#if you want a fun low resource game that can run on even the most potato of computers

[malomaximus]

I finally got to the last boss and the end of the story in Loop Hero and I just...

PIXEL ART IS SO COOL!!!!!

[hillbillyoracle]

You Should Get A Radio

I want to convince you to get a radio. It can be a pretty cheap one - you can sometimes thrift them even - just something to listen to the music and shows that are literally streaming completely for free all around you right this very moment.

Libraries get a lot of love - deservedly so. They are such a frugal resource for entertainment and the community at large. I would argue that radio is very similar.

Find New Music

Radio can introduce you to music you never would have run across otherwise. Spotify and the like have a goal of getting you to listen for as long as possible. This incentivizes the alorgithm picking your music recs to stay very safely within your known listening profile. But since a radio station is broadcasting to a large number of people, not you individually, you're more likely to run into music you personally wouldn't have picked but actually enjoy.

Not to mention that if you're in the US at least, you're very likely within range of a public broadcasting station which not only has local and national news, but various music shows as well - World Cafe is a treasure. College radio stations, if you have one nearby by, can be hit or miss, but in general, it is a great way to find local and very niche music you wouldn't hear played anywhere else. If you're in a city, you very likely have a couple of hyperlocal low power FM stations - many who serve communities who don't speak English and who have their own unique music programming. I also enjoy a lot of the adult contemporary and "oldies" stations I can get near me.

The Ads Aren't Targeted

On most stations, you'll hear some ads. Some stations you'll hear more than a few. But none of those ads are based on an ever growing mass of information being collected about you and your listening habits to decide what specific ad you're most likely to actually act on. They're just...an ad. When you turn it off, it can't follow you around until you actually buy it.

Also, if you're listening to local stations, a lot of the ads are for local businesses in your community; places owned by your neighbors and the people you live with. For me, it's been a nice way to be reminded of what places exist in my community since I usually go to my regular haunts and nothing else.

Frugal and Fun

Radios can be pretty cheap. I see them in thrift stores pretty regularly around here and you might be able to try Marketplace for one. Mine was a birthday gift and I paid a little more to upgrade the antena later. Mine uses rechargeable batteries but I think they make ones that are just straight up rechargeable now.

Since I can't control the music, I'm not turning to it to skip through music or pick a different playlist or look up a given artist I want to hear because I just remembered they existed. I'm more present, whether I'm just listening to the show or pairing it with something else (recently it's been knitting or solitaire games).

Similar to the way that libraries can be one way you decrease your reliance on subscription culture, radio is another. Especially for public broadcasting stations, the programming is always changing, there are new shows every week, and there are often ways for you to get involved. It's another form of entertainment that often gets overlooked.

It's Screen Free

Not much to say here. It's just a big plus to me. I'm trying to take more breaks from screens and make the time I do spend on screens less addictive. I like that I can throw on a radio station and listen to a show without ever having to resist the urge to check email or something.

Vital in Emergencies

Have you thought of how you'd get information during an emergency if the internet goes out? Radio is a great option and still regularly saves lives. In the event of emergencies, local radio stations are often some of the very first people to get information on where shelters are being set up, where resoruces are being distributed, and how to stay safe through the course of the event. Depending on the event, emergency managers will actually bring in radio equipment to keep broadcasting going if there's been damage to a tower and even set up temporary/mobile station up to get the word out if there's not a local station they can partner with.

On days when the weather isn't looking so great, I often have the weather band radio turned on so I can get the latest NWS forecasts and hear when a watch is issued - phones usually only get warnings unless you go out of your way to sign up for more. And out where I live, I usually don't even get those since cell signal is spotty.

It's a great investment in your safety that you can also enjoy whenever.

Conclusion

Buy a radio. Especially if you're looking to get away from subscriptions and cut costs. You can own your radio - you can't own Spotify. It's also just something I think everyone should have since it's such a vital resource in emergencies.

ETA: I am a young millinial. I grew up with radio and remember a time before the internet so I'm not saying any of this as if I'm discovering it. It's more I've been not only enjoying it a lot lately but reminded that a lot of people aren't aware of everything it offers so I wanted to share that in case it was news to anyone.

[carionto]

Pressure and Release

Human: *hmm-ing at a set of dials and gauges*

Alien: What seems to be *translation unit catches up with the information they're displaying* OH MY GOD IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE!!! GET TO THE ESCAPE PODS NOW!!!!

H: Shh, it's fine, I'm just experimenting.

A: OH MY GOD WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE HORRIBLY!

H: Hey! Rude. *turns a dial causing a loud hissing noise* It's just air compressors and hydraulics.

A: *due to not dying, is beginning to relax* Why do you need up to 200 atmospheres running through these systems. We have invented alloy-specific magnetization mechanisms. Please, why do you keep insisting on these volatile and explosive means?

H: *turns the dial up* Because... *releases the pressure again, loud sudden hissing sound again* That's a cool sound.

A: Just because you think something is 'cool' doesn't make it-

H: *interrupts with another air build up and release sound without breaking eye contact*

A: *leaves*

H: *continues to play around*

_________________________________________

Okay, so I wanna get this off my chest. I find myself now for the fourth time starting a fun little activity, doing it for months on end, having a blast, and then almost suddenly dropping it entirely. First time I wrote some short stories or something every day for about six months and put it on deviantart. Then some longer form stuff started cropping in, sort of continuous narratives or whatever, and I stopped. Second was running a open D&D campaign with a persistent world but ever changing party, each session a sort of one-shot with a decision that would impact the whole world and what future sessions would exist. Not even 10 sessions in I felt under pressure to continue and build upon what I had already and just couldn't and stopped. Third was another kind of TTRPG, this time running my own server for Lancer. Again, open one shots, but less connected and I would hopefully get some of the players to want to run their own games within this freeform framework that I directly lifted from a D&D server I was in, even had some of the same people join as players. Few months later, I felt this massive pressure from myself to run games and come up with new scenarios that I just froze up. I cancelled game after game and just eventually abandoned the server and the resources I had made. Fourth time was here on tumblr itself. Back to writing some short form stuff on a fairly regular basis, almost daily for some time even. Had a blast, and then longer form content started creeping in. I thought I wanted to write some stories with an overarching plot and recurring characters and connected storylines, build up and pay off, that sort of thing. Again, I created this massive pressure by myself for myself of myself to do something I apparently can't. I created this sense of expectation of myself "Well, I started this, I should finish it, but where do I go, what do I do, how can I connect this?" And then this self-inflicted pressure got to me, again. And I stopped.

What I have known for a while, but couldn't put into words is that I don't want to tell a big long epic story or anything like that. I don't have one of those in me and forcing something like that only makes me shrivel up and run away. I have a world, several in fact, in my mind. Entire continents of a low fantasy character driven political intrigue and drama based world with tons of rules and restrictions, thousands of years of history, strong personalities for the main actors and so many individual scenes with them and the supporting cast, and a timeframe for when the overarching story happens and how it ends. But no story itself. Just scenes. I have a high fiction sci-fi world, again, with very distinct factions and races, most of the details I have written out back when I was a teen in a physical notebook with pen and pencil. Lots of historical points and events, how the races work, their domains if you will, near magical powers I try to explain with plausible science. Tons of specific details. Even drew each of their common symbols, how one of the languages is structured, schematics of how their cities are planned, and details on other planets in the system and how those might be important later. But, not a single individual character or story. Just dry facts. And then we have the loose sci-fi world I've created here. Bunch of different angles and perspectives, some comedic, some more serious, even put Cthulu in there. Many short and mostly self-contained stories and episodes of various humans doing things an exaggerated version of humanity would do. There is potential for a number of expanded and longer form stories here, some I attempted, and as mentioned, what ultimately made me stop. I don't have a book in me, and I don't want to write one. I just like to write little snippets and I want to get myself to accept this idea that, no, it does not need to become more than that. Because every time I start going down a path where it feels like it should be more than a one page thing, I seize up, start thinking that I need to do this, panic when I can't come up with anything, go silent, and give up. It just does not work for my brain. And that's fine.

[witches-dream]

Polychampions if they were based

(aka if they played Minecraft)

Capsaicin

(credits: IVIgoggles, jordanpyke on PMC)

His favorite blocks are deepslate, blackstone, nether bricks (red ones too), magma, lava, chains and iron bars.

he's REALLY adamant about living in the nether even tho nobody ever visits him and he dies constantly and burns all his things. they considered KeepInventory but everyone voted no (incl. Caps) so he still suffers.

he's currently begging for a dragon riding mod to be added. who needs elytas, horses, striders and shit when you can have RIDEABLE DRAGONS???

he has trouble following tutorials, so he wings every farm he does.

he's the kind of person to forget to look at his health and casually jump over ravines on 2 hearts

hits zombie piglins on purpose

fan of Parkour Civilization

MCYTs he would watch: TommyInnit, InTheLittleWood. What he enjoys most is a unique sense of humor and doing something fun in-game, "building? fighting? i can do all that myself! show me something new!"

rushes to trial chambers cuz HE NEEDS THAT MACE

Mobs he would've voted for: Wildfire, Moobloom, Copper Golem, Sniffer, Armadillo

favorite mobs: ENDER DRAGON, also blazes look pretty cool

he's constantly trying to do tricks, like landing on a water bucket/powder snow/hay bale/ whatever, or riptiding around, using a mace, parkouring everywhere, etc

breaks into the nether roof, but bedrock breaking is off and he does have obsidian but no way to light a portal so he just kills himself which puts him on a 5 minute timer to get obby, a flint n steel and ender pearls to get his stuff back and get out. NOBODY WILL FIND OUT

Kouign-Amann

(credit: Overtales Studio on YT)

she exclusively builds stuff like this, overly detailed cute houses, then entire villages out of them.

help this girl is obssessed with cherry blossoms! her other favorite blocks include quartz, calcite, prismarine, froglights, and decors like pots, candles and flowers

she has automatic farms for blocks that she uses frequently. she's quite proud of her makeshift sugar cane and bamboo farms, but mostly uses tutorials for everything else.

her storage situation is FUCKED. it may seem fine on the outside, but for every build she has a chest monster in the basement full of materials. whenever she is running low on something, it's just her running from basement to basement trying to scrape up resources ("why don't you just build tunnels between the chest monsters atp" "i'm gonna clean it up! i promise!" "this is the 18th time you've said that in the last month. believe me, i counted")

pvp sweat.

uses a ton of client-side mods, shaders and resource packs to make her game pretty.

DO NOT tell her about Chisels & Bits, she WILL crash the entire server

MCYTs that she would watch: ShubbleYT, LDShadowLady, GeminiTay. She enjoys watching chill people who pay attention to detail, and Lizzie. She models her builds after their styles.

after not finding a good elytra texturepack she wants, she starts making her own. it's not long until she gets into 3d modeling as well and makes stuff like a hat for Prune and horns for Caps.

collects music discs

huge fan of armor trims. "can we add tool trims pretty pretty pleeeaaase"

rushes to trial chambers cuz SHE NEEDS THOSE DISCS AND TRIMS AND BANNER PATTERNS

Mobs she would've voted for: Phantom, Moobloom, Allay, Sniffer, Crab

favorite mobs: cats, axolotls, pandas, bees

likes building zoos, museums and libraries

Prune Juice

(credit: elyas360 on YT)

his bases look like little inconspicuous houses on the surface (just well built enough to not suspect anything), but are sprawling interconnected, redstone-powered underground bases full of secret doors, farms and traps. And, of course, secret tunnels to his friends' bases.

he's insulted by Minecraft's potion brewing system and refuses to touch it out of principle.

he's not particularly good at fighting, or building, so he would've quit if he didn't decide to give redstone a try on one normal sunny day. his friends' days have not been normal and sunny since then

favorite blocks: redstone redstone redstone redstone. as for building, he doesn't have preferences, but probably builds out of non-expensive stuff that makes sense for a normal house, e.g. panks, stones, bricks, etc.

out of the three of them, has the most organized storage system.

he definitely builds nukes when playing modded.

MCYTs that he would watch: ianxofour, Gneiss Name. Ianxofour's farms are just too satisfying to watch even if you never build them, and Gneiss Name's videos are less about Minecraft itself, and more about using Minecraft for education. You don't know you care about geology or color theory until you watch his videos.

"Prune can you fix my farm" "Prune can i borrow froglights" ok pay me 8 diamond blocks and i'll see what i can do 😌

spends time on the Minecraft Discnontinued Features Wiki, then shows his friends floating liquids and doesn't elaborate. "Prune how did you do the floating lava trick it would be so so good for my base" "Magic 🥰"

Mobs he would've voted for (if he cared enough): The Great Hunger, Glow Squid, Allay, Tuff Golem, Crab

favorite mobs: iron golems cuz iron farms, guardians cuz xp farms, shulkers cuz shulker farms, etc. but aesthetically, probably likes freaks like endermen, wardens and creakings

DO NOT let this man into an ancient city, he WILL steal a warden and put it in your base

About all of them together

Kouign and Caps collaborate on a community spawn base because they die way too often. Prune spawn traps them from time to time (and then gets caught in his own trap bc hes not immune to dying)

they always find something to compete on. for all three of them competing is the same as breathing

Caps: "what if a parkour master a pvp master and a redstone master... were in love 👉👈" Kouign: wait who's the parkour master?" Prune: "who's the pvp master?" Kouign and Caps: "hey D:<"

Kouign wants to make a three-person bedroom but they keep arguing which colors the beds should be. pink or yellow for Kouign? Blue or purple for Prune? Red or orange for Caps? legends say they are still arguing...

One time, each of them built challenge mazes for each other to complete. Capsaicin's was mostly parkour and some riddles based on puns. Kouign's had mob traps, quizzes and hidden buttons. Prune's had elaborate puzzles where you have to make use of the very limited items you find.

That's all for now, i will keep adding onto this in reblogs or smth and please send me ideas as well ^_^

[theredmark-dev]

Purpose of a "secondary" weapon

Hi there!

So in a recent update to my game Survivesmith, I added a secondary weapon in addition to the primary weapon which was given to the player by default. The first-ever "primary" weapon I had already given the player was a pistol. You might already be thinking, "That's not a primary weapon, that is the definition of a secondary weapon" and that is exactly what went through my head.

How are secondaries used in other games?

Having a pistol as a primary weapon is not bad or wrong by any means. It can be heavy and powerful. I may have seen many games where the player is rocking a pistol without ever having to think of any guns that go brrrrrrr. Pistols were pushed down more into the "secondary" hole due to multiplayer FPS games. In almost all games where the player has a super powerful gun, they also get a secondary weapon (in most cases, a pistol) to switch to mid-fight. There are several situations where a player may use a secondary weapon (a pistol to be exact).

The primary weapon may run out of ammo, forcing the player to switch.

The primary weapon may be under the reload state (empty magazine).

The primary weapon they hold may be more suited for long-ranged fights rather than short-ranged ones, meaning the pistol may be a better option in a close-range encounter.

These are only some of the situations I can imagine where the player will switch to their secondary weapon with or without being forced to do so.

How should secondaries be used in MY GAME?

In the case of a game like Survivesmith, an auto-shooter/bullet-heaven game, the laws of an FPS game don't apply. The main reason for this is the "auto-shooter" part. The gun is always firing at whatever it can find in whatever range it is given, and it will do it frantically. In an FPS game, there is more precision and meaning in every bullet fired by a player (unless jumped by an enemy of course!). This makes every bullet count, and the player is more conscious of using their ammo reserves.

I tried adding ammo boxes in the ground which spawn frequently enough, and was planning on adding a system where the player can CRAFT ammo packs by collecting resources. This sounded fine at first since my game was focused on being a rogue-lite bullet-heaven game with crafting mechanics. But as I kept on developing, I realized that running out of ammo and having to switch to a lower DPS weapon mid-game took some of the fun out of this game.

I wanted to player to feel the value of the primary weapon so that it becomes a constant struggle to go around the field, collect resources or ammo boxes, and switch back to their primaries to maw down enemies faster. But I soon realized that even I would give up on caring about the primary weapon altogether and just use the secondary weapon with unlimited ammo, while my other special weapons do the work. I saw the value of the primary weapon drop and the chore of having to collect ammo all the time becoming not-so-fun in the long run.

I could've simply introduced a higher ammo count, more frequent ammo boxes, or any way to make the primary weapon get more ammo quicker. But then again, this defeats the whole purpose of using two weapons. The game is not about managing ammo. It's about having fun without worry. So this is the idea that I came up with next.

How are secondaries used in my game now?

I got rid of the annoying ammo collection chore completely. Both weapons now function without any ammo usage. The player only has to worry about their timing with the reloads.

However, the primary and secondary weapons are now more or less having a similar DPS. The primary weapon (an assault rifle) deals less damage but has a high fire rate and a magazine capacity. The secondary weapon (pistol) deals more damage, has a low fire rate, low magazine capacity but reloads much faster. This works! It totally makes sense. There are now 2 weapons that suit different situations. This will work even better on weapons that deal damage in different ways. For example, a secondary weapon that deals area damage but has a low fire rate would complement well with a primary weapon such as an SMG.

So there you have it! This is my take on the use of secondaries in a bullet-heaven game. This was a long post and I kinda cut short towards the end.

Thanks for reading!

Cheers! MaRK

[dumbfinntales]

After my ARPG addiction, I decided to finally try out a game that has been sitting in my library for over a year now, and a game which development I followed until release. The Sinking City. A very flawed game, but currently the closest one to a lovecraftian themed game that I enjoy. Strange cults, odd happenings, even weirder creatures and madness are a plenty in the sunken city of Oakmont.

I've always wanted a cosmic horror game where you explore a dilapidated town, or a fishing town of some kind with strange creatures and survival horror elements. The Sinking City seems to deliver this on the surface and succeeds somewhat, but also fails in many aspects. This game is a bit of a janky unpolished gem, and you'll either ignore its flaws and enjoy it for what it is, or absolutely hate it. I happened to enjoy myself enough, but I don't see myself playing this again any time soon.

If there's one thing this game gets right it's the right inspiration and atmosphere. The game is comically lovecraftian making it almost stereotypical, but it works. You got a private detective who's plagued by visions who then travels to a strange American town where even stranger things are happening. You got mad cults worshiping maddening horrors and you get to explore ancient temples dedicated to unknown gods, all that good stuff. The city of Oakmont is pretty in the dilapidated, water damaged and monster infested way and is a joy to traverse and explore.

The quests, or cases as they're called in this game are pretty fun and well thought out. You are a private detective after all so you go around looking for clues, finding missing people and solving mysteries. The game doesn't hold your hand at all and you have to figure out your own way. Sometimes I had to look up what to do because there are some confusing and cryptic things in the game. Especially when you have to go research at a library, or the archives of a newspaper.

The combat isn't much to write home about. It's serviceable. You got several different types of guns that you acquire as you go through the main cases and you can thrown grenades and plop down some traps. Monster variety is disappointingly low though, and you'll be fighting the same 5 monsters throughout the entire game. There are a couple rudimentary boss fights there to spice things up, but the questing and mystery solving is obviously the games main draw.

But the game does fail in some departments and has some strange design decisions. For one, at the start of the game they state that normal money has lost its use in Oakmont, so they deal in bullets. You don't actually get to buy anything as there are no merchants in the game. The oddest thing of all, there's a limit to how many bullets you can carry. The game might seem like you have to save your resources, but you'll never run out of bullets because the game showers you with crafting materials. You also get bullets as a reward from cases, but if you're at max capacity you actually get no rewards at all from a case, which is such a weird decision.

The city of Oakmont is very limited. Despite being a city there are only a few points of interest and very few buildings can actually be entered. Most buildings are static and most doors are locked. You usually have to run large distances to get to anything interesting, and chasing after clues in a case can lead to lengthy runs around the town. There are a lot of braindead NPC's around as well, who don't really serve a purpose other than keep repeatedly walking into lamp post or cower on top a trash can.

You'll also notice a lot of repeating assets and layout. Sometimes I'd walk into a random building and I'd wonder to myself if I've been there before. But I feel like this can be forgiven because the studio that made this game is far from a triple A company and it's actually quite amazing what they achieved by themselves. Despite the repeating assets Oakmont is a very pretty city.

I also dislike how the game calls itself "survival horror". I already talked about the bullets, but you really don't even have to worry about resources. Maybe at the start of the game you feel like every bullet counts, but not far into the game you have more than enough. The madness mechanic was really spooky at the start though, and I feel like our poor detective character starts to lose his marbles a little too easily. True to Lovecraft I guess, but this makes the madness mechanic a little tedious at times. There are a couple genuinely good spooks in the game that caught me off guard, so it does somewhat keep the horror elements going.

So, the Sinking City is a bit of a divisive game. It succeeds in ways that I enjoy, but also fails in some annoying ways. It is obvious though that the developers seemed to care about this game and tried their hardest to make a game true to cosmic horror to the best of their abilities. If you're a lovecraft nut, I do recommend the game. Maybe get it on a sale and remember to play on a gray rainy autumn evening.

[cosmicgardencreative]

Vindictus - F2P Action MMORPG & Why We Love It

Hi all, it's been a minute since Ismaire and I got to let our hair down, so I'm just gonna take a sec to share my love of Vindictus. 

I don't always talk about how a game is underrated, but man, I will stand by Nexon/DevCat's first free-to-play action MMORPG. I've heard many people put it down for how "unoptimized" this game is. I'm not a PC gamer, but I feel that with today's technology, you can definitely play this game on today's graphics standards. 

Obviously this isn't a comparison to the new Vindi in development, but I'm just impressed to see how far this MMO has come.

PaikMyungJin (left, Evie/Choi) and Ismer (right, Lann/Ismaire) make a comeback to Vindictus in 2024.

The game can overall feel pretty simple and low-graphics to some, but frankly, I just see that as the dev team being smart with their resources. The only hang-up I can think is if you have a slow internet connection, it might be a difficult game to play with others, but it's pretty solo-friendly for the first 2-3 seasons. 

Kinkoku (left, Sou/Ismaire) wondering what Biseuri (Sylas/Haegi/Choi) is thinking about.

I'll have to do a separate post that goes into the game's history. There's so much that could be said when the game first rolled out on October 13, 2010 for the US release. Izzy and I dating coincided with us finally having a game we could play together, since a lot of console games weren't prioritizing couch co-op as much (except for Resident Evil 5-6). [[On a separate side note, I just realized where our points of influences could be traced back to about here. All the more reason why we just love some of our old fandoms...]]

The nice thing about Vindictus is that you can play it solely with a keyboard (our preferred controls), a mouse + keyboard, or a gamepad. The game is pretty versatile for people with preferences. Most of the characters respond pretty well to the keyboard controls. The few that I noticed were difficult to maneuver in combat was Kai with his bow and crossgun, and Hurk with his teide (sword + shotgun combo), more for precision reasons than anything. Ultimately, do what's comfortable for you!

Alts, alts, and more alts!

Yes, this game will make you play so many alts. And it's worth it. I find this comparable to FFXIV's multi-job branches that your WoL can unlock, but instead of it all stockpiled to one character, you have multiple MCs with various backstories and even special connections to one another! This game being so lore-heavy actually deserves to have multiple characters for the player to explore with. You'll find over time that you'll catch some things you didn't think about from your first playthrough, and it'll just hit you differently... 😭 

Kiena (Fiona/Choi) slicing through enemies.

BradieHU (bg left, Charon/Izzy) and Lycapollos (fg right, Achel/Choi), hecking over a Kobold commander.

PaikMyungJin firing her lasers at a laser cannon/golem.

Ismer slipdashing past the lasers for the finishing kill.

Can't guarantee great screenshots 100% of the time, but the more you play, the better the chances :) 

______________________________________________________________

Final thoughts:

Being a casual player, I personally can't give a testimony on how the overall MMO culture is like in Vindictus nowadays. We did have a generally good experience since we weren't the types to go ham about stat comparisons and just genuinely want to have fun. You'll likely run into cool people as long as you're a nice and polite gamer. But of course, we weren't exempt from being driven away by guild dramas, which then later caused us to have an on-and-off hiatus from the game since 2014...  (wow it's a decade already...) Just be prepared that you may get inundated with a lot of female characters in very... curvy skins. Some of the costume/outfitters come with special enhancements, and Vindictus really doesn't hide the fact that it's a rated-M game 😳🪭 Personally it does shock me, but at the same time, props to people who aren't afraid to flaunt it 😂

Moonglitter (Eira/Izzy) not afraid to flaunt her "All Curves Revealing Off Shoulder Set". 

Because there's so much content to push through, DevCat did their due diligence in balancing the first 3 seasons of content with gear that rewarded for progressing. If you do appreciate a little bit of a challenge, though, I recommend keeping on the lowbie gear till you know you need the damage boost. And if you ever find yourself not liking the aesthetics, the game is usually good about giving you aesthetic coupons for you to "rent" through events and the AP shop. 

As far as solo/duo-ing experiences go, Izzy and I were able to catch up to Season 3 on our own. We found that we're not able to go through Redeemers currently, but I'm curious to see how well we might be able to duo the battles soon as we're properly geared from endgame :) I'm only hesitant to pug with others because we're not sure if our internet connection could handle a crowd of 2+ external connections. But then again we're working adults who pay for good speed so maybe? lol 

By the way, you get to choose two paths of either a Dark Knight or a Paladin:

Scaley Edgelord

Shiny Sparkle Knight

Thanks for taking the time to read my little appreciation post for Vindictus. If you're another Vindi-fan, feel free to comment on your experience here! Vindictus/Mabinogi Heroes is such a niche fandom, so I'd be happy to chat with others who love the gameplay and lore ^_^ I'm very inclined to share some Vindictus fanart in the near future, so let's have fun!

[mbat]

i watched a video a few weeks back about cozy games and how they have kind of an illusion of escapism and peace but they often take form of being a sort of capitalist grind where youre just gathering resources to sell and buy stuff over and over right. they didnt mean it as like a bad thing btw it was just like a 'hey isnt it interesting how this is like this' kind of thing

and yeah i can see that applying to most games they were talking about. but then they brought minecraft into it and they were like 'for example, in minecraft, everything is a possible resource!' and idk it felt wrong to me

because like, yeah sure, everything in minecraft is a possible resource, but... not in a capitalist way? the closest thing to a money system in minecraft (and im talking singleplayer/small multiplayer. this does not include big servers) is the villagers, but you can go your entire playthrough without trading a single thing with them, and i often do.

aside from them, the uses of your resources isnt any amount of riches. if you get the valuable items in the game, you dont keep them around as currency, you use them for tools or armor or whatever else theyre used for. there isnt really a care for money in minecraft

instead what resources are used for is building, making art, exploring, having fun, surviving.

thats not capitalist, thats just... how humans live outside of money (i cant think of a better way to phrase it)

you can argue that its still capitalist that the resources still 'need uses' but then thats just saying that existence is capitalist

also literally not everything in minecraft has a 'use' unless you count ambiance or whatever as a use. bats in minecraft do nothing. you cant tame them, they dont breed, they dont drop anything, i dont even know if you can use a lead on them!

i know its not the same because theyre not blocks, but pretty much every other creature in the game has a 'use', and yet here we are. i wouldnt even want it any other way! obviously im the bat guy so i love them lol

idk how to phrase my point but it just rubbed me the wrong way. in minecraft, you dont do what you do for the hope of getting money, you do it because you can. you can gather everything yourself, you can build a pretty base because you can, you survive because you can. youre free. you dont worry about running low on things because someone else holds them from you for a price, you worry about them running low simply because theyre running low. the only thing getting in your way is yourself and the area around you.

[hmshermitcraft]

(Part 2 of this)

Gem noticed the way that Katherine and Shelby were getting along again. She noticed the way that False was slowly recovering and she noticed the way that Sausage was involved in all of it.

Sausage knew he had to confront Gem. He had to make sure everyone remained at peace with each other and Gem was just hurting people for no reason.

Gem went to Sausage first. She wanted to get closer to him. She wanted to learn all about what gets under his skin. She wanted to break him down and make him a servant to her.

He acted like he didn't know that she had ulterior motives but he knew. He acted like he trusted her completely and that he really, truly did love her.

Gem assumed he wouldn't go down that easily. She was confused and didn't trust him and let him know that. She started being more forceful and more aggressive with him. She started telling him that he was untrustworthy and a horrible partner anytime he hung out with anyone else.

He didn't know how to feel. Sure, he knew that she was bad but he wasn't prepared for dealing with it himself. He tried to keep talking to his friends behind her back but she seemed to always know what he was doing.

Pearl watched Sausage fall into hopelessness. It was funny to her. She knew that Gem was wrong about a lot but she didn't care about anyone in empires. She loved watching them suffer. Especially at the hands of her beloved Gem.

Gem strung Sausage along, making him do everything for her. Until he disappeared. Gem tried to find him everywhere but gave up eventually. She returned to Pearl and forgot all about him.

Sausage had gone to False. False was angry. Gem was going too far with her games. She was hurting people who had done nothing to her and False was going to stop her. She was the only emperor with even footing to Gem so she had to be the one to fight back.

Sausage has been nothing but good to her, despite how Gem and Pearl have messed around with them all. It's not right. She's always known the hermits have seen things as inconsequential to them. It's fun to play war against each other, to fall out and make up over decades when you have eternity. But most of them keep to themselves, they don't mess humans around like this.

False won't be manipulated again.

So she decides to strike as low as Gem does. She banishes Pearl from the Empires world. She knows it'll hurt some of the people there, but Pearl has never cared about them, and she never will as long as Gem doesn't. It's not taking Gem on directly, but it doesn't take long to notice how she's around less often.

And then False plans.

Sausage helps, bless him. He may be human, but the magic that runs through him is strong. And he's tired of Gem ruining his friends' lives too. They gather resources, study books, and set a trap. With Gem around less, it makes it easy to sneak around under her nose.

Just as False predicted, Gem comes to confront her about Pearl - finding False through a few 'accidental' hints. Gem may be powerful, but False is still better than her in a fight. With her sword to Gem's neck, she seals Gem's godhood away, leaving Gem indistinguishable from a mortal.

If Gem manages to earn godhood back, False will give it happily. But until then, she has to live as a normal human. And she can't see her Pearl, either.

False knows it's cruel, but she doesn't think Gem will learn otherwise. And maybe, this way, everybody can heal.

[dynalope]

Palia: First Impressions

Been playing a few hours of Palia this morning, an MMO that let me into their beta and, I must confess, I'm not quite sure what its going for.

I think its trying to be an MMO Harvest Moon/Stardew Valley but, so far, its been characterised by a great deal of waiting.

Everything is done in real time. If you want to make a plank out of a log, you have to wait 30 seconds to do that. If you want to sell some stuff from your dropbox, you have to wait for that to happen every hour or so.

But the real blow has come just now. I had finally finished making the bricks I need to build a house which took a long, long time because I needed 35 and they took 2 minutes each to make, not counting the time needed to go get the resources.

Regardless, I finally have all the bricks and planks I need, I put them into my house and I'm greeted with:

EIGHT FUCKING HOURS.

This game made me wait over an hour just to make 35 bricks and now it wants me to wait EIGHT HOURS for the house to build???

Nothing productive is even being done. It not like I can make use of the resources already created like I can with the plank or brick making process. Its just a really long timer they've added for, as far as I can tell, no fucking reason.

Not only that but the storage space you get in this game is WOEFUL.

Only a few hours in and I've found myself having to sell most of the resources I'm collecting and thats even after a backpack upgrade.

For some reason this game does not want you to be able to keep ahold of your resources.

Its so bad that characters will send you furniture (for the house I'll have in EIGHT REALTIME HOURS) saying things like "Hey, good job growing an onion! I've sent you a box to hold all your veg!" and the fucking box will be NON-FUNCTIONAL.

Every time you find a chest in the wild, you also take the chest with you to use at your house. A pretty cool feature, right?

WRONG. THE CHESTS ARE ALSO NON-FUNCTIONAL. THEY JUST SIT THERE AND LOOK "NICE".

So I have eleven chests sitting at my base, empty chests as far as I know, and I can't do ANYTHING with them even though I'm running out of storeage constantly.

Its a joke. Its a game thats trying to draw itself out (I assume because they aren't confident in the amount of content they have yet) and also starve you of resources.

I can only assume its a ploy for some later microtransactions because the ones already in this BETA (ITS A BETA WITH MICROTRANSACTIONS) are a JOKE.

At this time they only seem to sell outfits but, as far as I can tell, microtransations are the only current way to get new outfits. The cheapest outfit at this time requires you to buy £17 ($22) worth of their premium currency and obviously the outfits are priced to just be slightly too low to reach with a cheaper pack so you have to buy a more expensive pack and have some left over, as is standard with this predatory garbage.

So yeah, not impressed so far. I hope the game improves because it has a lot of charm and a chance to be a good bit of fun but right now the charm is just a front for a shallow game that has little content but timers worthy of a mobile game and microtransations.

Hope they improve.

[icemagicsynthetic]

Why Artificial Ice Skating Rinks Are a Game-Changer for Events

In recent years, artificial ice skating rinks have emerged as an exciting feature for events, transforming the way people experience skating. Whether you’re organizing a corporate function, a holiday event, or a birthday party, synthetic ice rinks bring the magic of ice skating to any location, regardless of weather or season. Here’s a closer look at why artificial ice rinks, like those available from Synthetic Ice Rinks, are changing the game for event planners everywhere.

1. Versatility for Any Event Location

Artificial ice skating rinks are incredibly versatile, allowing for installation in a range of locations that traditional ice rinks simply couldn’t accommodate. Whether it’s an indoor space like a convention center or an outdoor area with mild temperatures, synthetic ice rinks work just as well. These rinks provide a reliable and enjoyable skating experience without the need for freezing temperatures, making them a popular choice for events in London and beyond.

2. Low Maintenance and Cost-Effective

Unlike traditional ice rinks, which require refrigeration systems and costly upkeep, artificial ice rinks require minimal maintenance. They don’t need water or power, which helps save on both cost and environmental impact. Synthetic rinks are durable and only need occasional cleaning to stay smooth, making them a practical investment for those looking for a long-term solution. Synthetic Ice Rink Hire also offers an affordable option for those wanting to host an event without the commitment of a permanent installation.

3. Eco-Friendly Option

Today’s synthetic ice rinks are designed to reduce environmental impact, offering a more sustainable alternative to traditional ice rinks. Since they don’t require energy-intensive refrigeration or constant water use, synthetic ice rinks contribute to conserving resources and minimizing carbon emissions. Event planners and hosts concerned with sustainability can enjoy an environmentally friendly choice that doesn’t sacrifice the fun of skating.

4. Realistic Skating Experience

Modern synthetic ice technology has come a long way. Today’s artificial ice rinks provide a remarkably realistic skating experience that closely mimics natural ice. Skaters can glide, spin, and even perform tricks, making synthetic ice ideal for both casual skaters and enthusiasts alike. Brands like Ice Magic offer high-quality synthetic surfaces that feel smooth underfoot, giving participants a seamless experience.

5. Available for Purchase or Hire

For those who host multiple events or run an entertainment venue, purchasing a synthetic ice rink can be a great investment. However, for one-time events or special occasions, renting a synthetic ice rink is also an option. Companies like Synthetic Ice Rinks provide both purchase and hire options, making it easy to find a solution that fits your budget and needs. For example, synthetic ice rink hire in London offers flexible arrangements for everything from holiday events to pop-up skating experiences.

6. Accessible Anytime, Anywhere

One of the best features of synthetic ice rinks is their accessibility. They can be set up anywhere and at any time of the year, opening up opportunities for skating in the most unexpected places. Imagine hosting a summer ice skating event or bringing winter fun to a warm climate! With synthetic ice skating near me options, communities everywhere can enjoy skating without the seasonal limitations.

7. Easy Setup and Customization

Setting up an artificial ice rink is straightforward and quick, allowing for last-minute or spontaneous events. Synthetic ice panels are modular, meaning they can be customized to fit any space, from small private gatherings to larger corporate events. The flexibility in size and shape means you can create a unique skating experience tailored to your event, be it a backyard setup or a large-scale rink in a city square.

Conclusion:

Artificial ice rinks have truly revolutionized how we incorporate skating into events. By offering a practical, eco-friendly, and versatile solution, synthetic ice rinks open up new possibilities for event planners and hosts looking to bring a memorable and engaging experience to their guests. Whether you’re interested in a synthetic ice rink purchase or just want to hire one for a special event, the options are nearly limitless.

To explore more about synthetic ice rinks and the options available, visit Synthetic Ice Rinks and discover how you can elevate your next event.

[nickhembery]

Rolling dice at the end of the sandbox

I'm sometimes asked why I play the different games I play. I say that it's fun. Then I'm asked what I even do in them. Because in the sandbox games there's not actually one, singular goal. Mario doesn't run to the end of the level and rescue the princess. Instead the nameless character runs around doing whatever they want. So what do I want to do in these game worlds? Step one is setting your own goals.

There are lots of things to do in these games, from collecting, to increasing skills, to making your character look cool, to beating hard challenges. You decide want you want to do, and make a plan, or just a general notion, of how to accomplish them.

And that's what I did, and it was fun, and then I beat most of my goals in a game. In Destiny, I had collected all the guns I could, maxed out all my craftables, beaten all the story missions I had access to. So, what next?

My options were limited. I could try joining a clan and getting into raiding. But those were multi-hour sessions that were very hard. It would mean re-learning the game pretty much.

I could masterwork all the guns in my vault. That was possible, but would take an incredibly long time and wouldn't do anything for me. Most of the guns are left unused. I only keep one copy of each so that I can tell if a pick-up is new or not.

Or I could try and get armour with really good stats. This is again possible, but also hard. But for a different reason. It wouldn't mean a long time collecting resources, it would mean rolling dice over and over again.

Whenever you get a bit of loot in Destiny it could be a gun or it could be a bit of armour. No idea what the odds are on which. Let's say it does roll armour. There are five different armour types, head, arms, legs, body, and extra. The extra thing changes depending on class, and doesn't have stats. So after rolling and getting a bit of armour, there's a 1/5 chance it's a bit of stat-less gear. Then there's the stats themselves. The four armour types have six stats, and a pool of 45-70 points can be allocated randomly between them. It could be a low-stat piece, that gets junked immediately. If it's reasonably high, 55-70, I take a look at where there points are allocated. I'm trying to get armour sets where each piece is max in one stat, so I can mix and match between them. But there's no guarantee that the points are heavy in one stat, let alone the stat I'm looking for. And as I collect pieces there's diminishing returns. Once I get a Strength 27 helmet, any other helmet with good Strength needs to beat that. So if I then get a Strength 25 helmet, that's not good enough, and gets junked.

Bad odds after bad odds, compounding on each other. Is it armour? Is it high stat? Is heavy in one stat? Does it beat my current best? All the potential points of failure mean that getting a new bit of gear I want to keep becomes increasingly impossible. And rolling those dice to be disappointed so often isn't fun.

What this is teaching me is that I do not like gambling. I don't want high odds, high return. I want a steady grind, goal, progress. It might take days of play, but I can get there. So I'll sit and build funny little things in my game worlds, having fun, and occassionally wondering why people bother with casinos.

[zydrateacademy]

ESO Characters Gear check-in

For my own notetaking more than anything.

Dibbe: Pure DPS.  Stormfist/Order’s Wrath/Unfathomable Darkness. Mostly gold gear. 62% crit. Consider: Heal kit.

Honors-Silent-Step Specialized DPS / Tank Setup.  Slimecraw/Order’s Wrath/Deadly/Velothi Ur-Mage Amulet. 54% crit. Engine Guardian/Radiant Bastion/Torug’s Pact. Some golden.

Honors-Silent-Steps Experimental DPS, Bleed build. Stormfist/Blooddrinker/Pillar of Nirn. Non-optimized. Still has Briarheart 2h on main bar for some fucking reason. 49% crit. Has a Bow/Bow offset with hundings/Tzog. Consider: Burning that offset (maybe bank the tzog) and get her a 2hander Pillar of Nirn.

Fury-And-Peace DPS.  Stormfist/Order’s Wrath/Hunding. 56% crit. Has the stealth suit offset (Embrace/Terror) Consider: Replacing Hundings with something fun from a dungeon or overland set. Maybe a healing kit.

Seeks-Secret-Dreams DPS / Healer.  Valkyn/Forest Wraith/Mad Trinkerer. 57% crit. Weapons golded.  Seducer/Spell Power Cure. Consider: Research to see if Seducer is worth replacing with the IA set. Extra: Go-To character for healqueues and decent IA runs.

Sleeps-Under-Skies DPS / Healer Order’s Wrath/Briartheart. 67% crit (jesus) Symphony of Blades/Seducer/Spell Power Cure. Heal weapons golded.

Alyrosa Rethan DPS Slimecraw/Hunding/Tzog. Bows golden. 65% crit. Consider: Heal set. And she’s fun in BG’s.

Leta Aurelius DPS / Tank Slimecraw/Aegis Caller/Briarheart. 55% crit. Rkugamz/Fortified Brass/Orgnum’s Scales. Consider: Aegis caller is a cool set but kind of wasted on a lesser-played Alt. Bank the Aegis for a different character some day, replace with Order’s Wrath or something.

Cold-Dune-of-Grim-Expanse Experimental DPS / Tank Iceheart/Order’s Wrath/Frostbite. 41% crit. Malubeth/Fortified Brass/Torug’s. Consider: Don’t DPS dungeons with her. Her fun-build is fine for overland/zone story but her DPS is lacking. I noticed this problem when running IA, takes her three times as long to kill anything compared to other characters. Tank set is functional, though.

Daariel DPS Stormfist/Mad Tinkerer/Mother’s Sorrow. Main weapon gold. 54% crit. Consider: She’s fun in BG’s. Maybe replace Mother’s Sorrow with something more interesting.

Daari-el DPS Order’s Wrath/Mother’s Sorrow. 60% crit. Consider: Having a heal set just to add another to the queue pile. Decent DPS but Honors-Silent-Step is better.

Strings-of-Sunlight and Yu-Yashta Both are still leveling. Strings has a healing backbar, and could be geared to be a pure healer some day. Consider: Leveling them you lazy fuck.

Yatul gra-Narzulbur AKA: The most originally named orc ever. Werewolf DPS Oakensoul/Tzogvin/Pillar of Nirn. 49% crit. Needs optimized monster shoulder set. Consider: She can do IA pretty well but had a couple of close calls. Performs better than I thought in dungeons.

We start to get into my few less-played alts and it shows.

Built-With-Love Pure Tank Malubeth/Fortified Brass/Torug’s Consider: Setting up a DPS offset so you can actually play the game with her. Was one of my OG, Original tanks. Designed to be queues for transmutes and not much else. She tanks fine but if I want to actually play her, she lacks a DPS set. Don’t delete. She has a second outfit slot for some fucking reason. Probably doesn’t have any companions.

Sajadar Unoptimized DPS Stormfist/hunding/Briarheart. 50% crit. Has the (low-leveled) Embrace/Terror stealth suit. Consider: Simply updating her kit. Replace Briar with OrdersWrath. Her backbar is a level 42 Hunding bow. So… fix that. Generally needs a full blown rework. Very old alt, mostly exists for RP and just haven’t bothered RPing on her. But old on the account, even has a second outfit slot. Probably doesn’t have any companions.

Nassidar DPS Stormfist/Hunding/Briarheart. Some golden. 50% crit. Consider: Perhaps a tanking set. Have yet to experience Templar Tanking or Healing yet.  She was as optimized as she could have been for my resources at the time, but her build and skills could use some attention (Her blade cloak or spirit shards aren’t even IV yet). Went hard on Dragonhold content with her and just kind of stopped. Probably doesn’t have any companions.

Kyna Shadowcrest Unoptimized Tank Malubeth/Fortified Brass/torug’s pact Consider: Most of her tank gear isn’t even enchanted. Jewelry still green. I remember gutting her DPS set and sending it off to other alts (I think she was the original owner of my Aegis Caller stuff). So she’ll need a DPS set more than anything, and perhaps bank her whole tank set for a different alt to make use of. As it stands she can barely be played at all. For now she’s little more than a PvE mule and pure DM-NPC type character for RP purposes. Probably doesn’t have any companions.

Aya al-Hareem Semi-optimized Healer Rkugamz/Spell Power Cure/Hollowfang Consider: Her belt and chest have crit resistance, implying they were on-dungeon drops instead of reforged. Necklace is health/recovery that needs to be reforged and fixed. Aya was one of my original healers. She CAN heal normals and some vets just fine, just not as optimized as she could be. And maybe set her up with Mag-DPS stuff in the future. Probably doesn’t have any companions.

La Matriarch Unoptimized DPS (She was one of my first characters ever. Probably among my first four alongside Dibbe). Mother’s Sorrow/New Moon Acolyte. 55% crit. Consider: A full gear rework. A lot of her stuff has divines on it, there’s some memory that I had a crafter set her up to some degree. Her jewelry is blue but raw with just recovery on them instead of spell damage, helmet isn’t divine. Gearwise she’s in a bad way but can still probably do decent in overland or normal dungeons. Probably doesn’t have any companions. I want to race/name change her some day. As one of my oldest characters I remember actually spending money on riding tomes to boost her speed and inventory. A mistake I regret but here we are.

[footballfan38]

Tips for winning at 토큰하이로우사이트 online sports betting

Every year, billions of dollars are 토큰하이로우사이트 추천 wagered on the results of popular athletic events. While sports betting can be a lucrative career for some, many avid bettors do it purely for the thrill of the game. Both of these types of gamblers are solely concerned with the outcome of their bet. As a result, many people who indulge in online sports betting are curious about ways to improve the odds of winning their stakes sports bogi.

The outcomes of sports betting placed online are 최신 토큰하이로우사이트 subject to a wide range of factors.

A gambler should give careful consideration to these factors if they want a fair shot at winning. To help you become a proficient online sports bettor, there is a wealth of expert advice 토큰하이로우패턴 available on the web. Some of these expert comments come at a low price, while others are offered for free. So, if you want to win and have fun with your online sports betting, consider the following advice.

One of the most important considerations when making an online sports wager is a thorough familiarity with the game. One must understand the various odds that should be employed and how the betting process works. Some online sports betting equip 오래된 토큰하이로우사이트 their customers with a suite of resources to help them analyze the action and make educated wagers.

Remembering to wager responsibly is just as important as knowing the system and the full sport you’re betting on. To help consumers avoid betting more than they can afford to lose, several online sports betting include a money management system.

Bettors benefit from having the capacity to control their feelings and emotions. Don’t let your feelings get the best of you. Betting on sports is a high-risk venture, and nobody has ever avoided losing money. It’s important to keep your cool even when 하이로우분석 you lose, as the point of the game is to win more than you lose. When you’re on a winning run, you’re more likely to act rashly and aggressively, which might backfire. Don’t throw away what may be your lucky day by betting irresponsibly.

You should never put a bet on the strength of your confidence alone. Make sure it’s a safe bet before you commit any time or money. If not, your investment will be wasted. The key to winning money when betting on sports online is to have a reliable betting plan and method for judging each game.

Find out how to make money while enjoying your favorite games by learning how to bet on them.

Bets are placed on sporting events by a growing number of spectators. The internet has made it possible to place bets on sporting events from anywhere in the world, but it’s crucial to note that doing so may be illegal in your area. Consequently, you should investigate the legality of sports betting in your area.

If you want to learn about sports betting, you have to get in headfirst. You need not have an in-depth knowledge of how each sport works. Even more importantly, knowing the 실시간 토큰하이로우사이트 strengths and weaknesses of the teams and individuals can help you determine where to put your money.

It is also important to learn the basic lingo and terms used while wagering on sports. Although the rules for betting on sports are typically consistent across different sports, there may be some subtle differences. You may place bets on the outcomes of many other sports, including football, wrestling, racehorses, baseball, soccer, and hockey.

If you want to add some excitement to your sports viewing, you may learn about sports betting and make money doing it. You should know that there is more to sports betting than simply choosing the side you think will win the contest. Wagers can be placed on the ultimate score, individual teams, or a mix of both, with the latter requiring the teams to win in a certain sequence.

The popular pick may not always be the best option when placing a wager on a sporting event. When gambling, it’s not always best to bet on the crowd’s favorite. Here are a few examples of 해외 토큰하이로우사이트 bets you might wish to research more and some terms you might want to familiarize yourself with if you want to grasp the basics of betting.

In sports betting, the “spread” is a point differential between two possible outcomes. Bets on favorites often come with additional conditions, such as covering a spread or meeting a certain point total. For instance, say you’re betting on a game where the underdog is getting 13 points of advantage. If the favored team wants to win, they’ll need to put up more than 13 points here. If they win by 13 points, it’s a push and you don’t get paid out either way.

You may gamble on the total score of a game, as well as the spread, total points scored, and the total number of points scored in two or more games. Keep in mind that the quantity of the jackpot grows in proportion to the difficulty of the bets, but that the latter may also pose more risks.

[metalempire]

yeah discussion around efficient play has become incredible entangled in the LTC style of play, and so when people want to form a metric by which to play the game in a way that has "good" skill expression, they tend to latch onto LTCs. this style is basically an alternate form of speedrunning, since you dont actually have to play "fast" in terms of real life time, you can spend at many hours in menus and agonising over decisions, RNG rigging, etc, as you want, so long as the turn count is low. this largely got it its start from how FE7 ranks your speed at the end of a run, with the turn counter being used to help measure it. as that was the most accessible game to international players at the time, and the easiest to measure with (tho FE4 also has a ranking system iirc) and so it eventually caught on as a way for FE players to challenge themselves. the problem is a twofold conflation issue. speedruns, which it gets compared to, are an expression of high skill and dedication, but they are not the only expression of high skill and dedication. in fact, many speedrunners are often only good at specific ways to play, particular exploits, techniques that go outside of expected or crafted play, and even skip large chunks of content altogether, having little to experience with certain segments of the game due to skipping it all outright. there are glitchless 100% runs that come closer to this, but even then, speed is their only metric. there are many more ways to play a game skilfully, such as hitless, deathless, low level, using certain weapons or characters, etc, etc. that's the fun of video games! but with LTC, because it's such an easy to apply, compare, and measure metric, it's become warped into the be all and end all of fire emblem's gameplay discussion.

now there are two rivals to the LTC that thankfully prevent a discussion monopoly. ironman (classic mode, no resets on death, run ends when get game over'd) and 0% growths (self explanatory) which offer well-liked challenges that also recontexualise the game and its discussions. however they can fall into the trap of being seen as more skilful than another method of play, but less so than LTC, as efficiency tends to discuss them less.

the problem definitely seems to have arisen due to the growth in the FE fanbase, the rise of speedrunning cultural popularity, youtubers actually getting views for playing fire emblem, and discussion needing something to latch onto to distinguish between "casual" fire emblem and more "hardcore" fire emblem. challenge runs, and additional methods to play make for good youtube content, and by proxy, they provide a more stressed context where the value of units, playstyles, weapons, items, stats, and even maps themselves can be assessed (usually for tier lists) since people do love to categorise everything. this competitiveness gives an otherwise strictly PvE experience (we don't talk about FEH) a way to feel competitive, both with other players, and other games themselves. the downsides though, is that it is still inherently restrictive, as people hyper-focus on this one way to play, and becoming fairly elitist about it, rather than opening up to other playstyles, or really explaining to others what makes this style work, and find helpful ways to get people to play differently. though this gap is slowly being bridged by the youtubers, it's taking time to spread and isn't really sticking where it should for many.

there are definitely benefits to adjusting your playstyle, trying to play a bit faster, looking at how you use your resources, what you get out of certain stats, units, weapons, classes, and so forth, and seeing what adjustments can make your life easier, or let you have more fun, or challenge you in creative ways. i would definitely recommend trying to be a little bit more efficient with your time, resources, and class choices if you enjoy replaying certain entries alot. but at the same time, i also recommend doing some truly out-there stuff and just rolling with it. the way you play your singleplayer srpg is up to you, at the end of the day.

we definitely do need some sort of metric to measure gameplay with, this helps us understand the game design of the games we play, and can more accurately judge their strengths and weaknesses, and come to a greater appreciation of what we enjoy. LTC is just one metric, but isn't any more important than the others we have.

also garon did nothing wrong

I don’t understand why low turn counts are so valued as a demonstration of skill or as a goal of play. I’m not sure how prevalent this is elsewhere, but I see it a lot among most of the FE YouTubers I watch. Like, I don’t care how many turns it takes me to clear a map, I care if my plans can get me closer to the win condition while keeping my army alive. Sometimes that means sprinting towards the seize point, sometimes that means carefully baiting out dangerous enemies, and sometimes that means doing an obscene amount of rescue-drops to get Ross out of his trainee class at the earliest opportunity. What I’m saying is that I don’t think your overall turn count is a clear indication of your skill and game knowledge, and I get put off when YouTubers talk like it’s the most fun and skillful way to approach every game, when to me it mostly sounds stressful.

.

[tommeraas-cc]

A warning about high polycount custom content - for downloaders and creators

I don't claim to be an expert on custom content, but I've been making CC for nearly 4 years now and I think I've learned a thing or two about how to spot custom content that might not be best for your computer/game. I only recently got a computer that can handle some of the CC out there, so I wanted to make a guide on how to spot CC that might not be right for you if you want fast loading times, minimal overheating, or your computer isn't as powerful. This guide will mostly be about clothing, but I'm sure most of these things can be applied to other types of CC.

Disclaimer: Absolutely no hate to anyone who makes CC that is high polycount -- I am guilty of doing this without disclosing it earlier in my CC making journey. We are all learning and improving every day and we all have different preferences for our own CC making which is the fun part of this community :) If you are a CC creator who needs help avoiding high polycount please message me and I would 100% be willing to you help you 

High polycounts 

3D content is made up of vertices that connect to each other to create a 3D model that can be molded into different shapes (the small segments that make up these larger shapes are called polygons). The more little dots you have, the more detailed the item can be. However, there are ways to include detail without using a high number of these vertices and polygons, it just takes time and practice.

Why should I be wary of downloading CC with a high polycount? 

There is a reason that clothing made by EA/Maxis has a limit to the number of polygons they can use in their meshes. If an item of CC has too high of a polycount, it could drastically slow down your game, overheat your computer, cause your game to crash, or even permanently damage the hardware of your computer. Of course, there are different tolerances for high polycounts based on the specs of your computer, so be aware of this before downloading. If your computer cannot run smoothly on the ultra graphics setting without CC installed, you should probably be proactive about the kind of CC you download to avoid these issues. 

However, even those with high end computers can run into issues when trying to play with a lot of this kind of CC, so it is up to the individual player to decide what they want for their game. I permanently damaged my last computer by busting a fan due to graphics rendering in the Sims 4. Please do not make the same (very expensive) mistakes I have.

The case for high polycounts:

There are certain clothing items that would not be possible to model in the sims without a high polycount. The creators who make these very detailed meshes are super talented and have my utmost respect, but my old computer just couldn’t handle them! My rule of thumb for my own personal game is that if I’m going to download something with a crazy high poly count, it better be something special. In my opinion, there’s no reason a simple tank top should be 3x the polycount of an average EA mesh. A handful of high polycount items aren’t going to crash your game (probably-- know your own computer’s limits), but considering most people will download many items from the same creator, the collection of all of those items may cause issues.

CC creators make their meshes for fun and creativity, and many don’t create for the express purpose of having many people use a bunch of their meshes in their games at once. It’s totally fine to make high polycount custom content, but if you’re a CC creator it would be respectful to people who download your items and support you to be warned of these possible issues (especially if they are paying for them!!!). Most CC creators have high-end computers, but downloaders might not, which is something to keep in mind :)

How high is too high?

This is honestly a personal preference. For me, anything with more than double the average polycount is “unacceptable without disclosing” and must include a disclaimer when I post it. For toddler full body outfits, which is what I normally make, I would consider this to be around 10-12K as the max acceptable polycount to post without a disclaimer. This number varies based on the type of CC, with adult polycounts being higher usually (given that items are quite literally larger than toddler items). For adult full-body outfits, I try to stay under 15K, and anything over 20k I would consider needing a disclaimer. But, again, this is up for personal debate, and there are a lot of factors that go into this. I am just basing this information on EA’s limits and my personal experience from playing this game on lower end computers.

How to spot high poly-count CC 

So, you’ve decided that for your personal game, you want to avoid high polycount CC. Unfortunately, many creators do not disclose when their CC has an high polycount, so it’s up to you to figure out which is which.

Before you download the item: for clothing, the easiest way to spot high polycount CC from preview photos is to look for folding in the fabrics. I don't have a high polycount CC of my own that is completed to show you, and I don’t want to put another creators CC here out of respect, so here is an example of an unfinished mesh that can get the point across. 

As you can see, the folds in the sleeves look like they are mostly physically present, and that the folds aren't a result of the texture. This often results in sort of a "bumpy" look to the CC. If you're seeing clothing that has this tell-tale bumpy look with many folds that you can tell are 3-dimensional, you should probably avoid this CC (if you have decided to avoid high polycount CC). A small amount of bumps is normal but as you can tell by this skirt it's a little more extreme. 

Below you can see the low polycount version of this cc item where the folds look much smoother and are not as 3 dimensional. I added details like the folds in the sweater and at the top of the skirt with textures and mapping rather than a high polycounts as you might be able to tell by the fact that there are smooth edges rather than 3D folds. I have a small section of ruffles on the sleeves that have maintained a higher polycount which you can see by the physical ruffles. Details like this are impossible to do with just textures.

There are many CC creators much more talented than I that are very good at using texture images to give off the illusion of detail without high polycounts. Look at the edges of the item where folds appear and if there’s a smooth line there, the creator might be using textures and mapping to give the illusion of folding!

After you download the item: Of course, you can always download Sims4Studio, the program CC creators use to import their meshes into the sims format, to check polycounts. If you open CC in this program and click the meshes tab, the polycount will be displayed here. I only do this for items that I think might be insane polycounts (like 100k+ or something ridiculous for clothing, which is about ten times higher than I would recommend) that might crash my game, otherwise, I usually just go by how the item looks in the previews with the tips I just told you.

There are some CC items that are pretty much guaranteed to have high polycounts. The vast majority of alpha hair will have high polycounts -- this is unavoidable and does not mean the CC is not high quality, it is just a necessity for that kind of CC. Just be aware that having many alpha CC hairs in your game might cause slowdown/overheating. 

I am a CC creator who wants to start making lower polycount stuff that still has detail. How do I get started?

I started figuring out how to do detail via textures and normal mapping about two years ago. The main resource that helped me was this fantastic tutorial by SLYD. The main thing you need for this method is a lowpoly AND highpoly version of your mesh. It takes more time to do this versus making a highpoly mesh but I think the payoff is worth it to make good quality cc that everyone can enjoy :) (Also, another benefit is you won’t have to spend so long waiting for sims4studio to import your mesh) If you would like some tips on how to do this or have questions from that tutorial feel free to message me anytime! I also have a discord server where you can get help with CC making. Again, I am not the best expert around but I might know enough to help you.

Here is another discussion on this topic that I think is a really good read if you are interested :)

TL;DR if you’re a creator who makes high polycount stuff, please put a disclaimer on your downloads. If you’re a downloader, be aware of what your own personal game and computer can handle.