all. lol When Marvin eventually gets all Kaboomy, Sylvia calls Marvin an anty (sized) twerp, no different than these lousy 'optic nerds'... And Marvin is appalled-- how dare Sylvia the Zbornak use his civilian name to address him! He's no common Martian, he's the mighty Commander X2 of the great Martian Army--and worked hard for it too! How dare she! He deserves respect! ...or an "X2" atleast... -- wait. Marvin: Erm, I am NO one's aunt!!!-- (whispers, frightened) --how does the zbornak creature know of my civilian name?! Peepers: Wait-- your given name is Antwerp? Yeesh. Marvin: (deflated) The colonies were not forgiving. Peepers: (genuine) Oh, there, there Vinny.

(tbh Sylvia probably laughs at Marvin's name, with an elbow jab from Wander. Be nice!)