#Use it as a reward for using the AR features

[cq-studios]

What if in KHML there are “secret reports” and they’re just letters to Brain (and/or the other Union Leaders) from Ephemer?

Like we learn about his experiences after UX and rebuilding Keyblade Wielder Society and stuff through these letters he wrote to his friends. We never actually see him or the objective events or anything. We don’t even hear his voice, meet any new friends he might’ve made, nothing but those letters.

Like we’re just as disconnected from him as Brain is.

#I dunno I think it’d be a fun way to explore what things were like for Ephemer #like to give us info about it without taking a break from whatever the plot will be in ML #ML’s like Pokémon Go right? #Put it as a chance drop in whatever the equivalent to Pokéstops are or something #Use it as a reward for using the AR features #(says the one who’s probably too in the middle of nowhere to be able to use them) #It’s okay people’ll post them online #khux #khml #Sometimes I Think About KHUX

[technologicalmeditations]

10 apps that Apple Vision Pro needs right now

Let’s explore 10 future ideas for Apple Vision Pro that will inevitably be created and monetised despite all critisism and fears of the decline of the Apple Vision Pro market

AR-Couturier. The concept is based on a flexible measuring tape that extends from the fingertips of both hands (flexible finger roulette), or alternatively, you can set a starting point with a finger and measure non-linearly, thus measuring hips, chest, shoulders. Developers should consider making the polyline smoother and more accurate for measurements. Glasses would make this tool work better and more precisely than apps that often misjudge planes. This idea of a virtual measuring tape for body measurements is highly innovative and could revolutionize the fashion and custom clothing industry.

AR Fitness. Exercise in a unified AR space styled after different immersive worlds. Individuals or groups from different corners of the world can exercise together, choosing rooms based on interests, goals, and countries. There’s an option to choose trainers (for an additional fee) or exercise with prerecorded workouts (for introverts). Combining physical exercises with AR in various styled worlds is an excellent way to make fitness more exciting and accessible globally.

Virtual Confession App. This app is modeled after Russian Chatroulette, where random people communicate, but with a crucial difference: it offers an immersive space design using AR glasses. Imagine choosing a therapist’s chair, a monastery cell, or something else for your dialogue with another person. Participants not only talk but can also set tasks for each other and complete them. For an additional fee, professional psychologists/therapists can be involved, and various consultation rooms and meditation sessions can be created. This concept of random communication with elements of confession and task completion is unique and can create a highly intriguing and emotional user experience.

AR Anti Couch Potato. A humorous motivator for particularly lazy people. Put on the glasses, and a motivator (with a selectable avatar) compels you to do something (through threats or gentle manipulations). The essence of such a motivator is to synchronize with your notes/reminders and any documents, analyze your records and tasks, and make you complete them. Developers need to consider how to protect themselves from user criticism, perhaps by ensuring that each user provides documented consent in advance not to be offended by the motivator to avoid AR abuse. This idea is particularly original and addresses the current issue of motivation. Integrating AR with personalized reminders and documents to stimulate activity could genuinely help people overcome laziness and become more active.

AR Empathy Simulator. The app of the century, capable of training and teaching people empathy. What does it mean to be not like you, but to be someone else? The primary mission of this app is to deeply understand another individuality. Possibly, glasses are the only way to truly dive into another person’s mind. The principle of the app — wearing glasses, you transfer with granted permission into another person’s glasses or an accessible record of that person, to understand how they think and feel through an immersive experience. Potential downsides: criminals and various fraudsters might gain access, so it’s essential to carefully think through the policy and consider security measures twice.

AR Relationship App for Long-distance Couples. The goal is to maintain connections over distance. In the app, participants complete joint tasks, progress through levels, and earn rewards. A key feature of this game must be the ability for participants to see live 3D figures of each other. For instance, they can assemble puzzles, playfully interact, take quizzes, or explore AR stores and dressing rooms (a feature that bored spouses would appreciate). The main thing is that there can be many such applications, all depending on the interactivity embedded within.

AR Cards. Perhaps a less original idea, but it could gain a new twist through an immersive experience. Creating stylized spaces for playing cards in a combined AR session sounds cool, especially when players want to interact with players from different countries.

AR Mythology. Do you want to become a god while learning about myths? 3D mythology is a great way! Studying the 3D mythology of various cultures interactively and having the opportunity to play as one of the gods at the end of the course is designed for better learning material absorption. It’s particularly suitable for teenagers.

AR Chef. Imagine being given a list of dishes and shown how to prepare them in 3D models — boring? But add to this app the ability of glasses to point out mistakes in the cooking process, such as showing how to properly butcher meat or correctly measure the volume of a substance in a container (for which the correct container needs to be scanned and the right recipe selected so the glasses can determine the correct weight). This is hard to implement, but possible in the future.

AR Assistant for Combating Panic Attacks. Using AR to create an immersive experience aimed at aiding during panic attacks, combined with using smartwatches to monitor physiological parameters, represents an innovative approach to treating psychological conditions. This application should work alongside devices like the Apple Watch to track vital parameters and include a set of rules/techniques from licensed psychotherapists for specific panic attacks, as well as a calendar to monitor such states and further prognosis.

#technology #tech #technews #apple vision pro #augmented reality #apps #games #dating #dating games #empathy #culture #fashion #cuisine #ideas #immersiveexperience

[kujousaramybeloved]

rant about weekly bosses + resin

it’s so unbelievably hilarious to me that hyv is adding “big changes!” to the weekly boss system in 4.2 by……. letting players fight them without having unlocked them via story quest. (and by hilarious i mean nobody’s laughing)

don’t get me wrong, that’s great, and that probably should’ve been a feature already with how long the sumeru arc is, but like, if you’re wl 7 or 8 (aka ar 50+, which really only takes a few weeks of gameplay to reach) you can join just about anyone for co-op and fight the bosses that way (that’s how my friend who’s behind on the story was doing it while he caught up)

but like. no resin changes? whatsoever? bffr. i’d so much rather have it cost less resin but still have to do the story to unlock the boss for my own world.

if you’ve been playing since version 1 like me you probably remember how weekly bosses used to ALWAYS cost 60 resin, and then later they added the 3 times per week that they cost 30 instead. you know when they added that? no, not with inazuma, with AZHDAHA. back in version 1.5! he was the 4th weekly boss in the game, so this actually ended up lowering the weekly boss resin total from 3x60 (160) to 3x30 + 60 (150) total.

they realized 2 ½ whole years ago that having four (4) weekly bosses costing 60 resin each with the resin recharge rate/cap the way it was (and still is! it’s been capped at 160 since 1.1) was a lot, and so they adjusted it. which was great!

you know how many weekly bosses there are now?

*eight*. and it’ll be 9 after 4.2.

that’s 3x30 + 5x60, a total of 390 (soon to be 450) resin PER WEEK to claim rewards from all the weekly bosses. and yeah, i’ve fought the earlier weekly bosses hundreds of times, so technically i can skip those, but what about new players? they still need those weapon billets and talent materials and elemental gemstones for the characters they unlock for every weekly boss

like it just feels so silly to say “big changes!” to weekly bosses and have it be really such an insignificant change in comparison to changes that players actually want/need. with the amount of characters, artifact sets, weapons, weekly bosses, etc, etc, needed to be farmed, ESPECIALLY for newer players, i can’t really appreciate any changes to any game mechanics unless it’s resin related atp

and now i’m just gonna throw around some ideas:

3 -> 6 instances of rewards costing 30 resin per week (450 -> 360 total)

all weekly bosses costing 60 -> 40 resin to claim (also 450 -> 360 total)

resin cap 160 -> 200 at least (that would get you 5 condensed resin, but 240 seems more reasonable to me)

being able to auto a domain/boss fight after you’ve successfully beaten it on that difficulty 10 (or some other arbitrary number) times

artifact domains costing mora rather than resin to farm (since it’s completely random which of the 2 sets you get, what type of piece you get, what main stat you get for the timepiece/goblet/circlet, what substats you get, and what upgrades the substats get when you level them)

#once again i am not mad just disappointed but not surprised #yes i’m going to put a condensed version of this into future surveys but also it doesn’t rly feel like they read the open ended part #txt #soapbox #genshin impact #genshin rant

[glitchedguy]

My thoughts and Opinions on Mass effect 3 first playthrough. (No spoilers please, but this will contain spoilers as it is my experiance)

So. first of all, i know its been a while. but I've been busy with life guff annoyingly. i did start this game after finishing ME2, however... i was influenced a bit to not like this game by nerdcubed as i heard he didn't like this game. which is fair. that's his opinion. so that didn't help. When I played it, i quickly understood why he didn't like it and how all the joy of it was sucked away (and also all the combat was completely trivial) so i took a long ass break from the game. tried it again. this time, i saw that there were difficulty options. Which I'm going to blame the game for never prompting this. i know there are games that don't prompt you at all about difficulty but 95% of games i play do prompt this. so i didn't look for it in the first place. after finally being granted full freedom, i quickly got a mod to just have unlimited fuel because I like that. i do love the new feature of you can only scan a few times before the reapers come for ya. its not hard to outrun them, but its given me a few clench moments of running away. Something the game added which i like and dislike is the weapon weight system. now how it works is that you can only carry a certain weight of items with you through missions. the more weight you have means the less you can use your powers and for a Vanguard, that sucks. but i get why this was done as it adds more strategic thinking and planning involved. but i don't like the weight of some weapons. like, personally, i like running with only 3 weapons. A pistol, and AR, and a Sniper. but snipers are far too heavy to be worth it. so i kinda breeze through at close to mid range. i would be much happier with full choice. i would be fine countering this with what i stated before. but the problem there is that its never clear what kinda environment or enemies I'm facing so i can't properly plan ahead. and i can always rely on my AI teammates either. a small feature i do very much like is that while walking around on the citadel. you can find some people arguing about how best to help the war effort or who is more in the wrong but listening in on the conversation and choosing to interject. for example, you can find this couple arguing about how to best help the war. 1 is saying that they should join the military and take up arms, talking about their friends getting out their weapons that were mainly jsut for show. the other is unsure about the idea. I chose to support the unsure one and Shepard suggested that they could volunteer at medical areas to help there. and they were both down for that. it rewards the player with a small boost in numbers too. its a little thing but i very much like that. also, after trying to dodge DLC spoilers and trying to work out what order I'm supposed to do everything in. i now have all but the citadel dlc spoiled for me (except the ending) so if you're looking to do them and play this game. just do it any order as the dlc was built to be played mid campaign it seems. but the DLC missions are Eden Prime, Dr. Bryson's lab on the citadel, and some other place i haven't unlocked but i know its at the citadel. too.

#no spoilers #commander shepard #mass effect #mass effect legendary edition #sheperd #ME3 #LE3 #Mass effect 3

[remembercomic]

Making Magic Feel “Magic”

In many video games, players are gifted with a set of abilities to use as and when they choose. In many cases these are representative of their character’s distinct and often-superhuman capabilities, and in the case of fantasy settings in particular they are frequently magic spells.

However, there’s something to be said for the lack of immersion involved in knowing your character has studied and researched for years, gathered vital reagents in the wilderness, and has uncovered the ancient sigils necessary to produce an arcane fire bolt... and pushing keybind 1 to actually use it.

Immersion is the property of a game that makes the player “feel” like they’re in the game environment doing the things that their character is purported to be doing, rather than simply interacting with game objects and menu screens. It can be a hindrance to necessitate that players go to such lengths, but it is an important facet of player enjoyment, particularly when dealing with things outside of normal life like magic.

Over the course of the last decade, Minecraft in particular has seen an entire genre of mods themed after magical effects.

One of the earliest was Thaumcraft, which notably featured a research system that required players to examine blocks, items, and creatures in their environment to glean points to invest intelligently into a research UI at a research table in order to unlock new tools and devices. Whilst the presentation could be described as immersive and certainly it and the rewards were themed as magical, the ultimate payoff is decidedly less so. Sure you have an item that releases a gout of flame, but that’s really just a texture pack away from being a regular flamethrower, and what’s more it’s identical to what someone you’ve had no interaction at all with has made thirty servers over. This ultimately makes Thaumcraft fall short in the sensation that you’re a mage in seclusion studying the arcane and putting it to use, it’s really more of a coat of paint over a tech tree.

After Thaumcraft came the Witchery mod, though it was sadly short-lived despite numerous innovative gameplay features. Witchery focused on simple devices that could be interconnected, with no research required but with some incentive to play around and experiment to get a better understanding of how different parts worked. Included was the Mystic Branch, a wand-like item that allowed players in the field to draw out directional patterns to produce various magical effects. Ultimately however, the wand was difficult to use and the spells were predefined, so few players invested time into it and those that did mainly resorted to a handful of the available effects in particular.

Then came mods like Psi, Ars Nouveau, and Hexcasting. These mods made a severe shift to the existing framework by focusing on one specific concept: Custom spells. Instead of the hard-coded spell effects of earlier mods, these mods allowed players to create their own through different systems. Ars Nouveau used a single-line linear system of distinct glyphs to create effects, Psi had a visual programming-esque interface to perform logic and calculations for effects, and Hexcasting required the user to draw pre-coded glyphs on the screen to perform mathematical operations on derived variables.

Whilst the addition of personal spell-crafting was a major step forward, the actual execution in these mods was... lacking somewhat. Ars Nouveau was so simple that it was very easy to understand even for novice users, but this meant that many spells ended up looking much alike and more-over this deprived the spells of a lot of their “mystique” as magic. Psi and Hexcasting conversely were very unfriendly to players without some background in programming, with Hexcasting even necessitating that its glyphs (arbitrarily made and hard-coded) be memorised, as its creation screen deprived the user of all outside knowledge in-game. This ultimately made them both too tedious for players to invest in and similarly lacking in mystique.

In summary, whilst strides have been made in better enabling players to “feel” like powerful mages studying and creating new spells on their own, there remain some obstacles to the “sensation” of doing so. I think the addition of manual spell crafting is an important effort, and doing so in a programmatic manner so as to allow spells to be more diverse helps to sell the narrative that you are studying and creating them in your own personal way, but it needs to be conveyed to the player in a less overt fashion whilst paradoxically being as comprehensible for players without programming experience.

To attempt to describe a potential approach that meets these requirements, a common almost-quintessential feature of many magic systems in fiction is that of the magic circle.

The magic circle is, as its name suggests, a circular arrangement of glyphs and imagery connected by drawn lines or additional circles, resulting in a magical effect. The actual logic of such arrangements is usually quite minimal, as it is rarely necessary for the audience to properly comprehend the fine detail of magic in the setting beyond simply that one magic circle arrangement does one thing and another does another different thing.

However, if a system could be described that leads the player to develop their own magic circle arrangements with sufficient programmatic logic to enable them to readily design them to specific ends, I think this would produce the missing immersive property of the previously-described approaches. The benefit of magic circles is that they provide meaningful structure in an unorthodox fashion, preserving some volume of magic mystique, without necessitating memorisation of arbitrary shapes (as any UI to create such arrangements would necessarily need to provide them for placement) or high levels of real-world programming ability.

Moreover, such an arrangement with programming logic embedded could easily be stored as an external object to be shared between players, like wizards sharing research notes, and letting the players actually feel personally involved with the development of magical knowledge in their gameplay.

Of course, this approach is by no means simplistic in implementation. The allure of hard-coded effects in the earliest mods was that you always knew what it would do and it was very easy to implement new effects during development. A programming approach necessitates some form of compiler to convert the user input into an executable program. This was simple enough for Hexcasting and Ars Nouveau with their sequential operation strategy (each provided operation happens one after the other until end), but quickly grows more complicated for Psi or this hypothetical magic circle approach.

#game design #ui design #magic

[tomyo]

Street Pass Mini Game Special

I truly love my 3DS. Even though I came in to owning one a lot later than everyone else, it's been something I've loved deeply. From themes to kisekae plates to the virtual console IR to AR, I really love exploring the full functionality of the system. At some point I'd probably start a series on other functions of the 3DS but today I wanted to focus on the beloved street pass!

So yes, I did buy ALL the street pass dlc when I hear the shop was closing and it's....an experience to say the least. This has given me the chance to go through them however! So let's go!!

Puzzle Swap

I loved this one a lot when I started using my 3DS. Collecting is definitely a brain activator for me. Admittedly though when they updated to multiple pieces getting collected, it was a lot healthier of a job. Right now, I sit extremely frustrated since my current memory card only shows the standard puzzles and not the ones added over time. I know at one point I was at least to one final puzzle needing filling so now I sit frustratingly finished but not really finished on it.

Find Mii 1&2

Find me was where I truly put more of my attention and also equally frustrating at one point in time as I rarely got passerbys and mostly relied on hires mercs. The biggest struggle was I got my 3DS after I moved back to the suburbs meaning I no longer had the benefit of living in a city or it's huge campus. By the time I did move back to city living, I went to a much smaller school at a time where the switch was about to be released. Sometimes I think back to watching my friends get to play Animal Crossing New Leaf and Pokemon X & Y(which I actually like) with a little bit of envy. There's the tug and pull that I went to a lot of cons at than time and could afford it because I was frugal or how getting an og 3DS likely would've stopped me from getting my beloved new 3DS but sometimes it sucks that I didn't shell out the $180 or so to be apart of all that. The 3DS was probably more of a kawaii golden era staple than any other system could have been and just little things like this suddenly come to mind.... Wait wasn't I supposed to be talking about the games? Ah yes, I truly love the two find Mii games. I think they're extremely fun and you can see the way they paved the path for Miitopia. I still have yet to collect all the rewards you can get partially because of that whole tangent issue but hopefully if I start to walk around with it more I can regularly beat the game. I've started to bring my 3DS to cons and now even own a second one after a lucky find so regular street passing is more common for me!

When it came to the next games, you had to pay for them in I believe $15 increments. Either two to three packages where available alongside the premium upgrade which allowed you to have a longer queue and one additional features. Each game also has a guide character for the stories.

Slot Car Rivals

This was the game I selected from the free choice when they offered that up for the game releases. You race against passers to try and progress and build up your car. If I'm honest I don't get this one much. Your guide character is a race team assistant.

Market Crashers

If somehow you can still get this one I'd choose it of the free choice. You get to do capitalism simply put with more passers equalling better predictions on stock shares going up or down through a session. The gameplay per a session is really short once it starts but I find it fun thus far. Basically rapidly hitting by or sell to make more money as quick as possible. There's also art assets to grab up and hold onto. I definitely get excited at chances to play this one. Your guide character is a reddit looking business man.

Feed Mii

Another concept I really like. You essentially grab ingredients and try to cook the best meals possible for your passers who are going out on quests. Do good and you get good reviews from their success. Sadly also really short gameplay overall. While you're encouraged to try cooking more before ending a session, the gameplay can feel a little to quickly done. Your guide character is a cozy male cook in a bandana.

Ninja launcher

Another extremely quick gameplay session one. You're trying to match up passers to be in your shooting path as they'll give you equipment to fight an enemy but you have a time limit to try and get the most ideal shot. Once you fight the target the session is over. Your guide character is a Yamato nadeshiko ninja.

Mii Trek

This one reaks of edutainment in the best way. Each passed adds to the amount of traveling you can do as you lead an expedition for treasure and find real life animals along the way. It's not fully my cup of tea but I like the journey you get to take being a longer and more complicated game session than the previous ones. Your guide character is a toucan straight out of the 90s era gif graphics.

Mii Force

Another longer game. You're in a classic side scrolling shooter with each passed equating to being a weapon with variation based on shirt color. Its sometimes even a little challenging for me. At points I even feel a bit frustrated because enemy shots aren't always clear on the screen noise but that also means I'll have more reason to come back to it as I progress through it. Your guide character is a robot captain.

Flower Town

One of my favorites and one I was really excited to finally get to play. You raise and breed flowers to create a plethora of breeds. I like anything that involves raising so this one spoke to me a lot. That being said it goes pretty slow hahahah. Your guide character is this calming older dude with glasses.

Warriors Way

I remember my best friend talking good of this one and I do enjoy it. Your troops are your total street passes and then most passer's numbers will also be added to yours which you then use to conquer other nations. Because I started so late I started off with a sizable 900+ and then a few thousand from others joining me. However I did run into a monster army I would of had to of challenged but I was too overwhelmed by the size. The battles are rock paper scissors but with the right number and it letting you know the win outcomes, it can be doable without ever losing. Your guide character is a butler.

Monster Manor

You're stuck in a mansion and collect essentially Tetris pieces that turn into halls to help you discover the stairs to help guide you up to freedom. You also occasionally fight ghosts. I don't know how to put it has more meat of a game but it doesn't hold my attention as much. Your guide character is a tiny girl who you employ (I promise I don't mean it in that way but she's a loli type)

Ultimate Angler

You fish various species with bait you receive from your street passes. It’s even local to your area based on how you registered yourself. To catch certain fish you need the right bait which is based on the color of your street passer’s shirts. When I had a lot of street passes pulled up it was pretty fun but it’s not as great when you struggle to get the right bait. I also wish you could change areas and save bait for new locations but sadly you have to use it all at once. When you get back you can stick the stuff you caught in an aquarium and sometimes get new rods which I haven’t explored much yet. You guide character is a bikini clad girl who runs the desk.

Battleground Z

The final of them is a zombie brawler where passers give you weapons or fight with you. I'm not a big fan of beat em ups so I'm a little sad I'm not a huge fan of this one. Sad because you're guide character is a blonde, Bayonetta looking onee-san.

#tomyo’s backlog adventure #backlog #street pass #streetpass #mii #streetpass plaza #street pass plaza

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic Cyber Revolution, Entry 22: The Treasure Hunter

''Tap the rhythm against the floor to look for another door. I am slipping to the mystery of the night. I know there is an easy way, but it is my choice anyway. Don't let me waste my time in futile thinking anymore. Fated not to be tamed, watch me I never will lean upon you. I can go – by myself!''

– Fly in the Freedom by Sonic Adventure 2 (Theme of Rouge)

xXxXxXx

It was the middle of the night, the mansion being dead silent. The room was only illuminated by the moonlight coming from a nearby window, only for it to darken when a shadow-like figure appeared behind the window, easily opening it and making her way inside the room. She looked around, making sure there weren't any cameras inside the room, then smiled in satisfaction.

This person was an anthropomorphic bat with white fur, tan skin, turquoise eyes with two large eyelashes on each one, and a curvy figure. She had large pointy ears, small fangs, a small black nose on her muzzle, a short pointy tail, and a pair of dark purple wings on her back. Only her head appeared to have fur, which flared out into six points at the back. She was wearing powder blue eyeshadow and a pink lipstick and her attire consisted of a black, skin-tight, strapless unitard with a pink, heart-shaped chestplate with white trim, along with long white gloves and high-heeled boots with pink cuffs. Her boots also had gray soles and featured pink hearts on the toes. She also had a small white bag with a strap over her shoulder. Once she was assured that no one would interrupt her, she started to make her way over to a portrait, opening it like a door and observing the vault before her. She then reached for her bag, taking out a compact from it. Opening it, she smiled at the tiny mirror and taking the powder puff that was inside it. She then gathered some of the powder before tapping it over the number pad on the vault, before blowing away the excess powder, leaving only four numbers covered.

''They really need to up the security here.''

Rouge the Bat smiled as she punched in the number code, having observed earlier in the day the directions the owner used to open the vault. The number pad glowed green and the vault opened, with Rouge's eyes sparking as she saw the pink jewel inside it.

''Oh, you're so beautiful! So perfect!''

Rouge grabbed the pink jewel, examining it with glee. She felt as if she was in Heaven, having managed to successfully steal another jewel from some rich person who'd probably not even miss it. She felt that should could give it a much better home. She then placed the jewel in her bag, sighing dramatically.

''Despite the dazzling reward, there really isn't any challenge, as expected,'' Rouge muttered under her breath, a little disappointed that there wasn't more to her heist. She shook her head, leaving through the window and flying into the night.

xXx

Tails stretched his arms, yawning. ''We're finally done… What's the time?''

''It's like 1 AM in the morning,'' Warren responded, yawning and squinting at the computer monitor. They were at their workshop, finally done decoding and cataloguing all of the data they got from the Codex Research Facility, creating two separate files, one for themselves and another for Touka and Shadow, including back-ups. ''I feel like my brain had been fried, and we're still not done.''

''I wonder whether we should tell Lucas about what we found out,'' Tails said, leaning back in his seat. ''He did say that he wanted to learn more about the origins of Irregulars, and we actually got some insight into that.''

''Yeah, but I'm not sure whether Touka and Shadow will agree to us telling Lucas or the rest of the team what we had found out,'' Warren pointed out. ''You saw it for yourself, that information is part of Project Shadow.''

''I think we should call them and ask them about it,'' Tails said, reaching for the AR Visor on the top of his head, but was hesitant. ''Uh, do you think they're asleep?''

''I'm pretty sure everyone's asleep at this point, aside from us,'' Warren replied in a deadpan tone. ''But, I still think we should go ahead with it. If they don't pick up, we'll give them a call tomorrow.''

''You know that 'tomorrow' is now, right?'' Tails replied, deciding to call Touka, because he didn't want to deal with a grumpy Shadow. Warren snorted as they waited for the call to pick up. It took a minute, but the holographic screen revealed an annoyed Touka, sitting on her bed and frowning as she stared at them. Shadow, who also woke up, was sitting next to her, was just glaring at the two.

''I hope you have a good reason for calling us in the middle of the night,'' Touka said.

''We managed to finally finish decoding all the data we got from Codex, so we wanted to ask you if you could come over tomorrow to pick up the USB stick,'' Tails explained.

''You could've just called us in the morning to tell us that,'' Shadow said, his gaze softening slightly.

''There was something else we wanted to tell you about. Some of the information we had found concerns the possible origin of Irregulars and we wanted to share it with everyone, but it's part of Project Shadow, so we wanted to ask for your opinion first, since this is very personal to you,'' Warren explained.

''We are only going to talk about the part that concerns Irregulars in general, so you don't have to worry about sharing any information you're not comfortable with,'' Tails added.

Touka and Shadow both had to admit that they were a little surprised that they even asked, but pleased nevertheless. ''How important is the information you got?''

''Important enough for everyone to know,'' Warren replied.

''You two could come earlier to take a look at it, if you want and tell us whether you're okay with what we have prepared,'' Tails suggested. Touka and Shadow fell silent for a moment, exchanging glances as if engaged in a wordless conversation.

''Go for it,'' Touka finally said, much to Warren and Tails' surprise. ''I'm curious what you have uncovered. Good night!''

The screen went black, with Warren just sighing in relief. ''Man, it's always so tense with these two around.''

''At least we can call everyone else for a meeting,'' Tails replied, already typing up a message and sending it to everyone. Warren took a deep breath, leaning against the table.

''I just want to go to sleep.''

xXx

''…and Mum's paranoid that someone might break into our house to steal her jewel and gemstone collection,'' Lily concluded, with Minami and Amy giving her surprised looks. The two were on their way towards the Taylor Workshop, having ran into Lily and Knuckles on their way there, with the latter two telling them about last night's break into into the mansion of Lauren Crystle's, Lily's mother, close friend. Minami furrowed a brow.

''I had no idea your mother was interested in gemology,'' she said. Lily waved her off.

''Actually, she isn't. She just likes to collect valuable gemstones and then brag in front of her friends about them. She has a whole room just dedicated to her hobby,'' Lily explained.

''Now that someone stole from her friend, she voiced her concerns during breakfast over her collection being the next target and demands additional security. Lily's father stated that there was no reason to be worried, though,'' Knuckles added.

''Really, why?'' Amy asked, confused.

''I think that Dad just didn't want to deal with Mum's dramatics, so he blew it off,'' Lily replied, shrugging. ''Honestly, I don't really care about it, although I'd like to learn more about this mysterious thief.''

''If this thief knows what is good for them, they wouldn't dare to steal from our home as long as I'm the Guardian,'' Knuckles said.

''Nevertheless, if you ever need help, you know you can call us,'' Amy noted. Knuckles simply nodded in response as they arrived at the workshop. The rest of Team Neos was already there, with Warren and Tails working on a device, with Sonic peering curiously over Tails' shoulder. Lucas was talking to Makoto and Silver, while Touka and Shadow were in the corner of the room, reading something on a holographic screen.

''Hey, guys! Hope you haven't started without us,'' Minami announced their presence as they joined the rest of the team.

''Don't worry, we were waiting for you,'' Warren told her, with Tails picking up the device they had been working on earlier, disconnecting it from the computer.

''What's that?'' Sonic asked.

''It's a portable AR Field generator, something Warren worked on before I came along. We wanted to use it for our presentation,'' Tails explained. He pressed a button on it, the AR Field suddenly spreading through the entire room and revealing a bunch of holographic screens floating around them. ''All done!''

As their friends settled either on the couch or just leaned against it, Warren and Tails turned towards them, feeling a little nervous. After all, the information they had discovered felt like a huge bombshell since any information regarding Irregulars was limited and investigations in their origins were basically non-existent due to the government forbidding it. However, given the existence of the Codex Research Facility, that hadn't always been the case.

''So, you already know why we have called you here,'' Warren started, noting everyone's gazes of anticipation. Sonic held up his hand as if he was in a class.

''Yeah, you said you had figured out the origins of Irregulars,'' Sonic said.

''Right, except that's not completely the case. As a matter of fact, all of the information we got was from the Codex Research Facility, being part of Prof. Hiroshi Sakamoto's research,'' Warren explained, briefly glancing at Touka and Shadow, who looked quite tense.

''There are a few points we wanted to go through,'' Tails said, grabbing a nearby holographic screen that was filled with notes. ''For starters, you all know that any research concerning Irregulars had been forbidden, not helped due to Shadow basically destroying a good chunk of the Codex Research Facility.'' Tails glanced at the ebony hedgehog. ''Yeah, there is no way to sugarcoat this one. Sorry, Shadow.''

''I don't mind,'' Shadow replied, arms folded across his chest.

''Nevertheless, before that, the scientists at Codex were tasked with the research of Irregulars, who had proven themselves a threat since there really wasn't anyone who could properly deal with them at the time, since the Irregular Hunters haven't even been formed yet and combat-oriented ARNavs weren't developed yet,'' Warren continued. ''The main directive of this research was to learn the origins of the Irregulars, their connection to BioEnergy and whether there was a possibility to control them properly without them being a danger to humanity.''

''Prof. Sakamoto had even detailed in his notes how Codex had created a task force to capture Irregulars and bring them there for research. Let's just say that some members got seriously hurt during that process,'' Tails continued. ''During the research, they had come to the same conclusions as we did. Irregulars, unlike regular ARNavs, are both biological and digital in nature, needing to sleep and eat while also being able to manipulate data and survive outside an AR Field, as well as be able to manipulate BioEnergy. However, they still didn't know why that was the case.''

''Considering what you had told us, it looks like they figured it out eventually,'' Amy commented.

''Correct, although this only happened because Prof. Sakamoto had help from an outside contributor,'' Warren replied.

''Really? He couldn't figure it out by himself?'' Makoto was stunned.

''Who was the contributor?'' Silver asked.

''Unfortunately, that information had been redacted,'' Tails replied, turning a holographic screen towards them and showing them the notes with the redacted parts. ''Whoeever it was, Prof. Sakamoto didn't want anyone to know. We don't know why either, because he never elaborated on that in detail, so unless you guys know anything, this is all we got.''

''If we knew anything, we would've told you. Prof. Sakamoto made sure that Shadow and I stay as far away from the research areas as possible unless he specifically called for us, which was rare,'' Touka explained.

''That still didn't prevent you from going to areas you weren't supposed to be at,'' Shadow remarked dryly. Touka just shrugged.

''So? I was bored,'' she replied, with Shadow rolling his eyes. Touka turned to Warren and Tails. ''In any case, we don't really have anything to add.''

''Fortunately, we do,'' Warren replied. ''We all know that ARNavs are sentient digital beings created in a controlled environment. Irregulars, however, aren't really created as much as they're… I guess 'born' would be the correct term? I'm not sure.''

''I'd go with the term 'awoken','' Tails added, glancing at Warren, then turned towards fellow Irregular teammates. ''None of us really remembers where we come from. We have absolutely no memories of our past save from the moment we awoke.''

''That's correct,'' Knuckles said.

''The reason for that is because Irregulars are literal errors that appeared in the current system. They are amalgamations of stray data that has been caught between an AR Field and the real world, glitching out and forming into an Irregular. That also explains why we have no memories of anything before awakening. We're literally not supposed to exist,'' Tails explained. There was a moment of silence, with his teammates exchanging glances, being rather surprised, but at the same time, they seemed to be more accepting of that fact. With all the things that happened to them, this may not have been as shocking as it was supposed to be.

''That would explain why so many Irregulars have appeared in Neos City, since this place is filled with AR Fields,'' Sonic pointed out.

Tails simply nodded and continued, ''There is something else I want to add. According to Prof. Sakamoto, it is actually almost impossible for an Irregular to be artificially created. It wasn't elaborated on why though, but I have a couple of theories regarding that. More importantly, the remaining data shows that there had been several unsuccessful attempts of creating an artificial Irregular that they would be able to control, hence why I said that it's almost impossible to create one. However, thanks to the anonymous contributor, there was one, and only one, successful creation.''

As if on cue, everyone turned their heads towards Shadow. The ebony hedgehog wasn't too keen on all of the sudden attention he got, opting to just scowl and ignore it. They knew about his and Touka's past, as they had told them, and he wasn't going to answer any unnecessary questions.

''Moving on,'' Warren started, drawing everyone's attention. ''There was also a section about the research on BioEnergy and its connection to Irregulars. However, neither Tails nor I are really comfortable talking about it in detail because it is tied to Project Shadow, so we'll leave that one to Touka and Shadow to explain, if they want to.'' He paused, catching the two's intense gaze. ''All we can say is that there was an attempt at weaponizing BioEnergy and Irregulars, but they had failed.''

''Not only failed, but failed spectacularly,'' Tails added in a snarky tone.

''Hmph, it is ironic that what the Professor couldn't achieve, you have managed to figure out,'' Shadow said suddenly, ignoring the looks he got.

''You mean, Chaos Surge?'' Lucas asked. Shadow nodded, then noted Sonic's curious look.

''Do you want to tell us more?'' Sonic asked.

''I was only going to fill in the gaps,'' Shadow replied. He did respect Tails and Warren for not sharing all of the information, him and Touka having decided after the call they got that they would add more if necessary. Shadow recalled Prof. Sakamoto's last log, having read it after he woke up from his stasis pod, feeling the rage simmering again, but kept himself calm. ''The Professor has never shared what the true purpose of his research, but he would still run exams on me. He had also insisted on me and Touka developing a close bond, and I suppose that was all part of his experiment. It even reached a point where we both were put into danger just to see whether he can trigger anything.''

''Honestly, I'm just glad we don't have to deal with him or anything regarding Codex anymore,'' Touka said, sighing in relief. There was a moment of silence, suddenly broken by Silver.

''Do you guys think we'll meet more Irregulars like us?'' Silver asked.

''Well, Knuckles and I had already a run in with Big and Froggy, and there were also the Babylon Rogues. I guess anything's possible,'' Lily said.

xXx

Knuckles yawned, walking away from the kitchen while eating handful of grapes. He woke up in the middle of the night feeling a little hungry and, after failing to fall asleep, he decided to just get his favorite snack to calm his nerves. It was a rather quiet night, but Knuckles remained alert. It was a habit of his, something he learned from his travels, to listen to his gut feeling and be prepared for anything. He had been told that the Crystle Mansion was quite secure, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't do a little patrol around just to be sure. He was Lily's Guardian, after all, and that extended to her home as well.

Throwing the last grape into his mouth, Knuckles walked past a hallway leading to a room belonging to Lily's mother, that being her hobby room, the one she displayed all the gemstones and jewels she gathered. No one was allowed to enter it, but Knuckles stopped for a moment, a strange feeling bubbling inside his chest and then walked over to it. After opening the door, he peered inside, his purple eyes widening in surprise at what he saw.

Inside was a white bat ARNav taking a red jewel out of the display case. Knuckles' brow furrowed as he slammed the door open, causing the thief to get startled and turn towards him. Knuckles clenched his fists, walking right over to her.

''Who are you and what are you doing with that jewel?'' Knuckles confronted the intruder. The bat ARNav gave him an intrigued gaze, still holding up the red jewel.

''My name is Rouge the Bat. Better known as the treasure hunter, Rouge,'' Rouge introduced herself, then tilted her head slightly as she gazed at Knuckles. ''And, who are you, handsome?''

''I'm Knuckles the Echidna, the Guardian of the Crystle Mansion, and you have no business being here,'' Knuckles responded, trying to ignore the ''handsome'' comment. Rouge put her fingertip on her lips, acting as if she were surprised.

''Oh, really? I had no idea!'' she said, walking around Knuckles. The red echidna was scowling, arms folded across his chest as he observed her circling him as if she was checking him out. ''I had just found some beautiful jewels and I just couldn't resist taking a closer look at them.''

''You got your chance to take a look at them, now give me back the jewel and leave before I make you leave!'' Knuckles warned her, but Rouge didn't appear to be particularly threatened.

''Don't worry, I was planning on leaving, but not without a souvenir,'' Rouge replied casually, brushing with her hand against Knuckles shoulder as she walked past him. Knuckles tensed for a moment, shivering feeling a chill down his spine, but then quickly turned towards Rouge.

''Give me the jewel back,'' he demanded. Rouge smirked, placing one hand on her hip as she turned towards him.

''Why don't you take it by yourself?'' she replied, holding the jewel up. Knuckles stepped towards her, but Rouge stepped back. Frowning, he stepped again towards her, reaching for the jewel, but Rouge leapt back. Now annoyed, Knuckles lunged at Rouge, but she quickly flapped her wings, flying up and causing Knuckles to crash into a nearby display. He shook his head, looking up at Rouge as she hovered above him. ''Huh? Is that all you've got?''

''You'll pay for this!'' Knuckles growled.

''I'm sorry honey, but I don't have any money on me,'' Rouge teased him, then winked at Knuckles. ''Would a kiss be enough?''

''Wh-ah, no!'' Knuckles stammered, his cheeks taking a sudden shade of red, being caught off guard by Rouge's question. Rouge took advantage of this, doing a two-finger salute and quickly flew out through the skylight.

''I'll be seeing you later!''

Knuckles just stared at the skylight, completely stunned. Suddenly, a pit formed in his stomach, followed by the sensation of dread as he realized that Rouge had just escaped with the jewel he was supposed to protect simply because he froze. He hated it.

xXx

''Why have you told me not to tell your parents that I know who stole the jewel?'' Knuckles asked.

Lily hummed as she and Knuckles were going over to Heizeru Park. She, her parents and Bennet had been awoken in the middle of the night by Knuckles, who regretfully told them that one of the jewels from Lauren's collection had been stolen, apologizing for his failure to guard the Crystle Mansion. However, he had woken up Lily first and immediately told her who the culprit was, but to his confusion, she insisted that he keep it a secret. He also had to face the anger from her parents, who immediately went into blaming him for allowing the jewel to get stolen. Lily defended him, going by the narrative of Knuckles already finding the jewel stolen, but she didn't explain to the echidna why she decided to lie to her own parents. Instead, she called Team Neos for a meeting the next day.

''Mainly because the thief who stole the jewel is Rouge the Bat and I feel that this is something we should be handling instead of my parents calling the police,'' Lily replied.

''I do agree that I should make up for my mistake,'' Knuckles responded, although Lily could hear the disheartened tone in his voice. She was about to continue the conversation, when a blue blur ran right past them, halting to a stop and turning around.

''Hey, there you are! Everyone's already waiting for you at Heizeru Park!'' Sonic told them. ''Speaking of which, why did you ask for meeting up there and not at your place?''

''Mainly because I don't want to convince my parents to have my friends over without a proper plan, especially since they're already in an awful mood because of what happened,'' Lily replied. ''You remember how Bennet didn't even want to let you inside and you got lucky because Knuckles and I found you in one of our booby traps? I want to avoid that.''

''Yeah, I'd like to avoid that too,'' Sonic agreed, glancing at Knuckles. ''Are you okay, Knux?''

''I will be fine once I find Rouge and take that jewel back from her,'' Knuckles responded, scowling. Sonic gave him a thumbs up.

''Don't worry, we'll help you with that,'' he said in a chipper tone. Knuckles gazed at Sonic, feeling at the same time both annoyed and relieved by his assurance. He felt it was his personal responsibility to return the jewel from Rouge, but at the same time, having some assistance wasn't a bad thing, especially since he already knew that he could rely on Team Neos to help him. After all, this was the reason they all agreed to work together – to combat all kinds of threats as a team.

When they arrived at Heizeru Park, they found the rest of the team at the clearing close to the pond, already talking about some random topic. Lily and Knuckles were mildly surprised that Touka and Shadow were there as well, since the two were usually just doing their own thing. Admittedly, they were a bit apart from the rest of the group, with Touka leaning against a tree, while Shadow was sitting on the branch above, just observing the situation quietly.

''Hey, guys!'' Lily called out for the group, who turned towards her. ''Knux and I already told you during the call what happened, but I guess we kind of need to elaborate on it.''

''You did tell us that you had a break in and Rouge stole a jewel, and that you wanted to do something about it,'' Amy said.

''Correct,'' Knuckles replied.

''Do you have any idea where to find her?'' Minami asked.

''No, but she had told me that 'she'll be seeing me later'. However, I don't understand the meaning of it,'' Knuckles replied. ''I don't know whether she is going to return to steal more jewels, but I believe that it is a possibility and I want to prepare for it.''

''So, what's the plan?'' Silver asked, his question causing a few heads turn right towards Lucas, who appeared to be startled by the sudden attention.

''Uh… Why are you all looking at me like that?'' he asked.

''You're the self-proclaimed leader and the one who comes up with a plan. Don't be so surprised,'' Touka snarked, a slight smirk on her lips. Lucas frowned, glancing at Touka.

''Yeah, I know, but…'' Lucas trailed off for a moment, glancing at Lily and Knuckles. ''I want to first hear what exactly you want to do. After all, this situation is personal to you.''

''Honestly, if Knuckles is right and Rouge would return, maybe we could ambush her or make some kind of trap?'' Lily suggested, shrugging. ''That's what we wanted to talk about in detail.''

''Well, I'm all for this trap idea,'' Minami replied. ''If Rouge is anything like her video game counterpart, she will return to grab the rest of the jewels that are at the mansion. The only question is when.''

''Unfortunately, I don't have the information, but I am willing to stand guard until she does appear,'' Knuckles replied. Lucas hummed at the comment, folding his arms across his chest as he thought about the trap idea.

''You know, I think a trap could work, but we don't really know when Rouge would plan to strike again,'' he said. ''I mean, an alarm system could also do the job…''

''There is an alarm system at the gate and cameras inside the mansion, but Rouge didn't trigger any alarm nor was she seen on any of the cameras. When she escaped, she used the skylight above the room,'' Knuckles explained.

''Honestly, I'm not surprised about that,'' Warren said, remembering the spy aspect of Rouge's character. Lucas' eyes lit up and he hit with his fist against his palm.

''I think we can work around this,'' he said, grinning.

xXx

''Chaos Surge!''

Dr. Eggman furrowed a brow as he observed Ferra and Metal Sonic charging up with power on one of his computer screens. The two had spent the past few days learning how to harness and control their new ability, growing quite strong. He just let them do their own thing, figuring that this way, they'll be an even better asset to his own plans. He himself had been busy with the fallout of infecting the Buddy Bots with a virus. He let the android he created, Dr. Tamago, do the talking to the public and the investigators and while he knew that people wouldn't so easily trust the company after what had happened, he also knew that after some time passed, everyone would forget about it, especially if he made sure that his Eggman Empire wasn't associated with the Tamago Corporation.

''I got the attention of Neos City and Sonic and his friends. Tamago Corporation has had its reputation recovered and no one is the wiser,'' Dr. Eggman said, rubbing his hands as he pulled up another screen. ''Excellent!''

''Have you already finished your new project, Boss?'' Orbot asked, bringing along with Cubot a few snacks and a blue mug of coffee on a tray, the red text on the mug saying #1 Brilliant Genius.

''Yeah, you sound quite happy, despite your recent defeat,'' Cubot added, only to get elbowed by Orbot. The spherical robot gave him a warning look, not wanting to get on Eggman's bad side by reminding him of the defeat several days ago. Eggman just glared at the two, then turned towards the monitors.

''That encounter was far from a defeat. I have achieved what I wanted and my current project is close to being finished,'' Eggman replied, adding with a growl, ''It would've been faster if a certain duo was actually doing what they're supposed to do.''

''Oh, you mean Mephiles and Toshiro? They're already here,'' Cubot replied.

''Why haven't you told me that earlier?'' Eggman asked angrily.

''You… haven't asked?'' Orbot said, shrugging.

''Just tell the two to get over here,'' Eggman replied, now impatient, with Orbot and Cubot quickly leaving. It didn't take long until Toshiro and Mephiles entered the room, with Eggman getting up. ''I have told you two to give me a report the moment you return!''

''With all due respect, sir, we didn't want to interrupt you in case you were busy,'' Toshiro replied, but Eggman interrupted him.

''I don't care about your excuses, I want results! Especially since you two just decided to disappear during the invasion,'' Eggman growled.

''Then, you will be pleased to hear that Prof. Sakamoto has finalized a way to synthetize a proper energy source for you,'' Mephiles replied. ''It is not the infinite source of energy you demanded, but it is satisfactory enough.''

''Do you have the data with you?'' Eggman asked.

''No, but the Professor is in the process of finishing it. However, his mental health isn't the best as of late,'' Toshiro replied.

''In other words, he's losing his grip on reality,'' Mephiles added. Eggman sat back down in the swivel chair, staring at the two as he clasped his hands, with his index fingers pointing up.

''As long as he finishes the project, I don't care. It is… unfortunate to lose a brilliant mind, but I might as well take back all of the resources I gave him if he's of no more use to me,'' he said.

''So, you're planning to let him rot in his own madness?'' Toshiro asked. Eggman just waved him off, turning back to the computer screen behind him.

''As long as he doesn't attempt to sabotage my own plans, be it intentionally or unintentionally, I frankly don't care what he's up to,'' he replied. ''However, I do have another project for you two. Since you have been missing from the action last time, you'll be leading tonight's attack.''

''You are planning an attack on Neos City?'' Toshiro asked.

''Not on Neos City, but on Sonic and his friends,'' Eggman replied. ''It has been several days since the first attack and I don't want them to get too comfortable. You two know how to find whomever you're searching for, so take the Badniks and attack them.''

''Yes, sir,'' Toshiro replied, him and Mephiles leaving the room, passing by Orbot and Cubot, who apparently overheard the conversation.

''I guess that means that we should reset the 'X Days Without An Attack' counter,'' Cubot said. Toshiro and Mephiles didn't pay much attention to the two as they were focused on their task.

''I suppose we should make this an attack without making our presence known,'' Mephiles told Toshiro. ''It's still not time for our grand entrance.''

''You're right. Fortunately, Dr. Eggman did give us some key information to use,'' Toshiro replied. ''Rest assured, we it won't be long until all pieces are set.''

xXx

''So, is everyone ready for guard duty?'' Lucas asked, him and Sonic standing in front of the main entrance to the hobby room filled with the jewels and gemstones, the door behind them locked.

''Yeah!''

''We're ready!''

''Hopefully this works!''

''I still doubt Rouge would return tonight specifically.''

There was a chorus of responses from the rest of their teammates, some excited, some cynical. Nevertheless, they all agreed to go along with the plan they came up and try to catch Rouge in the act. After Lily managed to persuade her parents to let Team Neos on the case, they agreed, but not without some strong disapproval and comments regarding whom she's friends with; something everyone ignored. Lily also had to work around her and Knuckles' lie about knowing who the culprit was, explaining how they were doing this just because they felt that they might return for the rest of the collection. After all, the mansion now appeared to be a very easy target.

''Honestly, it's a miracle they agreed to this rather than calling the authorities or hiring additional bodyguards,'' Lily grumbled over the screen. She and Knuckles had also a good feeling that another reason why her parents approved of this was because Knuckles blamed himself for what happened, and seeing the echidna who previously put them in their place having a slice of humble pie made them feel vindicated.

''I'm sure that we got this,'' Sonic replied as he looked at the screens that showed where everyone was.

Makoto and Silver were stationed at the front gate, making sure no one could enter the yard through it. Minami and Amy were patrolling the front yard, Amy having her hammer out. Touka and Shadow took over the woods surrounding the mansion and the part behind it. Warren and Tails were stationed at the side entrance to the hobby room, the door behind them locked. Lily and Knuckles were locked up inside the jewel room, with Knuckles staring ahead stoically, his arms folded across his chest as he observed the skylight above, as if expecting Rouge to enter the room through it.

''Now, all we have to do is to wait. The moment you notice something, send out a warning,'' Lucas added, then turned the holographic screen off, looking at Sonic, who was walking up and down the corridor at a quite fast pace. ''Are you planning on making a hole in the hallway?''

''You know that I'm not the most patient person,'' Sonic replied. ''This is probably going to be a long wait.''

''You could go out from time to time just to check on everyone,'' Lucas suggested. Sonic just nodded, looking at the door behind him, wondering how Knuckles was doing.

The echidna in question was currently not moving from his spot, standing in front of the display of a green jewel, still staring at the skylight and feeling tense. Lily sat down next to him, giving him an empathetic look.

''Hey, Knuckles, are you feeling okay?'' she asked. ''You had been talking about how you need to make up for your mistake, but honestly, I don't think it's that bad. Yeah, sure, an expensive jewel was stolen, but you said you're here to protect me, not Mum's collection of gemstones.''

Knuckles frowned, being silent at first, but then started talking.

''I brought dishonor to my status as your Guardian. While I swore to protect you, this also extends to your home. I deeply apologize for my failure,'' Knuckles added solemly, staring ahead. Lily gazed at him, a sympathetic look on her expression, and shifted closer to him. ''All I want is to fix my mistake.''

''Knux, listen… You haven't failed anything,'' Lily told him in a comforting tone. Knuckles just frowned harder.

''You're just stating that to make me feel better,'' he responded. Lily just rolled her eyes, humming.

''Yeah, you're right, I do want to make you feel better because I feel like you're too hard on yourself,'' she admitted, tilting her head. ''Also, I think there's a bit more to it than you just losing a jewel to Rouge.''

Knuckles stiffened, a slight shade of red tinting his cheeks as he clenched his fists tighter. He then looked at Lily. ''Do you swear you won't tell anyone about what I'm going to tell you?''

''Of course not, cross my heart and hope to die if I ever do,'' Lily replied, with Knuckles sitting next to her, crossing his legs and taking a deep breath as he placed his hands on his knees.

''I believe that Rouge has somehow charmed me… or at least she put me under a hex,'' Knuckles started. Lily gave him a surprised look.

''What do you mean by that?''

''During our encounter, we had a conversation and I… I started feeling weird, to the point that I just froze. I'm ashamed to admit that I wasn't able to do anything at the moment and my inaction allowed Rouge to escape,'' Knuckles admitted.

''Was it something specific you guys were talking about?'' Lily asked, prying for more details to make sense of the situation. Knuckles shook his head.

''I… No, I just told her to hand over the jewel and she started to act weird and… bewitching, I suppose,'' he replied, remembering how he shivered at Rouge's touch. Lily stared at him for a moment, gears turning in her head as she processed the information, then snorted in amusement.

''I think I understand what's going on,'' she said. Knuckles gave her a confused look.

''You do?''

''Yeah, and rest assured, Rouge didn't put a hex on you,'' Lily assured him.

''Then, why-?'' Knuckle's voice died in his throat. Frankly, he felt quite foolish. He sighed, leaning back against the display case. ''I feel as if I should focus on my task rather than think about what had happened.''

''If you want to do that, that's okay. I'll be with you the whole time. If Rouge appears and tries to 'charm' you again, I'll have your back,'' Lily assured him, holding up her fist towards Knuckles. Knuckles smiled, lifting his arm and doing a fist bump.

''Thank you,'' he replied, grateful for Lily's presence. Whenever he felt like he doubted his actions, she was there to clear his mind and give him a proper direction. Sure, he was supposed to protect her, but he had to admit that he was content with Lily looking after him.

xXx

''Finally, they fell asleep,'' Rouge muttered under her breath, hanging upside down from a tree at the woods surrounding the Crystle Mansion. She had been observing the whole place for hours, waiting for Team Neos to get tired and the lack of sleep getting to them. She had seen Silver and Makoto leaning against the gate, Amy and Minami having fallen asleep on the sunloungers next to the swimming pool, and Touka and Shadow being sound asleep while hiding behind some bushes. She also was well aware that Sonic, Lucas, Tails and Warren were guarding both entrances and that Lily and Knuckles were inside the hobby room. How did she know that? She had followed Knuckles and Lily to Heizeru Park and eavesdropped their conversation with their friends. She heard their entire plan and knew that she could easily find a way inside without alerting anyone. Knuckles and his friends shouldn't have talked about it in the public. You never know who might overhear it.

Rouge did come prepared this time, just in case something happened. She flew up, a white and pink bag being slung over her shoulder and she flew towards the skylight she used the last night to break into the mansion. Fortunately for her, it was still open, so she easily slipped inside, landing right in front of Knuckles. To her surprise, he was standing leaned against a display case, arms still folded across his chest, yet he was fast asleep. Lily was next to him, sitting leaned against the display case, just as asleep as he was.

Rouge had to admit that they looked kind of cute like this. Unfortunately for them, she was planning to leave this place completely empty. She walked up towards the display case, reaching for the green jewel inside it, only to get startled when a gloved fist grabbed her arm. Her eyes widened as she stared at Knuckles, now fully awake and glaring at her.

''I… I thought you were asleep,'' Rouge said, completely stunned.

''No, you have been tricked,'' Knuckles replied. To Rouge's surprise, Lily suddenly got up, giving her a victorious look.

''I had figured that you might stick around, which is why I told everyone to meet up at Heizeru Park to talk about what we should do. Once we were done, I just sent everyone a message about the actual plan, which was to bait you here,'' Lily explained. Rouge smirked.

''You're a smart cookie, sweetheart,'' she said, ripping her arm out of Knuckles' grip and stepping back.

''Now, give us back the jewel you stole,'' Knuckles demanded. Rouge's ears twitched as she heard a clicking sound coming from both entrances, Sonic, Lucas, Tails and Warren entering the room. She then turned to Knuckles, who was ready to fight her. She reached for her bag, showing the red jewel she had stolen.

''You'll have to catch me if you want your precious jewel back,'' she said, reaching once again for the bag, but this time, she pulled out a white orb with a pink heart on it. Just as Knuckles, Tails and Sonic lunged at her, she threw the mini-bomb which exploded, acting like a smoke bomb. This allowed her to quickly fly up to the skylight, hearing coughing from behind her. Unfortunately for her, there was a flash of cyan and light blue lights, with Silver and Shadow hovering in front of the skylight and blocking her path, Silver using his psychokinesis and Shadow using his air shoes.

''You're not getting past us,'' Silver told her.

''Oh, I think I will,'' Rouge replied, reaching for her bag again and throwing blue powder at both of them, forcing Silver and Shadow to close their eyes and back away on instinct, being blinded for a moment. She flew past them, but was taken by surprise when she saw Amy appearing before her on her hoverboard. Amy leapt from her hoverboard, swinging her hammer at Rouge, but Rouge managed to dodge it. She flew away as fast as possible, taking a moment to turn back and being astonished to see Knuckles following her on a hoverboard.

''You're not getting away with this!'' Knuckles yelled after her. Rouge just laughed in response, turning her attention back to her flight path. They reached the more urban landscape, with Rouge flying above a building, only to realize that Knuckles caught up to her. She turned back, reaching for her bag again and throwing one of her smoke bombs at him. However, Knuckles leapt of the hoverboard and lunged at her, tackling her and causing both of them to tumble onto the rooftop of a nearby building. Rouge's bag fell off, her ears twitching as she heard the clinking of the jewel, which had fallen out of her bag. It was quite painful.

Both Rouge and Knuckles got up on their feet, glancing at the jewel, then glaring at each other, with Knuckles taking a swing at Rouge. She dodged it, flying up and going for a dive kick, but Knuckles avoided it and went for another punch.

''You know, I had a lovely time playing with you,'' Rouge said, avoiding the punch and going for a kick in the gut, but Knuckles managed to catch her leg.

''I'm not pleased with any of your games,'' Knuckles responded, holding onto Rouge's leg and swinging her around before letting her go. Rouge flew back, but used her wings to stop herself, hovering on the rooftop.

She was about to attack Knuckles, when she and the echidna suddenly heard the sound of buzzing. They looked up, surprised to see a swarm of wasp or bee-like robots, which suddenly started to fire lasers from their stingers. Knuckles and Rouge dodged the laser blasts, being pushed back towards the edge of the rooftop. Rouge then flew up in an attempt to escape the barrage of laser blasts, only for one to hit her right in the right wing. She cried out in pain, finding herself plummeting towards the street below her. Rouge closed her eyes, aware that she couldn't fly herself up due to her injured wing and already accepted her fate, when she suddenly felt someone grabbing her. She forced her eyes open, stunned to see Knuckles carrying her bridal style and gliding towards the ground. She realized that she probably jumped after her when she got hit.

''Y-You saved me?'' Rouge stuttered in awe as they landed safely on the ground.

''You may be getting on my nerves, but I'm not going to let you die,'' Knuckles replied. Rouge stared at him, feeling her heart racing. ''Are you okay?''

''Uh, I am…'' Rouge replied, her mind fuzzy and her cheeks slightly red. She was stunned that Knuckles had saved her, despite the fact that he made it clear that he disliked her. ''You can let me down now.''

''Oh, right,'' Knuckles mumbled, letting go off Rouge. Both looked up at the wasp-like robots, which flew after them. Knuckles glanced at Rouge. ''How about a truce until we take care of those robots?''

''Gladly,'' Rouge replied, both turning towards their common enemy. She flapped with her injured wing, feeling a sting of pain, but she figured she could handle it.

Knuckles and Rouge charged towards the wasp-like robots, with Knuckles punching one that appeared behind Rouge and Rouge kicking down another one that aimed at Knuckles. Another robot appeared, firing at Rouge, but Knuckles managed to pull her away before the laser blast could hit her.

''Thanks for the save, Big Guy,'' Rouge complimented him.

''I must admit, you're a good fighter,'' Knuckles returned the compliment, with both looking up, seeing another bunch of wasp robots surrounding them. Both prepared to for the assault, only for the wasp robots to be stopped mid-air by cyan energy. A blue and a black and red ball smashed right through them, their rescuers revealing themselves to be Silver, Sonic and Shadow.

''Yo, Knux, are you okay?'' Sonic asked, standing in the middle of the smashed robots.

''Fortunately, I am,'' Knuckles replied, relieved to see his teammates. It didn't take long for the rest of them to arrive, with Tails and Warren immediately investigating the robots.

''Guys, these are Buzz Bombers, Eggman's Badniks,'' Warren told his friends.

''Why would Eggman send those out?'' Makoto asked.

''Probably to ruin our night,'' Sonic said, shrugging. ''It doesn't look like there are more of them.''

Knuckles turned to Rouge to see what she had to say, only to realize that she was gone. He looked around frantically, only to see her suddenly fly down and holding her bag, having gone to the rooftop to pick it up.

''It appears that our truce has come to an end,'' Rouge said, turning to Knuckles. She was startled when he suddenly held her hand, a faint blush tinting her cheeks as she looked at Knuckles in astonishment. However, the strange feeling of fuzziness came to an sudden end when the echidna threw her over his shoulder and slammed her right into the ground. Rouge felt her back ache, but it didn't stop her from jumping on her feet and yelling at Knuckles, her face red, ''What the hell was that for?!''

The echidna warrior was taken aback by her sudden outburst, a look of guilt forming on his expression, ''I-I thought we'd be continuing our fight.''

Rouge groaned, rubbing her temples, then reached for her bag and took out the jewel, tossing it at Knuckles. ''I hate to part with it, but I guess I need to repay you for saving my life. You can have it back.''

Knuckles was genuinely stunned to see the red jewel back in his hands, looking down at it, then back at Rouge. ''I'm sorry… for hurting you earlier.''

''Don't worry, Big Guy, it's fine. I've been through worse,'' Rouge replied, blowing a kiss at him and then flying away. ''Bye!''

Knuckles stared at her as she vanished into the night, still a little stunned, with Lily approaching him. ''Are you okay?''

''I'm fine,'' Knuckles replied, still trying to process what just had happened. He was glad to have managed to get back the jewel and be done with everything, but at the same time he felt as if his interactions with Rouge weren't over yet.

As for Rouge, she managed to find a good spot on a building, allowing for her injured wing to rest. She sighed, enjoying the cold breeze that cooled the burnt spot and gazed down at the streets. While she felt a bit bitter for returning the jewel to Knuckles, she realized that it didn't really matter. As a matter of fact, she had a lot of fun tonight and she was looking forward to interacting more with Knuckles and his friends.

''I guess I had finally found my match.''

Links:

#Previous Chapter

#Current Chapter

#Next Chapter

#Sonic Cyber Revolution (Masterlist)

#Sonic Cyber Revolution #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #amy rose #silver the hedgehog #rouge the bat #dr eggman #mephiles the dark #metal sonic #orbot and cubot #sonic adventure 2 #knuxouge

[cookieblobber]

I cannot stress enough

This addition in Update 2 single-handedly gave Sonic Frontiers new life

For those not known, Sonic Frontiers features all these floating platforms and rails, constructing these little mini obstacle courses to blaze through, usually holding a Memory Token at the end of doing one (they’re required to progress the story).

While fun to go through, once you do one, there’s kinda no reason to use them again. Unless maybe you wanna do sick jumps in the air of some kind, they can be a bit of a distraction and nuisance if you accidentally run into a bounce or dash pad that sends you into one.

When I first played this game, trying to collect all the Memory Tokens on the map cuz, my dumbass thought I would be rewarded for doing so (this was before Update 2 made it where it is part of getting 100%), I started to sorta get a vision around Ares Island of how these were properly supposed to be utilized. In some random part of the map, I did 3-4 of the courses in a row without ever touching the ground, it felt kinda cool. Almost like part of the fun was trying to chain these courses together in some way.

——————

What you see in the image is the newly added signpost for a new minigame scattered throughout the islands called Action Chain Challenges. When you activate one, suddenly orbs of light appear everywhere and a countdown starts.

A countdown starts and you’re required to start ranking up points by doing, well, anything! Rail grind, hit bounce/dash pads, go through hoops, fight enemies, boost if you have the Power Boost on and rack up points to get S Ranks. The orbs help start a multiplier (capping at x256) and they usually create circles and paths, some leading into the aforementioned mini obstacle courses. And in the middle of doing these, it hit me

I was fucking right

This challenge encourages you to start finding these courses again, since that’s what you’re going to be relying on a whole lot to rack up points. So you gotta start basically chaining these courses together. One done, quickly find the next one to do, make sure it’s a good one, keep the flow going, DO NOT STOP UNTIL THAT LETTER HITS S!!!

And these challenges can be a bit tough at times too, especially in the beginning when you’re still getting accustomed to your strategy and what path to take to get the most points. And that’s when I also realized

These challenges, kind of call back to an old well known gameplay aspect of Sonic the Hedgehog: memorize the layout.

From Sonic 1 to Forces, no matter how many times the formula changes, this aspect has always remained. You’re supposed to play the games again and again, remembering the best paths and moves to use to get the best time and score, to feel like a total champion already knowing what’s ahead and using your reflexes to go through anything.

What does the Action Chain Challenges in Sonic Frontiers make you do? Play the challenge again and again, remembering the best paths and moves to use to get the best score. And sure, the Cyberspace levels also do that as well but it’s still nice to see this aspect brought to the open zone part of the game in a more unique way that compliments what’s been put in all of that open space.

——————

After you get all S ranks in all of the Action Chain Challenges in all of the islands, you’re granted the Spindash ability, which becomes the most overpowered ability ever. It’s basically like the boost from the past boost games where you go insanely fast and blow through everything in your path.

Do you remember when a lot of people pointed out how kind of disappointing it is that you can’t really take advantage of just launching off cliffs and hills and flying through the air ala Sonic CD opening or how when you jump while boosting, you kinda just lose all speed? The Spindash is essentially what fixes those issues, as upon taking off on even a small hill, you just go FLYING across the island.

And it becomes the best ability in the whole game. While it is sadly only available by the time you’re about to finish the game, you can’t really start a brand new game with that ability unless you’re doing New Game+, even then there’s still fun to be had with it, especially if you beat the game but decided to leave 100%ing it until you finish the main game. Think of the Spindash like Super Sonic in the old classic titles: you don’t get to do much with it in the end, but part of the fun is just revisiting old locations and trying out the new ability.

And even then, there’s the newly added Jump Deceleration in the settings where if you turn it all the way down, you practically get exactly what many expected Sonic to mostly feel like in the game. Now you’re able to jump while boosting and carry all of that speed you had.

——————

Updates 1 and especially 2 has brought stuff to the game that help give it more replayability. It has shown how much Kishimoto and Sonic Team really care about this game and want it to be the best they can make it. If just simple additions like the one i mentioned in this whole essay has been able to do so much for this game, I am extremely excited for what Update 3 will have to offer, especially with the amazing story we had in the game already

I’m still shocked all of this is free

#sonic #Sonic the hedgehog #Sonic frontiers #sonic 2023 #Sega #Sonic team #Kishimoto #PLAY SONIC FRONTIERS GODDAMN ITTTT

[ausetkmt]

History of Mermaids in Africa

African culture has portrayed the idea of the mermaid in many ways across the continent. It has also been observed that certain features are similar across these variations; she has the same purpose to seduce, beguile and intrigue mankind. She shrouds herself in her mysticism, attractiveness and, above all, her vengeance.

Typical accounts of her appearance in African Mythology, describes a beautiful woman with flowing black hair and an angelic gaze used to entrap or bewilder her spectator (not forgetting fin-like tail with a torso and head of a human).

She goes by many names such as Mami Wata (translated to Mother Water) in West Africa to Mamba Muntu in Swahili (east). Nonetheless, they all transcend mankind’s metaphysical perceptions of reality. The history of how the mermaid developed in these cultures stemmed from a broader being in the belief of these mystical creatures. Most accounts of how Mami Wata or Mamba Muntu came to be the main symbol of aquatic deities originated from a belief in “water spirits”.

These spirits are often referred to as minions or soldiers, often males, for the higher deities, such as Mami Wata or Mamba Muntu, where they would kidnap, trick or deceive fisherman and seafarers to sacrifice or tithe to them. These male figures have been known to become “spirit husbands” for entranced women. This overarching belief in water spirits developed the specific deities of cultures through the framework of societal identity, spiritual direction and historical beliefs.

The Myth of the Mermaid across the sea

On all accounts there is a gender associated with the belief of mermaids. A maternal deity that has a sexual power over her captives and because of this she commands great sacrifice and obedience for the reward. In comparison to the mermaid of European cultures, the mermaid isn’t so much a powerful deity than just a seductive siren that hopes to entice and seduce mortal men. In the European version of the mermaid she has the same physical appearance, half fish and half human, but her intentions and actions are not as metaphysical as the African counterparts. She has a playful personality, boasts an alluring singing voice and beautiful complexion that she uses to entice seagoing explorers.

As the myth tell us, while at sea, a seafaring mortal catches a glimpse of a mermaid and to their bewilderment and amazement of this beautiful woman they attempt to make contact with the mermaid. Using her beauty and voice she sings a song to lure the seaman into the water where she then drowns them at the bottom of the sea. The legend varies whether this is intentional or not. Many claim it’s a circumstance of her playful nature, others say it’s killing tactic. This version of the mermaid is framed as sea creature only found in physical form who doesn’t appear in dreams or grant great wealth, but rather is an enigmatic entity whose purpose is to seduce man.

Nonetheless, Mami Wata or the European mermaid has great power over mortals. For centuries across the globe she has toiled with explorers, fisherman and natives that would all advise to stay away from her or suffer the same fate as many have before.

Ibibio Mami Wata priestess Mary Magdalena with white chalk markings on her face. Oron, Nigeria, 1989. From Mammy Water: In Search of the Water Spirits in Nigeria by Sabine Jell-Bahisen.

Mami Wata of Western Africa

Mami Wata is the term most used to refer to mermaid entity in African culture. Although the origins of her creation cannot be pinpointed, it is likely to have originated around the coast of Guinea and fondly used in other West African cultures such as Ghana & Nigeria. Mami Wata has become the most prominent water spirit of African folklore due to the fact that she can be referenced more as a concept rather than a single being.

Her powers have been known to be very gratuitous by granting wealth, health, assistance with procreation or simply power in society. As easy as she can grant success, she can also grant misfortune because to have these fortunes granted upon you from Mami Wata would mean the sacrifice of a family member in return or celibacy in the mortal realm.

She’s often addressed and materialized in the dreams of her captive where she can employ her seductive powers. As her origins were spawned on the western coast of Africa she has been linked to stories from diamond miners who believe that she can grant luck in finding diamonds.

Conversely, originating from central Africa, Mamba Muntu has similar characteristics. According to folklore, Mamba Muntu can be found combing her hair upon the rocks of a shore and if one were to attain a lock of hair or even her comb then they would expect to see her in a dream. In that dream, they would use these objects to barter with her to obtain what they desire in exchange that they never speak of such an encounter.

Despite the vast cultures in Africa and the aquatic deities affiliated with them, the mermaid is probably the commonest similarity. Differences can be spotted in how they are portrayed artistically. For example, Mami Wata is often portrayed holding a serpent or snake whereas Mamba Muntu is displayed with crocodiles, some are found in lakes and rivers while others in seas and oceans. Mermaids are known by different names in Africa, Mawu-Lisu in Benin, Mamlambo in South Africa, Mmnuommiri in Nigeria or Mamba Muntu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo all roughly translate to “Mother Water”, “Lady of the water” or something similar to it.

#Mami Wata #Water Mama #Mamba Muntu #Mawu Lisu #Manba Muntu #Mermaids #Yemonja #Osun

[monocodoll]

Arms Dealing Mod Progress Report

It has been a month since I have completed a good batch of firearm meshes and began to work on the script for a Arms Dealing mod. I will include images of features that I have implemented for the mod over the length of the month. Although I still have a good chunk of features to work on for the mod, such as gunsmithing, bribery, the sale of firearms(In large quantities) in rabbitholes, and stealing supply interactions. I believe that I have a solid foundation for the mod.

I have worked heavily on the selling aspect of illegal firearms, the jailing system, and buying and selling of Illegal firearms menu.

-Buying From an Arms Dealer: As a non Arms Dealer you can purchase simple pistols from another Arms Dealer. However, more options appear such as SMG’s and Shotguns when your sim is an arms dealer and aquires a high level in the Arms Dealing skill. So far the level requirements for additional guns are level 3 for Shotguns, level 5 for SMGs, and level 9 for AR’s such as AK’s and Compact AK’s, etc.

-Becoming a Arms Dealer: In order to become an Arms Dealer you will need to befriend an Arms Dealer and inquire about Arms Dealing. Upon doing so your sim will receive the Arms Dealing trait and have access to the Arms Dealing skill Unfortunately, I did not take screenshots of the custom interaction.

-Selling Illegal Firearms:

In order to sell Illegal firearms you will need a solid relationship with the other sim.

Upon gaining a solid relationship you will be able to discuss gun related topics with them.

Once you feel them out and get the feeling that they may be interested in purchasing an illegal firearm, you can attempt to seal the deal. Depending on the sim there are different outcomes.

Some sims may not be interested. Some sims will be against firearms and may even call the cops. However, Don is neutral when it comes to Illegal firearms. Therefore he does not call the cops. If we had a little more charisma skill we would have a higher chance of getting him to purchase an illegal firearm.

However, on this occasion he purchases a pistol from us.

Upon purchasing the firearm, Don has a cooldown. During the cooldown you cannot sell another firearm to him.

With Don being a neutral sim towards Illegal guns, things went rather smoothly on both encounters. However, when attempting to sell an Illegal firearm to a sim who is deemed against Illegal firearms, they will attempt to call the cops on you. There will be three approaches to deal with the sim before they call the cops.

We attempted to intimidate the sim. However, we have failed, and the arms dealer got arrested.

This time we attempt to run away. We have a time window to get out of her lot. 

If the arms dealer leaves the lot before the timer runs out. The sim will succesfully evade arrest.

Otherwise if they fail to leave the lot. Then they will be arrested.

-Pison Sentence system

Depending on the value of firearms you have will determine the length of sentence. In this case we are sentenced to a day in prison.

However, with a higher value of firearms in our inventory we can be sentence to a higher sentence. Such as three days. The highest so far is five days.

Upon arrest your guns will be confiscated and you will be fine. The default value is $2000, but increases per gun in your inventory. The higher tier of gun the higher the fine for that individual gun will be.

-Early view on the skill journal for Arms Dealing:

I still plan on adding features to the skill journal such as challenges which will give out rewards to Arms Dealers. So far it just keeps track of how many Arms you sell, the revenue made from selling, and the number of times you are arrested for Arms Dealing.

For a more in depth explanation of how these current features work. I will include my obsidian notes. Which explains the chances of a sim being interested or not being interested in purchasing illegal firearms and how the jailing system works in regards to choosing sentence lenght and the value of fines.

 [Obsidian notes for Selling Illegal Firearms] 

Potential Clients Interest in Illegal FireArms - Sims For Illegal Firearms - Sim's that are for Illegal firearms will always be interested in purchasing illegal firearms. The traits associated with these sims are: - Evil - Rebellious - MeanSpirited - Kleptomaniac - Insane - Daredevil - BornSalesman - Inappropriate - Sim's that are against Illegal firearms will never be interested in illegal firearms. The traits associates with these sims are: - Good - FamilyOriented - Nurturing - Childish - Additionally sims employed in either LawEnforcement and Military career will also never get the interested in illegal firearms moodlet. Unless they have the associated traits that cause them to have an interest in firearms. - Neutral sims will have a chance being interested or not interested in illegal firearms. The likelyhood of them being interested in firearms is increased by the Arms Dealer Charisma skill - Arms dealer with 0-2 Charisma will have a 70% chance of getting the neutral sim to be interested in purchasing an illegal firearm - Arms dealer with 3-5 Charisma will have a 75% chance of getting the neutral sim to be interested in purchasing an illegal firearm - Arms dealer with 6-8 Charisma will have a 80% chance of getting the neutral sim to be interested in purchasing an illegal firearm - Arms dealer with 9-10 Charisma will have a 90% chance of getting the neutral sim to be interested in purchasing an illegal firearm

Outcomes  - [If Sim had the Not Interested in Illegal firearms moodlet]  - Sim will inform you that they are not interested and let you go without further Complications  - Sim will attempt to call the cops. - Bribe to not call the cops -Bribery Outcomes -The Outcome of the bribery will be dependent on the Arms Dealer's charisma skill. - (0-2) Charisma: 50% chance of bribe being accepted. - (3-5) Charisma: 60% chance of bribe being accepted. - (6-8) Charisma: 70% chance of bribe being accepted. - (9-10) Charisma: 80% chance of bribe being accepted. - If Bribery is Succesfull, then 100 will be given to the sim and you may go. - If the sim does not have any cash, then the sim will call the cops. - If Bribery is Unsuccesful, then the cops will be called  - Intimidate to not call the cops  - Sims that are employed in Law Enforcement and Military will not be intimidated.  - Sims that are Brave will not be intimidated  - Sims that are cowards will always be intimidated  - All other sims may either be succesfully  or unsuccesfully initmidated depending on what tier of firearm you have in your inventory.  - 40% chance of succesful intimidation with no weapon  - 60% chance of succesful intimidation with tier 1 weapon  - 70% chance of succesful intimidation with tier 2 weapon  - 80% chance of succesful intimidation with tier 3 weapon  - 90% chance of succesful intimidation with tier 4 weapon  - Try To Run Away.  - Running away has a chance to succeed or fail. The higher the athletic skill, the more likely to succesfully run away.  - 50% default chance of succesfully running away  - 60% chance of succesfully running away with (3-5) Athletic skill  - 70% chance of succesfully running away with (6-8) Athletic skill  - 80% chance of succesfuuly running away with (9-10) Athletic skill - On Failure to run away, the cops will be called and the Arms Dealer will be arrested. - On Success the Arms Dealer will be given an hour ingame to leave the lot. If they do not manage to leave the lot in time, then they will be arrested.

[If Sim has the Potentially Interested in Illegal firearms moodlet] - Sim will purchase a firearm - Upon purchase the target sim will receive the Recently Purchased Illegal firearm. Which will act as a cooldown before you can sell another firearm.

[Obsidian notes for Selling Illegal Firearms]

[Obsidian notes for jailing system]

Getting Arrested For Arms Dealing -Fines[How The Fines Will Work] -Once Arrested the sim will be Fined. -The standard Fine for Arms Dealing will be 2,000 -The Fine will be increased per gun inside the Arms Dealers Inventory -250 increase per tier 1 gun -500 increase per tier 2 gun -750 increase per tier 3 gun -1000 increase per tier 4 gun -Guns will be Confiscated -Any Guns in the Arms Dealer's inventory will be taken away and destroyed. -Lenght of Sentence -1 Day in jail if total value of guns in inventory is $0-$5,000 -3 Days in jail if total value of guns in inventory is $5,000-$10,000 -5 Days in jail if total value of guns in inventory is $10,000 or more -Sentence To Death -A Death Sentence will be given to any Arms Dealer who Acumulates 50 points. Each time a Arms Dealer gets arrested they aquire points depending on their sentence lenght. -1 Day sentence grants 1 point -3 Day sentence grants 3 points -5 Day sentence grants 5 points -Once the Sim Aquires 50 points and gets arrested. The sim will remain in jail for 5 hours and be released after being given a moodlet. When that moodlet expires. The sim will die. They will have 24 hours to spend however they would like.

[Obsidian notes for jailing system]

#MonocoDoll #TS3ArmsDealing #ts3 #sims3 #ts3mod

[nek-ros]

i might return to g*nshin just for the story and nothing else But for i really, really wish the devs would implement features like:

an in-game permanent daily login system that doesnt need you to log into a webpage to claim rewards

better in-game login and AR rank up rewards

better WL rewards (the jump in rewards between WL5-8 is so fucking bad)

reworked daily missions that do not involve talking to the same npcs and making the same dialogue choices and escorting very slow npcs repeatedly

or a skip button for these dialogue based daily missions

more permanent content besides spiral abyss and exploration (idk give us raids or something)

mounts

[shihtzu-exchange]

Shihtzu: The Best Crypto Metaverse Gaming Platform in 2022!!!

The term ‘metaverse’ sounds like something coming straight from a science fiction movie. It was first used in Neil Stevenson’s 1982 novel Snow Crash, where the metaverse was a virtual place for the characters to escape reality. With technological advancements like AR and VR in our world, it is finally possible to create what is known as the Metaverse — A fully immersive virtual world just like ours where we can do all our worldly things virtually.

With the rise of the metaverse, the world’s attention is shifting towards digitalization. For a fully functional metaverse ecosystem, we need a platform engineered with immense technology, the power of AI, AR, and VR, its own currency and finance system, a virtual trading system as well as highly immersive games.

Well, it’s a reality now.

The creators of the Shihtzu meme coin are now developing what’s known as the Shihtzu Exchange — a cutting-edge next-generation NFT minting and metaverse ecosystem based on the Binance Smart Chain technology where you can play immersive games, experience metaverse, trade NFTs, invest in cryptocurrencies and much more. Shihtzu is not like your regular metaverse gaming platform. It’s a futuristic platform for the gamers and investors of tomorrow based on a wild concept of transporting gaming and crypto to the metaverse that is going to shape the future of the internet. It comes feature-packed with its very own cryptocurrency — The Shihtzu meme coin ($STZU), an NFT minting marketplace, and a metaverse gaming platform, the Shihtzu Universe is set to increase beyond expectations in both the crypto and the metaverse gaming industry.

The Shihtzu Meme coin ($STZU)

In today’s time memes are all over the internet. The meme trend is a sudden and exceptionally viral sensation on the internet. A trend that is here to stay. The sudden rise of memes gave rise to what is known as meme coins in the crypto world. Meme coins came into existence after initially being started as a joke when the first meme coin known as the ‘Dogecoin’ was launched in 2013 by Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus as a parody of the viral ‘Doge’ meme. Later on, Elon Musk started making tweets on the Dogecoin positively which led to the rise in the popularity of meme coins and other meme coins started entering the market like ShibaInu, SafeMoon, MonaCoin, etc. Meme coins are the perfect currency for the metaverse. They are a fun alternative to traditional cryptocurrencies.

The Shihtzu meme coin ($STZU) is one such meme coin. It’s an advanced-level cryptocurrency made solely for the Shihtzu Exchange Universe. Based on Binance Smart Chain, it is a decentralized meme coin and is not bound by any bank or financial institution. It’s specifically built to support metaverse and its activities. The Shihtzu Exchange Token ($STZU) will be used as the only currency for the Shihtzu World and facilitate all the transactions be it scans, licensing, NFTs, or gaming. The Shihtzu Exchange Token is known as the “Future Meme Coin” — thanks to its advanced characteristics.

Here’s the fun part: The Shihtzu Universe will enable its users to earn and grow their $STZU coins while playing games. Buying and selling of NFTs will also be facilitated by $STZU tokens. Gamers can trade collectibles and trophies on the platform for $STZU coins and get rewarded for playing games on the platform. Further, the Shihtzu token will eventually enable its users to make real-world transactions. Shopping for your favorite brands using $STZU tokens, how cool is that?! It indeed is the future of meme coins!

The Shihtzu NFT minting marketplace

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are a booming industry right now. The global NFT market is expected to advance to USD 7390.8 by 2028 from USD 1553.6 million in 2021. NFTs are digital investments that you can buy and sell on the blockchain. They can be anything. It’s your digital ownership of art, music, videos, in-game articles, memes, etc. The community of digital art collectors is ever-growing, and the NFT market will continue to expand as a result of their rising interest and popularity.

The idea of NFTs came into existence in 2012, much before Ethereum existed. A pixelated image of an octagon named ‘Quantum’ was minted by Kevin McCoy in May 2014 and it’s known to be the first-known NFT. Later on, after a significant amount of research and development around the concept of NFTs and the advent of the meme trend led to the rise of NFTs.

The Shihtzu Exchange universe features an innovative NFT minting marketplace where you can mint unique and rare NFTs. Shihtzu NFTs can range from gaming items and digital artwork to sports memorabilia and physical assets. The Shihtzu world aims to make your NFTs functional and bring them to life using their advanced interface that will send them through QR codes to make them available. One can easily trade their NFTs and easily convert all their digital ownership to $STZU coins. You can buy and sell your NFTs from anywhere in the world on the same platform within the Shihtzu community for $STZU coins.

With all of that being said, 2022 is the year for the metaverse and the world is steadily making its way towards it. The Facebook Company recently announced itself moving towards the metaverse by introducing itself as Meta Platforms. Other companies like Snapchat, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Roblox, and Unity Software are also developing metaverse technologies. Soon, many of the biggest industries will already have moved on to the metaverse. Keeping that in mind, the Shihtzu Universe is being developed to effortlessly connect the gaming and crypto industry to the metaverse forming an ecosystem of their own easily accessible to everyone from anywhere in the world making it the best metaverse gaming platform for 2022.

Check out my other resources:

.Free Telegram Group .Facebook .Twitter .instagram .Website .YouTube Channel

#metaverse #memecoin #blockchain #crypto #Cryptocurrency #NFT Marketplace

[evoverse]

Unveiling the Dynamics of iGaming Solutions

The iGaming industry, encompassing online gambling and gaming services, has surged in popularity, driven by technological innovation and a global shift towards digital entertainment. Central to this growth are igaming solutions, a suite of software and services that empower operators to deliver seamless, secure, and engaging gaming experiences. This article explores the essential components of iGaming solutions, their advantages, and the emerging trends that are shaping the future of the industry.

Essential Components of iGaming Solutions

Integrated Gaming Platforms iGaming platforms provide the essential infrastructure that supports online casinos, sportsbooks, and other gaming services. Key attributes include:

Modularity: Allowing for easy integration of various games and features.

Robustness: Capable of handling high volumes of traffic and transactions.

Security: Advanced protections against cyber threats and fraud.

Diverse Game Libraries The variety and quality of games available are critical to attracting and retaining players. Leading iGaming solutions offer:

Slots: With themes and features appealing to a wide audience.

Table Games: Including classics like poker, blackjack, and baccarat.

Live Casino Games: Providing an authentic casino experience with real dealers.

Esports and Virtual Sports: Catering to niche markets and competitive gaming enthusiasts.

Secure Payment Gateways Efficient and secure financial transactions are vital. Comprehensive iGaming solutions support multiple payment methods, such as:

Traditional Methods: Credit and debit cards.

Digital Wallets: Options like PayPal, Skrill, and Neteller.

Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital currencies.

Direct Bank Transfers

Compliance and Regulatory Tools Navigating the regulatory landscape is complex, requiring robust compliance tools. Top iGaming solutions include:

KYC (Know Your Customer): Processes to verify player identities and prevent fraud.

AML (Anti-Money Laundering): Systems to detect and report suspicious transactions.

Responsible Gaming Features: Tools to promote safe and responsible gambling practices.

Marketing and Engagement Tools Effective marketing and player engagement are essential for growth. iGaming solutions typically offer:

CRM Systems: To personalize player interactions and optimize retention.

Affiliate Management: To expand reach through partner networks.

Promotional Campaigns: Including bonuses, free spins, and loyalty rewards.

Advantages of iGaming Solutions

Enhanced Player Experience Advanced iGaming solutions deliver superior user experiences through high-quality graphics, smooth gameplay, and responsive design, keeping players engaged and satisfied.

Operational Efficiency By automating many operational processes, iGaming solutions help operators run more efficiently, reducing overheads and improving service delivery.

Increased Security Comprehensive security features protect against hacking, fraud, and other threats, ensuring a safe gaming environment for players and operators alike.

Regulatory Adherence Keeping up with regulatory changes is easier with built-in compliance tools, ensuring that operators stay within legal frameworks and avoid penalties.

Emerging Trends in iGaming Solutions

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) AI and ML are increasingly used for personalizing player experiences, enhancing customer support through chatbots, and improving fraud detection mechanisms.

Blockchain Integration Blockchain technology is making inroads into iGaming, offering benefits such as transparent transactions, enhanced security, and provably fair gaming mechanisms.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) VR and AR are poised to revolutionize the gaming experience by creating immersive environments and interactive gameplay, taking player engagement to new heights.

Mobile Gaming Dominance With the rise of smartphones, iGaming solutions are increasingly focusing on mobile optimization, providing seamless gaming experiences on the go.

Evolving Regulatory Landscape As the iGaming industry grows, so does the regulatory scrutiny. iGaming solutions must continuously adapt to new laws and standards to ensure compliance and player protection.

Conclusion

iGaming solutions are at the core of the thriving online gaming industry, providing essential tools and technologies that enable operators to deliver top-notch gaming experiences while maintaining security and regulatory compliance. As the industry evolves, staying abreast of emerging trends and adopting innovative solutions will be crucial for operators aiming to stay competitive and meet the ever-changing demands of players.

[tirangagameshacks]

Engaging Gameplay That Educates

Daman Games masterfully bridges entertainment and education with a diverse range of games designed to enhance cognitive and problem-solving skills while providing an enjoyable experience. The platform offers games in subjects like mathematics, science, and language arts, ensuring players learn valuable concepts as they play.

Games like 'Math Quest' challenge players with adaptive puzzles requiring mathematical solutions, while 'Science Explorer' immerses them in virtual experiments to understand scientific principles. 'Word Master' engages users in word-building exercises to improve vocabulary and grammar.

The educational content is seamlessly integrated into the gameplay, making learning a natural part of having fun. Adaptive difficulty levels, rewards systems, and real-time feedback ensure a challenging yet achievable experience tailored to each player's pace. This inclusive approach caters to both children and adults, making learning through gameplay a lifelong endeavor.

Innovative Features That Set Daman Games Apart

Daman Games stands out with innovative features like AI-driven personalization, which adapts to individual learning styles and skill levels, offering tailored learning paths. Augmented reality (AR) enhances engagement by bringing abstract concepts to life, providing an immersive educational experience.

The user-friendly interface and cross-platform compatibility ensure ease of use across various devices. Community features like multiplayer modes, leaderboards, and social sharing foster interaction and healthy competition, motivating users to improve their skills.

Regular updates and new content keep the gaming experience fresh, maintaining user interest over the long term. Testimonials highlight the platform's ability to blend entertainment with education, solidifying its reputation as a top-tier educational gaming platform.

#daman #daman games #daman games club

[equitymatch]

Creating a Killer Social Media Content Strategy for 2024

The effort of a business to sell the brand on social media will not be successful if the business does not have a solid plan or approach. Businesses must provide high-quality content to attract and ultimately convert the target audience of a business into paying consumers.

Producing content that is both valuable and relevant can help businesses connect with their target audience more effectively and build brand awareness. 

All marketing businesses must have a social media plan! 

This comprehensive strategy includes goals, a target market, channels to employ, content to promote, and metrics to track business progress. However, designing a social media strategy that works might be difficult with illiterate entrepreneurs. Being consistently up to date with the latest social media content strategy is essential for businesses seeking startup funding to maintain their efficiency and competitiveness in the industry. 

Moreover, many investors in platforms like EquityMatch are considering businesses that prioritize effective social media content strategies to build the foundation of creating a great customer experience. 

Without doubt, the social media content strategy and the tactics employed by marketers and website owners in 2024 will be shaped by several trends. Many startups like Wundr are utilizing various social media content strategies to become a leading player. 

Therefore, businesses need to be aware of the upcoming social media content strategy to grab the eye of investors and generate startup investment with a long-term reward that lasts.

Four Social Media Content Strategies 

Establish business content marketing goal 

The key to succeeding in social media marketing is setting specific objectives for the company's content. This strategy facilitates the process of tracking advancement and guaranteeing the accomplishment of the desired outcomes. Businesses seeking startup funding that wish to increase brand awareness, drive sales, and set realistic targets can initiate with the aid of social media planning. To effectively traverse the digital landscape, businesses need to match their content strategy with clear, quantifiable, and achievable goals. It is imperative to adopt a focused approach when seeking to enhance engagement, improve website traffic, or raise brand awareness and be after startup investment. 

The term SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound is used for setting goals. For example, this technique makes the path to achieve a specific goal, such as "Gain 1000 new followers in the next three months by posting high-quality content," instead of aiming for something general like "Increase followers, "businesses must confirm that their objectives are reachable.

To improve user engagement and effectively communicate the brand story, for example, make it a priority to embrace emerging video formats like interactive content or short-form movies.  Promote a feeling of community and genuineness, make sure to include user-generated content. Assuring that efforts are focused, quantifiable, and in line with the constantly changing trends of 2024 is possible by clearly establishing these goals inside social media content strategy.

Define target audience 

A business's social media levels up by using an innovative content strategy for the target audience. Choosing the exact audience or audiences will target is one of the most important steps that may never be skipped in a business seeking startup funding. At present most up-to-date knowledge and tactics will rule the digital scene. 

For example, make use of Augmented Reality (AR) experiences on Instagram or Snapchat to learn more about the potential of immersive storytelling. Discover how to engage consumers and produce memorable brand experiences by introducing AR features into content. The brand will always be current and influential.

However, from utilizing the power of new platforms to creating visually stunning content and captivating stories. Developing content that not only grabs the attention of investors and gains startup investments but also builds enduring connections to stay ahead of changes and changing user behavior. This will achieve greater success on social media in targeting audiences while revolutionizing the online presence in 2024.

Choose the best content channels 

In a diversified world, businesses seeking startup funding must have a strong understanding of the channels that are mostly digitally engaged by their audience. Moreover, the ideal course of action is to concentrate on the social media platforms that already yield the most returns on the startup investment. However, a business's target audience's behaviors, marketing goals, and financial constraints all play a major role as not all of the available channels will likely be ideal. 

For example, utilizing the power of visual storytelling, considering platforms like Instagram Reels and TikTok for creating compelling short-form video content. Sites such as LinkedIn provide a rich source of industry-specific material and thought leadership if the target audience is more interested in business networking. Investigate the possibilities for immersive conversations offered by newly developed audio-based platforms such as Clubhouse and Spaces. 

However, several channels, each with a specific function, may be combined in an all-encompassing strategy. Businesses may optimize reach and personalize their content for platforms where it will be most effective by carefully selecting channels based on brand identity and audience behavior. In 2024, maintain flexibility, adjust to changing trends, and allow content to thrive on the platforms that matter most to the target audience.

Create content calendar

An effective social media content plan for 2024 starts with creating a comprehensive content calendar. Consistency in consistently adding fresh material will likely suffer if businesses seeking startup investments do not have a strong content plan. It is among the most important tools in the content marketing campaign toolbox.  First, set a calendar according to marketing and overall company goals. To make the most of timely and topical information, pick important dates, occasions, and trends that are pertinent to the sector. Maintain audience interest by striking a balance between the variety of material types and forms, including photographs, text postings, and videos. Customize content for each platform to make use of its distinct advantages. 

Furthermore, consider the target audience's online habits and time zones when scheduling posts to appear at the best times. Easily schedule events like product launches, marketing, or partnerships. Space for live material that interacts with popular subjects and dialogues should not be forgotten. To grab the interest of the audience and attract new leads the content must be consistent. 

This will keep businesses seeking startup funding organized and moving in the right direction toward the business objectives by streamlining marketing by making content preparation transparent and systematic.

Conclusion

Maintaining up-to-date trends, utilizing a variety of content platforms to their fullest, and establishing clear goals are essential components of creating a winning social media content strategy. A planned content calendar guarantees dependable and interesting brand marketing.  Businesses seeking startup funding need to keep up with these developments and change their social media content strategy. Many companies in platforms like EquityMatch are embracing these to make a killer social media content strategy for 2024! 

#equitymatch #startupfunding #startupinvesting

[increae]

Should You Be Marketing Your Business on Tiktok in 2024?

What is TikTok?

Today we're discussing the hottest app in India and what advertising on it can do for your business in 2024.

TikTok is a video-based social app. While Indians, young and old, use it to lipsync to trending tracks and watch humorous content, for smart business owners it's a gold mine.

According to Republic World, till November 2024, TikTok globally has 1.5 Billion downloads. And out of those 1.5 Billion, 433 Million of those are from India!

That alone should tell you how many potential customers the app has waiting for you...

Stop drooling, greedy.

Which Businesses Can Massively Benefit From TikTok Ads?

Before you start running ads on TikTok, it's better to understand the nature of businesses that can do well on this platform.

Firstly, TikTok Ads are mostly for brands that sell directly to customers and not businesses.

Second, the demographics play a major role in this since the culture, income, and age of TikTok users are varied across the globe. These 3 factors decide how receptive this humongous user base can be for any business.

It hasn't even been a year since TikTok launched Biddable Ads, so the insights to this platform are fairly new and limited but the logic can be drawn from the information available.

From what we've researched and understood about the platform, 3 types of businesses have the potential to do well:

Apps

If you've used TikTok, chances are you've seen an App's Ad at least once. Why?

Easy-to-download, simple-to-signup apps with attractive features do well on any platform, not just TikTok. One such brand in uk is the etailer, Club Factory, which has been using TikTok, testing and acing all formats of marketing related to TikTok.

So if you've got an app that you're looking to promote, try TikTok. You just might find the relevant community there!

Products for Masses

This one's pretty simple.

TikTok, while luring in A-grade Bollywood stars, still doesn't attract high earning Indians as a majority. In fact, according to information available on scroll.in, approximately 52% of uk TikTok users have a monthly income of INR 25,000 or lesser.

And if you're making products that are for the masses, it by default means the pricing will be lighter and friendly. So have at it! Give TikTok a shot. You might just end up selling a million units.

Happy/Rewarding Services

Imagine how you feel when you see a home loan ad. Now imagine how you feel when Make My Trip shows you cheap packages that'll get you to Thailand next week.

The same response is how you check whether the services you sell will or won't do well on a platform like TikTok. Service Ads, as a whole, would be less responded to on TikTok since the user journey to purchase is longer and more detail-oriented. But a potential customer never walks away if the service is happy, rewarding and pleasing.

So if you're in the business of making people happy and leave them feeling rewarded, TikTok might just be where you find the next hundreds and thousands of customers.

Ways To Market Your Brand on TikTok

TikTok recently activated Biddable Ads as an option, then there is Influencer Marketing and third is organic viral content. Let's talk about all 3 in a little detail:

Biddable Ads

All the social media platforms offer various ad formats where you, a business owner, can setup and run ads on your own. But the audience targeting remains completely with you to customise as you see fit.

This format is so awesome that brands on TikTok have even merged biddable ads with influencer marketing by having an influencer star in the ad. Something you wouldn't see on other platforms. This makes sense because TikTok, unlike an Instagram or Snapchat, is a dedicated short video entertainment platform.

If you're selling products/services that need to be explained/displayed, this is a good opportunity.

Influencer Marketing

Just like any other platform, TikTok, in every country, every city, has an A-list of TikTokers who are widely celebrated and followed. Their authority on their followership is something that's dictated by engagement ratio for every upload and organic reach of content.

Here, instead of promoting an ad that's shown to a new audience, you get to curate content and promote it to the influencer's existing followership. An authentic, personality-driven, mass outreach which may convert to higher sales if the influencer's followership directly mirrors the kind of people you're trying to sell to.

Viral Content

This is the old school technique that doesn't require a budget rather a whole lot of testing and experimenting. TikTok is a content platform that thrives on viral content. If you've made a video that's loved and shared by millions and your brand/product just happens to be in the frame, it's hard to not bag a few thousand purchases. Your brand doesn't have a TikTok account? Not creating content that's relatable, lovable, and worthy of people's time? Let's get going!

Here are a bunch of Global and Indian stats on TikTok!

A list of facts that'll leave you with a fair idea of what TikTok would look like in 2020:

TikTok has more users than Mexico, USA, and Canada, combined!

TikTok has over 500 million monthly active users

66% of users are younger than 30-years-old

A huge chunk, 43% of all its users are based out of India

On average, Indian users have been spending over 30 minutes a day on TikTok

TikTok is the most downloaded app on the Apple App Store

41% of all its users are aged between 16 and 24.

In 2018, 56% of its users were males and remaining were females.

As of 2019, TikTok is available in 155 countries and that count only goes up.

Those are some heavy facts, should be enough to let you assume what TikTok 2020 would look like.

What To Expect On TikTok In 2020

Marketing remains ever-evolving, irrespective of platforms.

As for TikTok, it's the platform where most of the digital world is right now. And it's a golden opportunity for businesses to bag more than a few bucks.

In 2020, we're expecting:

Heavy UGC Campaigns

Hashtag challenges have been doing well since the beginning but now one can expect better and more widespread campaigns by brands that push the envelope. UGC creates more engagement than any brand. Because it's content made without exertion, by users for other users, giving it potential for virality and indirect popularity for the brand.

Influencer Marketing x100

Influencer Marketing has been a driving factor in TikTok's marketing universe. And it's only expected to scale as more brands and companies try TikTok marketing. Having influencers kick start a campaign, a hashtag challenge or just promote your brand/product is enough to get you going if you don't have a follower base. This is expected to tenfold during 2020.

Diversity in Ad Formats

Biddable ads on TikTok are fairly new, and just like Facebook, Instagram or any other social platform, TikTok will improve and is expected to introduce more engaging, experience-driven and consumer-centric ad formats that help brands make the most of their marketing experience on TikTok.

This is one of the heavyweights when it comes to global downloads and the year 2024 doesn't look like it's going to stop TikTok from disrupting Industries. So be sure to use it to your benefit, before your competitor captures a market share that could have easily been yours!