#i wanted to post a prototype of it this week but i couldnt make the deadline :(

[roobiedo]

woe, banana trishaw be upon ye 🍌🚲

happy Solarpunk Aesthetic Week! today i give you: little concept doodle. tomorrow, who knows? 🤷

been thinking about what transportation would look like in the solarpunk noon story i've been slowly working on. rickshaws have long been a part of Asian history, and bananas play a huge role in our local culture, so i made them do the kiss and this thing was born! more details below~

is this rickshaw design functional from a technical standpoint? no, but it's okay. close your eyes. take my hand. let's imagine a better world i drew a trishaw that is anatomically accurate and focus on the fancy, scientifically-questionable features instead ✨

since in my region winter doesn't exist (yet...), my main priority was designing a vehicle that can make use of our 2 beloved seasons: hot and wet <3 i was trying to do something cool with the concept of evapotranspiration, but i don't reeeally know if this idea holds water (haha). so if any smarter folks wanna take a crack at it, i will love you forever

ok wait lemme show my inspirations

i definitely tuk some ideas from the Thai style Tuk Tuks, probably one of the most well-known modern versions of the rickshaw (the last time i rode on one my hat literally flew off in the first ten seconds. 10/10).

but my MAIN inspiration. the reason i came up with this idea in the first place...

Absolute. Bootleg. Absurdity. are you seeing this???

okay so this is in Melaka, and they are obviously tourist traps, but i love them ok. i Love them. look at how far we can push the boundaries of our silly, of our creativity. we could have this sort of whimsy EVERY DAY!!!

plus, the uncle who drove my family around last time was so enthusiastic about taking us around! he infodumped non-stop about the history and cultural significance of every landmark we passed, while laughing the whole time, and i just think that's beautiful.

and what's more solarpunk than stuffing a local beca to the brim with all the little things that we love?

look at this. imagine if they were Real, Living flowers. imagine hopping into one of these every morning. a little roving, rolling garden, taking you wherever you wish to go. each beca frame lovingly customized, harboring their own unique little ecosystems. tiny worlds to discover. imagine that subtle floral fragrance accompanying you, as you chat with your driver on the way back home. maybe you're the driver. maybe you're just a passerby, but a glimpse of that interaction is enough to make your day. maybe this can be our life. are you sold? i'm sold.

[cupcraft]

Ranboo rebrand stream important stuff in one single post!:

if anything i missed pls rb and add on!

chat etiquette! They are going to be more strict with this (but not for new chatters honest mistakes).

Ban 101 -> the number 1 rule:

racism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, discrimination. Instant ban, no excuse. Even bigoted jokes! 0 tolerance! you will be banned from even viewing the streams. This even counts on doing it on other streamer's chats/platforms if found out!

More rules: be funny (please!) and chill and kind and use emotes (including BTTV), dont spam chat (will be fixed/enforced bc of past issues),

other tidbits/news:

the vtuber/stuff will evolve over time, there are different vtuber outfits/costumes planned (ex they have an mcc outfit already!), the room in the background will change, they will be reaching out to ppl for collabs (feel free to recommend people but do not spam their chats!), planning to do more irl streams (will be weird/experimental and they will go wild! They will be making weird stuff!), they also have plans that they are excited to tell and its been a long time coming (this may be the cake video but i couldnt tell in stream), ranboo bakes a cake 2 will be coming TOMORROW on youtube (23 mins and incredible! they laughed at themself), ranboo plans to do experimental stuff on youtube (they have gotten into film lately!), founder's cut of gen 1 of genloss will be coming out 2-3 months ?? date/end of year, the vtuber ranjacket will be a part of the merch drop prototype at vidcon (physical jacket!), will be doing competitive/events with people (like organized little thing) (content/what it is undetermined) and he wants it to be obscure and random, ranboowaslive will start to ramp up a bit (more clips/compilations to come esp if you dont enjoy long vod watching), ranboo will be eating a nintendo DS cartridge live on stream (a joke!), MORE SURPRISES KEPT AS A SECRET + tiny plans in the works, they are moving into the new place/still have boxes to unpack (vtuber lore), he may finish the last of us part 2, subathon (really like back to back fun streams/long streams/playthrough of long games like omori) in january probably, splatoon may return,

What does the new era mean/qna stuff?

talking about old content is fine as long as you recognize that it is the PAST and not the kind of content ranboo makes now. Do not "put them back in the box".

Vtuber: will not be used all the time. They will do facecam streams too. Depends on how he feels.

why the r800: the 8 looks like a b LMAO

this is just the start of rebrand. He will re-establish a lot, things will be easier to find/reorganized, slowly over the weeks things will be changing.

what will happen tothe alt twitter (ranaltboo)?: new pfp, same energy (see below my shitty sc). art creds to mochi!

not only just a rebrand for him and the look of the content. But also it is a rebrand of how they act around and view their own content. they may not be as in the community as he has been (liking fanart/in chat/etc.) out of recommendation from people! If ranboo needs to be aware of something THEY HAVE PEOPLE to make him aware of important issues/emergencies and they will be focusing more on themself and the content overall. they are thankful to be allowed to do this, as they dont want to keep seeing things they dont want to see/have that anxiety. Less scrolling = more content!

They will probably have longer streams again!

will move to more mature jokes/phrases and may have content labels on the streams. Overall, streams will be pg-13 mostly.

TITS stands for twitch integrated throwing system [insert ranboo's giggle here]

All proceeds donated to ranboo's channel only go to charity! Not to them at all! They have a list of charities that he supports and will be changed 1-3 months at a time like usual!

Please make stuff. This is how he gets ppl who edit and the emote makers/artists. Not forced. Just encouraging ppl who make stuff to make stuff and he appreciates it and loves it! Even if it is not about him just make it! AND SUPPORT ARTISTS BOOBERS!

[thewiz9062]

OK so

@smilingcrittersthingig 's Reborn AU has completely mentally beat my ass for the past 5 hours (compliment) so I'm just gonna. Rant.

THIS DESTROYED ME.

if I was an easy crier I actually wouldn't be typing this cause I'd be inconsolably bawling in my room

I can't even say that they're wrong for hating him, I mean he killed them and I'm not excusing him but GODDAMN I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM AS WELL.

Like ppl joke abt how catnap is so devoted to the prototype but compared to simple "belief" He was PHYSICAL and actually tried to help him escape the hellhole that was playtime co.

(If you're not aware it's either theory or fact (i can't remember) that Theodore [Catnaps soul] had attempted an escape attempt via the help of the prototype and they got DAMN close but Theodore was fatally injured and instead of leaving him there to die the prototype had to go back and let them turn him into catnap.)

The prototype was so adamant on keeping him alive that they went back to their CAPTORS just so he wouldn't die. SHIT, I WOULDVE STARTED WORSHIPPING TOO!!! Even if he didn't make it out they didn't abandon him, so he had full belief that one day, under THEIR order, him and the rest of the critters would leave that place.

So imagine the heartbreaking moment when he realized that his fellow captors, his friends, both in form and mind, don't share the same sentiment, maybe even calling him crazy and violent.

And he just? doesn't know why??? Maybe he can admit the prototypes methods were a bit too confronting but it's not like they didn't TRY the non confrontal method. He thought they'd agree, they'd follow him but it wasn't the case.

So, well, he listened to the prototype. And that included killing his friends, yes, and it's stated (in the au) that he does regret it and I'm crying again great (positive)

And now they're all there, everyone that has either indirectly or directly been killed by him are there and they want him dead now too. AND HES PROBABLY STILL CONFUSED ON WHY THEY EVEN WENT AGAINST HIM AND WANTS TO KNOW. BUT ITS NOT LIKE HE CAN JUST GO ASK THEN THEYD ATTACK HIM PHYSICALLY OR VERBALLY ON SIGHT SO NOW HES S C A R E D OF THEM.

AND YOU CANT BLAME ANYONE BUT PLAYTIME.CO BECAUSE THEYRE ALL VICTIMS HERE. I CANT.

Oh and this.

I THOUGHT IT COULDNT GET ANY SADDER THEN YOU SHOT ME WITH THE DOOMED YAOI. HELL ITS NOT EVEN DOOMED ITS POST-DOOM. E V I L . THE FACT THAT DOGDAY PURELY HATES HIS GUTS AND WANTS HIM GONE AND DEAD THE MOST OUT OF ALL OF THEM IS GONNA KILL ME.

And then to add the final stab through my heart (compliment) I went to scourge for the enemies chart and-

HE HATES HIM SO MUCH! AND CATNAPS THE ONLY ONE OUT OF THE TWO WHO WANTS TO RECONCILE EVEN IF ITS JUST A LITTLE BIT AND WOULD MISS HIM QUITE A BIT WHILE DOGDAY JUST WANTS HIM G O N E . I CANT ANYMORE (I so can I love this)

You so did this to make people depressed for a week, it's working. And I love you for it.

Anyways we love angst in this household please keep it up I'm eating this au up for another 2 weeks buh bye

Edit: I'm so sorry for editing this so much the thoughts won't go away

[jamierenfrey]

Week 7a - Development: Ogres Run

Objective

This particular design sprint I set forth a long list of ideagtions to bring to this racing game. During the process of development, I began adding to this list more tasks I originally had not considered or thought would improve upon the game. As the goal was to design a racing game, a simple birds eye view of the playable character did not feel would bring justice to my games setting so I decided to make a game where the player animations change with the direction they are facing/heading to.

Goals

Character Selection

Title Screen camera roaming the map

Boost Mechanic

Health Mechanic

Ogre Interrferrance during race

Multi Directional Movement and Animations

Gui

Replay Tracks

Shop System

Challenges/Solutions

This design sprint was incredibly challenging for me. I found myself wanting to add more and more to the game and even though a prototype is ready (still a little buggy) I feel like I will never be happy enough or hold that feeling of completeness for this title.

Character Selection

Challenge

Last Design sprint I created the characters at the end of production. Learning from this mistake I opted to create the basic coding for the characters at the initial stages of development. One encounter I faced however was that by doing so I needed to create new animation frames and expand upon the coding for directional movements or when keys were pressed as the map was designed to be multi directional in 2D as per my original vision.

Solution

Learning from my errors in Design Sprint 2, I created the basic player system first, this reduced the amount of scenes and overall size of the game, but did expand upon my events page. It also provided me learning on how to store coding in drop down menus as part of my commenting, so that I could cross referrence certain sections of the game without having too many lines of code open to me at one time.

Title Screen camera roaming the map

Challenge

This task was incredibly hard. I centered the camera on an invisible object and set forces as per normal with colisions on an invisible border around the town. However, the object gained momentum everytime it reached the border and eventually was able to push past and continue outside the bounds of the map.

Solution

I discovered that my code was set to permanent whereas I should have been using instant forces. While testing this theory I found that it actually worked as expected!

Boost Mechanic

Challenge

I originally wanted to have a temporary ‘sprint’ in races for the ogre. Unfortunately I couldnt get the coding to work just right as I had different settings for different characters and resetting speeds became challenging.

Solution

Instead of doing a typical temporary speed boost, I changed the mechanic to be a permanent speed boost! Whereby the player improves upon winning more races and purchases additional boosts.

Health Mechanic

Challenge

In previous sprints I did different systems for health. This time around I wanted to have differing health levels based on each character and learning from previous sprints, returning that health to the specified characters level after each track.

Solution

Using additional global variables I found I can reset the scene with health being attached to a Max Health variable which is determined by power ups and the player selected

Replay Tracks

Challenge

As the tracks were set by conditions of certain variables, starting races were fine, one problem encountered though was that the ogres when using the rerun option, didnt follow the same pathways or coding as the original track events.

Solution

Im revisiting this in the near future, I believe the best way to approach this would be to reset the variables and allow the player to converse with the ogre instead of initialising the track start from the moment the rerun is selected.

Ogre Interferrance During Race

Challenge

Creating dynamic elements that affect the player in different ways. Barrels to reduce speed, thrown weapons to reduce health and collisions with ogres that throw mud in your face and cover the screen.

Solution

Because I opted to use the one scene for this game, I found a lot of objects and elements needed to be hidden and or deleted when races were not occuring. By adding extra code, this limited how many scenes I would need and the overall size of the game.

Multi Directional Movements and Animations

Challenge

Having multiple players and multiple directions created challenges establish directions and creating frames that were previously non existant.

Solution

Learning for Unicorns Rage and the feedback provided, my experience with piskel now betetr than a number of weeks ago, I limited the total number of frame editing to 30 per character instead of 80. I am still not complete on one final character, but the other two are ready to go.

GUI

Challenge

Linking the correct global variables to text on screen, managing their limits and adjusting them differently per character.

Solution

The only real solution for this task was to work one variable at a time and playtest between each changing line of code until it was right then duplicating the process for the next variable. I eventually had this working.

Shop System

Challenge

I originally thought this would be a simple inclusion, allowing players to upgrade their character stats, however I could not have been further from wrong. Adjusting variable conditions, like with the gui above, so that some items were purchaseable only once, others capped then including a money system on track wins etc was really time consuming. 

Solution

Once I started I simply just kept at it until it was done. This took a number of hours ensuring everything worked correctly, but I got there in the end! I dont believe this is an option I would consider again for a short time frame design sprint.

In Closing

I found myself feeling slightly defeated assembling this game as I just wasnt satisfied I had created enough to wow players. I am aware of the areas of improvement and how to approach these, stated above, and I will finalise these problems.

I am aware that playtesters during this week may identify the areas Ive stated but I am also hoping that some positive feedback will counteract as I am presently fixated on where I need to improve (and have been doing so daily). I am confident I can bring this game to my standard.

Until the next post!

Sprite Acknowledgement

craftpix.net

Ogres Run Playtest Link

First prototype version found here;

https://games.gdevelop-app.com/game-f625e2e8-3a15-47ca-bbd0-3ea2a32aecdf/index.html

[fandommash-up]

Hey guys so this was my first request, I will be posting the second one latee tonight. This is unedited as it was supposed to be up last night but sadly wasnt due to technical difficulties. Hope this was ok! Request: 2014!Donatello being a stuttering mess in front of his crush? ~~~~ Donnie had been in his lab all day, working on a new gadget to add to his bo staff. He needed to get this done for the next mission, to help his brothers, to protect the city, to better keep you safe, to- Donnie sighed. The real reason he was in there was because he was hiding from you. You always made him feel all jittery and awkward. He would get butterflies every time you met his eye, he would get all shaky every time you came near him, he would start to stutter and mumble everytime you talked to him. It was so embarrassing! He didn't want to make a fool of himself anymore, so lately he just hid out in his lab or in the dojo, trying to keep his mind off you. That wasn't really working well for him at the moment. Sighing again, he tried to connect the wires properly, gritting his teeth when they got tangled. ~~~~ You climbed down the manhole latter, scrunching your nose slightly at the smellof the sewers.No matter how many times you came down here, the smell always made you gag a bit. You walked down the stone tunnels, humming lightly to yourself as you avoided wet spots and pieces of trash. Sometimes you felt bad for the turtles to have to live down hrre, never really getting to escape until nighttime where they had to run and fight most of the night until they came back. They shouldnt have to do this, you thought. Mikey should be out skateboarding with his friends, Raph should be out playing sports, Leo should be out with girls, and Donnie should be in school. You let out a little sigh at thr thought of Donnie. Sometimes he was such a goofball, the way his eyes would,light up when talking about his,inventions, how he cocked his head to the side when he was confused, the way he would bite his lip when he got nervous, it was just so adorable. Now you could never tell anyone about these things though. Your friends didnt even know the turtles existed, and the boys would all tease you relentlessly if they found out about your crush on the tallest brother. As you entered the lair, you saw only saw Mikey, Raph and Leo probably training, while Donnie was most likely in his lab, working on another project. Upon seeing you, Mikey smiled and waved you over to him. "Hey, dudette," he said, "What up?" You shook your head, "Nothing much," you sat down next to him, "Just thought I should stop by and see you guys." "See us? Or see a certain someone?" Mikey waggled his eyebrows suggestively. He had figured out your crush a few weeks ago, even tho you hadn't told him yes or no yet, he just knew. The little bugger had an intuition like no other. "No, I came to see all of you," you stressed the last part. Mikey merely laughed, throwing his head back. You narrowed your eyes at him before smiling sweetly. You grabbed a pillow and threw it at his face. He stopped laughing and tackled you with a war cry. You landed on the floor with an oomf! He held your arms above your head, eyes glinting maliciously. "No," your eyes widened, "No, Mikey please, no." He merely shook his head before tickling you, making you let out shrieks of laughter. Tears began to come out of your eyes at his actions, writhing on the floor in an attempt to escape. "What on earth is-" Donnie came into the room, stopping at seeing your predicament. At his entrance, Mikey had lessened his attack on you, allowing you to take in some much needed air. "Donnie, help me!" You called, before Mikey began to tickle you again. Donnie blushed before coming closer. He pushed Mikey off, grabbing you quickly before running off with you in his arms. He chuckled as you tightened your hold on him, latching onto him like a leech. He put you down before turning and locking the door to the lab so Mikey couldnt get in. Soon after a thud was heard, and Mikey let out a fake wail. "Noooooo," he cried, "My prisoner! What shall I do now?" You laughed at his antics, "I have been rescued! Now off with you, you fiend!" "No! I shall never-" "Mikey shut up before I pound you into your shell!" Raph roared. Mikey let out a yelp before running off down the hallway, Raph's footsteps following after. You and Donnie looked at each other before collapsing into giggles. After you two had calmed down, Donnie blushed before turning and heading for his work table. He sat down in the chair and began tinkering with his new device. "Whats that?" You asked, leaning over his shoulder, pointing at the odd object. He jumped slightly. "O-oh it's a n-new pro-prototype of my electro-magnetic pulser." He stuttered. You just gave him a blank look. He blushed and tried to explain it more, "It lets out a m-magnetic shock on m-my staff for when I fight." "Oh cool,," you nodded. Donnie just blushed darker and hunched over the device. He looked up again a few minutes later trying to find his screw driver. You had it in your hands pretending to fight with it as you would a sword. He hated to imterupt your fantasizing, but je really needed that screwdriver. "Y-Y/N?" He stuttered. You looked over, mid-strike. "I-I kind of n-need that." You blushed and handed it to him, your fingers accidentally brushing his hand. You looked up,to see him blush again and mutter a quick "Sorry." Before hunching over again. Through out the next few hours, Dknnie would ask you to hand him a tool and you comply, "accidentally" brushing your hand with his a few more times. As you spent more time together, he slowly began to grow more confident talking with you, stuttering less and explaining more about his contraption. You hadn't even realized it was very late until you began to nod off, eventually falling asleep with you head on Donnnie's shoulder. Donnie looked down at you, blushing, before picking you up and laying you down on the little couch he had put in there, draping a blanket over you. "Goodnight Y/N," he smiled. He got up and went to work again on his project, smile still on his face. He guessed it wasn't too bad, not hiding from you. ~~~~~~~ So I'm really sorry, this ismt my best work and its unedited, but I was supposed to post this last night, but my tumblr wouldn't let me do anything so I'm posting it today. Hope,it was an ok job, please forgive my spelling errors and terrible writing.

[sophiem-bct]

Shared Playgrounds: Week 13

This week consisted of binding the children's book, finishing off my contextual and conceptual statements  (I was incredibly sick last week so I couldnt get them done in time to be included in the process book with the rest of the groups statements), catching up on the final weeks of blogging and setting up our display for submission.  

3 stages/days of binding using mag bind: 

1. Once you have designed the book layout in Indesign, making sure to leave a white border otherwise known as the bleed so that you can trim the edges to be perfect once it is all bound. Next Print pages onto chosen paper stock (250gsm), bone each page where you want it to fold, glue the backs of each folded page to the next to create a stack of pages at double thickness 500gm. Now glue the spine for more durability and leave to dry overnight in between two boards with a weight on it to make sure the pages secure well.

2. measure how thick the stack of pages are to determine the spine width (9mm for this book) . when you know how thick the book is you edit the cover on InDesign to have the correct spine width then print. Bone where you want the cover to crease. Glue onto the back of the first and last pages in the book, making sure not to glue the back cover all the way to the spine. You need to leave an unglued strip (same measurement as the spine) so that you can open the book fully once it is finished. leave to dry again over night. 

3. Now for the fun part of trimming the dried book in the eclectic guillotine make the edges perfect. 

I wish I had photo documentation of the process, however I was so engrossed in it that I forgot. However I may be able to go back and take a couple photos of the final trimming stage before I post this blog, as I am yet to do that. Also it would have been quite hard to take photos of the first two stages since my hands were continuously covered in glue. as well as that it was so hard not to get glue on the illustration side of the pages, so there was a lot of concentration needed. 

set up for submission and showcase in progress. We have stayed true to the vibe of our project and gone for the most playful and childlike display. Very imperfect and colourful....photo of finished set up to come. 

To be included in the display: 

dolls and packaging prototypes 

posters and banners - With Doodle Dolls logo and tag line, photos and main points of research around child poverty, and textile waste.

Process book - 80 pages which include: market research, business plan, Xchallenge info, statements, Creative process with dolls etc

Doodle Dolls 2.0

the children’s book made by Kat and I 

Kat animation and halloween edition doll for interaction and play paper

Kylies app for her Interaction and play paper

...and many child related embellishments (not too much hopefully so as not to distract from the main message. 

[caredogstips]

‘It’s a crime to be young and pretty’: girlfriends flee predatory The countries of central america gangs

Sexual exploitation that the UN responds amounts to slavery is action girls and their families from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to seek refuge in Mexico

Women &# x27; s rights and equal opportunities is supported by About this material

Sara Rincn was ambling dwelling from college in the capital city of El Salvador when she was confronted by three heavily tattooed mob members who had been molesting her for weeks.

The groups manager a gentleman in his 30 s, with the figure 18 etched on to his shaven intelligence shed her against a wall, and with his hands around her cervix devoted her one last warning.

He did no wife has in the past altered him down, and if I refused to be his girlfriend, he would kill me and my family. I didnt want to leave home but after that we couldnt bide; we left for Mexico in the middle of the night, suggested Rincn, thrusting a smile through her tears.

Increasing numbers of women and girls are fleeing El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras amid mounting proof that criminal gangs are systematically targeting teenage girls as sexual slaves.

Central America map

More than 20 years after peace deals were signed to end vicious conflicts between the regions leftwing guerrillas and US-backed dictatorships, the three countries of the so-called Northern Triangle are still struggling with the consequences of crusade.

Corrupt security force, international drug cartels and warring street gangs have helped rotate the Northern Triangle into the worlds most dangerous field outside an official war zone. And the threat of sexual violence against women and girls has become a flourishing influence behind the refugee crisis that is softly uncovering on Americas doorstep.

A grandmother and grandson tread by the Barrio1 8s insignia in the Ilopango district of San Salvador, El Salvador. Image: Giles Clarke/ Getty Images

Of the 32,142 female migrants were arrested by Mexican immigration agents in the first nine months of this year, virtually one in three were under 18. Almost 15,000 12 – to 17 -year-old girls from The countries of central america northern triangle Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have been apprehended here since 2014.

Forcing women and girls into sexual activities with mob members is prima facie evidence of modern slavery, according to Urmila Bhoola, the UNs special rapporteur for contemporary slavery.

The forced recruitment of girls and young women into gang-related pleasures, and specially being forced into prostitution through providing nuptial his trip to mob members in prison, are extreme forms of sexual exploitation and human degradation that involve activity supremacies akin to the right of ownership over these someones, Bhoola spoke.

Gangs reflect the deeply patriarchal power structures that prevail in this region, she responded. Its a problem feigning millions of women and girls.

But it is a phenomenon that regional governments still disclaim, according to Erika Guevara, the Americas director at Amnesty International.

Women and girls are living in a constant country of fright treated as mere trophies in a ruthless war between mobs that largely control their countries. Authorities must invest some of the millions they are receiving to halt in-migration in programmes to ensure these women are safe at home, Guevara said.

Sara Rincn( not her real reputation) was confronted by a gang member and forced to be his girlfriend or be killed. Photograph: Encarni Pindado for the Guardian

For Rincn, the nightmare started in March, when the heads of state of a local clica , or neighborhood cadre, of the Calle 18 street gang started targeting her.

Every time I got on the bus hed be there, wailing that I was his girlfriend. Then, he transported people to watch me. If they ensure me talking to male pals, theyd tell them to back off, so I stopped going to college, articulated Rincn.

In 2014 and 2015, at least 66,000 girlfriends in El Salvador changed or vacated school, according to ministry of education chassis, in a number of countries of 6.5 million people.

Rincn and her papa absconded north, and they are now sharing a minuscule area in Tapachula, the biggest municipality on Mexicos southern mete, while they apply for refugee status.

But they could not afford the section for the whole pedigree, so her baby and five siblings are staying with relatives in another part of San Salvador part of a flourishing movement of internally displaced people in the country.

They escaped the immediate menace, but the whole kinfolk is profoundly traumatised.

Rincn is anxious and tearful and she has started self-harming. It feels like Im trapped. I miss my mum. Cutting myself feels like a handout. I precisely require this all to end, she told. She lately shifted 18, and wants to finish high school.

Her father Ricardo, 40, a shoe seller and evangelical pastor, recounts the ordeal in barely audible mumbles and complains of a constant headache. He refuses to allow Rincn to stir new friends because he is terrified the mob will track them down.

Increasingly, entire categories from the Northern Triangle are fleeing together, seeking to flee warring street gangs and infect security forces.

Andrea Hernndez, 17, is staying in one of Tapachulas migrant shelters with eight members of their own families. They fled Tegucigalpa, Honduras, one night in June, soon after Hernndez was rescued from a gang kidnapping.

She was abducted on her mode to a sports field for a morning control, and hampered captive for a week by mob members who wanted to draft her, according to the commission father Isabel, 54.

Andrea was rescued by the authorities after Isabel pleaded with a relative who works in the public prosecutor part, but that was not the end of the agony: although the family entreat officials not to make any apprehends, they still panicked retaliation from the mob.

The entire household Hernndez, her mothers, her younger sister, 13, as well as her older sister, 28, and her husband and three children fled the country.

We left our pups and cat, all my robes, I couldnt even say goodbye to my friends, pronounced Hernndez.

So far, she has barely spoken about her seven-day agony at the hands of the kidnappers: I cant, she told, altering her appearance to rub her eyes, Ive tried but I cant.

According to Isabel, her daughter shouts at night, when she belief the rest of their own families is sleeping. She barely snacks, shes traumatised, shes not the same. My daughter was a prototype student in Honduras, she wanted to be an architect. Everything changed, for all of us, in one day, responded Isabel.

Two-thirds of the women interviewed by the UN refugee agency in 2015 described direct menaces and attacks by members of criminal groups as a key ground for their flight.

But leaving home doesnt assure security, and there are growing reports that criminal groups and gangs are searching out and targeting Center American migrants and refugees.

Soon after arriving in Tapachula in July, Andrea enrolled in a attractivenes direction at another shelter. A month into the course, after a minor squabble, two young Salvadorans informed her she had five days to drop out or be killed. The household was necessary to flee again.

If were not safe here either. Why cant we go home? said Hernndez, before walking out of the room.

She doesnt understand the hazards were never going back, said her mother.

Hernndez and her family are also applying for refugee status in Mexico part of a growing number of migrants seeking asylum here after a Washington-backed repression put in place in July 2014 made it much harder to reach the US.

Mexicos refugee agency( Comar) has a local bureau on a quiet corner in Tapachulas historic centre. It recently spread its opening hours to tackle changing demand, but new applicants must still queue early in the morning to be seen.

Elena Cruz and her mother, sit outside Comar in the Tapachula, seeking refugee status. Photo: Encarni Pindado for the Guardian

Elena Cruz, 15, from San Salvador sat mutely next to her mother Barbara, 39, clutching a folder of documents to show Comar.

She told a familiar narrative: a tattooed gang manager took a liking to Cruz. He started following her to and from institution, and mailing her threatening messages via a classmate.

It was always the same, if you dont go out with me, you wont go out with anyone, added Cruz. I want to be a doctor but I had to stop school. I was panicked to be in the house as he knows where we live.

Cruzs mother moved her four times to live with different relatives, but each time the gang tracked her down. They would mail me letters on Facebook telling me where I was, threatening to come and take me.

Too scared to go to the police in case the gang found out, mom and daughter packed two suitcases, and absconded in the middle of the nighttime, abandoning their dwelling and Barbaras successful seafood market stall.

Were taken refuge because theyll take my daughter or kill us if we go back, told Barbara. Theres no future in El Salvador, its now a crime for girls to be young and pretty.

Names have been changed to protect identities

Read more: www.theguardian.com

The post ‘It’s a crime to be young and pretty’: girlfriends flee predatory The countries of central america gangs appeared first on caredogstips.com.

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[jamierenfrey]

Week 3b- Playtest Report: Mutant Kitty

Feedback

During playtest week, everyone in our IGB220 course were able to play through eachothers games for design sprint 1.

Although I had completed many playtests of Mutant Kitty, it was interesting to receive critiques from others about the mechanics I had incorporated into the game.

Positives

Your game concept is super light hearted and fun! I love the character, really cute and the whole setting aesthetic ties in well too.

The running and jump mechanic is pleasant and smooth! The keys chosen were simple which is great

The eye lazers are unique as it isnt the usual gun, or sword etc etc so i liked your creativity on that! Overall, it is a neat game and would see myself playing this game in my own time (perhaps on a phone).

The world used for the game is really nicely designed and the sprites used look really good

The game was fun, with a cool aesthetic.

The movement was smooth albeit the firing of the laser was unique. 

Interesting and fun concept behind your game. 

The art assets were very nice however there were some tiling issues I noticed but that wasn’t really a big issue that should be focused on in a prototype (I’m not even sure if there is such a thing as auto tiling in GDevelop).

Reading your concept, the idea that the mutant kitty gets more powers could really lend itself to creating some potentially really well designed mechanic based platforming / puzzle levels

Overall, a great game concept so far that has the potential to be expanded upon based on what you’ve said in your concept. The art is great and the gameplay controls well with just some minor tweaks to make it feel really good.

Despite this, I think the laser mechanic is especially fun in an already fun concept. There’s something really satisfying about running through the level and holding down mouse1. Since the lasers are so fast (visually)

From a visual perspective, I love how there are trees in the background but also the foreground. It makes it so that when the player is walking on that particular platform, it’s like they’re weaving between the trees.

Art style is really aesthetic

The level has multiple raises and drops the player must traverse, increasing its gameplay challenge as a result

I love how the game has a backstory where Mutant Kitty must take down the mad scientist mad dogs to save the world instead of putting you in a game where the motive for gameplay is unknown (other than fun of course)

Game has a main menu, which is very thoughtful, and presumably features a pause menu as well, which I unfortunately couldn’t test on Mac

I love the idea of a cat shooting lasers out of its eyes to vaporise dogs twice its size

The level of detail put into this level is very good for a first prototype, featuring clouds, multiple platform types, and even an area where the player feels like they are inside a forest!

Overall, I thought this game was truly amazing, combining an interesting art style with great level design. Core elements such as the player’s health and dog kills worked well for the most part, increasing and decreasing at the right events. There were a few bugs encountered that can be touched on to make the game more user-friendly, and a few platforms could be aligned better to allow for more immersive gameplay. Thank you for making this Mutant Kitty Laser-Shooting Cat vs Bad guy scientist dog game!!

The playermodel is really cute and I love that his eyes and mouth open when he jumps.

The health bar on your kitty worked as intended during my playtime as well as the enemy counter on the opposing end of the screen.

This isn’t to say that the map wasn’t creative - it was really intricate for such an early prototype, and makes me excited for the future of Mutant Kitty. 

Negatives

for someone who doesn't use a mouse i found it a bit tricky to shoot the lazers. Maybe having the choice to press another key to shoot the lazers would be a good addition.

At times i was hoping perhaps there was a dash or boost so that it could sprint.

I found reaching the platforms kind of difficult at times, maybe adjust the placement of them or extending the distance of the jump.

I did end up getting stuck on the bottom level and couldnt go back up to the top so had to restart.

the only problems I can  see are having the lazer fire off of the mouse, as I am someone without a mouse that is hard for me to use.

My main point I want to make is that the firing of the laser is way too overpowered right now. I accidentally completed the game by jumping around spawn messing with a visual glitch when Jumping + firing a laser. Through more testing I found out the laser doesn't have a cut-off point and was clearing the whole level killing everything. I also noticed that the laser does not reset on death either, it is still there and still going. 

I think movement could be a little bit faster and tighter to make the player character seem more action oriented and fit its movement animations a little better. 

I’m not sure exactly how the laser shooting mechanic is supposed to work based on what I played. Is it supposed to be one continuous laser that you keep shooting or just one singular laser that you shoot at intervals?

I reached a point in the level where there seemed to be an invisible wall that I could not pass and I was floating in the air. There was an enemy on the platform I was trying to get to so I’m not exactly sure was going on there

I don’t think it’s intentional, but on the first playthrough, I was just jumping around and shooting. After some time, the “You Win” end screen popped up. I’m not sure what I did to trigger that, but I hadn’t actually attacked any enemies yet (not on my screen at least). After trying a few more times, it’s still unclear to me what exactly the win condition is. I realised that the lasers seem to have infinite, or rather a super long range, which meant I was clearing enemies from spawn, prompting the end screen.

I’d like to see some faster movement. As it stands, the player feels a bit slow when moving, even more so while shooting the lasers.

There seem to be a few invisible walls that prevented me from getting to the upper part of the level :(

Some platforms don’t align perfectly

Laser is overpowered and can shoot through walls; could be single fire only instead of spamming to victory and could dissipate when in contact with a platform for example

Bugs have occurred where dog faces appeared where they shouldn’t (top of the first tree on the right - seemingly aligned horizontally as they do at the top of the screen)

Dogs near the forest area refused to get banished from existence; probably an error with the trees overlapping or something

His eye laser is cool, however it feels too overpowered in that I am able to hold down left click and it will continuously shoot.

The enemies look tough and probably would pose a threat if the lazer didn't tear through them before they even entered onto my screen.

Once you drop down into the area under the trees, your’re stuck and much like other parts of the map are constricted by invisible walls that you feel like you should be able to cross- obviously due to time constraints.

In Conclusion

Although my prototype was not 100% ready and my own curiosities regarding certain mechanics were a focus, it was interesting to receive feedback like the above.

During my own playthroughs of other games I learnt about different mechanics and could see how other people used those to the benefits of their games.

I have begun an edit of the original Mutant Kitty concept and will hopefully have incorporated the right changes to the game.

Stay tuned for the next post!