Aurelia. Maybe you've heard of it, maybe you haven't. But, if you're not already deeply immersed in it, I want to bring your attention to it, because GODAM!

Aurelia is primarily a point-and-click style game with RPG elements. Set in a fantasy setting, there's magic, alchemy, blackjack, and sex. Lots, and lots of sex. But, if you're worried about it being a cheap, all sex and bad gameplay type of thing, let me tell you, it couldn't be further from that if it tried.

Design:
Aurelia has a gorgeous pixel art style, with beautiful, vibrant colours, and lovely, fluid animations. The locations are immersive and detailed, looking alive and natural. The music is soothing and atmospheric, only adding to the beauty of each location, without being intrusive or distracting. Each of the characters are uniquely designed, with personalities that are deep and rich, from the bored waitress looking for a bit of excitement, to the ambitious and slightly vengeful demon without anyone to exact her vengeance on.

Gameplay:
As already mentioned, Aurelia is primarily a point-and-click style game. But, don't worry; there's none of that obscure combination of unrelated items to perform a task BS most other P&C games are notorious for. The point-and-click mechanic is primarily for getting around and interacting with people. You can occasionally interact with a few objects in the environment for additional immersion, but that's mostly it. There are a number of other mini-games in Aurelia, from an on-rails, obstacle dodging race, to a horde defense type game, and one of THE BEST lock-picking mechanics I've ever come across. Each of the mini-games have a bit of challenge to them, but nothing I'd call difficult. It might take you a couple of tries to get the hang of them, but once you do, they'll be pretty simple, but not so easy that you can just faceroll your way through them.

Eventually you'll unlock the dungeon crawling part of Aurelia. In this, you move from room to room simply by picking a direction, and what each room has in it is mostly random, be it a pile of coins, a statue with an objective for you, or an enemy. You also get a minimap which shows you what you can expect to find in the rooms adjacent to the one you're in, so you're never truly running into something unexpected. At any time, you can leave the dungeon. And if you die, you're simply ejected out with no real consequence other than having to start over, next time. My only real issue with this part of the game is that you cannot save your progress while in the dungeon, and let me tell you, when you get strong... it can go for a while. However, once you reach certain milestones, you are given the option to start at a lower floor when re-entering the dungeon, so the lack of save feature within it is only really an issue if you are stubborn and don't want to leave, but also want to keep going, and don't have much time to see how far you can get. Don't worry, though, it isn't bottomless.

Combat in the dungeon is pretty simple. Enemies are diverse and range from sexy succubi and busty cow girls, to the dread three-headed Cerberus. A little bit of good timing, and a growing selection of spells to choose from gives you a solid chance to survive your encounters. But, don't feel rushed; each mechanic allows you to take your time and not feel pressured, even in the heat of combat.

Character Interactions & Sex:
I really think that this is where Aurelia shines the most. Every character has their own personality, quirks, and story. Their dialogues feel natural and engaging, even the ones not available for railing. The tasks you receive from them (or take on yourself, for their sake) are pretty normal things, like finding someone to help unclog a drain, or helping escort a cart of goods to somewhere.

And the sex...

Unlike a lot of adult games, you don't jump right to stuffing someone. There's a build-up as you repeatedly interact with the person, get to know them, and things develop organically. And when steamy moments do happen, they're not filled with cheesy dirty talk and bad shlopping sound effects. The dialogue remains true to the personality of the character or characters you're engaging with, sometimes goading each other on with cheeky banter, and sometimes reassuring their insecurities, or just plain having a bit of witty fun. I cannot stress enough how absolutely refreshing and down-to-earth this game's sex scenes are. They're natural, hot, and in no way feel forced or shoe-horned in. Most characters have at least a few different scenes. Some have several. And every one of them can be revisited/replayed, whether by selecting it in the menu, or directly interacting with the character. And don't worry, you don't need to fear reprisal from screwing every person with a pair of tits in the area. XD

I do have to note, though, that Aurelia is primarily male/female interaction. Some scenes include two females, and there is a generous mix of vaginal and anal penetration, as well as fellatio, handjobs, and boobjobs. There are some light fetish scenes, such as risk of being caught, spanking, and even a touch of mind control/hypnosis; but there's nothing particularly heavy.



Additional Thoughts:
I truth, I hesitate to even call Aurelia a porn game. I honestly liken it much more to Stardew Valley with more explicit relationship scenes. And less farming.

I'd estimate I've dumped about twenty hours into this game, and there are still several ladies I've not even encountered, let along fucked. For a $25 indie porn game, the depth and detail put into Aurelia is truly staggering. I've found it engaging, immersive, and quite frankly, addictive. I'm ever compelled to just keep going; one more day, one more interaction, one more task.

The art is amazing. There characters are truly natural. There's little bits of subtle humour that really makes me laugh and smile. You even get the option to type in your own 'role' to determine a specific character's relationship to another character, be it friend, lover, sister, or even lamp. As near as I can tell, it makes no direct impact on the progression and events of the game, but depending on what you type in, it can add a little extra spice, or a bit of silly laughs to certain future dialogues and events.

I really have to hand it to Mirthal Games for creating this outstanding and unique game that I can only describe as "A slice of life fantasy game with erotic themes", because it just doesn't feel like a porn game.


Presently, Aurelia is unavailable for Australians, on Steam. I don't know why this is, but Schedule 1 is also currently unavailable to Aussies, on Steam, due to a lack of rating (which I understand is being sorted out), so perhaps it's the same issue with Aurelia. However, you can also find Aurelia on Itch.io, and I'll post a link down below. It has a demo, as well, but I don't know how far it goes.

Give this game a try. It is truly phenomenal. 10/10.

https://mirthal.itch.io/aurelia

Looking for reliable alternatives to pay Russian artists.

Boosty doesn't work for me.
Hipolink doesn't work for me.

Artist is having difficulty getting an EasyStart account set up.

Does anyone know of any other reliable payment methods I could try?

In recent years, I've found that some places don't like certain content. That's nothing new. SoFurry recently banned UA, and IB doesn't permit humans, or human adjacent characters in sexual situations. And FA just isn't a big place for writing. Frankly, posting my writings here also sucks, due to the lack of a decent text formatting upload... thing. This basically has me splitting my writings (when I actually finish a new one) between three separate sites. So, my solution? Add a fourth site! XD

AO3 has fewer restrictions on content, and a decent formatting thing-a-ma-jig, so I've been told. So, going forward, I will be posting new (and some existing) works to my AO3 page. What does that mean for FurAffinity? Nothing. I will continue to some works (that I can), here, but AO3 will most likely have everything I write, as well as some other themes I've not written, in the past. Possibly. Maybe. We'll see. If you want something darker... uh... look over there. >.>

Oh, yeah. AO3 is an invite only site, but, you can still read and comment as a guess, so you don't need to make an account to do that. Like everywhere else, just look for Silvador.

Edit: Initially I avoided posting a direct link because 'reasons'. I assumed people would be able to simply search for me. It appears I was wrong. So here is the link: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvador/profile

Come try your luck for some art!

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/59587530/

Watch out, 2B, there's a new ass in town. You heard me.


If you haven't heard of it yet, Stellar Blade is a "Gentleman's Game" with horrific looking beasties, beautiful ladies, and lots of jiggling.

You play as EVE, a soldier (or something) sent to Earth to fight Naytibas, and as plot would have it, you end up being the sole survivor of those whom were sent. Because of course you do. You soon meet up with other survivors from Earth and travel across the land to hunt and destroy what I can only describe as uglier, meaner Necromorphs.

The game is 3rd person and consists primarily of Hack-n-Slash type gameplay. Combos and move sets give strong NieR/Automata and Devil May Cry vibes, while the overall gameplay leans into a Soul-like style of play. You work your way through areas, defeating enemies, and replenish health and supplies at camps. When you rest at these camps, some enemies respawn. However, dying doesn't appear to have any negative effects outside of making you refight some things, so don't worry about reclaiming dropped "souls". Experience is gained from killing enemies, and a few other sources, and once enough has been accumulated, you gain a point. These points can then be used to buy new skills, of which there are a decent number. The demo has three radial menus accessible, with a further two locked, and each one corresponds to different aspects of gameplay, such as combos and general survivability. While viewing the various skill trees, you can also enter a Training Arena to practice your fighting skills and even test out skills you don't yet have.

When resting at a camp, you can also buy consumable items such as grenades and healing items. The selection was limited in the demo, but I presume there will be much more variety in the full game. Alongside consumable healing items, you get a limited number of freebies that replenish when resting at a camp. Since I'm not that good at not getting hit, I usually burned through these rather fast. XD Unfortunately, I learned that consumables used during a fight are lost for good if you die. Guess you gotta either git gud or farm some coin to buy a nice stockpile of healing items if you plan on retrying a difficult fight over and over. Oh, and you can only carry a limited number of each consumable at a time. The game really doesn't want you to rely too heavily those, I think.

Combat itself is simple but tough. It's not long before enemies start hitting like a truck and you'll quickly realise that you can't just button mash your way through. Watch, wait, pick your moment to attack, and parry/dodge to stay alive. Those familiar with Souls-like combat will probably feel right at home as just about everything an enemy does can be dodged, blocked, and/or countered. Both EVE and enemies have a shield, as well, that can be depleted by taking damage. While active, the shield reduces damage taken, but it also prevents stunning, which means you might find yourself being attacked mid-combo if you don't watch those enemy health bars. Enemies also give visual queues when performing certain moves, such as unblockable or "Fatal" attacks, as a prompt for you to dodge or perform some contextually relevant move in order to survive or even counter attack.

Fighting animations are beautiful and fluid, with some very cinematic finisher animations. It feels very satisfying to both watch and hit with attacks, and the controls I found to be quite responsive.

The music, right off the bat, hits you with strong NieR vibes. And rightly so, because the same people that did the music for NieR did the music for Stellar Blade. So, not only are your eyes treated to a visual feast, your ears get an audio one, too.

Swimming! You can swim, and even dive down to find loot under the water. That may not seem like a big deal, but I find it somewhat immersion breaking when a character falls in some water and you're promptly sent back to dry land, especially these days. Fortunately, there doesn't appear to be an air meter, so stay down there as long as you want.

I can't speak to much for the character depth as the demo doesn't really have a lot in the way of character development. But, the interaction between the characters in the demo felt natural and well directed, so hopefully that's a good sign for what's to come.

And that brings me to the aforementioned jiggling. The developers of Stellar Blade designed its star character with a purpose. And that purpose was to be sexy. le gasp! Oh the horror. A character intended to be sexually appealing. Whatever. Let the haters hate. I see nothing wrong with making a character aesthetically pleasing to the eye; and boy howdy did they ever. EVE is a true beauty! In fact, I believe her body is based on a real life person. And every move she makes, every step, every swing of her sword, every dodge and leap and parry, it's all accompanied with jiggle physics in the bust and rear and thighs! The music is beautiful. The scenery is gorgeous. And the lead is stellar!


If you wanna try out the demo for yourself, it's currently available on the PS5 online store. When viewing the Stellar Blade game details, select the ... for a drop-down menu and choose Demo. It's about 16GB and will take you through the game's opening all the way up to the first boss fight. The game releases on the 26th of April, and you can bet your ass I'm pre-ordering it as soon as I get paid again.

Is anyone an experienced tea drinker? A long, long time ago, I started drinking tea. Nothing fancy, just Lipton brand dunked tea bags; I like them. But, some years later I was lead to believe I was missing out, and since then I've been wanting to try getting "into tea". It's my understanding that there is so much more to tea than just picking a brand on the store shelf, boiling water, and dunking the tea bag, but I have no idea where to even begin.

Example: Are tea bags generally considered good? Bad? Depends on the brand? Should I try tea leaves, instead? How? Are there different ways to prepare tea? What sort of flavours should be expected? Is "drinking tea" a difficult thing to get into, or easy?

I'm hoping someone that sees this might have some advice or suggestions on where to begin and/or what to look out for.

I got into Azur Lane a few years ago, for obvious reasons. (sexy ladies) And I have enjoyed it. I've enjoyed the gameplay, the story, the character designs, their interactions and personalities, and just the whole experience. I like that it is free but also really high quality; it's clear that a lot of care and effort goes into making the game, and I've been more than happy to throw small amounts of money at it when I could afford to, even though I didn't need to. I briefly played Fate/Grand Order, and had similar feelings, enjoying the gameplay, story, and characters, etc. Honkai Impact 3rd and Genshin Impact also. After a time, I had to cut out most of those because I was leaving myself with less time each day to do other things, after doing the daily tasks in each. Some months back, Aether Gazer came out, and simply because it's done by the same people behind Azur Lane, I decided to give it a go. Once again, I've been loving the experience wholly. And, while I'm not finding myself quite as stretched thin as I was, juggling four gachas, I'm beginning to come to some realisations about gachas in general. Or, at least these ones.

I kind of hate how in-depth they are. I'm both impressed by their level of complexity, but also put off by it. I get that having a load of characters is kind of the whole shtick of a gacha, and it's great to allow a player to have options. But, how does a free mobile game have more @#!$ing meta to it than a AAA title!? You start the game with a handful of options, and gradually that pool grows. Exponentially! And you soon find yourself with layers upon layers of options. A single character can have a half dozen or more applicable options each with detailed stats that directly affect that character. And then each of those options can have multiple options that modify them, further altering how the character performs. It's not long before you have an entire root system of options to navigate, of literally dozens (or even hundreds) or characters. And, when you get late into these games, "good enough" just doesn't cut it! You need the best. But... how do you know what's best?

A. You spend hours upon hours trawling all the stats, comparing them, matching and mixing and trialing and building and then, MAYBE you've found the best option for now. Until the next event comes along when new characters are introduced and the whole meta is upturned.

B. You look for a guide online and have someone else hand you the answers.

Some people are fine with either option. Personally, I don't like B, and I don't have the mental capacity or time for A. I just wanna open the game, whack some baddies, and enjoy a good story and aesthetically pleasing character designs for an hour or so, each day. But... I can't! Well, technically I can, if I am willing to ignore half the good stuff and only do the bare minimum. But, if I want to go all the way, and get those shiny rewards at the very top, I have no choice but to try and spin the gears in my aging head until they start to smoke as I try and figure out what the F I'm doing.

It honestly baffles me that these games have a level of complexity so far beyond most major titles developed and published by big name companies, with a fraction of the budget and probably development time. And... it's starting to make me wonder if maybe I should give up. I can't keep up. What is required of me I cannot provide and as much as I love these games and the experiences they provide, I hate that I'm unable to enjoy them fully because of my shortcomings.

I'm unable to math out the meta for myself, and looking up guides just makes me feel like I haven't earned anything, like I'm playing someone else's finished game, making it feel empty.

I've invested hours upon hours into Azur Lane, and no small amount of money, either. Aether Gazer is quickly matching up to Azur Lane in my dedication to it. But... I just can't give them the love I want to, and it really makes me sad. They offer what so many other games don't, yet I'm feeling more and more left behind by them, and I can't help but wonder... is it time to give up? Should I bite the bullet and just cut my losses? I feel like I'm trying to decide if I should stop dating someone I've been seeing for ages. I don't want to stop, but... I'm beginning to feel tired running after them.

**THIS JOURNAL CONTAINS KUNG FU PANDA 4 TRAILER SPOILERS**

Yesterday was the first time I'd heard about a Kung Fu Panda 4. Immediately, my interests were piqued. So, I took to IMDb to A. confirm what I'd heard, and B. see if I could get more information about it. When I looked at the cast and saw Tai Lung listed, I got chills. I was positively buzzed with excitement about the prospect of a potential rematch between Po and Tai Lung. After fifteen years, two further major movies, and an assortment of side animations, kicking it back to the original and having a good old grudge match, I thought, was a fantastic move.

But, watching the trailer, today, left me feeling a bit disappointed. Unrelated to Tai Lung, the movie looks as good as I'd expect from a KFP movie. But, where Tai Lung's "return" is concerned, I feel like a great opportunity was really missed. If you haven't seen the trailer, yet, Tai Lung does return, but only briefly, and just to have his kung fu stolen by the new, shapeshifting villain; so his return isn't even a return, it's a glamour worn by someone else. An illusion. Perhaps my disappointment is partly my own fault for getting my hopes and expectations up. But, I still think that could've been something, and I'm sad to see it won't be. During a discussion with a friend, yesterday, about how Tai Lung could be returning, I had an idea come to me, and I'd like to share it with you, if you care to read it. Now, I know I'm risking sounding like one of those "I know better than you and this is how it should be" people, but, I'm not trying to be. This is but a mere idea, a fan's opinion about what could've been. iF tHeY'd JuSt LiStEnEd To Me.



The opening scene begins with sounds of fighting. We're shown shots of a deserted town before suddenly being swept along by the original final fight between Po and Tai Lung (remade/remastered) all the way up to and including "the Skadoosh". But, instead of following Po afterward, the focus is on Tai Lung, left somewhere in limbo without a physical form, and confused. He's been utterly defeated, this time, and is forced to face that fact. As nothing more than a spirit, he can only reflect on his past and the events that lead to this point. But he's not happy with that. He can't be. His pride won't let him. A master of Kung Fu, Tai Lung can't accept this defeat and he begins to gather himself, drawing on all that he has learned and experienced, and slowly, gradually, through the sheer force of his iron will and determination to win, he pulls himself back, pulls himself out of the limbo he's stuck in and returns, right back where "it" happened, his defeat.

But, it's many years later and Po has undoubtedly grown stronger. Tai Lung has to be smart about this. He can't just go rushing into battle. So he withdraws. For now. He retreats so that he can learn and train and focus on what he wants. This isn't about becoming the Dragon Warrior, anymore. This is about pride. This is about defeating Po, pure and simple.

And he does! After a long, intense fight, and perhaps a touch of luck, Tai Lung stands victorious. Both he and Po are thoroughly battered, worn down and exhausted from their rematch. But, finally it's over and Tai Lung has won. Barely. And Po, weakened and unable to fight, asks Tai Lung "What now?" and Tai Lung begins to respond, he begins to tell Po precisely 'what now' but he stops. Tai Lung suddenly realises that he's achieved what he set out to do. He's defeated Po and satisfied his wounded pride. So where does he go from here? He no longer cares about being the Dragon Warrior. After some further banter between the two, Tai Lung is forced to see that he has a whole world of possibilities open to him. The anger and hatred he's felt for so many years begins to soften and he just leaves, deciding to set out to find his own goal, for once in his life.

If you've read this far, I'd be curious to hear what you think. Could a rematch between Po and Tai Lung have been as good as I think it could've been? Did you like my idea, or would you have gone a different way? If you're wondering why I'd let Po be defeated, the answer is relatively simple; it's not an important fight for Po. He's not fighting to protect or save anyone. Nothing really hinges on him winning. This is a fight he can lose. Also, Po winning would be too easy and predictable. ~.^

How common is it for a female to be into... I hesitate to say forced because that sounds like it's implying something else; topped? I don't... I'm not even 100% sure I know if that fits this context...

Where the partner is... aggressively forward. They "just do what they want".

I have no fucking clue if I'm articulating this even remotely clearly. x_x

Dominant partner?

Guy meets girl. Guy gropes/pins girl. Girl loves it. Is that a common kink among females? Males, too, I guess.

If you aren't already aware, FA will soon have some new additions to its policy regarding content that can be posted, specifically "child-like" characters in sexual situations. ---> https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10552819 <---

This subject keeps popping up, and as more and more diverse character designs continue to appear, this subject will no doubt continue to keep popping up. To that end, I'd like to take a moment to share my point of view on this subject, overall. No, I'm not trying to change anyone's minds. No, I'm not under any delusion that things will change. Yes, you're probably not going to like what I'm about to say. I don't care.

The following is an OPINION regarding the age of fictional, drawn characters.

We, as an intelligent species, are defined by our capacity to choose our actions, to either act or not act, to differentiate between real and not real, and thus make a decision based on that knowledge. Many people have trouble making these distinctions and that's usually because there is something very wrong with them that is out of their control. Others simply lacked the proper education, and some simply choose what the vast majority of us wouldn't, for one reason or another. A leopard hunting in the wild chooses when to remain hidden and when to pounce, but only so far as it to its understanding of whether or not it can catch its prey. Even so, half the time its choices are wrong and it goes hungry for the day. That's because the leopard is an animal, a simple minded, instinct driven creature lacking the awareness we "higher beings" possess. The leopard knows only that it is hungry, or that is has young to feed, and it acts purely on those base needs. It hunts, it feeds, it fucks, and it sleeps.

But, unlike the leopard, we can choose to act on our desires or not. In our minds we think "Dam, I'd like to #@$! that" or "I'd really like to beat the @!#$ out of that person", but we are capable of choosing not to. Were we an animal, like the leopard, we would simply act on those thoughts. But, we're not; our higher awareness affords us the capacity to go against our base desires. Usually.

So, why then do people feel the need to govern the age of fictional characters? "Because child porn is illegal" you say. And I return with "So is murder. So is rape, and causing grievous bodily harm" and then you say "what does that have to do with child porn?" Everything. It's the age ol' double standard of 'violence is fine but sex isn't'. But, before we go any further, let me reiterate that this is about fictional, drawn portrayals. Not real life photos or videos, but imaginary characters that exist solely in pixels and lead or ink on paper, and the shadows of the mind. Intangible. Not real.

Less than a century ago, in some places, it was considered illegal to be gay. Yes, things were very different, back then, and we as a society have grown and developed beyond that. Again, you ask what this has to do with "little girls". Being heterosexual, homosexual, or some point in between (or beyond), is not something a person can control, despite what some would have you believe. Eventually, people came to realise this. Most people also understand that, just as you can no more control your sexuality, you can't control what kinks excite you. Some people like feet. Some people like body odor. And some people get aroused by the idea of raping or even being raped. Does that mean they're going to go out and find someone to rape? No. Why? Because, unless they have something wrong with them (or they're just an asshole), they can recognise that it is not a nice thing to do and can choose not to do it. Fortunately, there's this wonderful little thing that has been around for as long as we've been cognitively aware called "The Imagination". This marvelous little thing allows people to think up and indulge their wildest fantasies as much as they want, with no risk of anyone else being harmed. Isn't it brilliant?

But, hold on. If no-one gets hurt, and it's not real, why try to control it? Why does it matter that that imaginary character, on the computer screen or page, is "of legal age"? What's the point? Nobody is being hurt. Nobody is being exploited. If you don't like it, you can just not look at it. If someone can drive down the sidewalk of Grand Theft Auto, and run down dozens of people, killing them all for pure fun, and nobody will care "because it's not real", why do people care that someone jacks off to an equally not real drawing of a loli? Where are all the disputes about sadism, or rape, or vore? OK, vore is a bit of a stretch, but, if you've read this far, you probably get my point.

It's a fetish. It's a kink. It's not real. Nobody is being harmed, or exploited, or being forced to do something against their will. The perceived age of a fictional character, and by extension, their appearance, doesn't matter. What matters is the action the person making or viewing that content chooses to take. If they're going to sit in their room and jack off, so what? No harm, no foul. If they choose to go out and molest a little girl, then they've done bad. Then punish them accordingly. Just the same as anyone playing a violent game; which, I might add, has been proven time and time again to not be connected to violent behavior.

Lastly, if a person does have urges that they feel is beyond their control, is it not better to provide them with a harmless outlet to indulge and vent, rather than deprive them of a means to do so, increasing their likelihood to seek other, more harmful means of gratification? Or should they be shunned and condemned, like gays once were, simply for being attracted to something society deems unsavoury.

What I like in a puzzle game:
Crafty puzzle designs that make you think.

What I don't like in a puzzle game:
Poorly designed combat.
Bosses with way too much HP + dealing essentially chip damage to them.
Puzzle solutions that are contradictory to the mechanics the game has taught you to use.
Maps with misleading information.
Inconsistent information.
Puzzles that require a 300 IQ to solve.

Did I enjoy Tunic?
In the beginning, yes. And, I'm happy to say that I solved the majority of the puzzles on my own. But, by the time I finished the game, I was just done with its bullshit.

Do I recommend it?
If you like Legend of Zelda style puzzle solving, yes. However, don't be ashamed to look up some solutions because, god dammit, some of the puzzles are obscure and cryptic as all get out.
If you've gotten far enough into the game to the point where you can legitimately being translating the game's text, here's a great link that will help guide you in the right direction, rather than outright give you the answer. https://www.reddit.com/r/TunicGame/.....k_translating/

I've decided to buy some dakimakuri pillow cases, which means I'm going to need pillows to put them on.

I was wandering if anyone, that has experience with daki pillows, might happen to have advice regarding what to look for and/or avoid when looking to buy one.

I forget if I've asked about this, on here, in the past. If I have, I'm going to ask again.

What would you consider a respectable rate for commissioning a written story?

disclaimer: I had intended to get this finished and posted a few weeks ago, but I got distracted with Pokemon. XD

A few days ago I shared my initial thoughts on this new gacha. Now that I've delved a bit deeper into it, I'd like to go into a little more detail about my experience, and what I think of it. If you're looking for more info about it, to help you decide to get or not get it, perhaps keep reading. If you're not interested in my ramblings, you know what to do. :)


Nikke: Goddess of Victory (pronounced nee-kay) is a gacha game not unlike most others. It has girls, story, some form of gameplay, and, of course, the all important "how many copies of this not-common character will I get, today?" system. Let's break it down.

The Setting:
Humans seem to have been all but entirely wiped out. The last vestiges of mankind are now holed up in a great big underground city called The Ark, while machines known as The Raptures roam around on the surface. You, the player, are one of many Commanders that periodically head up to the surface with "weapons" known as Nikkes. Said Nikkes are "modeled in the ideal form of mankind" (i.e. sexy ladies) and are... robots? Cyborgs? Honestly, it's not entirely clear exactly what a Nikke is, but they're stronger, faster, have unique, super human abilities, and can be rebuilt as long as you bring their head back intact.


Characters/Nikkes:
There are numerous characters in the game, not just the girls you "add to your harem". Obviously, there's you, the Commander that leads a group of Nikke in battle against the Raptures, and is apparently more useless than Aqua. You're a rookie that just graduated from the Academy, which apparently teaches you jack shit, that remembers virtually nothing, and has been thrust into this role by circumstance. Your superior is an ass. The lady from the Training simulation room is slightly less of an ass. And then you have your staple anime "I'm part of the Big Three so I can do anything I want" because apparently ignoring human rights and blackmail is just OK for the CEO of a major company. Oh, wait...

The Nikkes themselves are... thiccc. Thicc, and juicy, and bouncy. Very, very bouncy. Seriously, they stand perfectly still and their boobs still float around like they're in space. Or under water. There's a decent selection of girls to choose from, in the R, SR, and SSR pools. The R girls typically sport full body armour, complete with helmets and belts of ammo slung over their shoulder, while the SR and SSR girls are usually a bit more casual, showing generous amount of thigh and cleavage in their tank tops, and blazers, and short skirts, and what not. But, surprisingly, they're still rather conservatively designed, at least compared to other gacha games, like Azur Lane or Genshin Impact. However, there's not a big variety in body shapes as most of the girls are quite curvy and have a considerable bust. Go far enough into the game and you'll even notice there is a distinct presence of dom & sub aesthetics, with the black leather, and whips, and excessive belt straps, and even interactions between more than a couple of characters. Either I'm projecting, or the specific interests of the devs leaked its way into the game's design a bit more than it should've. It's almost like playing the PG version of a bad hentai game.

Despite being treated as practically slaves and/or nothing more than tools, by most other Commanders and residents of the Ark, the Nikkes each have their own personalities, feelings, and... quirks. One Nikke has an obsession for Strawberry Candies, while another seems to see firepower as some kind of religious aspect. Yeah... I'm not sure what to think about that one, either. Actually, there's quite a grab bag of weird traits when it comes to these girls, and, honestly, I'm starting to think Rapi and Anis (the two "main" Nikkes you interact with) are the only normal people in this entire game. Some of these other characters are just plain starting to give me the irates, and others just make me want to facepalm.


Gameplay:
The core of Nikke is its combat. You take a squad of five girls and view combat from a 3rd person perspective while the girls fire ahead of you, in a "down range" fashion as enemies spawn in. In the basest sense, it's a fun and enjoyable view; you got barely clad booties and thighs (depending on the attire of the girls you selected) to ogle while guns to ratatat and machines go boom. But, that's where the fun stops...

The field of view is locked to a portrait perspective, while the actual arena is about 2-3 times wider, meaning the screen needs to scroll in order to see what's at the far sides. This wouldn't be a big deal if not for the fact that there is absolutely zero indication that an enemy is off screen. During combat, your five girls are lines up and crouching behind cover, and you can directly control one at any given time, but, you can only see from that one's perspective; the other four are off screen, to the sides. At the bottom of the screen are five portraits, representing each of your assigned Nikkes; tapping one of these portraits allows you to swap between them to take direct control. When not being directly controlled, the other Nikkes will automatically fire their weapons at any enemies they deem so worthy of their attention, before promptly slipping back behind cover to reload when their ammo runs out. When directly controlling a Nikke, you can control where she fires her weapon by sliding your thumb around on the screen, to move the reticle. By lifting your thumb or finger off the screen, your controlled Nikke will duck back behind cover and reload her weapon.

Sounds simple enough, right? Well, there's a bit more to it than that. Each Nikke not only has a specific weapon type, from Assault Rifle to Shotgun, to Rocket Launcher and Sniper Rifle, but they each come in one of three classes, Attacker, Defender, and Support. There is also a RPS (rock -paper-scissors) style element system, giving weaknesses and strengths to enemies and Nikke respectively. Each Nikke also has a Burst Ability that they can use during combat, from launching a barrage of destruction upon the field, to healing her teammates, or temporarily boosting their capabilities. Additionally, each Burst Ability has what I'll simply refer to as a "tier", although they can hardly be considered as tiered in any real sense of the word. During combat, Burst Abilities are used in a chain. Each ability's "tier" determines where in the chain it can be used. A tier 2 ability, for example, can only be used after a tier 1, and a tier 3 can only be used after a tier 2. Upon successfully using a chain of three Burst Abilities, Burst Mode is initiated, in which all currently surviving Nikkes have their abilities temporarily enhanced. While this Burst Ability chain concept is cool, it's also a bit flawed as it is heavily reliant on timing and your Nikkes surviving. If the wrong Nikke dies during a firefight, or is stunned by an enemy, your Burst Chain can completely fall apart and become absolutely useless, making that all important and much needed healing Burst Ability nothing more than a pipe dream.

On top of that, actually manually controlling your Nikke can be a trial in patience, itself, as the reticle can sometimes be as much of an enemy as the killer machines. Firstly, you need to move it all the way across the screen in order to pan your view, or quite a ways upward in order to aim at higher skyward enemies. This can be especially troublesome if you happen to have small hands, and thus, short thumbs. Fortunately, there is a setting in the game which allows you to adjust the sensitivity of the reticle movement, allowing you to move it further while moving your thumb or finger over a shorter distance. There is also an alignment setting just below that which, despite its misleading description, allows you to set where the reticle will snap to when you return your Nikke to cover. Unfortunately, these options do little to alleviate the minor frustration of the reticle becoming "sticky" and sometimes not moving the distance it should, especially when the device has grown hot and your thumb/finger struggles to slide smoothly across the screen. Additionally, the perspective likes to shift, often, usually when an enemy of note spawns in, forcing you to realign your reticle before you can continue shooting.

The combat itself is fast paced and somewhat hectic. You'll quickly find yourself with dozens of enemies on screen at once, exploding, charging abilities of their own, and firing barrages at you. All in all, the game screen often becomes quite cluttered making it hard at times to tell what is going on, and when you need to tell your entire team to take cover. This is further compounded by the fact that you're essentially fighting with tunnel vision. In fact, I found it vastly easier, most of the time, to simply over level my girls and let them auto-fight while occasionally giving the command to use their Burst Abilities. There appears to be no benefit or drawback to what position your Nikkes are in, on their defensive line, and there's almost no tactical aspect to the fighting itself, outside of occasionally needing to take direct control to aim at specific targets, because the AI is too dumb to prioritize vital targets itself.

But wait, there's more! Your initial few firefights are filled with tutorial notes. That's a good thing, right? Unfortunately, if you accidentally skip the tutorial text, or just plain want to go back and review the tutorial's information, you can't. There appears to be no way to replay past battles, and thus no way to review the tutorials that tell you what that shiny red glow means, or how to tell all your girls to duck behind cover at once, or how to survive that hail of missiles now coming your way. Additionally, there are some things the game simply doesn't tell you. For example, each Nikke's portrait has a blue and a white bar above it; the white bar is their health, and the blue bar is the cover they are crouched behind, which does not regenerate during a fight. So far I have encountered three different types of combat, the typical "kill everything" type, the defense type, and the "king of the hill" type. When first encountering these types of battles, the instructions actually disappeared before I was able to read them completely, so I didn't know what to do. Fortunately, when you select an enemy to fight on the "world map", you're shown an overview of what to expect during the firefight. Unfortunately, the game gives no indication that almost every icon on that overview can be tapped for further details, so, unless you are one of those gamers with the mindset of INTERACT. WITH. EVERYTHING. you may never know that the little header on that overview, telling you what type the battle you're about to begin is, will also give you the instructions of how to win it, and the others.

Outside of the main campaign, there's a few different things you can do. You've got your typical "Tower Ascension" mode, in which you fight your way through progressively harder fights; there's the "Training Simulation", which allows your to fight through... progressively harder fights, but with a couple of additional twists. This mode allows you to acquire buffs after each fight, and each buff has a little icon assigned to it. Collect several buffs with matching icons and all of those buffs become stronger. Of course, these buffs are only applied to Nikkes fighting in this mode, and the mode resets each day. So, why participate? Because the Training Simulation is a source of vital materials needed to level up your Nikkes' abilities. Keep in mind, however, that you can't endlessly grind these materials as you can only get so many per day. There's also a mode in which you can test your mettle against bosses. A good way to practice, I guess? I didn't give this too much of a try because the boss currently available kept wrecking me. But, as I understand it, the bosses available to fight swap out at regular intervals. It should be noted that each of these different modes do not remember the team assignments of other modes. If you have a favourite team of Nikke you like to use, you need to manually assign them to a team for each mode. Also, when assigning Nikkes to a team, you cannot shuffle their position around; if you wish to move your shot gunner to another slot in the lineup, you need to unassign her, and the girl in the other slot, and reassign them both. While their position doesn't appear to have any actual baring on combat, keeping a standard order can help you quickly swap to the girl you want during a firefight without having to pause for a moment to check where your Sniper or Machine gunner is.

Of course, the campaign isn't the only source of character interaction. On the main hub screen you'll find a messenger app; through it, Nikke and other characters will often talk to you via text message format. Some will simply wish to say hello, while others will seek your aid in... some rather odd and frankly dubious endeavours. Apparently you're every random person's fix-it guy, as well.

And that brings us to the "dating sim" part of this game. That's right, you get to woo these girls, and doing so makes them stronger! A short way into the game, you get sent to The Outpost "because reasons" where you get to literally build your own town, complete with police station, library, and seedy cafe. While there, you can meet and get to know the various Nikke you've recruited. Doing so will allow you to delve into some surprisingly deep lore about this game's world, along with getting to know more about the interests and daily lives of each "living weapon" currently hanging out in your own, personal har- I mean, town. You can simply chat with them, or give them gifts, which in turn boosts their Bond with you, which increases their stats. I don't yet know what happens if you max out a bond, but, I've not seen any Promise Rings in the shop. Yet. On top of chatting to the girls directly, each building in your town has a chance to spawn an "event" which is essentially more lore cutscenes, however, initiating these requires stamina, which regenerate once a week. Initially, you start with two stamina, but I believe you can increase that. The town also requires defending. I expected there to be some manner of assignment and management to this, but alas, it's just a passive buildup of exp materials and currency which you need to periodically collect, lest the overflow go to waste.

The buildings themselves are easy and quick to build, requiring little more than a specific item which can be found on the over world maps of the campaign. However, if your eyesight is poor, you might have a hard time finding them because the tiny little sparkle that indicates an item is on the ground is extremely difficult to see, and sometimes entirely hidden behind the environment. Once built, however, the building can easily and freely be moved to a new location on the town's map. You don't even have to deconstruct anything as the buildings will simply swap locations if there is another where you want the first. So far, most of the buildings don't seem to actually provide anything, outside of a chance to spawn one of those lore events.


The Gacha and Other Items:
At first glance, this game's gacha doesn't seem very forgiving. The rates on the SSR's are low and it looks to run you around a whopping $70 for a 10-pull. That's AU, by the way, assuming the game is showing prices in my local currency. This game's in-game currency is called Gems, and you need 3000 of them for a 10-pull on the Special Recruit banner. The cash shop sells 1500 of these Gems for $34.99, alone (with double the amount gained for a first time purchase). 2300 sells for $51.99 and 4200 sells for a staggering $91.99. Yeah, fuck that. You can also buy the usual "monthly" thingy, which will give you 100 gems per day, for 30 days, at $8.49.

Fortunately, there's "free" Gems and "paid" Gems. Paid Gems are, obviously, bought with real money, while the free variant, you can get from various sources as rewards and seems to build up at a not terrible rate. I've been playing this game for around a week and I've already accumulated enough for three 10-pulls using free Gems. Although, I expect that rate will slow down as these resources are almost always given out in greater number early on in the game. But, that's not the only way to recruit new Nikkes. You can also get Recruit Vouchers as rewards, which you can use on the Normal Recruit banner. And then there's Social Points. Believe it or not, but you can send your friends points each day (and vice verse), and use those points on the Social Recruit banner. Additionally, you'll find in your inventory two items called Molds, which look like different coloured versions of the game's Gems. The Mid-quality Mold is purple, and the High-quality Mold is gold, matching the SR and SSR rarity of Nikkes, respectively. You gain more of these Molds as rewards and once you've accumulated enough, you can use them to recruit a single Nikke. Both items state that the recruited Nikke can be SR or SSR rarity, but as yet, I've only gotten Nikkes of the rarity corresponding to the Mold used. I don't know if I was just lucky, or the game's description is misleading and each Mold has a chance to pull from either pool. On top of that, there are “Mileage Vouchers” of the silver and gold variety, which you gain when making pulls. Accumulate enough of these and you can use them in one of the many shops to buy copies of your higher tier “weapons”, meaning you don't need to rely on RNG in order to fully Limit Break your best gals.

All in all, the gacha mechanic is actually not too bad, in my personal opinion. With its various options to try your luck, and a Wishlist which improves the chances of gaining selected Nikkes when you make a pull, I dare say it's somewhat Free-to-Play friendly. One just needs to be patient while accumulating the required resources to make their desired pulls.


Co-op:
You read that right; co-op. This one actually caught me off guard, and while it seemed to only be an event, I rather hope it'll be a common one, or a more permanent edition will be unlocked/added at a later date.

This gacha's unique style of gameplay affords the ability to form a team with four other players, allowing you to work together as a team to take on a boss, kind of like a raid. Each person selects a Nikke before the mission (and can see what their teammates are selecting), and then directly controls their chosen gun gal, and only their chosen gun gal, alongside the other four human players. While I could only control my own Nikke, being in a team with four other people, working to take down a beast of a machine, was surprisingly a lot of fun. The most fun I've had with this entire application.


Summary:
Nikke: Goddess of Victory, is by no account what I, personally, would consider a good game, even for a free-to-play gacha. It has issues that really shouldn't exist. Many of the characters are walking cliches. And, if you care to delve into the lore by interacting with them, you spend more time reading than actually playing. Honestly, at times it feels more like a school dorm full of 12-14 year olds than a military operation standing between mankind and total extinction.

But, the character designs are nice, and despite their... quirks, they're decently written and come off as natural. Most of the time. There's a distinct “living” air around the girls, if you care to take the time to interact with them, and once I get past the more irritating ones, I find myself genuinely intrigued about the deeper lore of the world itself.

Initially, I gave this game a 2 out of 5. But, now that I've gotten further into it, I'd like to upgrade that to a 3 out of 5.

Some of you have probably noticed that new gacha game that recently came out, called Nikke: Goddess of Victory (pronounced nee-kay). Despite my best efforts, curiosity got the best of me and I decided to give it a try. I'd now like to give my initial thoughts on it. If you're interested in hearing me break down what I like/don't like about the game, keep reading; if not, now would be a good time to find something more interesting to do with your time.

Disclaimer: I've only played the first few missions, so I'm far from an expert on this little app. But, having played a few different gachas, its safe to say that a couple of hours is all you really need to get to the core of the experience.


The story:
Pretty generic, really. Almost cliche, even. Setting is some post-apoc thing, there's nasty machines running amok, and everyone seems to be living in something called "the Ark", which I presume to be underground on account of numerous references being made to "going to the surface"; and you, the player, find yourself in commend of sexy robo-girls not more than a day after graduating from the academy, because "plot". Oh, yeah, and said sexy robo-girls have to obey your orders "no matter what", and apparently every other commander just views them as tools/weapons, cos apparently people are blind and dumb, cos these girls are thiccc and plucky. If not for the dialogue almost beating you over the head with hints that these girls are anything but human, you'd think they actually were human.

The girls:
As stated above, the girls are thicc. Thicc, juicy, and bouncy. Very, very bouncy. Seriously, their animations look like they're in space, or under water. Despite literally being the size of MELONS, some of those things float like gravity forgot how to exist. Obviously, since the game only just came out, there's not a massive selection of girls, but the designs are... respectable. Actually, considering some other gacha games, they're pretty conservative. Most of the "common" (Rare) characters are decked out in head-to-toe tactical gear, with thick armour and helmets, and massive chains of ammo (depending on their weapon class). But, predictably, as the rarity increases, the outfits get more... appealing, showing much more thigh and/or cleavage. Believe it or not, but there's actually voice acting in this gacha game and it's not half bad. It's... actually pretty good. And the personalities (that I've seen so far) seem pretty natural and believable.

The gameplay:
And now we get to the core of game. Some people will flatly refuse to play a game that doesn't have "high quality" graphics, and all the modern bells and whistles. While others will happily play a game that is simple and looks like it was made in the 50's, as long as the gameplay and/or story is good. I'm more of the latter, so having sexy girls in the game, while appealing, won't necessarily keep my attention if the gameplay and/or story is crap.

The gameplay in Nikke has you in a 3rd person view, shooting down-range at an onslaught of enemies. In theory, this is an interesting and different style to other gachas. Azur Lane has a side scrolling combat system, and Arknights has its tower defense thing. Other gachas are turn based with teams beating on each other until one side is wiped out. And Nikke does this. But... in my opinion, it doesn't do it very well, and here's why...

First and foremost, the combat is locked in a portrait view, while the combat field is about two-to-three times the width. This means that you will often have enemies off screen. You can control where your Nikkes shoot by sliding your thumb around on the screen to move the reticle, and will often have to aim past the sides in order to force your field of view to scroll left or right so you can see what is there. There are no indicators on screen to tell you there are enemies where you can't see them.

Second, you control a team of five Nikkes, which are all lined up behind cover, and you can swap between them during a firefight. When not being directly controlled, the other four Nikkes will shoot at things automatically. There are six weapon types, each with different effective ranges, so, you'd think building a nice balanced team with different weapons would be a good thing. But, once in actual combat, there doesn't seem to be a lot of point to directly controlling your thick thighed robo-girls. There's an almost constant flow of enemies dropping in, at all ranges, and directly controlling a Nikke doesn't appear to have any real advantage outside of controlling when one of five of your girls takes cover. Oh, yeah, they take cover and reload at the same time, when you stop firing, so near as I can tell, that essentially means the other four are almost always getting shot at because when they're not reloading, they're shooting, which means they're not in cover. Unless you tap on your currently selected girl to tell all five of them to take cover from a large volley.

On that note, the portraits of your Nikkes currently fighting are lined up along the bottom of your screen, which is most likely going to be half covered by your thumb most of the time (unless you have the combat set to auto and you're just watching the action), so a lot of the time you can't even see your Nikke's health bar, because that is on their portraits, on the bottom of the screen, under your thumb.

In short, the combat is very cluttered and very poorly implemented. But, there are a few positives. Each Nikke has an ability they can activate, from launching a volley of rockets, to buffing their team, and even creating a protective shield. Abilities come in three... uh, "types", for lack of a better description; some Nikkes have a 1, some have a 2, and some have a 3, and abilities can chain together, from 1, to 2, to 3, and completing the chain activates a "Burst Mode" where everyone focuses their fire and does extra damage. This forces you to think about what abilities each of your team members have, as well as what their weapon type is, and their class. Oh yeah, there's three classes, too, assault, defense, and support. Nikkes are leveled up via material, rather than exp gained through combat, and gear they can equip, to further boost their stats.

Just like every gacha out there, you can throw real money at it for extra stuff. But, I'd be hesitant to throw money at this game, even if it was the best thing I'd played, because a 10pull looks to run you about $35. That's AUD, assuming the currency is in local. But, still, that's somewhere between $20 and $25 USD. I don't yet know how generous the game is with handing out free in-game currencies, like Azur Lane is (seriously, AL is super FTP friendly), or what the drop rate is compared to other gachas.

Other items of note:
There doesn't appear to be any way to replay campaign missions, so if you forget what's happening in the story, or you wanna refresh your memory with the tutorial, you're shit outa luck.

There's a nice little "message" thingy, which has the player talk to some of the characters via text message. A cute little lore interaction.

If you happen to have small hands (like me), and have trouble reaching your thumb across the whole screen, you can adjust the sensitivity of the aiming reticle in the settings, along with its ability to recenter.

Currently there appears to be a bug (at least, I hope it's a bug. it is still new, after all) that requests you download files whenever you change your settings. If you opt out of downloading the files, your voices will get set to the Japanese setting, and you'll have to change them back (assuming you didn't already have them speaking in Japanese).


In summary:
It appears evident where the bulk of the focus was during the development of this game, and what they thought would sell it. It was even designed around playing it one-handed. Unfortunately, this means the rest of the game, the actual important stuff, has suffered. The girls are nice, and their acting/writing is decent, there's even fully anime cutscenes, but the gameplay itself is lacking. So far, the over arcing story doesn't seem all that special, but I've not gotten far enough in it to really judge it properly.

But, it's still new. Perhaps some of these issues will be addressed and improved upon. For now, I'd give this game a resounding "eh" and about a 2 out of 5. You might be better off just playing one of the many Sakura VNs.

Are there any experienced Let's Players out there? Kinda wanna try making some gaming videos, but I'd like to get some advise, first, specifically regarding software, and hardware.

Software:
What would be a good choice for recording and/or editing software? Preferably cheap (or free, if possible), since I'm just giving things a go, for now. Don't wanna to go buying $100 program that might only get used three times, ya'know? XD

Hardware:
What should I expect to need from my computer? Would I need something "beefy", or would a mid-range 'gaming laptop' be adequate? How much RAM and/or ROM should I expect to need per recording? Should I look at getting a microphone that isn't built into my laptop?

Any other suggestions, or recommendations?

I love drawing. I've always loved drawing. I loved doodling, as a kid. I love images and art. I love the amazing things artists can do with an image, and the incredible scenes they can create.

Or, is it the idea of drawing, that I love? I don't know. I never cared about it looking good, as a kid. It never bothered me if it looked bad. I didn't notice how it looked, if it was good or bad. It was just my scene that I made.

I love to create. I love to tell a story, to paint an image in someone's head. I want to make a thing and show it to people and have them enjoy it. But I can't. I can't, now, because my brain no longer doesn't care how it looks. I have an image in my head and I want to convey it, but words aren't enough. I can't be accurate enough with words, I can't describe the scene well enough to convey exactly what I see in my head. And even if I do my best to describe something accurate, the way someone else thinks, the little nuisances in their life, their way of thinking, invariably makes them picture it differently.

I took up writing because I love to tell stories. Because I wanted to make scenes that move, events that progress, characters that do and say things. As long as total accuracy isn't needed, words can work. The reader can imagine things how they want and that's OK. But, words don't work for a still image, for an accurate description of an outfit, or a pose. Words can't capture the expression in a face, or the atmosphere of a location the way an image can.

I have ideas. Hundreds of ideas. Thousands of ideas. Characters. Scenes. Constantly, endlessly, all the time. Silly scenarios and jokes. Sexy scenes and settings. Things I want to see and share. But, words can't always convey the image I see in my head so when I go to an artist with something specific in my head I can't convert my thoughts, the image I see in my mind, to a real thing because things get lost in translation. Words are inaccurate and open to interpretation so I must accept that whatever idea I give an artist won't look exactly as I imagine. And that's fine, most of the time. But, sometimes it's not, because sometimes I have something specific and no matter how hard I try, there's no way to make someone else see the image I have locked away inside my head. I wish there was a way to project my thoughts, the images I see in my head, so I can show the artist exactly what I want. I wish there was some way to download my thoughts, send them to an artist, and have them upload those thoughts so they can understand exactly what I'm thinking, what I'm imagining, what I want created but can't create myself.

I can write two thousand words trying to describe something, or link 40 reference images in an attempt to convey exactly what I want, but that will only piss off the artist, and that's only if I have the money, or find an artist whose style fits what I want, that is available, and willing to draw what I want, or even capable.

I wish I'd started drawing years ago. But, I didn't understand how digital tablets work. I didn't understand that the pen you hold doesn't need to touch the screen in order to show a cursor. I had this crappy little tablet with a square pen attached to it via a coiled cord, and it showed the cursor on the screen only when the nib of the pen made contact with that tablet and I thought that that was how all tablets worked. I tried drawing with it but I couldn't. It was too disorienting looking at the computer screen while my hand was interacting with an unseen surface with no indicator of where the line would be when I pressed on the tablet to draw. A mouse always has a cursor, so you can see where it's moving. And modern tablets, even ones without a screen, show a cursor when the pen is close to it so you can track your position without needing to look at your hand. For over ten years, I didn't know modern tablets did it and I couldn't fathom how people managed to learn to know where they would be drawing without any indicator, so I never started learning to draw.

People say "get a pen and paper and start drawing" but my brain doesn't work that way. "Just try" they say. My brain. Doesn't. Work that way. Not anymore. Not as an adult.

I've learned over many years, much to my dismay, that despite all the ideas I have, all the "creativity" I have rattling around in my head, it's not my own. It's all recycled. I'm terrible at coming up with something from scratch, making something from nothing. But, if I have something to begin with, a point to start at and a direction to go in, I can run crazy. I need that foundation to begin. When I draw, it's similar. I struggle to begin because there's no foundation, there's nothing to work from, I have to build that foundation myself and that is where I run into my biggest problem. I'm a perfectionist, but I'm also easily distracted and easily demotivated.

How to Become an Artist!
Step 1: Practice.

OK. I can do that. No problem. I'm not going to be amazing overnight. I probably won't be the best of the best, ever. But, I don't need to be; here's a style I like, it's relatively simple and it looks nice. I can reach that, for sure. It will probably take a few years, but as long as I practice, I can make it.

But... what do I draw? I have a thousand and one ideas but they're all going to look like shit if I try and draw those. I should start with something simple. But... what?

Eventually I start. I start with what I like best, the curves. The hips, and thighs, and work up into the waist, and I try to imagine a pose but it's not working out and it looks like shit and I'm a terrible artist and I'll never get anywhere and now I don't want to draw at all.

So I try again. This time, let's try using a skeleton, a frame with which to work from. Shapes. The body is just shapes. I'll draw a triangle and a circle and I have no idea if these are even in the right place but I'll give it a shot. So, I start to draw some lines. And then I have a figure. But it doesn't match the frame I have in my imagination, the figure I want to draw. I have no point of reference to work from, no idea where to place these shapes so that the linework fits the shape I want so it looks like shit and now I feel like shit and I don't want to draw!

So I try again. This time, let's try using a reference. But... what one? All these thousands upon thousands of images I have saved are advanced poses with obscure angles and OH! here's a simple-ish one. I can try this. So I begin. The skeleton didn't work. The frame looked wrong and the shapes distracted my brain while trying to draw the figure, so I'll stick to my previous effort because, although it ended up looking like crap, it started out OK and looked nice. So I draw, and I try to follow the reference I've chosen and it's not too bad. It's not great, but it doesn't look too bad, so, I'd say it's a success. yay! I feel good and accomplished and it only took me an hour and a half and now my brain is begging me to do something else because I can't focus on drawing anymore. Let's draw some more, tomorrow.

But then tomorrow comes and goes. And the next day. And the day after that. And it's weeks later that I remember I wanted to practice drawing, so I figure I should draw. But, I'm not in the mood. It's late and I'm fatigued and there's no way I'd be able to focus. I'll try and remember to draw tomorrow...

I wanted to learn to draw digitally because digital programs afford me certain capabilities that drawing a paper don't have. For one, repeated erasure of the same area can ruin the paper, leaving nothing but smear marks and destroying the paper's ability to catch lead from a pencil. Did you know paper has tiny little fine hairs on its surface, which the lead of a pencil clings to? And pressing hard with an eraser(or pencil), or repeatedly erasing in the same area, can flatten and destroy those hairs? Makes drawing a line in those spots very difficult. Secondly, because of how my brain works, because I have no point of reference to go by, as I draw, I have to keep adjusting the linework as I draw. That arm is too fat, I need to make it thinner. That hip is lower than the other, I need to make it higher. This curve looks wrong. That corner is in the wrong spot. This needs adjusting, that needs adjusting, erase, redraw, erase, redraw, erase, redraw, ERASE, REDRAW.... With digital, I can sketch all I want, draw the same line a hundred times, quickly and easily adjusting it as needed. I don't even need to use the eraser tool. It makes things quick and easy and prevents my brain from losing interest and focus. And then there's size. Even if I draw the torso and hips just right, what do I do if the head doesn't fit on the page? I'd have to erase and redraw half or more of the entire pose. -50 moral points. Now I feel like crap and don't want to draw.

Drawing digitally affords me the ability to adjust as I go, even if I have nothing to begin with, I can start sloppy and clean it up as I go, making progress that little bit easier, making drawing that little bit less frustrating as I attempt to learn.

If you're an artist, you already know why flipping the canvas is an important ability. For those that don't know, when an artist flips the canvas, it forces their eyes to reset and allows them to see the image from a different perspective, which can show errors and distortions in the linework. You can't flip paper. Even just rotating the canvas can be important because drawing in different directions is not the same. Drawing a line one way is often more comfortable and natural feeling than drawing it in the opposite direction might feel. It's not easy to rotate the paper or book you're drawing on.

I wanted to learn to draw with a digital medium because I knew it would afford me certain capabilities that paper didn't, because I knew it would make it easier for me to stay interested. If I'm not enjoying something, I lose interest and if I lose interest I find no motivation to continue. And I didn't want to not be motivated to draw.

But, even with a tablet, even with what I wanted, I still run into that wall, I still struggle because I can't leave it set up, I can't just turn it on and start doodling any time the fancy strikes. I don't have the space for a dedicated work area. I have to physically move and plug in my tablet, and that in and of itself tends to be a brick wall. Oh, feel like drawing? Got a random, funny idea that would take ten minutes to draw? Gotta go out the room, get the tablet, bring it back, move things around to make space for it, plug it in... -25 motivation points. Now I don't feel like drawing.

And that's just those spur of the moment times, that funny little thought that crossed my mind. Oh, but I have a sketch book that I got, to practice in, which I never do because I'm always distracted by something else and forget. But, drawing in that will probably lead to issues trying to get the form and perspective and and and and and -50 motivation points. Now I don't want to draw.

Occasionally, OCCASIONALLY, I feel in the mood, I feel really in the mood, and I'm eager and I go and get my tablet and I plug it in. I have an idea I want to draw. I try and sketch it but it doesn't work so I hunt for a pose and I set it on the side so I can try and look at it and I start sketching. No. That looks wrong. Erase it and start again. Yeah, this looks better. No. The torso is too short and flat and it looks like crap. -5 moral. Select the transform tool and adjust. Hmm. Now it looks too tall. Is it too wide? The hips don't look right, now. Adjust, adjust, adjust. Now I'm right back where I started! -10 moral. The the TV in the next room is turned on. It's not on high, but for some reason it's grating in my head. The video I turned on to listen to while I dry is irritating me and my brain can't focus and nothing is looking right! It's like the gears in my head are grinding, trying to go somewhere but they're STUCK and I just want to beat my head against a wall because I want to do this but I CAN'T and it's PISSING ME OFF. -100 moral points. Why am I even trying?!

I want to draw. I want the ability to create and share these scenes and ideas I have in my head but my brain won't LET ME get to them. It's like I'm tied down and I can't find a way to get the ropes off.

But, maybe today was just a bad day. Maybe I just wasn't as focused as I thought. I was eager and interested but everything I tried just didn't come out the way I wanted it to and because it didn't it killed my motivation. It's like wanting to ride a bike, but every time I get on to ride, the chain decides to jump off and say "Fuck you! I don't want you to ride." and I'm stuck spinning the pedals, hitting my feet as they swing around, and making me wonder why I'm even bothering.

I don't know if I should continue trying. I keep forgetting. My brain wants it to be better than it is and screams at me because it's not. To most these probably seem like trivial matters. Just keep trying. Just push through. It'll get better. Easy for you to say. I'm the one stuck in the mud, I'm the one whose foot keeps getting sucked deeper each time I try and move forward.

An artist that I thought was nice, that is really skilled and has been drawing for a long time, told me "drawing isn't meant to be fun. it's a long, slow slog and you're just not dedicated enough".

I told them to fuck off. Just because they can endure a ball and chain tied to their leg, doesn't mean I can.

I see some artists talk about taking breaks from drawing for a few months, and return with their skills better than before. It makes me feel slightly less bad about not drawing every day. I understand how that works, actually. Sometimes stepped away from something lets the brain process it in the background, and you return with a fresh look on it. It's common in many things, and I've noticed that even in my own drawing, despite not practicing as much as I should, I've improved. I envy the artists that draw all day. I wish I had the drive and focus to sit for twelve or more hours, every day, and just.... draw. But I can't. My brain won't let me. My eyes glaze over after two and I feel sluggish and just want to do something else, even if the image I'm working on is going well and I want to continue. The day's fuse is burnt out and I just can't.

I want to draw every day. Even if it's just for half an hour. Practice practice practice. Just draw. Something. Anything. Sometimes I manage to do that. Then a week goes by and I realise I haven't drawn in days because I've forgotten.

I want to draw. But I struggle. And I wonder if I should even keep trying... I'm not sure I'm built to draw. I'm not sure I can reach that goal I want to reach. Every time I try I trip and fall over something.

I hope today was just a bad day... Maybe I'll try again, tomorrow.

If I remember.

The Cat Game is out, and I wanted tell you a little bit about it. Don't worry, no spoilers. :D


Stray is a beautiful little game with a focus on story and atmosphere. I completed it in about 8-9 hours, but, don't let its shortness dissuade you.

The world and environment is positively alive with detail, from characters that look and feel like they belong, to the cluttered, lived in look of the locations themselves, making it all look and feel genuine and natural. The game's music is a treat to listen to, adding to the atmosphere seamlessly, whether you're exploring one of the towns, or dodging threats in the less hospitable locations.

And that brings me to the gameplay. The mechanics and controls are simple, with barely half the buttons of the controller being used. Overall, the gameplay is quite minimalistic; there's no HUD to clutter your view, and no stats to keep track of. There's barely even a tutorial as you're tossed right into the game from the beginning. In fact, the game pretty much leaves you to your own devices. There's no hand-holding, and no repeated reminders about your objective. If you forget what you're meant to do, you can ask your little robo-companion, or just wander around until you inevitably find where you're meant to go, by accident.

The puzzles are relatively simple, but still require some thinking, and make you feel smart for figuring them out. And, the stealth sections aren't much different. However, it should be noted that there's no backtracking in Stray, and once you move on from a location, you can't return to collect anything you've missed. There is a chapter select feature, but using it forces you to restart the selected chapter from its beginning, resetting any items you might've picked up and used, forcing you to re-find and re-use them. Triggering the game's autosave will also overwrite any partial progress you've made in a later chapter, meaning that if you quit part way through Chapter 5, and go back to Chapter 3 to collect one thing you missed, you'll need to restart Chapter 5 from the beginning, using the chapter select feature, in order to continue. But, given the relative size of the locations, and the number of items and collectibles, it's not difficult to find most of them just wandering around. There are some hidden nooks and crannies to find, which you'll have to look carefully for, but, that's all part of being a cat.

And, on that subject, I want to acknowledge the superb work the devs have done in emulating the fuzzy protag of this game. As mentioned in an article, which I'll link below, the devs worked with not just one, but three real life cats, and other references, to get a close representation of the subtleties and uniqueness of a feline's behaviour, movement, and looks. Even the environment itself is clearly designed with "cat" in mind, and you'll find yourself leaping from ledge to ledge, knocking over bottles, paint cans, and robots, and even clawing at carpets and couches in true cat fashion. If you play Stray on a PS5, you'll even be treated to your controller physically and audibly purring when laying down in certain locations. I imagine other controllers would also emulate this, but, given the advanced definition of a PS5's vibration function, I suspect other controllers just wouldn't be able to compare.

My only real issue with this game is its apparent lack of a manual save feature. Stray, like virtually every modern game, has an autosave function, but, that's all. The game does not save when you quit, nor is there a menu option to save. There are locations which you can lay down and nap, which I feel would've been, hehe, purrfect for a manual save location, but, alas, they do not work that way. If it's a been a long time since your last autosave (the menu tells you how long ago it was), and you've collected, or done a few things in that time, you may find yourself hesitant to just quit without first progressing the story in order to trigger an autosave.

All in all, Stray is a very chill and relaxing game to play. Explore and interact with the characters and objects to learn more about the world, and how things ended up in the state they're in, or just be a cat, doing cat things. The story isn't super deep and complex, but the characters feel genuine and natural, and, you might even feel your heartstrings being tugged on, now and again.

As I understand it, this is the first game from this dev team, and I hope it does well. I truly feel like there is potential in revisiting this world, and this fuzzy protag, in a much larger game, and I hope that if Stray proves a success, we some day will. I'd really like that.

At the time of writing this, Stray is ~$40aud (which I believe is under $30usd), and only around 15GB, and is, in my opinion, a worthwhile experience. Give it a try, won't you?


https://blog.playstation.com/2022/0.....e-out-july-19/

How to artificially lengthen the life of your game and sell more controllers at the same time!

Are iPods still a thing? Is there an equivalent that has replaced them?

A long, long time ago
In a country far, far away (for most of you, probably)
I had an iPod, with all my favourite music on it. But, after years of good service, it eventually died. As an Android user, I unfortunately cannot just dump all my music on my phone, because half of the songs were purchased via iTunes, therefor, they won't play on an Android phone, because Apple licensing. I've no intention of ever buying/using an iPhone; no real issues with Android, so far, and I often hear people complain about iPhones, anyway; so, no reason to get an iPhone. And, I'm not gunna shell out hundreds of $$$ for an iPhone, just to play music on it. And, before anyone suggests it, I'm not interested in streaming services, either. I've already paid for the music; I'm not paying for a subscription to listen to what I've already paid for, that could go down at any time, and/or remove the songs I want to listen to, etc, etc.

But, I'm a bit behind the times, now, and I don't know if there are still dedicated music/media players, like the old iPods, or if I'm shit out of luck. Does anyone know if such a product is available?

Some time ago, I saw a trailer on IMDb, for a film about a man that awakes in a cell, where food is lowered on a platform, and those below feed on the scraps left by those above. The concept intrigued me, and I was curious to see where the idea would go.

Now that I've had the chance to see The Platform, I want to share my thoughts on it.

First and foremost, if you want a story that has a beginning, a middle, and an end, you might want to try something else. Without going into spoilers, I would consider this movie as one of those "interpretive pieces of art" where the viewer is encouraged to find their own meaning. There's very little in the way of why or how, in this movie; and almost everything you see or hear is essentially from the perspective of the main character, with next to no outside information provided. But, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Things progress at a steady pace, and events unravel almost constantly. There's never a moment where you might grow bored of what is happening, or feel like it's safe to look away for a minute. Every step taken is a step into a new twist, a new development, or a new problem. But not so much that the viewer might feel overwhelmed.

If you're looking for something more on the psychological side of things, and perhaps even a bit abstract, I'd say this movie is worth a look. Even if you only watch it once, it's sure to leave an impression, good, bad, or otherwise.

Overall, I'd say a nice 7/10, for what it is. The concept is simple, and, as far as I'm aware, unique.

I wouldn't recommend eating or drinking anything, while watching this movie, though. Unless you have a strong stomach.

OK. Alright. Everyone is having their say, so I'll toss in my opinion, too, for what little it's worth.

WARNING: Unpopular opinion ahead! You've been warned.









While I don't condone Smith's actions, for certain he could've handled things better, but, for fuck's sake, it was just a slap! People be acting like the man up and beat the shit outta Rock. Chris Rock has always had a sharp mouth, and I'm surprised it hasn't gotten him slapped, before. His joke was below the belt and he got what he deserved, for it. Smith has since apologised for his actions, twice, clearly showing remorse.

What has Rock's response been? Silence.

Once again, the instigator gets off scott free.

If this had happened thirty years ago, no-one would've batted an eyelash at it. But, today, oh no; you glance in someone's direction the wrong way and you're turned into the worst person on the planet.

When I finished Zero Dawn, and saw that it was left open, I was genuinely buzzed about the prospect of getting a sequel. When Forbidden West was released, I was excited and eager to sink my teeth into the gameplay and the story.

Right off the bat, I could see Horizon: Forbidden West was going to have more; more things to do, more places to do, more weapons to pick from, and so on and so forth. Just more. Great! Awesome! Nothing wrong with adding more and building further. The idea of underwater exploration was especially exciting to think about. The story is still great and after a certain event, it just makes me want to dig in and find out where things go.

And then you get into combat...

Combat, in Zero Dawn, was always (until late game, and even then) dangerous. Especially if you were reckless. But I'd be hard pressed to say it was ever unfair. I'm by no means a skilled gamer; I'd say I'm average, at best. And after learning how each machine acted, and remembering to keep a tactical approach in mind, even a "sloppy" fight could be overcome. Tying down additional machines, aiming for key parts to eliminate certain attacks, and, of course, laying traps should the opportunity arise. And few were the times that Zero Dawn gave you little to no time to prepare for an imminent fight.

But, things are different, in Forbidden West. And I can't help but be left wandering... what the fuck happened?!

I get that a new game calls for new machines, and even greater challenges. Cool! You don't want to just print out the same stuff people have already conquered, in the last game, the players would get bored quickly. New machines to fight means new tactics to learn, and new challenges to overcome. But, there's a point where the challenge stops being a challenge and just becomes a chore.

Never in Zero Dawn did I shy away from combat. Never did I find myself thinking "I really don't want to fight that. What can I do to not fight it?" Even against a Thunderjaw, or a Stormbird, I was happy to face the challenge head on, to find a way to defeat it. Even the strongest enemies could be overcome with calm, tactical fighting.

But tactics, in Forbidden West, seems to account for nothing. The machines move erratically, making it cumbersome at best to even aim for a weak spot/component, let alone hit it. Their attacks are devastating and constant, forcing you to spend more time dodging than anything else, and chugging medicine berries after almost every hit. Combat in Zero Dawn was invigorating and challenging. Combat in Forbidden West is... debilitating.

I've found myself avoiding combat, in the wild, at virtually every chance I get. And when I do need to fight (usually to farm machine parts for upgrading gear), I do my damnest to stay on the edge of the machine's "leash" (that area where they won't chase you beyond). And on missions, especially the main one, the game seems intent on throwing you head first into the middle of some absolute clusterfuck of a fight, with next to no time to even scan the machines, let alone prepare traps. Twice I've stumbled my way through a major fight only to find some heavy weapon laying behind a rock, or a bunch of ammo my ally has thrown to me, that I didn't know was there because I just didn't have the chance to even look around.

You aren't faced with a challenge, in Forbidden West, you're buffeted with an onslaught of continuous shit that you barely have time to acknowledge before you're knocked on your ass.

The machines barely pause for more than a second before twisting and twirling like a worm on a hook, to launch their next attack. If you think they're going one way, they go the other. If you get knocked down, you're left vulnerable for almost a full 3-4 seconds before Aloy gets up, leaving you praying another attack doesn't come crashing down on you before you can get up and dodge again. And most attacks hit for a solid 40-80% of your health. On top of that, new gear you might happen to pick up often requires machine parts from further ahead, to fully upgrade.

And this is on Normal difficulty.

The combat, in Forbidden West, isn't difficult; it's bullshit. And I'm finding myself not having fun, which makes me really, really sad, because I want to enjoy this game. I want to explore the world and follow the story. But, the combat is making it very difficult to do so.

Replaying Zero Dawn (to refresh my memory of events and people, for Forbidden West) and I forgot how much of an

absolute

mother

fucking

CUNT

Stormbirds are, early game. (or any other machine, for that matter)

You are not restricted to 1 Palicoe & 1 Palimute on hunts. You can have 2 Palicoes or 2 Palimutes!


I've no idea how known this is, but, I discovered it by absolute accident and when I mentioned it to a friend, they had no idea, either. Made me wonder how many others weren't aware, so, I thought I'd just toss it out there in case others missed it, as well.