#cheap mobile plan

[xerxestexastoast]

Thinking about that Catly game announced at the game awards and wondering who it's even for. The commitment to AAA realism seems like it's a huge and unnecessary expense for something that's trying to appeal to the virtual pet niche, where we kickstart new projects for well under a million dollars and our pets are 200px square PNGs.

[izzy-b-hands]

Think my phone has finally kicked the bucket, so now I get to rapidly rebudget so I can get a new one ASAP

[newkiqx]

Installed a sensor on my girl so i know when

[battlebreasts]

So far this year I've already beaten SMT Strange Journey and Devil Survivor, plus I'm halfway through Devil Suvivor 2 and once I'm done there I'll mess around with SMT 4 (and maybe apocalypse) and then consider playing either the gba or Mega-CD release of smt1 and then smt2... I also need to play soul hackers... And maybe if... and NINE......

And then maybe the trpg if it's been translated online somewhere....

[devsgames]

HOT GAMEDEVS DON'T GATEKEEP

Inspired by this post by @midwinterhunt, here's a compilation of all the game dev resources I have come across, most of which I use fairly frequently. Most of these are free, some are paid but fairly cheap. Feel free to add your own resources. ✌️

Important reminder: When using basically any works or programs someone else created in your games, make sure you thoroughly understand the licenses and terms it has been shared with. If you don't know what the terms are, reach out to the resource and ask. Don't be lazy about this; it's not only dishonest but it can come back to bite you.

Engines

Unity - Best suited for mobile and multi-platform.

Unreal - Tailored for shooters and high-fidelity experiences.

PICO-8 - Virtual console for simple games

Godot - Open source and free!

GameMaker - Good for 2D games

Bitsy - Great little engine for making simple games and experiences

Construct - Never used but have heard nice things

Scratch - If you've never coded before, this is the best place to start. Great for young devs and those who want to get their feet wet.

Adventure Game Studio - Best suited for adventure games

RPG Maker - Best suited for top-down classic JRPG style games

Twine - Text-centric games like Interactive Fiction

Assets

OpenGameArt - Many assets, various licenses, and plenty of CC0 content.

Unity Store - For Unity only. Some free.

Unreal Store - For Unreal only. Some free.

Godot Asset Library

Jean Moreno's Toon Effects - Some of the best effects available on the Unity store. Unity only but I've used them in basically every project.

Steamworks.net C# Wrapper For Unity - Unity only C# wrapper for integrating Steam compatibility to your game

Itch.io - Plenty of free art assets and game dev resources

Kenney - Kenney makes tons of open-source assets for devs to use.

Art

Mixamo - Generates rigs for your humanoid models and lets you apply a library of free humanoid animations to them. Super helpful for prototyping. Adobe.

Blender - Free, open source and fully featured 3D program.

XNormal - Free offline normal map generator

Normal Map Online - Free online normal map generator

Crocotile - Cheap tool for building 3D models from sprite sheets

MagicaVoxel - Free voxel modelling tool

Piskel - Free online sprite drawing tool

Aesprite - Paid sprite drawing tool

TurboSquid - Not always great quality, but can be good source of free placeholders.

Textures.com - Limited texture downloads per day but free for personal use.

Pexels - Free stock photo resource. Most are free for commercial use. Check licenses.

Clipstudio - Good for illustration or graphic design. One time payment.

GIMP - Image editing program a-la Photoshop. Free.

Audio

Audacity - Free and fully-featured DAW/audio editor.

sfx.me - Free 8-bit synth-style sound effect generator for games.

CastingCallClub - Easy forum to find amateur voice talent for your project (p.s.: you should pay them).

FreeSound.org - Free sounds, searchable by license. A go-to for my audio needs.

Incompetech - Royalty-free music by Kevin McLeod.

Scott Buckley Music - Royalty free with conditions. Generally more on the cinematic side of things but very good stuff!

SoundCloud - 'Search -> By Track -> Filter: Use Commercially' leads to songs posted with allowance of commercial use. Always reach out to the artist to understand their terms and confirm that it's okay to use with your project.

Project Planning

Keymailer - Handy for mailing keys to influencers (don't expect a lot of traction unless you're paying for some of the features though).

Trello - Kanban board. Great for organizing tasks, managing bugs, etc. Free.

Notion - Private text and wiki page editor. Good for project organization, note taking, and fleshing out ideas. Free.

Obsidian - Alternative to Notion, with similar features.

Miro - Free whiteboard for organizing thoughts, images, brainstorming, etc.

Wave - Free Bookkeeping site. Great for keeping finances organized.

[scarybabe]

Thank you so much for being open about your strong fat journey!! It looks amazing on you!!

Would you be open to sharing a sample week workout write up, or some other reference tips to create a routine? As a fellow gainer girl it would be great to have a reference that works for my body type, and I love your results!

Forgive me if you’ve already shared this, or stated that you don’t want to (if that’s the case just delete the ask)

You’re a wonderful voice in the community, thank you so much for doing all you do!!

Ahh thank you!! I do have a weightlifting coach, she makes my workout plans every day but I can share my nutrition plans + my usual mobility stretches - this makes a huge difference since I was starting from being a couch potato 💕

Nutrition- 3 meals with at least 30-40g of protein each meal and minimum 2,700 calories but more is good! I like the chocolate mutant mass protein powder and put unflavored collagen peptides in everything. At least 100oz of water every day

Mobility stretches (look these up) - 12 reps of Cat Cow, Superman Arm Sweeps. 10 reps of Dynamic Thread the Needle (on each side), Kneeling Hip CARS (each side), 90/90 Hip Shifts ** my mobility stretches change slightly depending on what area I’m working out

At the gym - 4 x 6-10 reps deadlift on smith machine, 3 x 6-12 dumbbell hammer curls, 3 x 8-12 dumbbell Romanian deadlifts (RDLs), 3 x 6-12 cable machine lat pulldown, 2 x 15 each side mini band standing glute hyperextension (one foot on a riser while the other leg extends), 2 x 20 hip abductions (usually there’s a machine for these)

If you’re new to lifting the first number is the number of sets - take a minute to rest between sets or even a bit longer if needed. Second number is the range of reps you do. When researching these I would look up the right tempo for eccentric/concentric muscle contractions because that can really maximize the efficacy. I usually do a practice set with as little weight as possible before the actual set of each new exercise to make sure my form is good, bad form can cause sprains, imbalances or soreness.

I finish my weightlifting with some cooldown stretches - today it’s 60 secof wide leg oblique stretching, 60 sec childs pose lat stretch, 60 sec prone cross over leg glute stretch

~~~~~

Monday - Friday I rotate through different muscle groups so I just shared my Monday routine (pull day!) and my coach tailors it to my personal goals as well. There’s a lot of good weightlifting programs online for free! I don’t do an ounce of cardio either, only strength training.

Thank you for your kind words, I hope this sparks interest in anyone else who may wanna try getting strong. I have a membership to a cheap 24/7 local gym because when I first started I was kinda shy to be watched as I figured out my form and all that 🤣 places like that are good for beginners

[blueberrypancakesworld]

Perv!Charlie Walker headcanons

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warning : perverted behavior, yandere thoughts, stalking, obsession, nothing graphical, mention of nudeness, clueless reader, obsessed love

second part , third part, fourth part

masterlist

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

°It all started when you switched to his history class. When you came in and chose a seat diagonally opposite to him. You hadn't noticed his presence when you entered. But his gaze fixed on you the whole class. You were perfect. More perfect than Kirby could ever have been.

°My beautiful victim he thought as he walked past her, trying to catch a glimpse of her scent. You smelled so sweet and innocent. He would make her his Sydney. Keep her forever.

°A few weeks passed and his obsession with her grew from day to day. Every day he tried to talk to you as often as he could. No matter if it was the little talks during the break. Trivial or not, it was all the same. Your affection was enough for him. He just needed to have you with him. Just for him.

°He could hardly believe his luck when one day you asked him if you could come to the film club.

°Of course he immediately agreed and couldn't hide the blush on his cheeks when you pulled him into a thankful hug. You are so soft and warm...she's everything he thought as his arms wrapped around your body. It was only a moment but it meant so much more to him.

°The weeks went by and besides the activities at the club he helped her with her homework almost every day. Acting a little foolish with his own, knowing that you would help him. That you would pull him into the library and the two of you would sit together at the table next to each other. Yet you didn't see the look in his blue eyes. But he saw her and his heart beat with happiness every time you pulled him here by the wrist. She likes me he thought delightedly and continued to watch you.

°Soon he would find a way to get to know you even better. To see you whenever he wanted. To record you in his camera. Just for himself.

°It was the last lunch break before the weekend when he approached her. A smile played around his lips as she waved at him. A simple plan but it would do. ,,Hey, I was wondering if you would like to work together on the history presentation?" he asked and immediately saw her nod. ,,Of course I would love to, how about tomorrow afternoon, my parents are at work so we can relax" she suggested and there was joy in her eyes as she almost proudly told him about the free house. ,,Cool, see you tomorrow," he said, knowing that you would already have him in your house forever.

°As soon as he was in your house the next day his heart beat faster with joy. It was your house, your home, just you and him. He looked at your shape as you walked up the stairs in front of him and showed him your room. ,,You have good taste," he commented and smiled. You couldn't have been more perfect. Several horror movie posters and fantasy books were on the wall. Some he had read and watched himself. She's perfect for me he thought, letting his fingers roam over some of the books and posters.

°Everything here seemed to reflect you as if he could see and understand you so indirectly. He could touch you. He heard you say that you would fetch something to drink from the cellar. He just nodded before waiting for the door to close. His smile widened, his gaze determined as he pulled out of his backpack the many small cameras. They were not cheap, but for you, anything was enough. He quickly thought of the right places and set up the cameras. Before he saw on his mobile phone that he could see the whole room.

°He listened, but you were still searching in the basement. Before his gaze fell on your dresser with clothes inside. A blush crept into his cheeks. He knew he was close to being caught. But he wanted to finally possess something of you. To finally have you. Just a small part. Carefully he opened one of the many drawers. Your clothes came out, with the same engaging smell. It's almost like she's embracing me, he thought with a sigh as he reached for one of your t-shirts and stuffed it into his backpack.

°Then his eyes caught a pair of black folded panties with black lace. His cheeks grew even darker. His fantasy of what you would look like in them began to come together in his head. She's only wearing it for me he thought and a furtive smile crept onto his lips. It smelled just like you. Hastily he stuffed the garment into his backpack before the door to your room opened only a moment later.

°The remaining hours he was full of enthusiasm and admiration. He enjoyed the contact, touched you as often as he could and finally wanted to have you for himself. Only when you said goodbye to him in the evening did he practically run home. Connecting his mobile phone to his computer and opening the programme, he finally saw your room.

°You had already gone back to your bedroom and had just closed the curtains to your window when you started to undress. ,,So beautiful," he murmured and zoomed in with the camera. He saw you take off your pullover and fold it carefully. He saw your torso, saw the dark red bra with black lace that nestled comfortably against your breasts. His heart beat faster, you were so unbelievably captivating. He saw her take off her trousers and put them with the pullover. A matching pair of panties in the same colour showed itself to him. They clung to your hips and your body.

°He thought you were going to bed when you turned to one of the cameras. For a moment he was afraid that you had seen him. Instead you walked to your full body mirror and took off your bra. For a split moment, all thought was gone from his mind. Before he felt the slight tug at his centre. He could see your naked breasts and you seemed to almost present yourself to him as you looked at yourself in the mirror for a moment. Before she finally went to her bed and lay down under the covers. It turned him on, nervous and crazy for you, knowing that you slept only in your underwear.

°For him, for his image of you, you seemed to long for him. Seeming to wait for him. Loving him too. He continued to watch you through the hours. Taking in every bit of your features that he saw and loving you more and more. ,,Charlie" he heard you murmur as you moved slightly and seemed to almost hug the blanket. She's dreaming of me, the brown-haired man realised, and at that moment he would have loved to look inside your head.

°But for him it was just another proof. Another proof that maybe he should slip into your room tonight. Into you. Not just watch you anymore. Finally kiss you and finally have you to himself. Not kill you no you were better than Sydney he would keep you with him. You loved him as much as he loved you, he just knew it. But in the end you would have no choice. For no matter how much time passed he would always be watching you. Because love would always find its way. Willingly or not.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

[thelovelywriteress]

➷ Hard-fist crush

▶︎ɪᴛᴏɴᴀ x ᴠɪᴏʟᴇɴᴛ ғ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

────────────────────────────

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Everyone would have seen you as some secret sister of Karma if wasn't for the distinct difference between you both.

He is cool and violent. You are annoyed and violent.

He punches people because he finds it cool. You punch people because they easily irritate you.

Class doubt they have ever see any other expression on your face except annoyance or angry.

Even though you're always have that scoff on your face, it wasn't a lie to say you got a pretty face. Many even conclude it as "waste for face like this."

When Itona finally join the class, you didn't care about him much. He joined the Terasaka gang and that was it. You see him as another student and someone else who you have to ensure.

It didn't take much time for Itona to learn about everyone in class, including you! He observed how boys compliment your looks and conclude how it oversee your violent behaviour too. Apparently your angry is got to be charm about you.

You and Itona didn't officially interact before one day you accidentally let your phone washed with your uniform. Now that your phone wasn't working, you need to spend god knows how on its repair. And you hate to spend your money on anything other than food.

As you were cursing yourself for being so careless, you come across Itona. Looks like he was checking some tools? Now like mention above you didn't officially interact before so you were kind of fighting yourself on whether you should go or not. Since you were in good mood you decide a casual hi wouldn't be much.

'What'cha doing? Looking at any other store to destroy?' Got to say you don't got best way to start conversation. Itona didn't react, heck he didn't even acknowledge your presence and it irked you. You was about to hit his head untill he finally said something to you too.

'You're that 'such a waste for pretty face', right?'

'Who?!'

Let's say Itona end up telling how Maehara and Okajima describe you and now you were planning all ways to hit them that they don't be able to ever walk again.

But again they weren't here right now and your phone was still not working. Sighing you ask him about any cheap mobile repairing shop. He does seems to be interested in these kinds of things, maybe he can give you lead?

Turns out he can't give you lead. HE IS LEAD. Bro specialise in mobile repairing too. Though you didn't trust him your phone, you reluctantly did give him your phone. Afterall he did seem type to be sure about its ability.

You decided to take him to a eating place. If he can repair your home, might repay him with food. You was munching on some food while his hand continue to do things with your phone.

You eyed him sometimes through repair process - unlike the times he wasn't part of your class his eyes look lot calmer now. On closer observation you notice his appearance; his hair look so white and soft. 'Are they soft too?' You subconsciously wonder.

"Here. It's done." You never realised you have been staring at him until Itona pulled his eyes towards you. You feel little embarrassed though you quickly hide it by checking your phone. Surprisingly it was working well.

"Wow. It's working so smoothly. Literally like a new one." This boy sure got good mechanic skills. He just nonchalant shrug and told he was just helping a classmate and munch on some food you order for him as payment. You did the same and it was silence for while.

"You aren't much violent like they describe you." He stated as you give him a werid look. Was he observing you? You started to feel little self-conscious but you quickly brushed it off. "What you interested to know about me?" You give a slight smirk,"Lots of guys in class are." Oh. "Since you're beast in beauty's body." What?

For next few moments you heard come information from Itona about how boys see you. "That fucking piece of shits- Maehara and Okajima!" You clutch your fist viens popping out. As Itona just keep munching on the food you gave him in exchange of information. He didn't seem to have any remorse for guys he sell out.

"Waste for a face like mine, huh?" You said in a low tone as you sat down. You were aware of the fact how much fist-lover you was but still it stings a bit how guys things about this and even disscus it in front of new guys. You weren't sure if you were annoyed by the fact you didnt hear a single good thing about you other than your body or that even new kid thinks you as some wild girl who didn't suit this body.

"They're wrong though." What? You quickly break out of your inner monologue as you stare at Itona, wanting him to justify his statement. "They say waste for a face like you but I think your personality suits your face very much." You don't know if he was saying this to confront you or what but you still feel arise of little happiness inside you. Plus basing on how Itona is, you felt statement was genuine. "I think if anything, you're overall cute." Huhhh! And for first time you were genuinely flustered too.

"If anything, you're overall cute. This sentence was playing rent free in your mind. "Argh! Stupid! Stupid!" You burried your face in your pillow as you remember the way he said it was like it was most obvious thing in world. And after that day you become visible flustered whenever Itona even pass through you.

"Don't come near me!"

"But I need to go out and it's only way to door."

"Shut up!"

You annoyed at students aren't weren't big deal but for some reason you were literally warry of every act of Itona.

"Here have it." You give him a cold medicine after you notice he had been sneezing all day. "

"Huh idiot like you forgot lunch. I am not even suprise." Proceeds to give him half of her lunch while taunting him some more.

Everyone was so confused like what the hell was going on between you and Itona untill Karma point out. "She literally got obvious crush on him idiots."

Yeah he knew because he do something same too. More you act all arrogant and mighty, more confused you get when you're in love. Bro probably do something same. 😒☝️

And it wasn't before everyone start teasing you both. Especially you, since you had punch almost everyone in the class and it was time for payback but only it wasn't payback cause you were ready to break bones of anyone who dare to do it.

Even they realised they can't tease you. They move towards Itona and he didn't even understand how they come to this conclusion - like don't you literally just taunt and pick on him all the time with side generous acts.

But with time even he started to get annoyed by it; "Yo Itona what's your favorite thing about her?" "When she punches you people so hard, you fly out of window."

───────────────────────────────────

Itona my beloved. 🥹 Seriously we need more Itona content, especially without all yandere stuff. 😤☝️

[whumpdoyoumean]

Whumptober #22

A/N: Surprise! This is a precursor to day 8. I actually had this one planned ages and ages ago, before I'd written 8. I tried to write them so that each one could stand on its own and not be too confusing, since they're being posted out of order. Anyway, enjoy!

xxx oh, that's not good

"I didn't see any sign of him," Guy frets as she and Lamb reconvene at the front entrance of the house.

"Are you surprised?" Lamb says. "These guys aren't exactly geniuses but they're not stupid enough to keep a kidnapped MI:5 agent in their hall closet! Come on, we've still got loads of places to look, and not a lot of time to do it before those idiots come back. Stables next."

Guy sighs and nods. "Right."

Her expression is one of deliberate focus as she exits the house and heads toward the stables, gun in hand. She's so focused on the stables, in fact, that she doesn't bothering observing the rest of her surroundings, which is probably why she doesn't notice the many pairs of boot-prints in the mud. And why she doesn't notice Lamb stopping to look at them. He doesn't call after her, partially because he's confident there's no one waiting in the stables to ambush her, precluding the need for backup, but mostly because he can't be arsed.

He follows the prints to a pair of basement bulkhead doors round the east side of the house. There's a heavy chain and padlock keeping them shut, but the lock obviously cheap. All it takes to get it open is a large stone Lamb finds on the ground and a few heavy blows. He highly doubts there's anything in the darkened basement that he'll need to shoot, but he draws his gun anyway before pulling the doors open and making his way down the steps. It's dark at the bottom, and it takes a moment for his eyes to adjust.

When they do, he can see that he's in the right spot.

“Fuuucking hell,” he murmurs, holstering his weapon before stepping further into the basement. “Christ, Cartwright, you alive?”

The figure huddled against the far wall stirs slightly, but offers no other response. Lamb makes an annoyed sound in the back of his throat (or worried, more like – not that River will be able to tell, the state he's in) and crouches next to the younger agent. There's old blood in his hair, dark red matting the blonde over his left ear and dried onto his neck. An ugly purple-yellow bruise stretches over his jaw on the same side, a few days old. A gash on his right cheekbone looks newer. Lamb doesn't need to see to know that his torso likely took the worst of it; ribs and kidneys tend to be favored targets of this sort of brainless thug. River’ll probably be pissing blood for a day or two, and he'll be hurting for a bit, but he seems surprisingly okay given the circumstance.

“Oi," Lamb says loudly, giving Cartwright's shoulder a firm shove. River's brow crinkles into a frown and he grimaces, blue eyes fluttering open. His gaze lands on Lamb and he groans, letting his eyes fall back shut. Lamb prods at him. “If you think I'm gonna carry you out of here, think again."

Cartwright opens his eyes again, staring up at the low ceiling. He takes two deep breaths (But not that deep, Lamb notes) and then slowly starts to push himself up on his elbows. He doesn't say anything, hardly even seems to notice, when Lamb reflexively puts a hand on his back to help him get upright.

Lamb doesn't like it.

“What," he says, putting a sneer into his words in the hopes of drawing some sort of reaction. “Don't tell me you don't have something smart to say. No, ‘I’d’ve had it’? No, ‘Where the hell have you been’?"

Cartwright sighs, but the corner of his mouth twitches. “I’d’ve had it," he says, and looks up at Lamb. “And where the hell have you been?"

Lamb bites back a smirk, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, you'll be fine. Come on!"

He turns, pulling his mobile out as behind him Cartwright makes his way, groaning, to his feet. Shirley answers after the first ring.

"Yeah?"

"I found Cartwright," Lamb says. "Hurry up and finish what you're doing and meet us out by the cars." He glances over his shoulder as he returns his mobile to his coat pocket. Cartwright is swaying slightly, but there's a determined set to his expression. Lamb raises an eyebrow at him. "You coming?"

Cartwright gives him a shaky thumbs-up. "Yep."

xxx

It's not a sunny day—far from it, seeing as they're in the English countryside in October—but the daylight is still far brighter than the hole in the ground where River's been held the last three days. Or maybe it's four? He's lost track. Regardless, he finds himself wincing as he emerges from the basement as the relative brightness sends bursts of pain through his skull.

"Lamb!" Louisa's voice. "He's not in the stables. Where did you go?" She looks over Lamb's shoulder and her eyes widen. "River!"

"Hey, Louisa," River says, raising his hand in a sheepish wave.

Louisa steps around Lamb and grabs River's arms, looking him over, brow furrowed. "You alright?"

River shrugs. "Oh, you know..." He looks up at the back of Lamb who, unsurprisingly, didn't stop to watch Louisa and River's reunion. "I'm surprised Lamb came himself."

"Yeah. Marcus and Shirley are here, too."

"Really?" River frowns. "All of you are here?"

"Well, not all of us. Roddy's still at Slough."

River snorts. "He doesn't count."

Marcus and Shirley are already at the cars when they get there, and Shirley grins as soon as she sees River, straightening up from where she'd been leaning against Marcus's car.

"Were they keeping you in the stable?" she says. "'Cus that would be really fucking embarrassing."

"It was the basement, actually," River says dryly. He's not sure why he expected anything else from her.

"Because we're Slow Horses," Shirley continues as if River hadn't spoken. "Horse. Stable. It's funny."

River shoots her a sarcastic smile and holds up his middle finger. Shirley scowls.

"Rude."

He opens his mouth to answer, and is interrupted by the loud crack of gunfire.

"Get down!" Lamb shouts, and River thinks it's a little funny that he bothers saying it; they're all already moving, diving for cover behind the parked cars. They may be Slow Horses, but they're still Service. They aren't just going to stand around while a sniper opens fire on them.

“Shit!" Shirley cries as a round strikes the dirt near her. "Where is that coming from?”

“Uh – barn.” Marcus is the one who answers. “Hayloft, I think.”

Lamb growls. “You didn’t clear the fucking barn?”

“You called and told us you had River! You didn’t say anything about clearing the barn!”

“I said to finish what you were doing, I didn’t think I had to fucking spell it out! Bloody well should have known, though, you’ve all the sense of a toad. Didn't clear the fucking barn..."

"We can return fire, but I don't know what good it'll do us," Marcus says. "He's got better cover, better range, a better vantage point..."

“He’ll run out of ammunition eventually,” Shirley says, and Lamb lets out a bark of laughter.

“Yeah, I suppose we could just roll around in the dirt here and hope the bastard is stupid enough to waste all of his bullets. Anyone else have any bright ideas they'd like to share? Cartwright?”

River, who's only been half-listening to most of the conversation, looks up at the sound of his name. “Erm – what? Sorry?”

Lamb’s irritated expression shifts slightly, his forehead creasing in the middle. Then his eyes flick downward, then back up again, eyes slightly narrowed in suspicion. “Are you hit?”

"What?" Louisa says sharply.

River looks down to where his hand is clasping his hip. He hadn't even noticed he was doing that...He lifts his hand away from his side enough to catch a glimpse of bright red before quickly replacing it, swallowing hard to quell the nausea that tries to rise up.

“Yup. Yeah, I--I think so. Yeah."

He's not sure he would've realized if not for the sight of blood. Adrenaline is a hell of a thing.

"Jesus," Marcus says.

Louisa's voice is tight with near-panic. "We have to get him out of here!"

"It's fine!" River's voice is loud, almost shrill. It comes out too insistent. He swears internally, then takes a breath and forces a smile that he hopes looks less manic than it feels. "I'm alright, it's a good guy wound."

Shirley makes a face. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"The good guys in action movies, they always – you know what, never mind!" His mind is racing. He's pretty sure adrenaline is supposed to bring clarity, but his thoughts are all noisy and competing for attention. The one that makes it out of his mouth, before he has time to really process it, is, "This is a good thing."

"How?!" Louisa and Shirley cry in baffled unison.

There's an opportunity here for River to turn something humiliating—having to be rescued from the ex-military meatheads that had managed to kidnap him—into a win. He just has to make them see it.

"Look, now that their secret hideout isn't a secret anymore, they're just going to go deeper underground. Whoever's shooting at us is alone right now. We can press him for information, I--" He falters momentarily as he sees the doubt plainly written on his co-workers' faces. "I can distract him, and you can sneak around the back of the barn and get the jump on him. We might not get another chance."

"You'll distract him?" Lamb chuckles. "What, for the two seconds it takes to blow your head off? All that'll do is give me an extra pile of paperwork to fill out."

"But--" River begins.

"We're not here for him, Cartwright, we're here for you. And we have you, so we're gonna fuck off back to London. Let the Dogs deal with these pricks."

River blinks in surprise. Of all of them, he'd thought Lamb was the most likely to agree that they should try and get something out of this shitshow. If Lamb notices his shock, he doesn't mention it.

"Guy, Cartwright and I'll go in your car. Dander, you're with Longridge – Christ, I feel like I'm arranging a carpool. Anyway, whoever is up there isn't a very impressive shot, or Cartwright wouldn't be alive right now, but still: move fast."

There's an exchange of glances, some nods. No one counts down, but somehow everyone starts moving at once – Marcus and Louisa yanking open driver's side doors and clambering in, keeping their heads down and trying to make themselves as small as possible (an easier task for Louisa than Marcus) as Lamb and Shirley get into back seats. River is waiting for it, for the sound of gunfire to pick up again, but it doesn't come. He should feel relieved that they aren't being shot at, but all he feels is dread.

"Cartwright!" Lamb barks.

River is still sat in the gravel beside Louisa's car. He's sitting there when a man in a balaclava comes out from behind the small garden shed the cars are parked next to.

Oh, that's not good.

The man's got a gun raised, and it's aimed right at Louisa's head and fuck if River is going to let her get killed. His body doesn't feel like his own as he launches to his feet and places it between the gun and Louisa. There are two loud pops, and then he's falling and the man in the balaclava is falling, too and Louisa is screaming his name but he can't gather the breath he needs to answer because it feels like he's just been kicked in the chest by the world's angriest horse and he can't breathe--

Someone grabs him under the armpits from behind and pulls, and that's enough to shock his lungs back into working.

He screams.

When his vision returns, he realizes he's in the backseat of Louisa's car. He's more than slightly mortified to find that he's laying partially in Jackson Lamb's lap, one of Lamb's hands held tightly against the bullet hole in River's chest.

"Drive!" Lamb yells, and the car lurches into motion and the only sound River makes this time is a low, strangled groan.

River isn't particularly religious, never has been, but as he bleeds and bleeds and tries to breathe in the backseat of Louisa's car, he finds himself pleading with whatever higher power is out there to please, please not let him die in Jackson Lamb's arms.

xxx

[goblinhoursinsomniaramblings]

I Know Those Eyes Pt 2

why yes i am continuing this

“You’re certain.”

Batman’s words were clipped. Less a question than a threat of consequences. Tim nodded, no hesitation.

“I’d have to have access to a blood or skin sample for 100% confidence, but… yeah. As of 1:23 A.M. this morning, we have confirmed visuals of Lex Luthor and Damian Wayne, alive and mobile, in downtown Gotham City.”

He brought up images of the hotel.

“Hotel Spillane, originally used by the Falcone family, mainly used by the successors of their original business interests. Several legal and executive representatives of one of these interests arrived over the course of the night and previous evening, with Luthor and… Damian being the last to arrive.”

Keep it together, Tim.

“Oracle looked into Luthor’s new identity. It’s so obvious I am actually mad. He’s backstopped a whole life story as Lex Luthor’s estranged twin brother, Lionel V. Luthor, going by the nickname Vlad. Sole inheritor of all Lex Luthor’s assets.”

He brought up the images on file for ‘Lionel’ as well as his own analysis of the footage.

“The confusing part is what he did after inheriting–he has been spending a lot of money on sustainability research, alternative fuels, updated emergency service systems, things like that. As far as I can tell he wants to make premium versions of those things and sell them for a profit, but is playing the long game by flooding the board with cheap goods while gaining good PR.”

He called up the files on VladCo.

“The rest he used to get a tech startup running, VladCo. Apparently he’s interested in ‘standardizing the nonstandard’, whatever that means, but he hasn’t really made anything for the mass market yet. The closest we can find is he’s been making something classified for the U.S. government.”

He took a shaky breath and called up what he had on Damian. He felt Bruce’s pained, shocked exhale more than he heard it, but it was there all the same. So… there really wasn’t any doubt.

“Daniel Summers. On paper he’s 24, was raised in Chicago, and while he’s acting as Luthor’s bodyguard we couldn’t find any official records of him being employed in that capacity. Probably because Oracle was only checking every thirty seconds and his birth certificate didn’t show up on any records until just before they arrived at the hotel.”

He started counting off on his fingers.

“So, 1: whoever is adding them to the system isn’t done yet. 2: they don’t actually care if they get caught. 3: they, very specifically, don’t care if we catch them.”

“You’re saying he’s taunting us.”

“It’s looking–hang on, Oracle says there’s a situation developing.”

One quick shortcut and video of a meeting room popped up on the screen. ‘Lionel’ was smugly facing down his very angry looking investors and their representatives. Suddenly, each of them seemed to calm down. Unnaturally fast, and in unison, with a very particular dull look to their eyes. Tim felt a chill down his spine.

Mind control. Lex Luthor was a meta now, and he had mind control! No wonder Damian hadn’t reached out–

But why? What did he still need Damian for? Unless…

Oh.

He met Batman’s eyes. The taunting, the lack of discretion, finding his first victims in Gotham City.

This was a hostage situation.

***

“You know, badger, you’re perfectly free to walk away from this part of the plan.”

“No, I promised. … still really creepy to watch, though.”

All the papers were signed, all the signatories overshadowed. Now all they had to do was get out of range.

Danny frowned as he saw the receptionist reach for the phone. Right, spy games. Someone was probably supposed to give her a code word when the meeting was over–

Her eyes went glassy, hand freezing around the phone, and seriously that would never stop being creepy to watch. Still, non-violent solution, he’d take it.

As they approached their car, Danny scanned the quiet, ominously lit street. Not for obvious cameras–he knew for a fact Oracle would never allow one to be obvious–but for the best possible angle a camera could have. Eliminating the ones that would have already been used, that left–

He had thought about this moment. How he would give some signal to let them know he was back. That he had been thinking of them.

… Tt. Another time. Too many layers to communicate through, too little space to do so. His gaze had lingered with a purpose, he could only hope that would communicate that Damian was still a part of him too.

For now, that would have to be enough.

***

-major reveal of this chapter: ‘Lex’ has mind control powers

-lol damian/danny is the ghost king, vlad holding him hostage? ha no

-yeah they did not plan the hostage thing but vlad is gonna jump on it with both feet later. like he’s not gonna take credit for it, amirite

-some chapters will be longer. some will be shorter. the main thing is still vibes

-yes, the last little bit is going to make things so much worse with the bats

-why Summers? anything winter-related would be too on the nose, and using a name associated with a very different comic book universe felt appropriate

-i've been a touch stressed so this got put on the backburner. yes, because current events

@hinari @blankliferain @grimdarling69

[enriquemzn262]

I just had to buy a new SIM card for my girl as she lost hers, as that’s easier than to call the cellphone company and ask for a replacement, and man, that made me realize: You can just buy one of those in any corner store, they’re cheap too, and all you need is an ID number, you don’t even have to show it, just use a valid number.

Back in my American adventure at the start of the year, it was a massive pain in the ass to find a SIM card, we thought they also sold it in corner stores, gas stations, supermarkets and the like, but no, the land of the free didn’t have that convenience, and in fact I got many weird looks when I asked for one.

Plus, we had to buy a damn data plan to get one on the one T-Mobile we found within 10 miles of our destination, as we found out they didn’t offer any pre-paid ones, that was such an annoying ordeal.

Funny thing, besides the data plan part, in Venezuela it was just as annoying to buy a SIM card, over there because like everything else, they’re scarce and government-regulated, so you have to get into a cellphone company building to buy one.

[iamemeraldfox]

Is slovenia weird/outlier by having enough data in our mobile phone plans that we DON'T need free wifi everywhere we go?

I had 8GB of data in my former data plan, now I have even more, and I went for a plan on the cheap side. I never come even close to using all of it in a month (but then again I don't watch whole movies on it)

Every time I travel abroad, every hotel and restaurant and coffeeshop brags about free wifi, I assume it's a huge selling point? But I never need it, plus it's a safety hazard. My plan includes 2GB of data abroad inside the EU

[sterekchub]

Peeking through your blog and saw the "Stiles' ex-boyfriends thing" and hmmmm. Darker Ex-boyfriend who *very* much still has a huge control over Stiles, knowing exactly how to make the fatty balloon faster and eat more every week even after they've stopped dating. Uncaring about what he adds to the food as long as it makes Stiles eat more and become more useless. Aphrodisiacs, appetite enhancers, taste enhancers, calorie boosters, everything possible to make food as shamefully horny and irresistible and fattening for Stiles who is rapidly spiraling out of control. Stiles in such a constant haze that even while in class he can do nothing but think about eating, do nothing BUT eat. Barely mobile with a gut so huge that he can't maneuver around it, yet still forced to crave *more*. Stiles not appearing in class one day as he is too fat and full and tired to leave his bed on his own... And the ex decides that the hog should stay there, funnel fed everything possible until he's little more than a mindless blob, the thought of moving even a finger becoming more and more of a distant memory for Stiles.

YES. Give me ALL the dark feeder AUs. Gaslight and gorge. (And THANK YOU for this ask because this idea gave me SO many ideas so I'm sorry if it's long but UGH I love it so much). I have NO idea who his boyfriend would be- but Theo always seems like the good, darker choice…

Theo sits in the cafeteria just waiting for the new group of freshman. There's always one that stands out. The overconfident kid from a small town, who is very, very into new sexual experiences, convinced because he's handled all the monsters and bad guys of Beacon Hills, what's there to worry about in college?

Theo sees a human who smells faintly like pack -with no pack around. An easy target. And exactly his type. Stiles is already in the cafeteria, tray filled up with not a fruit or green in sight. Screams someone getting their first taste of freedom in college, the one who comes with so much hope and optimism, that Theo can charm and manipulate to his whim.

Comes up to Stiles, acts like he's a lost freshman too, asks to sit with him. Watches Stiles fold up his pizza to take a bite and knows he's found the perfect gluttonous target.

Step 1: Appetite Enhancers

They start dating within a month. It helps that when Theo asked- he had been refilling Stiles beer all night. Gets a hiccup, a burp, and then a yes.

Theo has never been one to start slow. Step 1 is the appetite enhancers. Acts like the perfect boyfriend, brings Stiles coffee in the morning, finds him studying later in the afternoon and comes by with a soda…any chance he gets, he's adding more in.

Grins like a predator hunting pray when he hears Stiles stomach audibly. And Theo is so supportive, tells Stiles he has the meal plan, take advantage of it!

Stiles maxes out his number of trips, from going multiple times a day, by the 3rd semester. Theo nicely hands over his card for Stiles to use. He can track how many times it's been swiped, and it's nice to see the enhancers are working….

Step 2: Aphrodisiacs' Stiles says he's too full for sex once. Theo is rough, wobbles his gut and laughs and tells him there's no such thing, says maybe all the wobbling of his fat gut will help the digestion.

And he doesn't fuck Stiles unless he's flushed and sloshing with too many beers and too many cheap, greasy pizzas, belly bloated and face pink. A few times he'll tell Stiles to keep eating, stops if he doesn't, and Stiles gets the message.

Starts adding Aphrodisiacs' to his food, nothing better then watching his growing project shoveling disgusting cafeteria slop in his mouth for an hour and then realizing he's getting hard.

Theo grabs at his love handles, paws at his gut and thighs the entire time they're making out, like he's keeping record of how much weight Stiles is gaining.

Step 3: Calorie Boosters

Stiles isn't dumb. He knows he's been getting fat, thinks it's pretty clear Theo is into it to. So he leans into it. The sex is good, the food is good, so what's the problem?

Stiles thinks it's his metabolism adjusting. The weight will come off. Or he won't gain much more.

He gets one crucial fact wrong. Stiles thinks it's an accident. That it's college, everyone gets fat! 60lbs your freshman year is a lot, but it happens.

So he happily dives deeper into kinky sex with Theo. When Theo suggests a funnel? Stiles is all for it. Theo tells him it's just some milkshakes he thinned out. It's enough Boost shakes to fill 2 days of calories.

Stiles orgasms so hard after he swears he sees stars, and enthusiastically agrees to Theo saying they should do it more often.

Step 4: Isolation

By the summer of his 2nd year, Stiles is easily up almost 200lbs from the relentless eating, Theo's boost shakes constantly (adding them now instead of cream to his coffees), Stiles is horny all the time, can't focus on class because he's too busy texting Theo how badly he needs him to come get him off in the library.

Doesn't know if he wants to eat or fuck or both, so he ends up multitasking, chugging down a shake Theo brought him while he's getting sucked off.

Stiles thinks he's living the idea college experience.

His father and concerned friends are sure what's going on. Stiles grades have dropped. He's ballooned. His belly hangs out of his sweatshirts, stretchmark ridden and looking always impossible bloated. Even without Theo there to dose him with anything, his stomach is so used to being stretched out he's HUNGRY.

Doesn't get a job. Doesn't want to do anything but stuff his face and call Theo. (Who acts so concerned, says is Stiles eating okay? He looks a little malnourished, why doesn't Theo order him some delivery?)

So Stiles comes back junior year upset, that his dad doesn't like Theo, kept trying to sit Stiles down and talk about his weight…swears he's done going back home. He'll find somewhere else to go next summer.

Theo gleefully asks Stiles to move in with him - he has a little apartment right off campus! Why not! Then he won't need to go home and instead of paying for dorming….they can find other things to spend it on.

Theo takes him to the campus store to pick out half a dozen pints of ice cream to make it better.

Step 5: Exercise

The extreme amount of weight Stiles has packed on, ending his junior year teetering close to 450lbs, the constant unhealthy diet of junk food after junk food, Stiles is an out of shape mess.

Theo is having the time of his life watching Stiles huff and puff and wheeze and sweat walking from their apartment to the campus. Red in the face, belly wobbling and swaying with each step, he feels miserable and tired and just wants to STOP walking.

Soda and some ice cream would make it better. A few of Theo's shakes. Finishes off an entire 2 liter of soda by the time he actually gets to class. And then he's so tired and exhausted from his little walk - he doesn't focus on anything that's happening.

Which is good - because Theo replaced the textbooks in his backpack with candy bars instead.

Step 6: Immobile

Theo gets what he wants in the end- when he wakes up to Stiles grabbing his stomach and groaning, he's so hungry! Doesn't have the energy to get out of bed. Can't figure out why his legs feel so heavy, why trying to roll over is even too much of task

he just needs to eat. It will clear his head. He doesn't even care what it is. Theo brings over a huge pitcher of his special shakes, a massive bowl of bacon and pancakes drowning in butter. Stiles forgets what he was worried about, forgets he has a class to get to, and his mind seems to go blank and only focus on the food in front of him…

As usual, Stiles eats and gets horny, is rutting against his gut because he hasn't been able to find his cock buried under his fatpad and belly in more than a few semesters.

Theo has a solution - but time for the funnel first.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Certain cellphone plans in Western Canada are not as cheap as they were prior to the Rogers-Shaw merger, Canada's competition watchdog says. Jeanne Pratt, the Competition Bureau's senior deputy commissioner of mergers and monopolistic practices, says the agency hasn't seen evidence showing Rogers Communications Inc. is offering comparable pricing for bundled wireless plans offered by Shaw Mobile in Alberta and British Columbia before the $26-billion takeover closed last April. Pratt was testifying at the House of Commons industry committee on Monday along with representatives from the CRTC, as MPs study the accessibility and affordability of wireless and broadband services in Canada. MPs on the committee sounded the alarm in January, when Rogers confirmed prices were going up by an average of $5 for wireless customers not on contract and some Bell Canada customers were also told their wireless bills were set to increase.

Continue Reading

Tagging @politicsofcanada

[magz]

The basics of how we got a U.S. phone number and SIM card with a budget phone plan to prepare for immigration.

A lot of things of immigration, services, and moving preparations can require having an active U.S. phone number. This also applies to people that moved away from the U.S. but still need a point of contact with U.S. institutions without being flagged. This is not a universal method! It is just one way.

Things used in our method:

A phone service that ships SIM cards and allows for Wi-Fi calling / texting (alternatively, an e-sim)

Compatible phone (For physical SIM cards: phone carrier unlocked, with VoLTE capability. For e-sims: phones with e-sim capability)

Proxy Shipping service if you live somewhere with shipping customs issues or that the SIM card doesn't directly ship to ( - can also use someone willing to bring the SIM card to you if they come to your country)

A U.S. (residential) address you can write down, even if don't live there (example: can use the address of family, friends, future address, previous address, proxy carrier address if it has residential option, or people willing to help lend you / suggest an address. Some might consider just making one up.)

Debit card, Credit card, or PayPal to use to pay.

Explanation:

If your phone is compatible with e-sims, you actually have a lot more options than we did.

E-sims makes using a proxy shipping address, and maybe even having a residential address - unnecessary. You can basically skip the rest of this. Opens up options a lot more, as long as they're compatible with Wi-Fi calling (Example list of e-sims for "travelers") (Check if phone is compatible with e-sim)

Because our phone isn't compatible with e-sim, though...

We used Tello Mobile and it's $5usd + taxes a month custom plan (unlimited text, 100 minutes of calling). The sim card itself costs $3 from official seller on Amazon, but $3.99 to $6 from resellers. (optional: here's our Tello Mobile referral link, so you can get $10 of credit. You have to manually set it as a payment method whenever you want to use it, before autopay goes thru though.)

Alternatively, there's Ultramobile PayGo which have seen others vouch for wrt Wi-Fi calling outside the U.S., but have not used ourself. It is $3 a month, but the physical SIM kit is $13.

There are more "cheap U.S. sim cards" but we cannot claim familiarity nor experience with them, so any risks from using a lesser known phone service has to be considered.

If you're getting the physical sim of Tello Mobile, check that your phone is compatible first in the official site's compatibility check page.

What we did after, was to buy the Tello SIM card from an eBay reseller with decent reviews *instead* of buying a plan and SIM directly on Tello all at once.

The reason for this decision is that:

1. if buy from Amazon then the shipping cost is not transparent for items as low as $3usd (and also Amazon hates us).

2. Tello is more likely to deny the purchase and not ship the SIM card if the shipping location vs residential location is different or suspicious to them. (the residential location you put will affect the area code you get btw)

Consider if proxy shipping or asking someone to give the SIM card to you is the answer, if default shipping method isn't an option for your country. For proxy shipping options, please search the options available for your country and location, as it is varies a LOT. Be sure that the method of delivery works for you, and check how much it costs to receive things or if it requires a membership fee or what. (our proxy shipper costs money to receive things, based on weight and category of product, but no membership fee)

When you get the Tello physical SIM card, it comes with an activation code. You can use this code to conect a purchase of a Tello plan to be specifically for your SIM card.

Then you add the U.S. residential address that will affect the area code you get, and add the payment method. If it goes through, it's supposed to activate your phone number soon after.

To receive texts and phone calls outside of U.S. territories using that U.S. phone number, enabling Wi-Fi calling or VoIP whenever you need it may be necessary.

So, that's basically the main deal!

[devsgames]

Game Optimization and Production

I wanted to write a bit of a light primer about optimization and how it relates to game production in the event people just don't know how it works, based on my experience as a dev. I'm by no means an expert in optimization myself, but I've done enough of it on my own titles and planned around it enough at this point to understand the gist of what it comes down to and considerations therein. Spoilers: games being unoptimized are rarely because devs are lazy, and more because games are incredibly hard to make and studios are notoriously cheap.

(As an aside, this was largely prompted by seeing someone complaining about how "modern" game developers are 'lazy' because "they don't remember their N64/Gamecube/Wii/PS2 or PS3 dropping frames". I feel compelled to remind people that 'I don't remember' is often the key part of the "old consoles didn't lag" equation, because early console titles ABSOLUTELY dropped frames and way more frequently and intensely than many modern consoles do. Honestly I'd be willing to bet that big budget games on average have become more stable over time. Honorable mention to this thread of people saying "Oh yeah the N64 is laggy as all hell" :') )

Anywho, here goes!

Optimization

The reason games suffer performance problems isn't because game developers are phoning it in or half-assing it (which is always a bad-faith statement when most devs work in unrealistic deadlines, for barely enough pay, under crunch conditions). Optimization issues like frame drops are often because of factors like ~hardware fragmentation~ and how that relates to the realities of game production.

I think the general public sees "optimization" as "Oh the dev decided to do a lazy implementation of a feature instead of a good one" or "this game has bugs", which is very broad and often very misguided. Optimization is effectively expanding the performance of a game to be performance-acceptable to the maximum amount of people - this can be by various factors that are different for every game and its specific contexts, from lowering shader passes, refactoring scripts, or just plain re-doing work in a more efficient way. Rarely is it just one or two things, and it's informed by many factors which vary wildly between projects.

However, the root cause why any of this is necessary in the first place is something called "Platform Fragmentation".

What Is Fragmentation

"Fragmentation" is the possibility space of variation within hardware being used to run a game. Basically, the likelihood that a user is playing a game on a different hardware than the one you're testing on - if two users are playing your game on different hardware, they are 'fragmented' from one another.

As an example, here's a graphic that shows the fragmentation of mobile devices based on model and user share. The different sizes are how many users are using a different type of model of phone:

As you can tell, that's a lot of different devices to have to build for!

So how does this matter?

For PC game developers, fragmentation means that an end-user's setup is virtually impossible to predict, because PC users frequently customize and change their hardware. Most PC users potentially have completely different hardware entirely.

Is your player using an up-to-date GPU? CPU? How much RAM do they have? Are they playing on a notebook? A gaming laptop? What brand hardware are they using? How much storage space is free? What OS are they using? How are they using input?

Moreover PC parts don't often get "sunsetted" whole-cloth like old consoles do, so there's also the factor of having to support hardware that could be coming up on 5, 10 or 15 years old in some cases.

For console developers it's a little easier - you generally know exactly what hardware you're building for, and you're often testing directly on a version of the console itself. This is a big reason why Nintendo's first party titles feel so smooth - because they only build for their own systems, and know exactly what they're building for at all times. The biggest unknowns are usually smaller things like televisions and hookups therein, but the big stuff is largely very predictable. They're building for architecture that they also made themselves, which makes them incredibly privileged production-wise!

Fragmentation basically means that it's difficult - or nearly impossible - for a developer to know exactly what their users are playing their games on, and even more challenging to guarantee their game is compatible everywhere.

Benchmarking

Since fragmentation makes it very difficult to build for absolutely everybody, at some point during development every developer has to draw a line in the sand and say "Okay, [x] combination of hardware components is what we're going to test on", and prioritize that calibre of setup before everything else. This is both to make testing easier (so testers don't have to play the game on every single variation of hardware), and also to assist in optimization planning. This is a "benchmark".

Usually the benchmark requirements are chosen for balancing visual fidelity, gameplay, and percentage of the market you're aiming for, among other considerations. Often for a game that is cross-platform for both PC and console, this benchmark will be informed by the console requirements in some way, which often set the bar for a target market (a cross-platform PC and console game isn't going to set a benchmark that is impossible for a console to play, though it might push the limits if PC users are the priority market). Sometimes games hit their target benchmarks, sometimes they don't - as with anything in game development it can be a real crap shoot.

In my case for my games which are often graphically intensive and poorly made by myself alone, my benchmark is often a machine that is approximately ~5 years old and I usually take measures to avoid practices which are generally bad and can build up to become very expensive over time. Bigger studios with more people aiming at modern targets will likely prioritize hardware from within the last couple years to have their games look the best for users with newest hardware - after all, other users will often catch up as hardware evolves.

This benchmark allows devs to have breathing room from the fragmentation problem. If the game works on weaker machines - great! If it doesn't - that's fine, we can add options to lower quality settings so it will. In the worst case, we can ignore it. After all, minimum requirements exist for a reason - a known evil in game development is not everyone will be able to run your game.

Making The Game

As with any game, the more time you spend on something is the more money being spent on it - in some cases, extensive optimization isn't worth the return of investment. A line needs to be drawn and at some point everyone can't play your game on everything, so throwing in the towel and saying "this isn't great, but it's good enough to ship" needs to be done if the game is going to ship at all.

Optimizing to make sure that the 0.1% of users with specific hardware can play your game probably isn't worth spending a week on the work. Frankly, once you hit a certain point some of those concerns are easier put off until post-launch when you know how much engagement your game has, how many users of certain hardware are actually playing, and how much time/budget you have to spend post-launch on improving the game for them. Especially in this "Games As A Service" market, people are frequently expecting games to receive constant updates on things like performance after launch, so there's always more time to push changes and smooth things out as time goes on. Studios are also notoriously squirrelly with money, and many would rather get a game out into paying customer's hands than sit around making sure that everything is fine-tuned (in contrast to most developers who would rather the game they've worked on for years be fine-tuned than not).

Comparatively to the pre-Day One patch era; once you printed a game on a disc it is there forever and there's no improving it or turning back. A frightening prospect which resulted in lots of games just straight up getting recalled because they featured bugs or things that didn't work. 😬

Point is though, targeted optimization happens as part of development process, and optimization in general often something every team helps out with organically as production goes on - level designers refactor scripts to be more efficient, graphics programmers update shaders to cut down on passes, artists trim out poly counts where they can to gradually achieve better performance. It's an all-hands-on-deck sort of approach that affects all devs, and often something that is progressively tracked as development rolls on, as a few small things can add up to larger performance issues.

In large studios, every developer is in charge of optimizing their own content to some extent, and some performance teams are often formed to be dedicated to finding the easiest, safest and quickest optimization wins. Unless you plan smartly in the beginning, some optimizations can also just be deemed to dangerous and out-of-reach to carry out late in production, as they may have dependencies or risk compromising core build stability - at the end of the day more frames aren't worth a crashing game.

Conclusion

Games suffer from performance issues because video game production is immensely complex and there's a lot of different shifting factors that inform when, how, and why a game might be optimized a certain way. Optimization is frequently a production consideration as much as a development one, and it's disingenuous to imply that games lag because developers are lazy.

I think it's worth emphasizing that if optimization doesn't happen, isn't accommodated, or perhaps is undervalued as part of the process it's rarely if ever because the developers didn't want to do it; rather, it's because it cost the studio too much money. As with everything in our industry, the company is the one calling the final shots in development. If a part of a game seems to have fallen behind in development it's often because the studio deemed it acceptable, refused to move deadlines or extend a hand to help it come together better at fear of spending more money on it. Rarely if ever should individual developers be held accountable for the failings of companies!

Anywho, thanks for reading! I know optimization is a weird mystical sort of blind spot for a lot of dev folks, so I hope this at least helps shed some light on considerations that weigh in as part of the process on that :) I've been meaning to write a more practical workshop-style step-by-step on how to profile and spot optimization wins at some point in the future, but haven't had the time for it - hopefully I can spin something up in the next few weeks!