#one thing i'd add to it though is that if the mesh is very high poly it should be exported as fbx

[fantasyfantasygames]

Under the Eaves

Under the Eaves, Rooftopper Games, 2013

"Rooftopper" is the name for a very small race of fae who live on rooftops in the Shadowmarch series (one of Tad Williams' better works). It's therefore appropriate that Rooftopper Games made Under the Eaves, where you play exactly that.

Your characters live in a large late-medieval city. You're only a few inches tall, tiny enough to live off crumbs and dew. Only a few "big folk" know you exist. Most have heard of your kind, but think you're just a rumor in their gritty, low-fantasy world. Meanwhile, you live a life of high adventure, sneaking behind flowerboxes, sliding down rain gutters, fencing with needles, and weaving esoteric magics with cobweb-covered crow bones.

Character creation is done through flowchart that looks like a grape trellis. You pick your starting points with a family and a calling. You trace a path to the advancements (grapes) you want, and if you can reach it from more than one starting point you get more benefit out of it. Each advancement comes with a sentence or two of backstory. They're well-written, but they don't always mesh together perfectly, so you'll probably have to throw out some of them. When you're done you'll have a few broadly applicable d6 dice pools that intentionally overlap in some areas of specialty. You might have 3d6 in Acrobatics and 2d6 in Fighting, which would give you 5d6 in dodging things. Gear either adds more d6 to your dice pools, or sets a minimum or maximum roll for your actions or your opponents'. The system as a whole is fairly traditional, with hit points and resisted rolls and stuff. No falling damage, though.

The GM section includes a d100 table of possible adventure seeds, with the intent that you roll twice to get the "second-act twist". For instance, you might start trying to find a crow who captured someone's child, only to find out that there's a rat invasion coming and you have to figure out how to handle both of them. Perhaps there's a curse on the town and you're trying to find out why, but it turns out the witch is being blackmailed by thieves. Not all of them make sense (the rat invasion is being blackmailed by thieves?) but you can usually get something that works with another roll or two. Honestly, "the thieves who are blackmailing your friend are being blackmailed by thieves" is pretty great.

The game's art is generally an asset. There's a map of the city as a whole, with a zoomed-in area for the "Home Roofs". Layout uses some non-standard fonts but generally to good effect. Some pieces were done by an artist who is fine but whose work doesn't fit with the others, and two have a weird brightness/contrast issue.

Overall the game could use a bit more polish, but I enjoyed it. Most of the people involved in its creation went on to do cool stuff in future games. If I were them I'd be pretty proud of having this as a first work. I'd love to see a crossover between Under the Eaves and Chuubo's Far Roofs setting. Who wouldn't love to play a swashbuckling sprite and their swashbuckling rat mount/companion?

Under the Eaves was Rooftopper Games' only publication. There are a few small hard-to-find supplements that were mail-order only, each describing a particular location or organization. Their website is shut down and their DriveThru account boarded up a while back due to not so much a legal dispute as there being no clear decision as to who was supposed to run it after the company closed. If you write to the authors they'll still gladly send you PDFs.

#ttrpg #imaginary #indie ttrpg #rpg #faerie #he's just a little guy #like a really little guy #review

[silentsundown]

I was tagged by @igotsnothing, yeah I think the tumblr algorithm may be playing a role, but I haven't been too active recently, either. Thank you for tagging though, I always appreciate being tagged and interacting with mutuals <33

1. What’s your favourite sims death? Hmmm I would say, the rare meteorite death. It was my favourite death to trigger with cheats back in TS4 muahahahaha, and I just love the idea of being killed by a meteorite anyway, then comes the flies

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? I definitely prefer Maxis Match. I like my aesthetic to be at least somewhat coherent, and I'd rather not mess with too high poly objects unless absolutely necessary

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? Depends on how lazy I am to send them on a run lmao

4. Do you use move objects? Absolutely. I couldn't play without it.

5. Favorite mod? MCCC (duh), WickedWhims, and @chingyu1023vick's 100 CAS traits. I don't like the lack of diversity in personality traits that TS4 has, TS3 was muuuuuch better in this regard. Btw, I've got also a mod to add more traits.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? I don't remember, honestly.

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? aLIVE. I think it's the most logical way to pronounce it.

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? I love them all! Although I must say Saule is my favourite, closely followed by Beatrice.

9. Have you made a simself? I did, but I never play with her. I don't like doing so anyway, playing as yourself in the sims? Nah, not my thing. Just for avatar purposes.

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? If going by only three traits: creative, loyal, loner. If adding more: creative, loyal, loner, cat lover, perfectionist.

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? Black (not the one with blue undertones, the other one)

12. Favorite EA hair? Hmmm, the one from Island Living that Paka'a Uha wears. The sort of half-waterfall braid thing. I love this one. Also the braid from Cottage Living.

13. Favorite life stage? Young adult, of course. I like playing as kids/teens also.

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? Both. Though more of a renovator than a builder, and more of a storyteller than a gamer.

15. Are you a CC creator? I'd kinda like to create some CC sometime, but I have no knowledge in 3D meshing or texturing. I think about drawing designs for graphic tees and uploading them though. Or recoloring things.

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? Not really, but I have nice mutuals that I love very much. <3 Though it's difficult for me to consider someone a friend unless we know each other more closely, and given that I have some opinions that I think the majority of simblr would dislike (spoiler: nothing hateful, criminal or extreme, just some skepticism on my end, but many people get fired up super easily especially on tumblr and it's difficult to have a healthy discussion or agree to disagree), I'm not sure I can truly make friends here. I mean time will tell, but I'm reserved about the idea that it could happen. Maybe I'm too much on my guard, but I'll just see what happens.

17. What’s your favorite game? TS2 and TS4. I loved TS3 as well but it's so dreadfully badly optimized that I can't play it.

18. Do you have any sims merch? Nay

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? Might make a casual one someday? idk

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? I tend to make sims of a certain ethnicity depending on which period/culture I'm interested in. So I had a bunch of Japanese sims back in 2017/18, then Indian, then I stopped playing, now some Kazakhs, a few Russians and one Mongolian, and I'll see how this goes, but I feel like making more Americans especially given that I play Strangerville. Even if America in itself isn't much my cup of tea. I didn't use reshades until I created my simblr because I was afraid it was going to crash my laptop, but turns out nope, it doesn't. Especially since I can toggle it on and off, which I didn't know was possible. I did use skinblends back in the day, but I had kind of a different aesthetic than now. Now, I prefer simple things that are way more Maxis Match and fit perfectly into the game's aesthetic. I consider it's not made that way for nothing.

21. What’s your Origin ID? BaronessWest, though there isn't much to see there

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? @aharris00britney for hair, @sciophobis and @simmireen for poses, @sixamcc for other stuff... and others I don't have off the top of my head right now

23. How long have you had a simblr? I'm new here, kinda. I started at the end of March. I think that's how I met the person who tagged me heh

24. How do you edit your pictures? Reshade, for some pics I use my drawing software Clip Studio Paint, which perfectly does the trick. Though it's a bit shitty for texting edits, because they don't support emojis like you'd see on a phone...

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? Strangerville. Duh. Cottage Living, Seasons, Cats and Dogs, and the Paranormal stuff.

26. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? Hmm, why not High School Years? It's gonna come in handy when I'll tell Christie's teen years and I could use some Y2K stuff too.

I'm gonna tag a few of you now, if you've already done this or don't feel like responsing it's all ok though! @alinelie @alltimefail-sims, @folkbreeze, @olya-occult-lover and @aries-sims

#simblr #tag game #thank you for tagging me <3

[thenegoteator]

oh:D hey there! it’s the anon who asked what degree you were studying a little while ago:). just a follow-up question — feel free to ignore, i just,,,

okay, so i love english and i like history and i’d love to study one or the other, i think:D. but. but i see articles in the news about how english lit degrees are being discontinued, and when i look at courses, it looks like the analysis of r&j that we did in early high school, and jobs just look terrifying— i’m sorry, this is a silly question, but, just:

what’s it like studying eng/hist? where could one get an idea of what a typical course looks like? and would you recommend? i just. really want to go into eng, i love writing, but i’m thinking about business or something because everyone keeps telling me that i’ll never be able to find any jobs w/ any sort of eng degree— and it’s just, i’d love to hear about it from your perspective, if this ask isn’t too much trouble?<3

hiya, it's no trouble at all!!! I've actually been thinking about your ask all day (and this might be horrifically long bc of it) - you've caught me at the tail end of my degree and I'm in my feelings about it sdlkfjsdklfjds

I think there are a few separate things to unpack here, if that's ok with you - all from my experience, of course, though if someone reading this wants to add on please feel free!! (1) how did I decide to study english and history, (2) these things are not considered very employable and that's terrifying and (3) what does studying them look like on the daily.

so to answer (1) - I took a gap year after high school. several reasons for that, including simply that I had the option and opportunity which I know not everyone does. but I also didn't know which direction I wanted to go in life and didn't want to go to uni only because I didn't know what else to do. I worked at an archive and was able to see people with humanities degrees at work in a way that wasn't as teachers or professors, and realised it really was right up my alley.

personally, my brain is one that meshes well with academic study, and I find studying the humanities uni is a good fit for my skillset and how I like to interact with the world. that's not the case for everyone, and that's ok!! not everyone who enjoys reading likes studying literature, and there doesn't have to be a value judgement in there. but if you find that you do, then that's excellent, and it can be really fulfilling to pursue!

(rest under the cut, this got really long, sorry about that hsdkfjds)

as for (2) - you've caught me at a time when I'm facing my next choices and yes, even though I know this is what I'd like to pursue, it's really scary. This isn't to say that there aren't jobs related to these things! Wherever you see written communication in the world is a place where an English degree would be beneficial. Whether it's writing articles, copywriting, editing, day-to-day communicating in a business, writing social media posts, legal briefs, publishing (both fiction and nonfiction)… our world is stuffed to the brim with words and studying English literature will teach you to be able to understand, write, analyse, and engage with them in a way people are too quick to take for granted.

(you're on the internet - I don't have to tell you how crucial reading comprehension is and how many people lack it).

But an English degree is not a one way ticket to a related job, and being academically inclined to reading and writing does not make you automatically interested in a job along these lines, and it unfortunately doesn't mean people will hire you.

and there's no easy answer here. what I can tell you is that I know someone who studied History and is now a pensions officer. I know someone who did English, volunteered while at uni, and now she works for the charity she volunteered for, in a different city. the point is that you don't have to pick a degree and then commit to that exact path until the heat death of the universe till death do you part - it's more like you're walking through life, and you knock on doors that look interesting, and you go through the ones that open. and if you don't like it, that's ok!! you can turn around!! you can climb out a window!!

it's a nervewracking process, but it is possible, and my top advice is never ever think you have to be stuck doing something that makes you miserable because that's the only way to make money. it's fine not to make your greatest passion your career, but if you can make choices, it's best to go for options you don't actively hate.

and this has gotten long, but to answer (3) - this is very specific to my uni and degree, and I recommend going to open days and talking to lecturers about how they set up their courses if you can!

but in my case, a typical English course is usually structured either around a literary movement (modernism), an era (the Renaissance), a genre (children's literature), a theme (tragedy and knowledge), or something along those lines. If it's books, we'll usually read about 1-2 a week, which gives us a broad overview of the main points of the course topic. We'll have lectures and tutorials or seminars (depending on the year and course coordinator) each week to give us context and let us discuss our ideas. We write essays and papers that go more into detail of a particular book or subject we enjoy, some of which are comparative.

(For example, last year in my children's lit course, I wrote an essay on the idea of emotional growth in Howl's Moving Castle, but I've also written on the concept of monstrosity in Milton compared to Aemilia Lanyer.)

History is a bit different; it tends to involve a broader range of sources (not just texts) as well as historiography (the metahistory of how historians have talked about the historical issue over time, if that makes sense).

I can't say for sure whether this is what you'd enjoy. You've said you really enjoy writing and you seem wary of literary analysis by itself - maybe you'd be more interested in a course focused on English Language and Linguistics, or a course in Communications, or a course in English Literature and Creative Writing. You've said you enjoy history, too - there's a lot of overlap between the disciplines, but it might be in your interests to go to a uni where you can take electives in your first years and see what's the best fit for you! once again, it's ok to take some time and see what works for you.

tl;dr: these are big decisions but none of them are ones you can't change or adjust over time!! don't pursue things you hate. one of the most valuable things you can learn at this point in your life is what kind of things aren't for you, because that helps you start to narrow down the things that could be.

#she speaks #and answers #sdfkjslfjds sorry this is so long ive been thinking about this all day #if anyone else has insight please do add on!!!

[the-sunlit-earth]

Your Morrowind graphics look sooo beautiful! Do you have a list of the mods you used? I'd really appreciate it if you could share it!

Sure! I'd be happy to share my setup =)

My modlist is cobbled together from various modding guides, suggestions by friends who've played Morrowind, and my own personal preferences as I've played and come across things I felt like changing (like the pond scum lol!).

I tried to leave out most mods that had zero to do with Graphics/changes you can see in the world, and I also tried to keep my descriptions short, though if you were only asking for a simple load order then I apologize, oops!

The Engine

MGE XE (this is absolutely vital for those distant views/awesome light and water shaders and other features!)

Morrowind Code Patch (needed for bump/reflection maps to look right!)

Meshes/Textures/Overhauls

Morrowind Optimization Patch (improves performance/fixes some mesh errors!)

Patch for Purists (squashes so many bugs while avoiding unnecessary changes!)

Intelligent Textures (full AI upscaled/hand-edited texture pack of the game, excellent as a base if you plan to add on more targeted replacers later!)

Enhanced Water Shader for MGE XE--OR--Krokantor's Enhanced Water Shader Updated: (depends on which version of MGE XE you're using; if 0.13.0 you'll want the Updated version, and if earlier you need the older one. 3 shades of water to choose from; improved caustics, foam, ripples, underwater effects; and no more weird immersion-breaking moment when you would previously tilt the camera just beneath the surface and it would suddenly be perfectly clear. Absolutely gorgeous water!)

Animation Compilation-Hand to Hand Improved Without Almalexia Spellcasting (idk if this counts, but it does fix the Visual of that weird vanilla running animation!)

Better Bodies and Westly's Pluginless Replacer (a friend told me to get Robert's bodies, but BB is also very good and seems to be the most widely used + many mods need it, like Julan!)

Pluginless Khajiit Head pack (prettier kitties!)

Improved Argonians (better looking lizard-friends!)

Children of Morrowind (adds realism by having kids running around your towns!)

Julan, Ashlander Companion [v3.0 at bottom of this page] (ok not a graphics mod, but will add much immersion to your game, so I will shill for him anyway!)

Vibrant Morrowind 3.0/4.0 (this one I actually don't have installed yet, but I love the way Vivec looks in the screenshots!)

abot Water Life (adds aquatic creatures/things like algae and coral to make Morrowind's waters more alive!)

Vurt's Corals (found on Vurt's Groundcover page; adds gorgeous corals and new water plants!)

Vurt's Ashlands Overhaul (can choose between gnarly trees or vanilla-style!)

Vurt's Groundcover (gorgeous animated grass and vegetation that differs for each region!)

Vurt's Solstheim Tree Replacer II (more realistic trees and snowy pines!)

Vurt's Bitter Coast Trees II (5 additional unique trees!)

Vurt's Bitter Coast Trees II Remastered (mesh fixes/optimizations for the trees!)

Vurt's Leafy West Gash II (more trees, and optional rope bridge texture!)

Vurt's Ascadian Isles Tree Replacer II (v10a recommended for better-sized trees without clipping issues; TREES!!)

Articus Bush Replacer for Vurt AI Trees II (new model for bush tree + bark retexture!)

Vurt's Grazeland Trees II (really cool palms and Baobab trees!)

Vurt's Mournhold Trees II (beautiful animated cherry blossom trees!)

I Lava Good Mesh Replacer (better lava mesh, has no flickering with effects like steam!)

Remiros' Minor Retextures - Mist (much nicer spooky mist in Ancestral Tombs!)

Unto Dust (adds atmospheric floating dust motes, kinda like in Skyrim barrows!)

Graphic Herbalism MWSE (improved meshes and Oblivion-style harvesting!)

Glow in the Dahrk (windows transition to glowing versions at night!)

Ashfall (super awesome and very configurable Camping/Survival/Cooking/Needs mod!)

Watch the Skies (dynamic weathers/weather changes inside/randomized clouds etc!)

Seasonal Weather of Vvardenfell (weather changes throughout the year!)

Taddeus' Foods of Tamriel (adds Ashfall compatible foods and ovens for baking!)

More Wells (add-on for Ashfall/more immersive since access to water is pretty important!)

Diverse Blood (because not everything should bleed Red when you poke it with a spear!)

Lived Towns - Seyda Neen (adds more containers/clutter to make it feel more lived-in!)

Better Waterfalls (adds splash effects/water spray, better running water texture!)

Waterfalls Tweaks (resized water splash to blend better!)

Dunmer Lanterns Replacer (smoother/more-detailed-yet-optimized lanterns + paper lanterns!)

Telvanni Lighthouse Tel Vos (fits in perfectly with Azura's Coast region!)

Telvanni Lighthouse Tel Branora (very atmospheric, works well with surroundings!)

Palace of Vehk (Vivec's Palace feels lived-in instead of sad and empty!)

Ships of the Imperial Navy (immersive addition to Imperial waterfront areas!)

Striderports (gives caravaners some shelter and comfort while standing there all day!)

Illuminated Palace of Vivec (decorates palace steps + shrines with devotion candles and flowers left by followers!)

Scum Retexture - Alternative 2 (better looking pond scum in Bitter Coast region!)

Full Dwemer Retexture (I went with Only Armor/Robots/Weapons; nice high quality retex!)

Blighted Animals Retextured (I chose Darknut's 1024; blighted animals have their own sickly textures now!

Vivec Expansion 3.1 Tweaked Reworked (adds a hostel/many wooden walkways to Vivec on the water!)

Atmospheric Plazas (Vivec's plazas now have weather/sunlight! Be sure to use MCP's Rain fix to keep it from pouring as if there's no roof!)

Gemini's Realistic Snowflakes (more organic texture with more depth!)

Severa Magia DB fix (makes hideout actually appropriate to Dark Brotherhood!)

Starfire's NPC Additions (more populated towns and settlements!)

Hold It (adds items for NPCs to hold and carry, based on their class; very immersive!)

Suran-The Pearl of the Ascadian Isles (I went with White Suran Complete package; stunning retexture that also adds docks/waterfront!)

Atmospheric Delights (a more fitting mood inside the House of Earthly Delights!)

Guars Replacer-Aendemika of Vvardenfell (pluginless makeover for our scaly friends!)

Silt Strider by Nwahs and Mushrooms Team (great new model+textures for these cool bug-buses!)

Skar Face (giant crab manor in Ald-ruhn gets claws and legs!)

Armor/Clothing

Redoran Founders Armor (Redoran councilors stand out in this cool set!)

Morag Tong Polished (bug fixes/Armor Replacer/restored cut content for the faction!)

Rubber's Weapons Pack (several unique weapons/shields get distinct models!)

Yet Another Guard Diversity (generic copypasta guards now have variation!)

Better Silver Armor (adds missing pieces of silver armor to make full set!)

Royal Guard Better Armor (pluginless armor replacer for the Royal Guards!)

RR Mod Series Better Silt Strider Armor (cooler bug men in your Ashlander camps!)

Armored Robes NPC Compilation (some Ordinators/Mabrigash/others will wear distinct robes of their station!)

Full Dragonscale Armor Set v1.3a (adds the missing pieces to make the set complete!)

Mage Robes (robes for every magic school, many MG members will wear their respective ones!)

Quorn Resource Integration (lore-friendly armor/creatures added to leveled lists to be encountered in game!)

Better Clothes (non-segmented clothing replacer to fit Better Bodies!)

More Better Clothes (additional shirts that were missed in the first one!)

Better Clothes Complete (fixes many problems and 1st person clipping issues for BC!)

Better Clothes Retextured (high-res retextures for nearly all base game clothes!)

Hirez Better Clothes (3 shirts retextured in high quality!)

Better Morrowind Armor (BB compatible armor replacer!)

Dark Brotherhood Armor Replacer (changes DB armor to look more like concept art!)

Bonemold Armor Replacer (much nicer-looking Bonemold armor!)

Westly's Fine Clothiers of Tamriel (very high quality clothes that you will see many NPCs wearing too!)

Orcish Retexture v1.2 (beautifully done armor retexture!)

Daedric Lord Armor (much improved Daedric set, very fierce!)

Ebony Mail Replacer (awesome new model+tex that changes it to actual chainmail!)

I use Wrye Mash to install my mods, though I think a lot of people use MO2. Haaa, now that I've made this list I have the strong urge to just run around Morrowind taking even more screenshots =)

#morrowind #mods #my mod list #answered #my posts

[zarntrios]

Eileen is a big gal. She takes up over half my suitcase!

I already knew I'd have to take two suitcases cos that's what I always do every time I go to PAX, but...yikes.

I was also planning on making Templar from XCOM 2 WOTC, and I actually did do a fair amount of work for it. I decided I wouldn't be able to get it done both in time and to my stupid fucking high level of satisfaction.

I made the pants and modelled the spine so my friend Andrey could print it. It's actually got an impressive amount of mobility and I'm very proud of it.

The experience was important, because the second costume I'm trying to get ready is...

Morgan Yu!

I think it's a really neat design, I love warm colours and the general art deco yet uniquely retro vibe of the whole game. It's beautiful yet keeps room for terror.

I've bought some models of the silenced pistol and the margrave shotgun that I'm going to modify to

1) Better resemble the Artemis Golden Gun

2) more easily break apart into two for travel reasons

I have fully modelled and printed the wrench though!!

Here are some of the finer details, which weren't too difficult to add. Literally just a boolean cut once a text object was turned into a mesh.

And IT FUCKING WORKS!!!!!!!

It took me so long to get the thread working... Turns out what people mean when they say something like printing offset is ACTUALLY micron accuracy. Once you know that it's actually super easy because it's just more boolean bullshit.

I'm working on the gloves rn using a personal favourite vinyl. It doesn't have any stretch so they'll suck a little, but also they're gloves so fuck em. Only thing I hate more is mitred corners like on those fucking pants god i hate them so much

Posts will continue to be infrequent and whenever I can be arsed to post. I do plan on having a post dedicated to Morgan's helmet tho. It's the most difficult model I've ever worked on. I want it to have fans and lights and an acrylic front with window tint on it so it actually functions like a one-way mirror.

Reward picture of Luna for reaching the bottom of the post lol

#zam's eileen #zam's morgan yu #yeah so templar is on hold but its because its a lot of armour to make abd the gauntlets alone make me want to drown in my own tears sooo #i am both super excited and super dreading getting the helmet ready #also if someone wants the model for the wrench ill find a way to post it #probably not to here but to like thingiverse or something idk #zam's crafting stuff

[snail-care]

Snail 101: How to set up a snail enclosure

So, you're considering getting a pet snail? Great! Before you acquire your snail, you should prepare a home. Here are the basics:

TANK:

Reptile tanks are ideal for snails, they allow plenty of air in, while many are designed to hold humidity that reptiles need. These can be on the pricier side, but luckily snails don't really need huge amounts of space. The linked calculator below shows how much room you'll need for a certain amount of snails, as well as how many snails you can fit happily into a tank you may already have.

Fish tanks are also super great for snails. Betta fish starter kits, while awful for actual Betta fish are perfect for a few snails to live in quite happily. Goldfish starter tanks and such are perfect too. Make sure it has a secure lid!!! Snails can lift several times their own weight so a clip on lid or a heavy one is best. You may want to DIY a lid with mosquito mesh to let air in if the lid that came with the tank is solid glass.

Critter keepers are also good for snails, just don't get the teeny ones. Snails can move surprisingly long distances in just a day, and need room to wander and explore. Again, make sure the lid is very secure.

Please don't:

Use cardboard boxes. They don't hold humidity, they get soggy and snails can eat right through them and even get impacted (blocked digestive tracts) Wood is not great for the same reason.

Use tanks that are super tall. Snails are pretty good at holding on while climbing, but they do sometimes fall off. More on this in a bit though.

Use tanks that are too tiny. You will just have sad snails.

~~~~

So, you have your tank. What next?

To start, you'll want to get a suitable substrate. There are plenty of good options, as well as several you should avoid. Substrate is super important as it provides a place for snails to burrow, lay eggs, and a lot of snails also eat their substrate, likely to help them digest. Substrate also provides a soft place to land if they fall off of something.

Coco peat/coir. My absolute favourite snail substrate! Coir is made of the husks of coconuts, but is a lovely soft texture. It holds water really well, which is good for humidity, without getting bogged and swampy. Snails will happily crawl over, dig in and eat coir. It's eco friendly, takes a very long time to break down, can be reused and it's also really cheap. You can get coir in pretty much any nursery or hardware store, and it comes in these sweet dehydrated and compressed blocks so it's pretty much guaranteed to not come with any pests. The only bad thing I can think of is that once it's rehydrated and set up, pests quite like to live in it.

Peat. I'm not a fan of using peat in anything, not just snail terrariums. My main reason is that peat is taken from peat bogs, and is not renewable. The peat bogs are running out :( The good things about peat are that it holds moisture well, and is also easily reused. It tends to come dry in bags, so it's unlikely to have pests already there. Like coir, it can also harbour pests once it's set up. If you want to use peat, I'd recommend researching the company to see where they harvest it, as there are some peat farms out there that don't take from habitats. It can be a little expensive.

Loam. I've never used loam, so I can't attest to it, but from what I've read it seems good! It's often used for acid hating plants, as it has high ph which is good for snails (acidic substrate can damage their shells) Make sure if you use loam it has low sand content, as sand is b a d. I can't find the pricing of loam, but it's good points are that it drains well, but holds moisture, so it won't get swampy.

Potting soil. This can be a hard one, but if done right can be good. if you use potting soil, please please make sure it's organic, with no added fertilizers, and a high ph. As soil often comes moist, it will likely need to be baked to sterilize and kill any pests in it. It can also be pretty dirty to work with compared to other options.

Sphagnum moss. Sphagnum moss is rad, some people use it as a full substrate in its own, but I'd just add a layer on top of others. Holds moisture and is great for humidity, but isn't great for snails to burrow in. can be kind of pricey.

Substrates to avoid

Sand. Grains of sand can get stuck in snail's shells and really irritate them

Normal potting soil. Potting soil often comes with fertilizers and pesticides already in it, which is bad times.

Random dirt from outside. Dirt outside usually will have pesticides, chemicals from pollution, just all kinds of weird shit you don't want your snails on.

Make sure the substrate is damp before adding snails!

Decorations and Enrichment

Snails love exploring their home!! Decorations provide things to climb on, hiding spots and just visual aesthetics. In my tank, I have a flowerpot, a stick to climb on, plenty of leaf litter and a little ladybug ornament from the dollar store! This does not have to be expensive whatsoever! you can literally just get things from outside, but if you do, make sure you bake 'em in the oven for a bit to kill germs and pests. You can even put little plants in there if you want, just make sure they're not toxic and have no pesticides. Some ideas are fake plants, a plastic flowerpot, a kids plastic cup, various little ornaments from dollar stores, sticks and leaves, etc. Try to avoid large, pointy and hard objects like sharp rocks and such, to avoid shell damage.

Food and Water Bowls

I definitely recommend using bowls or plates for food. Food placed directly on the substrate will spoil and go mouldy quicker because of the moisture. The bowl I use is made for reptiles, and is designed to look like a natural rock but it's made from resin, which is a great material because it's very unlikely to damage their shells, but very strong and easy to clean. You can use the same bowls for water, I use the lid of a jar lol.

This seems complex, but I promise it's honestly the most complex part of keeping snails and it's a lot easier than you think. I hope it was helpful! I'm going to make another post on bioactive vivariums too!

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