#i miss sharing stories that made me even more invested in my sims than i can just be on my own | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

imnotgoinganywhereok · 4 years ago

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Yeah, I’m back on my Sims 4 bullshit! („ಡωಡ„) After an entire month I started to miss my Sim children. So, I decided to visit them once again and have some memorable screenshots, especially since I only started sharing my Sims experience from 5th and 6th generation. I’d be grateful if you checked it out one day, I think it can be somewhat investing! And there will be more content to come...

Recently I noted down in my little notebook all basic information and cool trivia about each of my Sim children, and I decided to share some of it here. There is a limit of only 10 pictures in one post, and I was afraid the post would be long but, to be fair, this is my blog and I’m doing what I want now! And, I will merely touch upon what is already established up to Delphini (gen 7). Again, there will be more in the future. Apologies in advance (ง ื▿ ื)ว

Generation one: Valentina Owl. I created her back in December 2019 when I got Discover University for Christmas! She’s a “human” Sim and I created her through a story option in CAS, and immediately started having a blast. I was not a huge fan of such USAmericanised concept of university but the game was fun. She was the only one who lived up to be an elder (and then die) because back then I thought I’m gonna have a game where my Sims age and stuff. That quickly didn’t work out for me because I missed her already and decided that I’m gonna fill my entire save with just Owl family. Valentina studied Communications and worked as a policewoman at the same time. A lonely workaholic with only her lavish garden, she finally settled for a relationship with Lilith Vatore. As I noticed in this post, there was no marriage so my entire bloodline comes from a bastard. Lovely! She died from receiving a flower arragement with Death Flower scent. Now she’s on the Gallery.

Generation two: Herbert Owl. He was the one who directly killed Valentina. He mastered Gardening like Valentina, and then Flower Arranging - unfortunate for her. Because of Lilith, he was a vampire - and to be fair, the consequences are haunting me to this day! So, a few trivia, maybe. He is super smart, lives in Glimmerbrook like the next two generations, and has a small garden in his house where he grows crops for husband’s, Morgyn Ember’s, potions. He prefers black and purple clothes, both in his human and vampire form. He wrote only one book in his life, translating to The Real Story of Valentina Owl - whether it’s to cover the murder or not remains a mystery. He makes flower arrangements to this day. Ah, he’s also immune to Sun thanks to one of his vampire perks! That sort of helped him take a better care of his son whom he loves very much.

Generation three: Harry Owl. There is not that much I can say about him. A perfectionist like his father (Herbert), he’s blond and wears both masculine and feminine clothes like his other father (Morgyn), but this is where the comparisons end. See, in my mind he wasn’t a good person, despite having a Compassionate trait. He cared for his grandmother’s (Valentina’s) garden only because of his father’s (Herbert’s) feelings; later he shun away gardening. As a teenager, he often used to drink plasma without permission even if he wasn’t thirsty. Of course, he was also a really bad father, often berating his son for not being “good enough” or not paying attention to him at all. All Harry cared about were his paintings that he was creating in his private office. He married Miverva Charm, started living with her family, and still decided to only socialise with her. No one really knows what made him choose her.

Generation four: Nereus Owl. Born a vampire, he cured himself out of vampirism as soon as he could and later became a spellcaster. All he ever did in life was seemed like a rebellion against his father - clothes, flacking off during studies, loving gardening and shuning away painting. Well, it seemed to his father that Nereus is doing this to spite him. Despite this borderline abuse (because how abusive can Sims really be?), Nereus claims his childhood was relatively happy. Of course, he has no clue where his Erratic trait came from! Or why he grew to be a Perfectionist as well. All he knows is that having over 11 different plants in his garden is what makes him happy and that he doesn’t care if his father approves of him anymore! You could see him for the first time here. What is more, as he grew older, he found that he loves playing the violin and his wife, L. Faba, supports him in any way she can. His natural hair colour is red; thanks, grey-haired Minerva - that one bit me in the ass for next three generations.

Generation five: Elijah Tane Owl. Vegetarian like his father, he was the first one to attend Foxbury instead of Britechester. His father Nereus claimed it should be Elijah’s choice what he wants to do in life, giving Elijah freedom Nereus never really had. Elijah studied Computer Science but was a man of many talents. He was a fan of Handiness, Cooking (especially grilling), and Fitness. He often played (and sang) serenades on a keyboard for his wife, Alessandra Robles, almost maxing out his Piano skill. What made him date Alessandra was a shared Vegetarian trait. His favourite colour accent in clothing is green. He grew six strawberry plants because he wished to have a daughter (yeah, only in Sims 4 lol). There are more info about him in my previous posts as it was this generation when I started publishing my game progress, starting with this one (although my main focus was on Salem).

Generation six: Salem Owl (previously Lavender Owl). There is tons and tons of posts about her, her wife Luna Villareal (both are adults, calm down FBI), and their five daughers: Amaryllis, Wisteria, Delphini (remember this one), Hemlock, and Poppy. All you need to know about her is that she is a hard-working mother who climbed her way to the top and even higher to secure the future of her daughers. She hoped for three children and played with On the Dark Ley-Line lot trait to perhaps have some vampire offspring. Instead, she had twins (Ama and Wis) first, and then triplets (Del, Hem, and Poppy) later! She taught her daughers instruments/skills like Piano, Pipe Organ, and Violin. Once she realised Wis and Hem were vampires, she started growing three Plasma fruit trees, with time maxing out her Gardening skill. She’s on very bad terms with her grandma, L. Faba, but tries to keep in touch with her grandpa, Nereus. She has a bad reputation because of her Insensitive trait and a handful of enemies. She’s sorry for what happened between Lilith and Valentina in the past but the Vatore twins don’t mind. She’s ginger, workaholic, has spiky ears, and a lot of freckles. She’s still very good friends with Vladislaus.

Generation seven (A): Amaryllis Owl. She’s colour-coded (pink) and her clothes and room reflect that. She wrote at least 10 books, has spiky ears after her mother (Salem), and is the older daugher in the house. Eventually, she married Candy Behr. Ama’s twin sister is Wisteria and they share the same eyeliner type. Despite having a twin, her skin tone is lighter than Wis’ but the same as Hem and Poppy’s. She inherited a feminine walk from her mother (Luna). Doesn’t know much about Vampire Lore despite having vampire sisters. She loved doing everything with her twin sister. Amaryllis used to be a naturally-born/spawned hybrid of a vampire and a spellcaster but settled for the latter.

Generation seven (B): Wisteria Owl. She’s colour-coded (purple) and her room reflects that. As a vampire, she aims for a gothic look, often wearing hats and gloves to hide from the sun (with time, she turned into a heliphobe). She’s an actress and a B-Lister. She has a pet frog in her room. To reach her room, one has to walk through Ama’s room first - and they’re both okay with that. Wis is the only one to have the same skin tone as her mother (Salem) and the same nose as her other mother (Luna). Her vampiric form changes her eye colour to glowing purple. She loved goign to karaoke bars with her older twin sister Ama, which led Wis to maxing out Singing skill. As a fully fledged vampire, she decided to reach out to Herbert - they’re good friends.

Generation seven (C): Delphini Owl. Same as Amaryllis - naturally-born/spawned hybrid of a vampire and a spellcaster but settled for the latter. She’s colour-coded (dark blue) and her clothes and room reflect that. She always knew she’s going to leave the house and eventually create more Owls. She pursued the rich life and moved out to Del Sol Valley, eventually becoming a Global Superstar. She used to work in a Musician Branch but quit after time - blame the Freegan trait. She has three cats and lives with her daugher Morgan, and her [Morgan’s] husband Kaito Kaneko, and their adopted son Leven Owl (all of which I’ll talk about another time). She received a lot of awards (meeting with fans, Perfect Llama to name the few) and is very happy that her daugher lives with her. She used to romance with Flower Bunny, and then Octavia Moon - althought the initial plan was to go after Octavia’s husband, Thorne. Del often drinks but since there’s no alcoholism in Sims 4, let’s pretent she likes to stay hydrated! She owes half of her success (or namely, money for and expensive house) to her mother Salem. Loves to sunbathe!

Generation seven (D): Hemlock Owl. She’s colour-coded (white) and her clothes and room reflect that. She’s a make-up enthusiast and a little spoiled by the rich life. Also, she’s very Squeamish and Noncommittal. Despite being a vampire, she’s not interested in improving Vampire Lore skill at all. In her vampire form, her eyes change to glowing white. Her face as as many freckles as her mother’s (Salem). She’s the middle child in the triplets business and her best friend is Poppy. She used to wear glasses as a child... What more can I say? She’s living the dream!

Generation seven (E): Poppy Owl. She’s colour-coded (red) and her clothes and room (and a neon light) reflect that. The youngest daughter in the house. Wild and a Bro, she’s the perfect candidate to hang out with. She’s the only child to be born a human - which most likely makes Luna very happy. She’s a robots enthusiast - not Robotics skill but only figurines of robots. She’s a Geek so what else should we expect? She has her own TV and a stereo in her room (as well as a bubble machine). Poppy often wears her PJs around the house because they’re the comfiest. Despite being a Bro, she doesn’t really have friends beside her family. She’s the one to walk the family dog, Milk.

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foreveralwaysanauthor · 4 years ago

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Time to Return

I’m sorry I’ve practically vanished the last few… months. It seems a lot longer, doesn’t it? No excuses from me this time. Life had gotten way too crazy for my liking and I needed to escape from everything. I stopped going online for about a week which turned into just staying to myself and figuring out what I wanted out of life. I began watching some of my favorite movies, especially Marvel, and finally felt like I could relax and be myself for once in a long time.

Along with opening that obsession all over again, I’ve been watching every stream for the Dream SMP (that’s not gonna change, as I’m very much invested lol). I’ve been subbed to Dream since early 2018 and have never missed an update, stream, or video since then. I have a deep love of gaming and even considered ditching writing for becoming a streamer/gamer multiple times. I’m planning on streaming on Twitch once I get my crap together a bit more and can start putting together my pc. I think that would be a fun way to hang out with you and meet new people while playing games. I hope you like Sims and Minecraft haha. Even after I start gaming, I’m definitely going to keep writing no matter what. I mean, who says I can’t have the best of both worlds, right?

Of course, with all of the recent stress about Papa’s health (and recent passing), I hadn’t been thinking much for myself and my mental health. Thankfully, though, I will be using my writing and gaming to be able to get more into life again. That’s what Papa would’ve wanted for me. I’ve been able to relax a bit today and I feel more like myself, so I think the last two weeks of my quarantine/isolation with mom and Papa has been a blessing in a way.

My life has finally found a rhythm during our little quarantine and I feel like my old self again, which I missed dearly. Even mom and Papa had noticed my attitude toward life become more positive, so I think that’s a good sign. I haven’t published my book as it’s so freaking expensive which made me anxious and depressed again so I’ve decided to wait. In the meantime, I’m writing a new book (so when I publish the first and start selling it, I’ll be prepared with a new one) and I can’t wait to start posting more about it. It’s totally different from what people expect of me. It’s definitely more of a fantasy book than anything I’ve written before and I’m throwing my everything into this book while also trying to write my stories and keep everything else going.

I’m not going to lie and say that I’ll be back to posting super frequently again like nothing ever happened because, in truth, much has changed. Not only has my life changed drastically, I believe my writing style has grown a fair bit and I finally feel like I can be open and honest about that - no more repressing how I want to write. I still plan on writing prompts and extending my little world through this page and my fanfics, but I’m going to start posting little things here and there about this new novel of mine. I feel like I need to share more about it and make it more inclusive as I build this world and its people. I know I can always gain ideas when others talk with me about the things I’m writing, so I’m always open to conversations about it.

Anyway, I just wanted to post this to tell everyone that I am still alive and have been dealing with a lot of change and stress, building myself back up as who I want to be while dealing with everything being thrown at me. I am who I want to be now and will continue to further myself and push myself to be the best version of myself. I’m working really hard on myself and I want to make sure that everything I do, is done well and isn’t going to tear down what I’ve already built up for myself. I plan on editing a new prompt today, so keep an eye out for that.

I hope you guys are alright with everything I’ve written here today, but if you aren’t, I’ll understand all the same. I hope you’re having a great day and I hope you’re doing well mentally, physically, and emotionally. Remember to take care of yourself: drink some water, listen to some of your favorite music, do something that makes you happy, whatever it is that you need to do to make yourself feel alive. I’ll see you guys soon, no doubt about it. I started Broken Record almost six years ago, I’m not quitting writing it now. This is not the end, it’s just the beginning of a new chapter - a new character arc, if you will.

Are you ready? I know I am.

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botslayer · 5 years ago

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Top Ten games of the 2010′s

This trend seems to be doing the rounds at the moment and seeing as I’ve been gaming for about as long as I can remember, It just feels right. So, let’s get into it. But first, worth saying: These aren't really in any specific order, it's just the games I've personally had the most fun with overall, but it's pretty hard to decide what the hard numbers on things you enjoy for different reasons are if that makes any sense. 10. The 2010's weren't exactly the best time for anyone, I think. For me they were a slog of finding myself and learning things I wish I didn't. Amid all those things I wanted some levity. The world needs something and stupid. We got a lot of it ion 2013 but I feel like we could have used it scattered around a bit more. In that spirit, allow me to show you one hell of a pick me up:

Saints Row 4

Saints Row 4 does not give a fuck. It is aggressively demonstrating that the entire time you play. It doesn't care in the slightest what you think or why, It just wants to show you cool, if juvenile, and interesting, if weird shit. It's the finer points of Ratchet and Clank's arsenal, SR3's humor, And superpowers that genuinely put Prototype and Infamous in a blender and tell you to go ape shit with them. The soundtrack isn't top shelf, it's the roof of the building the shelf is in. Saints Row Two had a better story overall but SR Four's was just plain fun and a solid enough story to still be invested.

The DLC was just as irreverent and madcap, Featuring everything from an evil Santa Clause to evil Gimps on Game of thrones chairs made of dildos Or Tropey-ass costumes and weapon reskins that I'd be genuinely surprised the game dev didn't get sued over. It has earned its place in my top 10 and I will die by that decision.

2016 saw the advent of a new genre. They blended TF2 and MOBAs, and we got hero shooters in their first AAA forms, Overwatch and Battleborn. But neither of these games is on this list, much as I liked them. Partly because the whole time, I kept thinking of one simple question: "Why do I keep thinking of...?"

Anarchy Reigns

Anarchy Reigns is my favorite Platinum game. Full Stop. The Story mode is interesting and has genuinely good character moments, the characters themselves are completely mental, ranging from a mercenary with a bionic cat leg that secretly has a gun built into it to a giant cyborg bull-man with a jet-powered hammer. The soundtrack is mostly angry hip-hop, making every song a banger and fittingly speedy for things like random bombing runs from jet fighters that come from absolutely nowhere.

There are giant monsters, cars with mounted flame throwers, giant robots, and the online is still pretty sweet because even when abandoned, loading it up with bots still rules. I regularly have more fun with this than I ever did with Overwatch, and I don't care how insane that sounds.

Some games want to make you feel something and fail. Some games make you feel some things accidentally, for example, a desperate need to laugh. This game made me feel like a human blender. Like a Chthonic god of mangled flesh and raw destructive power. Nyarlathotep ain't got nothing on me. I speak, of course, of...

[Prototype] 2

There's no end to the absolute destruction you feel like you're causing in this game. It feels more fluid than the first, the main character is a pinch more relatable, and all the body horror, superpowers, zombie hordes, and big old monsters make for some of the most memorable and fun moments and fights in gaming. The DLC is also pretty solid, adding new fun side challenges, and new powers and weapons that elevate you from "Flesh god" to "Screw physics, I made them" Omnipotent. Best god/monster simulation of all time.

Sometimes some games are at an honest tie in your mind. Be it that you like them for essentially the same reasons, or for completely different reasons, but the overall total joy or entertainment they bring is roughly equivalent. Here, we have a case of the former:

Furi/Cuphead

Both games have a tight focus on giving players a unique, boss-centric challenge, both have interesting, somewhat minimal narratives, and both are absolute eye candy.

Furi has a more "Samurai Jack" Quality to me. A complete badass on a relatively simple quest with a somewhat minimalistic art style learning some things as he goes.

Cuphead on the other hand, nails that rubber hose animation style, and the fun levity of such animations while still making the player's ability to interact with the world damn impactful and fun.

They share a spot in my soul, games I love everything about but will never be able to finish. Hats off to both dev teams.

Now here we have another tie. Mostly because the games are so close together, they need to be evaluated more or less as one product IMO, not enough changed for me to consider them separate games, fortunately, that is the furthest thing from an insult it can be in this situation. I present to you, my next pick(s).

Costume Quest 1/2

Now, This might seem pretty random considering my other picks, but honestly, I love Halloween, I love creative madness, I love subversion, I love good characters, and I love cool action, these games have all these things by the bucketload.

The first game is a wild ride through Halloween in multiple very lively locations and the second, slightly confusing as it is, is pretty awesome for the things it introduces, including time travel. Other elements, like the battle stamps, the truly epic forms of everything in the fights, The ability to customize your costumes, etc. they blur together in a pretty big way, but again, there's not a thing wrong with that when both games rock like crystal candy.

Now, if you hadn't noticed, all of the games on this list have had some hard action at their core, and while I don't HATE calmer games, a lot of the time, so many are kinda dull to me in that with the exception of easter eggs of some sort, most farming sims, for example, just have you doing normal farm stuff with very few twists, may as well start a real farm in that case. My most chill entry is a game that tosses that to one side, asks you to grab a suck cannon, and start harvesting gelatinous monster poop.

Slime Rancher

While you don't spend a lot of time actually interacting with other characters, they just talk at you, the story of the game is pretty effective, the player character of Beatrix has left Earth for a simpler life of Slime Ranching, which entails the raising of alien crops, delightfully derpy and colorful chickens, and going all around in an attempt to farm new breeds of slime for their genetic material to sell off or trade-in for the creation of gadgets while being surrounded by a cast of interesting characters. It's all very wholesome family fun.

The game looks great, has great ideas, and is genuinely the best farming game I have ever played. @ me all you want.

The 80's are almost fetishized nowadays. Given all the property reboots, games that go for the vibe and aesthetic of the time, etc. It almost seems as though the eighties vibe train ain't gonna stop rolling any time soon. But we owe it to ourselves to remember the first big swipe of madcap neon-colored actiony B-movie bullshit and how mind-meltingly epic it was. Ladies, Gents, and whatever else, I present:

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Blood Dragon's story is relatively simple, you play Sargent Rex "Power" Colt (A name said in full so many times I thought his last name was "Powercolt" for the longest time), a former "Omega force" cyborg. Rex and his friend "Spider" were sent into a secret island base to investigate the supposed defection and treachery of their old commander, Ike Sloan. It turns out he has gone rogue and taken an army of "Mark 5" Omegaforce cyber-soldiers with him. What follows is a long story of betrayal, science fiction of the highest nonsensical level, comedy, and brilliantly cathartic action.

The collectibles range from data on animals, to research notes from a scientist, to literal VHS cassette tapes that have full descriptions of movies that I would legitimately watch if I could. "You may now kill the brides" is not a real film and I am angry for every day that that is true. Anyway, play Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, I dunno if it's on PS4 but it's one game I'd buy a new/old console for.

A lot of superhero games NEED to railroad you. Your goals MUST be to save the lives of the people and help the weak and all that. But one dev asked the simple question: "What if it didn't?" "What if the player chose how to use their power? What if the player could be as evil or as good as they damn well pleased?" One game gave you the powers of thunder and lightning and asked what you'd do with it. It's sequel asked you the same, but against more... interesting forces.

InFamous 2

InFamous 2 is a game about making choices, just like the first one, also just like the first one, it can have an effect on gameplay. That effect went from "What does this particular power do in this allignment?" To "Which new set of NEW powers would you like?" The forces of the last game went from “Three flavors of gun-toting whackos” To “Possibly an allegory for the Klan, Swamp monsters, and Ice-powered super soldiers.”

This was, and still is, the best game in the whole series, The powers felt distinct from anything else and still do, the story is solid as a rock, and the enemy types were still varied enough to be interesting, I miss the Reapers from the first game, but that's about it. Everything else was a massive step up. If you have something that can run it, play it.

Action is something I think we can all appreciate on some level. We can understand when it does or does not work, we can understand when we do or do not like how it feels when we are the ones partaking in it. EX: Any schlep can tell you when the weapons in your game lack impact, or when your character moves too slow for the game to be fun. The following game is something I can't say anything of the sort about. And it's kind of like Wolfenstein, when you have enemies this bad, who the hell cares how many you kill?

Doom 2016

Y'all are lying if you say you didn't expect this one. It's DOOM 2016. This game is made of hate and fuck. AND I LOVE IT. You move so fast, you may as well be half cheetah and half sports car. You slaughter the dregs of hell by the dozens and even the biggest, baddest things this game throws at you can be beaten with the starting pistol if you have the stones for it. It looks amazing graphically, the demons all look appropriately threatening, and even the Multiplayer is a great deal of fun in my book.

Something worth noting: The story presented by default is pretty barebones, but that's where supplementary material fills in the gaps, the difference between supplementary material in most games and supplementary material here is the material is till IN THE GAME. You're free to ignore most of the plot as it happens around you, and even interesting tidbits of the lore like how certain demons function. Not only are these things missable collectibles, prompting continued play to find them, they are also pretty interesting reads. So yeah, just about everything you could want in a sequel/remake, builds the on lore and gameplay very organically.

And here we are, the last game I'd put in this category. An entire decade, and here, we end on the last game that left such an impact I'd put it in my top ten. But first, let's talk about expectations and delivery: When you say a game is coming out, there are certain expectations you have for gameplay, EX: I say "Ratchet and Clank" and you expect a TPS with platforming elements and crazy guns. I say "Gears of War" and people expect something to do with lumbering about in big armor, dismembering things with a chainsaw gun and otherwise shooting them to paste. We might also expect changes to things, better graphics, innovations in grenade variety, something as that franchise goes on.

After the last game in this series was released, there were tons of people who felt let down and disappointed by it. Then they released the still somewhat disappointing special edition of it. They were both still fun, but neither really felt like the full next step in the series. After a failed reboot, they returned to the original story and the lot of us rejoiced. And when it finally came out? It was a step up in most, if not, all regards, to its predecessors. You know what this last one is. Please, give a warm round of applause to:

Devil May Cry 5

A game that was not only a return to form, but a major escalation in gameplay for one character, and a new style of gameplay all together by way of yet another new character. It didn’t exactly hurt that the story kicked ten kinds of ass and that the game looked spectacular in both the design of everything and the actual graphical fidelity.DMC 5 is, like DOOM, Like InFamous 2, Like [PROTOTYPE] 2, everything you want in a good sequel. It built very well on already solid foundations and it was generally just a fun, slightly goofy, massively stylish, and ultra badass ride. I recommend this, and all these games, to anyone.Good night everyone, have a great 2020. And the rest of the decade, for that matter.

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pixelrender · 5 years ago

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Top 10 games I played in 2019

In many ways 2019 was a transitional year for me. 2020 will be a completely different year than 2018. Full of work and studying. And that’s why I need to leave my computer behind for a while. I have few games I would like to play on my phone, but mostly, I’ll be silent on the gaming front. I managed to play over 95 games this year. I wrote two or three sentences on every single one of them here. They were mostly short games from Itch.io, most of them under one hour of gameplay. There were many gems and I have an urge to honorably mention at least five of them. So, there might be another post along these lines or check this playlist of mine for some essential games, which might be missing in this selection.

Top 3 was a clear cut, but coming up with the order for the rest of it was difficult. FTL is in my top ten of all times for example and a superior game to both Morphblade and A Short Hike. It is however a game I had played before. The list is quite cohesive this year and I think that every single game on it is either an example of excellent design, great fun or an experience more interesting than films. 2019 was a year, in which I stopped caring about the story being good. I don’t need twists I only want feelings and there are other ways to evoke them. Video games and various kinds of walking sims are way more powerful tool for that. It might be that I’m more sold on games than most movies right now? Dunno, I guess I just managed to dig myself deep enough in my niche. There’s one honorable mention I should make right here. I finally managed to beat, one of my favourite games, FTL this year. Finally! It was the most satisfying moment in gaming of the year. I considered to put it on the list for that reason alone, but being one of my favourite games of all times, I don’t think it needs further spotlight.

10. The Isle is Full of Noises

I played several games from Dreamfeel early 2019 and fell in love with the devs. They’re sensitive, emotional and visually delightful. Curtain probably is the best starting point, but The Isle is Full of Noises is where it’s at. This flatgame is a full emotional outbreak accompanied by some of the best music I’ve heard in video games. It being a flatgame, there’s no collision just your character moving around and discovering things. Despite this simplicity I felt the game and the painful alienation of the character. It’s free and on every platform but phones!

9. Espectro City

This is such a weird combination of influences and simply the best game to come out of CosmoD’s jam. This game’s about a city inhabited by ghosts. The whole world seems to be dead. It’s a detective game and you move around the city, which happens to be a desktop of a computer and individual places icons. The writing is really good, the mood superb and the gameplay itself surprisingly fun. The game’s full of sentimental sadness and rather deep too! I can’t wait to see more pieces like Espectro City from the dev. Again the game’s free and that’s a nice bonus.

8. Renowned Explorers: Inernational Society

I played this back to back with Curious Expeditions and expected to like Expeditions better, because their gorgeous art style suits my taste better. And they were a lot of fun with ridiculous thngs happening all the time, usually because of my exploits. I enjoyed it quite a lot, but not as much as Explorers. This game’s really sweet with its simple addictive tactical battles, which are winnable by being friendly, handcrafted locations, great random events (the structure reminds me of FTL) and board game like elements like cards. Also, individual explorers feel way more personal. This was the most fun I had with the game all year long.

7. The Things We Lost in the Flood

This little free game was exposed on major outlets such as Rock Paper Shotgun and PC gamer for a reason. It’s an impressive experience, a piece of art almost. It makes you think and most likely creative and insightful. I played it only few days ago, but I immediately knew that this needs to go on the list. Besides floating on your ship through the flooded world (in one direction), you come across messages from other players. This subtle multiplayer function makes the game really shine. You feel connected yet distant and there’s no space for hostile interactions. Even after several runs, I feel like there’s more stuff to explore too with screens being thrown at you at random. Play it and get engrossed in its meditative nature, this is the future of poetry.

6. Even The Ocean

For a fairly traditional Megaman inspired platformer in its core gameplay, Even The Ocean brought a lot of extra stuff from JRPGs in. There is a story, which gives you reasons to explore more, an overworld and the esthetic. It’s a nice game, but some of the backgrounds or platforms looked more like sketches than defined illustrations. The gameplay is smooth and good and I enjoyed a good portion of it. It’s all about jumping and overcoming various obstacles, the game doesn’t include battles. Also, the game evolves around corporations, exploitation of power and resources and nature and keeping things in balance and it’s all really actual with climatic changes being number 1 topic of the year. The story is somehow predictable but there is a very enjoyable twist.

5. Even The Stars

This was a simple game about exploring universe, which left a deep impression on me by its finally, which gave your wandering a purpose. Now this is a major SPOILER. This game ends with you dying and revealing your path and discoveries. Even without a purpose, your life had a purpose. It was such a strong message and it crowned the slow exploring, which, tbh, was quite enjoyable on its own. There’s not much to say, just play the game, it’s free. While you’re at it check other games from Pol Clarissou as well, they’re little gems.

4. Heaven Will Be Mine

Ok, I claimed that I moved from story driven media earlier and this is a visual novel. It was the truth only partially. I still enjoy a good story if it manages to get me invested. This is both a hot romance and a tragedy. You choose to play as one of the three Mecha pilots, all of them are female, each of them representing one faction, one vision of the future. It's really complex and you can never fulfil all of your goals. Choices you're making are difficult from the get go and you're usually choosing between goals of your faction and your personal attitude towards one of the other two pilots, because you're, if not in love, in a hot relationship with both of them. Mecha suits get steamy and it Bronté level romantic. Also, it's worth it make multiple runs with various goals as different drivers. In the end the emotional impact this game with a relatively complicated and often post-human motivations had on me was the main reason why it stuck with me and why I enjoyed thinking about it's politics so different and yet same as problems of my own and this world. Despite the strange it was easy to relate thanks to masterful writing and sleek esthetic choices.

3. Morphblade

I hadn't got around anything really strategic or thinky this year before playing Morphblade. Damn, what a bullseye! This game's an almost abstract endless puzzle game with no real fiction attached to it. In the same way as Super Hexagon it makes it more addictive than morphine. Maybe that's why it's called Morphblade. Or it might be because you morph every turn into a new weapon or tool, based on tile you land on. The game's only mode is endless survival, so there's no real reason to keep playing but the addiction and the great combination of upgrading tiles by killing bugs on them and expanding the playing area. Despite being more of a little side project, this might be the best game Tom Francis has created so far. It's definitely the tightest design.

2. A Short Hike

The top 2 games on my list have a lot in common. They're both Humble Originals and they're both games about enjoying simple things. In case of A Short Hike, you're a city dwelling teen thrown on a Wi-Fi free island and you're being learnt to enjoy it. And it is enjoyable and warm and fuzzy. It's for reason this short game appeared on end of the year lists of many respectable outlets. Looking at screenshots and gifs doesn't make this game justice despite them being really pretty. The low poly in this game is superb and it being this good looking certainly gives it an edge, when it comes to presenting all the little nice things you can do to have a brighter day without exploiting anyone. A Short Hike is an extremely friendly game. Everyone on the isle is welcoming and sharing their enthusiasm with you. I cried of joy. Movement in this game is another thing. You walk, run, glide and climb and everything feels right. It's a game you can play on a wet day to make it the best day possible or on a sunny day to inspire yourself. Because enjoying the pleasures of movement on your own is the real deal.

1. Kimmy

This was a wonderful experience. The game's about Dana, a good caring kid, who is babysitting Kimmy. They walk around town, chat and play games. Mechanics of the game are simple but the way Kimmy presents itself, together with its structure and everything weaved in its narrative, it simply is brilliant. At first it might feel that the game's about building relationships with other kids. That part's really cool on its own as you get to know more about them and they're all original characters and positive ones in one way or other. Next, you uncover the second line. Simple game we all used to play and how we all managed to lose something, when embracing playing on computers and even various board games with many rules and components. It's never been the same sensation since. The last thing is the overarching narrative of the relation of Dana and Kimmy. There were more serious tones thrown in and the final plot twist went against my expectations and made me totally happy. The move from simply satisfying player is a bold one and I would say more rewarding in this case. Definitely more rewarding for me. Celeste and her work on Tacoma had put Nina Freeman on my map years ago, but only after playing Kimmy, she became a real star for me and I'm looking forward to playing We Met in May one day. This definitely is on par with Tacoma in terms of using the medium to carry over a message and a depth of the message.

#2019 #best of #top 10 #the isle is full of noises #dreamfeel #espectro city #makhor #renowned explorers #the things we lost in the flood #even the ocean #even the stars #kimmy #morphblade #nina freeman #a short hike #heaven will be mine

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recentanimenews · 6 years ago

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Peter's Winter 2019 Anime Premiere Recommendations

We’ve survived 2018, the Anime Awards is approaching, and 2019 is already hitting us with anime of the year material we’ll be looking back on 12 months from now. That said, this seems like a pretty cut-and-dry season. The good anime came in with a great deal of fanfare, so I’m not sure if I’ll have too many huge surprises for you, at least in the first half.

All the same, as a professionally anime watcher who sat through every single premiere episode, it’s my civic duty to share my five most favorite in no particular order. If you missed the hollering about some of the big hits of the season, hopefully this article will point you in the right direction! Here are my top 5 recommendations for winter 2019 based entirely on their first episode!

Mob Psycho 100 II

Mob is back! After 3 years, One’s opus has finally returned for a second season and BONES are throwing everything they’ve got at it once again. It was hard not to have a good feeling about season 2 but my excitement went through the roof when they dropped possibly the best PV I have EVER seen in December. The first episode absolutely hit it out of the park, riffing on the first episode of the original season with some exorcisms, an introduction to the cast, and then a personal moment that set the tone for the season. When the first episode has you tearing up, you can usually trust the rest of the season will blow you away.

The Promised Neverland

Like it’s protagonists, The Promised Neverland anime proved adept at the art of escape. Some of the best news in 2018 was that TPN had avoided anime jail and, given that it’s one of the most popular manga running in Jump, that’s some cause for celebration. I read the first print volume of the series then tore through the entire thing in a single day on the Shonen Jump app… so, it’s very good. The adaptation is fantastic as well, nailing some difficult beats in some suspenseful scenes and showing us some stellar voice performances and layouts. I can’t wait for things to really get rolling.

Boogiepop and Others

The original Boogiepop has been on my backlog for an embarrassing amount of time, so it was a relief to discover that it’s not required viewing for this new adaptation. If anything, this one follows the canon while the original was its own story so viewing this first might be the optimal order. To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the first two episodes with its achronological order of events. I’m cheating a little since this is a premiere review, but the 3rd episode is what really sold me. Seeing everything come together with some awesome animation and an exquisite climactic moment convinced me this series knows what it's doing. It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten an urban supernatural horror that took itself seriously (I’m sorry Occultic;Nine fans) so definitely give this one the 3 episode test at least.

Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka

I was side-eyeing this series super hard given the last few unfortunate swings anime has taken at dark magical girl series, but I just help but love what Asuka is doing. The whole thing is set up like a 90s action flick with the an ex-special forces soldier being forced out of retirement to protect their loved ones, and twists every beat to show how absurd the direction is from both directions. How can you not laugh when the high school first year says she left killing behind with middle school or when her mascot animal tells her to transform using her magical karambit? The fights are even showing some potential, with some lovingly animated grotesqueries like a giant teddy bear’s spreading maw and Asuka cutting the legs out from under a victim. I need to know where this is headed.

The Quintessential Quintuplets

No one’s more surprised than me that this anime made it to my top 5, especially because I have little interest in this genre and zero investment in whatever romance awaits Futaro. If the show spends most of its time sticking to the current formula, however, I plan to watch the whole damn thing. The tale of Futaro desperately attempting to get 5 scheming sisters to study has already borne wonderful comedic fruit. If every subplot is as funny as him pulling an all-nighter to learn everything about sengoku era warlords to pique the interest of the sister who got into history because of her gacha addiction? I’m onboard and you should be too.

I’ll begin my honorable mentions by saying I had nearly the same experience with the infamous Date A Live, whose third season won me over with the ridiculous concept of a boy living out a dating sim with commentary from a command center full of professionals offering suggestions. My Roommate is a Cat has been a pleasant diversion that showed some serious emotional muscle in the 3rd episode... Oh, and I guess Black Clover, Boruto, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and RADIANT are also good. With the first two going through my favorite arcs yet. Finally, I’m fascinated by my growing comprehension of the production around VIRTUALSAN -LOOKING- which I’ll be sharing… soon…

Once again, I hope this list helped you discover a new favorite anime for the winter. If I didn't give your favorite show the live it deserves, leave a comment to let others know! You might help someone else find a new series to love!

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Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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catsandtruecrime · 4 years ago

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The Tragic Case of Susan, Charlie, and Braden Powell

Stay away from guys with the last name Peterson (see Scott, Drew, and Michael).

Do not move to Puyallup, Washington (seriously, so many murders and disappearances happen there).

These are two things that the world of true crime has taught me to avoid. While today’s story isn’t about a man named Peterson, Puyallup is where our story about another wife murdering psycho starts and ends. I would consider this case one of “my” cases. Other true crime junkies know exactly what I’m talking about; “my” cases are the ones that I never stop thinking about. I want to share them with everyone I know and whether solved or unsolved, they live in my head rent free, as the kids would say.

Today’s story is neither solved or unsolved; it’s a bit weird in that way. While most people are confident that Susan Powell’s family will never see her again, her body has never been found, so she’s never been confirmed dead. With that said, though, the end of this story makes it pretty easy to assume that that’s the case and that Susan’s death can be attributed to her husband, Josh. But I’m getting ahead of myself, so lets start from the very beginning.

Susan Cox and Josh Powell both grew up in the Mormon community in Puyallup, Washington. Susan was born in 1981 and was one of four daughters. Her family remembers that she loved riding horses when she was younger, and spent a lot of her time singing in her school and church choirs.

When Susan was 18, she met Josh Powell at an event for young Mormons that they had both decided to attend. Their church regularly held services for congregations of young, single Mormons; it was as much a church service as it was a place to potentially meet your future spouse in their eyes.

Josh was 5 years older than Susan, making him 23 at the time that they met. He’s described by family and friends as being ambitious and confident, but also nerdy and awkward. Apparently Susan saw something in him, because after just meeting in October of 2000, the pair were engaged by December of the same year.

Susan and Josh Powell were married in April of 2001 and Susan quickly took on the role of the provider once they relocated to West Valley City, Utah near Salt Lake City; Josh was constantly in and out of jobs while Susan worked at the local branch of Wells Fargo in investments.

What seemed like a relatively happy marriage only seemed to become more picturesque once Susan and Josh had their two sons, Charlie in 2005, and Braden in 2007. While Susan was a doting mother who showed unconditional love for her boys, Josh was described as an “unattached dad” and Kiirsi Hellewell, Susan’s best friend, said in the 20/20 episode on Susan’s case, “Josh held Charlie when he wanted to show him off…he didn’t want to change diapers or bathe him…” It seemed to most people that unless his kids were making him look like a respectable, attentive, great father in the eyes of the public, Josh couldn’t care less about them.

Susan’s friends and family also described Josh as “controlling,” and Susan herself showed fear that Josh’s abusive tendencies could one day become her downfall. Before her disappearance in December of 2009 (we’ll get there…don’t worry…) Kiirsi eventually convinced Susan to meet with a divorce attorney after repeatedly expressing concerns about Josh’s controlling and manipulative behavior. Although Susan was the one making money for the family, Josh was the one who liked to spend; he regularly made extravagant purchases for himself, while monitoring and policing the purchases Susan wanted to make with her own money. As there was clear strife within their marriage, her attorney advised her to document her assets on video, which she did, along with documenting property damage that she attributed to one of Josh’s fits of rage.

Susan burned the video to a DVD which she then locked in a secret safety deposit box, along with a makeshift will that police later found when investigating her disappearance. In her will, Susan made several concerning statements, including, "I want it documented that there is extreme turmoil in our marriage" and, "If I die, it may not be an accident, even if it looks like one.”

On the night of Sunday, December 6th, 2009, JoVanna Owings, one of Josh and Susan’s friends from church, came over for dinner. JoVanna recounted that while she and Susan chatted and crocheted, Josh and the boys took to the kitchen to make everyone dinner. From Josh, who had never taken an interest in anything domestic, this act was seen as odd and out of character from everyone involved.

JoVanna also described that the way in which Josh cooked struck her as strange; he had decided to make pancakes for everyone, and JoVanna noticed that he made the pancakes one by one, and served everyone one by one. In the 20/20 special on Susan’s disappearance, JoVanna described how she and Susan ate their pancakes in the living room, while Josh and the boys ate in the kitchen. Kiirsi Hellewell points out that this was incredibly out of character and not a normal routine for the family at all. “That would have been completely out of the ordinary. I’ve never, ever, ever seen them eat in the living room.”

Shortly after eating, Susan began to feel ill and decided to lay down to take a nap. JoVanna took that opportunity to leave for the night, and Josh followed JoVanna out, saying that he was going to take Charlie and Braden sledding for a bit. JoVanna was still sitting in her van in the Powells’ driveway when Josh and the boys left.

The next morning, on Monday, December 7th, 2009, Charlie and Braden didn’t show up to daycare, and Susan and Josh were both absent from their jobs. Naturally, everyone who knew the Powells became worried when they didn’t hear from anyone in the family that morning. Friends and family worried that the family may have fallen victim to carbon monoxide poisoning, and the police were called to perform a wellness check.

When they arrived, police entered the home to find no sign of a disturbance, and none of the Powell family members inside. They noted that Susan’s purse was on a table with her wallet and credit cards inside. Police also noted that there were two box fans running on high, pointed at wet spots on the living room carpet. There was no vehicle in the garage.

On the evening of Monday, December 7th, at about 5 pm, Josh finally showed up at his house with Charlie and Braden in tow. He explained that he had taken Charlie and Braden to go camping at Simpson Springs Campground, about two hours away from their home. They had left sometime between midnight and 12:30 am according to Josh. Keep in mind here…Charlie is 4 and Braden is 2…not a move from the world’s greatest dad, waking your toddlers up in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT to go camping. That night, temperatures were below freezing and a blizzard was expected to bring 2-4 feet of snow throughout the day on Monday, beginning in the early morning hours.

When Josh and the boys returned, police questioned him regarding Susan’s whereabouts and they also searched the family’s van that Josh and the boys had returned in. Inside the van, they found Susan’s cell phone in the center console, as well as a generator, gas can, tarps, blankets, and a shovel. The SIM card was removed from Susan’s cell phone and Josh was unable to explain why he had it or why the SIM card was missing.

While Josh was at the police station being questioned on Monday night, police say that he quickly went from putting on an emotional show to entirely emotionless and unhelpful. Josh gave minimal information and asked no questions about his wife or whether the police had any leads. Later, Josh also refused to participate in any searches for Susan.

The same day, Charlie was also interviewed by police regarding the camping trip he had supposedly gone on with his father and brother. Charlie told the interviewing officer, “My dad came home, but mommy stayed at [the park]. She’s where the crystals are.”

In subsequent interviews over the years, Charlie would also say that “We can’t talk about Susan or camping,” and “We can only see Mommy if we go camping again.” Later, when questioned about a picture that he drew of his family in the car, Braden would say “Mommy’s in the trunk.”

After police searched the family home and seized the family’s van to search for evidence, Josh rented a car from the Salt Lake City International Airport; when he returned it 18 hours later, there were 807 additional miles on the odometer. To this day, no one knows where he went.

In subsequent days after Susan’s disappearance, friends and family of the Powells reported that Josh seemed completely disinterested in Susan’s case and didn’t seem to care at all whether she was found or not. Josh arrived late to one of the vigils held for Susan and then left almost immediately. Within weeks, on Friday, December 18th, 2009, Josh took Charlie and Braden back to Puyallup to stay with his father, Steve, “for the holidays.” He had also cashed out all of the couple’s accounts and intended to rent out their West Valley home.

While Josh was living with Steve (spoiler alert, they never went back to West Valley, Utah, they just kept living with Steve), Josh’s sister, Jennifer, worked with police in an attempt to get Josh on tape confessing to Susan’s murder. Jennifer always believed that Josh was the one who had caused Susan’s disappearance and went to visit him while wearing a wire. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to secure a confession from Josh, and Steve kicked her out while calling her names for not supporting her brother.

On August 24th, 2010, Josh and Steve appeared on an ABC interview where Josh was distant; Steve, on the other hand, ended up commandeering the interview when he claimed that he and Susan had had a sexual relationship. As police began investigating this claim, they found that it was half true; Steve had indeed had a sexual view of Susan, but she wanted nothing to do with him.

At the beginning of their marriage, Susan and Josh lived with Steve for a short time. Susan’s family and friends reported that she had mentioned numerous times that she thought Steve was creepy and how uncomfortable he made her. At the time that they lived with him, Steve was never without his video camera.

I bet you’re wondering what could possibly be so interesting that you’d want to be filming at all times. Well, when you’re obsessed with your daughter in law (and Steve was OBSESSED with Susan) you don’t want to miss a moment! When police were eventually able to gain access to Steve’s computers and videos that he had taken over the years, they found hours of footage of Susan, both filmed with and without her knowledge. Some videos included videos taken through cracks of barely open doors, videos underneath of bathroom doors, and videos focused on too conveniently placed mirrors that gave views into other rooms. Steve also had videos documenting things that he had stolen from Susan, including her discarded trash and clothes that Steve had taken from her room. Steve also read Susan’s journals and documented himself leafing through them as well.

Steve also wrote and recorded songs both about and dedicated to Susan (who, again, is his DAUGHTER IN LAW in case you forgot) that he uploaded to a website he created. At one point when they were left alone in a car together, Steve told Susan that he was falling in love with her. Susan told him that she wasn’t interested and that his behavior made her uncomfortable. Steve would continue this behavior until Susan and Josh moved to their house in West Valley, Utah.

As touched on briefly, police were eventually able to gain permission to raid Steve’s house once it became apparent that evidence about Susan’s disappearance may be hiding in his home. They were mainly looking for Susan’s diaries that Josh had taken with him when he left their West Valley home, but they were also able to take all of Steve’s computers and videos that he had stockpiled over the years. On his computers, police also found photos and videos he had taken of the underage girls that lived next door to Steve. He was charged with various things, including voyeurism and one count of child pornography, and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

After it was established that Charlie and Braden were being raised in an objectively terrible environment with their obviously incredibly creepy and dangerous grandfather, Charlie and Braden were placed in state custody, and then placed with Chuck and Judy Cox, Susan’s parents, a few days later. In an effort to regain custody of his children, Josh began renting a house in Puyallup and was eventually granted supervised visitation with Charlie and Braden.

On February, 1, 2012, during Josh’s custody hearing, West Valley police revealed that in initial searches of the Powells’ West Valley home, they had found a number of disturbing things on Josh’s computer, including depictions of beastiality, incest, and simulated child pornography. As he should have been, Josh was denied custody, and was also ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation and polygraph in order to prove that he wasn’t a danger to his children.

Over the next four days, Josh Powell reportedly donated children’s toys to the Salvation Army, and purchased two 5 gallon gas canisters.

Chuck and Judy Cox reported that on February 5th, 2012, Charlie and Braden insisted that they didn’t want to go on the supervised visit that was scheduled for that day. Nonetheless, social worker, Elizabeth Griffin Hall, picked the children up at Chuck and Judy’s house, and took them to the house that Josh was renting for their visit. Elizabeth describes that, as children often are, the two young boys were two steps ahead of her as they ran to greet their father who was standing at a door to the house. When they ran up to him, Josh pulled the boys inside and quickly slammed the door in Elizabeth’s face, locking it immediately.

What came next is possibly one of the most absolutely INFURIATING 911 calls I’ve ever heard in my 24 years of life. There’s no way to accurately describe the absolute incompetency that you hear in this call, so I just ask that you listen to it for yourself, here.

You can also find a brief transcript of the call here.

At the end of her first nearly 7 minute long 911 call which is mostly spent with the dispatcher questioning Elizabeth about insignificant details, the dispatcher tells Elizabeth that he’ll send a deputy to her location. Elizabeth asks how long it will be and the dispatcher replies, “I don’t know, they have to respond to emergency, life threatening situations first.”

At this point, I’m absolutely SEETHING and have no words to describe how enraged this particular part of this case makes me. In case you hadn’t guessed, this was indeed an emergency, life threatening situation as Elizabeth tried her hardest to explain to this dispatcher.

Inside the locked house, Josh was murdering his two children, Charlie who was 7, and Braden who was 5. As he pulled them into the house, Elizabeth had heard him tell Charlie, “I have a surprise for you.” Not only did he murder his wife (because come on), but this sniveling, absolutely TRASH excuse for a human, saw his two little boys running up to him that day, welcomed them into his house, telling them he had a surprise for them, and then struck them each multiple times in their little heads and necks with a hatchet. When this failed to kill them, Josh poured gasoline on their bodies and all over his house, which he then lit, causing an explosion.

Elizabeth then called 911 again and ran to Josh’s neighbors trying to find someone to help her get inside to save the boys. When firefighters arrived, they were able to put out the fire and found Josh, Charlie, and Braden inside the house, all dead from smoke inhalation. Charlie and Braden’s autopsies revealed that gasoline was not only covering them, but was also in their lungs, suggesting that they had inhaled some of it as their father doused them in it prior to lighting all of them on fire.

Investigators interviewed for the 20/20 special on the case described how Josh had been backed into a corner so to speak. He was looking at not only a psychosexual evaluation, but also a polygraph test where Susan would inevitably be brought up. Charlie and Braden were getting older and more difficult to silence, especially when he had limited access to them. They suggested that Josh knew that he was at the end of the line when it came to Susan, and killing the boys was his way of destroying the remaining evidence from his crime.

It’s believed that on the night of December 6th, 2009, Josh may have poisoned Susan, which is why he made each person’s pancakes individually, and why Susan fell ill shortly after eating dinner. That night, Josh likely took the boys and Susan’s body to Simpson Springs, where he likely dumped her in an abandoned mine. At a work party in the past, Josh had reportedly told a coworker that “the best place to dispose of a body is down a mine shaft.” With over 10,000 abandoned mines in Utah, it’s nearly impossible to determine where exactly she may be.

It’s also believed that Steve most likely either had something to do with Susan’s murder, or he knew the whole story and could have lead police to her body. Steve died in a hospital in Tacoma, Washington in 2018, one year after being released from prison.

Chuck and Judy Cox were awarded $32 million in August of 2020 in a civil case that they filed against the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services for negligence that led to Charlie and Braden’s deaths at the hands of their father. They were awarded $16 million for each of the boys, which Chuck says he intends to use to honor his grandchildren, saying, “I intend to use the award to try and help other people, [so] that we can save more children.”

All in all, that’s the end of the story of Susan, Charlie, and Braden Powell. This case is one that hits me so hard because it’s so completely senseless. Josh Powell and his father were both horrible shit stains on this world, and while the world is better without them in it, they managed to take three wonderful people with them for absolutely no reason other than their own selfishness and hatred. It hurts my heart to know that Charlie and Braden died such horrible, tragic deaths at the hands of someone who was supposed to always love and protect them. It hurts my heart to know that Susan still hasn’t been found and that her family still doesn’t have closure. It hurts my heart to know that while Charlie and Braden are buried next to each other, their mother is still out there somewhere and will maybe never be returned to her boys.

I think in every case, I try to find some source of hope, or some good that may come out of it one day. I think this is one case that makes that so incredibly difficult, but I do still hold out hope that Susan may be found one day. I really, really hope that she is so that her family can finally have answers and so that they can finally lay her to rest beside her children. I hope that Chuck and Judy and the rest of Susan’s family will be able to find peace in their journey to help other children and families in Susan, Charlie, and Braden’s names. And I hope that Josh and Steve Powell burn in the epitome of the “fire and brimstone” Catholic version of Hell for the rest of eternity. If anyone deserves that, it’s those two evil fuckwads.

REFERENCES, SOURCES AND OTHER READINGS

ABC News, “Where is Susan Powell?”

KUTV, “Timeline: What we know in the years since Susan Cox Powell went missing”

ABC 20/20 on Hulu, “If Something Happens to Me…”

Crime Junkie’s Episode, “Murdered: The Powell Family”

That Chapter on Youtube, “The Case of Susan Cox Powell”

And also there’s like a million other articles and documentaries out there on this case…

#true crime #susan powell #charlie powell #braden powell #josh powell

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briteboy · 7 years ago

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(circumstantial name by @earnoodle)

IT’S FINALLY TIME FOR THE POST YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR (or maybe just that one anon)

there’s a LOT in here, newer questions are generally first so if you asked something a while ago and you’re only interested in that, scroll towards the bottom. also doing wcifs separately (errr i’m gonna try my hardest to ok don’t crucify me)

this mass anons post includes topics ranging from Very Sweet Things Said To Me That I Don’t Deserve, nitpicking stranger things, crying over ramona, lou theories, Cillian Is A Fucking Creep theories (true), and completely unhelpful reshade advice

let’s f0cking do this

You're right, apart from carrying his stupid brain, Santi's head didn't do anything to any of us. I apologize for anon.

I'm pretty sure I said that already but I love Rooney and Santi's relationship so much I literally have no words for it

ME TOO LIKE IT’S JUST SO PURE TWO NOT-KIDS SCARED OF THE ADULT WORLD TRYING TO FIGURE THINGS OUT WITH THEIR WEIRD BRAINS TOGETHER ;__; i love them

YO i didnt know u were a demigirl!! im a demiboy nb Buddies

hell fuckin yeah dude!! we are starting a demi club

Ok but like I really want werewolves. Like I know it sounds stupid but we have vampire and while yes I love my bat babes, I want a giant pupper friend. I have story written out and plans for a cabin to build. Now I’m waiting for EA to give me my big hairy babes.

DUDE i want more supernatural stuff too, mostly witches like I NEED MY WITCHES AGAIN!!! ts3 witches were so good. i didn’t like ts3 werewolves much but i feel like they’d be super cool in ts4, knowing how the vampires came out. i NEED it

hihi! i've been very quietly (??) following your blog for some time now and i just fawn over your characters way too much ?? anywho, i've been wanting to start my own little simblr story but ,, i'm not entirely sure where to even start? i have so many stories that i'd love to get out there, and i have the means.. butt, how did you go about starting out?? so sorry this is so long but i look up to you a whole ton!!! ty ily! :-)

i’m the (??) lmao that’s me always but ahdhghdfkshg thank you so much!!!!! i’m so glad you love them, it means the world to me ;-; and listen, that was me, i had no idea how i was going to do it because i’d only seen ts3 stories up to that point and i thought there was like a set Way to tell stories but i had no idea what i was doing so i was like y’know what...i’m just gonna do it how i feel comfortable doing it and i’m gonna figure it out as i go along. so honestly try to roughly plan out what your stor(ies) will entail and if you get stuck on planning and can’t figure it out, just jump right into it, try to make a few scenes or get the ball rolling somehow, even if it’s just random posts (i mean that’s all my blog was until i decided to commit to santi’s story.) it’s always gonna feel weird and awkward at first, but you’ll get comfortable the more you do it and it’ll figure itself out, trust me!

I read through most of your story posts the other day and now I’m rereading it again just to torture myself some more (and maybe catch up on some posts I may have missed). I honestly don’t think I’ve come across a sims story that’s so beautifully written & includes such evocative pictures as yours. I’m really at a loss for words, it’s all so stunning. & after a nearly two-month long creative block, it’s planted the smallest seed of inspiration in the back of my mind, so thank you for your art.

AHHHH AHSDHKGKDSJG WHAT!!!!! it’s always crazy hearing that 1) people actually care about my stuff, and 2) that it inspires them. like i really cannot believe that, stilL!! thank you so so much, i’m so happy you enjoyed it (as torturous as it was, lmao) it seriously warms my heart that you’re getting your groove back in the creative world, that means more to me than ANYTHING!! good luck with your art or whatever you decide to do with that inspiration!

can i pls have your editing skill please and thank you

i owe most my editing at this point to reshade so honestly get reshade and u will probably become better than me

o added u on animal crossing and when you added me back i was so happy,, your little person is sooo adorable ((:

OMG!! thank you!! everyone’s person on there is adorable i cry i love them all so much i’m so mad tho it won’t let me add any more friends!!! it probably cuts off at like 100 friends or something STUPID

First of all, I love you. Secondly, I love your photos so much. I'm legit about to just ditch sims 3 for 4 now because of your amazing posts. 😖

LMFAO no but really THANK YOU I LOVE YOU!!! if you can manage playing both i admire u, i’ve invested too much time and effort into ts4 to ever fully go back to any other sims games tbh

The new patch made my game unplayable! I'm crying, I miss my doggos...

NOOOOO!!! hopefully by now you’ve found a fix, i’m prayin for u

long time listener, first time caller yoooo. i like everyone love your stories and your sim aesthetic so so so much and just tbh i was offended on your behalf about that ask from that person wanting to novelize your stories. like you were way too nice. this is your intellectual property and it's fucked up that someone would think it'd be okay to duplicate it as long as they used a different medium. this is prob a bad one to repost just wanted to you to know you're an awesome, singular voice

omfg lmao this is a radio show now *z100 voice* tellem why ya mad euhhh first of all i can’t believe someone even ASKED that, i’m in shock because like what this is so foreign to me. people want to write about MY characters WHAT! like that alone...takes a long time to process. and like i know i should say no but then i feel mean but they’re also my creations so like idk. it warms my heart that you feel so strongly and would stand up for me like that i’m cryin thank u for calling in i love u

I JUST FINISHED YOUR ENTIRE STORY AND I'M NOT OK WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE PUTTING ME THROUGH THAT SHIT IT'S AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER AND I FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE ABUSED MY (NON EXISTENT) INNOCENCE WOW

I’M SO SORRY U HAD TO GO THROUGH THAT ALSO I APOLOGIZE FOR STEALING YOUR INNOCENCE I NEVER MEANT FOR THIS TO HAPPEN OSDAFKJDSK BUT THANK YOU FOR READING I’M GLAD YOU ENJOYED IT EVEN IF IT HURT YOU!!!

I've been up all night and it's now 11am. I'm completely binging on your stories bc I am in LOVE and need a Molly in my game asap. Do you think you'll ever upload her?

omG my freaking story inciting insomnia i’m so sorry for ur sleep schedule first of all, but at least that makes you identify with santi even more omg tho ;___; (how many times will i say ‘omg’ i wonder) i don’t think so because she is so dear to me and makes my heart ache, she is just so special, i dunno if i could ever release her into the wild like that lmao. i haven’t even shared her with my friends (not that i really ever had a reason to) but like yeah. maybe in the future that’ll change but right now, no, i’m sorry <3

To change the topic: Idk if you watch stranger things but I only managed to get to episode 3 of season 2 before I stopped watching lmao it was so bad and Billy (a certified Cunt) ruined the whole show for me

YEAH I DID! omg. i have a LOT of issues with this season (mostly in how badly they tried to retcon nancy and everyone else not caring about barb’s death, how bad the writing was in the realm of nancy and steve breaking up and then her and jonathan getting together...holy fuck it was so uncomfortable with that 40 yr old conspiracy theorist guy i couldn’t even enjoy my ship getting together lmao) also ur right, max and billy honestly did not offer anything to the story...like i loved max too but what was the point...billy acted like their presence and the reason they had to move was so dramatic when it was really nothing...unless they’re saving that for season 3 but like. the whole situation with billy was so anticlimactic. he was like a walmart version of henry from IT. like boohoo ur dad’s an asshole and then he beat up steve. good character arc. i liked max standing up for herself but really...that whole thing was so lackluster, i didn’t care about it at all. ALSO I HATED THAT THEY DIDN’T LET MAX AND ELEVEN BE FRIENDS!! i’m sure it’ll happen in season 3 but like c’mon...that would’ve made the max character feel a little more important to the story. anyway yeah fuck billy and i don’t get why everyone is lusting after him or his actor they’re both ugly! thanks for listening

I just got the sims 4 + city living and I’m so excited! I was really inspired by your stories and style in general... I was wondering what packs do you have and also what are your favourite sims 4 hairs? I’m having trouble finding ones and I love your style!

YAY I’M EXCITED FOR YOU!!! omg aww it warms my heart so much when people say i inspire them because i never anticipated that kind of response, thank you so much <3 hmmm i think i have all of them except glamour stuff and fitness stuff. and pretty much all the hairs i download are here or here. (or the subsequent ‘tf’, ‘cf’, ‘tm’ and ‘cm’ tags as well, according to age)

UHM a 19 year old and a 13 year old? Poor baby Lou... Also youre a brilliant writer i cant

😬😬😬 stay tuned ajasdhjhjsahd thank you so much!!!

My stan levels for you have increased so much? like thanks for being a good ally, clAps for femmesim!

lmao thank you, i don’t really deserve praise tho i’m just passing on the knowledge of those patient enough to teach me. just trying to do what i can with my privilege u know. ily

How do you have teeth showing in so many of your pictures of Lou and Molly, do you PS them in?

i’ve gotten this question before and it’s usually just the poses used! i do have some lipsticks that have teeth on them but i mostly use them for just rooney.

Honestly, a fight between Santi and that new guy (srry, forgot his name while typing this) would be so hot. Like, I hope Santi would win but like just watching Santi fight him for Lou would make me happy!! Also, I live for your stories💞

omG i’m about to call up vince mcmahon they both need to fight on smackdown it’s gonna happen. they’ll both be shirtless too ok and THANK YOU ILY

boi poc can be PREJUDICED against white people but there is no such thing as reverse racIIIIIIiiiiIIIIIiiiIIIIsm

Lemme just say that you must be feeling so stressed rn. I love you and your simblr!!! Your posts light up my day!! <3333

OMg kind of. this week has taken A Lot out of me and i really just want to chill at home and play my freaking GAME but obligations. u know. here’s hoping i get a day off this week. i’m mad i’m probably gonna miss gianni’s birthday too (it’s on tuesday) and i wanted to do something for it!! i’ll probably do it late like i did last year too lmao i’m so sorry baby g ANYWAY u didn’t ask to hear about any of this...thank you for this sweet message i love you <3

why,,,, are people... coming to your blog to discuss race you are a fucking simblr WHAT

the real question is why do people go to you like its your job to educate them lmao like theres so many resources out there

SHAWDY u aint wrong reverse racism is literally a joke i am so sorry you have to go through all of this keep stepping on white feelings we deserve it

I was wondering would u consider Asians to be POC?

yes

I just finished Strange the Dreamer and it was fucking amazing. I cried so much and I laughed and I sat in absolute amazement at the world Laini Taylor has created. 100/10 would recommend

ahhhh i really need to read it apparently!! i’m like 10% away from being done with a dance with dragons (and then i have to wait for the next book like a peasant HURRY UP KING GEORGE) anyway this one is definitely on my list!

omgomg!! I just met this girl in my class who has eyes just like ramona's!!! But like instead of being brown w/ a little bit of blue, they were blue w/ a little bit of brown!!! Dude I was so shook I rlly didn't think ppl had eyes like that!

OMG!!!! that’s amazing! and yes heterochromia is a real thing haha. i’ve only met one person with it and he had the same color combo as ramona too, only his was full heterochromia, not sectoral.

*me in the background screaming* nO yOU LEAVE HER ALoNE baD-DAD-MaN!

ME TF TOO

every time i read some of your stories i get an ache in my heart that doesn't go away until i either cry or sleep so interpret that as you like

OMG ;_____; ok me too tho my heart literally hurts thinking about my characters sometimes...mostly santi...i hate him (no i don’t :{ )

hey uhh idk if you've answered something like this before but do you have a spotify or something bc your music taste is GOLD

THANK YOU!! you were the first person to ask about this haha and hopefully you saw my answer to the other question about it! i just made one and it’s here!

hi hi ! i’m seeing all the drama on da blog and i really want to read the whole story but i can’t get to it on mobile so i was wondering if you could link the beginning and tell me what the best order to read it in is ( i’m so confused because i’ve seen sm people y’all about a parallel story so idk if i’m being dumb !! ) i hope this isn’t any inconvenience also your sims are so beautiful sjajsjajs

hey on mobile the link is just: http://femmesim.tumblr.com/tagged/story/chrono i would honestly just recommend that order haha, it makes things simpler and it encompasses ALL story posts, or posts that give context. there are parallels in my story, lou’s is kind of a parallel of santi’s, only different...well...you’ll see. but yeah sorry this is so late! and thank you!!!

TU HISTORIA ES TAAAAAN BUENA POR DIOOOOS (YOURE STORY IS SOOOOO GOOD OMG) <3 <3 *OO* *cries in spanish*

MUCHAS GRACIAS ENCANTADORA PERSONAAAA <333

lou is wendy right? i mean, a wendy complex is someone who is overly mothering to partners, and lou is already a mother and ik that doesn't really count as foreshadowing but it seems like it could be a link to me. it'd make sense too, considering guys that go after younger girls (ew) are usually immature ie peter pan complex. it'd make the most sense that those two go together then.

heheheheh that is a VERY good observation...that’s all i’m gonna say!!

This has nothing to do with what's happening in the story rn, but whatever. I was wondering if you were going to mention lou's struggles with being a single mom and the stigma surrounding single motherhood? As a single mother myself I'd really enjoy seeing you take on the issue. Personally, my biggest problem was overcoming the generalizations people put on you when you're a single mom. People always assumed that I that I was stupid and uneducated because I had my son when I was 17.

yes! that will definitely come up. i will focus a lot on her struggles as a single mom. so far i’ve mostly just peppered in some stuff about money troubles, and that will come up again, and the issues you mention will be pretty central to her character as well. i’m sorry you have to endure that, it’s not fair. people don’t even realize how strong and dedicated single mothers are.

when you say Peter Pan, do you mean the Disney stuff or the og creepy stuff?

i mean the general themes of the story and how that translates into a peter pan complex: boy who never grows up, feels like he fits in more with younger people (haha...yikes), read the message above because that anon described the other half of the equation better than i could

Wait, hold up. That dude is cute but I feel like he’s coming onto Lou way too strong. I have a bad feeling.. Lou is like 13 there and he is 19 I mean I’ve seen bigger gaps between people, but she is not legal yet.. Where are you going with this? 🤨😅

yyyyyyep that feeling is warranted! i am going a way i don’t think you guys expect me to go...i think you’ll be very confused at the end of this part lmao. that being said, i’m not putting any of this in for shock value or to romanticize inappropriate relationships like this. (i’m probably going to be repeating that a LOT for this story but please just keep that in mind)

Hey mom wanna hear a fun as hell story? I just got back from the ER bc I fell on my razor after showering, and practically cut my nipple in half. (I am in so much pain hELP)

OMFG NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOUR POOR NIPPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’M SO SORRY I HOPE IT FEELS BETTER PLEASE UPDATE ME ON THE NIPPLE STATUS

U gotta watch sense8!!! Apart from the v awkward sex scenes it's v good, has a lot of representation and shit Just watch that shit show, u won't regret it (And if you do I cut your throat oops)

i’ve heard it’s good! i remember when it first came out and everyone was like Wow The Representation so honestly anything with diversity has already got me hooked pls don’t murder me.

I'm calling it now. He's Fi's dad. and he's a FUCKING CREEP!! Bitch you are 19!! LOU IS 13!! BACK THE FUCK OFF YOU PERV!!

no spoilers or anything but honestly i’m with you @ cillian die

Are they gonna fucc, o no

right now? no. that would be Very Bad

bABY ITS COLD OUTSIDE

oh same

Hi ! Your lastest edit (graveyard girl) is truly amazing, how did you make that bokeh behind her ? 😱😍

thank you so much!!! it’s reshade (with matso DOF)!

You've probably got this question a lot of times but i can't find the answer for it. What reshade do you use?

i gotta add this to my faq, it’s one i created myself but i started out with this one (it totally doesn’t resemble that one anymore but i think it’s a good starting point)

how do you make good looking male sims? mine always look the same and kinda girly..

hmmm longer faces, prominent chins and jaws, smaller eyes, bigger noses...generally yeah

What do you mean 9 + alt?

you gotta turn bb.moveobjects on and then press alt + 9 when an object is selected to move it upward. so what i did with those poses i made was, i selected a teleporter and pressed alt + 9 until it was at a spot i liked on the roof. that’s why releasing those poses would be tricky, ‘cause every build is different so there’s no set way to place them, you just kinda have to play around with them

You mentioned GoT so naturally, I have to chime in and express my love for Jon. Honestly, he won me over ever since the first season? I'm at season 5 now and people have already warned me so now i'm silently weeping, waiting for something to happen to my precious bby help

JONNY BOY!!!!!!!!!!! i loved his emo ass since the beginning but his arc with qorin halfhand (was he in the show??) was probably the best arc in book 2 and then his book 3 arc was just...SO GOOD, SO MUCH happens to him and i just felt like i was watching my son go through it all...i love that boy so much ;-; i’m almost at the end of the last book and i’m scared for him because of the one spoiler i know lmao and you’re at that point too so GET READY we’ll go through it together ok

So there's this game I'm playing where someone talking about another character says 'maybe you can break him from his ouroboros of self-fladulation' (I know I probably butchered those spellings but I'm not a bright egg and autocorrect isn't helping rip) and tbh it made me think of Santi. (Also I'mma scream of you get this reference jsyk)

OMG THE FACT THAT YOU THOUGHT OF HIM ;-; and it’s okay u are the brightest egg in the bunch to me. I’M SORRY I DON’T GET THIS REFERENCE BECAUSE I’M NOT A VIDEO GAME PERSON BUT I’LL PRETEND I DO KNOW WHAT UR TALKING ABOUT anyway yes santi is currently in the process of breaking his self-flagellation and embracing the oneness of the ouroboros (as opposed to letting the cycle repeat itself until he’s worn down to nothing)

do you have any favorite pose creators?

answered

do you have any tips for taking good screenshots in game? like how to get the good angles and good quality? i play on ultra but i think when i zoom in and then use the arrows on my keyboard to move around, the pictures gets less clear and looks kinda blurry. how should i do this?

well if you’re already using ultra, there’s not much you can do lmao. sims 4 is just bad with textures in general. it also depends on the objects as well, some are better quality than others. if i zoom in far on a sim’s face, i generally know there will be some pixelation and i can clean that up in photoshop with topaz clean and the smudge tool. i am very reliant on photoshop sometimes lmao. it sounds like you already have the basics of taking good screenshots, it’s just sometimes you have to fight and work with sims 4′s less-than-hd quality.

burn it down by daughter reminds me of santi & i'm in pain

ouroboros!!! death! birth! death again! birth again rinse repeat! also santi breaking the cycle because third time's the charm

The tattoo is an Ouroboros. It originated in Egyptian iconography, and it symbolizes recreation. My boy's recreating himself, I'm so proud.

ouroboros, the dragon eating its own tail. it's a sign of eternal renewal

i saw the post of child molly and just started BAWLING i miss her what the fuck she's my fave character i'M CRYING

ME TOO BICH!! ME FUCKIN TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i just read all of A Serious Case Of The Novembers so far and theres still tears on my face. some of the best stuff ive read in a while, great job on everything

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! ALSO I’M SORRY FOR MAKING YOU CRY

every time you write about molly and her in heaven it makes my heart swell, like the characters were answering asks and someone asked her what heaven was like and even though it was so small short lil answer it still pulls at the heart strings, basically what im trying to say is that your writing is so good! <3

omg ;_______; me too, i feel like she has such a simple way with words and although her descriptions of heaven are brief, they are also complex and beautiful, and even just writing it chokes me up ;-; thank you so much tho i’m so glad you like it!!

Molly: out Molly tatto: also out

why did this remind me of this post:

How did you edit in the fire in the last post? Looks cool

i searched things like “bonfire” and pasted parts of it that i wanted on the pic to make it look more realistic, then put a layer mask on the pasted pic and erased the edges and stuff to make it blend in better. the sparks and stuff i added by pasting it onto a new layer and changing the blending mode to screen!

idk if you have every watched grey anatomy but Lou's backstory is starting to remind me of Jo (Jo is a character from the show) like Jo was in a abusive relationship and she is married to the guy but she cant get divorced or he will come and find her. So like if Lou didn't tell Fiona's dad he was a dad and Lou was married to him and cant escape the marriage (cause abuse), plus it would explain Lou's kink with being choked ;) full circle *god-like heaven music with tiniest violin is playing now*

ooh no i don’t but that’s interesting and i’m excited you even made a connection like that! i will say that it’s not lou who likes to be choked (the very opposite actually lmao) but otherwise the situation does kinda fit. i’m the violin

I have a freakin bio pre ap test tomorrow on photosynthesis and i have no idea what it is im going to fail save me

I’M ANSWERING THIS VERY LATE BUT I HOPE YOUR TEST WENT WELL!!!!!! *spongebob voice* photosynthesis

last time I installed reshade I couldn't get it to open the controls or shaders or anything in game :///// any tips?? I love they way reshade looks too!!

hmmmmm well i know the control panel opens when you press shift + f2, and then you check the boxes of the effects you want on them. i haven’t heard of this problem so i dunno what other advice to give i’m sorry :{ if it’s your first time installing it, you might have to wait a little to get it to load up.

Da puppy is so cute!!!

That dog and Romona are so adorable, I might cry

Ramona's cheeks are so big im in love

NAJKSDJGKJSD THANK YOU i love her and her chubby cheeks ;-;

OMG TOTORO IS SO BEAUTIFUL I LOVE GHIBLI UGH FKSJFJANFB

SAME!!!!!!! if i could only watch ghibli movies for the rest of my life i’d be totally fine with that

THE DOGGIE HAS EYES JUST LIKE RAMONAS IM GONNA FUCKIGN CRY

ME FUCKGN TOO!!!!!!!!!! it was fate (aka me creating the wolf pup to look just like her shh i am fate)

Hope I'm not bothering you but i wondered if you knew how to make Tamo sims eyebags work on a toddler? Do I just click in s4s to work for toddler on the "age and gender flags" when looking in My CC or do I have to do something a little more than that please? Thank you.

for any skin detail or makeup, you have to go into s4s and open the package up, go to one of the tabs (honestly i don’t remember which one because i don’t have it open rn lmao) and you’ll see the different age groups and you check the box for toddler. and then save it of course. (there’s probably a better guide on how to do this somewhere lmao)

Hey :) Sorry to take up your time, I was wondering if you use win7, win8 or win10? I'm trying to decide on one and people seem to have very strong feelings about it. Also what web browser do you use? I've used Firefox, but I had some problems on CC websites. Thanks<3

i use windows 10 because it came with my laptop lmao i honestly don’t know much about windows systems at all!! and i use google chrome because it’s never failed me (even though windows keeps pressuring me to use the new internet explorer called “edge”)

i just finished all of novembers in a sitting and 1. i'm Sobbing, 2. your music taste is bomb

THANK YOU!!! my music taste is like one part indie shit, one part rap and hip-hop, twelve parts emo middle school bands

what is the size of the original unedited screenshot?

1920x1080

For reshade when your first install and select the reshade you want to use do you have to edit the settings? Cause last time I tried to (I didn’t know what most of the things meant lmao) but it kept saying error or something so I couldn’t play the game so I ended up taking out reshade

do you mean the preset you want to use? i mean no you can just play with that preset, you don’t have to change anything about it. i’m not sure what you mean but i followed this guide for setting it up

Will you ever share your preset?? Or maybe a preset made be you??

i’ve answered this before but the answer is Maybe

Hi!!!! How do you make the rays of light you have in your photos?? THANK U BBY <3333

that’s actually in my editing tutorial but here you go <3

is reshade only available on windows + do we need to pay for it

yes and no

Hello love! I was wondering (and maybe it's a dumb question, idk) but what life span setting do you use? I would assume you turned off aging for your story but maybe I'm wrong ;w; Thank you!!

i do actually have aging off ‘cause i’m a coward lmao even in the ts3 days when i wasn’t doing story stuff and literally just playing i had it off for the most part and just aged sims up when i wanted because i like to be in control of Everything (aries)

I really just wanted to say that I’m new I your tumblr but your stories are amazing and I love them so much!!! Keep doing what you’re doing💞👏🏼

hey thank you!!! you are so kind and i’m glad you’re enjoying everything!!

In your reshade settings where have you set it to save your SS's to and which key please? I can't find mine after setting it to desktop/screenshots :(

i just set mine to ts4′s screenshots folder because it’s what i was used to and it works for me haha. hmmmmmm did you copy the exact address or whatever it’s called of your folder’s location and then paste it into the reshade box? try doing that with another location and see if it works. if anything you can do what i did ‘cause it worked for me

ok SO i came across this music video for this like spanish/english speaking indie band called The Marías and the song was déjate llevar and literally everything about the music video reminded me of rooney and gianni

OMMMGGG i love this so much, i cry @ music suggestions and this is so them ;-; i think i’ve heard of this band before actually!!

a little life is going to fucking ruin you,,, just a warning

great! i look forward to it

can a steal ur talent

have it i don’t need it

What app are you using to make them cool edit things??

i tagged it but it was doodle face

omg Strange the Dreamer is so freaking amazing! It’s literally one of my favorite books of all time; You’ll love it. The writing is absolutely delightful

you guys are really singin the praises for this book!! i have so many dang books to read i swear

#nonsims #saviorhide #anonymous #sunny answers #it is done and i never want to see another anon message again #i retire

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architectnews · 4 years ago

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Dezeen's top 10 most talked-about stories of 2020

This year had its fair share of provocative stories, from Donald Trump drafting new legislation on federal buildings to Bjarke Ingels plotting to redesign Earth. For our review of 2020, digital editor Karen Anderson looks at 10 of the most talked about.

Harikrishnan's inflatable latex trousers create "anatomically impossible" proportions

Readers debated our coverage of menswear designer Harikrishnan's billowing latex trousers, which were created for his graduate collection at the London College of Fashion.

"I really like the pear shape of the white pants," praised Rose Winkler. "I picture them with the same shaped arms on a stage. They feel very medieval. Reminds me of Popeye when he eats his spinach."

"Absolutely love the concept!" added Karen Thomas. "Mad technical skills have gone into creating such art. Especially the time invested in getting those beautiful beads made. Curious to see what's next!"

Find out more about the inflatable latex trousers ›

AIA opposes President Trump's draft rules for Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again

One of the biggest stories this year was news that the Trump Administration planned to introduce an order that all federal buildings should be built in the "classical architectural style".

In response to the draft order, called Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again, the American Institute of Architects called on members to sign an open letter petitioning against it. The story on Dezeen attracted more than 323 comments.

"Does this sound familiar? Hitler did that." said Pam Weston. "Similar in aesthetics too. Is anyone besides me scared yet?"

"What's the big deal here?" asked Elrune The Third. "This classical style is part of the national identity and design language of the USA. No one will die because Studio BIG doesn't win the next contract for a courthouse."

Find out more about the opposition to Trump's draft order ›

Zaha Hadid Architects and Grimshaw among architects to criticise Autodesk's BIM software

The story that received the second most comments this year was news that Zaha Hadid Architects and Grimshaw were two of 17 architecture studios to sign an open letter to software company Autodesk, criticising the rising cost and lack of development of Revit.

The president and CEO of Autodesk responded to criticisms of its software, admitting improvements "didn't progress as quickly" as they should have but rejecting claims it is too expensive.

Readers weren't convinced. It's "like charging 2020 prices for a Cadillac on a 2005 Ford Focus," said UTF.

"This software is bad," agreed Michal C. "My life got way shorter thanks to constantly fighting its limits and bad design. Using it in building design is like doing brain surgery using two bricks as the only tools."

Find out more about criticism of Autodesk ›

Masterplanet is Bjarke Ingels' plan to redesign Earth and stop climate change

In October, commenters furiously debated news that BIG founder Bjarke Ingels is creating a masterplan for redesigning Earth.

Approaching Earth like an architect master planning a city, Ingels calculates that even a predicted population of 10 billion people could enjoy a high quality of life if environmental issues were tackled holistically.

But some readers struggled to take Ingels seriously. "Please wake me up when BIG reveals a plan to redesign human behaviour," said Chris Becket.

Don Griffiths was more optimistic: "Lots of good things come from dreaming and scheming outside the box. This man might not have all the answers, but the future is better attended to by the actions of thinkers from the past."

Find out more about Ingels' plan to redesign Earth ›

Coronavirus offers "a blank page for a new beginning" says Li Edelkoort

Some readers reacted with cynicism to Li Edelkoort's predictions for a post-coronavirus future.

Edelkoort described how the disruption caused by coronavirus will lead people to grow used to living with fewer possessions and travelling less.

"How many times has history shown that's not how this works?" responded Rd. "Things will just go back to normal and change will happen slowly over time."

Others found the article comforting. "I take a lot of solace in what Li Edelkoort is saying," said Gerard McGuickin. "In a way, the Coronavirus is perhaps a reckoning for things that have gone before."

Ukrainian architect Sergey Makhno also shared his predictions on how our homes will change once the coronavirus pandemic is over whilst Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky shared his thoughts on how the coronavirus pandemic is likely to change travel.

Find out more about Edelkoort's coronavirus predictions ›

Steel and concrete steps cut through facade of Stairway House by Nendo

Opinions were divided over Japanese design studio Nendo's unusual addition to a multigeneration house in Tokyo – a giant decorative staircase dividing the house in two.

Some felt that the sculptural stairway was too much of a health and safety risk. "I can't imagine living there with a kids," worried Salamoon.

And Room advised people to live a little more dangerously. "If everyone here wants a run-of-the-mill cosy little cottage or bungalow or timber-framed three-bedroom suburban potted plant safety palace, why are you reading this magazine?" they quipped.

Cliff Tan weighed in with some important cultural context. "This is really obvious if you are East Asian," said Tan. "In Feng Shui terms, this site, sitting at the top of a long road, invites too much energy into the site," he added. "The staircase takes all this energy and swoops it towards the sky, keeping the rest of the home calm and protected."

Find out more about Stairway House ›

Bjarke Ingels meets Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro to "change the face of tourism in Brazil"

Bjarke Ingels previously made headlines when the architect met with the president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro to discuss developing a tourism masterplan for the northeast region of the country.

"Glad to still see starchitect clamouring to work with corrupt governments," said WYRIWYG. "As long as the fees are high enough..."

"Yeah, because a Danish architect knows exactly how to deal with beaches and the social background of our country," added Edson Maruyama. "We have great architects and urbanists in the country.

Ingels released a statement defending his decision and rejecting the idea that countries such as Brazil should be off-limits to architects.

Find out more about Ingels meeting Jair Bolsonaro ›

Eva Franch i Gilabert fired as AA director for "specific failures of performance"

Another controversial story in 2020 was news that Architectural Association (AA) director Eva Franch i Gilabert was fired.

The decision was taken by the London school two weeks after Gilabert lost a vote of no confidence in her leadership.

"Eva absolutely deserved an opportunity to lead," said AA Dipl. "AA is a testbed for creative ideas and methodologies and sometimes an experiment doesn't prove successful. Yet AA is the only place where one can try and fail and we should admire the school for that reason. "

Hotel Sphinx also commented: "Surely those of us outside the AA community cannot truly understand what has transpired over the past two years, culminating in this decision."

Find out more about Gilabert's dismissal ›

Groupwork designs 30-storey stone skyscraper

Amin Taha's architecture studio Groupwork attracted attention when it designed a conceptual 30-storey stone office block.

The studio said the building would be cheaper and more sustainable than concrete or steel equivalent, but some readers thought it was dull.

"The discussion is all about the material and nothing about the boring design," said Egad.

"I'd rather call it straightforward rather than boring," replied K Anderson. "It's an elegant and well-proportioned tower while taking advantage of the material's natural qualities and production process. Gold doesn't have to glitter.

Taha himself responded in the comments section, saying: "The tower is a simple, sober, yes boring design for the purpose of comparing like for like against standard commercial offices. It is after all only a material, not a style."

Find out more about Groupwork's stone skyscraper ›

Urban planning is "really very biased against women" says Caroline Criado Perez

British writer Caroline Criado Perez wrote a book claiming that cities haven't been designed to suit the lives of women, sparking debate amongst readers.

"I agree with this completely," said Sim. "Last week the design for the longest cycling bridge in Europe was revealed. While it was hailed a triumph, as a woman all I could think of were the evenings I would be cycling home alone and the idea of this bridge scared me."

"Come on!" replied Architecte Urbaniste. "This whole man versus woman urban design discussion is missing the point. Most architecture is designed by teams of people containing both men and women. I've seen groups of women designing completely unliveable urbanism too."

Find out more about Perez's book ›

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Dezeen is the world's most commented architecture and design magazine, receiving thousands of comments each month from readers. Keep up to date on the latest discussions on our comments page.

The post Dezeen's top 10 most talked-about stories of 2020 appeared first on Dezeen.

#Architecture – Dezeen

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shiyo · 3 years ago

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Disney Princess Challenge #03 - Settling In

SHIYO IN THE AREA! On today's episode, things have gotten fairly better for Snow White and his dwarfs. Nevertheless, drama is not too far away from his family...

As a side task for myself, I also decided to complete everyone's Aspiration before posting. But I won't get too technical here — today's focus is the story. The DRAMA!

— x —

Let's open this post with a birthday! Bryant grew up and his name was changed to Sneezy Dwarf. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pick the Clumsy trait, so I assigned Squeamish instead.

Days later, the twins Clara and Dwayne grew up! Even though I maximized all of Clara's skills first, I wanted to age up both at the same day. That's what twins are supposed to do!

Clara became Sleepy Dwarf, getting the Lazy trait; her brother became Happy Dwarf, getting the Glutton trait.

And finally, Krystle grew up, becoming an Erratic child! Her name was changed to Dopey.

Good, they all grew up! But the havoc has already been made on the manor.

Unable to cope with all the chaos left on his house, Snow White sold EVERYTHING and moved to a brand new house designed specifically for them — made by myself for my own sims (*coughs*).

Three individual rooms for each girl, and two shared rooms for the boys. Snow White’s room is upstairs. To avoid messing things up, I locked each room so only its specific owners could enter and use the beds/bathrooms. Fantastic!

Since it hasn't been decided yet which boy will use the crystal shoes in the next stage of this challenge, so for now, all four of them share the tasks of cleaning up stuff!

Ah, yes. Now life has quite a peaceful pace for Snow White. Despite that, he has became somewhat depressed. The only ones capable of making him smile are the dwarfs.

This was actually because of the People Person lifestyle, but let's imagine all the traumatic experiences he has gone through so far also had a role on letting him down.

Hm... Snow White hasn't been in touch with his long-distance wife for so long, too... It was time for a reunion!

Snow White called Princess Charming and asked her on a date in the ruins of a castle.

I have to confess, I actually felt bad for Snow White here. He was very invested on his date, and super happy to see his loved one again... But Elena was somewhat distant. Way more interested on her phone than paying attention to Snow White's words (I'm serious, she got distracted SEVERAL TIMES while Snow White was talking to her).

Nevertheless, Snow White didn't even notice Elena's weird behavior. Being close to her was everything that mattered for him that night. They even had another date right after hanging out at the ruins! (And that was how I completed his Soulmate aspiration. 😎)

A brand new day rises up! The seven dwarfs decided to hang out together in a cafe after school.

Splitting up from the group, Doc and Grumpy spotted their mother receiving a gift from a suspiciously friendly individual.

The man's two equally suspicious sons, Drizell and Anastasius, noticed they were spying on the scene and approached them to talk. Despite the dwarfs not being in a good mood, the suspicious kids gave them good news: Elena and the suspicious man were just friends. So no need to overthink what they have seen!

Meanwhile, Bashful and Sneezy were suddenly approached by a very friendly man who's roughly around their father's age. Yeah, those two shouldn't be talking to a random stranger like that, but it was hard to resist such a charismatic and good-looking folk! Some people could even say he's the fairest of them all...

Sleepy took a lazy nap in the chair, and Dopey started talking to herself outta nowhere. Feeling abandoned, Happy returned home.

Just as he arrived, he found Snow White sad! After comforting his father, they strengthened their familial bonds talking about life.

Like, about how life was starting to become hard again! Living with the retirement money wasn't enough to keep paying the bills in a regular basis. Because of this, Snow White even started selling the rights of all the books he had previously written for fun...

In other hand, life wasn’t only tears... The dwarfs were so focused on improving their grades, they started a friendly competition to see who would become the top A student first.

(I scattered all of their projects on the house's corridors and, after completing the seven projects of the following screenshot, they chose — with full autonomy enabled — to either work on more projects or ignore them forever.)

In this good-grade race, Bashful won first place, Dopey got the second place, and Sneezy stayed on third! Congrats to those dwarfs, they definitely deserved it.

WAIT WAIT! Where's the drama I promised?! Hm... Let’s just skip to the next week, shall we?

While hanging out with her new friend — whose name was Marcus Tremaine — Elena had a very awkward surprise. He tried to flirt several times! There’s no way she would give in to his attempts, though. Elena was monogamous and loyal to her hubby.

Embarrassed and enraged, Tremaine vowed to find her husband and completely destroy that marriage. Even if that meant getting rid of him... Forever.

Meanwhile, the Evil King found out through Grumpy where Snow White's home was. He waited until the dwarfs went to school and tried to pay a visit.

Surprised to see him outside, Snow White didn't unlock the door. Filled with pain, he stared at the other man, wondering how stranded did they paths become...

I kinda want to write down a dialogue so that's what I'm doing

“You...”

“Hello, Snow White.”

“Get lost! After betraying my trust and kicking me out, how dare you even try to get near me?! You're a selfish gold-digger bastard and I wish to never see you again. You broke my heart and soul, and stepped on it without mercy... So evil...”

“If I became evil, it was because of you. We were best friends... Why couldn't you be happy for me?”

“My dad died and the first thing you did was flirt with my mom! A-and I thought w-we...”

“Open your eyes, Snow White. You were the one who betrayed me. I needed your support the most -- my best friends' support -- and yet you kept throwing tantrums against me. You kept saying to my own wife that I was only interested on her money!”

“And that was just the truth! Can you deny?!”

“Regardless of it, your mother was happy and I was, too. Did you think it didn't hurt to see you sad because of me? Spreading that depressing aura, poisoning everyone around you... Even my brother fell for it... It enraged me. You, who used to always make me smile, got in the way of my happiness. I seriously tried to endure your tantrums -- I liked you too much -- but you simply became insufferable, so I kicked you out. And still... I came here to apologize. To say I'm sorry for not trying harder... Because I missed you a lot. I missed my best friend.”

“Hey, Adven... I... kinda missed you too...”

“Does this mean we are in the same page now?”

*checks the challenge rules* oh... OH........ EVIL KING ISN’T A STRANGER NOR AN ELDERLY MAN.

Snow White rushed outside to hug his former best friend in an act of forgiveness. The two decided to part their ways in peace, no more animosity between them.

Shortly after Adven left, another visitor knocked on Snow White’s door. A man who claimed to be sent by Princess Charming to deliver a special dish to Snow White... Pufferfish Nigiri!

WAIT... PUFFERFISH NIGIRI?!

For those who don’t know, Pufferfish Nigiri is a deadly meal from the City Living EP. Snow White is on danger!

Thankfully, Snow White never answers the doors for strangers or elderly men. A literal case of “not today, satan”!

For the next episode... Will Mr. Tremaine give up on trying to destroy Princess Charming's marriage?!

— x —

VOTE ON THIS LINK

DECIDE WHICH OF THOSE DWARFS WILL BECOME CINDEREL

RESULTS WILL BE REVEALED ON THE NEXT POST!

— x —

Disclaimers:

A cheat was used to build the new house: bb.moveobjects

No other cheats were used for Snow White's household.

MCCC was used to:

• Keep that stunning vampire eye color on the Tremaine family without them being necessarily vampires.

• Set up Marcus' job and Elena's job for the story.

• Make Marcus enraged.

• Control sims from other households, in order to help me take better screenshots of all the situations that were happening. (I had a lot of trouble with random NPCs on the cafe who constantly tried to interact with the dwarfs or get in front of them to order a drink. GO AWAY U CREEPY SIMS!!!)

— x —

Trivia:

• Despite everything that happened on the previous episode, all seven dwarfs get a positive moodlet from “remembering a good toddlerhood” every now and then.

• For now, all boys have light blue clothes because any of them might become the Cinderella man. REMEMBER TO VOTE ON THE POLL!

#ts4 disney princess challenge

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truemedian · 5 years ago

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Kotaku Reacts To Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Screenshot: NintendoTwo weeks have passed since Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out, and almost everyone on the Kotaku staff has poured themselves into trying to make our new desert islands feel like home. It’s been...a process—full of blood, sweat, and a lot of broken axes—and we have some thoughts about it.Hopefully by now you’ve read fellow staff writer Ian Walker’s excellent review of the game, but in addition, we wanted to share the opinions, reactions, personal tribulations, and success stories of others on the staff as we survive Tom Nook’s fascinating new time share scheme together.

“My shitty house”—Maddy MyersScreenshot: Nintendo Maddy MyersI do not play simulation games. I spend no time at all on character creators. I’ve never played an Animal Crossing game before. And yet, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has become a game that I play almost every single day.I’m not sure if I’m even enjoying it. But I do know that it’s fulfilling a hyper-specific need for me right now. As an introverted person who already works from home, I don’t get a lot of social interaction in my daily life, outside of spending time with my equally introverted girlfriend. Before covid-19 happened, I would get a lot of low-impact socializing done in a typical week by chatting with the cashier at the grocery store, or making small talk with the other people at my gym. All of that is gone now.Instead, I make small talk with Timmy and Tommy. I discuss exercise with Flip, the jock monkey villager who lives in my Animal Crossing town. And, of course, I decorate my crappy Animal Crossing apartment and I invite my real-life friends over to (virtually) see it, and then I apologize to them, because it looks even worse than my actual real-life apartment. Animal Crossing allows me to perfectly recreate all the awkward but somehow fulfilling social interactions that I used to have when society still functioned.Will I keep logging in to Animal Crossing every day after the covid-19 pandemic has passed us over? Probably not. But until then, it’s given me a chance to see what it is that other people enjoy about this genre. It’s also made me realize that I need to seriously work on my interior decorating skills.

Ian WalkerI only own two pairs of jeans in real life, but I’m rapidly running out of room for all the clothes I buy in Animal Crossing. Here are some of my outfits:Mike FaheyOn the day Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched, the 512-gigabyte micro SD card in my Switch died. Four days later, after my wife had started playing, her Switch suddenly stopped charging. While trying to get her Switch to work, my system, purchased mere weeks before the game’s launch, stopped outputting video. As I normally play in TV mode, that’s not great. I have a Switch Lite, but I ran it over with my wheelchair and cracked the screen.Nintendo’s warranty repair is down, so I have to wait until the world returns to normal to get any of these consoles repaired. With Nintendo supply down, it’s nearly impossible to buy a new Switch right now. So my wife went on eBay and purchased a refurbished Switch tablet for $250. That’s how much fun we’re having bonding over Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

I can’t play when she can’t play. It’s just too sad. I feel bad sharing items I get, clothing I wear, and bugs I collect with her. For the several days we got to play together, by which I mean in the same room, it was much easier to forget pressing real-world concerns for a little while.We stayed up late to harvest bells. We got up early to see what occurred on our islands as we slept. The chores we must perform on our islands are much more entertaining than the ones we must perform in real life. They are still chores, but they pass the time and make us happy.Bklurbbbb...Natalie DegraffinriedI’ve spent 105 hours playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons over the span of a couple weeks. I suppose I kind of like Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Or my OCD is back with a vengeance. I keep going to celebrations for inclines and bridges even though I’m tired of them, so it’s probably the OCD.

I didn’t think I could take the fine art of min-maxing to higher heights, but here I am in an endless cycle of Nook tickets, tarantula grinding, and organizing my inventory by item valuation. It’s all to fund my Able Sisters shopping problem, ultimately. I look fly as hell, though.

Min-maxing in Animal Crossing is not for the faint of heart, nor is it always a great way to play. It might be even harder to do now that the seasons have changed. Will that stop me? No. I’ll keep getting upgrades and obsessively trying to pay them off in the same day. Do what gives you peace, I say.Just don’t be a fucking goober like my friend.

Riley MacLeodNew Horizons is my first Animal Crossing—our editor-in-chief Stephen talked the game up so much I got really curious about it. I only actually started playing this week, so everything feels very slow—when I get the itch to do something, I keep wanting to switch to Stardew Valley, but I’m really charmed by how happy the NPCs are when you do the simplest tasks and how often everyone claps for you. I also really like that your character runs around with their arms out. I put face paint on my guy and I can’t figure out how to get it off, so he just has face paint now I guess.

Ari NotisThe short version: This is the most annoying game I’ve ever played.And here’s how I really feel: At every turn, this stupid game presents a somehow brand-new hassle: how Blathers has to assess your fossils before you can donate them; how the Nook twins stop you to say thanks before you leave their shop, and how they say everything in not-quite-tandem (WTF is up with that); how you can only eat one fruit at a time; how your shovel is always breaking, your ax is always breaking, your net is always breaking; how two players can’t shop from the same person at the same time in co-op; how it’s impossible to dig a hole where you want; and how every damn day, that damn raccoon monster wastes my time to tell me there’s nothing new going on. I know there’s nothing new going on! This is Animal Crossing! Nothing new ever happens! This game is supposed to be an escape? Please. It’s at best a shoddy Xerox of life’s daily headaches.

Luke PlunkettEveryone says this is the game the world needs right now, but the last thing I need is a second mortgage hanging over my head. At least this one’s on the beach.Heather AlexandraI’ve never played an Animal Crossing game before now. In some ways, I missed out on many Nintendo games as my focus shifted off the Nintendo 64 in favor of the PlayStation and especially the modding scenes of PC games like Half-Life. When I needed a fix for homes away from home, I played Harvest Moon. That led to Stardew Valley and long hours on a co-op farm with a former partner. I enjoy the quiet of village sims and farming games. I also struggle to find the time for them.I haven’t taken the biggest plunge into ACNH. I had to focus on Nioh 2, then Doom Eternal, then Resident Evil 3. So 20-minute sojourns to my island every day were a rare and delicious treat. I can’t compare New Horizons to the others in the series, but I can say that it is an incredibly cozy game during a time when coziness seems rare. Sometimes, a good day means little more than some new wallpaper for your room. In other cases, it’s figuring out where to put that memorial statue you found. Animal Crossing is simple, but that simplicity is why you play it. Planting a new tree, inviting a new animal friend to your island. Small things that don’t feel small at all.Now, if only that freako rabbit would get off my island already...

Where every month is hoagie fest. Screenshot: Nintendo Ethan GachEvery night I shake all the trees, pick all the weeds, and smack objects with my axes until all of them break. In the morning I sell the stuff, and the cycle repeats. Conversations with other villagers scroll past as I smash the A button so I can get back to work. I buy everything I can from Tom Nook like I’m filling out a Sears Catalog Pokédex. I pay off all the loans thanks to the million bells I earned from New Horizons’ week-one infinite item glitch and subsequently invested in the Turnip market. I donate the wood and iron needed to build new homes for new residents. I capture new bugs and fish for the betterment of science. And all the while I wait like Vladimir and Estragon for an epiphany that will help contextualize each individual mundane task and help them culminate into a larger story I can derive some deeper sense of meaning and purpose from.Instead I’m left with a list of things that more closely resembles a CVS receipt. I suspect that’s a problem with me and not the game.Nathan GraysonFor the past week, I’ve been meaning to play through Doom Eternal and finally, properly dive into Control. Instead, I have mostly played Animal Crossing.I don’t really like it? I respect the relaxed pace it’s trying to establish, but by forcing players to step to its beat with fussy mechanics and NPCs who needlessly repeat themselves all the time, it’s managed to annoy me just as often as it’s lulled me into a state of balmy island bliss. Also, I’m bad at interior design, so right now my house looks like World of Warcraft’s Molten Core raid if Ragnaros was a disorganized college freshman who had no idea what to do with his dorm.Oh, and all my neighbors suck. In previous Animals Crossing (correct plural) , that didn’t matter so much, because I enjoyed doing little chores for them and feeling like I was creating a sense of community even among characters with whom I didn’t see eye to eye. In New Horizons, though, it’s all about land development, which feels less personal. I don’t want KK Slider to show up because I optimized my town. I want him to play some tunes for my villagers and me because he’s a chill, cool dude.All that said, this game has given me one of the coolest in-game moments I’ve experienced since we all got trapped inside our houses. I wrote about this at length in another piece, but the other night, DJ and streamer Clarke “Grimecraft” Nordhauser threw an in-game rave, and I attended. Surrounded by the avatars of people I did not know and dancing along with awkwardly improvised moves, I felt the same mixture of fear and exhilaration I’ve felt at countless shows in real life. After I shook my nerves (read: drank a glass of wine), it turned into a relaxing, nice time where everybody mostly talked about how good the music was and how much they appreciated the whole thing. Sometimes, a vacation can be 90 percent unpleasant, but then years later, all you remember is a soothing day on the beach or a perfect sunset. Animal Crossing has some really nice sunsets.

“Me and my partner hanging out last night in AC”—Paul TamayoScreenshot: Nintendo Paul Tamayo I’ve already talked about how Animal Crossing: New Horizons couldn’t have come at a better time, but the ways it’s helping me keep in touch with friends by sending gifts in-game, getting help from my podcast listeners, and hopping on calls to visit each other’s islands has taken this game to another level for me. It’s also giving me the space to put care into my own island like it’s my own adorable bonsai tree. I get to care for it and improve upon it in a million different ways. My partner actually made the beautiful observation yesterday that even after island hopping through our friends’ islands, it really does feel good to return home to your own space. Read More Read the full article

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aurelliocheek · 5 years ago

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“Bytro Labs should be a place where everyone can and wants to make a difference every day”

Interview with Bytro Labs’ Managing Director Tobias Kringe.

Yesterday we brought you part 1 of our studio report of Bytro Labs, developer and publisher of high-quality strategy games which are played by more than 8 million people in 150 countries and 13 languages. In part 2 we talk to Co-Founder and Managing Director Tobias Kringe.

Making Games: You founded Bytro Labs 10 years ago. How have your wishes and dreams about running a gaming company changed over time? Tobias Kringe: Initially the dream was to turn a game idea into a profitable company. Then it was finding the right way to turn it into a long-time success, a project in which it is still worth investing after 10 years. Today it is the team and people who trust in Bytro who drive us. We want to build a company that is successful for the next 10 years and be a dependable and fun place to work for our team. One thing has never changed: We want to make games that we love and that have a meaning for us.

How much has your job changed you? / How have you personally changed over the past 10 years? Running a (growing) company means constant learning. Every two years or so my job has changed completely. First it was about learning how to make games, game design and the technology behind it. That was very hands on, and very different from what we as founders do on a daily basis today. Maybe the hardest thing for me to learn is not working hands-on and getting real satisfaction from what others achieve. I missed being able to go home at night and know which great feature in the game I developed that day. Today I am proud of the company and team we have built and what it is capable of. It fills me with joy to see the results that are much better than anything I could to myself in most areas.

What is your company philosophy in a nutshell? We want to develop the best online strategy games, utilizing technology that allows us to stay lean. Bytro should be a place where everyone can and wants to make a difference every day. We never grew just for growth‘s sake, but to be able to create and publish great products.

What is the secret of your success? How do you stand out from the huge competition? With our long-term strategy games we have created our own niche with a very dedicated fanbase. The key was to be able to scale, by reaching our audience with profitable, targeted marketing and partnerships. We were always very data-driven to achieve this. Essential for reliable growth is the longevity of our products. We have constantly updated and modernized our games. We have pioneered the use of HTML5 for our games in the browser, and I‘m proud to say that we are best in class to get the best out of that technology. And that allowed us, for example, to bring Supremacy 1914, to the mobile stores this year – leading to the highest revenues in the ten year‘s history of the game.

In 2013 you merged with the Swedish Stillfront Group. What advantages did this bring you and were there any disadvantages? Joining Stillfront was an essential move for us, both as founders and as a company. We never needed external funding, but in a hit-driven industry it is important to have a reliable environment for growth. You could say that Stillfront handles our investor relations and – if needed – growth funding, while we can focus on creating great and profitable games. Bytro is now part of a much bigger story, and our success also fuels the immense development of the Stillfront Group. Today the group consists of 12 studios, three of those in Hamburg, and is constantly growing. With all those studios we share a common DNA of being self-made, independent companies, and benefit from sharing insights, ideas and resources. Conflict of Nations is a co-development with Dorado Games. Disadvantages? Not really, unless you regard implementing proper accounting standards as a disadvantage :)

Your games are Free2Play. Why is that your preferred business model? Free2Play is the payment model that works best for online and mobile games. In the end, it is what players want: play the game for free and start spending money when you know it’s worth it. But I also believe we have to provide fair value: customers get what they pay for, and paying in our games does not just lead to the next, even higher pay wall.

Some of your games deal with the first or second world war. Why did you choose this scenario? Those conflicts are intriguing fields of study for many history buffs for their sheer scope and relevance for history. Look at the the anachronistic militarism, politics and diplomacy that lead to World War 1. The way the war with its brutal technological development was fought seems like protagonists were playing a game that went horribly wrong. When, the other way around, you play our games and you notice the diplomacy looks almost real it sheds a fascinating and scary light on reality…

Which of your SP games is your personal favourite and why? I like Supremacy 1914 for its relative simplicity in combination with complex player interaction, diplomacy and fun roleplaying. Playing the game with a group of friends is still awesome after 10 years. But currently I’m playing more Supremacy 1 – The Great War, which is (despite its name) the newest installment of the series, and currently in open beta.

Regardless of the games you’ve produced so far, what kind of game would you always like to develop? A transport sim focusing on planning and running a deep mining operation. Think of Transport Tycoon meets Factorio meets Sim Tower. For me (as a gamer), this premise has a lot to offer: planning and optimization of logistics, technicall progress through the centuries and the hazards faced in the depth. I’m just not sure if I’m the only one :)

How many employees do you currently have? Do you have any vacancies, if so, which ones? Bytro currently has a team of 40, including the game production teams, live operations and marketing. We are always looking for enthusiastic people to join Bytro to make a difference. Especially, we are looking for an experienced game- or data analyst to take the lead in our data processing, to help us answering – and asking – the right questions. There are several developer positions to fill. Passion for games and technical excellence should be their main driver. A great fit can be anything from experienced game engine developer to HTML5 frontend enthusiast, from junior to lead level. Last but not least, a great artist with focus on 2D/UI/UX could help us to make our games even better and more accessible on all platforms.

What makes you particularly attractive for applicants? Every professional can make a difference at Bytro, starting on day one. We work in small teams on products we love. Our goal is to empower everyone to achieve their best and constantly grow professionally. Bytro offers great working conditions, team events and benefits and a nice office with one of the best 360° views in Hamburg. But even more important: an international team of like-minded experts who share the goal of creating great games.

The post “Bytro Labs should be a place where everyone can and wants to make a difference every day” appeared first on Making Games.

“Bytro Labs should be a place where everyone can and wants to make a difference every day” published first on https://leolarsonblog.tumblr.com/

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topfygad · 5 years ago

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27 of the Best Travel Gadgets for 2019

Travel Gadgets have come a long way since the days of a rubber sink stopper and a set of travel adapters floating around loose in your luggage.

With technology and innovation, there are many travel accessories to make your travels more enjoyable, organized and fun!

Over the years we have tried so many different gadgets. Some good and some bad. What does this mean for you?

This means that we have done the work for you and want to share our results of constant testing.

So get your sticky notes ready, here are the best travel gadgets we’re using for 2020~

Cool Gadgets for Travel

Open the tab to go directly to the travel items you are looking for.

There are affiliate links in this post, As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. We receive affiliate commissions, but it’s no extra cost to you!

We take a lot of photos and videos when we travel and one tip I can give you is to NEVER erase memory cards until they are backed up on at least 2 devices.

That is the main reason we travel with a portable hard drive. It allows us to reuse our memory cards without worrying about losing our shots.

Between that and the cloud we have two storage devices when we are on the road.

I love the Samsung Portable SSD because it is lightning fast and it is tiny.

Also, the SSD (solid-state drive) makes it very durable, so it can withstand the rigors of travel.

Check it out on Amazon

Have you ever made a point of going into a coffee shop or restaurant just to use a plug to charge your smartphone or other travel gadgets?

Well, if you get yourself an external battery charger you won’t have to worry about missing calls or updating your Instagram stories during your travels ever again.

With two USB ports, you can charge two devices at once. It even charges iPads, GoPros and Cameras.

Why this one?

Because it is powerful, holds 4 charges and comes with a built-in flashlight.

Looking for more Travel Gear to take with you? Check out our Ultimate Travel Packing List

Check it out on Amazon

Universal Travel Adapter form Eagle Creek

If you travel a lot, you’ll know what a pain it is rummaging through your adapters trying to find the right one for the next country.

That’s why Eagle Creeks world plug adapter works great. It’s got everything you need in one compact plug.

No more loose pieces of gear getting lost in the hotel room.

Why this one?

Because it is light and compact and also comes with 2 USB outlets.

Buy it on Amazon

The Joby Gorilla Pod has changed our travel photography and videos.

With all of the different mounts, we can put our smartphone, camera and GoPro on the flexible tripod and capture time-lapse photography, Steadicam shots (with the iPhone X and GoPro Hero 7) and we can mount it to anything.

When we’re walking around town, we don’t need to carry a bulky tripod anymore, we just use the Joby.

We’ve mounted this piece of gear to the front of our ship when cruising in Alaska, it’s that durable.

But we still suggest tying it off, we are all about having a double back up of everything for safety, it would suck to lose all that great travel footage by having a tripod fall in the water because of some fluke accident.

We recommend getting the heavier, more sturdy gorilla pod over the light ones as we’ve had the small cheap ones and they’ve broken.

Plus, the heavier one lets you mount your DSLR if you want to.

Buy it on Amazon

Some Gorilla Pods come with all the mounts, but most likely you will have to buy the accessories to go with it.

Dave and I both use our smartphone mounts for many things. When using the hyperlapse app on our iPhones, it helps a lot to have it sitting on something sturdy and still to minimize movement.

I now walk around with my phone on my mount all the time it’s much easier to shoot Instagram stories and videos with my phone mountain than just doing handheld.

Get as durable of one as possible, you don’t want your iPhone or smartphone falling out and smashing, so spend the extra money.

I like this one on Amazon because it has a remote control included, that’s the next one I’m going to purchase.

Buy it on Amazon

You spend a lot of money on your smartphone so why wouldn’t you take care of it.

Lifeproof is the best case for your electronics making them waterproof and shock absorbent. Believe me, we have tested it.

If you drop your phone a lot like me or plan on doing water excursions or adventure travel, you’ll want this case.

I ruined a phone snowboarding in wet conditions in Whistler, if I would have had this case then, my phone would have been saved.

Check it out on Amazon

If you are an Android user they also make them for the Samsung too

Why this one?

We have tested this underwater, in sandstorms, and on mountains and it is the only one that has not failed.

Waterproof, shockproof and easy to use. They don’t call it Lifeproof for nothing.

I love going to the beach, but I really hate having sand all over me.

When CGear offered to send us a beach matt to try, I said yes. We don’t normally accept gear to try out. We prefer to buy it ourselves, but we had to give this a chance, since I go crazy sitting on a sarong or towel at the beach and get covered in sand.

This matt really does wick away the sand. When the sand is wet, it needs to dry, but once it dries, it falls through the matt giving you a sand-free beach experience.

Check it out on Amazon

I was unsure about this one, but it is a really cool little travel gadget. While it doesn’t steam your travel clothes, it does make steaming them in the shower of your hotel room easier.

I will admit, one thing I’ve always had a difficult time with is getting my shirts close enough to the shower to make the steaming work. With SteamClip I can do that as it attaches virtually anywhere and works with any hangers, including the ball hangers that are attached to a trough in a hotel room closet.

For $11.99 (for one) it’s worth keeping tucked away in my suitcase.

Buy it on Amazon

This cool little gadget attaches to your home SIM card and can be activated when traveling.

KnowRoaming is the easiest solution to international data roaming and cell phone usage for only $3.99 per day unlimited data.

It is a micro-sized sticker that you put on your home SIM card. Once you activate it, it is ready to go.

You decide how much money you want to load onto your SIM card for each trip and you can top up anytime.

It never automatically tops up your account, so you never have to worry about spending more than you want.

The KnowRoaming SIM sticker doesn’t affect your home cell phone plan and only activates once you land in another country.

Check out our review here and Order your sim sticker here

If you are anything like us, you have a lot of different memory cards.

We don’t like to erase anything until our photos and videos are backed up but having memory cards loose in our luggage isn’t an option either.

This Aluminum Memory Cardholder goes well with our Apple products (since it is silver) and holds SD and Micro SD Memory cards snug as a bug.

We also use it to keep things organized by putting used cards on one side and unused ones on the other.

Why this one?

Most memory card holders are soft and you cards can get damaged. This is a hard case and it stores both types of cards.

Buy it now on Amazon

If you read our blog often, you’ll know that we often recommend the Belkin as one of the best travel accessories out there for anyone who hits the road..

The Belkin surge protector not only protects your electronics from power surges, it charges several things at once with 3 outlets and 2 USB ports.

Buy it on Amazon

When it comes to gadgets you are looking to take with you traveling I am sure water purification is not something you would think of.

But thanks to advancements in technology we can now carry something like the SteriPen. This works with ultraviolet light to purify water.

It is run with batteries and can fit in your pocket. What we love about this bit of tech is that it is chemical-free.

It should be noted that it doesn’t filter dirt out of the water it just purifies clean running water.

Buy it on Amazon

Have you noticed that with all the electronics that we’re all carrying, our charging cables are getting all mixed up and tangled?

Thanks to a tip from our pal EarthXplorer, we’ve solved that problem with Gear Ties.

Now when we pack our iPhone cables, computer cords and camera chargers, we wrap up all the loose ends with gear ties.

They’re way better than tape or zip ties because they coil and uncoil with ease and they are colour coded.

Buy it on Amazon

Pacsafe Travel Organizer – I carry all our travel documents and credit cards when traveling.

It’s a lot to worry about, but lately, my mind is resting a bit. I am loving my new travel organizer. It easily holds all my credit cards and travel rewards cards as well as both our passports and money. This organizer transforms into a clutch for nights out too.

Buy it on Amazon

I love noise-canceling earbuds. I have no idea where I got my Audio Technica Noise Cancelling earbuds. I think they were in a goodie bag from some event. But I am glad I did!

I really didn’t think noise-canceling earbuds would make that much of a difference but they do!

I use a rechargeable AAA battery and when I turn the QuietPoint on, it erases all background noise. When I have it on, I can hear the ambient noise around me.

I use my earbuds on planes to keep the noise out and even when sleeping, I keep them in with nothing playing.

I find they work better than earplugs.

If you really want to invest in a good set of earbuds and are a sound lover, get the AirPods Pro by Apple. They are wireless, can you can turn off the ambient sound just like the Audio Technica. You must go for the pro over regular earbuds, because the of the formable seal to your ear.

Buy it on Amazon

Dave enjoys earphones better than earbuds and he swears by his Beats Wireless noise-canceling headphones.

The extended battery life lets Dave listen to his tunes on long international flights without having to recharge.

Buy it on Amazon

When you are not used to hot and humid weather, this fan comes in handy.

I have found it to be a lifesaver on buses without airconditioning or when I feel like I am overheating and need a quick cool down in hot climates.

These cool fans plug into our charging port on our iPhone and immediately turn on giving me a cool breeze.

Buy it on Amazon

We always carry dry bags with us when traveling to take with us on a day of adventure, but these are a good addition for storage.

These great resealable bags are perfect for putting our cell phones inside to keep dry but they are also good for keeping electronics safe from humidity.

We’ve had electronics fail in humidity and these bags keep out not only humidity and water, but dust too.

And a cool bonus is that touch screens work through the aLOKSAK bag.

We’ve even seen people use these to wash their laundry.

Buy it on Amazon

We are still fans of headlamps even with built in flashlights in our cell phones and power banks.

Why?

Becuase with headlamps we are completely hands free. Plus, the light beams are stronger and we often use them for night sky photography to get that perfect beam in the air or to paint light in a night scene.

We like this Black Diamond model because it is rechargeable. We use three AAA rechargeable batteries that can be charged in our headlamp with a USB charger.

Buy it on Amazon

GoPros – Love these cameras for adventure travel

The GoPro is our favorite adventure camera.

The GoPro Hero 8 just came out, but we are not in a hurry to buy it as we love our Hero 7.

We have been using Gopro’s since the beginning and find they are indispensable for adventure travel.

The Hero 7 and 8 are amazing for stabilization. So amazing that we have tossed our gimble and Osmo and use it for Steadicam shots.

If you are looking to upgrade from the Hero 6 or less, jump to the Hero 8, but if you have a 7 I don’t think there is a reason to upgrade.

However, we probably will soon as we love the idea of a flip-out screen and that’s an option with the 8.

You can shoot photos, use it for time-lapses and it shoots in 4k.

It’s perfect for anything you need to shoot hands free by using GoPro accessories like the car mounts, helmet mounts or wrist mounts.

We’ve taken our GoPro on every water adventure you can think of from scuba and snorkeling to jet boats, kayaks, and whitewater rafting.

It is a true adventure camera.

Buy it on Amazon

Want to know what Travel Photography Gear we Carry? Check out The Complete Travel Photography Gear Guide

DJI Mavic Pro is what we use

DJI Mavic Pro Drone – This is the ultimate gadget that brings your travel videos to a whole new level.

It’s an excellent way to get a different perspective and point of view for all your travels.

Imagine being on vacation and taking an overhead view of your resort or having a drone follow along as you paddle down a river.

Or what about setting a drone off in the air to photograph the magnificent landscape of the destination you are visit.

The possibilities are endless. Just make sure to obey the law and learn how to fly it properly before putting it to the test in your travels.

Buy it on Amazon

We were starting to get frustrated with Apple not bringing their cameras up to par with other smartphones like the Huawei P30 Pro.

But Apple came through and if you want to travel without a DSLR, this is a great option.

With three lenses you now have the power to shoot wide landscapes and telephoto.

Buy it on Amazon

I don’t know about you, but when I am traveling, I’m on my phone a lot.

Be it watching movies or binging TV series on the plane or on a bus, checking Google Maps for directions or booking hotels and flights, my nose is always in a phone.

Plus, we watch movies in our hotel room on our computers. Blue light is terrible for the eyes, so I even though I had Lasik done on my eyes, I always wear blue blocking glasses when working on my computer or spending long amounts of time on my phone.

Buy it on Amazon

I’ve never been a fan of travelers distracting other people with their music. Heck, I’ve never been a fan of people playing their videos and music out loud on the subway or in the coffee shop.

But I am a fan of having quiet music playing in our hotel or apartment when we’re traveling.

We don’t always eat out or go to the bar each evening when we are on vacation and sometimes we say in while enjoying a bottle of wine and some bread and cheese.

Or we can have our music softly playing when in the park.

As a couple, it’s nice to enjoy listening to music together and blue tooth speakers have helped set the tone better than just listening to music through our iPhone or laptop speakers.

What I like about the JBL Flip is that ts is affordable and has good sound quality for a portable blue tooth speaker. Plus it comes with a protective travel case.

Buy it on Amazon

We’re all about saving space, and while we used to carry a stainless steel hard water bottle, we’ve switched to the Collapsible to save space.

We like this silicon water bottle because it is lightweight and bendy. Plus, a portion of profits go to Dolphin Rescue so how can you go wrong with that?

Buy it on Amazon

Enjoy our YouTube Video explaining our Favourite Travel Gadgets

youtube

There are a lot of travel gadgets out there that are a fad or look cool online, but the gear we list above is the gear we use and know what works.

Do you have a favorite travel gadget that you can recommend? Let us know in the comments, we are always looking for more cool travel accessories to try out.

Best Travel Gear – Unique Ideas for Smart Packing

The Complete Travel Photography Gear Guide

45 Best Gifts for Travellers

27 Best Travel Tips from 16 Years of Traveling

Disclosure: There are some affiliate links in the post above, but these are all products we highly recommend. We won’t put anything on this page that we haven’t verified and/or personally used.

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About Dave And Deb

Dave and Deb are the owners and founders of The Planet D. Since launching in 2008 they have continued to inspire “Adventure in Everyone” and show that you don’t have to be an uber athlete or super-rich in order to be an adventurer.

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writin-bout-games-blog · 6 years ago

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Goty 2k18

Here are the best games I played in 2018; honorable mentions are for either games I played this year that released outside of 2018 or remasters that don’t count.

Honorable Mentions:

Hollow Knight (PS4/Xbox One/Switch/PC) - I didn’t play this 2017 release until the Switch version this year, but it’s the best game I played in 2018, and maybe the best Metroidvania I’ve ever played as well. It has a bit of a slow start in terms of seeing new areas and gaining new abilities, but stick with it and it becomes one of the most rewarding games I’ve ever experienced.

Yakuza 0 (PS4/PC) - Narrative oriented games have never been my bag, but I’ve rarely felt this invested in a story in any medium. The characters are immediately memorable, at once both over the top caricatures of goofy hyper masculinity and oddly thoughtful yakuza members concerned with their community and just being human. I’ve never seen a story so masterfully jump back and forth between overwrought anime nonsense and down to earth character beats, all while retaining its unique sense of self. It’s a lovable soap opera starring handsome criminal boys with hearts of gold, and shouldn’t be missed by anyone.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (PS4/Switch/PS Vita) - This series has been around for decades, and I never gave it a glance until I heard a bit of the soundtrack for this entry. It lacks polish and has a pretty simplistic combat system, at least on the default difficulty setting, but it’s one of the most interesting JRPGs I’ve ever played, as the entire game takes place on a deserted island after a ship is destroyed by a kraken-esque creature. Oh, and the aforementioned soundtrack is absolutely delightful, with cheesy electric guitars around every corner. It’s the perfect game to unwind with before bed on your Switch.

Katamari Damacy Reroll (Switch/PC) - It wouldn’t be fair for the best game of 2004 to also be the best game of 2018, so it’s been excluded here. But make no mistake, this is the best purchase you can make this year.

Actual games of the year:

12. Far: Lone Sails (PC) - I fucking love games where you operate a large vessel by controlling a small character inside of it. I’m not sure how to describe this type of sub-genre, but Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime and Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime are the only other examples I know of. And while those are fast, goofy, frenetic and colorful experiences, Lone Sails takes the concept and applies it to a linear, artsy indie game. And it turns out, making one of “those” indie games and coupling it with a fun and relatively unexplored gameplay conceit makes for an extremely memorable experience; the first time my train-shuttle-car-thingie reached full speed as I perfectly managed my fuel, steam and acceleration is something that’s stuck with me all year. The only thing keeping this game from rising higher up this list is that I think it’s painfully short at around 2 hours long, and I say that as someone that loves shorter experiences. A more fully fleshed out sequel or spiritual successor has the potential to be considered an all-time great.

11. Donut County (PS4/Xbox One/Switch/PC/iOS) - The soundtrack for this game alone is clever enough to deserve a spot on this list, honestly. And clever is the best word to describe Donut County as a (w)hole. Having not heard pretty much anything about the game going in besides general good word of mouth, I was genuinely stunned as I realized the entire game was nothing but moving a hole around and growing bigger as I sucked up objects in a stylized world. In all respects, this game feels like the western equivalent of Katamari Damacy, though there are probably some poignant think pieces to be written comparing Katamari’s building with Donut County’s destruction. Regardless, Donut County is delightful. The humor may not be for everyone (I personally loved how accurately the dialogue captures the tone of texts between 20-somethings), but there’s something for everyone to enjoy here.

10. God of War (PS4) - God of War is interesting. It feels like a mish mash of pretty much all the non-shooter related hot trends in video games right now, and yet doesn’t really excel at any of them. The story’s fine, though I think both Spider-Man and Red Dead Redemption 2 told far more nuanced and interesting ones this year in the western-developed AAA space. The combat feels great for the first couple of hours, and BOY DOES THROWING THAT AXE AND RECALLING IT FEEL AMAZING, but encounters aren’t really changed up at all past the halfway point of the game, and the combat in general feels like it’s shown you its entire hand within a couple of hours. And yet, everything about the game is so memorable. From punching indestructible gods through mountains in the first 15 minutes of the game to hanging out with a sardonic decapitated head, I feel like this is the most I’ve thought about an action game after completion besides Bloodborne. It doesn’t hurt that this might be the best looking game I’ve ever seen, either. It might just be the meatloaf and mashed potatoes of video games, but it’s some pretty damn good meatloaf.

9. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (PS4/Xbox One/Switch/PC later) - There are plenty of sidescrolling indie metroidvania throwbacks these days. Oddly, there’s also been a fair few games in the oft overlooked Wonder Boy vein lately, the series Monster Boy belongs to. There aren’t a lot of downright pleasant games made in this style lately though, and pleasant is the perfect word to describe the time spent exploring this game. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous, the soundtrack is second only to Celeste this year, and the game somehow manages to feel like playing a Master System game without all of the drawbacks a statement like that would normally entail. What holds this game back from true greatness for me is that some of the later dungeon and boss designs are remarkably unclear in their progression, mostly the haunted mansion area. That said, these are relatively small complaints in a surprisingly large adventure, and the different animal abilities are truly brilliant. Monster Boy occupies the same space for me as last year’s truly incredible SteamWorld Dig 2, and if that doesn’t sell you on the game then nothing will.

8. Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PS4) - Everything stated above in the Honorable Mentions section applies here; Yakuza is a series about lovable handsome crime boys playing the role of boy scouts in their community, if the boy scouts kicked motorcycles at bad guys. I will say that Kiwami 2 never approaches the pure brilliance that was Yakuza 0, but most of that can largely be attributed to the fact that this game is a remake of a 12-year-old video game from two console generations ago. And don’t let that statement deter you; the story is as engaging as ever, and Kiwami 2 also shares with 0 the most fun game within a game I’ve ever played - the cabaret club management sim, which tasks you with recruiting hostesses to take on an evil circuit of club owners in a tournament of taking money from lonely Japanese businessmen. It’s as absurd as it sounds, and far more engaging than it seems, which kind of summarizes the series as a whole. My only caveat with this entry is that I would consider it absolutely crucial to play through 0 and Kiwami 1 before this, as there are some emotional seeds planted in those two games that come to tear-jerking fruition here.

7. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of An Elusive Age (PS4/PC/Switch later) - With the sales and reception of both this and Octopath Traveler, 2018 seems like the year in which throwback JRPGs came into vogue, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I grew up loving the genre, but post high school my love largely faded for any of them that weren’t Pokemon or Mario adjacent. While I still think there’s a lot of self reflection for the genre to accomplish that Dragon Quest is existentially incapable of doing (as its own design and fandom have prevented it from making any meaningful mechanical progression in decades), DQ11 succeeds in that it’s just a really fantastic video game. Its story is always captivating and repeatedly goes in directions I never expected. Its characters are simple and painted in broad strokes (I mean that in the best way possible) while remaining some of the best written and most engaging party members I’ve ever encountered. And its battle system is oldschool, somewhat archaic and even punishing without ever feeling unfair, and it has just enough new mechanics to constantly give the player a wider swath of options than the series has ever had before without relinquishing the series trademark simplicity. It’s the most I’ve enjoyed a tradition JRPG since Chrono Trigger, and I was never once bored in my 70+ hours of playtime. Really, the only complaint I can level against the game is that the series composer is a monstrous piece of homophobic trash that deserves to be launched into a brick wall via trebuchet.

6. Mega Man 11 (PS4/Xbox One/Switch/PC) - Who would have imagined that a new Mega Man game under contemporary Capcom could end up being great? The soundtrack is extremely disappointing and the Wily stages are a series lowpoint (especially when compared to the previous two Mega Man games), but everything else in this game is operating at heights the series has never previously achieved. The mark of a good Mega Man game is how versatile the robot master’s weapons are within the actual platforming segments, and 11’s level and enemy design are completely built around using these weapons and the new double gear system as well, which allows a player to increase their firepower or slow down time at will. Every ability is not only useful but fun to use as well, even the obligatory shield weapon. Much like what last year’s Sonic Mania did for Sonic, there has never been a better time to try out Mega Man.

5. Call of Duty Black Ops 4: Blackout (PS4/Xbox One/PC) - The way in which the battle royale genre has overtaken video games is remarkable, though not as remarkable as the fact that a Call of Duty game is being included on one of my game of the year lists. I could go deep into how Blackout feels like a best-of compilation for the genre, or how remarkable it is that it retains the goofy, unpredictable nature of PUBG while actually feeling like a polished video game. But what’s most notable about the game for me is just how much fun I’ve had playing it with my friends. Video games mean a lot to me, and having a game in which our party chat can go from discussing poor life choices made by people we know to yelping as shots soar over our head as quickly as it takes for an armored truck to appear outside the house we’re hiding inside of is something truly special, and it’s something I’ve only encountered with this genre of games. Blackout may not add much of its own flavor to battle royale, and what little is there (the perk system and zombies) feels either broken or weirdly inconsequential. But sometimes, a less broken game with a slightly faster pace is all you need to become the most playable game of the genre, as well as the most I’ve ever enjoyed a multiplayer console shooter.

4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch) - Smash is my all-time favorite multiplayer series, so the biggest character, stage and music roster to date makes this entry a no-brainer. I mean, I could spend multiple paragraphs absolutely gushing about how excited I am for all of the love the Castlevania series (another all-time favorite video game franchise) has received here alone. And that’s kind of the point. From Isabelle’s accidental murder sprees to K. Rool’s big belly rude boy moveset to Kirby sporting a beard after eating Solid Snake, with Ultimate it feels like nearly anyone that has ever played a video game can find something within that brings a smile to their face. And this is to say nothing of the over 1200(!) “spirits” in the game, all referencing even smaller and more obscure video game things. Will the game have an interesting competitive scene? I think so; I’m no pro, but the game feels so much better to me than any game in the series post Melee. Only time will tell how fun of a tournament game Ultimate ends up being, but as a celebration of the medium as a whole, this is a love letter to nearly all corners of the industry, no matter how niche. And that’s where my love of Super Smash Bros. has always stemmed from - its unflinching love and celebration of the things in my life that I love and want to celebrate. Plus, there’s Castlevania stuff in this one.

3. Tetris Effect (PS4) - Positivity in my life has been in short supply the past couple of years. To be more straightforward, the world has been an absolute fucking nuclear wasteland of hopelessness for the past couple of years. Hell, there’s an argument to be made that it’s been on this level for a while, and it’s my privilege that has prevented me from seeing that, which is even worse. My eyes have been opened, they cannot be closed, and while part of me wishes they could be, most of me can only stare with a grim sense of foreboding and wonder where the hell we’re going and how we fix all of this. So, Tetris then.

Tetris is simple and Tetris can be overwhelming. Add psychedelic visuals, spac- Enya-world music and the option to experience it all in virtual reality, and you have something simple, something overwhelming, and something oddly powerful. To say I had an emotional response to Tetris Effect is an oversimplification. Losing myself inside of my VR headset to clearing lines while dolphins made of light surrounded and splashed around me was beautiful, ridiculous, cheesy and, somehow, empowering. I’m under no illusion that the world is going to get better while I hide inside, literally blind to everything going on around me, and no one should be. But the best art never was able to save us; it reminds us of what there is to lose and why the things we love are worth fighting for while also giving us the strength to do so. This sounds like a lot for what basically amounts to Tetris with cool music and visualizers, and I get that. But while writing and editing this piece, not only do I not feel like any of this has been hyperbolic per my experiences, re-reading my own words really just makes me want to play some more damn Tetris Effect.

2. Celeste (PS4/Xbox One/Switch/PC) - If Tetris Effect is your overly positive friend that can seemingly never be brought down by anything, Celeste is the friend that’s been through more than you could ever imagine and came out through the other side a better person, and not only knows you can as well, but actively pushes you to be the best you can be. This is both narratively true, as the surprisingly great story deals with depression and self-loathing and overcoming anxiety, but also what the game beats into you through your own act of playing it. Well, “beats into you” might be putting it lightly; “gently yet forcefully stabbing into you” is a bit more accurate. Yes, the game is an unbelievably hard platformer (at least on the B and C side levels), and it does take a lot of inspiration in its design from fellow platformer classic Super Meat Boy. But while Meat Boy makes your repeated deaths part of the punchline, Celeste prefers those failures to be recontextualized as experiences to be learned from. “You’re going to beat this level, and you’re going to beat this game. Just keep trying.” is what Celeste wants you to take from its harsh design. And maybe that kind of motivation doesn’t work for everyone, but the people that stick with the game found what will go down as one of the all-time greats in the genre, and certainly one of the best games of the decade.

Oh, and the soundtrack is fucking incredible too.

1. Monster Hunter World (PS4/Xbox One/PC) and Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (Switch) - I knew something special was happening when I saw multiple Playstation friends who usually only play Call of Duty and sports games devoting dozens (or even hundreds) of hours to Monster Hunter World this year. I was skeptical, having tried to get into the series previously on the 3DS, but something just clicked this time that hadn’t before, and soon I was farming Nergigantes for entire evenings. The game was full of nothing but memorable moments, but realizing for the first time how the insect glaive worked and flipping through the air whacking a giant electric flying squirrel as we were both being chased by a fire breathing t-rex was the most out of control I’ve ever felt playing a video game while simultaneously being the coolest thing I’ve ever done in a video game. And to revisit that same scenario over a hundred hours later, armed with the knowledge that only experience can give of how to actually control my insect glaive flips, was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. All of the knowledge gained from World was then taken to MHGU on the Switch later this year, where my girlfriend and I put over 200 hours in and still have not seen all of the content within. If two grown adults sitting in a hotel room and screaming with delight when they see how cool the weapons they can forge from hunting a bubble dragon are isn’t an indication that their families should seek help, it means that Monster Hunter is pretty great.

So which game is better? My heart of hearts tells me World wins out by an inch for its extremely intelligent streamlined design and accessibility, but MHGU has dozens and dozens (and dozens and dozens) of different monsters to hunt and hundreds of weapons and armor sets to choose from, and having a full blown Monster Hunter on a portable with a decent screen and dual analog sticks is a great argument for the Switch entry. Really though, it doesn’t matter; these are both amazing games, and I wanted to give them both their due without using two slots. If weirdos on your friends list you haven’t talked to since high school who usually only buy FIFA can fall in love with Monhun, so can you.

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starwarslegacies · 7 years ago

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Survey Says, Part IV, Finale

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been trying to get people to fill out a survey which I do 1-3 times a year, these often do have impact in choosing how the sim moves forward. Bit behind on these results like many other things!

Believe we’re on question #10

10 asked, Events: What do you prefer? (Can choose more than one)

78% PVE, blend of combat and story

63.4% PVP

63.4% PVE, primarily story

58.8% Social, Pazaak, Racing,etc

31.7% PVE, combat focused.

Can see above we have a fairly diverse player base in what they like to do. We’re a bit short on storytellers right now so if you or someone you know may fit that role, do let me know.

Then #11 asked “ What social event would you like to see more of?”

By far the favorites here were Swoop Racing and Fights. The downside to swoop racing is that everytime someone loads into sim it causes a few second delay for everyone, but if people are willing to deal with that we can definitely hold more races. As for the fights we have a “Pit Fighting League” under construction in which people will be able to earn credits by having sanctioned matches which they can do at any time and submit logs (though limited in how many they can do). It will also have tournaments and champions. Every fight done can potentially increase someones placing within the league to lead to bigger prizes at the end of the season. Still seeking some help managing this. Pazaak didn’t get as much love but we do like doing those as they are an easy social thing to throw together. Some of the other answers included a desire to see more tech rolls in the events, then someone mentioned more like Sume’s Valentine day event, then someone even mentioned music. We’re open to ideas and do support players who want to run something.

Last thing we asked was #12: Any other general thoughts you'd like to share? Please keep brief/to the point.

Lot of responses so I’ll select a few without getting redundant.

“Ensure that the system you have in place does not need certain players online. I.E, Ive been trying to get my Imperial I.D, and cannot. “ - Anon#1

I think this was fixed so that there is an automated version?

“ I’d love to see the trash piles spawn more often and/or give out more resources. This is invaluable to new players, as gaining credits was quite tough for me and many others at first. The trash is a good way to start up from nothing, but I feel it should spawn slightly more than 1-10 Credits or 1 crafting resource; especially with how rare they are right now. “ - Anon#2

I agree, been asking Renward about this type of thing but he’s been very busy.

“ when chars are arrested very little if any rp is done after the initial arrest. No interrogation. No release. This needs to change. “ - Anon#3

I find captures are often very hit or miss.

“ I have never RP'd anywhere else before and this is the most fun I have had on Secondlife so far in 11 years. The main draw of this sim to me is the amount of people who actively use it. I could not see myself RPing in a sim with a low amount of active players. Getting new players and retaining old players is the most important thing to me. I have no real ideas on how to do this though. Good luck!” - Anon#4

Thank you, we do our best with that, sometimes more difficult than others but we’ve been able to maintain for around half a decade, let’s go for a whole one :d

“ I loveloveLOVE the build but I noticed it's very graphics laggy. I also noticed that while you use teleporters to essentially skyboxes with the building interiors, those interiors are still directly behind the building facades. If you moved them out of draw distance and spaced them out, the sim would be a lot easier to render for everyone. Less lag, higher framerates, more fun! “ - Anon#5

The reason I do tend to do this is I find if something is out of cam range, people are less likely to enter, you do give a valid argument though and will consider further.

“ Having mentors/mediators would be really helpful to take a lot of the load off the staff on sim. So then they can focus on the cool stuff, like building the lore, and actual problems. “ - #Anon#6

Yeah, would like to find a few more.

“ I'm concerned about the system being an element that pulls players from the immersion of their RP. As medical personnel i'm also still concerned with the 'reset' feature on health causing individuals to not be prompted to seek medical attention for their injuries. It is a handy system for varying stats, offering abilities and providing a more structured combat basis but it would be helpful if there was an easier application for it than typing in commands. If there were an attachable HUD for the Chimera available upon entry to the sim which offered either buttons for Chimera options or a drop-down menu to choose from it might help expedite system use in combat, speed up combat, and make the experience more enjoyable overall. Spending hours in combat can sometimes be exhausting and take away from time desired for other aspects of RP. “ - #Anon7

Post this, we did take action about the reset button and have taken a few other steps as well to increase realistic recovery from injury and people using medical services. May still see more in this area.

“ With regards to conscent, reasonable right to life and consequence. Dont do something that would get you arrested, and deny consent. “ - #Anon8

Yeah, would agree on that, you may see changes in that area very soon. We’re behind on many things we’d like to do.

“ I feel like I’d personally be more invested if there was more for the Jedi to do. So far all we have to do is be captured or whatnot. It was fun for a bit but I think a lack of leadership for a while has made it hard. I hope this changes soon. “ - #Anon9

It is a difficult era for Jedi players, we knew that going in but we wanted to try something different. We are always shaking things up though so you could see things evolve in the future.

“ Lot of trolls get into the sim/rp. Gets a bit annoying. Might just be an issue all over SL, though. “ #Anon10

It is, but I find “trolls” are fairly easy to tune out/ignore/etc. The only time trolls have power is when people take the bait and react. They usually knock it off once they know it doesn’t get to you. To use my own example a few used to give me a hard time for engaging in sexual roleplay, they would take pictures and IM me these pictures. I laughed, and just got more lewd, like who cares? and they stopped making a thing of it.. so I just find trolls pretty easy to ward off or ignore. Always more concerned with those who create and stir drama than I am with trolls. Drama kills sim dead, trolling is just irritating.

“ Well , if you ask to me , there should be much more various social events .. Also before the events such as pazaak there should be courses before he game night so people could have an idea about what they are doing . About the groups , you shouldnt bring some strangers as directors , you should pick them from the group according to their activeness. Also you should appreciate or make a system to appreciate employees such as [redacted] employees .. I have been in group for two months i think and i am still security guard. No rank-ups .. And i have been coming online and standing as a guard almost everyday . Thanks for your patience and reading this. Good luck about the sim.. “ - #Anon11

If there are those who have been active and also have leadership ability then they will be. Having the skills needed for leadership is not something every active player has. This could be because their temper is too short, or maybe they do not work well with other group leads to be able to create interactive roleplay, or maybe they just are lazy or a variety of other reasons. If we have someone who handles lead roles well, yes, at times they will leap frog if there isn’t a suitable candidate within X group.

“ If there is a time jump done, people need a way to get the most out of the 5+ year missing time. Something to encourage them to write up story for their characters for that time. After they've done so and handed it in, could lead towards special rewards for their character or the player. Something to think over. “ - #Anon12

I very much like this idea if we ever have one of those. There currently is not one planned but like I’ve said, we’re always willing to change and adapt to do what’s best for activity.

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DONE. Thank you to everyone who filled it out, really enjoy the feedback as it helps us figure how we can improve things for you all.

#SWL #SecondLife #StarWars #SWRP #Roleplay #Coruscant