#also also i'm just proud of some of the mechanics i made like padding and stitches because they're unique

[schwender-exe]

Another Devlog (#4?)

Happy holidays all! this devlog I got something I'm pretty proud of, not gonna lie. I've been cooking up something nice in a new perspective I've never really delved into. Top-down was always something I saw as really cool, but never really thought of how to do. the perspective itself was always something I found interesting, especially because I was always a fan of the top-down zelda games, eg. minish cap, four swords, etc. So I got to work, using some placeholder assets (which I won't share, sadly because they are of a certain green-capped character), but after jumping over some hurdles, I did set up a basic player character which, you know what? I'm pretty proud of!

While story is still a W.I.P, because I want to get the setting right, the gameplay is going nicely. I avoided combat for this game because I felt like it's always an easy "want gameplay? just add combat" so, rather than adding combat I opted to have some traversal mechanics linked to items. So far I don't have much, but I'm slowly plotting out ideas for more items which you'll unlock as you progress through the game.

First one's a basic one, but I like the atmosphere it can add to areas. The lantern is a nice little item that lets you traverse dark areas. I took a lot of inspiration from the lighting system from the top-down zelda games with, what I call, their 'cut-out lighting' which I name due to how it's rendered, literally cutting holes through a dark canvas layer around light sources to achieve that look. I originally figured out how to do this effect in a previous prototype I made, however the main difference now is it's not limited to one singular light, and now it simply checks any "light_node"s within the scene and punches holes in the shadow for each light!

Next up is the "Warp Wand" as I'm calling it for now, though the sprites I drew up for it look more like a warp spell/ability you have, though the animation for teleporting is placeholder, using another item's animation instead. Either way, it's a neat item that lets you target it at special crystals you can find conveniently placed around large pits! (NOTE: the crystals are also temporary/placeholder sprites I 'borrowed' from another game.)

The final traversal item I have for the player (for now) is the peculiar mask you have on your character which lets you explore "no-oxygen" areas of the map, as I'm calling them for now. it comes with a nifty O2 bar which tells you how much oxygen you have left (right above the stamina bar).

Other than traversal items, there's also the "DataPad" as I'm calling it at the moment, a nifty pad which'll keep track of logs and collectables which'll be littered through the map. The eventual goal for this item is to let you read up on items and logs you find while exploring which might give you insight into what happened here.

Here's some misc gifs of things I've worked on or are currently working on. Stairs working properly was a small but very satisfying achievement, considering how many top-down games surprisingly don't have stairs work properly?

I've lovingly ported the Dialogue and Event system from my on-pause game 'Last Letter', allowing me to write dialogue scenes simply and effectively, though the UI for Dialogue is still W.I.P.

This one's very W.I.P, but I have the basic functionality working! This is a Terminal which you can access and type in commands, Once I have all of the functionality up and running, it'll allow you to access nearby electronics, imbedded logs, etc. and access them. Eg. opening a closed/locked door, cycling the airlock you're within, etc. etc. and maybe some hidden eastereggs/jokes if I think of any? we'll see.

Anyway, thanks for any reading and hope you all have a wonderful holidays! happy new year, etcetera. Oh! also, the desktop pet game I showed before isn't in the dumps, I'm just working on world lore and waiting on some sprites from a friend. It's just not fun to work on because it's mostly UI work.

#gamedev #godot engine #pixelart #pixel aesthetic #pixel #art #indiedev #gaming #artists on tumblr #devlog

[houseboatisland]

Have any thoughts on Dennis? (fair warning: I'm already getting a little obsessed with him, and if your answer is *too* good I might nick your ideas for Ex-Condor. you know. with credit. respectfully!)

Behold, a unit.

I honestly hadn’t until this ask of yours! But now I wanna give it my all. So, here goes!

I’m just gonna start off by saying it’s wrong of Dennis to carry the number 11001. For the rest of this post, just ignore it, and assume he’s “11002.”

In 1949, Ashford Works outshopped two diesel-mechanical locomotives, which became British Railways’ 11001 and 11002. They had been designed by the famous (and in many circles, infamous) Oliver Bulleid of the former Southern Railway. By 1949, Bulleid was in hot water with the young British Railways and the public in general for his reputation as a spendthrift who got his imagined locomotives built by dubious means. His Pacifics had been built during the war under the notion they could be mixed-traffic, (this was VERY untrue,) and his ongoing “Leader” development scheme was riddled with teething problems, all of which were built to the taxpayer after nationalization. It was under this cloud of scandal that 11001 and 11002 entered service.

The two unnamed brothers lived primarily at Norwood Shed, south of London. If they were to have further siblings built, they were intended for shunting duties and slow freight trains, undoubtably replacing tank engines in this current niche. Historians have failed to agree, but ‘01 and ‘02 are likely the first diesel locomotives built for British Railways, main line or otherwise. No further examples were built, however.

Growing up at the turn of the Fifties, ‘01 and ‘02 would have been absolutely surrounded by steam engines, who found them more amusing than a threat to themselves. British Railways was still running at a surplus, and there were plans for hundreds of steam engines of their own designs to be built in the coming years. Therefore, ‘01 and ‘02 were tolerated and even befriended by their steam coworkers. That would change, harshly.

January 1955. Word had gotten around among engines about a White Paper put together by the Government a month earlier. British Railways’ small profits at the beginning of the decade were gone. The company was now running at a deficit, costing more to run than what money it generated. The Government decided that to reverse this deficit by 1962, it would enact what it called its ‘Modernization Plan.’ The plan called for massive investments into the railway network and its rolling stock, to improve their competitiveness against the roads and win back lost clientele. This involved, among several other proposals, the wholesale replacement of steam engines with diesels and several main lines being electrified.

All eyes fell now on ‘01 and ‘02. They didn’t have a single steam friend in their corner now, and were treated not as friends but as enemies who had snuck in years earlier with this plan in mind the whole time. This obviously wasn’t true, but the steam engines were paranoid and powerless to stop what the company planned to do. The only course of action left, according to many steam engines, was to take this out on the diesels themselves. Other diesels in turn reacted by taking on an air of superiority and inevitable power against the outdated kettles they were now proud to replace. It can thus be said that the first real animosity between Steam and Diesel was in early 1955. ‘01 and ‘02 were in the thick of it all as it unfolded.

The two brothers, rather than join those diesels who decided to begrudge the steam engines in return, took no sides, instead becoming self-isolated and co-dependent on one another. This made any separation of the two terribly uncomfortable for both, and eventually led to them being bullied by fellow diesels as insufficiently hateful of steam engines.

By August 1959, ‘01 was out of service with a failed gearbox. ‘02 was still mechanically sound, having been used less, but was absolutely shattered by the loneliness of his brother being off the road. 1960 couldn’t have been grimmer for ‘02, when he learned ‘01 had been scrapped on New Year’s Eve at Ashford, and he himself didn’t have much time. As a non-standard engine, with scores of new diesel locomotives on the way, he was to be taken out of service as soon as could be arranged.

For a few months, ‘02 lingered in the Out of Use sidings at Ashford Works, surrounded by withdrawn steam engine also awaiting their demise and thrilled at the opportunity to mock a diesel for joining them on the way to the chopping block. To their shock, the Controller of the North Western Region, Sir Bertram Topham Hatt I, had turned up on a visit of inspection. He was searching for a small, slow engine to shunt his works at Crovan’s Gate. As ‘02 fit that bill, and was in need of little repair and historically significant, he was chosen. Bertram was at this time hoping to pad out his stock with older, now-endangered diesel engines as their times on the Mainland came up, and ‘02 was saved to the steam engines’ fury.

‘02, who took the name Dennis after his first driver on Sodor, began his new lease on life uncomfortably. He was surrounded by steam engines, which put him on edge enough, not to mention that several such as James were also hostile to diesels. This discomfort led to a few unfortunate mishaps, and the Works Foreman put Hatt on notice to find another engine for the job. Hatt naturally wouldn’t scrap Dennis, and searched high and low for a new line of work that could fit him.

It didn’t take long, and what he settled on suited Dennis to a tee. The Permanent Way Department had for a few years now wanted a diesel engine to run their trains for them. A diesel would be far better suited to long periods of waiting, and being able to start and stop at a moment’s notice. The job was more ideal still for Dennis in that it didn’t require an engine with train braking equipment. Dennis didn’t have this, and it was doubtful if another job with this same non-requirement would turn up soon. So, he was soon assigned to this.

Dennis came to relish the work, most of all because the workmen treated him as their own engine, not as a steam engine, nor even as an efficient diesel engine, but as Dennis. Some engines resent his new lease on life as dawdling between stations with the track gangs, but despite his reputation for it, Dennis is anything but “lazy.” He found a steady job, he found crews who appreciate what he does for them, and if it means sitting in station loops until it’s time to move, that’s not a rest, it’s legitimately part of his job. The resting’s just a small perk, so leave him be, eh?~

#ttte #ttte dennis #ttte oc: sir bertram hatt i #ttte worldbuilding #ttte james

[atinycupofpositivitea]

hiii there! 💜 i want to ask what helps you with your anxiety.....as in what you believe is healing for you?

for me, having a bad day with more intrusive thoughts, bad memories and countless what ifs about the future makes me feel really negative. i question if these thoughts will ever stop bothering me or if i'll always have to deal with this anxiety.....like there's no end to it. i'm in therapy and working towards it but sometimes i kinda just miss my old self who didn't have to deal with this daily 🥺 i'm sorry for the negativity....

but! i want to ask you how you cope with thoughts and days like these and how do you hold onto the hope that you will heal eventually even during rough times? like your go-to coping mechanisms?

i'm sorry if this is too personal and in that case, pls just ignore me! but either way, thank you so much for this lovely blog! its a ray of sunshine on cloudy days 🌈☀️

Hey there! 💌

First of all, thank you so much for your kind words about the blog! It means a lot to me. When I started, I wanted people to draw positive energy from it and now it finally seems like it's working. It makes me so happy! 🧡

I am sorry to hear that you are struggling to believe there is an end to your negative thoughts. It is hard to believe it, and people who don't deal with anxiety can barely imagine how much it takes to get out of a spiral of negative thinking.

When you say "I miss my old self", I can see myself writing that. I also have experienced nostalgia for periods of my life where I could handle everything with ease, but if you want to know the truth, our past selves didn't always have it easy. We are partly blinded by what it's known in psychology as "rosy retrospection", a phenomenon that takes out the negative from the past and only leaves out the positive. We can see the bigger picture now and cheer for our past selves that made it this far... forgetting that their struggles were as valid as ours and we, in fact, are the same people.

I must say that to heal from the things that hurt us, it takes courage. I am proud of you for wanting to fight them back and for committing to therapy. It makes you so strong! 💪🏼

As for your question about my coping mechanisms, I am more than willing to share what I believe it's making some difference in my daily life, as long as you remember that it may not work for you. I am also not trained to give qualified advice on how to tackle mental illnesses effectively, so please consider reaching out to your therapist if you need help with mental health.

Having said that, I deal with mild to severe anxiety by writing down on paper my thoughts, between quotes, then providing an answer to these, like a comment or (positive) criticism. This way I can snap out of irrational anxiety, and see what the facts are. I can challenge my fears and tell them (by writing notes!) that no matter how much anxiety I will get from them, they won't hurt me, because they are what they are. Thoughts.

Other coping mechanisms that work really well for me are:

putting my feet in very hot/cold water. (this helps me grounding!)

using the thought pad in the Wysa app. (Btw I am not paid to sponsor it, I use it everyday)

listen to a guided meditation. (Plenty online!)

...and when nothing seems to work, sleeping. Because I know that the body can't be in anxious mode for long, and that eventually I'll get better! :)

I hope these personal tips were somehow helpful and that you find relief in new, effective coping mechanisms for yourself. Please take care, it was lovely to read you! 💓

Lots of love.

#tea asks #tw anxiety #positivity