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worldviewcast · 3 years

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The Origin of Worldview

So this is going to be a semi-personal, but also a semi-explanation post about alot of the background info regarding Worldview. Yes it’ll be a long somewhat boring wall of text for many of you, but to ME it’s words I feel need to be said and it would mean the absolute world to me if people would take the time to hear me out. Even if its only gonna be the five of you that continue on after this. Anyway...

Worldview technically started forming in my mind when I was probably about fifteen. (For reference, at the time of writing this, I’m about half a year to thirty-one) I was really into doing comics, I had done probably a hundred pages of a really dumb fantasy comic I came up with when I was TWELVE, a Sonic fancomic, and every morning on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I would upload my micron inked and colored pencil story about some DnD characters into the school scanner to post on Drunkduck which is probably all still there today. Adventure’s Guild is missed in my heart, for sure. But in between looking for my first job, the constant writing and doodling I was doing, and my schoolwork I was tossing another idea around in my head. A really DUMB idea, cuz ya know I was FIFTEEN. And I wanted to call it ‘My Big Brother the Ninja’. At the time I was influence by all the dumb anime I was watching and my best friend at the time who always wore black and stood about two feet over me. I don’t know if he’ll ever read this, but trust me if he knew I was talking about this he would recognize this story right away. Well. My first job came around, along with my post secondary college work, and then a tech school I paid for, and.....life really started to get in the way of development. I was more focused on drawing Adventures Guild and other doodles for a long time, and soon enough taking care of my daughter took precedence over everything, and then I started sewing, and doing conventions....and the idea of ‘My Big Brother the Ninja’ was just stuck in the back of my head. Sitting. Waiting. Forming slowly as it waited for its existence - its time in the sun. And at some point I decided I wanted Android/Robotic like characters too...some of my FAVORITE series are Kikaider : The Animation and Chobits (the books, not the infants show they try to pass a a fully written anime) - things like that. So I KNEW long before Worldview had a proper name I would be writing robot characters with a twist. But I couldn’t figure out what that twist was, what would make it work. The whole idea was still....building. It needed a push. Right around the time My Hero Academia came around everyone with a creative mind seemed to be suddenly struck with a similar idea - what if unique powers WEREN’T so unique in a world? This is fairly common now, but at the start of MHA I remember finding it weird that suddenly every half the new shows out had a whole population of super powered badasses in a world where living daily life with it was more the norm than the exception. And I remember finding it REALLY weird this all came out the same time I evolving a similar idea for my own thing.... I wish I could prove I was evolving this ideas before I saw em but I can’t. I have a much deeper theory about the evolution of cultural art and how influences drive creative minds to similar conclusions but that’s a LONG mental dive for another day. ANYHOW.

So my original idea in ‘My Big Brother the Ninja’ was the Ninja would be the weird super power in the normal world. NOW I wanted the NINJA to be the ‘normal’ one...and the younger sister would be the WEIRD one because she DIDN’T have some sort of power or ability. I fell in love with this new dynamic and now things were REALLY starting to come together in my mind, what kind of powers were people gonna have, just HOW mundane was it gonna be, how many fantasy elements did I want to have? Because I already KNEW another element I really wanted to include was modern day Paladins - and YES I WILL be covering modern-day style Paladins in Worldview proper, but this meant the universe needed a Deity system, a hierarchy or pantheon. And the world just started to grow....but something was still MISSING, the binding, the elements of what all I wanted to do - Aaaaaaaaaand then came UNDERTALE. And yes this ENTIRE long post is just me mini ranting about how WV came to be so people can TRULY understand just HOW much is inside MY universe so we can stop tagging it as part of the UT Multiverse please and thank you - it’s not that I don’t UNDERSTAND the confusion, but here is your ultimate ‘for the record’ post regarding mine and @little-noko ‘s personal frustrations. Undertale was obviously a HUGE part of pop culture, personal experiences, my life, MANY of my readers lives, I GET why the emotional connection is there and why its the first thing that comes to mind - but the ONLY part I truly was fascinated by with Undertale was the way the Souls were. PHYSICAL Souls - an actual magical entity that represented a person - THIS idea. This was my missing piece. To say artists get inspiration from other artists is beyond an understatement - even Sans and Papyrus are references to Helvetica, right? If not references, inspired by, or ‘great minds think alike’, whatever your argument there....its not uncommon. And Souls being PHYSICAL was the element I wanted to play with - the idea I wanted to expand on, and so much more I want to go into detail about but don’t want to go into spoilers yet so I’m not going to - and the absolute CRUX of my frustrations when dealing with ‘WV is just UT with different characters’. Worldview has.....humans. Only humans, divided into four race. Mechanoid. Masic. Skeleton. Metazoan. (The last one exclusively because I wanted an excuse to draw cute cat girls, so sue me) A pantheon of Gods. It’s own world map. Special BIOLOGY that I have developed to work specifically with the races I have built. Ability trees (diagram to come, don’t worry, we’re just still working out the kinks). It’s own countries, nationalities, and even it’s own tangible form of afterlife which I blame watching WAY too much Supernatural on but HEY Reapers are freaking COOL man. It’s absolutely gut wrenching painful to have people argue with me over a world that I have nurtured and slowly tended to for a good fifteen years...now that it finally, FINALLY gets a chance to exist and be worked on....I feel like the one binding element I finally found and played with and tried to expand on is the ONLY element that people care about. As if absolutely EVERY other element that I want to show just - doesn’t EXIST. We started with Finch because its a good transition from the old projects to the new and it’s the earliest event in the timeline - nothing more than that. But I’m almost starting to feel like that was a mistake because it’s TOO familiar. There’s no going back now, and thats fine. But it does make me anxious to move on to the next ‘chapter’ we’ll be delving into. MAN. I hope that helps clarify a few things. I love answering questions (those that I can) about WV...so my ask box is always open. For those that made it, thanks for listening. :)

#alainatalks #worldview #worldview origins #long post #semi-rant #mostly annoyances I just wanted to get off my chest but I didn't want to be mean about it #its just REALLY frustrating on my end #XD #thank you #!!

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roigada · 3 years

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I made 100 pitches for a sixth installment of the hoodwinked franchise

hoodwinked 6 should be the characters acting out goat story like its a shitty school play

hoodwinked 6 should be the plot of chipwrecked

hoodwinked 6 should have the plot of an indian soap opera

hoodwinked 6 should be highly s*xual and detail the wolf and the grandmother's relationship

hoodwinked 6 should be about italian sea monsters

hoodwinked 6 should have emojis

hoodwinked 6 should be about Red transitioning to a boy and the hardships of it

hoodwinked 6 should be about Rumplestiltskin taking away gay rights

hoodwinked 6 should have the same plot as Ralph Breaks the Internet

hoodwinked 6 should be about the complications of time travel

hoodwinked 6 should be a spiritual successor to the godfather

hoodwinked 6 should be set in Rainfurrest 2016

hoodwinked 6 should be about the benefits of a religion that mortals cannot understand

hoodwinked 6 should be a psychological horror film

hoodwinked 6 should be hoodwinked 5

hoodwinked 6 should be interactive like Bandersnatch

hoodwinked 6 should be about the characters going to pride

hoodwinked 6 should take place in the fallout universe

hoodwinked 6 should be a sequel to portal

hoodwinked 6 should be about the grandmother tragically dying and how it affects the principal cast

hoodwinked 6 should be animated like Who Framed Roger Rabbit

hoodwinked 6 should take place in space

hoodwinked 6 should be about Red committing a federal crime

hoodwinked 6 should take place in Freddy Fazbear's Pizza

hoodwinked 6 should be about the squirrel character trying to get famous on tiktok

hoodwinked 6 should be a crossover with the Lion King

hoodwinked 6 should be a bimonthly curated box of snacks

hoodwinked 6 should be sponsored by Edible Arrangements

hoodwinked 6 should take place in a dystopian future

hoodwinked 6 should be like a Brave New World

hoodwinked 6 should be found footage

hoodwinked 6 should be like Unfriended

hoodwinked 6 should be a slice of life anime series on crunchyroll

hoodwinked 6 should be about SCPS

hoodwinked 6 should be a psychological metanarrative

hoodwinked 6 should be a visual novel

hoodwinked 6 should be about the Russian Sleep Experiments

hoodwinked 6 should be a prequel to the Fast and the Furious

hoodwinked 6 should be a romcom starring Adam Sandler

hoodwinked 6 should be a children's puppet show

hoodwinked 6 should be a distant childhood memory in a select group of people's minds that when asked about to their parents, it is revealed that the children were sitting in front of a television playing only static

hoodwinked 6 should have dating options

hoodwinked 6 should be a musical performed on ice

hoodwinked 6 should be a musical inspired by Romeo and Juliet and it should also be in a high school

hoodwinked 6 should have the same ending as Hamlet

hoodwinked 6 should have the same plot as Mamma Mia!

hoodwinked 6 should be a point and click adventure game from the 90s

hoodwinked 6 should be a comic book series

hoodwinked 6 should take place during the black death

hoodwinked 6 should be a modern retelling of the popular story Little Red Riding Hood that is structured like a police alibi

hoodwinked 6 should be about gang violence

hoodwinked 6 should have Markiplier in it

hoodwinked 6 should be a christmas film

hoodwinked 6 should have heavy religious themes

hoodwinked 6 should never end

hoodwinked 6 should replace all the voice actors with the kid that did the fortnite song

hoodwinked 6 should be a sequel to Mike and Melissa

hoodwinked 6 should be a combination of Pokemon and Dungeons and Dragons

hoodwinked 6 should be in the sonic universe

hoodwinked 6 should be a silly little concept posted to tumblr that spirals out of control after someone starts a Kickstarter to make it real

hoodwinked 6 should have a harem in it

hoodwinked 6 should have the same plot as Resident Evil Village

hoodwinked 6 should be about finding Red's biological father

hoodwinked 6 should have Pumpkin Rabbit do a cameo in it

hoodwinked 6 should be made specifically for my friend Veronica

hoodwinked 6 should have the same soundtrack as Undertale

hoodwinked 6 should take place in the Elder Scrolls universe

hoodwinked 6 should be about wizards

hoodwinked 6 should have epic sword fights

hoodwinked 6 should be a retelling of king arthur and the knights of the round table

hoodwinked 6 should be about family values

hoodwinked 6 should have voice commands

hoodwinked 6 should be a sequel to Pokepark

hoodwinked 6 should be half life but the ai becomes self aware

hoodwinked 6 should have a scene where the characters dance to gangnam style

hoodwinked 6 should have annoying orange in it

every copy of hoodwinked 6 should be personalized

hoodwinked 6 should be cursed

hoodwinked 6 should cause the death of everyone who watches it

hoodwinked 6 should be about a girl and her beloved horse

hoodwinked 6 should have Kpop in it

hoodwinked 6 should reference Pewdiepie

hoodwinked 6 should be a minecraft machinima

hoodwinked 6 should be about fighting aliens

hoodwinked 6 should be about falling in love with aliens

hoodwinked 6 should be about escaping prison

hoodwinked 6 should be inspired by Bladerunner

hoodwinked 6 should have been a dream all this time

hoodwinked 6 should have multiple different endings

hoodwinked 6 should be a prequel to hoodwinked

hoodwinked 6 should be about two college friends starting a restaurant with the shared idea of animatronic performers and it documents their wacky hijinks

hoodwinked 6 should be about liminal spaces

hoodwinked 6 should be about why my shoulder hurts

hoodwinked 6 should have strong pro life themes

hoodwinked 6 should be about why all cops are bastards

hoodwinked 6 should be the story of a man named Stanley

hoodwinked 6 should be about gender identity

hoodwinked 6 should be inspired by SAW

hoodwinked 6 should have the McElroy brothers in it

hoodwinked 6 should be starring Tommy Wiseau

#this took me 3 hours #also the pro life one is a JOKE i believe in a woman's right to choose #hoodwinked #thanks to my friend wynn for making five of these

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zero-up · 2 years

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I just woke up to a weird dream, I felt like sharing it, and this seems like the best place to do it. My dreams aren’t very coherent, and I’m bad at remembering them, and I neglected to mention a bit at the beginning of my dream because it’s irrelevant to what caught my attention. I kind of stream of consciousness it, so sorry if it’s a bit rumbly. I’m bad at remembering dreams, but in it, I was watching a review by a YouTube or named Sum-Call-Me-Johnny, it was on Smash Brothers Melee. It wasn’t edited like his normal videos tho. In my dream, I never saw his face, and it was more “animated”, for lack of a better word, then his normal videos. The earliest bit I can remember was him talking about A stage for the ice climbers that’s just a big field made of ice, with the occasional spiky ice rocks (the ice item that freezes enemies is the closest comparison for shape), and it had random trap holes in places. It was also clearly 3D, instead of 2.5D. after a character (ether an ice climber on his own, or Lucas) fell down one of the trap holes, to go to another stage that was a trippy underground ice cave. I recognize this as referencing A head canon I had (that was likely also a popular theory people had) about the ice cave stage being the underground version of the ice plane stage. He then started talking about yet a third ice climber stage that was a trippy ice hole that was a traveling stage going down it (implied to be what’s in the trap holes in the ice plane stage, but you don’t transition from one state to the other). When talking about this stage, he went out of full screen mode, revealing his editing program, and started playing in that window-mode fashion (in a way that I took as being for “nostalgic purposes”), and telling people to “shut up, don’t judge [him]”. He then applied a bunch of filters (not at the same time) that made the footage in the editor look like it was a YouTube video, on the older, than the newer layouts of YouTube (tho in my dream, the old layout wasn’t exactly like the real life old layout). This then reminded him of “MP2813” (Tho when I try to type it to look it up on YouTube in my dream, I typed “MP1013” and “MP2823” in two different instances), The audio that played next sounded like it was entry 17 from Undertale, using a TTS voice associated with Gaster (this was MP2813, and a file from melee, smash Bros and Undertale are connected now). But it quickly transition to a sequence were a bunch of color combinations followed by a number were listed out (implying these color combinations were codenames, and the number after it was the amount of the object given that codename), The only one I remember catching was “purple-blue”. This immediately made me speculate that these items were amount give me to the versions of Susie, Kris, and other Deltarune characters, before hearing the dialogue “yellow: is the best meat. Ha Hah Hah Hah Hah!” It was at this point I look at the video again (The audio was coming to the video, but I wasn’t looking at it), and instead of the normal visual you would expect from entry 17, it was some colorful Doss/text adventure wall of text, clearly organized in a way were the first part was normal dialogue in white, then the color combination listings in a list format, and then more dialogue. Johnny then commented on how creepy MP2813 is, and then continued the review, talking about how he doesn’t like the smash melee stages aesthetically (an opinion I disagreed with) while showing footage and screenshots of melee stages that were clearly not from the real life melee, and then I woke up. Moral of the story: if Nintendo finally gives the ice climbers A new game, I would totally be fine with it being a trippy drug/wonderland inspired ice world.

#undertale #deltarune #super smash bros #smash bros #MP2813 #dream #dreams #video games #games #smash melee #super smash bros melee

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mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune · 3 years

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Prisoner Of OTP-Love: Sunset Shimmer x Scourge The Hedgehog

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Credit for My Little Pony goes to Bonnie Zacherle

Credit for My Little Pony Friendship is Magic goes to Lauren Faust

Credit for Sonic The Hedgehog goes to Sega

Credit for Archie Sonic The Hedgehog Comics goes to Archie Comics

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I had to edit this drawing today, because I needed to put my tumblr name on it, as well as edit out Sunset's third arm that wasn't being held by Scourge.

I mean it is possible for some humans to be born with more than two arms, or only being born with one.

and besides that one error I made on this drawing, I also had to edit the ends of Sunset's hair to have some yellow.

I believe that if I remember right,

this was inspired by Shadow Meets Equestria Girls,

it's a crossover and it's on Cryil Smith VA's Youtube Channel,

their channel and works is one of many Youtubers,

I want to be protected from the video/episode stealing shisno.

I really REALLY can not stand those toxic-youtubers,

you do NOT re-upload a episode of Helluva Boss on your channel,

to share it, if your gonna share it, put it in a link to someone.

I’m still not okay with finding out what that youtuber today.

and there is a reason why I put Redacted instead of their real youtube name.

when I was first looking up Helluva Boss, it was to see if episode 6 was out yet, but then I found that there was another episode stealing jerk.

if a youtuber is gonna re-upload a video from another youtuber,

it should only be if the original is off of youtube.

it’s because of most toxic-youtubers, that half of other youtubers

who don’t know where the original videos come from

and don’t bother checking the description below more carefully,

that the original ones end up getting false reported,

and if I had to guess, if you don’t inform that you have a youtube amv you made and uploaded on both youtube and at another video sharing site, and a person sees it over at the other place first

and then see it on youtube, it is possible they will not think they are the same person and will falsely report the video.

that might of been the reason for what happen to one of

the Undertale Amvs. either the person who false reported saw the sub version of it by a person who got permission, or they saw it on another video sharing site and then didn’t bother to ask before jumping the gun.

later I am gonna write about how the Toxic-Youtubers

need to be stop, because of their taking episodes or amv and gmvs

without permission of the other youtubers that end up the victims.

right now I’m just going to post some drawings up on here.

I don’t think Sunset will end up in Shadow Meets Equestria Girls,

at least not to my knowledge.

too bad she couldn’t stop Discord, Celestia and Luna

from turning Cozy Glow, Tirek and Chrysalis to a stone statue.

could of used the Element of Empathy during that battle.

I still love the last episodes and all the other episodes of MLPFIM.

but if characters like Discord, Celestia, Luna, Star Butterfly, Scrooge McDuck (from the ducktales reboot) , Pink “Rose” Diamond,

and Mr Death’s girlfriend Miss Life from Adventure Time series

(worst Mom Ever of all time.)

do a Anti-Hero move, and end up hurting others who for what they believe is the fully the right thing to do.

no matter if Discord had turned Cozy bad or not,

it is possible that the reason why she was trying to get rid of the magic,

was because of how Unicorns (even if it’s not all Unicorns)

treat Earth-Ponies and Pegasus as second class citizens.

the only ponies that seem to higher in rank than Unicorns,

would be Alicorns.

in theory, the Bat-Ponies might be treated third class citizens,

seeing as no filly or colt or equine of the bat-ponies

have ever made much appearances or went to Twilight’s school of friendship.

let’s turn to the Buffalo in MLPFIM,

we know that the earth-ponies took over their lands and planted apple trees.

but it is possible that the Buffalo weren’t the only ones who lived in the land that would then become Equestria II.

before they were driven out, Tirek’s family ruled the land that would then become the new equestria.

and the three wendigos are possibly from the Equestria I,

before Equestria II was founded.

I believe that the wendigos are the spirits of the original sirens

that Stygian met and when he went to get help,

the three original sirens end up tricking three little filly sisters

those being Adagio Dazzle (the eldest sister) Aria Blaze (the middle sister), Sonata Dusk (the youngest sister)

the siren gems end up bonding to the three young fillies,

and transforming them to sirens, while the originals

become the wendigos.

wendigos go after ponies with negative energy/magic,

the dazzling’s use to do the same until their power was taken away,

but it returned to them when they re-learned how to sing,

and it appears their powers might of changed a bit.

find the magic is one of my favorite songs that is sung by the dazzlings.

when the three of those sisters

(and yes they are really sisters in canon)

were tricked by the original sirens who then became wendigos,

Stygian did not see this and because of him and Starswirl and the others, innocent fillies that were overcome by the power that was given to them by the wendigos, were banished from equestria I.

over time the Wendigos frozen the land beyond healing,

and all ponies moved to another land, taking it over,

and driving it’s original ruling family and half of their people

to a new place, possibly underground.

the only ones that were left, was the native animals

such as the bugbear, chimera, cockatrice and other monster type animals.

the animals that weren’t originally from the land that would become Equestria II, were brought from Equestria I by the ponies.

the other natives of Equestria II besides Tirek and maybe even the changelings,

would be the Buffalo.

before earth-ponies became crystal ponies,

they took the original Queen Changelings Crystal Empire,

this was long before they become what they look like when we are first introduce them, in theory, I think they look like their reform selves

but possibly in Crystal form.

I wont force other fans to believe that theory,

but I see it as headcanon.

the earth-ponies that would become crystal ponies,

were welcome into the crystal changelings home,

but then were exiled by them and without the crystal heart,

they slowly became corrupt and starve.

over time the earth-ponies that took over their rightful home

became the Crystal Ponies, maybe by Princess Amore’s Grandmother.

I guess it could be possible that Amore didn’t know how the Crystal Ponies and her grandmother had founded the Crystal Empire,

not knowing it was the original home of the changelings,

and without the power of the crystal heart to share their love that would then in return feed them, they would slowly become the changelings that we end up introduce to.

I also have a theory that Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie

and Rainbow Dash from the human world, might really be the original ponies from Equestria, from the first season of when Nightmare Moon returns.

like what if when any pony finds out the truth about the history of Equestria, they were taken to that magic pool, cloned

and then banished to another portal to the human world

or the mirror to the human world was open by Alicorn Magic.

the only one who possibly didn’t have a human counterpart,

was Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer, well they might have in the fanon.

but we know that most of the humans we see in the human counterpart world, aren’t seen in Equestria.

what if Trixie from the human world, was really the original Trixie

who had used the Alicorn Amulet and after everything seem to work out in the end, Trixie was taken by Celestia to the magic pool,

cloned and then the real Trixie was banished to the human world.

even if most of the humans from the human world,

would be originally born humans, most of the humans could turn out to be ponies who were banished by at first Starswirl and then later Celestia.

at some point Celestia stop that kind of banishment,

and started to turn ponies into stone instead.

I think that half of the pony statues we see along with Discord,

were real ponies once, who perhaps were the original elements of harmony along with Celestia and Luna.

but they were betrayed by Celestia,

and when Luna found out the truth of what happen to their friends,

it gave her the final push (besides the other being jealous that their subjects seem to love Celestia more than her.)

to give in to the negative side of Alicorn Magic,

and transform into her dark half.....which is Nightmare Moon.

the Statue Pony that looks like they are holding a stroll,

might be the element of inspiration.

the book of the elements of harmony, was perhaps rewritten,

to hide the fact there was more than just six elements.

to hide this truth, Celestia took the elements that she and her sister could not use, and destroyed them and threw their shards into the human world, where they would end up in a cave

and then grow into a new tree of harmony for the human world,

and later their power will be given to Sunset and her friends.

Rarity was original suppose to be the element of inspiration,

but because of the word might not be understood,

it was changed to generosity.

it is easy to explain the element of inspiration,

it’s like you get a idea that inspires you, like drawing a fan art

or writing a fan fic or writing a story or drawing that doesn’t have to do with fan art or fan fic and or if you write a song or poem.

that is what is the true element of inspiration is like.

Trixie being the element of forgiveness in Princess Trixie Sparkle,

is awesome.

in theory if she ends up meeting Starlight in that fan series,

I think they would still end up becoming friends because of the bond they shared in the canon.

if my theory ended up being true, and not just a fan theory.

if the shards of the lost elements of harmony were destroyed by Celestia, then thrown into the human world and ended up in a cave,

and then grew into a new element of harmony tree, or what appears like a broken tree crystal rock thing.

then those broken shards would have some of the original powers of the elements that are still in equestria, in them which would grow each of all the elements, first the ones that are needed by Sunset and her friends, then when the time comes the lost elements would grow from that crystal rock tree stump.

one of those who might be the ones who represent the lost elements of harmony.

might be Trixie, Moondancer, Starlight Glimmer, Wallflower Blush,

Juniper Montage, Maud Pie, Vinyl Scratch possibly.

those who are the Neo-Elements of Harmony,

would have to be Smolder, Yona, Gallus, Sandbar, Ocellus

and Silverstream.

and if Cozy ended up forming a friendship and deep bond with those six.....she might of became someone who represented the element of empathy.

and those who represent the lost elements of harmony

might be Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara,

Silver Spoon and Silverstream’s brother.

there is always the comic series of MLPFIM,

and maybe Cozy, Tirek and Chrysalis

will be given freedom in the comic series...maybe, I don’t know.

anyway I hope some of you like this drawing that has a ship

of Nicolette x Fiona and Scourge x Sunset.

even if this was partly inspired by Shadow Meets Equestria Girls,

it is still possible that Sunset might not end up in that fan series.

but it be nice if she was, and Scourge fell in love with her.

if anyone can reform Scourge and understand why he became the way he did, it would be Sunset Shimmer.

in this drawing Scourge captures Sunset, that is why he is the only one smiling and she is not too happy,

but it also hints that they will fall in love.

and it is Scourge and Sunset’s love and bonding with each other,

will help Scourge reform, he will still be himself,

but be a bit different too.

well that is how I view it anyway.

#scourge the hedgehog #sunset shimmer #scourge x sunset shimmer #nicolette x fiona fox #crossover ship #one true pairing #archie sonic #my little pony friendship is magic #equestria girls #captured

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ma-lark-ey · 4 years

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Hi!! I've seen other people make posts about why they love TAZ,,and I figured I should add my two cents. I also just wanted to share this experience somewhere. (Spoilers for Balance and Amnesty!!)

For a bit of background; in December/early January, I got dropped by some of my closest friends. I'd already been doing bad mentally for the last few months, and that sent me into a complete spiral.

I was quarantined, couldn't see my friends, couldn't leave the house, couldn't make any attempt at things that used to make me happy. I was (quite frankly) at my lowest point. I'd heard rumors of the Adventure Zone for years, and even seen content of it on my socials.

In mid May, I said fuck it and listened to episode one. MBMBAM (as good as it is) wasn't my cup of tea in podcasts, I needed something with plot. I knew the McElroys were a genre of entertainment I could get behind, but I needed plot to get invested.

TAZ Episode 3 was when I really became hooked. Magnus latched onto my heart, and Griffin's voice brought me a comfort I'd long forgotten.

Its important to note at this point in my life, I hadn't picked up a pencil to write or draw in almost six months.

I was honestly inspired to watch after a cosplayer I really admire began to cosplay Lup! I loved the personality I saw in her videos and photos of Lup, and I wanted to know more about her.

I listened to Here There Be Gerblins, and it made me smile. I listened to RockPort Limited, and I remember cleaning up my dresser and folding clothes when I found out Jenkins was the killer. I listened to Petals to the Metal, and I remember standing in my living room laughing during the whole Trent scene. I listened to Crystal Kingdom, I remembered standing in my yard in shock when Mangus sliced Merle's arm. I listened to Eleventh Hour, I remembered sitting in my chair and crying during the flashback and throwing my stuffed animal in rage at the Taako flashbacks. I remembered listening the Lunar Interlude where Lup carved her name in the wall and screaming joy at the introduction of the character who inspired to check this amazing show out. I remember playing Minecraft while listening to the Stolen Century (I was building a Ravenloft in my world!)

My favorite memory from listening to it though, was the scene Lup finally entered. I'd been listening to this podcast nonstop since I started. I remember listening to that scene and just *crying,* i remember clutching at my heart when her death was described because I'd fallen absolutely in love with her during Stolen Century.

I remember listening to Magnus' death scene while sitting at my kitchen table. My mom asked me why I was crying. "MAGNUS GOT HIS DOG!" Was all I could compute, she had no idea what I meant.

After i finished Balance, I started drawing again. It was simple, at first. Just a headshot of Lup with my favorite quote from her. But it was a start! I picked up my materials for the first time in months.

Then I started Amnesty. In minutes I was absolutely smitten. It was like Aubrey personally grabbed my hand and told me I was gonna be better soon. I latched onto Aubrey just like I did Magnus (Travis has always been my personal favorite brother.) I remember feeling guilty for skipping the last half of Commitment, but given my religion trauma that I was still processing at the time, I knew I needed to just role right along into Amnesty for my own sake.

My fondest memory of Amnesty was sitting in the car during a road trip and scribbling down things on my sketchbook.

Another prominent one was when Ned revealed to Aubrey he was the burglar. I fell to my knees when he said the sentence, and no I'm not being dramatic. I was cleaning up my room, and i collapsed onto the floor and laid in a fetal during the whole scene, ugly crying. I love all of the Amnesty characters, its my personal favorite campaign, and Ned and Aubrey meant everything to me. That scene *destroyed* me. I also remembered crying on my road trip when Ned was killed. I'd never felt so much emotion from a piece of media before.

After that I actually digested all of Balance. And the one character who's stuck out to me is Taako. And I know he's a cliche character to latch onto. But, its not his personality or his appearance or whatever that makes me love him. It was his back story. When I found Balance, I was working throufh the betrayal and loss of my fourth set of friends. I'm the kind of person who takes in people I know are toxic in hopes of helping them. And Taako was the perfect mix of myself, and the people I found myself befriending.

His history with Sazed hit close to home, in the betrayal aspect. And his betrayal by Lucretia. I understood his heart felt in those moments, and I latched onto him. I thought, "You understand how I feel right now." And I've *never* drawn so much in my life.

In just three days I made two whole pages of sketches, in just the last three weeks I've done ten pages of my brand new sketchvook (averaging it to 4-5 full drawings a page). I hadn't picked up a pen in months, and now I couldn't Put one down.

There was one night a couple days ago where I just sat in bed, grinning and crying while I looked at all the art I had accomplished, the countless pieces of writing I'd presented to my friends proudly. I rejoined roleplay groups, which I had also dropped after my mental health dropped. I came out to my IRLs as nonbinary!

The characters the McElroys created have given me this... This inspiration I've never felt before. I've hyperfixated on things before (like Undertale! That was my biggest.) But, no piece of media has ever made me feel like a character reached out of my screen and grabbed onto me.

I remember Istus telling the Gang the iconic line of "You're going to be amazing" and to me, it felt like Taako and Magnus just reached out of my phone and gave me a bear hug. Hell, just a few days I translated that feeling into a sketch.

I just bought the graphic novels, and have orders merchandize. I've *never* gotten into something, and had merchandize for it three weeks later. I've never loved something so much I sent my friends literally novellas of just me recounting my favorite scenes to them.

The Adventure Zone has literally brought the most joy into my life I could ever ask for out of media, its helped me in so many ways.

These stupid little DnD campaigns mean the absolute world to me, and I could never be happier that I found them when I did.

So, if you've read this far, there's one last thing I wanna say; even if you feel like you're at literal rock bottom, like you could end it all tomorrow and no one would care. That not even your greatest passionate with bring you joy, youll find something or someone that will pull you out of that point so fast it makes your head spin. In the emphamis words of "Zeke Owens" (Griffin) "One day, youre gonna laugh at a joke. You'll go swimming, and you'll smile in the sunlight. You're gonna pet yourself a good dog and its gonna feel amazing."

#the adventure zone balance #the adventure zone graduation #the adventure zone #the adventure zone amnesty #taz balance #taz grad #taz graduation #I doubt anyone's actually gonna read this long ass post #but I hope it helps someone

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evilweasel24 · 6 years

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I was tagged by @fionauna! I love these get to know you things so feel free to tag me or my bird blog @mind-if-i-scream. (sorry this took so long)

Rules(or guidances):

1. Post the rules

2. Answer the questions given to you by the tagger

3. Write 11 questions of your own

4. And tag 11 people

1. Share a memory that makes you happy! #PositiveMentalAttitude

I got a few memories that make me happy. One was the last time I was in a marching band show for high school. It was the last time I was every going to play in my favorite stadium, its in Allentown PA and I weirdly love how the sound bounces around in it. I did marching band for 4 years and kept me going when I was in high school. I hated the show but the first and last time you step off on the field isn’t something you forget. Another memory was when I wore my Big Sister cosplay for the first time at Katsucon. She was my second ‘big cosplay’ I made and I made her in under two weeks. I had a ton of pics taken of me in her and was invited to a photo shoot too. That costume is what kept me interested in cosplaying and prop making. Both of these memories keep me inspired when my health problems start beating me up and I feel like I want to quit. It reminds me that I’m a damn good musician and one hell of a cosplayer.

2. What is something that you’ve always wanted to do, but haven’t done yet?

I REALLY want to hike the Appalachian Trail. I’ve done parts of it when I was in the boy scouts and I really want to hike more. Being hurt/sick is kinda putting a hold on it and I need friends who want to go with me. If I get to do it I’ll probably do in it small chunks so it’d be easier.

3. What is a song you listen to when you need motivation?

I like listening to the Undertale and Cuphead OST when ever I’m down. Undertale has good combo of sweet happy music and fun boss fight music and doesn’t have any big drops in tempo or volume which keeps my flow going since I don’t need to adjust my internal tempo. I play jazz and Cuphead is full of fun jazz pieces.

4. What made you decide to join Tumblr?

Friends are into it and I wanted more memes and art. Not really a fandom person since I lack the time and energy to keep up with it, but I do have a bird blog and enjoy talking to people about mine and their birds and offering advise if I think I can help.

5. Windows, or Mac? ;)

Windows, never had a Mac and I don’t really do anything that I would need one.

6. What was your favourite book as a child?

I was a bad child who hated to read so I really don’t have one. I loved the art style of Eric Carle so I read those books when I was really little but mostly just to look at the drawings.

7. Who inspires you?

No one really, I never had a role model growing up and still never really look up to anyone. I’m mostly fueled on anger and spite that I gain from people telling me ‘I can’t do the thing’ more then encouragement from people telling me I can.

8. Tell us a weird fact about yourself!

My whole existence is a weird fact. I currently have three tick born diseases, I own 7 clarinets some I think are cursed and 3 are over 100 years old, and I built a Big Sister/deep sea diver helmet in under a week.

9. What is your favourite animal?

I like birds, a lot. I own 12 right now and run a blog about birds. Favorite bird would be a 3 way tie between a potoo, cassowary, and a cock-of-the-rock, cuz they’re really cool looking and I would love to see them one day.

10. Something you couldn’t live without?

Excluding anyone or anything living, I would probably say art. My art keeps me grounded and helps me moving forward in life. Without art I wouldn’t have some of the friends I have today and also I’d be out of a job and a major in college.

11. If you could live in any fictional universe, would you, and if so, which one would it be?

I like most D&D/Elder Scrolls/high fantasy types of worlds so probably something like that. I love playing high fantasy table top games, video games, and I go LARPing whenever I can but I don’t think I could physically make it in that world cuz of my health problems. But if I was in one of the worlds I would want to see a dragon and possibly give it a high five.

I’m gona steal 2 of your questions.

1. Tell us a weird fact about yourself!

2. If you could live in any fictional universe, would you, and if so, which one would it be?

3. If you can meet anyone famous who would it be and why?

4. Favorite flower?

5. Do you have any pets?

6. Craziest adventure you’ve ever been on?

7. Do you still have any of your toys from when you were a kid and, if yes, what’s their names?

8. Last movie you saw and did you like it?

9. Favorite mythical creature?

10. Favorite snack?

11. Have you’ve ever been to the beach?

I’m gona tag @dogdemonsrock5 @would-bird-again @hunterkat @avian-sanctuary @juststandingthere-menacingly @pom-seedss @violetcheekedconure @tiels @inkybirds @stupid-bird-adventures @myfeatheredflock

#tag game #get to know me #long post

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glapplebloom · 6 years

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I expected DBX Season 2 to be done by now, but to my surprise its still going on. So for fun, I decided to share with you 10 Death Battles I hope we do.

For starters, obvious ones like Darkseid Vs Thanos, Galactus Vs Unicron, matches like those are off the table. Obviously everyone wants them but my list here will be matches you probably never heard of one or both competitors.

The Angry Video Game Nerd Vs “Captain N” Kevin Keene

Both are masters at video games. While one lives out their dreams of being in their favorite video games, the other lives a nightmare having to play the worse games out there. One see only positive things while the others see the negatives. And both have a relationship with The Adventures of Bayou Billy. I honestly like this idea more than Nerd Vs Critic since, well, we’ve seen Nerd Vs Critic before. And nothing will top their final battle.

“Captain S” Chad Belmont Vs “Captain SNES” Alex Williams

The Console Wars continues as the Champions of the Genesis (Mega Drive) and the SNES (Super Famicon) battle it out to determine which system was the best. Captain S is a combination of Captain N with Save by the Bell that had 10 Episodes, a crossover with the Nerd, and a continuation in comic format. Captain SNES is a Sprite Comic continuation of Captain N, taking it in directions the original never did. Considering one is crude while the other was shocked to hear such a colorful word, it would be a fun fight to see.

Red Vs Henry Stickmin

Spoiler, but next week will include a top 10 of inspired Death Battles and one of them is of this match. Red is frikkin insane when it comes to what he is capable of while Henry has done some impressive things 1/4 of the time and hilarious things the rest. This just was a fun one to see those people do and one I think would be fun to see done by Death Battle legit.

Sans Vs Kid Radd

Some of the matches I’ve seen done with Sans really makes me question how they think of things. But ultimately, Sans is a person who just so happens to know how his game mechanics work and knows how to make it work for him. So the best person I think would do the job is someone who also has to work within his game mechanics. And there is a lot of interesting questions Kid Radd brought up that Undertale also addresses.

John Kramer Vs Fred Jones

Both are people who are obsessed with traps for the greater good. While one creates traps to teach people a lesson, the other creates traps to capture those who do crimes. This idea was inspired by a Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated episode known as “Escape from Mystery Manor” where Fred and the gang are placed in Saw like traps.

Revolver Ocelot Vs Rushuna Tendō

Metal Gear is one of the few franchises in Death Battle that has appeared in more than one match but never defeated. Even considering DBX, Metal Gear has yet to face a defeat. Rushuna is basically, as a reviewer has said, “Vash the Stampede with Boobs”. With how far-fetched MG has gotten, might as well pit them against an Anime Character and see if they can push their luck.

Space Dandy Vs Star Lord

With the movie version of Guardians of the Galaxy, personality wise these two are pretty close. But if you haven’t seen what these two can do you’ll have your mind blown with some of the stuff they were involved in. And honestly, with their personalities in mind this would be a fun match when it comes to dialogue.

Spike Spiegel Vs Revy

The most serious match when it comes to research and story. These two are impressive gunmen for their respected series. Seeing these two go in a gunfight would be brilliant to see.

Lucy Vs Shiro

From most serious when it comes one thing to a more serious match up when it comes to content. Two sweet innocent girls that hide underneath something horrifying. This would be the most bloody Death Battle of them all as even the research part will contain more blood than even the bloodiest of Death Battles.

Toejam Vs PaRappa the Rapper

To end this list is the longest of long shots. A Death Battle request I doubt will be exactly how I want it. It would be a researched battle between these two rapping entities. But before the fight begins, it turns into a crossover with Epic Rap Battles of History as the two rap it out. The loser gets shot by Boomstick as we find out why the winner would win. That is how I would love this battle to go if it ever does happen, which I doubt.

#mod post #other

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writingsofawanderingwonderer · 7 years

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Game Postmortem: The Heart of Tales

Hello, and welcome to the Behind the Scenes article for my game, The Heart of Tales.

Quick intro here. This will contain spoilers for the game.

I've sorted this article into different parts: WRITING, ART, MUSIC, and the POST MORTEM. Each of those parts has different sections, and so on. You can skip ahead to the sections you want to read about.

Also, I'll refer to the player character by her default name, Hiro.

I tried to keep everything short, but it ended up being this long.

Now with that out of the way, let's begin.

=====WRITING=====

Inspiration: From Baldur's Gate to Tolkien

The Heart of Tales is inspired by various RPG games with medieval fantasy settings. Worlds where swords can talk, and you can take mysterious items to a shopkeeper to identify them. I decided to make The Heart of Tales follow similar "rules" to RPGs than to, say, medieval Fantasy television series. Because of that, The Heart of Tales is more eclectic in its nature (pulling from Greek Mythology, Arabic folklore, etc.--like many Dungeons & Dragon games) than historic or purely medieval European.

Some notable inspirations include the games Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Undertale. I was also inspired by Tolkien's novels and the German folklore surrounding the jester/trickster character, Till Eulenspiegel.

Icewind Dale

In Icewind Dale, there's a scene near the climax of the game where the main villain gives a big speech of how powerful they are. Like in The Heart of Tales, the player character in Icewind Dale has the option to reply to the whole speech with, "Woah."

Undertale

Undertale inspired the idea to let the player choose whether or not Hiro goes back to adventuring or stays retired by the end of the story. To me, it was important that the player was happy with Hiro's choice, so I didn't want to make the choice for the player.

Princess Maker 2

The line in the game where Hiro is rumoured to have been "born from the sky" is a reference to Princess Maker 2,

12 Kingdoms

The idea of a world or continent being divided by 12 kingdoms is a common trope in fantasy stories. In The Heart of Tales, I pictured that the continent is made up of 12 kingdoms, and the closer you are to the 1st kingdom, the more rich and upper-class the inhabitants are. The 12th kingdom would be the poorest.

Jester Till

I like bards. Bards are one of, if not my favourite, class in Dungeons & Dragons games. Neverwinter Nights used them to a good effect (meaning they have a balanced character build), but many other games overlook and/or don't include the bard class.

Till Eulenspiegel is a character who brings bards and jesters into the forefront of storytelling, by making the main character a jester.

Route Designs

I learned from Three Guys That Paint that having three love interests complicates things compared to two love interests. If you give the player three "A or B" choices, then the possible results can be three points to A or B, or two points to A or B. But adding a third love interest creates a programming problem: What if the player gives one point to each possible love interest? Then the game doesn't know what to do! And adding a fourth choice would add further problems.

That's the problem I had when I added Sareth's route.

I fixed this by making Sareth's route unlockable. The player had to pick New Game+ and that transports them to the "gift" choice, skipping the first choice. So instead of three choices, the player gets two. To add difficulty for the player, if they give one point to Sareth's route and one to Mithamoore or Cole, they fall into Mithamoore of Cole's route instead of Sareth's.

Making Sareth's route unlockable also implies that Aemza gets stronger and stronger with each playthrough, which is why he gains the ability to possess Hiro in Sareth's route.

Writing Process

The writing process was very similar to how I wrote Three Guys That Paint and Must Love Jaws. I started with a plot summary of the whole story. I separated the plot summary into scenes, and then I expanded each scene's summary into dialogue and narration. There were about 20 scenes total, and I wrote each scene in chronological order.

Then I took it all into Ren'Py and added coding like sprite movements and sound effects.

Theme: The Art of Violence?

Even though I've never been able to play any of his games (due to platform issues), I admire that Yoko Taro as a creator who makes video games that use the medium to help tell the story, such as giving plot explanations for the player character's ability to save and reload. The game mechanics have an in-universe explanation and the characters have an awareness of it.

In a video interview, he says the following (though note that this is an English translation), "[While working on the original Drakengard,] I thought about the meaning of "killing." I was looking at a lot of games back then, and I saw messages like "You've defeated 100 enemies!" or "Eradicated 100 enemy soldiers!" in an almost gloating manner. But when I thought about it in an extremely calm state of mind, it hit me that gloating about killing a hundred people is strange. I mean, you're a serial killer if you killed a hundred people. It just struck me as insane. [...] You don't have to be insane to kill someone, you just have to think you're right."

Anemza: Writing "True Villains"

I've also been noticing this change in storytelling, particularly in Western animation: More and more stories are having villains who are either:

a) Misunderstood and not really villains underneath, requiring the hero to "defeat" them through non-violent means. The hero instead has to show empathy and defuse tension when they face the antagonist (examples: Moana, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Steven Universe),

Or b) The villain turns out to be a character who was originally displayed as "nice" or "meek" and was thus overlooked by the hero (recent examples include Zootopia, Frozen, Wonder Woman).

At first, I was really frustrated with this; I missed "true villains" from the Renaissance Era of Disney and I didn't know what to make of this new trend with antagonists. I missed villains who had a lot of build-up and screen time. I missed villains like Megabyte (Reboot) that had a grand sense of presence. But then I realized why this change was occurring: It's important to teach people, especially young children, the importance of not just being brave and standing up for yourself. It's also important to teach them the importance of knowing that you can defuse confrontations in pacifist manner.

So even though I gave the game a "true villain" I also gave the message that for every act of violence, there's a consequence.

He's defeated because he couldn't have been changed: A person has to want to change in order to change.

Body Count: Is Hiro a One-Woman Army?

Hiro tells Cole that she's killed at least 447 beings before she "lost count."

To put this into perspective: The average kill count for the RPG D&D game Baldur's Gate is said to be around 1,500 for its full campaign. In that game, you are usually playing as a party of six characters.

Theme: Faith

I was very concerned about getting the romance routes in this game right because I think the romantic elements in my earlier game Three Guys That Paint were one of its weakest points.

So I realized that I had to focus on a specific aspect of relationships. For this game, I focused on the idea of faith in your partner.

Relationships are about sacrifice. It's about changing the idea of "me" into "we." It isn't just about liking what your lover is like. It's also about liking what you're like when you're with that person. Some partners bring out a certain strength in their partner.

The Meaning of 0451

0451 is a "Easter Egg" number used in a variety of games. Originally created as a reference to Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, the number is generally used to state that the developers of the game in question (usually an immersive sim like Bioshock, System Shock, and Thief) has themes of an ideology going wrong. For more information on this number's history and significance, I recommend checking out Errant's Signal's video essay on the topic.

One of the themes in The Heart of Tales is the idea that the main character is suffering from being put on a pedestal--and an ideology--that she no longer believes in. She is 0451. That's why during the climax of the game in Sareth's route, she says, "I am nothing. I am the fourth. The fifth. And lastly, I'm the first..." (Which translates to: "Nothing/Fourth/Fifth/First" = 0451). I mean, a lot of games in general are about a fantasy world going wrong, but I still thought it was an intriguing reference. An ideology crumbling.

Rejecting "Kindness Coins"

"Kindness coins" is a term used in visual novel development that refers to the "points system" often used in romance VNs. The player makes choices to unlock a romanceable character. The more choices they make to please the love interest they're pursuing, the more likely they'll unlock that route.

The term is not thought of highly and is generally used in a negative context: The implication is that, so long as the player acts nicely to the love interest and says what the love interest wants to hear (rather than being honest or properly roleplaying as the player character), the player will "earn" a romance with the love interest.

Which is a rather odd design mechanic, since in real life, being nice to someone to get something from them is not true kindness. And romantic partners in real life are often opposites who don't agree on some things.

In The Heart of Tales, Anemza tries to call out Hiro on her choices, saying that a few simple choices lead to the various routes she walked down. And if Hiro fights a possessed Cole or Mithamoore, they also accuse her of manipulating them. The game raises the idea of "kindness coins are bad"... only to reject it. Because Hiro ultimately defeats Anemza and wins the heart of her love interest, with little to no consequences.

This is because I find the idea that "using kindness coins makes the player a manipulator" is untrue, and that punishing a player for playing a romance game is rather... a bit much.*

It's because I find it similar to the idea that violent video games leads to violent people (which I think is utter tommyrot). People who kill in video games are not killers. They are actors reenacting a play. They are roleplaying. You may as well punish an actor for playing a villain.

The player in The Heart of Tales may be making choices to get a certain outcome (or they may not), but at the end of the day, they are still playing Hiro. And Hiro is the one who falls in love.

* (Footnote: There's only a few games I've seen that have managed to pull off this idea of punishing the player for their well-intentioned choices. And it's usually for playing the game a certain way, rather than playing the game at all.)

Hiro: The Difference Between a Grump and a Jerk

I tried to make sure that players liked Hiro, despite her wanting to turn away Mithamoore and Cole, as well as deceiving to them to try and get rid of them.

To me, there's a huge difference between being a grump and being a jerk. Hiro is written as the former, which I think makes her empathetic to players.

I don't like writing jerk-type characters, so that helped.

Mithamoore: Making a Likeable "Bad Boy"

A great irony with The Heart of Tales is that my last completed game, [redacted] Life, pokes fun at character archetypes found in otome games, including the "bad boy" archetype. Yet in The Heart of Tales, the tropes are played straight, rather than deconstructed.

I wanted to make Mithamoore intense yet likeable. It was a challenging balance to make (after all, he does begin the game wanting to kill Hiro). I think what helped was showing his vulnerability. He's unused to being human, and unused to reacting to feelings of romantic love.

I also had each love interest introduced one by one. I wanted Mithamoore to be introduced before Cole because Mithamoore is more aggressive and therefore would probably be harder to like. That was my theory at the time, but I've discovered that Mithamoore ended up being one of the more-popular routes.

Cole: Putting Heroes on a Pedestal and Hero Worship

Cole's character was influenced by the character Leo from Scrapped Princess, one of the first anime series I ever watched. Leo is a knight errant who struggles with the meaning of chivalry, as he gets torn between his duty as a knight and wanting to protect the main character, who is a princess wanted dead by the kingdom to prevent a dark prophesy from fulfilling.

When I was writing Cole, I wanted his character arc to be about overcoming his hero worship of Hiro. He's placed her on this pedestal that she can't possibly measure up to, and he has to learn to accept that and love her for who she really is.

Cole as a Fighter

Cole constantly quoting from the Knight Errant's Mantra was inspired by the character Double H from Beyond Good & Evil, who often quoted a fictional manual called Carlson and Peters.

His maneuver and defence names, Durer's Defence and Wallerstein's Codex, are references to famed engraver Albrecht Dürer (of the German Renaissance, who made many illustrations on sword fighting techniques) and the Codex Wallerstein (a compilation of three 15th-century combat manual manuscripts). Some illustrations from both can be seen here.

Cole as a Cook

I liked how I made Cole a good cook and made Hiro bad at cooking. In terms of gender roles, the stereotype is usually the opposite. Clinging to stereotypes just doesn't feel as believable to me.

"He Didn't Actually Blush"

I made sure that the characters never blush at any point in the story. Falling back to blushing as a way of showing romance is a big pet peeve among writers. I'm okay with others using it in moderation, but I decided to not use it myself.

Sareth: The Final Piece

Originally, Sareth wasn't a love interest. But after I started posting work in progress information on Twitter and Lemmasoft, several people lamented that they wouldn't be able to date the talking sword.

And the more I wrote the story, the more I thought about Sareth becoming a love interest. And the more it made sense. I slowly went from, "I'd be crazy to write this," to, "I'd be crazy not to write this."

So basically, I blame all of you for Sareth's route. ;)

Inspiration Behind Sareth

The biggest inspiration behind Sareth is Enseric the Longsword from Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark. Neverwinter Nights was the first RPG I ever played, and it's one of the reasons why I love RPG games.

Enserric was a weapon you obtained during an early section of the game (a dungeon created by a mad wizard). Enserric is a talking sword, is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, and had an entire, elaborate backstory (he was originally a mage who got his soul trapped within the sword and left for dead by his fleeing companions). I've also heard rumors that a side-quest was cut from the final game, which involved finding a body for Enserric before his consciousness completely disappeared within the sword.

Like Sareth, Enseric could taste the blood of the enemies he fought, and had a very inflated opinion of himself.

Anemza's Plans

Anemza explaining his plans on what he was going to do to Hiro (before he decided on his final plan) were actually some of the ideas I had before deciding on the idea I went with.

The Shopkeeper is Based on a Real Person

The ambiguously-gendered, mysterious shopkeeper is loosely based off of Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan scholar who widely travelled the medieval world, including Africa, the Middle East, India, Central and Southeast Asia, and China. He has been described by author John Green as "probably the most well-travelled person before the invention of the steam engine." During the twilight of his life, he wrote an account of his journey, referred to as The Travels, which provides a picture of medieval civilization that is still widely consulted today.

[images: Ibn Battuta and the shopkeeper sprite]

What's in a Name?

I actually came up with Cole and Mithamoore's names pretty late. While I was writing the game, I labelled them as Knight and Dragon.

Hiro's Name

Hiro as in hero, get it? Ha... heh... (sheepishly grins)

The following events happen if you try to name the player character these names:

Choosing nothing, or choosing Hiro/Hero:

"Her name was Hiro. And that should have been the very first clue. [name]."

Naming her Mithamoore: "Her name was Mithril. Named after the beautiful metal used for the armour of heroes."

Mason: "Her name was Morgan. Named after the beautiful gemstone from the darkest caves."

Cole/Caldwell: "Her name was Nicole. The name that stood for 'victorious people.'"

Sareth/Sword/Claymore: "Her name was Sara. It meant 'princess.'"

Anemza: (The music suddenly stops.) Anemza's dialogue goes: "I AM THE DEMON THAT COMES WHEN YOU CALL MY NAME." (The game proceeds to automatically quit.)

Shopkeeper: "Her name was Shoppy. A name that evoked merchants and traders."

Jester/Till/Bard: "Her name was Tilli. Named after the famous jester, Till."

Adventurer: "Her name was Farryn. It meant 'adventurous child.'"

Villager: "Her name was Mariko. It meant 'true village child.'"

Poop/Sh*t: "Her name was Showell. It meant 'to shovel.'"

Anti-swearing feature. If you type in some swear words: "Her name was Liliha. It meant 'to angrily disregard.'"

Dave/Davette/Ogu Pigu/OguPigu: "Her name was Davette."

Mithamoore's Name

I looked at Skyrim dragon names to help come up with a dragon name. I wanted something long yet easy for me to remember. ^^;

The idea of giving him the title of Mithamoore the Earthburner was inspired by The Hobbit's Smaug and his various titles.

Cole's Name

Cole's name was probably from Cole Phelps from the game LA Noire, where Phelps is a very straight-laced, follow the rules-type young detective. I wanted to invoke that feeling.

Anemza's Name

Anemza's name I basically came up with by doing the following:

Start with the name Jasmine.

Remove the first letter: Asmine.

Reverse the remaining letters: Enimsa.

Change some of the letters to other letters that sound phonically similar: E into A, I to E, S to Z: Anemza.

What really settled it was when I realized that Anemza sounds like the word "anemic," which can mean "lacking blood or warmth."

So yeah, Anemza is basically the name Jasmine put through a blender.

=====ART======

Inspiration

The Heart of Tales' overall art style was inspired by games like Princess Maker 2 (detailed illustrations with a pixelated texture), Undertale (giving each background a limited colour palette, and associating home with the colour yellow), and older games like Psychic Detective and Phantasmagoria (using smaller CGs in framed boxes).

Art Process

Preproduction

Before I start production work on any game, I create a folder and fill it with images I've found that give me ideas on what the game should look like. I've only learned recently that this called a "swipe folder."

Then I start drawing sketches on paper, and use those as concept art for the final sprites, backgrounds, CGs, and user interface.

[Image: My paper notes]

Index Painting

I used Dan Fessler's wonderful tutorial on creating pixel art through HD index painting.

Basically, the steps are like so:

1) Paint the artwork in Photoshop like you normally do, but using no colour. Only use shades of grey.

2) Apply a Dither layer on top using the Paint Bucket Tool.

3) Add a Black and white Adjustment layer on top of that.

4) Add a Posterize adjustment layer on top of that.

5) Add a Gradient Map adjustment layer on top of that. Edit it to get the colours you want.

I basically reverse-engineered Dan Fessler's Photoshop file that he provides in the tutorial.

Hiro's Design

I wanted her outfit to imply a bunch of different possible backstories, so I gave her puffy sleeves (bard), a tunic with light-coloured trimming (noblewoman), a tunic (adventurer), and a symbol that resembles the game's mouse (implying that she has her own personal symbol).

Mithamoore's Design

I'm not sure where I got the idea for his outfit. I wanted the outfit Hiro gives him to make him look like he values art, culture, and good craftsmanship.

I think I based his hair on Benedict Cumberbatch playing Sherlock Holmes. Which is ironic, because Cumberbatch also played a dragon in The Hobbit.

Cole's Design

Cole's armour design is loosely based off of Leopold Scorpus from Scrapped Princess.

I made Cole the tallest character and gave him armour that looks a lot bigger than himself. I like the "Popeye-arms" effect it gives him.

Anemza's Design

I wanted Anemza's design to look like a creature from another dimension. I looked up animal and monster designs medieval tapestries and manuscript. There are some really bizarre, amusing, and creative designs, so I gave Anemza the body parts of various animals. I made a conscious decision to make Anemza the only animated character, to make him feel more otherworldly.

I was influenced by Terry Gilliam's Monty Python cut-out animation, as well as the designs of the witches in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and "Omega Flowey" from Undertale.

[images from Monty Python's Flying Circus, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Undertale]

I specifically avoided using rigging and tweening when I animated Anemza, to give him a more stop-motion quality. I animated the body parts frame by frame in Photoshop CS6.

I also programmed Anemza's sprite to "glitch" at randomized intervals, and in different ways.

[Image: Just a few of Anemza’s “glitching” animation frames]

=====MUSIC=====

The OST music was created by the wonderful Noyemi K.

I asked Noyemi to create seven leitmotifs:

1) A romantic theme.

2) A sad theme.

3) A scary theme.

4) Mithamoore's theme.

5) Cole's theme.

6) Anemza's theme.

7) Anemza's hopeful theme.

I gave a description of each of the characters, and I specifically asked for Anemza's "hopeful" theme to be a remix of Anemza's "scary" theme. Noyemi creating a "glitching," stuttering sound effect for Anemza's theme to give the idea the Anemz's mere presence is breaking the game.

=====POST MORTEM=====

What Went Right

The Characters

I'm glad that players were okay with the idea of dating a dragon and a sword. I'm glad people embraced that.

Portraying love

Ever since Three Guys That Paint, I've been skeptic and unsure about whether or not I could write love stories. The romances were the weakest part of Three Guys That Paint in my opinion, so I wondered if I needed to try again, or if writing romance just wasn't going to be one of my strengths. I'm glad that people liked the romances in The Heart of Tales. I think a lot of it comes from the love interests feeling more fleshed out to me here than Arthur and Terri from Three Guys That Paint.

Original Music

Working with Noyemi K was an absolute pleasure. Players commented on how much they liked the original sound track. I plan on working with Noyemi on a future project.

Persistent Data

"Persistent data" is a term I discovered while making [redacted] Life. Persistent data allows a Ren'Py game to remember previous choices a player has made, and keeps that information, even if the player reloads or deletes their previous progress.

Although I didn't use persistent data nearly as much as I did with [redacted] Life, I did use it for some of Anemza's dialogue (he notes that he knows about players' previous playthroughs). Many players commented on how they were impressed by that detail.

What Could Have Been Better

Getting Ideas Last-Minute

The pro to it was that there was less research notes I wrote that I needed to read through.

The con was that I usually like to come up with an idea and mull over it for about a year or more. After that amount of time, I have a better idea of where I want the project to go.

Here, I had to make quick decisions like adding Sareth's romance route and realising the theme of the central game was faith in others. Feeling my way through the story as I was writing was slower.

Coincidence

The Heart of Tales relies on a lot of coincidence (Mithamoore and Cole meeting Hiro on the same night, Hiro's companions finding the goblins, etc.). Avoiding coincidence is something that I'll have to try to avoid in my future games.

What I Learned

Ren'Py's New GUI

This is the first game I've made using Ren'Py's updated user interface design (I've tinkered with it on Eight Sweets, but at the time of publishing this, I haven't finished making that visual novel). It took a while getting used to it (and a lot of question-asking on the Lemmasoft forums!), but I've ended up really liking it. I feel much more confident using it.

The Three Act Structure is Good for Revisions -- Not First Drafts

An age-old question among writers is, "Is using the three act structure useful?" I think I learned during this project that you can't shoehorn the three act structure into your story. You just plot out the thing, and then you look at it and see if it feels complete. Our subconscious is so used to the three acts that your story will have them anyway.

But if you write the first draft of the plot outline and find that the story feel incomplete, you can go back and use the three act structure to find out what the problem is.

Basically, I had to do that for The Heart of Tales because of how fast I came up with the story for the game jam.

Le Morte d'Author/The Death of the Author

I think it's this game that taught me that there's a point at which I have to stop explaining things to the audience through social media. Either a player "got" what I was trying to say, or they did not, and I failed to explain or show things in a clear enough way. Or the player interpreted something in a way I didn't even think of, and I shouldn't take that away from them because they're using their own experience and viewpoints to interpret the game.

I see this as a fun challenge, because I know that the audience is smart. As Pixar's Andrew Stanton said, "Don't give [the audience] four; give them two plus two." I'll still answer questions if they're directed at me, but I also feel more comfortable to say, "It's up to your interpretation."

I also feel more comfortable letting the viewer "do the work" when it comes to interpreting a thing that can be interpreted many different ways. For example, I never give a clear answer to the hero's origin story. Was she a princess? A farm girl? A bard? Did she come from the sky? Every player will have a different answer to that question.

I think Davey Warden's 2015 game, The Beginner's Guide, made me think about this more. The idea that the player's interpretation often says more about themselves then it does about the creator or even the work itself.

Audience interpretation is a form of interaction.

We Don't Create Our Work in a Bubble

I've been thinking a lot about how my work affects people, and how work I see affects me. I learned that what I create is not made in a bubble. My own experiences and viewpoints affect the work. To paraphrase an old saying, every painting is a self-portrait. I feel like I have a kind of responsibility to make sure that my art helps people rather than hurts.

The Heart of Tales involves themes of the consequences of violence, yet the climax involves fighting a demon to save the day. I guess trying to defuse situations through talking only works if the other is willing to listen too? Like Cole and Mithamoore? Anemza is the personification of evil, after all.

It's also made me think about how time-sensitive my current and future work's becoming. If I made The Heart of Tales a year earlier, it would have been written a lot differently than how it's ended up now. And not just because I learn and gain developer's experience over time.

I know a lot of artists who have said that they are struggling with finding value in their art, or have completely come to the conclusion that creating art to change people for the better is a futile effort, but I don't buy that. I don't buy that because artwork that I've seen, made by other people, has changed me. And improved me. Stories have made me think about judging others by their appearance. About what it means to be Good, with a capital G. About what it means to try and follow your dreams. And stories have been doing that ever since I was a child.

Surely I'm not the only one who's been affected by art in that way...

#video games #history #animation #literature #films #series

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mi7002napattabkhan · 5 years

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Visual References

Inspirations

In term of theme and genre, things that inspired me the most are fantasy movies and animated films, mostly from Disney and Dreamworks, also movies like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. I like the world that imaginations could create anything, the story about adventure, magic and mythical creatures always made me excited.

I also love Egyptian mythology, Greek and Roman mythology and fairy tales, their culture and costume also inspired me in term of clothing and designs for fantasy characters.

DnD Character inspiration

When I learned about 3D Animation and how to create visual effects for films, it makes me feel like I want to be part of something great, being part of CGI film for the movie is what I wanted to do the most.

Film / Art / Music

My favourite film of all times is Hugo. It’s a story about the boy who lived in a train station in Paris, 1930′s. The cinematography and costume in this film is my favourite.

Another film that I have fallen in love with their costume and their performance is The Greatest Showman. Some might said that the story is too simple and straight forward, but I really like the music and songs from this film. In term of performance and costume, I think they are great just the way they are.

Animated Films

I have fallen in love with animated film since I was a kid, Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks are my inspiration.

The little mermaid and Beauty and the Beast are my favourite Disney's classic, however, when I have grown up, I tended to like something darker and more mature like The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Hayao Miyasaki’s films also inspired me in term of the meaning behind the story, also the visual of the films are stunning. My favourite Miyasaki’s film of all times is Spirited Away. The first time I watched it was during Middle School, along with my second favourite, Howl’s Moving Castle. The visual and environment's details of Howl’s Moving Castle made me fallen in love since the first time I saw it.

But the movies that inspired me to do 3D Animation are How to Train your Dragons and Tangled. The character designs and visual for both film is so realistic and stunning, but still keep the look of CGI looks, that made their fantasy world really amazing for me.

They both also developed their own software and system, that made it even more amazing to see how far they have come. Moana would be my favourite too in terms of software developing along with the look development of the film.

I also really like anime, but my favourite vision for this year is Violet Evergarden. The story about post-war and how to move on from losing someone important, I would say that it’s really recommended for both visual and storytelling. Mixing 2D character with 3D background for the animation, and the story is really heartwarming.

Game

Being 3D artist is not only working with film but games as well. The more realistic they are, the more player would feel connected to the story. These are games that inspire me for storytelling and visual.

Undertale

Fire Emblem

Bioshock Infinite

Art Styles

- Semi-Realistic Characters / Anime Style Characters - Architectures and Fashions from the Medieval Era and Victorian Era

These are art styles and artists that inspired me.

https://twitter.com/__LM7__

https://www.deviantart.com/kawacy

https://www.facebook.com/KadeartMushroom/

https://twitter.com/nkim_cats

https://www.artstation.com/piperthibodeau

https://www.deviantart.com/shenfeic

https://www.deviantart.com/hetman80

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auraaestatis · 7 years

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Gaming ask. All of them. DO IT. Or Ignis is gone for good.

PLEASE DO NOT HARM HIM HE HAS BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH.1. First console you’ve ever owned?Well that depends on what you mean. The first console I ever actually "had" was a Sega Genesis but that was my brother's technically. The first console that my parents bought for me was a Wii. But the first one I actually truly OWNED, as in bought with my own money was a new Dreamcast cos our first one broke (that was also technically my brother's).2. First game you played?Oh hell I have no idea. It was probs something like Sonic Spinball or Mario??3. Favorite childhood game?classic Sonnic games for sure4. Longest consecutive hours you’ve played a game?no idea tbhI used to play video games all day long though, so who knows5. Game with the best soundtrack?Jet Set Radio Future has the best fkin jams i stg6. An underrated game from within the last few years?Oh I have no idea. I don't really have access to any of the newer games so... xD7. Most disappointing game you’ve played?idk nothing really disappoints me... NO WAIT THAT IS A LIE THE FKIN FINDING NEMO GAME SCREW THAT ONE OF THE LEVELS CANT BE BEAT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE8. The game with the best atmosphere/scenery?idk9. Last game you played?I literally played like 1 minute of FFXV today10. Prefer PC or console?console tbh but lately i've just been playing PC games11. Have you written any fanfic or made any fanart?of video games? hmm.... not really12. Most bizarre game you’ve ever played?????13. Scariest game you’ve played?I dont really play scary games. I played The Evil Within briefly but it ran like shit on my computer so I gave up on it14. Do you watch playthroughs online?always15. Favorite animal in a video game?all the animals16. The best year in gaming you’ve experienced?no idea17. Have a video game themed background or lockscreen?mm i have a Dangan Ronpa background on my computer18. Worst game you’ve played?please see #719. Hardest game you’ve ever played?oh I don't know. Mech Assault 2 got on my nerves after a while sometimes...20. Favorite publisher and/or developer?uhhhh Sega? also Capcom21. If you had to play one game for the rest of your life, what would it be?pls dont ask me this22. If you could turn one game into movie, which would it be?Undertale? i feel like that would be cool23. Favorite genre of video game?action/adventure mostly. I just want things to explode pls.also racing games are fun as heck24. Ever cried because of a video game? Which one(s)?YES. YOU HAVE NO IDEA.25. Proudest accomplishment in gaming?when i FINALLY beat Star Wars KOTOR... good god that last boss battle was a nightmare26. How often do you play online? Co-op?I don't27. Have you gotten any friends into gaming?no but i've met friends cos of it28. Who got YOU into gaming?idk i saw my brother playing games so i usually played his games?29. Watch cutscenes or skip them?watch unless i've seen them like a million times30. On average, how long does it take you in the character creation screen?i dont usually play games with things like that haha31. Game with the best theme song?dunno32. Do you cosplay?not any video game characters. not yet at least33. Favorite female npc?hmm... I have no idea34. Favorite male npc?same for this i really dont know35. Best protagonist?uhhhhhhhhh 36. Best antagonist?uhhhhhhh37. Ever been made fun of for playing video games?not really? my mom has said im too old for them a lot tho?38. Have you tried a game, hated it, then tried again, and loved it?hmm not really?39. Do you play for achievements/trophies?most games i've played dont have those40. Favorite voice actor?um. Troy Baker. duh.41. Gone to a midnight release before?nope. that's when i fkin sleep42. A game you will never forget (in a bad OR good way)?there are too many43. Favorite sidekick or companion?i dont knowwww44. Do graphics matter?not really45. Do you like funny or more serious games?both tbh46. Always, sometimes, or never use subtitles?i dont usually turn them off to beghin with so they're just... always on?47. First person or Third person?doesnt matter48. A game you’ve always wanted to play but have never gotten to it?any Final Fantasy game tbh?49. A game you haven’t played in forever, but want to replay?Sonic Adventure. i need to get another copy of that50. How many games to do you own?no idea51. First character you’ve had a crush on?oh lord i have no idea52. A game you will always stand behind, and support no matter what?just Sonic games in general53. Your most immersive game?idk54. A sequel you really want?pls Sega make a new Jet Set Radio game PLEASE55. How much time, on average, do you play in a week?rarely, these days so idk56. Do you tell people irl that you play video games?uh. DUH?57. What is an overrated game you’ve played?no games are overrated to me?58. Ever have someone walk in on a sex scene between you and you LI?tf is an LI?59. A game you are looking forward to this year?doesnt matter i wont be able to play it60. The game you are best at?I will destroy you in any racing game61. A game you know everything about?-shrugs-62. Would you want to work with video games when you are older?sure but i dont see it happening63. What’s a game that has inspired you?hell if i know64. Describe your favorite video game using only three words?i dont even know what my fav game is anymore65. Any favorite screenshots of games?if i had any i'd share them for sure66. Game with the yummiest looking food?i would eat all video game food because imm weird67. Most violent game you’ve played?they are all violent68. An older game that you’ve just recently gotten into?does Dangan Ronpa count as old?69. Your first LI?WHAT IS THAT?70. Do you play any mobile games?kinda but not really71. A game you can’t stop talking/thinking about at the moment?um. FFXV. it is consuming me. and i dont even have the game.72. Have any guilty pleasure games?HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA.73. A game with the best fandom?im not really in any gaming fandoms....74. Which game has the best lore?dunno75. Do you focus on main storyline/quest or do sidequests first?everything

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entergamingxp · 4 years

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15 Upcoming Indie Games to Put On Your Radar in 2020

January 16, 2020 12:00 PM EST

2020 looks to be another great year for indie games. Here are 15 of them to keep an eye on as the year rolls on.

Last week, we gave you 10 2020 releases that you absolutely shouldn’t miss. However, that list mostly dealt with the biggest games of 2020. What about all the awesome games being made by smaller studios? Well, here’s the list for them. Below are 15 incredible-looking games coming from the indie scene in 2020.

Before we start, it’s important to note that with the continually growing indie space in games, there are hundreds of games that could easily make this list. I’ve capped the list at 15 mostly for my sanity, but the initial shortlist for this article was a mile long. Here are a few extra honorable mentions you should give a look: TemTem, Boyfriend Dungeon, Griftlands, Minute of Islands, Sable, Roki, Baldo, Garden Story, Ikenfell, Knuckle Sandwich, and She Dreams Elsewhere. I also chose to not include Axiom Verge 2, as that was already covered in last week’s article. Anyways, on to the list.

Lenna’s Inception

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This Legend of Zelda-like from Bytten Studio is actually out this week. You play as an unlikely hero in a procedurally generated world that flips from 8- to 32-bit pixel art. It looks to turn the typical conventions of the genre on its head with a wild storyline that features multiple endings. You can also play the game with a friend in local co-op. A Link to the Past is my all-time favorite game, so any game that looks to iterate on that excellent formula is automatically something I’ll be paying attention to.

12 Minutes

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Time loops are all the rage these days after the excellent Outer Wilds took the world by storm last year. Interestingly, 12 Minutes is another Annapurna-published game that explores the mind-bending concept. While Outer Wilds had you exploring an entire galaxy, 12 Minutes’ experience is a bit more intimate. As a husband trying to share a romantic evening with his wife, you’ll discover the many secrets taking place inside your apartment. On the surface, it might not sound like the most thrilling concept on this list, but everything I’ve seen has been very impressive.

Cook, Serve, Delicious 3

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Before seeing this in action, I wasn’t really sure if the world needed another Cook, Serve, Delicious game. After all, how much more cooking, serving, and delciousing can a person reasonably expect to do? And then I saw that the game takes place in the post-apocalyptic US and you play as the owner of a food truck. As you travel across America, you must both cook food and fight off roving bands of evil cooks. It’s hard to imagine a cooking game with a better elevator pitch than this one.

Eastward

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Earthbound-like games are a dime a dozen these days. The SNES classic made a major impact on the developers of today, and we’re seeing that love play out in games like LISA, Citizens of Earth, and, of course, Undertale. However, there’s something about Eastward’s style that really sticks out to me. While other games have done a great job of capturing Earthbound’s charm and gameplay, Eastward also nails the look. If I close my eyes and imagine what Earthbound would look like in 2020, Eastward isn’t far off. Hopefully, the team at Pixpil can nail everything else it’s going for just as well.

Sports Story

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Golf Story is my favorite game for Nintendo Switch. Full stop. And now Sidebar Games is adding tennis and dungeons and espionage and buried treasure and a meeting with a queen? I need this game yesterday. If Golf Story wasn’t up your alley, this probably won’t be either, but for us beings of superior intellect, Sports Story is set to be one of the most exciting releases of 2020. I cannot wait.

The Red Lantern

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The Red Lantern basically looks like FTL except instead of crossing the galaxy, you’re racing the Iditarod with a team of the best boys. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the book Stone Fox. So, a game that lets me play out the fantasy of racing Searchlight through the Alaskan wilderness is very much right up my alley. My only worry is how brutal the game looks. The trailer has a scene where a bear attacks one of your dogs and I really hated watching it. Hopefully, that’s a rarity or else this might just become an idea I love and not a game I play.

Spelunky 2

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Spelunky remains one of the best rogue-likes on the market. The platforming is tight and the game has so many awesome secrets for you to discover. The sequel looks to be more of the same and I can’t wait to join the community in uncovering all the weirdness that lies within. This spot could also easily go to UFO 50, which is another Derek Yu project I’ve been waiting for with bated breath. Crazy to think both games are likely for 2020.

Spiritfarer

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This is a resource management sim that is all about dying. You play as a ferrymaster to the deceased. As you craft your way across the world, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to improve your custom death ferry. Spiritfarer has a unique setting that is well worth a look. However, the thing that really made me pay attention is the game’s visuals. The hand-drawn art quickly catches the eye and seeing it in motion is even better. I’m intrigued to see if the game’s look and premise are matched by its quality.

Carrion

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Spoiler alert for 2016’s Inside. Carrion is like that ending sequence where you play as the gigantic amorphous blob except that’s the entire game. Oh, and this blob is straight out of a horror movie and is very interested in eating everything. Publisher Devolver Digital describes it as “a reverse horror game” and I have to agree. The way the blob moves through the levels is both deeply unsettling and incredibly cool.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

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Y’all remember how Hollow Knight is one of the best Metroidvania games of the last decade or so? Or how it was a perfect match for Nintendo Switch? Well, how would you feel if I told you Team Cherry was going to do more of that except even more polished? Great news! That’s what happening and it’s going to be great.

Ori and the Will of Wisps

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If you are a fan of sequels to tough-as-nails platformers with Metroidvania elements, 2020 is going to be a great year. Getting both Ori and the Will of the Wisps and Hollow Knight: Silksong in the same year seems like an embarrassment of riches. Plus, Axiom Verge 2 is coming, which is a bit different, but still sits in that same realm. Personally, Ori is the one I’m least excited about; however, I can’t deny that this will probably be great.

Mineko’s Night Market

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Mineko’s Night Market is maybe the cutest game on this list. The “adventure/merchant simulator” wears its Animal Crossing inspiration on its sleeve. However, developer Meowza Games aims to put a much bigger emphasis on narrative and crafting. You play as a young girl named Mineko who has arrived on an island filled with cats. Your options for what to do are varied, but discovering the game’s secrets and preparing for the weekly Night Market is paramount. Mineko’s Night Market looks like it could fill a similar space to games like Stardew Valley. Great experiences to sit back, relax, and let wash over you.

Cris Tales

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Cris Tales is billed as “a love letter to classic JRPGs”, but with a big twist. The game lets you simultaneously see the past, present, and future of your actions, which results in some fascinating situations. Maybe you warp your enemy into the future to make them older and weaker. Or you warp yourself to the past to make you shorter and are able to more easily dodge an attack. It’s an innovative idea that has major gameplay and narrative implications. The best part about Cris Tales is that there is a demo out on Steam right now. So, if you’re interested, you can go check it out and see if this game is up your alley.

Murder by Numbers

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Picross is one of the best types of puzzle games in video games. However, outside of Picross 3D, there haven’t been that many innovations in the genre. Murder by Numbers looks to change that by adding a murder mystery narrative to the game. What a perfect marriage! And the whole thing is set to a score from Masakazu Sugimori who counts Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Viewtiful Joe among their credits. I need this game now.

Emily is Away <3

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Both games in the Emily is Away series are incredibly moving experiences, especially for those of us who grew up in the time of MSN Messenger and AIM. The third game takes the series forward to a Facebook analogue. It’s tough to say if this release will hit as hard as the first two, but given the pedigree, I’m pretty confident in saying that Emily is Away <3 will be worth your time.

Obviously, the number of video games releasing in 2020 is vast. It would be a herculean task to try and cover everything. However, this list should be a great reference point for games to put on your radar. Of course, the best indie game of 2020 might not even be announced yet, but you can rest assured that when it is, DualShockers will be there to cover it.

January 16, 2020 12:00 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/01/15-upcoming-indie-games-to-put-on-your-radar-in-2020/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=15-upcoming-indie-games-to-put-on-your-radar-in-2020

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