#amd the CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS

[lasnevadaslaborunion]

I'm playing Pathfinder for the first time this weekend and this system looks like so much fun

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

How would yall feel if staff introduced the ability to make custom/user made apparel

[techdriveplay]

Navigating the World of High-Performance Computer

In an era dominated by technology, building a high-performance computer is not just a necessity for many but a passion. Whether it’s for gaming, professional workloads, or creative pursuits, understanding the world of high-performance computer parts is crucial. This guide navigates through the essential components and considerations for assembling a dream machine that meets both your needs and…

[autumnslance]

Benchmark Tech Notes

Running the Benchmark

If your Benchmark isn't opening, it's an issue with the executable file, and something not completing properly on either download, or extracting the Zip file. The Benchmark is designed to run and give you scores for your potato computer, I promise.

I actually saved my Benchmark to my external drive, and it still pulls and saves data and runs as it should. Make sure you allowed the download to complete before extracting the zip.

Resolution

Check your Settings; in Display, it may be defaulting your monitor Resolution to something than you might otherwise use if you aren't on standard 1920x1080.

To check your monitor Resolution, minimize everything on your screen and right click anywhere on your Desktop. Go to Display Settings and scroll down to find Resolution and what it's set at.

You can set the Graphic Settings 1 tab to Maximum, or to Import your game settings. Display Settings tab is where you set it to be Windowed, Bordered, or Full Screen, as well as select Resolution to match your monitor in the dropdown (or customize it if needed). I speak on Resolution as some folks in my FC noted it changed how their characters looked.

The Other tab in Settings is where you can change the text output, or even check a box to disable the logo and score; I do this on subsequent plays, once I have my scores at various settings, to get the clean screenshots.

@calico-heart has a post about fixing graphics settings, with screenshots of the settings tab. Basically, change graphics upscaling from AMD to NVIDIA, and/or uncheck Enable Dynamic Resolution. Also check the Framerate Threshold dropdown.

Screenshots

The benchmark auto-saves 5 screens each playthrough. In the Benchmark folder there is a Screenshots folder to find the auto-images taken of your characters.

Character Appearance

If you want to get your current in game appearance, including non-standard hairstyles, make sure to load up the live game, right click and "Save Character Settings."

Then go to Documents/My Games/Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (this is the default in Windows 10 so mileage varies). The file will have the date you last updated their settings and be named FFXIV_CHARA_01.dat (or however many saves you have/made).

Grab those newly updated DAT files for your character(s) and copy them, then in the same base folder, go to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (Benchmark).

Paste the copied DAT files in there, and rename to FFXIV_CHARA_BENCH01.dat (the number doesn't matter, and you may have more).

When running Benchmark Character Creation, use the dropdown menu.

If you do Create a Custom Character and Load Appearance Data, it will give you default hairstyles again. Meteor's Dawntrail hairstyle is a new default.

In Char Gen I am finding that a very pale hrothgal reflects the green scenery around her, giving her white skin/fur a green tinge. The other zones do not have this problem, or at least not to the same degree.

They added a Midday vs Evening setting in outdoor areas as well to test lighting. The lighting in the Gridanian innroom is better; not as bright as outdoors, to be expected, but not completely useless.

New voice type icons to clarifying the sounds you make.

Remember we're getting a free fantasia with the expansion, so some tweaking may be needed; Iyna I felt like I needed to adjust her jaw. Other colors--skin, hair, eyes, tattoos, etc--are showing differently in the various kinds of lighting.

Uncertain if the limit on hairstyles for the Hrothgals so far is just a Benchmark thing; they do have set styles for different head options. Everyone gets Meteor's hair though, so it may be a temporary/Benchmark limit. But which clan and face you choose drastically alters what hair and facial feature options you have access to.

Check your settings, tweak them a bit, play around with chargen, and remember this is still a Benchmark; they always strike me as a little less polished than the finished game, but so far I'm actually pretty pleased with having defined fingers and toes, the irises in the eyes, scars looking cut into the skin, and other improvements.

[pixelplayground]

PXL'S Anatomy of Screenshots

So you want to take better screenshots? There are multiple factors to consider, and if you don't enjoy tweaking reshade settings for every image, my ultimate method may not be for you. That being said, there are tips and resources in this guide that are applicable to everyone and you can select to explore those that are useful to your specific situation.

Disclaimer: I am not claiming to be an expert, nor am I offering to provide troubleshooting on an individual basis. This is a general guide and if you are unfamiliar with any of the concepts, please use the mighty power of the internet to find tutorials. I promise everything that I have learned over the years has been published and documented a thousand times better than I ever could.

There are five factors to address:

Your computer's inherent capabilities

The game's limitations

The mods you're using

Reshade

Post Processing

Graphics Card Settings & Drivers:

Become familiar with your graphic options. If you don't have a dedicated graphics card (i.e. a desktop or gaming laptop, these features may be unavailable and you should skip.)

I have an AMD Radeon Pro card which is designed for workstation level systems. It's overkill for sims, but useful for 3D rendering and modelling work. I have changed the following settings for DirectX 9 applications:

anti-aliasing - enhance application settings

anisotropic filtering - enabled

anisotropic filtering level - 16x

texture filtering quality - high

surface format optimization - high

Consider overclocking your graphics card to unlock it's full potential. DO NOT pursue this venture unless you are ok with the risk of burning out your card prematurely. I use at present, overclocked Bootcamp Drivers from BootcampDrivers.com obviously, if you're not playing on an intel based mac through Bootcamp, this is irrelevant to you.

None of these settings are useful until you address the default games limitations, which leads nicely into the next factor.

Addressing The Sims 4's Graphic Limitations:

Everyone should be familiar at this point with lighting mods, 4k, textures, disabling ssao, etc. but, I'm still going to spell it out. None of this is new information and has been covered many a time by various players ad nauseum.

remove ugly blue toned lighting in the world by choosing a lighting mod from @softerhaze here

overhaul your graphics.cfg file (i use a custom blend with features specific to me), however @simp4sims has done a ridiculous amount of work in providing a simple to install file that can be found here - read through their tutorials!! they have provided an excellent oversight of exactly what this does and why it matters

improve the indoor lighting for your sims - previously i used @luumia's no blu, no glo - recently i switched to @northernsiberiawinds better in game lighting mod here, though i have tweaked some of the settings to suit my own personal preferences

i don't use the HQ mod, i don't find that it makes enough difference for the amount of effort it requires to convert CAS CC

It should go without saying, but tweaking your graphics config file is absolutely useless if you can't play TS4 at it's maximum in game graphic settings!

The Mods You're Using:

Now that you've put in all this work into getting the game ready to make use of quality mods where do you start? Well, the CC you install matters. Whatever your preference, whether it be maxis-match, alpha or somewhere in between, priority should be given to using items textured in 2k or 4k resolutions, and specific attention should be paid to using wall and flooring textures with bump maps, and or high quality resolutions (this is important later for reshade if you intend to learn about ray tracing).

I will separately post a guide to creators with crispy textures because that is it's own novel.

Reshade:

Phew. Still with me?

There are many many many reshade presets out there, most are alike, but none employ ray tracing, and that is because a) it needs to be manually adjusted for every screenshot, b) they are paid shaders, and c) this requires advanced knowledge of reshade and a decent enough graphics set up that won't overheat - games running native ray tracing recommend a minimum VRAM of 8GB (please note RAM and VRAM are not the same) - i therefore do not recommend pursuing this option if your system does not meet those minimum requirements.

Start here to understand what ray tracing for reshade is. In my opinion, the shaders are well worth the price of $5 for the amount of work that has gone into creating them by the talented Pascal Gilcher. That link is a comprehensive starting point into expanding your knowledge of reshade and it's capabilities.

I have always created my own reshade presets from scratch, and while the core colorization settings I utilize remain largely the same, using ray tracing and re-light means every screenshot needs to be manually adjusted (lights repositioned, bounce and AO factors adjusted, etc) before being captured. @pictureamoebae just published a very timely post discussing the re-light shader and you can read it here.

Post Processing

Reshade does 99.99% of the work that traditionally would be accomplished in a photo editing software like photoshop. Occasionally, I need to adjust exposure manually, add depth of field manually, or color correct. Beyond that I use it to scale images to fit the resolution and file size limits of various platforms. Conceptually this reduces the amount of uncontrolled loss encountered when platforms like tumblr auto compress files that are too large. In reality, tumblr still makes images crappy compared to how they appear in my file folder.

optimize your images for various social media platforms using this guide

fix exposure or colorization issues using a software like photoshop

I hope that this gives you a starting point into expanding your methodologies. My process is continuously evolving and I find this aspect of the game most entertaining. For others who don't enjoy this process, it's probably not worth it!

Thanks for reading ❤ PXL

[lesuccube]

➚ 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐊 𝐃 : ᴀᴜ-ᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ — ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ , ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ ʟᴏᴠᴇ

𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒 — a treat for you and your lover .

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 — fluff infection

𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 — not beta'd , constructive criticism is welcomed . reblogs and comments are appreciated .

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 — 0.5k

baker!steven who loves making you treats and sneaks them into your lunch bag without you knowing.

baker!steven who makes the most of his goodies gluten free but will occasionally (read: every time you ask for baked treats) indulge your request to make them sugary and sweet.

baker!steven who would spend sleepless nights in the kitchen concocting new recipes.

baker!steven who, with enough encouragement from you, opens up a shop after his sudden unemployment from the museum.

baker!steven who cried upon hearing that you had used up most of your lifesavings to get him a quaint spot downtown with a busy enough street that guarantees him a steady flow of customers.

baker!steven who promised to pay you back for your investment and won't take no for an answer which in the end resulted into agreeing to open a joint account so his 'debt' would be put to other uses like your shared responsibilities like rent, groceries and for emergencies.

baker!steven who absolutely adores his shop, making sure to keep his customers saitisfied with quality food (he has two menus, separating gluten free items for the vegan options).

baker!steven who makes friends with his regulars, chatting up with the old ladies that come in for afternoon tea and crumpets, helping college students to the best he can but absolutely enjoys it when they ask help for history subjects and entertains little children with ancient egyptian trivias and gives them tiny trinkets for free.

baker!steven who refused to serve donna when she came in for coffee after the horrible treatment she had given him when he used to work at the museum.

baker!steven who closed shop for a few hours to call you up looking for comfort because seeing donna so suddenly after finally recovering from what he had endured from her before shook him.

baker!steven who would most definitely close the bakery after lunch rush to personally visit you at work to hand you a basket full of extra baked goods to share with your co-workers.

baker!steven who loves when fall arrives because he gets to decorate the shop in fall amd halloween themes and gets to experiment baking with different pans and cookie cutters.

baker!steven who eventually experiments with learning how to make drinks so the equipment you had gotten him will be put to good use until he learns the hard way that brewing coffee is not good for his autistic brain.

baker!steven who would hire a barista instead to make the drinks and gets along with them, gives them free treats during lunch break and gives them leftovers from the day's batch.

baker!steven who eventually joins the farmers market after getting enough recognition from customers in his street and encouragement from aunties from the neighborhood.

baker!steven who had to close his stall after just a few hours because he had sold out all of his baked batches for the day.

baker!steven who 100% loves his new career path.

baker!steven who would drop by the street act he used to talk to after work hours from the museum to give him a goodie bag and a big tip just because.

baker!steven who waits for you before closing up for the day so he can dance with you between counters and tables, murmuring sweet, sweet love to your ears in between laughter and feeds you a small fresh batch of your favorite cookies before walking back to his place hand in hand with you.

[demifiendrsa]

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered - Announce Trailer

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered will launch for PlayStation 5 and PC (Steam, Epic Games Store) on October 31, 2024 for $49.99. Existing owners of Horizon Zero Dawn can upgrade to Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered for $9.99.

First details

Over seven years ago, we released Horizon Zero Dawn into the wilds. Players got to meet Aloy, our leading hero, thrust into a journey of (self-)discovery in a mysterious, far-future world ravaged by deadly machines.

It was also the beginning of a thriving community of cosplayers, virtual photographers, fan artists, and content creators who inspire us to this day with their incredible creations. Horizon Zero Dawn is near and dear to many fans, as well as to everyone at Guerrilla.

And that community has not stopped growing. Each year, many millions more pick up Horizon Zero Dawn for the first time. But seven years is a long time in the world of computer graphics; technology improves. As time moved on, we really wished that new players who join Aloy on her origin story can do it with a version that is worthy of their PS5 or compatible PC. And so, we are thrilled to announce that the game has been remastered by our talented friends at Nixxes.

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered launches on October 31. The captivating story and awe-inspiring post-apocalyptic world returns alongside a host of technological improvements, visual enhancements, and upgraded features. It also includes The Frozen Wilds content, a vast expansion featuring additional lands, skills, weapons, and machines. Take a look at the announcement trailer below.

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered features over 10 hours of re-recorded conversation, mocap and countless graphical improvements that bring the game to the same visual fidelity as its critically acclaimed sequel Horizon Forbidden West. The game’s lush world includes frozen mountains, dense jungles, and arid deserts with stunning new visuals and 4K graphics and travelling between settlements is now lightning-fast.

The story’s many compelling characters have been upgraded, bringing them in line with current generation advances in character models and rendering. We hope that improved animation, lightning, textures and more will make new and existing fans excited to dive into the action!

The audio experience in Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered has been significantly enhanced. We’ve completely revamped the sound mix, now supporting PlayStation 5 Tempest 3D Audio Tech for higher-order ambisonics and Atmos rendering for an immersive soundscape. Our sound design has also seen major improvements, with hundreds of improvements both in-game and in the cinematics.

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered takes full advantage of the PlayStation 5 console’s power and features. The DualSense controller’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers ensure incredible immersion during tense combat, stealthy exploration, or scaling a gigantic Tallneck. We’ve integrated custom haptics for the DualSense controller throughout the game, providing tactile feedback that heightens immersion. Additionally, we’ve introduced a new optional accessibility feature that utilizes sound and haptic feedback to notify players of interactable elements, such as pickups, that were previously only indicated visually.

We’re also very happy to share that Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered comes with native support for PlayStation 5 Pro. This includes a range of graphical features that have been improved to make use of the power of the PlayStation 5 Pro, while also delivering ultra-high fidelity at blazing fast framerates.

The PC version on Windows includes the PlayStation overlay with Trophy support and has its own set of features, such as support for ultra-wide resolutions and the latest performance enhancing technologies like NVIDIA DLSS 3 and AMD FSR 3.1 with frame generation. We will let our Nixxes partners expand more in a future blog.

Many of the accessibility features that were first introduced in Horizon Forbidden West have been included for this Remastered version as well; remappable controls, haptic cues, and various assist toggles will enable all players to fully enjoy the game.

For those that have already played it, we’ve made sure that your old save games will work; so this is a great opportunity to dive into New Game+ or get back into Photo Mode with all your previously unlocked outfits and customizations.

We’re excited to share that pre-orders for Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered will open on October 3 for both platforms.

For existing owners of Horizon Zero Dawn (PlayStation 4, PC) and/or Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition (PS4, PS5, PC): you can upgrade to the digital version of Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered for $9.99 on both PlayStation 5 console and on PC (via Steam or Epic Game Store). This includes fans who added the game to their libraries during PlayStation’s Play At Home initiative.

Owners of the Horizon Zero Dawn PlayStation 4 game disc can access this offer by inserting the game disc into their PlayStation 5 console (and will need to keep the disc inserted each time to play the game). PlayStation 4 game disc owners who buy the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition disc-free console will not be able to access the upgrade offer.

For new fans, the game can be purchased for $49.99 on PlayStation Store, Steam, or Epic Game Store. You will receive the Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition.

[wizardnuke]

working in a grocery store as a stocker/picker other non-customer service job and then getting pulled away from your actual ffucking job by a customer who can't find the whole entire chip aisle is like accidentally triggering a cutscene that you dont give a shit about amd Can't Fucking Skip and if you choose a dialogue option that's even a little bit mean it starts a combat that yojre not allowed to win. you get game over. no save files.Fired

[techtimechronicles24]

🇺🇲 Embark on a nostalgic journey through the fascinating history of the IBM Aptiva. Introduced by IBM, a global leader in technology innovation, the Aptiva series represented a bold leap forward in home computing, combining cutting-edge technology with user-friendly design.

💻 The IBM Aptiva made its debut in September, 1994, as the replacement for the IBM PS/1. With its sleek and stylish design, intuitive user interface, and powerful performance, the Aptiva quickly became a favorite among home users.

⌨️ Rooted in IBM's legacy of innovation, the Aptiva series showcased the latest advancements in hardware and software technology. The first Aptiva models were based on the Intel 80486 CPU. Later models used the Pentium and AMD CPUs. First-generation models came with DOS 6.3 and Windows 3.1. Pentium-generation Aptivas came with Windows 95 and OS/2 'select-a-system' (PC DOS 7/Windows 3.1 and OS/2 Warp) on selected models. Most models included a modem and a standby/hibernation feature called "Rapid Resume".

🌟 The IBM Aptiva was known for its innovative features, including built-in CD-ROM drives, sound cards, and modems, which were cutting-edge technologies at the time. Its user-friendly design and robust performance made it a popular choice for both work and play. From its state-of-the-art processors and expansive memory options to its vibrant graphics and immersive multimedia capabilities, each iteration of the Aptiva pushed the boundaries of what was possible in home computing.

⚙️ Over the years, the IBM Aptiva evolved to meet the changing needs of consumers, adapting to the rapid pace of technological innovation. From compact desktop models to sleek all-in-one designs, the Aptiva series offered a diverse range of options to suit every lifestyle and budget.

💔 The last Aptiva system was withdrawn from sale in May 2001 without a direct replacement when IBM decided to exit the home market. Customers were directed to the IBM NetVista, which was more targeted to business desktops.

[ohmotherwhereartthou-if]

Romantic Options:

The Castelliones

Cassandra Guerrero:

Cassandra was born into a life of privilege and responsibility. Her father is one of Castellio's highest-ranking generals, and he has high expectations for his daughter. She was raised in a strict amd traditional household, where she was taught to be disciplined and very responsible from a young age.

[Currently re-writing]

Valeria Torres:

Valeria was born into a family of bakers, and from a young age, she has a strong love for baking and the warm, comforting smell of fresh bread. She has spent most of her childhood in her family's bakery with her parents and older brothers, always eager to help out and learn new recipes.

Growing up in a small, sheltered town, Valeria never encountered much of the outside world. She has a heart of gold and believes that everyone is as good-willed as she is. However, as she grew older and began to explore the world outside of her little town, she quickly learned that not everyone was as kind as she had believed.

Despite this, she remains optimistic and always tries to see the good in people. She often visits the beach and local church to clear her mind and find solace in the peaceful surroundings. Her love for the outdoors and animals led her to have a particular fondness for doves, which she believes represents peace and the offering of help to those in need.

Tomás Vasquez:

Tomas has always struggled with his identity and place in the world.

Growing up, he had seen the way his family's name had been tarnished by his father's actions and he couldn't help but feel that he was somehow responsible for their downfall. He is constantly reminded of his father's infidelity and the way it had brought shame to their family. As per Castellion custom, his father lost his noble standing; while all titles, wealth and prestige went to his mother under her maiden name.

Tomas has tried to distance himself from his family's past, but it seems that no matter where he goes, he was always judged by his last name; of which he has not changed. He has become resentful towards his mother for her uncooperative and unloving treatment towards his father, suspecting she may have married him simply to rob him of his wealth should he prove unfaithful.

His relationship with his other siblings has also become strained, as they have abandoned their father's last name and have accepted the fact that they are of a disgraced family.

The Romandians

Ludovica Amato:

Ludovica was born into a prominent merchant family, but even as a child she was never truly happy. She grew up feeling as if she was never truly loved or valued, despite her family's wealth and status; always pushed aside and told not to speak. Which led her to grow increasingly more isolated and withdrawn, only finding solace in books and music.

When she was sixteen, she was forced into an arranged marriage with a man much older than her, another wealthy merchant who saw her as nothing more than a means to further his own social and financial standing. The marriage was a disaster and she found herself trapped in a loveless and truly unhappy existence.

Despite her husband's wealth and power, she never felt truly safe or secure as she was constantly plagued by nightmares and suffered abuse by his hands. As the years went by, she became increasingly paranoid and fearful, always convinced that something terrible was going to happen to her.

When her husband suddenly died after only a year of marriage, Ludovica was shocked; even though she inherited his vast fortune, she was much too consumed by fear to enjoy it. She withdrew even further into herself, becoming a recluse who rarely ever left her villa.

Rumors have begun to circulate about Ludovica's past, about strange and terrible things that had happened to her before she became a widow. Some said that she had been the victim of dark magic or that she was cursed. Others whispered that she had been involved in some kind of scandal or even the murder of her terrible past.

Whatever the truth, Ludovica currently remains alone and unhappy, haunted by the ghosts of her past and too afraid to reach out to anyone for help.

Aurelio Fracasso:

Aurelio was born into a lower middle-class family, with a long-forgotten lineage to a noble house. From a young age, he learned the value of hard work and perseverance from his parents, who worked tirelessly to provide for their family.

Despite their financial struggles, Aurelio's parents instilled in him a love for the finer things in life. They would save up for months just to take the family to a nice restaurant or to buy a good bottle of wine. These experiences had left a lasting impression on him, as he vowed to someday have the means to indulge in such luxuries whenever he pleased.

Determined to rise above his humble beginnings, he had set his sights on becoming a successful merchant. Working tirelessly, making connections and building relationships within the artisan and merchants guilds. With his natural charm and business acumen, he quickly rose through the ranks and became one of the most influential members within the 5 guild circles.

With his coffers overflowing with wealth, Aurelio indulged in his love for the finer things in life. He bought wineries and cheese farms, ensuring that he had access to the highest quality products. He frequented the best restaurants and vineyards, savoring every last drop of wine and every morsel of food.

But Aurelio was not content to keep these luxuries to himself. He wanted everyone, regardless of their social status, to experience the same pleasures that he enjoyed. So, he has made it his mission to provide high-quality products at affordable prices, ensuring that even the poorest of people could taste the finest wines and cheeses.

Through his generosity and dedication to his craft, Aurelio has became a beloved figure in the community. People from all walks of life admire his success and respect his humble beginnings. And even though he has achieved more wealth and status than he ever could have imagined, Aurelio still isn't quite satisfied....

Elio Cafaro:

In the words of the Traveler: "I hate to say it, believe me, but not much is known one this one. Give me time however, and all secrets will be revealed"

[the-owl-tree]

for games, I’d recommend Cattails 1 and 2! Cattails 1, just known as “Cattails”, is a rather old 8bit cat life sim similar to Stardew valley, and is sort of outdated, so I would recommend starting with Cattails 2, known as “Cattails: Wildwood”! Wildwood has updated graphics, extremely customizable character options, fun characters to get to know, and an interesting story campaign! It is also a life sim similar to Stardew Valley, but the town amd den in which you live is completely customizable! If you end up really liking Wildwood and want more, you can try out the first one for a little more tidbits of lore, but it isn’t necessary to know anything from the first game to play the second.

I LOVE CATTAILS! Can't believe I forgot it. i used to play the original warriors fangame it was based off of all the time, my favorite thing to do was play as a rogue and design my own custom base. A little sad that isn't an option in Cattails (unless it is?)

I've been meaning to check out Wildwood, I was really excited when I saw farming was part of it.

[themaskstayson]

Part three of the Wyll origin run

Ah man, this is a lot. I haven't had Gale so excited to talk to me since my first playthrough 500 hours ago it's kind of cute ngl

I'm thinking about Wyll being emo during the party cause the little scene is one of my favorites, and trying to cheer him up from his body dysphoria(?) but I also really, REALLY, enjoy the idea of Wyll stuffing his feelings down to make everyone happy since he can't be emo by the river since he's the party lead. Wyll is trying to keep the team morale high and then when he's alone in his bed he just cries to sleep. Cause, let's be real, no one is mentally capable to help each other when the player is the therapist.

Also, his funny lines are pretty good and I have been picking every single option to have Wyll just laughing the pain away.

So, we saved Karlach, asked her if she had any advice on horn care since I feel like that's a WAY better route to go instead of Wyll being depressed during the party when you are Tav amd makes more sense since Wyll is gonna mingle.

(Side rant: People say Wyll sucks because he's insensitive but like, come on. He's a DEVIL not tielfing! I think he's allowed to express how he feels uncomfortable in his new DEVIL body. "But tielfings have horns!" yeah okay but they straight up saw Wyll as a human like two days ago, they know something is fishy with the sulfer smell coming off him. You gonna say there's no difference??? Now THAT is insensitive /hj lol)

I also went to the Rest and Counsellor Florrick asked what the hell happened and once again Wyll joked that he was running with the wrong crowd. Unfortunately that backed fired and she said she knew since his father informed them which damn. Ulder is talking mad shit about his own son, that's crazy. Felt bad and then she had the audacity to demand my help???? Like I was gonna give it but damn.

Anyways, I was hoping to get to level 5 before the Goblin Camp but I didn't. So, we gambled it. Had Gut give me the sleep potion and got assistance for that. Knocked Minthara out cause I'm STILL trying to get that girl without being a bad guy. Then fought Ragzlin which.... that was rough. Gale did die but luckily his deas body did some damage to a goblin and Ragzlin. I usually cheese the fight but idk I decided not to this time around for some reason.

STILL not sure who imma romance. Flirted with Gale at the party, which was cute. I am leaning towards him cause I gotta stop romancing Astarion and Wyll all the time. And despite being a huge wyllstarion fan, Gale is doing something to my current need for a cute romance. Plus my other game I am romancing Astarion and Wyll (two Tav game yippee) so I should romance someone new. Karlach did not try to put the moves on me and I am not putting the moves on her so rip. First time ever Shadowheart and Lae'zel are meh about me, which is weird. I'll figure it out the next time I play but might be joining the Gale/Wyll club. I should find some fics to get into the mindset.

Also if anyone is reading these I should mention this is a modded custom game. Meaning I am using the mod honor feature unlock so i can have the playstyle with multiple saves, playing in a custom game that I cannot see the NPC HP, gave the NPC 100% more HP compared to the game 30% more. I want the multiple saves for story stuff cause I'm still trying out new lines but also I need the combat to be harder.

Honour Feature Unlock

Tactician Plus (best for party limit begone tbh this file I'm doing just 4 to a party tho but in other files with everyone, I use the 150% HP)

[fuck-customers]

Customers, managers, corporate; it's all the same shit

Just an asshole with power over you because the other options involves being homeless, amd probably just dieing.

Money isn't the root of all evil, it's just a concept. People who wanted to use and abuse others always found means. Money just happens to be a really easy means of control.

[hydralisk98]

LibreVastServitor computing stack designs 1/?

Just a quick reminder here, this is a customized computing stack manifestation game where I simply write what I desire and then let the wider universe manifest it for me whatever way that means, including personal efforts of mine. Boils down from customizing and adapting research material into a actionable series of items to manifest.

Ashur dream specifications

(mid-tower personal workstation computer)

2+ 2560x1440p monitors (one vertical, one or more horizontal)

Intel Core i5-4690 @ 3.5 GHz with its 4-cores (hoping forward to upgrade the RISC-V + OpenPOWER like processor for something decent with ~12-cores & much more open design) central processor unit

32GB of RAM

Some recent mid-range AMD GPU

64 GB Linux swap partition (mostly for virtual machines and RAMdisk partitions)

4TB+ SSD storage

Bluray burner

Floppy drive

Cassette / datasette drive

Themed GRUB bootloader

S6 init system

Arch-like package manager and software ecosystem

Customized alternative Linux kernel between Linux Libre & Zen kernel ( XanMod + Liquorix )

ZealOS, Parade, OpenBSD, OpenIndiana...

CLADO, DIS, Venera, Perseus, Maskoch, Synod, Monad, Valenz, Constans?

KDE Plasma with Liquid shell as desktop environment, complete with custom ricing, dot files & all the KDE desktop environment utilities;

Bash + Fish, Tmux, Astro-Neo-Vim with LSP, Emacs, LibreOffice Suite, Calligra, Bottles, Wine, WineTricks, QGIS, Firefox, LibreWolf, Dolphin, Konsole, Inkscape, Karbon, OpenStreetMap, GPlates, GProjector, Itch, Steam, GOG Galaxy, Lutris, Cyberpunk 2077, Ken Silverman's, FreeBASIC, Common Lisp, Godot + Qodot, VLC, MPV, .ogg / .ogv media player, musical tracker, 'Landchad.net', Brasero, K3B, FloppyFormatter, LibreCAD, AutoCAD, Blender, Kate, Qt, Nim, MUSL, C compiler, assembly monitor, HxD debugger, Rust, Swift, Kotlin, F#, C#, GNU make, NASM, Sweet Home 3D, some digital audio workstation software, Audacious, FFMPEG, Wayland, Morevna OpenToonz, some HTTP(S) web server suite, MongoDB, Hexo, Netlify CMS, RSS feed reader + generator, Pomodoro, Calendar, timely Tracker, Notion-like service, Tape, Gollum, some level editors, FreeCiv, The Sims 2, SimCity 4, Quake 1, Doom 1 & Doom 2, Markdown / Argdown, Konqueror, some WYSISYG rich media editor, some Raycaster engine, Daggerfall Unity, Portal 2, Source (1 & 2) Engine modding, some VirtualTableTop software, some remote desktop control software like VNC, OpenSSH, some distributed share storage software, Trenchbroom, StableDiffusionXL, ChatGPT open source alternative, DAO, Krita, GIMP, G'MIC & its plugins, PaintDotNet, CataclysmDDA, CataclysmBDA, Evennia, Python 3, Firefox for KDE (Developer Edition), Perl, PHP, MariaDB, lighttpd, Apache, Nginx, Themix Oomox GTK+ theme editor, Falkon, ...

Custom shell scripts, interactive REPL programming languages, some GUI programs, command aliases and dot file configurations;

?

Venera (computation "deque" project)

Original components:

RISC-V + OpenPOWER = LibreVast (tribble word-based open hardware architecture designed for daily use & tinkering developer purposes)

Tropix + OGAS = Nucleus (optimized distributed processing micro-kernel, like 'Inferno' & 'Plan9')

RedSeaFS + Parade = CLADOgram (direct-access rich media agentive filesystem & file server suite)

KDE + POSIX-compilant CDE = VUE (lightweight desktop environment with profound customization options)

CommonLisp w/ CLOS + Nim = Pan-Lisp (both low-level and high-level REPL programming language)

Existing components:

Fish, Tmux, Vim, Konsole, Flatpak, Git

KDE Plasma w/ Liquid shell alternative

Konqueror, LibreWolf

GIMP w/ G'MIC & Krita w/ G'MIC

Hexo (flat blog self-hosting web server), MariaDB, "Landchad.net" stuff

QEMU, Wine, Wine-tricks, Proton, Bottles, Lutris

Trenchbroom, Godot w/ Qodot

Kate, KDevelop, Okteta, Mousepad, Notepadqq

[...]

[satoshi-mochida]

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart coming to PC on July 26

Gematsu Source

Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and developer Insomniac Games will release Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store on July 26, the companies announced.

Pre-orders include early access to the in-game items “Carbonox Armor Set” and “Pixelizer Weapon.”

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart first launched for PlayStation 5 on June 11, 2021.

Here is an overview of the game, via its store pages:

About

The intergalactic adventurers are back with a bang in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart!

Go dimension-hopping with Ratchet and Clank as they venture onto a PC near you for the very first time. Help them take on an evil emperor from another reality as you jump between action-packed worlds and beyond.

With their own universe next in the firing line, dust off the dynamic pair’s outrageous weaponry and stop a dimensional collapse in its tracks!

Unite the double team supreme with a cast of familiar allies and new faces, including newcomer Rivet. She’s a Lombax resistance fighter from another dimension, who is just as determined to take out the robotic scourge.

Enjoy a dazzling interdimensional adventure. Built from the ground up by acclaimed studio Insomniac Games and brought to PC by Nixxes Software, you’ll go beyond what you see with in-game actions coming to life in your hands via the DualSense wireless controller. Haptic feedback and adaptive trigger technology create lifelike sensations: feel the hum of a spacecraft vibrate across the surface of the controller, or the kick of pulling your trusty Enforcer’s trigger.

PC Features

Blast your way through an interdimensional adventure as Ratchet and Clank make their way to PC for the very first time!

Wrap your eyes around delightful, diverse dimensions, with ultra-wide support for 21:9, 32:9, and 48:9 (triple monitor support) resolutions!

See the omniverse brought to life with the option of unlocked frame rates! You can also enjoy ray-traced reflections, as well as newly added, ray-traced shadows for exteriors.

Witness the very latest, performance-enhancing upscaling technologies for yourself, including NVIDIA DLSS 3, AMD FSR 2, Intel XeSS and Insomniac Games’ Temporal Injection. NVIDIA Reflex and image quality-enhancing NVIDIA DLAA are also supported.

Play with the DualSense controller to experience haptic feedback and dynamic trigger effects. Or choose mouse and keyboard—with a wide range of control customization options.

Includes support for achievements and cloud saves on PC game launchers.

Watch a new trailer below. View a new set of screenshots at the gallery.

PC Features Trailer

[frozenbassist]

ChromeOS -> Linux

ChromeOS is essentially a highly-customized and locked-down version of Linux (based on Gentoo Linux). It's similar to Android in that way, since Android is also Linux-based. While Linux can't natively run Linux apps, it has its own software repositories (depends on the distro) where you can install anything. And it's 100% free and open-source. Plus, many distros (distribution - like a flavor of Linux) are beginner-friendly and easy-to-use.

The best option for beginners is a Debian-based distro: Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Pop! OS are some favorites among beginners

If you have a low-spec PC: AMD Athlon, Intel Pentium, Celeron, < 4 Gb RAM, there are modern distros like MX Linux or AntiX Linux that can run on low-spec hardware with as little as 512 Mb of RAM.

Also, if you want Linux to look like ChromeOS, you need to install a distro with KDE like Kubuntu, Debian with KDE, or KDE Neon and then install one of the many ChromeOS themes I linked below from the KDE store - not actually a store - they are all free like most things on Linux.

Google is going to start scraping all of their platforms to use for AI training. So, here are some alternatives for common Google tools!

Google Chrome -> Firefox

If you’re on tumblr, you’ve probably already been told this a thousand times. But FireFox is an open-source browser which is safe, fast and secure. Basically all other browsers are Chrome reskins. Try Firefox Profilemaker, Arkenfox and Librewolf! Alternatively, vanilla Firefox is alright, but get Ublock Origin, turn off pocket, and get Tabliss.

Google Search -> DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo very rarely tracks or stores your browsing data (though they have only been known to sell this info to Microsoft). Don’t use their browser; only their search engine. Domain visits in their browser get shared. Alternatively, you can also use Ecosia, which is a safe search engine that uses its income to plant trees! 🌲

Google Reverse Image Search -> Tineye

Tineye uses image identification tech rather than keywords, metadata or watermarks to find you the source of your image!

Gmail -> ProtonMail

All data stored on ProtonMail is encrypted, and it boasts self-destructing emails, text search, and a commitment to user privacy. Tutanota is also a good alternative!

Google Docs -> LibreOffice

LibreOffice is free and open-source software, which includes functions like writing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, formula editing and more.

Google Translate -> DeepL

DeepL is notable for its accuracy of translation, and is much better that Google Translate in this regard. It does cost money for unlimited usage, but it will let you translate 500,000 characters per month for free. If this is a dealbreaker, consider checking out the iTranslate app.

Google Forms -> ClickUp

ClickUp comes with a built-in form view, and also has a documents feature, which could make it a good option to take out two birds with one stone.

Google Drive -> Mega

Mega offers a better encryption method than Google Drive, which means it’s more secure.

YouTube -> PeerTube

YouTube is the most difficult to account for, because it has a functional monopoly on long-form video-sharing. That being said, PeerTube is open-source and decentralized. The Internet Archive also has a video section!

However, if you still want access to YouTube’s library, check out NewPipe and LibreTube! NewPipe scrapes YouTube’s API so you can watch YouTube videos without Google collecting your info. LibreTube does the same thing, but instead of using YouTube servers, it uses piped servers, so Google doesn’t even get your IP address. Both of these are free, don’t require sign-ins, and are open source!

Please feel free to drop your favorite alternatives to Google-owned products, too! And, if this topic interests you, consider checking out Glaze as well! It alters your artwork and photos so that it’s more difficult to use to train AI with! ⭐️