#its just very very very difficult to get your game out there on a platform of nothing

[chongoblog]

Weird question, I know, but do you have any recommendations for getting into roguelikes? Or at least roguelites?

Great question! As far as the genre of roguelike/lite goes, there’s a pretty wide berth. I think it depends on what kind of experience you’re looking for.

I was gonna give a breakdown of lite vs like, but honestly I’m just gonna go down the list

Hades/Hades 2: Very good if you want to experience a story, tight gameplay, and be pretty sure that you’ll make your way to the end eventually without ragequitting. A lot of its charm comes in it being easier and focusing more on progressing story than Just Being A Wall like some of the other games on this list. Probably the best entry point to roguelikes in this whole list.

Spelunky/Spelunky 2: Remember when I mentioned a wall to throw yourself at? I haven’t played nearly as much Spelunky 2, but I can tell you that I have SOOOOO much time in the first Spelunky (hell I had a lot of time in it back when it was freeware. Now THAT was an exciting time). It’s very very difficult and unforgiving. But it’s a blast once you figure out the tricks.

Slay the Spire: THE deckbuilder roguelike. A ton of roguelikes nowadays have deckbuilder elements and I feel like a lot of it comes from this game. Can’t recommend it enough. If you’re looking for other deckbuilder roguelikes, you can try Monster Train or Balatro (warning this one is crack if you like Number Go Up)

FTL Faster Than Light: You know Star Trek? Imagine if you were a ship captain and you were in control of all the ship functions and crew members. And also everything wanted you dead. And uh oh half your crew is dead. Oh god the O2 chamber is on fire. Another one of those “Throw Yourself At A Wall” type games. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever completed a run myself, but it’s a wonderful experience every time I pick it up

Skul: Definitely one of my favorites in recent memory. A fun action platformer where you get to be a lil skeleton dude, what more could you ask for? Very similar to Dead Cells, which I’ve also played, but I think I like Skul a good bit better (DC is very good though!!!)

Dicey Dungeons: Made by the same guy who did VVVVVV, Dicey Dungeons is a very fun take on the genre, basing it around dice, and allowing for a lot of creative playstyles around the mechanic.

Binding of Isaac: I feel like this one needs no introduction, but in case it does, BoI takes most of its inspiration from the original Legend of Zelda. I have a few issues with it myself which is why I don’t play it nearly as much as I used to (mostly due to it having soooooooo much stuff that trying to remember everything is a hassle, kinda like my issue with TF2 unfortunately) but it’s beloved for a reason so it might just end up being up your alley

Other games I know about but haven’t played much of, so I can’t say much are Streets of Rogue, Risk of Rain 2, Rogue Legacy (I did play a lot back in the day but never got far), Noita, Into the Breach, Darkest Dungeon, and Crypt of the Necrodancer

If anyone else has any recommendations or if you second any of these recs, feel free to put em in the replies

[genericpuff]

So Webtoons is getting sued by a bunch of law firms in class action lawsuit. Saw it on reddit. Apparently they lied to shareholders about revenue which is like one of the worst things I could imagine doing to your shareholders. Then their stock dropped again. Wow....wonder how this is gonna effect readers going forward or how they're gonna be more exploitative in the future. Not saying the down of Webtoons has begun but I wonder if it's gonna be the start of it.

Yep, I've been following this since the initial investigations began.

All that said, we likely won't see anything of this for a while, if anything even comes of it. The reality is that Webtoons... really didn't actually lie about being bad at making money. It's literally outlined in their IPO documentation:

So these lawsuits, at least in my opinion (*I AM NOT A LAWYER NOR AM I ANYONE WHO HAS ANY EXPERIENCE PLACING WALL STREET BETS, TAKE WHAT I HAVE TO SAY WITH MOUNTAINS OF SALT) is less about Webtoons 'lying' to shareholders and more so about them kicking the debt down the road which these lawyers want to try and hold them accountable for. It's not uncommon for startups to seek out private and/or public funding to help them stay out of bankruptcy, but such practice is incredibly shitty because if a company was already near the point of bankruptcy to begin with, what exactly is going to change to ensure that they actually make that money back with an additional net gain for those investors?

So in that sense, either something will come of this, or it won't, nothing's really a guarantee as of now. It's just as common for startups seeking public investments to get sued within their first 1-2 years because a company not returning on their initial investments within 3-6 months is a prime cut for lawyers to drool over. Despite their attempts to be honest about their earnings, the vast majority of Wall Street investors are paranoid little fuckers who invest in whatever's new and exciting with the hopes that it'll turn them a profit quickly and without headache. Unfortunately, Webtoons isn't a company that's known for having huge profit margins, which these investors would have realized if they knew anything about this industry or at the very least, bothered to read the fine print that Webtoons was obligated to lay out for them in their documentation. At best the majority of them saw Webtoons' offering that covered buzzwords like "content generation" and "AI" and went "yes please, I love money!" without realizing that webtoons, as a medium, have some of the highest production expenses to lowest-paying demographics out there and therefore companies like Webtoons aren't going to be a short-term gratification. It's more like waiting it out for the "next big thing" that will make that stock valuable again, a massive gamble that isn't guaranteed to payoff. And that's just the game of Wall Street in general.

That said, it's because of how difficult it is to directly monetize digital comics that Webtoons often has to rely on selling merchandise and IP rights in the hopes they'll land a whale - but even their pre-existing whales like Lore Olympus and Let's Play have either nothing to show for themselves, or have left the platform entirely. Of course, they'll vaguely claim that two of Netflix's highest-performing projects came from their platform, but any peek at an aggregated Top 10 list will prove that that is simply not true, and at best, they're referring to True Beauty's live action adaption, which is simply not even close to breaching that list of all-time top-performers (except probably in Korea but this is Goldman Sachs and their American investors they're trying to convince), All of Us are Dead (see above, same situation as True Beauty), and Heartstopper which is... not even an Originals series. Of course, that didn't stop Webtoons and Tapas from boasting about Heartstopper's Netflix adaption and its success on the platform, but literally none of its success is exclusively owed to either of those platforms, Alice Oseman flies solo and if anything, Heartstopper never would have gotten to the point it's at if it were tied down to a Webtoon Originals contract.

So in a sense, until anything comes of these lawsuits, they're more so just lawyers jumping on their own investment opportunity - the opportunity to get settlements from Webtoons for both their clients and themselves by extension. At best what they feasibly have against Webtoons is the company getting way too high on their own supply without anything to feasibly show in terms of profit for their IP's. Considering how many IP's they sold to television and film production studios back in 2019-2022 when they were at their peak over the lockdowns - a peak that is long in the rearview mirror - they are incredibly behind in actually paying off those promises. Even in a recent meeting they held just the other day with Goldman Sachs, they're quoted as saying: "When Rachel Smythe was a graphic designer in New Zealand, 4 or 5 years ago, and she had a story to tell, we enabled her to not just tell it in one part of the world, but globally. She became a NYT Bestselling author, she is rumored to be releasing soon as a major animated release."

When even the company that hosts Lore Olympus as its prize pig can only say that its long-anticipated TV production that both Rachel and Webtoons have been assuring people on repeat that the show is "still happening" and that what they've seen so far "looks amazing" is simply 'rumored to be releasing soon'... I don't even have the words to describe how embarrassing that is for them. Never mind the fact that Lore Olympus has been over for months and both it and its creator, Rachel, have been falling into the pits of irrelevancy. They don't have any other home-runners to bet on, they're just continuing to bank on Rachel as their own example of someone who "got big" even though it was years ago and that fame is now shrinking with the passage of time, you can even see the performance of the series dipping in its own front-end metrics over time. They are trying so hard to convince people that they're worth investing in when the one thing that actually DID have that kind of allure has now come and gone.

Never mind the fact that again, most Wall Street investors probably don't even participate in webtoon culture so the name "Rachel Smythe" isn't some golden ticket to fortune. Lore Olympus might get a bit more of a reaction, but it's going to be a lot more mixed due to how divisive the series became in the end, and general audiences who are new to Webtoons as a public company (and the medium as a whole) are still not so likely to know what the fuck that means or why it's significant. The best time to pull the "we have Rachel Smythe!" card in the public investing pool was, like many other things Webtoons has fallen behind in, years ago. Now it's clear Webtoons thinks that Rachel is their own personal J.K. Rowling, but they forgot the part where Rachel is creating for an incredibly niche and historically unprofitable medium that is nowhere near as big as what Harry Potter was back in its prime, and - personally speaking - that Rowling and Rachel are both, well... terrible at what they do.

Webtoons also has the added burden of not being a startup company. They're not some grassroots Silicon Valley tech startup run by a bunch of friends "with a dream", they're an extension of an industry that thrives overseas but barely has any infrastructure to support it here. They've been bankrolled for years by an overseeing tech company - Naver - but have consistently failed to get out of the red and so of course, now they're turning to public investments to help them out and subsequently, are passing that debt off to the next highest bidder, which is Wall Street. They had nearly a decade to figure their shit out here in the West and while they had their opportunities to thrive, those opportunities have come and gone, a lot of doors have closed and now this all feels like their own attempts to rip those doors back open again.

There is a LOT to insinuate already that Webtoons - a Korean-hosted platform - wasn't ready to enter the Western market and this fumbling of their public stock image is yet another great example of that. Even outside of Webtoons, other Korean-run platforms like Tapas have relied on private investments to keep them afloat (and still do, Tapas is still operating privately) and have routinely struggled to get a real foothold in the greater Western industry despite how much they hyped themselves up as the "next big thing". They're all playing the same game over and over again expecting better scores even though the playing fields are entirely different than what they've come to expect in Korea, where much of the entertainment industry is built around webtoons, much like how our entertainment industry in the West is built around comic giants like Marvel and DC (and even those giants are faltering as we've been seeing over the past several years).

Anyways. I don't know if this lawsuit is gonna go anywhere, there's a lot to the legal process that could lead to a variety of different outcomes, but at the very least, their plummeting stock value and the lawyers circling them from above is yet another notch on their belt of fuck-ups over the past few years. I know it's easy to say this in hindsight and I'm not the kind of guy to say "I told you so", but considering I've been following along with the bullshit of these major platforms for years and knew as soon as Webtoons was rumored to be going forward with an IPO that it would lead to disaster, I'm pretty confident in saying, "No really, I told you so." And I don't entirely blame the investors for that (except for the ones that clearly didn't read the fine print) - I also blame Webtoons for that, because they are a chronically unprofitable company run by a bunch of clowns who manufactured their own demise by getting in WAY over their heads and clearly don't even have a concept of a plan let alone an actionable one.

And that sucks, because the people who stand to get hurt the most are the ones who were made those empty promises years ago, long before the platform entered Wall Street - and that's the creators who were promised that their livelihoods would be secured and their work would be protected.

I will forever bully and make fun of Webtoons for everything they've done in and to this industry. I hope at the very least those investors learned an expensive lesson, and that the damage these lawsuits have already caused to Webtoons' public image - regardless of whether or not these lawsuits win - empowers others who have been screwed over by them to speak up and make their moves. They are not a monolith. They are a brittle business operating from the trunk of a clown car on their way to becoming a penny-stocks sham.

Fuck Webtoons <3

[wisteria-lodge]

can i ask for advice i really want to start writing fics(never done this) but i don't know what to do or how to start it? also in hp universe, how do you bring in the wizarding lore or remember all the the details like the spells what they do, the locations and a bunch of stuff

In terms of the lore, you don't want the fanwiki, you want Reddit. Sorry fanwiki, but you are often wrong, misleading, or difficult to search. Or, bring in info from the video games without making that clear. Keeping all the spells straight is a big one, so he's an alphabetical list of every spell Harry ever casts, and what it does:

And here is a list of every spell Hermione eve casts:

Thank you very much, reddit user HHrPie.

Also, I would be lost with out my trusty master pdf.

Download that. It's searchable, and Control + F (on a PC) and Command + F (on a Mac) is your friend.

I would also go to the Harry Potter Lexicon over the wiki if you want details on specifically things like locations. It's much easier to navigate, although it isn't as complete as it could be in some places, and runs into it's own problems with editorializing (but on the whole, there's not *as much* editorializing as on the wiki.) It also leans a lot harder on the quotes, and makes its sources more obvious.

In terms of what to write... I'd say focus on one or two characters to start. You'll get the most bang for buck by figuring out the different ways they speak, and making sure they speak differently.

Write a missing scene, or a existing scene going a different way. My first HP fanfics were alternate epilogues, and the best one was an outsider perspective on Harry bringing 11 year old Teddy to Platform 9 3/4. You probably have an idea, or scene, or image in your head. Start there.

Also, I have always enjoyed fandom spaces. Lots of people enjoy beta-ing fics, or just generally showing off their lore knowledge (and by people, I do mean myself.) If you have a specific question, just throw it out there as an ask like you're doing, to a blog that tends to write about that sort of stuff.

[archoneddzs15]

Microsoft XBOX - HALO

Title: HALO / ヘイロー

Developer: Bungie

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Release date: 25 April 2002

Catalogue No.: K43-00002

Genre: First Person Shooter

"Combat Evolved" describes things very well. HALO was the killer app that Microsoft needed to sell consumers on the XBOX platform. The combat in HALO is indeed a step up from most FPS' and is challenging and fun. Enemies will duck and dive for cover, engage you in a variety of ways, and generally put up a good fight. What may even be more amazing is that your own team is not entirely useless. It may be one of the ground-breaking features of Halo that your own team actually puts up a good fight and helps you out by making themselves useful. No standing around looking curiously at the primed grenade at their feet or running into your line of fire (well at least not too much). They actually engage and kill the enemy effectively! On the other hand, maybe this says more about the incredibly sad state of AI in gaming than it says about the AI in Halo.

The vehicles are also very well done. It's immensely fun driving around in the Warthog with a gunner while fighting aliens or laying down the pain from a Banshee fighter. The Warthog, fun as it is, has somewhat odd driving characteristics though; it skids like Bambi on ice even when you drive on dry concrete.

Halo also has my favorite type of cut scene: the in-game engine cut scene. Not only that, they're also reasonably well-directed with a certain flair that gives them a movie-like quality. No talking heads here.

One positive thing that actually surprised me was Master Chief himself. I had expected a DOOM-style mute hero, but it turns out Master Chief talks and actually has a personality. Granted, he doesn't have the "charm" and "charisma" of Duke Nukem but he's no Gordon Freeman-style mute either. I really don't care much for the personality-free protagonist style of Half-life and DOOM. It works in DOOM because there's really no one around for your character to talk to but when people are talking and addressing you and your character just says nothing it just gets a bit weird.

The Covenant is an interesting collection of alien races with unique traits. I almost feel bad every time I shoot a grunt. With their runt, short appearance, high-pitched voices, and the clumsy way they carry their weapons, especially when panicking, they have a very child-like appearance to them. In some ways, the grunts are more disturbing than The Flood. Unfortunately, we get to know almost nothing about the Covenant and its alien races other than "they want to kill all humans".

It's also a plus that there are no boss fights, just increasingly difficult battles.

[redr0sewrites]

General Kafka Headcanons

🥀A/n: REQS R STILL OPEN<3

🥀CW: Smut in the nsfw part, bondage, marking, overall kinky stuff, non-sexual nudity mentioned in the sfw part

SFW:

god i love women

kafka is often very busy, so i see her love language as words of affirmation

she loves flirting with you and whispering sweet things in your ear just to watch you get flustered

she can often be very touchy and flirty, however if it makes you uncomfortable she is shockingly good with boundaries and will simply give you space why would u say no tho

she loves having your head in her lap while she plays with your hair

she enjoys taking baths with you, esp after long or difficult missions

she will go all out, she will light candles, put rose petals and bubbles in the water, epson salt cuz its soothing, anything you like. there WILL be romantic music playing softly in the background, i said what i said

she likes to give you back massages and will give you small kisses on the back of your neck

she is VERY protective of you, i wouldnt say to a super controlling level but enough where she gets jealous pretty easily

she is actually so bad at dropping hints like she will flirt with anyone and anything but the second she caught feelings for u she had no idea what to do

she legit just teased u and made fun of u, you would probably think she hated you for awhile until you figured out that she was obsessed with u

have u seen her fit? yall def share a closet

her clothes are your clothes and vice versa

seeing you in her clothes sets something off in her i swear

this often leads to steamy makeout sessions and yk what else

SHE LOVES DOING YOUR MAKEUP AND HAIR SHE WOULD HELP YOU GET READY EVERY DAY IF SHE COULD

she will also let you do hers, but not super often since shes kinda busy sometimes and doesnt want to take forever getting ready

the type of person who can walk for hours and hours forEVER in super tall heels/platforms or "walk it off" after literally being beaten to near death in battle but will complain for days if she gets even the tiniest paper cut

likes giving back hugs

this is random but i feel like she eoukd enjoy puzzles and word games

YALL R THE TYPE TO GO ON FANCY DATES YALL R THE BIGGEST POWER COUPLE EVER

she always, ALWAYS pays for u, holds the door for u, she will hold ur shoes if they're bothering u/she will carry u if she can, LITERALLY A MIX BETWEEN GENTLEMAN AND MILF BEHAVIOR

she will prob introduce u to the other stellaron hunters if u dont already work w them

her friends r ur friends now

yall have self care dates where u get ur nails, hair, and skin care done and go to fancy spas or get massages im too broke to do this idk what people actually do at a spa

overall amazing and wonderful

NSFW:

here we gooo

switch energy SWITCH ENERGY

when shes more subby shes still in control, i feel like she would def be a power bottom at least

really enjoys commanding you and ordering you around, gets off on your obedience and your disobedience

HAIR PULLER

she WILL wear a strap and use toys on you, putting a vibrator to your clit/cock while your tied down and watching you squirm and whimper, using leg spreaders to hold ur legs apart while she eats u out/sucks u off, paddles, rods/dildos, thrusting vibrators, she has it ALL

if u dont have stereotypically "female" genitals/or even if u do, she will peg u. there is no escaping it. she will overstimulate you and she will fuck u until ur begging for her to stop, thighs shaking, chest heaving, sobbing and pleading for a break

IDK IF I SAID THIS ALREADY BUT SHE WILL TIE U DOWN AND SHE WILL USE INTRICATE AND PRETTY DESIGNS AND ROPES TO DO SO

she very much enjoys riding ur face, seeing your face covered in her slick below her... godd ur gonna be up the whole night

exhibitionist (i am prob spelling this wrong💀) SHE LIKES PRESSING U UP AGAINST WINDOWS WHILE THERES PEOPLE OUTSIDE AND FUCKING U FROM BEHIND WITH HER STRAP

"oh? your upset about them seeing us? so what? dont worry your pretty little head about trivial things like that dolly, i'll take care of everything for you~" *proceeds to fuck u until ur babbling and no more worried are forming in ur head*

into sensory play as well

ur tied down and blindfolded and she will blot hot air against ur cunt/cock, run an ice cube up and down ur thighs, leave hickeys or kisses on ur thighs, trace a feather around ur chest and trail it down ur abdomen, just above where u want her, so close but so, so far...

perhaps she has a mommy kink, but it would take a little while to discover it 👀

wears lingerie on a regular basis and will strip in front of u at the end of the day leaving u in flustered in shock she loves seeing u all flushed and embarrassed omg

tease teas tease sOO UNFAIR

WILL TEASE U FOR DAYS ON END JUST TO GET U TO SUBMIT

OVERALL THE PERFECTEST AND HOTTEST LOVER U CAN EVER IMAGINE

hi guys cant believe i just wrote this anyways can u tell i have a preference LMFAOO shes just so cool <3 i might have a type *side eyes kindael, kafka, rosaria, and all the other pink/red associated women who r also fucking insane that i simp for* sorry i havent been super active lately, i prob wont be for a little while im going on vacation. however, reqs are still open i am BEGGING for reqs lmao😭 hope u enjoyed!

[fruttymoment]

About your last post, when you make posts about other games, could you please just warn if your post will have a spoiler of something, if possible? (Same thing on bluesky, since I follow you there).

Ik it's probably common sense, but I just wanted to ask you that, since there are games like Rain World, that I want to play but I still didn't buy and still didn't get in the mood to play.

I was gonna ask in the comments of that post but I got a little shy .,.

HELO

Of course!!! I mostly avoid drawing spoiler-ishy stuff in the first place :3 but when i do, I do my best to tag them a spoilers! (RARELY at times I can forget but most of the times its fine!)

AND FROR RAIN WORLD. COUGHS. LOOKS AROUND.

I strongly recommend it a lot !!!! I VIOLENTLY RECOMMEND IT !!! However, before you DO buy the game and replace your mind with Slugcat, lemme give you a quick run without trying to spoil the game. I do need to say these because sometimes, people get the wrong idea about Rain World. And it's not their fault! The GAME is just,,, hehehe.

So!

• Rain World is NOT an adventure game. It's an ecosystem simulator, with platforming. You'll understand what I mean when I say it's not an adventure game. :3

• Rain World is a DIFFICULT game. The game barely holds your hand, barely tells you what to do and there isn't a single reward in the game that halps you. Nearly nothing is directly said besides basic stuff. Not to menton there is only few entities that has dialogue. You are just an wild animal in the woods. No one is here to help and it's all up to you to figure out things and adapt to survive. Because it's an ecosystem simulator, there will be times where some situations will be legit unfair for you. This is intended. Rain World is an unfair game because your enemies / predators are just like you and have no respects. They will always try their best to kill you, unfair or not. They dont care! And this is where your adaptation and outsmarting skills will improve. Rain World has no reward. It only rewards you by making you smarter, as you die and die.

• So! Game tells you nothing. Everything kills you. You have no idea what to do. The game and its ecosystem does not care about you.

These lack of player focus and unfair situations can become very unpleasant to new players. Because Rain World really is not like other games! It's an harsh ecosystem simulator. When you play Rain World blindly for a while; you may get demotivated to continue because of having no idea where to go and what to do while being killed over and over again. Don't worry! This is LITERALLY the game itself. You are MEANT to be confused and lost. However, as you play, you will start to understand things slowly :)

And once you figure out stuff, I can not tell you how amazing it feels LMAO. YOU HAVE TO TRY IT YOURSELF.

Rain World is an UNFORFIVING game. It's hard. It's complex. But my god, IT IS THE MOIST FUN AND AWESOME AND INSANE GAME I HAVE EEVVEERR FUCKING PLAYED IN MY LIFE. I HAE 100+ HOURS AND I KEEP GOING. I WILL NEVER BE TIRED FROM THIS GAME. THERE IS ALWAYS MORE STUFF TO FIGURE OUT. ALWAYS TO MAKE FUN SPEEDRUNS.

Ohh also!!!

• By it's nature, Rain World is randomised! Every entity in the game has their own AI and behaviour. This makes the game so fucking amazing ant it makes the ecosystem VERY alive. Everything you see in the game, besides obvious scenes, is NOT scripted! You will see some creatures fall to their death, fail to fly, bonk their heads, kill each other and stuff! NOTHING is scripted! All creatures act as a real entity by their AI! This makes some unpredictable events that becomes frustrating but also so so SO fun hehe :)

Honestly I could write a book about Rain World. But that's all I can say now :) hope this motivates ya! The game is also on sale rn I think. Perfect time hehehe.

Even if it becomes too hard for you, don't worry! The experience is so worth it. Also I promise, you WILL understand everything by yourself,,, and be BETTER. I also shall mention that it's a LOONGGG game! Even LONGER when you get the Downporur DLC ! (INSANELY RECIMMENDED.)

HOPE THIS HELPPPSSS

ALSO AFSGKGQLHSHOA ITS OKAY <3 WE ALL SHY OUT AT TIMEESS

[postgamecontent]

The Unisys Icon: One Canadian Xennial's Memories of Ontario's Obscure Computer

One topic that often comes up in retro gaming circles is how aspects of gaming history not part of the American story don't get enough attention. I personally feel it's mostly up to the people to whom the stories belong to tell them. So I am going to follow my own advice today and tell the tale of a computer that statistically speaking almost no one has used, and some of that computer's software. I have to tell this story from memory, because this computer and its software functionally no longer exist. Practically no photographs of any of its games exist. We're relying on decades-old recall here, so… I'll do my best.

The Unisys ICON was a computer developed as an initiative by the Ontario Ministry of Education to create a standard for Ontario schools. It used an Intel 80186 CPU and its OS was an early version of a Unix-like system that eventually came to be known as QNX. Yes, the Blackberry one. Still in use, I believe. Each Unisys ICON came with its own monitor and a very robust keyboard with a trackball embedded in it. Computers ran in a network from a designated server machine. They were pretty expensive and the whole program was quite controversial, with many considering it a colossal waste of tax money. I mean, in hindsight… probably?

The first line of ICONs were introduced to schools in Ontario in 1984, and support for the platform continued until 1994. During that time, several models were created along with a fair bit of bespoke software. Most of it was meant to be educational, used for teaching programming to older kids and more general lessons to younger ones. I don't recall any pure games without any educational component, although some of them really danced on that line. When the ICON program was canceled in 1994, the Archives of Ontario declined to preserve the ICON and its software. They were all ordered to be destroyed, and just about all of them were.

Only a few fully working models are known to be in existence today, and some of the software was just straight-up lost forever. No emulators exist, and there is no way to play any ICON software unless you have access to one of those few remaining units. So yes, all my UK friends out there? I know you dislike it when Americans make jokes about your Spectrum and Amiga computers and games, but you can only joke about something if you've heard about it. No one jokes about the ICON. I mean, until they find out about its nickname, "The Bionic Beaver". That's easy pickins.

My elementary school in a small Northwestern Ontario town had about a hundred students total from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6. It was such a small school, we didn't even have a Grade 5 class and teacher. They just divided the Grade 5 students by academic achievement and stuck the higher achievers in the Grade 6 class and the lower ones stayed in the Grade 4 class with slightly more difficult texts and homework. Anyway, it was a small school. It no longer exists. But in the 1980s, we had a couple of Apple II computers. They were pretty old by then, and the green and black monitors didn't impress kids who had tasted the Commodore 64, Tandy, or NES. But hey, we played Oregon Trail, Carmen Sandiego, and Crosscountry Canada on them when we could.

I remember when we got our ICONs. It was a pretty big deal! Our school received four of them, with one designated as the server. They were put in a prime location in the hallway, between the fourth grade classroom and the school entrance. If a person was going to the auditorium, they'd have to pass by them. Not like those Apple IIs, tucked away in a less traveled part of the hallways. Our school was proud of those ICONs, and the student body was excited to use them. One of the fun things about visiting the junior high school was that it had a whole lab of ICONs, with different games. Pure decadence! Absolutely sick!

Anyway, the memories of Xennials from Ontario are by and large all that remains of these things now. Even the Wikipedia entry's list of software is missing games I know I played on there. So what can you do? I'm going to talk about some of the games I remember, and since literally no screenshots exist, I drew some pictures. Quickly, mind you. And from 35+ year old memories, no less. Sorry, it's all I've got.

(Not actual screenshots)

SpectICON: This was a paint program, and when our ICON computers were turned on this is what they defaulted to. When the program loaded up, it had a colorful picture of a tree in autumn in place. You could change the palette using the trackball, and if you rolled it with some power the colors of the tree would wildly alternate. My friend Peter dubbed this "Disco Tree". It could do some simple animation, mostly by morphing between two images. I used this to make an animation of a robot turning into a car, because I was ten years old in 1989 and Transformers was the thing.

Offshore Fishing: One of the more popular games in my school. You would move your boat to different locations on a map, after which it would switch to a side-view. You then used the trackball to maneuver your fishing net, trying to catch as much as you can. If a shark comes, it will break your net and you'll lose a lot of money. This was supposed to teach us about the fishing industry, I think?

Math Maze: Another popular one in my school. You would make your way through a maze, battling monsters and looking for treasures. You could pick a knight or a wizard, and your choice of weapon between a sword and a wand. Knight with wand was splendid. No effect on the gameplay, of course. When you met a monster or found a treasure, it was time to do MATH. The last boss of the dungeon would ask what weighed more, a pound of feathers or a pound of gold. We were very proud when we sorted out the answer to that one. The cut-out box at the side showing a close-up of the action had some interesting visuals, at least.

A Day in the Life Of: We didn't have this one at my school, but the junior high school had it and I played it there. A strange game where you played as a student, and you could just straight up cut school and go to the mall if you wanted to. The mall had some different spots to visit, including an arcade where you could play a minigames called Mutant Bunnies Attack or something. It was basically Activision's Kaboom, and since we had a trackball… well, this was a pretty good time. I don't remember the actual point of this one.

Crosscountry Canada & Lemonade Stand: You might know these games from other platforms. They were ported to the ICON and played pretty much the same way here as anywhere else. Both were old hat for us and didn't get much play as a result.

Greenhouse: A gardening game. You had to grow plants by setting a variety of conditions, including temperature, watering, and sunlight. Each plant had different needs, but if you could sort it out you would be rewarded by seeing them grow. I messed around with this one a bit, but it was on the junior high school computers so I didn't get to play it as much as I would have liked.

Robot R&D: Robots! This was a cool one. You would build a robot from different parts and materials. You could then put them through a variety of tests to see how they would react. You could immerse them in water, try to crush them, or just drop them from high places. For most kids, you had them at "build a robot".

There were lots of other games, but these were the ones I played and the ones I remember. I wish I could tell you about all of them, but this is the limit of my knowledge. Maybe someone else out there can remember other ones and talk about them? I hope that one day this off-beat, highly geographically and temporally localized computer is properly archived and its software is made accessible again. I would like to play Offshore Fishing at least one more time in my life. Thanks for reading!

Extra Note: I just remembered the darned things would say HELLO when you booted them up. A talking computer?!

[eruscreaminginthedistance]

Seen lots of talk about this going around lately so thought I'd put the sparknotes of this interview here for posterity.

Baldur's Gate-specific questions:

Swen reconfirms they don't plan to make any DLC or sequels to BG3; they made a start but didn't feel like their hearts were in it. They now have two other games they want to make instead.

When asked if they had plans for a Divinity: Original Sin 3, Swen replied: "Yeah, I can't tell you. No, it will have its proper moment. Hopefully nobody's going to leak it for us, but it's different than what you think it is, but it is still familiar enough for you to recognize that it's something that we are making."

Astarion was originally planned to be a Tiefling.

Ketheric Thorm was intended to be a companion.

Locations that got cut included Hell, Vlaakith's Palace, and Candlekeep (Dx).

BG3 characters now belong to Wizards of the Coast, not Larian.

There were apparently 24 different variations of Shadowheart getting the artifact to you (not sure if this refers to development or the release version of the game).

When asked about how Act 1 was very polished and well-received, but Act 3 had issues, he responded "Yeah. I know. Yeah, one day I'll figure that one out.".

They're currently working with Microsoft and Sony to start rolling out curated mods for console versions of the game.

Epilogue content is still being worked on. They plan to give each ending a full cinematic, and are currently working on the evil endings.

Cross-platform play is still in the works, but it's difficult to implement.

Swen's opinions on the current state of the games industry and general development under the cut:

Lots of righteous rage from Swen about the mass firings in the games industry and how they don't contribute to making good games.

"But because the ones that are making those decisions don't play the games, don't understand the ethos, they don't care about it. They don't understand that fundamental truth that that's in there. It's just, oh, well, it's a technical artist, we can get another technical artist, whatever. Also, who fires their technical artists?!"

He believes that AAA games with massive budgets can be sustainable for the industry because the audience is there, and because these types of games can fuel progression and innovation.

Believes the lists of upsides to early access is way longer than the list of downsides; "it is the model of the future. I mean, it's not only for your mechanics and your balancing, but even your story gets better. You see how players resonate, what they're after."

Swen's stance on AI is that it is a tool to speed up certain processes, but that it couldn't replace the creative elements of development. His current approach to speeding up artistic development is to hire more concept artists and writers, rather than using generative AIs. He does believe that it has a place in the future of game development, though: "I don't buy the full NPC being generated, but most likely everything will feel the same. So I buy more that there's going to be something that's crafted, and then you'll have AI that plugs into it to augment it. And it should be done in such a way that it's invisible, so you don't know that it's shifting around."

Remote work doesn't seem to be feasible for a game of BG3's scale. In their period of working from home, Swen noted that it was a much easier time for senior devs than for the juniors, who needed mentoring, and they had communication issues during this time as well.

[handsome-jacks-bottom-bitch]

So the biggest thing about Borderlands is of course, the Vaults. Not only the vaults, but the monsters inside of them. So this post, I'm gonna rank the vault monsters from easiest to fight, to hardest to fight. I'm going to be gaging the difficulties based on the first playthrough, as depending on the game and the mode your playing, all of them can prove challenging. Now as always, this is purely my opinion. Some monsters I may say are hard, may be easy to others, or vice versa. So let's not waste any time and get right into it. This will include all vault monsters in Borderlands 3, not just the final battle. However I will be excluding vault monsters from Tales games, as those are fought both with QTEs.

1. Graveward

So let's start with the easiest one, which is the Graveward from Borderlands 3. The flora themed vault monster living inside the vault on Eden-6. I rank this one the easiest because it's attacks are all extremely avoidable, and if you move around correctly, you can go the entire fight without getting hit even once. The only things you really have to worry about are the grogs that spawn in. The fun thing about the Graveward, is that he's slow, and all his attacks come with beacons, or lit up danger zones. Stay out the zones, and you're set. The trickiest part of the fight is when he lifts the platform, and sends you sliding down. Simply slide into the hole on the right of the platform, wait for the green acid orbs to pass you by, and that's that. Throughout the fight, just aim for the Gravwards weak spot with a rapid firing weapon to quickly whittle down health until he's defeated. Even in higher mayhem difficulties, the Graveward poses very little threat, and is a pushover of a vault monster.

2. The Destroyer (BL1)

Now when I first started playing Borderlands back when the first game came out, I was a mere child and couldn't even make it far enough in the game to fight the Destroyer. When I finally did as a teenager, I would've said it was the hardest fight I've ever seen. Now as an adult, with a better understand of game mechanics (and better aim), the Destroyer is fairly easy on both playthroughs. Simply because you can essentially cheese the entire fight. On the map, there's two pillars. Simply hide behind the pillar and shoot the Destroyer until it's dead. You will have to worry about the flying rakks constantly spawning in, but luckily, they have extremely low health, and should thr Destroyer get a good hit on you, those rakks are a quick second wind.

Now the Destroyer is a bullet sponge, so the fight will take time if you dont have high power weapons, and you will have to get in close if you're a shotgun fanatic. Otherwise, simply hide throughout all his attacks, and the fight is as good as won.

3. The Warrior

Look out, the lava is rising! Liliths constant worry of the lava is arguably the most annoying thing about this fight. By the time you reach the Warrior, you're about level 36, have got a decent arsenal under your belt, and a raging hot need to avenge Bloodwing. The Warriors fight can be tricky, as in order to actually deal decent damage, you need to break the rock on its chest blocking it's soft inner molten core. Thing is, right after you break it, the Warrior retreats back into the lava, causing it to rise, as of Lilith didn't make that obvious enough.

The other thing you have to worry about it the Warriors tail slam, which if you don't jump to dodge it, deals decent damage, and sends you flying into the air. Another thing to look out for is the never ending crystalisks that spawn, and the occasionaly rakk that'll spot you.

Overall, the Warriors fight isn't so much difficult, as it is tedious. Eventually, you'll beat it down enough and crush it's head with the moonshot canon, much to Jack's dismay.

4. The Rampager

Oh the Rampager. My first encounter with you was a devastating one. Not because of your never ending fire waves, or the Eridians constantly up my ass, but because you're just too damn agile for a creature of your size.

The Rampager fight was tough the first time I fought it. He comes in three waves, all with different attacks and abilities that can quickly eat away at your shields and health, and while Maya is there.. she isn't much help. With the ever spawning Eridians constantly knocking you around, and the constant projectiles, the Rampager is a tough one. Especially come the third phase, where even standing still for a second could lead to an instant down.

The Rampager is tough, and agile, and good if you're looking for a quick death on your first playthrough. Kind of makes the Graveward that much more disappointing when the first vault monster you get to kill puts up such a good fight.

5. Tyreen/The Destroyer

Now, is Tyreen a vault monster? No. However, given as how she fuses with the monster of the Great Vault, she technically counts as one.

Now Tyreens fight is tricky. Not only can she leave the arena, most of her attacks prevent her from taking any damage at all. Her attacks are wide, and extremely powerful, not to mention the various creatures that spawn in and hassle you the entire fight. Tyreens attacks can be pretty easy to avoid, but the fact that she makes damaging her such a struggle is the reason she's so high on the list.

Her fight is annoying, and all around a pain to complete your first time fighting her. Once you get it down, much like with any of these monsters, it can quickly become a cake wake, but for have never fought her before? Royal pain, much like the god queen herself.

6. The Sentinel

I say this with the most emotion and sentiment I can portray over text: Screw. This. Fight.

Even today, as I'm writing this, the Sentinel has proven to be such a difficult fight, that any time I manage to defeat it on the first try, I consider myself a master of the trade. From the fact that this thing has 7 whole phases, to the fact that there's Eridians swarming the arena on top of him, it's just an all around nightmare.

The first version of the Sentinel has 4 phases. The first three require you to break down his shield, while avoiding his fast and devastating attacks. When his shield goes down, he becomes immune to all damage, and releases a nova, which if you don't avoid it, is capable of insta-downing you. Each phases comes with a different element that he becomes immune to, until the fourth phase, where you can finally hit his health. Defeat the fourth phase, and you think all is well, right? Wrong.

Once the Sentinel is defeated, he turns into a giant version of himself, called the Empyrean Sentinel. This version can make the entire floor untouchable with electricity, has full AOE attacks, and can only be damaged by hitting its face, so should you end up behind it trying to avoid attacks and swarms of Eridians, you gotta find your way back around. This version goes through 3 phases, all with different elements as well. This fight is just.. agonizing, no matter how well equipped you are. It's long, it's tedious, and if you die? Back to square one.. and to make it worse, the game made him a raid boss post story completion. Meaning you have to pay your hard earned moonstones just to torture yourself for a chance at better loot. Let me tell you, it's not worth it. There's better ways to get the legendary you're looking for, I promise. It's called the Grinder. I'd rather waste away at the Grinder than fight this bastard over and over in a Borderlands game that arguably has the WORST legendary drop chances. My sanity is better drained elsewhere. Like collecting 150 claptrap components for Tannis.

So, there you have it. My list of easiest to hardest to fight vault monsters on the first playthrough. Playthrough 2, TVHM/UVHM, Mayhem Mode, that all changes the game. Makes things difficult all around, but still doable if you build yourself right and bring the right gear. Let me know if you agree with my list, or if you disagree, I'd love to hear some feedback. Let me know your experiences with these badass monsters.. and if you know a way to cheese the Sentinel, maybe throw that my way too. I'm tired of him.

[foxfirexo]

my minecraft base on a server with a couple ppl; i am very proud of how it is turning out, the vibes are cozy and it has very organically expanded over time :3

tiny bit of story feel free to ignore and just scroll past but i feel like oversharing so fuck u (kindly <3)

ive always been pretty creative even if i spent the last decade or so telling myself i wasnt. when i was little it was lego, when i got older it was minecraft (among other things)

but being an audhd transgirl growing up in a very conservative southern baptist household (and as a PK and MK at that ;-;) and whose very existence was just fundamentally at odds with the teachings i was raised, i felt a lot of lot of pressure to suppress any self expression or identity i might have and with that went a lot of my creativity

after all, how am i supposed to be creative without expressing myself? and if ive numbed all the thoughts that i want to share bc they get me in trouble w my parents, what am i supposed to put into my art?

also being told your whole childhood that you're a guy and receiving all that lovely generational societal trauma of male gender roles and expectations really crushed the pointless wonderful meanderings of my mind. god i cringe a bit now(w compassion<3) but i used to brag about how obsessed i was with productivity, efficiency, logic, order but in hindsight i think it was 98% just feeling like i had to be a high achieving eventually bread winning "guy"

anyway as such ive had a very on again off again relationship w minecraft. it was a coping mechanism when i was young so ive put probably a good 5k+ hours into it but it became increasingly difficult to enjoy as i got older and ive gone years at a time never touching the damn game

its funny bc you could probably chart my whole healing journey and my ups and downs of my mental health by just measuring # of hrs spent in mc per month

but very recently ive been finally reaching a point (thank u therapist) that i am allowing myself the joy of self expression, that i am accepting and loving myself without the judgement of my youth holding me back, that i no longer feel like i have to hide myself away for fear of being crushed again because i have the self love to stand on my own two feet no matter what anybody else thinks

as silly as this probably sounds, joining tumblr just over a week ago has actually played a part in this too. ill probably ramble more ab that some other time whenever i feel like oversharing again but suffice it to say that this environment is incredible and everyone on this platform has made me feel so so so comfortable in my own skin being myself sharing my thoughts and feelings and just existing :3

and ya its a bit goofy but im actually seeing this milestone in how im playing minecraft. not only am i playing again (pretty regularly, too!) but im... just fucking around. no plan, no goal, if i have an idea pop into my head i just go out and do it but im equally content to just strip mine, chop trees, tend to my farms, whatever sounds good in the moment.....

and im building again too!!! no worrying about doing it "right", no stressing about wasting time bc i didnt count something right and now i have to move that wall or i changed my mind and now i have to redo all my flooring... just chipping away at it, trying out new blocks or decor ideas, enjoying it more for the process than the finished product and never needing anything to truly be finished

so ya :3 i havent felt this amazing playing minecraft since probably 2014/15 and im super proud of myself for getting to this point, its been a long journey and im by no means done but silly little things like this give me so so so sooo much hope and encouragement ^^

k thats all if u actually read all that im sorry or ur welcome lol

[heliosrisingheroesimagines]

AAA URE BACK i'm so happy omg…you're one of my fav writers in this platform and i love rereading your fics and headcanons!!! ♪

i'd like to request coriander, daisy, fennel, peony and sweet pea from the plant asks for marion!! there's not enough marion content that i can find here I swear...I think he really deserves some more love 💔…but either way, thank you so much in advance and have a great day!! :] ★

(Marion is my beloved I'm always happy to write for him~)

Marion Blythe:

🌻coriander: what do they love the most about their s/o, both physical and personality-wise?

You’re some whose very easy for him to talk to. He doesn’t feel like you’re judging him, or underestimating his strength, or making any assumptions based on factors outside of his control. He feels like he could tell you anything, and having this emotional security is incredibly important to Marion; it’s always been difficult to let his real feelings shine through, but it wasn’t healthy for him to keep them inside constantly, so he needed a person who he felt could understand him. Even if you didn’t have the same opinions as he did, there was just something that made him comfortable speaking freely with you.

Marion likes your eyes. They’re like windows to the soul, or so Nova used to joke, but he never really understood the phrase ‘getting lost in their eyes’ until you. He could stare into your eyes forever if you let him but normally, you’d get too flustered, having to look away while Marion couldn’t possibly mirror you.

🌻daisy: what is their love language, both giving and receiving?

Giving: Acts of Service. This is more a goal set by himself but Marion likes to prove that he’s ‘useful’ to you; it’s nothing you’ve ever commented on, and you don’t quite know where it came from as its not like he has anything to prove. He just liked the feeling of knowing he was making your day easier, even when he was busy himself he still tried to fit in tasks that would make your day easier by the end of it. It’s not something he willingly admits to, of course, denying that it’s coming from the love he has for you as it would be too embarrassing to admit.

Receiving: Quality Time. Marion isn’t a high-maintenance lover, as much as his standards might have you perceive him that way. He doesn’t want you going out of your way to do things for him, nor does he have a need for endless gifts (although he won’t ever deny home-cooked breakfast). He always preferred doing things together when your free-time allowed it, like cooking together or watching movies with the entire family; at first he was nervous about spending time alone with you but now it’s exactly what he needs to keep his head on straight.

🌻fennel: what are their kisses like? where do they like to be kissed the most?

Marion’s kisses are thoughtful, always coming in a moment that you suspect yet still knocking you off your feet anyway. You can’t help but lean in to him and it’s exactly what he wants, that closeness that comes with being unabashedly in love. He preferred to take the moments slow, as much as his nerves were set alight when you kissed he couldn’t help but want to savor the moment.

He would say the lips if asked but he doesn’t have a preference, a kiss is a kiss but he does like ones he can reciprocate. When you’re quick with kissing him on the cheek or forehead he always tried to grab you before you could get away, which you now made into a game knowing he wanted to reciprocate any affection you gave him. It left you both giggling in a way you didn’t think Marion was capable of before dating him, kissing each other’s faces until your other responsibilities were remembered.

🌻peony: how do they get their s/o to blush? how does their s/o make them blush?

Marion is always proud when he managed to set up a perfectly romantic moment for the two of you to enjoy together, and the confidence he has about knowing you is something you can’t help but blush over. There are some partners who might take a more bashful approach to it but knowing you inside and out is a source of pride for Marion, who put endless effort into your relationship while training his hardest to be a great hero.

Marion is surprisingly easy to make blush, almost like its natural reaction to your presence. It happened when you leaned in close or suddenly start giving him physical affection before he can mentally prepare, or when you sincerely compliment an outfit you think he looks good in. Having any sort of praise coming from you pleased him, but romantic attention made him more nervous than other kids of attention from you.

🌻sweet pea: are they big on cuddling? what is their favorite position to cuddle their s/o in?

Marion enjoyed cuddling as long as he was in a good mood, as he preferred being left alone or not being confined if he was angry/worked up. There are times where he needs comfort that he’ll let you know it’s okay to be close to him, a comforting arm wrapped around his shoulder as he leaned into you and tried to get ahold of himself as he didn’t want your mood to tank alongside his. There’s something inherently comforting about having a person you can simply lean against and absorb their warmth without being questioned on it, although teasing is imminent especially when the cuddling happens on movie nights.

His favorite way to cuddle was when you were on the couch together, a nice blanket spread across your legs, either you curled up into him or him resting his head on your shoulder. He thought it was nice if somewhat distracting, the first few times finding it impossible to fully focus on the movie but eventually falling into a comfortable rhythm where Jacqueline wouldn’t constantly squeal about how cute the two of you were.

[artversestheworld]

In no particular order they are all fantastic in my eyes! My rating system is based on, Story, Music, Art and Gameplay. 

EASTWARD: 

Is an action adventure role-playing game. Set in a near future world in which humanity has been nearly wiped out by a toxic plague called the “MIASMA”. You play as John a grumpy old miner looking after a child thats not his, Sam on adventure neither of you planned. But boy is it a good adventure! This is another game that I really wish I could play again for the first time. This one took me about 20 hours to beat and I gave it 10/10.

BREATH OF THE WILD:

You know this one. Everybody love it. Just play it. 

OPUS COLLECTION:

Is actually two games in one, Opus: the day we found earth and Opus: Rocket of whispers. TDWFE is an adventure game focused on story and exploring the stars. There isn’t a ton to this one but the story is very cute. ROW is where the real fun is at, it takes place after an apocalyptic plague in a destitute future. You play a John going out and gathering supplies to build a rocket ship to send the souls of the departed to the moon with the help of a friend you find along the way, Fei. This one took me about 10 hours and I gave it 9.5/10

ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST:

Is a platform adventure game. You play as Ari a small white spirit on a journey to restore the forest after a cataclysmic event. It is probably the most difficult game I have on this list but the death revival is very fast so it doesn’t feel as punishing. It took me about 11 hours to beat and I gave it 9/10. 

GOROGOA:

Is a puzzle game about moving tiles around to create the correct image (you’ll get it when you see it). I don’t want to spoil too much of the story so I will just say you are following the story of a boy life. It is sad and beautiful and full of life. I also hope to forget this game so one day I can play it again. I finished this game in about 2 hours (it was develop by one dude what more can you ask of him) and I gave it 9.5/10. 

DICEY DUNGEONS:

Is a rogue-like deck building dice game. There isn’t really a story to this one. But you progress through dungeons rolling dice and placing them in weapons and shields and other elements in order to beat the creature and progress to the next level. I got addicted to this game and didn’t put it down for like 2 weeks straight. I put about 35 hours into this game before I moved on from it and I gave it 10/10. 

SIGNALIS: 

A survival horror game set in a futuristic time. The story is a time loop centred around your character Elster trying to save the woman she loves and losing her mind in the process. The majority of the game play is searching for keys, cards and other elements to help progress you through the story with resource management. The art style is amazing with its pixilation. Took me 13 hours to beat. I gave it 8.5/10. 

DISCO ELYSIUM:

Is a roll playing game written by the novelist Robert Kurvitz. You take on the role of an amnesiac detective trying to solve the murder of a hanged man with his enigmatic partner. As you progress through solving the murder you start to uncover the detectives past and affect things for his future. The game uses a dice based skills element to bring some chance and some strategy as to which skills you increase. The game is fully voiced by an amazing cast (TW the detective is an alcoholic). I finished the game in 15 hours and I gave it 9.5/10. 

PERSONA 5:

Is a turn based role playing game about the internal and external struggles of a troubled group of high school students who live dual lives as phantom thieves. After school and between their part time jobs they fight demons in what they call the Metaverse. The story to this game is very good and the turn based mechanics are very well done. I think I sunk 70 hours into beating this game and give it 8/10 but looking back it should be 9/10. 

CITIZEN SLEEPER:

Is a role playing game with a deep and well crafted narrative experience. Let’s be honest this one is a bit of a visual novel, but it is a great one at that! The characters in this story really come to life with their struggles and victories. There are multiple ending so keep going after the credits. Dice are used in th game to preform actions based on their rolls. I honestly wish I could play this game again for the first time. It took me 12 hours to beat and I gave it 10/10

[smiggles]

Hey Smi, as an artist who has their fingers in a few pies, what’s your biggest piece of advice for baby artists?

I’d like to draw more and try to build up a community of support around me, but I draw slow and the numbers game is disheartening for someone with starter pack skills.

What do you think I should do?

Also, Happy New Year! I hope 2024 is rejuvenating and kind to your spirit:

HMMM This one is genuinely very difficult to answer especially with there being little to no sustainable platform for artists to get out there. I find myself struggling to figure out how to handle the current changes and how that effects my livelihood without burning out my creativity as well as my social battery. Read More Below the Cut

The best thing I can recommend is really trying to get out there and make artist friends. Whether that means joining discords, an ArtRPG, or engaging with artists who's content you really like and have similar interests to you. This helps you keep motivation to draw, keep inspiration. It helps you make friends which speaks for itself the benefits Learning from each other. A good support network. Trying new things. Et cetera et cetera. You can also start a community of your own where people can engage with you directly, such as a discord or starting drawpiles, streaming on picarto/twitch where you talk to people Having a good foundation means a lot imo! But this is just my experience and its not a one size fits all

[flecks-of-stardust]

Stardust's Ranking of Rain World Custom Regions

It's late and I'm bored and I love mods, and if you can you should try some of them because this community creates some incredible stuff and you better appreciate that.

These regions are loosely ranked with an emphasis on my enjoyment, not necessarily the quality of the region, though those can be linked! I will clarify where necessary. You can use this post as a recommendation list, or you can just read my thoughts and reviews of various custom regions for fun or some shit. I dunno. For some reason I end up making lists a lot.

This post will be updated as I try more mods and as more mods come out. The post is current as of October 14th, 2023. Some regions have additional notes, which are elaborated on under the list. Also note that for the vast majority of these regions, I am talking about my experience going through them as Survivor. Additionally, assume all regions have a pup spawn chance unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Highly enjoyed, strongly recommend

Stormy Coast*^ — and another usurper with lots of room to spare. Stormy Coast is the most incredible region I've ever had the pleasure of playing. The atmosphere is just incredible, especially if you do as intended and revisit it across the timeline! The concept of Stormy Coast, its design as an abandoned shipping port, the changes as you move through time, the lore, all of it is just amazing. I just adore it. The music is also absolutely fantastic. I don't know how to describe the experience because it's. Quite literally indescribable, honestly, looking through it yourself. Go get it. It's just fantastic. I would recommend picking one slugcat from Hunter to Monk's time, and then visiting as the rest of the slugcats. (Also, fun fact: the creator of Stormy Coast is the same person who made Lush Mire and Undersea!)

Far Shore^ — I'm a little surprised to have to say this, but this supplanted Howling Rift as my favorite region very quickly. The overall design is just lovely. The threat music is amazing, and there's a lot to see because Far Shore is a very big region—one of the biggest available right now actually! It's hard to summarize what it's like going through it because different parts of it have such a different vibe; the above ground parts are somewhat like Shoreline, but with more options for traversal, while the below ground parts are sort of like Shaded Citadel (but cooler. I'm biased though, I like the horror aspect). Additionally, there's a certain part of Far Shore that really made it feel like I was playing the game for the first time again. No other region has ever tackled something like Far Shore has, and it's really an unforgettable experience. I recommend entering from the Pilgrim's Ascent gate! Additionally, and this might sound strange, but DO NOT play Far Shore as your first region. Go try some of the other ones on this list first, like Pilgrim's Ascent and Scorched District! It just works better that way, I promise.

Howling Rift*^ — this region is kind of like if you took Memory Crypts and made it as big as Shaded Citadel is, but with amazing music and a much more foreboding atmosphere. There is also an Underhang-like part with some of the most interesting (and difficult) platforming I've had the pleasure of playing in this game so far. It's definitely not going to be everyone's favorite, but it's my favorite. I recommend going in without neuron glow for the optimal experience. The Mark is unnecessary.

Coral Caves and Hanging Gardens^ — absolutely stunning regions, I loved the aesthetics and the level design. They use a mechanic that I haven't really seen in any other custom regions (except Lost Cranny, kind of), and it makes for some really interesting platforming. Hanging Gardens in particular also has some fascinating geometry, which I won't elaborate on because it's a delight to discover on your own! I will say though that Coral Caves in particular is definitely a little more difficult than some of the other regions on this list, but it's not unmanageable as Survivor. Coral Caves also boasts a unique world state for Saint!

Lush Mire and Undersea^ — technically not connected regions, though they share Shaded Citadel as a connection, but come on you have to play these two together. Hollow Knight fans in particular might enjoy these two regions; Lush Mire takes obvious influence from Greenpath and Queen's Gardens, while Undersea has a subregion that looks a lot like City of Tears. They both have gorgeous level design and are not super difficult. I would recommend having neuron glow for Undersea, and the Mark for Lush Mire. However, some people are experiencing issues with pipes breaking and trapping them in walls when Lush Mire is enabled. Mergefix I believe is one way to fix this issue? But so far there hasn't been a concrete fix.

Pilgrim's Ascent and Scorched District^ — intended to be played together and very seamless in the integration. Really cool designs for both regions, in particular PA personally. Did you like Pebbles' broader superstructure or the Exterior? Well I have good news for you. SD is also a fun mix of superstructure-like parts and more Metropolis-looking rooms, and it also has a unique end of cycle effect. Neuron glow isn't necessary for either region, but it would probably make certain parts easier for some people. Definitely have the mark for SD though.

Drainage System Plus^ — the coolest vanilla region expansion I've seen so far. It at least doubles the size of DS and adds a ton of complexity to it, as well as some secrets. It was like exploring it for the first time and it was amazing. Some paths got a little tricky to navigate, but largely I had a lot of fun, and there's generally bubble weed around where you'll need it. I believe it is also fully compatible with Saint's world? So it's technically DS+ and UG+. There may be mod conflicts with DS+ in some cases though.

Hallowed Grotto^ — a very creative concept for a region, featuring unique world changes for every, and I mean every, slugcat. Yes, even Inv. The region itself isn't very big, but that's because each slugcat has a unique version of it. Neuron glow could be nice, but definitely go in with the Mark, and I recommend going once as every slugcat. It is probably better to explore this region in expedition mode to prevent you from restarting your entire save.

Enjoyed, would recommend

Neuron Forest^ — a pretty small region, but a very lovely one! If you like iterator aesthetics and are looking for a calmer experience, Neuron Forest has plenty of that to offer. It is, however, Saint exclusive, but for what it is, it works pretty well. There are also some secrets to be found here, so make sure to check every room! (Also, the creator is on Tumblr! Vela if you see this, hiiiii)

Marshland Wastes — nifty, plant filled region that feels a bit like a more flora-filled Garbage Wastes with Shoreline elements, in a sense? It's hard to nail down. I don't know if I'd call it particularly unique (though it's been a while since I played it), but it's still really well designed and overall fun to play through. There are some really memorable moments though, and personally I really like the crossover room(s). That's just me though. Mark not necessary, neuron glow maybe helpful?

Five Pebbles Expanded* — another expanded vanilla region, which mostly combines pre-Rivulet Five Pebbles with rooms from The Rot. It's done really well though, and there are some aspects to it that are unique to Ex5P. It's nice seeing Cystic Conduit rooms in his superstructure before it rotted so badly. Also! You can enter the cell chamber! It doesn't kill you though, or at least it didn't when I played it, which was a bit disappointing. I was hoping to become fried slug. Do note that the Cystic Conduit rooms have not been changed to be more friendly for other slugcats, nor does any bubbleweed spawn, so uh... have dev tools ready.

Expanded Industrial — and another expanded vanilla region! I liked the new rooms quite a lot, the aesthetics blend in very well i think. It adds a surprising number of rooms with water in them, I will say? But i think it works out overall. The map was broken when I played, I don't know if it's been fixed, but I think it's still worth checking out. Unlike EXSU, EXHI kind of adds a bunch of rooms that don't connect as much to the vanilla rooms, as far as I've noticed, so it's like getting a new subregion of rooms rather than a mix of them. Still, it's pretty cool!

Expanded Outskirts — and yet another expanded vanilla region. It's not as extensive as DS+ I don't think? But it still adds a ton and the room designs are really neat. Certain rooms were a little strange to me? ExSU adds a lot of routing complexity in a way that I like, and now that the map is repaired, it's a lot easier to navigate. It is also fully compatible with DS+! Playing with both mods enabled gives you... three? Four gates? Into DS, which is kind of wild. It also appears I missed a new gate into Industrial Complex!

Timeless Conservatory/Quiet Gardens — a small new region connected to Pebbles' can. It's got a bunch of new screens since I last played it, as well as a subregion for Pebbles! It's very creative, I like it. Currently it's still fairly small, and it doesn't seem like there's any lore pearls in there, but it's a pretty region with some cool aesthetics. Good for a quick play. Mark not required, and I went in with neuron glow but the glow seems to be forcibly disabled in certain rooms?

Enjoyed, wouldn't readily recommend

Lavish Knack — this one's weird. It's a pack of several custom regions, all interconnected, but when I played it only one of them had full backgrounds and foregrounds. The rest were very... bare. It was kind of funny though. Some of the design choices are also a little peculiar, though thankfully, not typically in a way that makes platforming or traversal difficult. It did have one specific mechanic that I really liked, some strange pipe launching thing, but it was used only in one spot. Most of my enjoyment was from baffled laughter at how this region was designed admittedly. I wouldn't call it a bad region, it's just a little funny going through it at times. The Mark won't be necessary for Lavish Knack, though neuron glow might help in some parts of it.

Aerial Arrays*^ — this one will ah... not be a favorite of many people, I think. I found it interesting, and I enjoyed the platforming, generally, but. Um. It is. Pretty cursed. In several ways, and in ways that a lot of people won't like. Some of the camera transitions are a little rough, some of the design choices are a little... peculiar, and some tiles are a little bare in a way that's a little noticeable if you're really looking at the aesthetics, but considering this is the dev's first region? It's pretty damn impressive. It's pretty well made too, imo. It also boasts a surprising number of unique pearls, two of which uh. Are pretending to be white pearls. I'll... leave that for you to figure out. Do note that some parts of Aerial Arrays are bugged right now, but I've given the dev my feedback and they'll be pushing a hotfix for bugs soon. The Mark is not necessary, and you can skip grabbing a neuron since there's neurons in Aerial Arrays.

Washroom — rather small region, but it was pretty neat. There's not much to it, but I think it achieves its purpose well. It made me feel like laundry as I was going through it. A surprising amount of worm grass was in the region though. Mark and neuron glow not necessary.

Lost Cranny — possibly the smallest region available at the moment, but considering it was made in just three hours, I say it's pretty damn impressive. The map was unfortunately broken when I played and I'm not sure if it'll ever be fixed, but truthfully the region is like. 8 rooms? So. It's hard to get lost anyways. Short and sweet, imo. Could be worth looking at, and Balagaga said the region might get expanded if people are interested, which could be interesting. Also, this region is Monk exclusive.

Did not like, would not recommend

Expanded Leg — full disclosure, this is mostly a me thing, but ExLeg was eh. I already don't like the Leg, so I don't know why I went into it expecting I might enjoy it. (I do know. It's because of PA.) It's just... Leg. But the other side of it. I will say though that some of the platforming in ExLeg feels even less clear than in the vanilla Leg? But maybe that's a skill issue on my part, I dunno. If you like the Leg you might like ExLeg, but I wasn't a fan personally.

The Tower (not the Daszombes one) — this one wasn't particularly interesting to me. It was basically just pole hell, and some of the design was... eh? The camera transitions were also a bit jank imo. Very much not my thing. Some rooms were pretty though, and it's also the dev's first region, so I have to cut them some slack.

Honorable mentions

Fortunate Development — not fully a region mod, but it cleans up the rot from all of Pebbles' superstructure. It was bittersweet to play through this, and I enjoyed it, but ultimately it's just Pebbles. Still worth checking out though imo. I don't think this one is compatible with Ex5P? I'm not sure though.

The Tower (the Daszombes one) — I actually have not watched most of Das' content, and certainly not the Iterator Logs, so I was very out of my depth when playing through this. it seems interesting, I just have no context for any of it. It was heavily unfinished when I played it though; one room would be fully designed, with foreground decor and lighting and stuff, and then if you go through a pipe, you end up in a bare room with literally nothing but the geometry. It was jarring, but also clearly unfinished, so I can't judge it too hard. If you like Das' stuff, you might be interested in this.

Additional notes

* These regions have some fairly intense flashing in some parts:

The Underhang-like section of HR has electrical storms like vanilla Underhang, but they're far more intense and far more constant than what Underhang gets. It also has a pretty strong particle effect in a good bunch of rooms; it made my game lag in some of them. Honestly HR just has a lot of eyestrain-y graphics in general, which is a huge shame because it’s basically my only complaint about it.

Ex5P has Primary Cortex rooms that still feature the (harmless) green lightning, and that too can get pretty flashy.

Aerial Arrays' upper part is full of slug zappers. Yes, seriously. They flicker on and off. If you dislike RTA because of the visual flashing effect, you'll want to avoid playing Aerial Arrays, because they're unavoidable.

Stormy Coast is, well. Very stormy. There's lightning effects in most outdoor rooms, and they're unavoidable.

None of these mods have a config menu to reduce or disable the flash effects, so be careful if you're sensitive to flashing. The mod No More Flashes may help with some of these, but not all.

^ There is at least one unique lore pearl in this region.

Note that Undersea's pearls currently do not give the correct dialogue. Wrayk (the dev) has been notified of the issue, though fixing this hasn't been a priority for him as of late. Additionally, any Saint timeline pearls are currently unreadable by Moon, but the dialogue is available on the mods wiki(!).

& The review for this region is currently outdated, due to there having been an update to the mod since I wrote the review.

[wirewitchviolet]

Consider cloning one of these games...

So the other day someone was showing me the trailer to some neat new indie game they were getting into, and my immediate thought was "that does look pretty nice but FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING! INDIE DEVS, PLAY A SECOND GAME ALREADY!"

Presumably you've already guessed this, but it was a nice little handcrafted thing that was very plainly inspired primarily by Super Metroid. Even had those bubble-looking platforms. I'd say what it was specifically, but I already forgot the name, because, you know, I've kinda seen a few games do this before.

It's not like Super Metroid isn't one of my favorite games of all time, obviously. I'm one of the shockingly few people who played it when it was new and totally fell in love then. And it's also not like there aren't several games made in its image that I also love. It's just that there's way too damn many of them out there for anyone to play, and while I'd never be one to tell someone not to make the thing they want to make due to market saturation or whatever, I kinda feel like we're doing a huge disservice to our collective creativity and appreciation of classic games to all be so hyper-focused on putting our own spins on this one particular game, especially when it kinda knocked things out of the park back when this wasn't a genre it was just this one super cool game with, among other things, a compelling structure to it.

Like, I do love that Super Metroid became A game that's served as a focal point for indie devs to try and recreate. Back when it was first released it actually sold kinda terribly by Nintendo's standards, and didn't really have anything else out there trying to iterate on the concept until we eventually got the Castlevania series going that route, and Cave Story. But at this point, yeah, Super Metroid has been all canonized and studied to death and if you're the sort of person who cares about this sort of thing in the slightest you know all about how it ticks and the appeal and what other ways the basic premise can be pulled in. So it's well past time for people to take another game that's super great and fairly unique and use that as a jumping off point to make some new things. So I'm just going to ramble here a little about some real gems that nobody's ever really gotten around to trying to replicate.

Punch-Out!!

I want to say we're all familiar with Punch-Out!! but... are we? It's a famously difficult game, so odds are good you've seen speedruns or other challenge runs, but you really have to play it for yourself to see what's so interesting about it. A big part of the initial appeal of course was having these really expressive screen-filling characters, which isn't something we're lacking now. It's also real twitchy, basically unplayable towards the end if you're dealing with any sort of input lag at all, which isn't super unique these days, but structurally, the way it's coded, there's all this weird artificial drama to it.

Like, on the surface, it's a pretty straightforward thing. Enemies have tells for their attacks, you dodge those, you hit them in the resulting openings. But there's also the round based structure, knock-downs, and one-off gimmick mechanics in the mix. Officially, we're playing by the rules of boxing where the outcome of a match is decided by either knocking someone down and them not getting back up, knocking them down three times in a round, or running out of time and having to go to some judge's decision. But that's not REALLY how it works.

There's no random chance of someone going down and staying down. You've got HP meters, you take one down, your opponent falls over, waits until late in the count and gets up, forcing you to drain that HP down three times before the round ends, and if yours bottoms out, you get to mash buttons to stand up and have your other two chances. But then there's times you CAN take someone down, not only keeping them down for a KO win, but even getting there without your opponent bottoming out on HP first. The most famous example, I believe of both of these, being Bald Bull's charge. The big dramatic make or break where he just keeps using this special move which isn't terribly hard to dodge, but deadly if it connects, and dodging doesn't really help as he won't stop until the round ends, and then might spend the whole second round doing nothing but. You need to take that risk, and get that frame perfect stomach strike just before he connects to dramatically KO him and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat... or you can do this:

I was actually looking for an example of the all or nothing strike when I found this. If you don't face the charge in round 1, he gets into it sooner in round 2 to force the matter, but if you're still not confident enough to go for it there, turns out you can just drop him early into round 3 and have him stay down... and the only real consistent rule any of this follows is drama. Heck looking at the opening screen here, this person knows tricks for getting a KO on at least the first 10 opponents. Most of them I've always just taken the TKOs on myself. Point is though, the mechanics really run on drama. AI scripts change up if you move onto new rounds. Knock-downs turn into knock outs if and only if it fits a certain narrative. This sort of thing is super fascinating to me. Makes me want to look through the game's code line by line. And the only thing I can think of in any other game that even comes close is, of all things, the Ace Attorney series, with those scenery chewing meltdowns, and scattered scenes that "break the rules" with instant failure penalties or no-win situations where you're then suddenly saved by a friendly NPC's dramatic appearance.

I wouldn't suggest anyone literally try to make a Punch-Out!! clone. There's no real reason to stick to the boxing framework. I'd definitely advise against copying all the broad stereotypes. But there's a real unique soul to the drama-driven mechanics breaking stated rules I'd love to see people really digging into to gain a deep understanding of it and apply that to original games.

Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic

I'm not just being pretentious and refusing to say Super Mario Bros. 2. When it was Mario-ized, there were two huge changes- A run button the original FDS game didn't have, and the fundamental structural change of just having you finish levels with whatever character you like (or use warp zones to skip them entirely). In the original game, in order to see the proper ending, you had to play each and every level with each and every character with no run button. And that's neat, actually.

See, just as an example, there's a bit of a skip early on in both versons of the game, where you can avoid taking a door through some whole area by just leaping across a big waterfall. In Super Mario Bros. 2 anyone can do this, just needing a running start, but in the original release, there are no running starts. Either you can jump that gap by way of good airtime, or you can't. Depends which character you play as. Everyone has different stats, so being forced through the same full set of levels, there's a few little things like this where you have to alter your strategy to reflect the character you're running with at the time. That's cool. The whole mechanic of lifting things and throwing them, or riding on enemies' heads, or stacking blocks to reach higher areas or block fireballs, this is also just cool (and another thing SMB2 tweaked actually, play both and see for yourself).

I have seen literally one indie game that riffed on this idea, Curse of the Crescent Isle.

Umihara Kawase

If you've played it, you know. If you haven't, please just watch this speedrun:

Nothing has physics quite like this game. Nothing really has the same weird mildly distressing dream sort of tone to it either, or weird as hell branching level structure, or the weird system where the game has a time limit, but rather than giving a game over just makes it end after your current level. Other games have played with grappling hooks, but nothing I've ever seen has made me feel like this here is what they were going for.

Altered Beast

You know, I don't even particularly LIKE Altered Beast. I always thought it was a bit too short, a bit too simple, and still somehow it felt like you were just killing time until getting the power-ups that kinda make you invincible for the rest of the level.

There's... something here though. Somewhere with these bodies getting so bulky and beefy with no change to their heads and the voice samples and the sense of spectacle to it all, and yeah the dramatic gameplay shifts with the power-ups. I don't quite know what the secret sauce is, but if you find it, bottle it up, and slather it over something less shallow, you might really have something there.

Ecco the Dolphin

There is such a weird mix in the whole series of new age hippie save the whales vibes and genuinely disquieting horror just kinda seamlessly blended together. So much of it is the sound design, but the claustrophobia, the weird sense of speed, the constant pressure of drowning or suddenly being in the face of some huge nasty thing that'll basically one-shot you. The... unspoken but pronounced notion that this is set in a world where all of humanity died and are totally unremembered. There's a hell of a lot you could do with any of this, and the only game I can think of that comes close to hitting the same notes is Subnautica. Actually for that matter...

Subnautica

I don't want to get into what's so great about Subnautica here, because the most common sentiment I hear from people who have played it is they wish there was some way they could play Subnautica for the first time, again. Just... yeah. If you haven't already, play through it all completely blind, and if you can think of how to recapture all of that, do it, and put it in my hands without a word.

X-Com Apocalypse

So... X-Com is a truly amazing game that to this day feels like a unique enough beast it also wouldn't be bad to try and learn from, but there's actually a good number of attempts at clones already, none quite seem willing to get into the same levels of complexity, and there's the whole remade Firaxis series with a simpler take that a lot of games are using as a template. But Apocalypse? The original third game? That tried to do a lot of new and different stuff. I don't know how much of it didn't work vs. how much is secretly amazing if you internalize how it works vs. what's sort of half-baked per se, but there's some real ambition with mixing the original's tactical intricacies and destructible terrain and such (which somehow works even better with the realtime mode this one has), with this living breathing city. You aren't intercepting UFOs on a featureless world map. You've got a whole separate combat engine on a persistent map where stray shots can damage roads and cause long-term problems because the supplies you order get shipped via trucks that travel on those roads. Tons of factions you ideally want support from but can go attack and rob if they feel like lost causes. A tech tree with really dramatic progress and early discoveries that are either double-edges swords or genuinely just terrible things to try to use.

And then the endgame is really neat because instead of just one big final mission, you flip the whole script, and suddenly you're invading an alien city, picking targets to wreak havoc on and ultimately destroy, one by one. Incidentally this also did headcrabs before Half-Life so... I feel like it should be better known just for historical context.

Shadow of the Colossus

I know this is kind of a big technical ask, but why the hell were we not FLOODED with a whole generation of grandiose setpiece-y boss rush games after this first dropped? Perhaps more than anything else on here, someone really needs to get onto scratching this specific itch again, immediately.

I could totally keep going, but more importantly I'm sure you had some game that really left a mark on you that's been largely forgotten since, which I don't even know about, and you should really, if you're up to it, try and teach the world about it and how great it was by blending the old with something new of your own.

Just... draw from wider pools of inspiration, people.

[eziojensenthe3rd]

Midnight Gaming: Weirdbound

So one night last week I played Hylics 1 past midnight, and last night this week I played some Hylics 2 past midnight, checked socials to find.... Onimusha 2 remaster has been confirmed.

So Hylics.... good grief how do I approach this? Well first off its a notable game in the indie space, maybe not nowhere to the level of iconic as Undertale but its certanly iconic in its own right, namely for how strange it is.

Its a tale as old as time with punk rock bananaman hero wayne, traversing islands and fighting claymation foes with a party of comrades in a quest to settle a beef with an orange god on the moon.

I thinks it only right to mention I used a guide to figure out where I needed to go, reason being that trying to figure how to proceed is a guessing game, the majority of npcs in Hylics tend to talk in riddles. You would accuse me of not playing the game "right", I would ask you to figure out what "The lamb sinews warbly on the mage illegally shore, gaying the loveforce cross dew" is supposed to entail. I just wasnt in the mood to bump my head everywhere till I bumble my way to the end.

Combat in Hylics isnt necessarly difficult, if you atleast have some experience in planning and strategy, there isnt very many fights in the game that are actually a challenge aside from the bosses, heck i've never actually had a party member die during a fight, the only deaths I had in this game were outside of combat with the 1 hit death hazards you needed to avoid in some sections, and in this game, death is how you level up.

When you die in hylics you go to the afterlife where you can regain your stats, find a few items and use a machine that turns all the meat you collected from your victories in claymation combat, into upgrades for your max hp. Then you can select any colour of gem you activated back in the living world and teleport there. Death is essentially a means of progression, letting you recover and get stronger so you can overcome the challenges that killed you in the first place. Course as I said, there wasnt much danger in the fights I faced, so I had to intentionally die at the hands of the map hazards in order to access the afterlife.

Hylics is....good... if you're looking for something weird to play, its a decent choice to go with though rpg veterans might breeze through this easy, if they can decipher where to go at least. This game almost borders on sheer parody of its genre, expecially when you get to a point in the game where it just showers you with more than enough cash than you ever need, which you do need to buy a spaceship key to get to the moon, with enough to buy 50 bundles of dynamite and enough hotdogs to host your own eating contest.

So what about Hylics 2? Well, it's basically everything Hylics 1 wanted to be and then some.

Hylics 1 was limited in its vision due to the limits of rpgmaker, so its creator moving to a better engine for the games sequel was a way to allow that vision more room to breathe and flourish.

Controls? Visuals? Music? All flowing better in hylics 2 compared to its predecessor. The music is a wave of peculiarity, backing the wavy backgrounds and animated claybominations in battles. Travelling the landscape in hylics 2 is now backed with some vertical control as Wayne here can now jump, hover and air dash across various sections, adding a layer of platforming to the game for better..  and worse. Seriously just wanna point something out here, there is some section you play a 2d platformer at some point and I did not enjoy it simply because of one major issue, it has the same damage feedback as castlevania where you get knocked backwards if you're hit, often knocking you off a platform and into death. I do not like this, I do not like any game that feels this was necessary to have in a platformer of any kind. Thing is I think the gamedev regretted it as they allow to change the difficulty of that section to either turn the damage feedback off or just turn on god mode so you can get it over with quick.

The landscapes in hylics 2 can be a bit tricky to climb on admittedly, especially with the isometric camera angle it has. Theres probably a keybinding that lets you turn the camera around that I may have missed in my play through.

Combat in Hylics 2 is definatly a step up in terms of challenge. Before my first fight, I managed to get two of my party members. Awfully generous I thought to myself, I figured this game was gonna be roughly the same in terms of challenge as Hylics 1, as I walked into my first fight. After destroying the last enemy with one final snap, with my last surviving guy on one digit health, with my other party members a dead misshapen mess, I can safely say the difficulty is a smidge more challenging.

Enemies use their abilties effectively, they plan, they use items, they are a challenge here and its honestly kinda gratifying. You would need to make use of your abilities to deal with foes here and not just hold back to conserve resources which is supported by the fact you can regain health and will just by slapping the grey bugs that appear around areas outside of combat. So you can recover easily. And failing that you could just die or hop into a grey pool to the afterlife to mulch up some meat.

Hylics 2 is definatly an improvement over the original in many ways, taking the base that the first game created and expanding on it to create a more fleshed out experience.... in a literal and metaphorical sense.

So yeah news time.

If you played and followed Resident Evil, you've probably heard some of the ways they tried to recreate that Resi magic with a different series: Dino Crisis. It had dinos.

You've probably also heard or have played the series known as Onimusha during the ps2 era which was more or less resident evil but with samurai. People liked that game, people liked the sequels. I never actually played the series, only observed from afar including witnessing capcom try to compete with smash bros with an onimusha smash bros like.

Well the game awards did reveal that capcom was making a new Onimusha game, probably because they felt there was enough demand for it after releasing a remaster of Onimusha 1. And now it seems like the sequel Onimusha 2 is gonna get a full on remaster. I'll list a link to an article talking about so if you're a fan of this series, then you're probably happy to hear about this series making a comeback.

Thank you for reading this issue of Midnight Gaming. Feel free to leave feedback and game suggestions. I'll talk to you all another time.