#thinking about how one time i downloaded a demo for a game that wasn't out yet

[bloodborne-on-pc]

Personally I think every game ever should have a demo of some kind. Partly because PC players should get a chance to see how well it runs on their computer, but mostly because I just want to see if I actually even like the game before buying it. Especially with how expensive games can be these days...

[cy-cyborg]

Ok so the saga with my old PC continues and is only fueling my desire to get back into fanfiction lol because I found all of the files from my attempt at making a legend of spyro fan-game! I honestly thought they were lost, I'm so excited to see all this stuff again! This was the "logo" for the game (I know its nearly unreadable lol, so it says "The Legend of Cynder, Shadows of The Past". 14/15 year old me didn't seem to care much for readability, I think I'd just discovered photoshop's layer effects lol)

Here's a bunch of random stuff I found.

I'm defiantly going to do a redraw of that last one at some point. That was like, THE thing I remember being super proud of when I first did it. I think it was going to be part of the trailer my now-partner was putting together for the game lol.

Actually, a lot of these were actually just frames from animations, but either the files are either just corrupted, or high school me didn't know how to set fps and resolution properly in the output so I got a headache trying to watch them lol. It's probably the second one honestly. Also I remember my old laptop wasn't able to play back the animation because it would lag so much, so I just had to kind of...guess at timing, and that went about as well as you'd expect. It didn't help that blender used to have this bug where your audio would move around your timeline so it really was just random guessing. I'm amazed anything got done at all, let alone how far we actually got (that is to say, not far at all but we had something playable at least).

I also found the demo files and footage of the "game" running (running at 12fps but running)! I'm curious if they still work, I'll have to download an older version of blender to test them out!

There's actually a lot more but actually finding it is proving to be quite a challenge since this laptop seems to be the digital equivalent of an ADHD "doom box" - meaning nothing is sorted into folders that make even a remote lick of sense to me, it's all just kind of thrown in together lmao.

I wanted to post these though because even though I don't really do 3D stuff anymore, It still made me really happy to see how much progress I've made over the years and how far I've come. Also a few folks who worked on this project with me back on Deviantart have started finding me lol, so in case there's anyone else out there, hello! I'm not dead, I'm still around, I'm just a lot more (openly) queer now lmao.

Image descriptions:

[ID 1: A game title that reads "The Legend of Cynder, Shadows of the Past". The two lines, "the legend of" and "shadows of the past" are written in dark purple text. The purple material is supposed to look like liquid, but instead just looks hard to read. "Cynder" is writen in black, 3D text with red outlines, with the exception of the C. The "c" is modeled as a black tube instead of in a blocky style like the rest of the letters. The inside of the C has a red underbelly, and the bottom of the C ends in a tail, resembling Cynder's from the Legend of Spyro Series. There are 3 white spikes at the top of the C. /end ID]

[ID 2: a 3d render of 4 dragons around a christmas tree. A black dragon at the front, Cynder, is using her tail to hang tinsel, a pruple dragon, Spyro, on the left is reaching up into the branches of the tree. A blue dragon, Ignitus, is hovering behind the tree, his paws outstretched, implying he is placing the glowing star at the top. On his head is a silver dragon, Zerali, balancing on his horns. behind them is a series of floating islands. /End ID]

[ID 3: A render of Cynder with a darker colour pallet than the previous image and glowing yellow eyes, snarling at the camera, guarding a black gem. The sky in the background is blood red and the terrain is flat and barren. /End ID]

[ID 4: A render of an incomplete model of Terrador, a green dragon with brown horns and rocky shoulder decorations. He has no underbelly or wings. /end ID]

[ID 5: A render of a fan character named ekkosel, a blue, anthropomorphic dragonfly with an unsettling, uncanny face and green wings, T-posing. Her green wings are a blur /End ID]

[ID 6: two sketches of a anthropomorphic cheetah heads. One has long ears like a lynx and is labeled DotD design, the other has small, rounded ears like a cheetah usually has, labled TLoC design. /end ID]

[ID 7: A render of Zerali, the silver dragon from the second image, and ekkosel, from the 5th, playing together. In this image, we can see Zerali has a pinky-purple underbelly and shiny gold horns.]

[ID 8: A rendered scene showing a close up of blue ignitus with his eyes closed. He appears to be talking to Cynder, who is in the background, but blurry. The game's logo is visible in the bottom left of the image. /end ID]

[fennecwitch]

Spoiler-free review of Undertale Yellow:

I don't ever post on Tumblr but this is going here because I really want to talk about this game.

So first of all I wanna preface this by saying that when the demo came out, a very long time ago, I watched a playthrough of it and wasn't too impressed. This made me not very inclined to try this game when it released. But I was wrong. This game rules. (I decided to play this entirely because I found out there was a fennec fox character. Sue me.)

So first of all, if you like Undertale, you will like this game. It's just Undertale, but more! It's more Undertale! I'd even go so far to say that it's more Undertale than Undertale, since by my reckoning it's longer and has more content.

I should also say I have only played the pacifist route. Should I wait until I've played the other routes to review it? Yes. But I really wanna talk about this game.

This game has really amazing spritework. There was one point where I had to stop just to admire the spritework of a scene. Undertale intentionally doesn't have fully polished sprites as part of its charm which is fair. This still keeps the Undertale artstyle but makes it look so cool. There's so many cool animations it's great.

The music slaps so much it's so good I love it.

The writing and characterisation are great. In a way, I'd say it's even more character-focused than Undertale, since you can argue that the entire story is about one specific character. There were several moments that made me laugh out loud and several moments that made me cry. Which is exactly what you want to see.

The gameplay was really fun, especially the battles. There were some really unique battles here that switched up the battle system in ways entirely different from Undertale. It felt more difficult than Undertale too, but not punishingly so, which was also nice.

There's a fennec fox woman.

I will admit the game starts fairly slowly—the demo content (the Ruins section) isn't anything amazing, but once you finish the second section it really starts coming into its own.

One reason I didn't like the demo is because I disagree with how close this game takes place to Undertale in the timeline lore-wise. Which is petty. But honestly, after finishing the game, I can fully excuse that, because it makes for an amazing story.

Characters from Undertale (with one notable exception) are largely relegated to cameos, which I think is the right decision. It lets the game focus more on its original cast of characters and makes it feel much less fanservicey.

This game expands on Undertale's ideas and world in very interesting ways—exploring concepts that Undertale didn't delve much into.

Honestly, I think this game could stand on its own. I think you could play this without knowing anything about Undertale and it'd still work, which is a testament to how good it is.

There's a fennec fox woman! (I'm mostly joking about this, but come on. She's so cool)

If you like Undertale, play this game. It's literally free! IT COSTS ZERO DOLLARS. Here's the link to download it: https://gamejolt.com/games/UndertaleYellow/136925

[quaddmgd]

Did I ever talk about my love for Tekken? There was this post about games you played for more than 300 hours, and after GTA VC and LCS... it would definitely be Tekken 5 and 6 for me.

Anyway, my Tekken brainrot laid dormant deep inside of me for most of my teenage years and early adulthood. To be honest I entirely skipped Tekken 7 due to its performance on my PC at the time and its reliance on DLCs. I did manage to beat Tekken 4 in 2023 (the only one I've been missing until 7, but I quickly went back to not thinking about the franchise at all. That was the case until Tekken 8 demo dropped.

I downloaded it and played for a bit, not understanding what's going on story-wise at all, but instantly falling in love with its fluid 4k60 gameplay and new Nina design (she was always my main after all). It made me hungry for more Tekken and when I was talking about it with my s/o, I just had to check whether Tekken 7 finally received a 60fps patch on Xbox Series X. It didn't, but I ended up buying it anyway to satisfy my hunger for the franchise.

Played it a bit, finished the story and overall I had fun with it. I wasn't really satisfied with the story mode, but the gameplay was pleasant enough. I liked some of the new characters and overall it felt like a fulfilling return to the brainrot. That's what I thought before finding out that Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is backwards compatible on Series X.

I ordered a physical copy and instantly got hyped. I wanted to play it since its release but it costed so much at the time... and after some time I forgot about it, probably due to GTA V coming out. Flash forward a few days, I received my copy and ran back to my house to play as much as I can before my night shift starts.

You gotta understand - it was and still is the ultimate Tekken game for me, mostly due to how many characters it has. I played every mainline Tekken game (and Tag Tournament) before playing TTT2 and to play as Jun, Michelle, Violet, Ogre and Kunimitsu in one game meant a lot to me - I really appreciate OG Tekken characters, even though Tekken 3 and 5 are my favorite entries. If I was to talk here about how much grind in Tekken 5/6 I endured to make certain characters look like the OGs, this post would end up being insufferably long.

Many story-based games take up all my time and attention but I'm still playing it and I'm really close to getting all the endings. I set most levels to have my favorite tracks form older Tekken games and I'm especially enjoying my time with Jun, Kunimitsu and Michelle.

Now that fighting games are one of the most anti-consumer genres in modern gaming, a few years will pass before I'll get Tekken 8. I'd have to spend $100+ on ultimate edition, only to wait years for all of its content to arrive anyway. And since a month after its release they started introducing shops and battle passes, my enthusiasm got tempered even more.

But I'm so happy to be back and Tekken 7 and Tag Tournament 2 (and the older ones) will do it for now! Especially TTT2, it's really a blast!

[heartsyncproductions]

Hello hello, welcome to a look back at 2023 as well as a contemplation of 2024! Throwing the graphic together made me realize I released a lot more things then I thought I did (as well as do a lot of creative work privately since I really only share a fraction of what I make). At the same time, 2023 was pretty weird creatively, so let's talk about it!

First off, I thought I'd share some stats because I grew a lot this year if we're only talking about numbers. I wasn't really expecting it at all since I admittedly do zero marketing most days but here's some stats:

Memory Ghosts hit 100 downloads this year

PRETTYBOY Inc. is Hiring! ended the year at around 1.3k+ plays

Burning Academia [demo] ended the year at 7.2k+ plays

Disruptive Compassion hit 200+ plays (and it was only released in mid December)

Hit exactly 500 followers on my itch.io account

I don't really talk about my writing, but I did make my novella What the Trees Stole available outside of itch.io, and I released a short story collection We are Connected this year as well! In regards to my webnovel, I took a break from volume two to do edits on volume one and I'm hoping to have those done to release the first volume on itch as well as other places that allow you to have a novel available for free.

Anyways, just looking at the numbers I hit so much more growth then I was ever expecting. Anything that hit 100 feels like a win to me, and the way two of the games I released blew past that is wild. With that being said, I felt completely disconnected from most of what I made this year.

I lamented about this briefly when I wrote my post mortem for Disruptive Compassion, but DC felt like the monument to the feeling that a lot of what I made creatively I felt disconnected from. I was working 50 to 60 hour work weeks for the first half of the year (hooray healthcare), and I think I spent the rest of the year burnt out from it. 2023 was also hard in a lot of personal ways, so maybe all of that contributed to me not feeling close to anything I made creatively.

It isn't that I didn't like what I made, it just felt like someone else made it. In my DC post I said it was like being an observer looking at something through a glass screen instead of being it's creator, and that's really the only way I know how to describe it. It also makes it hard to celebrate any of the ways I've improved (especially how much I've improved in regards to my games), because it doesn't feel like I improved because nothing feels like my work. It's been really weird looking at pieces I've made and not seeing any of me in it, somehow.

Again, it's probably just what happens when you have a bad year. But as someone who's been into story telling since forever, it's not really a feeling I'm used to.

Moving away from that so I don't end up ranting for a million years, let's talk goals. I'm going to be honest, I didn't do a lot of what I set out to do LOL. Things I did do, to a degree:

Game Jams: I did Otome Jam (Spring Boy, though I have plans to overhaul it, more on that later), Velox Fabula (PRETTYBOY Inc. is Hiring!), and Velox Turbo (Disruptive Compassion)

Connect with the Community: I think my goal for this was a lot lower then the average persons. I have pretty severe paranoia, stemming from a long time battle with a Specific Mental Illness I don't feel like naming since it's so stigmatized aha. Because of this, I really just wanted to convince my brain that commenting on a post that I enjoyed someone's work isn't weird, or to exist a little more on social media and not exist in the perpetual hell that is assuming the minute I do I will be stalked and doxxed or something. This is also why Discord is the Worst Space in the world for me, because it's impossible to observe it from the outside and deem it safe. You just...join and have to see for yourself which makes it completely inaccessible to my brain. With that being said: I think I did ok! I think doing the Velox Jams really helped with this and even if it was just a little, I managed to leave comments and talk a little about things I enjoyed this year. It might seem like the bare minimum to others, but it felt like some pretty solid steps to me.

Release another game: I released two short, finished ones and two demos! This was a lot more then I was expecting, and I'm pretty happy with it.

Aaaand I'm pretty sure that's all I did that was on the list. Putting it like this, I did a lot more then I thought I did. So much of 2023 was feeling like I was in a rut, that I'm glad it wasn't actually true. With that, leaves the last part of this post: 2024 goals.

Rework Spring Boy: I was going to start this sooner, but unfortunately, I can be easily distracted. Fortunately, in my break I made two short games that taught me a lot about game design and writing that I can take and apply to this! I'm excited for my plans for this game!

Released up to chapter 4 of Burning Academia: I never talked about this here because I thought having my 17+ IF with my 13+ games and writing felt...weird lol. Anyways, I started a Twine IF called Burning Academia (@burning-academia-if is the blog for it if you're interested) which was supposed to just be me trying out Twine. However, I have had a lot of fun writing it so far! Only the prologue is out and chapter 1 should be out late January! I'm hoping to have up to chapter 4 out by the end of the year.

Velox Formido: 36 hours, 2 themes, one game. I'm ready to suffer-

Community Connection: Continue working on talking about the things I like more while interacting with more people in the community! I also realized this year during Velox Turbo I'd like to work in a team some time, but that's more something I'm using 2024 to work towards so I can do something like that in 2025!

Writing: I don't talk about my writing anywhere near as much as I should consider I'm a thousand percent more a writer then a game dev lol. I'm hoping to edit and release volume one of my webnovel How to Bury Fairytales and finish the online first draft of volume two. I also want to finish and publish my dark fantasy/asexual love story novella 'Mercy Dreams' this year as well!

I should probably add a 'try to actually market this year' goal as well, but I know myself. It's not going to happen lmfaO. Anyways! If you read all of this thank you! These are always more of a list for myself then anything, but I do hope anyone here has enjoyed what I've made this year, and honestly thank you to everyone who has played my games or gave me a follow!

Hopefully 2024 I start to feel connected to my work again, and may I continue to grow and improve creatively!

[drizzileiscool]

drizzile's mind presents:

That one time I absolutely demolished one of my irls in puyo puyo tetris 2

starring: drizzile

and irl who I no longer see as a friend because they are transphobic and I want to stop hanging out with

this is another long post

back when tetris 99 released, a youtuber I liked played it for the first time. they kinda sucked tbh but I'm not gonna say who the youtuber is. during the intro of the video, they played footage from a streamer named wumbo. at this time, I had no understanding of the concept of competitive tetris. I immediately checked out his channel and saw gameplay that seemed impossible for me. I later got the t99 dlc to try to practice playing competitive tetris. I still sucked but now I could almost kinda do a t spin. fast forward to me falling down the puyo puyo rabbit hole. i downloaded the demo for ppt and tried playing against the cpus.

Fast forward even more. I have done my first tst in t99 marathon mode and was proud of myself. my irl was also slightly into tetris, but not nearly as much as I am. he knew how the game works but that's it. he didn't know how to t spin (I think he still doesn't), and also believed that combos could only go up to 4 (he also doesn't know about 4wides).

fast forward to the release of ppt2. I asked for it on christmas, but due to me having covid, I had to wait until new years to play it. after beating the story, i went online and got destroyed.

I then looked up some tips on how to get better, slowly improving my speed, and "mastering" the t spin. meanwhile, my irl played tetris party deluxe on the wii and attempted a single t spin.

Fast forward again. I challenged my irl to t99 (the update that added private rooms came out). although we couldn't see what we were doing, we both assumed we were at the same skill level, and we were wrong.

Another fast forward, this is the last one I swear, irl challenges me to ppt2 because he thought the t99 thing was unfair. During this time, the school we were at announced that if people had good enough grade, they would get to participate in a thing called "fun friday", where at the end of a friday, we got to hang out and do whatever in the gym, including playing on switch. When the first round started, I literally swept the floor with him. he did not get the chance to do literally anything. I pc'd him, repeatedly t spinned, and attempted a 4wide at the end (but failed at the 4wide since I still wasn't good enough for that). All he pulled off was a few tetrises and regular line clears. I had several hours of training in tetris, while he only had like 10 minutes. after this, he was very visibly shocked at how good I was compared to him. we never played against each other in any tetris game again (except for te:c once, which he gave up on), and he now calls me the tetris god.

unimportant to the story but also funny: one time when we were talking about this to another friend (who thankfully isn't transphobic but I rarely get to talk to them), he casually mentioned that I am a god at tetris and devoted my entire life to it. coincidentally, I was wearing a tetris shirt under my coat, so I immediately showed it off, resulting in a few laughs.

[wraenata]

Here's a question. How much of pokemon have you played? (Mainline series, side series, etc) :3

Pokemon long rambling activated :3

Seriously long post

So before my mom banned pokemon from our house (probably when I was around 7?) we loved Pokémon. We never had a video game console but my cousins did. So technically pokemon stadium is my first pokemon game! Only ever the rentals haha. But we loved playing the mini games.

When my mom banned pokemon and sold all our plushies (rip butterfree plush, I'll get you back some day) it was a pokemon drought. Until my cousin went to college and gave me her pokemon card collection. (Supposedly the halo mew is worth $100?! But I treasure them) and the brainrot infected me once again.

I started learning everything I could about game mechanics. This was when Gen 5 came out in Japan so you didn't even have the English translations yet! I made lists of what my teams would be in each game, how to divy up the HMs, how to get certain egg moves. All without playing a single game lol.

And then I found playr.org. It had all the retro game boy games. Including Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal. Unfortunately the saving system wasn't so great and got corrupted a few times (rip shiny ekans) but I did mostly play Silver or Crystal. (This is where the name Wren for my character was born!)

I craved more but I didn't know how to download emulators safely :( I watched playthroughs to get by. To this day let's plays are a comfort source for me <3

By the way I did all of this without my parents ever knowing. I was very good at hiding it from them XD

I think it was finally like freshman year of college when I figured out the pokemon fan games. I'm talking Uranium, Phoenix Rising demo, Ethereal Gates demo, Solar Light Lunar Dark, Sage, aka non emulator ones. Basically any I could get my hands on. I also started drawing fakemon in my sketchbook. I kind of want to revisit those some day. I still have the sketchbook somewhere.

Then I figured out emulators FINALLY. At least enough and got an emulator and mystery dungeon explorers of sky, MY BELOVED! I have played through the rom many times. I have a randomizer. Also a few years ago I found Sky Temple for editing the rom aka different starter pokemon. The discord server is always working on making new sprites so you can be any pokemon you want its very wonderful.

Junior year of college, I said I'd had enough. I spent an entire year hyping over Sun and Moon and my bestie/roomie convinced me to treat myself, something I literally never did. I bought a 3DS and Pokemon Sun and never looked back. I loved it. My first real pokemon game. (My parents were not happy when they found out lol). I spent so many hours. I got big into breeding perfect IV pokemon (idk why cause I never did online battles) or shiny breeding. I used to work til 11 pm some nights and before bed I'd just do some breeding. I would have the pokemon in the perfect ball and have all the egg moves and perfect IVs and nature and have the perfect nick name cause I was obsessive like that oof. I got ultra moon when it came out as well and loved it. I also bought pokemon X and Omega Ruby which I enjoyed. But Sun and Ultra Moon I played many times and bred so many perfect pokemon.

I did pick up roms around this time for Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Black and White and the sequels, and maybe Platinum? But they ran really slow on my computer so I never made it far. I preferred playing on my 3ds. But I still played quite a bit of Sky rom.

I was, less excited about Sword and Shield. I saved up a whole year to buy my switch and bought Lets go Eevee, Botw, and Sword when Gen 8 came out. I did inhale the entire game of Sword in one week, but I don't think I ever finished a second playthrough. The story was really disappointing and I did not like the gen 8 pokemon as much. It's hard when you're not a big fan of any of the starter evolutions, cause pressing B for every level up is tedious :(

I did enjoy Lets Go Eevee but after I loaned it to my bestie I had troubled getting back in. The ball throwing was a little off putting.

Oh I also bought Mystery dungeon Rescue Dx and I enjoyed that quite a bit!

Last summer I was struggling a lot with my emotions and frustration with my mom and as a form of therapy started spending money oof. I wanted a second DS so I could trade back and forth and make my life easier. It took a lot of bidding on Goodwill online but I snagged a second 2ds, legit copy of pmd sky! and pmd gates to infinity. And Pokemon Soul Silver! Also I bought the digital versions of gen 1 and 2 before the eshop closed.

I also bought Shining Pearl cause it went super on sale, but after I lent it to my bestie I haven't played since. I actually dont like too many gen 4 pokemon besides Glaceon, Leafeon, and Chatot.

Playing pokemon mystery dungeon on a 3ds instead of a computer keyboard was so much more satisfying. I played through Sky and loved it of course. Then I picked up Gates to Infinity which I never knew the story. I enjoyed it! I was and Oshawott with partner Snivy.

This brings me to last late summer, and the turtle brainrot set in and grew. Less pokemon, more turtles! I debated back and forth whether to get Scarlet or Violet up til the day it released. And then I just didn't. I watched playthroughs though. Seems pretty good and I like a lot of the pokemon, especially after gen 8 when I struggled to find enough to fill out a team of 6. I only like to use pokemon I like. I'm sure I'll get it someday but for now, turtles have my brain.

And that's my pokemon origin story! Still mad about my mom selling all our pokemon plushies. I do still have my cousins pokemon cards and I treasure them <3

I am very adamant about my pokemon having the perfect nick names.

Umbreon is my favorite pokemon <3

Not surprisingly this got very very long. If you made it this far, have a Leppa Berry <3

[fierykitten2]

So my current (as of writing this and btw I am writing this first part before attempting the plan) headcanon about F-Zero heights is Pico is the shortest member of the Original Four and the humans of the Original Four are in age order (Falcon is second shortest because he’s youngest, Dr Stewart is second tallest because he’s second youngest, Goroh is tallest because he’s second oldest and then there’s Pico). But I’m not 100% certain and I want to have a height comparison chart to compare their heights. Luckily, I have thought of a way to do this — I download their models from The Models Resource (where they will be ripped directly from GX) and import them into blender (modern problems require modern solutions). While I’m there, why don’t I do the X gang, AX gang and Deathborn as well?

I’m just gonna take a guess that the model heights are actually gonna be more accurate to their art from the SNES game — this means Falcon and Dr Stewart will actually be the same height as each other while not only is Goroh not the tallest, but he’s the shortest. Why have I been headcanoning that he was the tallest? Because I’m pretty certain I read somewhere that in a demo of GX he was taller than Falcon. If it weren’t for that, I would’ve headcanoned him as being the shorter one

Now for the moment you've all been waiting for (probably not but it's what this post is about even if it takes two and a bit paragraphs to get there):

Okay, slightly annoying thing here - the "centre" of the models is at their waists for some reason (I'm used to working with models where the centre is by their feet. Paws actually, usually when I play around with blender I use the Eeveelutions). This makes it really annoying to try and measure them. From what I can tell, Falcon and Dr. Stewart are about the same height but honestly, it's hard to tell. I think Robert is slightly taller. Not really surprised to be fair, it's pretty easy to assume he's taller than Falcon partly because he's thinner but also partly because he doesn't tend to manspread when standing up. Now that I think about it, with the exception of Dr Stewart and Kate Alen (and maybe a few others but those two are the ones I've noticed) it's kinda weird seeing them all with their legs together. Anyway, I got a bit distracted there. Pico and Goroh at first look like they're taller than Falcon and Dr Stewart but at the same time, their feet end higher up so it's harder to tell. Moving away from the Original Four for a second, I'm honestly surprised how tall Michael is. He's about three quarters (at least) of a square taller than Blood Falcon and therefore also Captain Falcon and I never really noticed the height difference between the two of them. Zoda also appears to be quite tall but his model wasn't present on the Models Resource so I had to get it from a OneDrive folder so the scale might be a little off but it was uploaded by the same person so hopefully scale problems shouldn't be an issue here. Also Phoenix's model came with two capes that sorta occupied the same place which is why he's got a weird checkmark pattern on his cape. The shortest seem to be Dai, San and Gen (Dai's the red one right? Because I think Dai's model was given Gen's name and Gen's file was given Dai's name. I think (although I could be wrong) that San was correctly named). The tallest is harder to work out. Excluding hair, horns and other accessories (not the right word), Deathborn, Bio Rex, Black Shadow and Spade all seem to be competing with each other for who's the tallest and honestly, the only one out of the four that surprises me is Bio Rex. Others like Draq and Don Genie come close. Another thing I'm kinda surprised at is the fact that Digi Boy (who is 8 years old) is one and a half squares taller than Dai Goroh (who is 10 years old). I mean, It's not unusual - I've (almost) always been shorter than my sibling who happens to be 2 years younger than me but still, it's a surprise

Okay, when counting the squares, Falcon is about 9 and a quarter squares tall, Dr Stewart is about 9 and a half squares tall, Pico is just under 10 squares tall and Goroh is also just under 10 squares tall. So much for my headcanon that Pico was the shortest of the Original Four. Also, I knew Falcon was the youngest of the Original Four, I didn't know he was the shortest as well. They're all between 9 and 10 squares tall though so they're still pretty close in terms of height

What we've all learnt from this is that I get surprised when humans are shorter than younger humans but sorta expect that in aliens

[arsenalsquid]

MY VIRTUAL SINGER SONG TIMELINE

I wanna make this as a little story about my earliest connections to Vocaloid/Virtual Singers and how it all led me to loving them.

#1 Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!

Without a doubt, this was the first. All those YouTube videos and internet memes, it was the "Nyan Cat song" of course! But... in reality, it was actually a Miku song, but super sped up. I and many others wouldn't know, so my jaw DROPPED when a friend hovered over the song in Project DIVA, but that wouldn't be until much later. While this wasn't my true start, it would be a long journey.

#2 Senbonzakura and LOL – Lots of Laugh –

Maaany years later, and here I am! My first actual exposure to Hatsune Miku! I'd download a ton of 3DS demos to play, and Project Mirai was one of them. These two would be burned into my mind forever. I even remember going out of my way and searching them up on YouTube, and being amazed by the visuals on arcade/PS4!! I now understood the most basic concept of Miku; someone who sings. I don't remember why I liked this though. I must have seen it as a cute game, with cute songs and fun visuals. But, that would be it. I'd eventually delete the demo, forget about the songs, and move on... but not before...

#3 Kagerou Daze

The first song I encountered on my own! I discovered it while looking at videos of Senbonzakura and LOL, so this was around the same time as that. It was this animated one in particular that I saw the most! I believe I did see the Project DIVA music video, too. I just found myself so enthralled by this, it was so different from the cutesy songs I was just listening to. It was such a heavy feeling song, but the pacing made it so fun to listen to. A feeling that would return later... I listened to these 3 songs a lot, but yeah, I just stopped and didn't really bother looking for more.

#4 Tokyo Teddy Bear

Once again, more years would pass, but this was it. I was having a VRChat session with friends, and one of them put on some virtual singer songs. I didn't really care or pay any attention to them, and just chatted or drew. That is until they put Tokyo Teddy Bear, the Kasane Teto cover. I completely stopped what I was doing and just stared. It was like my friend's voices disappeared and all I could see and hear was this song... and it's visuals. And when it ended, I asked my friend to play it again, and again. It was kind of funny, as they pointed out how I looked just standing still and staring. He showed me some other Teto songs, like Teto Territory and that Fukkireta song.

Afterwards...

I was OBSESSED with Teto. My PFP, reaction gifs I'd send, and non-stop talking for about a week straight. I was so happy to find something I liked this much. And that's when my friend showed me Project DIVA Mega Mix+!! I've come full circle. From there I liked even MORE songs, and after a day or two of him showing me the game, I bought it alongside the DLC, and bam. Vocaloid/Virtual Singer lover forever. Got Project SEKAI, downloaded Project DIVA and Mirai on my PS Vita and 3DS, and got a few merchandise.

I've never felt this obsessed with something in a long while, I think my last thing was Persona 3 back in high school. It's really fun though!! Listening and finding all sorts of new music, seeing the music videos, building my playlist, sharing it with others. I definitely skimmed through a bit, but music means a lot to me. And this form of music is just so amazing to me, a near endless supply of songs to listen to. It makes me so happy. Even the most depressing songs make me happy, because I have something to listen and connect to when I'm down. I love using music as a coping skill !!!!!!

Thank you for reading if you did!!!! This is more of a personal post for me to save >_< My love for this will keep growing :3

[pumpkin-spike18]

✨Weekly Progress #51-52✨ +Happy New Year 2024✨

I've been thinking about the past year for the last few days and struggled with how to talk about it.

But, let's start with the weekly progress reports, before I miss the ability to do it for 2023.

Weekly Progress #51

Linearted 4 SYVNH BGs

Answered more BWOBK edit comments

Yes, it's the same image as last time since... the 4 linearts were done by the time I posted the last update.

Weekly Progress #52

Scripted BWOBK S1-S3

Submitted the demo for The Beauty Which Only Beast Knows to Winter VN Jam and Once Upon a Time VN Jam

The demo is now available for download here!

...Oh my god, I forgot I start my weeks on Mondays. My brain got really confused for the twitter version of this update 😅

I'll be making a separate post for it tomorrow (or Akua would), but BWOBK is finally out! ...Well, the demo for it anyways. The last week has been a blur of editing, scripting, and final playtesting. I was working quite frantically so I didn't record all of my tasks for the past week.

...Which, to be fair, didn't amount to much other than working on BWOBK. Our team wanted to accomplish a lot for this jam, but as the final week approached, we knew we had to cut back a bit if we wanted to submit anything to the two jams so we discussed and agreed to submit a demo.

Please look forward to a full release in January 2024!

Looking Back at 2023 ⏳

Visual Novel Development

Last year I made this tweet to celebrate what I accomplished in 2022.

A total of 5 VNs was an amazing feat I didn't think I'd accomplish. I was prepared to never beat this record again. Yet, lo and behold...

This year, I submitted nine projects.

1 Updated Demo:

I counted this as a submission since my update was about 50k new words, all new BGs, and like 14 CGs (I forgot the exact number). Sadly, I couldn't make it to the finish line of a full game. That'll be 2024!

4 Solo Projects:

These are four short visual novels I did for a variety of jams (three of them were for about week long game jams). They're all playable in browser and shouldn't take longer than 20 minutes each to play.

one last time. is a standalone entry.

kill your feelings., spirit killing curse, and Exorcist Killing Lie are separate stories set in the same world of ghosts, unreliable gods, and exorcists. I've been calling it the Kill Series and I hope to work on it more in 2024.

4 Team Projects:

I participated in another four visual novel projects this year! Two of which were demos, and one even won second place in the Spooktober Visual Novel Game Jam!! That was a real surprise! Although everyone in the team worked super hard, I don't think any of us expected it. So it was really a great and amazing surprise that had all of us shocked with happiness!

The Beauty Which Only Beast Knows is a demo I'm the main writer for. I also wrote one of the routes for The Final Prize is Soup, which is the second place Spooktober 2023 winner!

I provided the art for For the First Time.

And I did the programming for Saintess Alasdair is Dead.

All of these visual novels (plus more from previous years!) can be found free to play on my itch profile!

I think, next year, I won't be able to beat this record 😂 In fact, I hope I don't... As happy as I am to have performed such a feat, it was very exhausting and took a lot of energy out of me. I just hope to finish my ongoing projects in 2024.

Other Creative Goals

Here is another tweet from early 2023:

I wasn't able to spend a lot more time animating, and it's hard to gauge improvement on my own, but...

I did it! I completed 24 illustrations!

This has been a mix of OC art, fanart, a couple gifts, and a couple commissions. Hopefully, next year I'll be able to not "cheat" by adding commissions to the mix... 😂 I'm very proud of my commission works, but I did say it was supposed to be personal art.

I actually spend the last three months drawing 10 of the illustrations. To be exact, I drew 14/24 drawings in the second half of 2023... This was alongside working on a variety of CGs and BGs for games, a couple fancomics, and some design work that didn't feel quite "illustration" worthy.

Other

As a number of you might have noticed, or if you're one of my closer friends in devtalk... I quit my job!! Which, may sound like a bad thing, but I'm actually quite relieved. I finally freed myself from something that felt like it had been chaining me down for years.

I did it with no plans, just enough savings for a short while. Hopefully, this will be the wake up call I need to improve my life and find a job I enjoy. I took a few months off so I'm ready and back for the job hunt in 2024! (...So in about an hour from me writing this, haha)

Speaking of the job hunt... I also started accepting commissions on vgen! I don't know if I want to pursue a creative career, but it isn't out of the question.

If you're interested, I'll be opening for a week or so in 2024 before I close to work on projects again until June or something. (wink wonk 😉😉)

Finally, I'm really happy to have joined the Ace Attorney fandom this year. I started replaying the games around September and searched for a fandom discord on a whim. I've met some really great writers and artists since! Everyday getting to talk about gay lawyers have been great and reminded me of an almost lost fun from my childhood.

So if any of you from there see this post, hello! Thank you for giving me such a warm welcome! I really enjoy spending time with you all!

And someday, I WILL kidnap you guys into making a visual novel with me.

I participated in my first online fan event thanks to everyone there and it was a lot of fun. I hope to do more with everyone soon!

Well, that's all! If you made it all the way down here, thank you for reading! 2023 has been an interesting ride and I look forward to 2024.

It's currently 11:12PM for me here (I made it, I finished writing before midnight!) but, this is probably as close as I can get before getting distracted by a video or other work so...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[act-novel]

Development Notes #3 | First Layer, Two Weeks Later

Note: This post was originally published on act-novel.itch.io on March 14th, 2023. It has been carried over to this blog for posterity.

Hello, this is Garrett Thompson, sole member of Act-Novel. 

At this time of writing, it has been two weeks since Version 1 of Reality Layer Zero was uploaded to itch.io. I think now is a good time to go over how the game's been doing in that period, and how the development of the second layer is progressing in the meantime.

- Lead-up to Release -

Oh no!

The night before February 28th (the day I declared would be the release day for the first layer in the previous Development Notes entry), I uncovered a number of late-breaking issues with the then-release-candidate build. Specifically, I found four critical issues in three separate corners of the code. Two of the four were related to the deck editor (pictured above), one was related to the "continue" option on the main menu (you couldn't select "continue" if you only had an autosave file saved-- clearly a bug!), and one was related to the end-of-layer savegame prompt (which would save your game... and then promptly crash it if you had more "cleared" save files than "in-progress" save files on your hard drive). 

I was up pretty late fixing all of those the night they turned up. As I'll mention later, this wasn't quiiiite the extent of the "critical errors" in version 1... But it was pretty close, I think.

- Release Day -

It's been a while since I last uploaded a project to itch (hey, what could this be?), but fortunately the actual deployment process isn't too complicated. I basically just zipped the game files, pointed Butler at 'em, and that was that. In retrospect, I may have zipped too many files-- most of the game's music is actually in the deployed zip archive twice-- once in the packed "data" file (which the game actually uses) and once in an external "Audio/music" folder (which... I'm pretty sure doesn't even get looked at by the game code, but which you can use to listen to outside of the game... y'know, if you want to...) Since this makes the zip file bigger than it needs to be, it may be necessary to remove the external audio in later updates-- both to avoid scaring people off with a large initial download and to potentially get around having to ask itch directly for more upload space (not that I think they wouldn't grant me that, just out of courtesy). 

The actual day of release was a mostly-quiet affair. Most of the traffic the game page saw was from the post I made on the itch community forums, and from links I sent to various friends and acquaintances who did not participate in the Steam beta. For day 1,  I was fine with this, since I mostly just wanted to sleep and not think about Reality Layer Zero too much. In the coming days, though...

- In the coming days, though... -

Ded. (Suspiciously-cropped graph?)

For the first five days following release, Reality Layer Zero garnered 87 page views and 10 downloads. 2 of those downloads were both me, downloading the game on different machines to make sure the files were uploaded successfully, and at least two others were from people who I know directly, so really it was more like 6 downloads. Now, while that's not zero, it was less than half of the number of people who participated in the Steam beta test. Aside from being a bit disappointed at having made something ostensibly unpopular, I was also skeptical that the practical purpose of the itch release-- which was to hopefully catch errors before releasing the first layer into the wild as a Steam demo-- would be successfully fulfilled. 

So basically I stared posting to Reddit. This is sort of bad etiquette on my part, since I'm not very active on Reddit and a lot of my post history is, well, posting about my other projects-- but I followed the rules otherwise and generally posted high-effort content (either custom video edits or, in the case of r/games, an appropriately-formatted and tagged self-post), and in short, nobody seemed to mind too much. 

This started to drive some traffic toward the Reality Layer Zero itch page. Not a lot, just some. The click-through-rate was *very* low from Reddit to Itch, but pageviews and downloads both were undeniably better than on previous days. On both March 6th and March 8th, Reality Layer Zero was downloaded nine times, and for all other days in the period between the 5th and the 11th, between one and three times. In a less confusing way of putting that, 12 days after launch, the game had garnered 45 downloads and 446 pageviews. At this point, I considered things were doing alright.

- Patching, Continued Development -

Technically, this isn't a gameplay spoiler since this guy actually got moved since this screenshot was taken! 

During this period of sustained promotion, a player was kind enough to bring a crash in the deck editor to my attention. This was the other critical error I alluded to earlier in this post. I'm pretty sure Paulby knew about me from the Applewood days, so I'm not sure if I can chalk this event up as a direct consequence of the promotion or not, but it was nevertheless precisely the thing I wanted to see-- well, perhaps not "wanted", per-se, but, uh... It's the second-best possible outcome! (the first being, of course, the mythical bug-free program) This, as well as several other errors and quality-of-life issues, were addressed in Reality Layer Zero's first patch.

Also during this period, I found some time to start working on the art for the second layer. It took about five days, but I completed illustrations for all of the newly-obtainable argument cards currently planned for that layer. For card illustrations, the actual "illustration" part doesn't take *thaaaat* much time (due to the small canvas size), but figuring out an aesthetically-pleasing and thematically-appropriate composition can be quite time-consuming (and exhausting to boot). I'm looking forward to sharing these illustrations with players-- potentially you!-- when the second layer releases.  

I have also-- as of Sunday, anyway-- started back into character design and character art production. I would have liked to get started on this earlier in the month, but the demands of patching and post-release promotion caused me a bit of a delay. I'd estimate I'm about a week behind schedule versus where I'd be if I had not released anything. That... is honestly not a big deal.

--

So, all-told, what are we looking at? 50-ish downloads, one patch, and development progressing reasonably-smoothly on the second layer? In other words, not an amazing release, but a decently-productive one. A real workmanlike release. That was going to be my conclusion for this Development Notes entry... until Monday, that is!

- Rocket Fuel?? -

The full, uncropped graph.Gamecube startup jingle.

Starting on Monday of this week (March 13th, precisely yesterday) I noticed a change in views and downloads-- specifically an upward trajectory, seemingly out of nowhere. For a moment, I considered the possibility that Itch had frontpaged the game, but that wasn't what happened (not that I'd complain if it did).  

The best I can tell, the promotion I did on Reddit over the week leading up to Monday had an accumulatory effect on Reality Layer Zero's popularity ranking on Itch, and on Monday it finally boiled over to the point where people simply browsing popular games (both in genre tags like Card Game and in the general "popular games" section) would reasonably, and in tangible quantities, stumble upon the game and chance a click. Or at least that's the story that the analytics seem to tell. 

Another Reddit post (not made by me this time) was made during this period, but as far as I can tell had less of an impact than just the ambient traffic from the browse feature.

For a brief time-- possibly even now-- Reality Layer Zero actually surpassed games you've definitely heard of, like Deltarune and OneShot, in sitewide popularity. That's kind of nutty! It... probably won't stay that way for long! My prediction is that the game simply doesn't have a large-enough, dedicated-enough audience to sustain that level of interest for an extended period. I'd love to be wrong, of course, but for now I'm considering this just a temporary win.

Today has likewise been a pretty good day for traffic, although not as strong as Monday. Interest will... probably gradually return to baseline noise as the week continues. Hey, at least it was cool to watch this all happen in real time. 

- Future Work -

Aaaagh, DirectX!!

Thanks to the efforts of my irreplaceable friends doing some testing that I'd be unable to do on my own, it seems that a VRAM bottleneck has been discovered in the current build. This might not be true for all GPU's with similar specs, but it seems that 2GB VRAM DDR3's on systems running Windows 10 will struggle to run the game-- and crash in exterior scenes-- with odds being good that it's due to lack of available memory.  As it stands, it might be the case that at least a 3GB VRAM card is needed to run the current build-- or else one of those fancy "flexible memory" cards (e.g. the Intel Iris Xe) that I honestly don't know that much about. I'm going to try to optimize down to the 2GB DDR3 target-- my gut feeling is that a card with 2GB of VRAM ought to be able to run my simple 3D pixel game, so I probably just messed up somewhere. If you're currently rocking a 2GB card, sit tight! Hope hasn't died out for you! If you're working with even less... Well, dang.

- Conclusion -

It's been an eventful two weeks. Getting some attention after all of this time working in relative obscurity was a nice little reward for tolerating the many release-window annoyances that cropped up during this period. Although I'd still say "real" development has slowed down a little bit, it hasn't been by too much. While it's still too early to say whether the new players "like" the game or not, I have seen some good early signs...

I don't even know this guy! Probably!

Anyway, it's back to working on the second layer for me. In the meantime, why not try out the first layer for yourself if you haven't yet? You can also listen to the game's soundtrack on YouTube, if that's what you're about.

Thank you very much for reading!

[zhongrin]

I suppose that make sense considering GI take at least a year to add a new world/archon lol. From my understanding, they tend to base things in real life? Like I've heard that `Sumeru is based on the Middle East and South Asia? Oh, that doesn't sound too bad then and it's sound quite ethnical, at the end of the day GI want to make everyone happy lol which is probably why they made the game for free. I've seen clips of the Windblume festival and it seem like it hit the viewers in the feels? Lol, I don't know but I have seen gifs of it on here. Maybe, GI thought they would be safe since the game is free. I get where you're coming from though, it would be a massive turnoff for the hardcore fans. Yes, I'm nowhere near finishing, I still have a lot of things to look forward too ^^ That sound neat! Yh, I would imagine that the PC version would be the best one to play but again apparently it's lags depending on your system. It's probably because of the IOS update? It works better on the newer models but GI is only available on the Apple Store, it's not available for Non-Apple users so I'm not entirely sure, it seem like their focus is more on Windows users. What phone do you have now? I have the iPhone 11 ^ I'm sure that the adapation will be in good hands since it's Ufotable, I would hate to imagine what would had happened if Netflix got their hands on it lol. That's a short time to catch up with the game! You must really like it then, how long did it take for you to meet Zhongli? That still sound like a good range of characters! It must be fun to have Itto though considering his demo/personality. I download the game last year in the summer, I have Thoma, Noelle, Gorou and another one? I can't remember their name though. I found Thoma to be the most useful one, I was pulling for Itto but I didn't get him ;-; - Moon Anon

yeah... at least they have events and such tho! ahh there's a lot of opinions that goes for sumeru's origins and what it's based on so i'm not gonna open that can of worms, but yeah you're right! all the regions are based on certain countries and cultures!

windblume festival was nice! i liked lantern rite more but i'm probably biased bc liyue is my favorite nation lol

it's good! your journey is still far from over!! you mean GI is not available on mac? yeah, it's not (mac user here lol) haha not too sure why since it's available on iPad and iPhones ;;;

i just changed to iPhone 13 early this year bc my iPhone 7 was getting far too slow & its battery can barely last an hour if it's used hahah

honestly, i don't watch netflix original series so i'm not sure about their adaptation quality, but i have heard many bad things... given hyv's background tho, i feel like that option isn't something they would explore?

hahah i think the fact that previously i've played on my brother's account helped a lot! i was already familiar with the controls, characters, and a few other things. for zhongli, i've met him on my brother's account but he only came home last august in my account haha (he made me pull out my card ;;;;)

i love thoma! i wanted him to be my main pyro dps but he wasn't built for that... and my brother was like "he's no good don't build him" ;w; BUT with the dendro reactions he's a good party member now!! >:)

[sailxrmxrs]

in celebration of the infinite blue demo dropping, i'm also dropping some headcanons of some thoughts of our first meeting with each of the lis! obviously the demo has only just come out so i'm still getting used to each of their personalities hehe so forgive me if any seem a little out of character ! am v v excited for this game and will be playing the demo many times to get all the endings. also u reading this should also download and play the demo bc it's very good the characters are very pretty and the music is really good and the writing too just all of it chef's kiss amazing

♡ leo ♡

Meeting Leo was an idea that played on your mind frequently as soon as the two of you started to talk more and more in private. He was ever enthusiastic and excited to learn more about you and who you were outside of the app. And there was no denying the way he casually flirted with you, offering compliments and leaving cute good morning messages for whenever you woke up. It came as no surprise to anyone when the two of you slowly started to fall for one another, least of all you and Leo. It felt as natural as breathing, a part of your daily routine so deeply ingrained that you couldn't imagine a day without some form of Leo existing even in the periphery of your plans. Whether it be a small text or an hour long call, he'd situated himself right at the apex of your heart—had rooted himself there with no intentions of clawing free. Naturally, you had managed to do the exact same for him, your presence in Leo's own life permanent and ineffaceable. It was a mutually admired closeness that neither had any desire to relinquish. And this was before you'd even met in person. Who knew exactly how difficult it would be to part from one another after relishing in the physical closeness in conjunction with your usual emotional proximity.

Even now you made your way to meet him, eyes and ears tuned in to your phone awaiting some kind of message that he was there already. Leo remained at the front and centre of your thoughts, dancing around in your mind like he owned the place. Still, the excitement of your oncoming afternoon had your heart skipping a beat with every other step you took. In mere minutes you would finally be meeting Leo and would no longer have the barriers of the internet holding either of you back. There was still so much you wanted to say and do with him that just didn't feel the same over text or even in a phone call. You wanted to see every expression on his face close up, hear his laugh caress your ears in a way your phone just couldn't live up to, see the way his eyes creased ever so slightly when he smiled deep enough. All of it. You wanted to learn anything and everything you could about him. When you reached the spot you'd agreed to meet at, you took a quick glance at your phone before taking a moment to breathe and compose yourself for meeting him. A cocktail of excitement and adrenaline, tainted with a slight tinge of nerves and anxiety, coursed through your veins, pulsing as if it were one with your blood. What if he didn't show up? What if he decided it wasn't the same like this? What if he saw you off in the distance and decided that no, this wasn't worth it? As you stood waiting, trying to hold back the slowly spiralling thoughts, a text alert sounded from your phone.

Message Received: Leo

look up

And as you followed his instruction, sure enough, Leo was stood before you, beaming. He wore one of many signature hats he'd mentioned during a call, tufts of black hair peeking out the bottom. Before you could utter a word of greeting, Leo swept you up into a tight hug, holding you close as his cheek rested against your forehead.

"You don't understand how long I've wanted to do this. Sorry if I'm a little forward just... I really like you. I've been thinking about this a lot."

Smiling at Leo's concern, you took a step back and reached your hand to cup his cheek, feeling warmth bloom beneath your fingertips. "Don't apologise. This is all I've been thinking about for, god I don't know how long. Don't hold back either. I like you just as you are."

Milo's smile grew tenfold, his hand placing itself on top of yours, to pull it away from his face ever so slightly to leave a kiss to the palm of your hand. "Likewise, love."

♡ milo ♡

Of the relationships you'd formed with each of the other boys, Milo had been the least forthcoming. He was often colder or less personable with his responses, opting to be the voice of reason. That wasn't to say he wasn't friends with everyone, but rather that he established a specific distance. Though that was contradicted by his perchance for surveillance that came with the territory of his job. Still, any time the suggestion was raised for the group to meet Milo was always the first to say no. Even his calls were few and far between, only picking up in volume over a longer span of time. As the two of you grew closer, Milo's tendency to poke fun and spur on the others became a lot more apparent. He knew exactly how to push all of their buttons, though they could not say the same for Milo, of course. One night he called you after riling up Rory, laughing at the reaction he'd gotten. It was the first time you'd heard him laugh so heartily and when you called attention to that fact Milo coughed, needing a moment to recompose himself. He went on to say the real reason why he called was because there was some new movie showing that he wanted to see and maybe, possibly, did you want want to go and see it too. He worded it so poorly in his awkwardness that it took a moment to even realise he was asking you out. Even when you accepted and looked at your diary to figure out the best time, Milo was half stuttering and tripping on his words. So as not to embarrass him too much you didn't call him out for the divergence from his usual way of speaking, though it was undeniably cute.

When the day came that the two of you proposed to meet, it took a moment before you actually recognised each other. The both of you had been much less forthcoming with photos or videos of your day to day lives than the other chat participants. To other onlookers it probably looked rather cute seeing the two of you bump hands with each other, quite literally, as you reached for the same drink from the display inside the cinema. Your hands touched and you both looked up, recognition pouring through your features at the realisation that this was your fated first meeting. It was the kind of interaction that only happened in romance novels or movies, not real life, and yet here you were, fingers still touching. Milo offered a featherlight nudge as he nodded toward the drink you'd initially wanted which just so happened to be the last of its kind. As you took it, Milo selected his own and cleared his throat in an attempt to swallow down the instant feeling of nervousness that wracked his entire being the moment he realised you were stood right there before him. He'd hoped to get here a little early to calm himself and fully prepare only to be thrown right in the deep end.

"You can have this if you'd like, I don't mind," you commented, holding out the drink you'd taken and hoping Milo wasn't about to bolt.

"No no it's fine. I'm good." His response was stiff, clearly not feeling ready for the exchange. "Sorry I'm just kind of nervous. For some reason."

"You're good. I am too. But we can be nervous together. Want to grab some snacks?" When Milo nodded his agreement, you slipped your hand in his and gently squeezed in reassurance, giggling when he gasped and frantically looked at you to see if you'd noticed. That barrier of awkwardness crumbled apart within minutes and he would soon return those same comforting squeezes as he held onto your hand.

♡ rory ♡

There was something about Rory that had you believing there was a lot left unsaid, kept hidden in the dark away from prying eyes so as not to give away anything too personal. Your private conversations with him were nice, of course, but it felt as though he was wary of getting too close and letting himself bring down those cold iron walls. Over time, the frosted layer that encased those walls melted away and, one by one, the hard iron walls deconstructed to reveal the molten core that resided within. Rory was, deep down, far more emotional and considerate than the others gave him credit for but that was a secret entrusted only to you; a gift of trust bestowed upon you to signify just how much he truly cared for your presence in his life. Though he was not entirely forthcoming with his emotions still, even after allowing himself the freedom to be vulnerable with you. But that was simply Rory. You'd fallen for his cool exterior and happily accepted him in all forms, frequently expressing the fact both to watch him fluster but also to ensure he knew just how deeply you cared for him. Occasionally in rare moments, typically late at night, he would offer the same sugar-sweet confessions. It was after such admissions of his true intentions and feelings that he offered to meet one day you were both free. It had been important to you to let Rory lead, wanting things to play out on his terms. So your acceptance was swift and emotive, full of elation and affection for the mystery man in your phone.

After some deliberation, the two of you managed to settle on plans for an afternoon. It was nothing extravagant nor crazy but would make for a relaxed time in the other's presence—no expectations or pressure for it to be anything other than two people enjoying their shared company. The wind was cool brushing against your skin as you walked down the street to where you'd agreed to meet Rory. It was a bright spring day with the sun hiding behind blankets of puffy cloud, refusing to warm the gentle nip that the breeze brought with it. Looking ahead at the other people on their own ways around the city, you could spot the bright red hair that belonged to exactly the person you resided comfortable in your thoughts. Rory. He hadn't yet noticed your approach, eyes fixed on his phone. Whatever he was looking at certainly engrossed him, the whispers of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. As you reached closer, that smile only became more apparent despite not having been noticed. Curious, you quickened your pace to reach Rory.

"Guess who!" You giggled, hands moving to wrap around his arm. Rory startled for a moment until his eyes settled on you, recognition setting in and earning you an eye roll from him.

"Can't believe I'm getting harassed by strangers on the street now. What even is personal space, anyway?" He commented, though his actions seemed to betray him as he leaned in to your touch. "But, uh, it's good to see you."

"Likewise. And don't think I missed you smiling at your phone. What were you looking at, hm?" You asked, leaning over to take a peek at his phone screen. A deep blush filled Rory's cheeks as he tilted his phone so you could get a closer look. On the screen was the string of messages you'd shared the night before, including a photo you'd sent of yourself. A matching flush of warmth rushed through your cheeks at the realisation he'd been smiling because of you.

Rory cleared his throat, the tips of his ears still pink. "Anyway. We better get going before we're late."

♡ alexei ♡

From the moment you'd first joined the mystery app and met Alexei, you were drawn in by not only how open and friendly he'd been, but also his dedication to his work and research. Despite being the youngest of the group, he certainly made his voice known as the smartest of them all. Listening to him talk about his work was interesting, despite the others' complaints. Admittedly, the two of you had wanted to meet sooner but Alexei's busy work schedule combined with your own meant plans had to be delayed and rearranged a number of times. But there had been a ray of golden hope shining in the oncoming weekend where neither of you had prior engagements that you couldn't get out of. And so, you'd managed to plan a whole weekend of activities together. The plan was to first meet at a nearby coffee shop for lunch, before going ice skating in the afternoon as per Alexei's suggestion. He'd even texted you earlier that morning to check you were still feeling up to meeting, wary that maybe this was too soon. He was as attentive as ever regarding how you felt, one of many reasons why you'd begun to fall for him so deeply despite never having met.

And now, as the sun beamed down from its position in the wide blue expanse of sky stretching over the city, you felt endless amounts of excitement knowing in a few short moments, you'd finally be able to see Alexei and all his sweetness in person. He'd texted you recently to let you know he'd already arrived and was waiting with your favourite drink already ordered. How he remembered, you had no idea, but the photo he'd sent was proof enough that he made a note of things you mentioned in passing. Alexei was perceptive like that, always paying close attention to you and the others as you brought up little facts about your lives or interests you had. It was sweet how much he cared to notice the little things. Casting thoughts of Alexei aside for a moment, you reached the door to the coffee shop. It was one you'd walked past more than times on your way to work, but had never gotten the chance to visit. As you pushed the door open, a small bell tinkled with the movement. The barista smiled at your entrance while you scanned the shop for a familiar white haired individual. Your search was short-lived as Alexei's voice called out your name from his seat by the window. He rose from his chair, eyes wide and smile just as bright.

"You're here! I can't believe we're finally meeting," he greeted as the two of you moved closer. Seeing him in the cosy sweater he wore, hair fluffy and hands fidgeting with one another as he contemplated reaching for a hug sent your heart soaring.

"Are you sure I'm not dreaming?" You joke, the sound of Alexei's laugh blending with yours in a harmonious symphony.

"I don't know. Perhaps that's a theory we'll have to put to the test."

♡ brooklyn ♡

Ever since the plans had been arranged to finally meet Brooklyn, you were teeming with excitable energy. Ever since those first few conversations, an undeniable connection sprouted between you both. It was almost unfathomable just how easy it was to talk to him, especially considering his busy schedule with meeting after meeting. Somehow he always seemed to make time for you, sparing even a few minutes to see how you were doing and let you know he was thinking of you. Of course, the feeling was mutual. There was no forgetting the eloquence in the way he spoke, nor the charm with which he seemed to so effortlessly bring forth both in group texts or private messages. He held no qualms about being upfront with his feelings, offering sweet words of encouragement and gentle care. The thought of finally being able to meet him sent tingles down your spine and had your heart racing in your chest. A bundle of nerves and excitement bubbled deep in your stomach at just the thought of seeing him face to face for the first time, rather than just through a phone screen. Impatience threaded its way beneath your skin, the aching desire to be with Brooklyn ever present and all-consuming right from the moment he first suggested that the two of you spend the day together. He'd even taken the day off work so no meetings or business calls could come between your time together. Truly he planned for this to be the perfect first meeting, and no doubt the first of many more after the fact.

A knocking sounded from your front door, disrupting you from all thoughts of Brooklyn. Rising from your seat, you moved to answer it, hoping with all that resided within you that this was who you so desperately wished to see. Upon opening the door, you were greeted with a sight so surreal you thought for a moment this could be a dream. Brooklyn was stood before you, dark brown hair cast aglow in the early afternoon sun. He looked a vision in his somewhat formal attire. He wasn't wearing one of the many suits you'd seen in photos he'd posted from numerous meetings and business trips, but he certainly held his casualwear to a similar standard. In fact, he looked near decadent in his sage green shirt, slight purple accents embroidered into the material. His smile was devilish, fully aware of the breathtaking effect he had on you as he reciprocated the same awestruck gaze. Your eyes trailed down his form, basking in his presence, your attention struck the bouquet of flowers in his hand.

"It'd be remiss of me not to bring such a wondrous beauty such as yourself a bouquet of flowers," he announced, offering a gracious nod of the head as he presented you the flowers all while struggling to hold back his laughter.

"Oh, but of course," you replied as you took the floral offering. "But really, it's so good to see you."

Brooklyn's honeyed eyes met yours, practically sparkling under the daylight sun. A dazzling smile stretched upon his face as his hand gently found yours, raising it to press a soft kiss to your skin. "Please, the pleasure is all mine, my dear."

♡ tobias ♡

Tobias had teasingly suggested date ideas and proposed meetups since the early days when you first started talking. He loved that push and pull that quickly grew between you both, relishing in that playful energy you reciprocated with. So when he messaged one day out of the blue, his tone seeming different and perhaps a little awkward, it took you by surprise. Seeing him step out of that comfort zone of spirited banter and teasing was new, but how could you complain when he was so cute as he tentatively asked you to meet up. And this time it was all real. Naturally, you were quick to accept and enthusiastic to figure out exactly how you could go about meeting each other. At your excitable energy, Tobias teasingly asked if you thought this was a date, remarking at how cute the notion was. Of course, when you replied to tell him you'd been thinking of asking him on a date, Tobias instantly grew flustered. At least, that's what you gathered considering the way his teasing comments turned to single word messages. Remarking on his change of demeanour resulted in a swift change in topic, though before the two of you said your goodbyes, he'd softly admit that he cared a lot about you, and couldn't wait to finally see you.

When the day finally came, you were sat on a bench at a nearby park in the city. You'd planned to meet there before Tobias took you on his so-called 'expertly planned date'. He hadn't divulged what those plans were, of course, but he assured that this would be the best date you've ever been on. Glancing through your phone while you waited, there was an ongoing chat with the others, most of them leaving encouraging messages for you and Tobias' day together. Naturally, Milo commented that he was watching over in case Tobias tried anything to which Tobias remarked how Milo was such a dedicated fan that it was adorable. Quietly laughing to yourself, you didn't hear the approaching person walking behind you nor did you expect them to playfully poke at your sides. A gasp escaped your lips as you whirled around, fully prepared to shout at this stranger until your eyes landed on the familiar blonde hair that you'd seen so often talking with Tobias.

"I hate you for that but also I should've expected it. But also I'm mad at you," you commented, a slight pout forming on your face as Tobias laughed.

"Sorry, love, I saw an opportunity and had to take it," he replied as he gently poked the tip of your nose, swiftly avoiding the swat of your hand at the gesture. "Better get used to it anyway, plenty more where that came from."

"Oh how I can't wait for it," you remark, arms now folded over your chest as you lean away from his attempts to console you.

"Come on, we goin' on that date or what?"

[blazehedgehog]

Do you think that a playable demo of Sonic Frontiers would help its current reception? I think a lot of the conversation surrounding the game right now is based on people not being able to play the thing for themselves, and that a demo would help them figure out whether they'd be interested in it or not.

Like, a public demo? That one could say, download to their game console or their PC? Because they already had a playable demo for the public at Gamescom.

But yes, I do believe putting a version of Sonic Frontiers in to a wider range of people's hands is a good idea. Understandably they can't use the Gamescom demo, since that was supposed to be time-limited, and it was apparently pretty easy to break the time limit and keep playing until the end of the first island, basically.

But something that gives us a chunk of the open world plus 2 or 3 cyberspace levels would be much appreciated.

Because, like, listen: I'll be honest with you. I want to like Sonic Frontiers. I want to give this game the benefit of the doubt. I want it to be the next Sonic Unleashed for me, where it's a game I'm skeptical of but end up falling in love with.

But every single part has looked like one step forward and two steps back. Which is, like, you could be cynical and say "oh that's just Sonic" but I feel like it's markedly different here.

Sonic Forces always smelled off. Something wasn't right there. What Sega was saying about that game in promos, how fast it seemed to go from "we haven't even named the game yet" to "it's out in four months", how shy they were with confirming anything about it for so long, etc.

This doesn't have that vibe. They've been shy with it, sure. But I'm not picking up on any shenanigans. When Takashi Iizuka says "we're taking it slow and being very careful" I think I believe him, because he's been shockingly blunt and forthcoming with press this last year.

I can see a game where because of the open world nature, they need a lot of levels and don't have enough budget to build 50+ original stages from scratch. But they are very clearly building some original stages.

I am also intensely curious about the myriad of control options. I've seen people complain that Frontiers looks slow or whatever, but I think that's ignoring the fact that the control options let you adjust Sonic's acceleration, turn radius, top speed, and more (on top of it sounding like speed being something you can also level up with experience points).

But giving players that much granular control over Sonic's controls is something they've never done before. It almost feels like an explicit acknowledgement of "if you don't think we do it right, find something that works for you." Now there's various ways to interpret that, and some of them aren't exactly positive (a frustrated player isn't going to spend hours fine-tuning control sliders, they're just going to give up).

But it does mark a change in philosophy at the very least. Which is interesting. I need to see how that plays out.

The best way to do that would be to put a demo in my hands, because I can't fly to Germany (or even venture very far outside of my town, really).

[vg-sanctuary]

Picross 3D and Round 2

HAL Laboratory - DS, 3DS - 2010-2016

[images from nintendolife and worldofgames]

nonograms, Japanese crossword, "picross," Pic-a-Pix, the only number puzzle I actually like. I couldn't get my head around kakuro and sudoku felt like a waste of time. picross, though, makes a nice picture at the end and it's easier to tell when you've made a mistake, especially on digital picross that usually tells you outright. I think I prefer picross because you feel like you've made actually completed something once you complete the puzzle instead of just putting some numbers on a page in an array that's "correct" according to an arbitrary set of rules.

Picross 3D is one of the small handful of games I remember trying a demo of from the Nintendo Channel on the Wii when I was little. the Nintendo Channel was a wonderful thing and I'd never played any puzzle like the ones in Picross 3D, so I was hooked, but I'd never played the full game until more recently. honestly, I still don't think there are any puzzle games that offer puzzles that have to be handmade like picross, 3D or otherwise. a computer can't make a picross puzzle on its own because of the picture part. Picross 3D, adapts these age-old deduction-based color-by-number puzzles into glorious 3D on the DS of all things. it was appropriate because of the touch screen, it's just that the DS wasn't exactly known for its 3D capabilities. not that it's especially visually complex anyway. it's also a late DS game that's quite good and not really talked about. seems like those things go together.

the main ideas and strategies of plain 2D picross adapt to 3D beautifully despite the extra dimension. both kinds of puzzle ask the player to use limited information to figure which cells are and aren't filled in. you don't need to know 2D picross to play Picross 3D, but it helps a little. in Picross 3D, each puzzle is a grid of cubes where any side of a cube can have a number on it, and that number shows how many cubes on that line of cubes are painted instead of broken. sometimes there will be a circle or a square around the number. a circle means the painted cubes are in two groups separated by at least one broken cube, and a square means it's three or more groups each separated by at least one broken cube. some lines of cubes don't have a number, which just means you don't know how many cubes in that line are painted or broken, and you have to use the available numbers to figure that line out.

somehow Picross 3D got a 3DS sequel, simply called Picross 3D: Round 2, that improves on the original in practically every way. the biggest difference is that there are two colors of paint instead of just one, which adds an extra layer of depth to the puzzles. (for those curious, there are multicolored 2D picross puzzles too.) in the original Picross 3D, you linearly progress through puzzles that ramp up in difficulty, but in Round 2, the puzzles are sorted into books with themes like birds, sports, or trucks, and each book has different unlock conditions. every puzzle can be played on easy, normal, or hard, unlike the first game's strict difficulty curve. Round 2 is really nonlinear and you don't need to do every puzzle to progress, so if you don't want to do the time limit or one strike puzzles, you don't have to. it also allows as many hints as you want with no penalty. the less punishing rules and library theming make Round 2 feel really cozy and sort of zen, while the original has the distinct feeling of a late DS game. I personally love both. the only thing the original has over its sequel is the ability to create, upload, and download user made puzzles over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, but Nintendo WFC is dead now anyway so that doesn't matter.

usually I feel like I need something important to say about all the games I write about. I don't have anything like that for this one, I just really like this pair of games and think the puzzle systems are really interesting and fun, and of course, most people don't know about them. you do now, though, and I hope you'll enjoy these games if you're into puzzles.