I write and draw (theoretically) @midnight-arts-hunter - Tumblr Blog

the lion does not concern himself with what his art looks like when the canvas is flipped

every time you make art of any kind, a stat that is not visible to the player goes up. also, this is the most important stat in the game

ledogeishere

does singing in the shower count as art

i-am-a-fish

does a strong as fuck ice mummy have ice powers

the960writers

Writing programs for everyone

An update for the "Alternatives to google docs" post, to adjust it for current times and options.

Local on your computer:

LibreOffice (https://www.libreoffice.org/), Win, Linux, Mac.

Looks like classic Word, works great, imports and exports all formats. Saves in OpenDocumentFormat (.odt) which should be compatible with everything (yes even Word, even if it complains). Combine with some cloud backup for protection against hard drive failures (hard drives WILL FAIL at some point!).

FocusWriter (https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/) Win, Linux.

Super customizable to make it look pretty, all toolbars hide to be as non-distracting as possible. Can make typewriter sounds as you type, and you can set wordcount goals. Free, asks for a one time donation. Saves in odt. Combine with some cloud backup, you know the drill.

Scrivener (https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview) Win, Mac, iOS

According to many writers, the best program for novelists. Too much to fiddle with for me, you should try out the demo version. Not free, but it's a one time payment. You can put the database folder into a cloud based folder for saving, but you have to make sure to always close the program before shutting down.

Web-based:

Ellipsus (https://ellipsus.com/) Browser based.

My current favorite writing program. Made with fic-writers in mind, it even has an AO3 export. No docx or epub export though, only pdf or markdown. But the 'Copy as Rich Text' option works fine to paste things into LibreOffice. Several themes to make it look as pretty as you like, spellcheck, options for collaboration and beta reading, and a new dedicated sharing mode for readers. And also a firm stance against generative AI. I've been using Ellipsus for everything on PC, Android tablet and phone, and it works great.

Reedsy bookeditor (https://reedsy.com/write-a-book) Browser based. Be aware that they have a TOS that forbids pornography on publicly shared documents. Writing is chapter based, it has a notes section, exports to docx, epub, pdf. It is specifically made for formatting your ebook for publishing. You can share chapters (for beta reading) with other people registered at Reedsy.

Campfire (https://www.campfirewriting.com/) Browser based, and an additional app (Android and iOS).

A massive toolbox with modules you pay for as needed, like a timeline element, character arcs, languages, locations, research. There is a free version for one project to test things out, in the paid version you combine the modules you need. Works well in browser, the app looks good for writing but doesn’t have all the features. But everything works just as well in your browser on a tablet or phone.

They are also building a section (https://www.campfirewriting.com/explore) for publishing and reading books and webserials online, which also works in the app.

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These are my suggestions, feel free to comment with your own favorites.

#the jumpscare when op @d me in the comments 😭 tyvm for the resources.......

the960writers

Alternatives to google docs

For various reasons, this is now a hot topic. I'm putting my favorites here, please add more in your reblogs. I'm not pointing to Microsoft Word because I hate it.

Local on your computer:

LibreOffice (https://www.libreoffice.org/), Win, Linux, Mac.

Looks like early 2000 Word, works great, imports and exports all formats. Saves in OpenDocumentFormat. Combine with something like Dropbox for Cloud Backup.

FocusWriter (https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/) Win, Linux.

Super customizable to make it look pretty, all toolbars hide to be as non-distracting as possible. Can make typewriter sounds as you type, and you can set daily wordcount goals. Saves in OpenDocumentFormat. Combine with something like Dropbox for Cloud Backup.

Scrivener (https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview) Win, Mac, iOS

The darling of so many writers. Too many things to fiddle with for me, but I'm sure someone else can sing its praises. You can put the database folder into a Dropbox folder for cloud saving (but make sure to always close the program before shutting down).

Web-based:

Reedsy bookeditor (https://reedsy.com/write-a-book) Browser based, works on Firefox on Android. Be aware that they also have a TOS that forbids pornography on publicly shared documents.

My current writing program. Just enough features to be helpful, not so many that I start fiddling. Writing is chapter based, exports to docx, epub, pdf. You can share chapters (for beta reading) with other people registered at Reedsy.

Novelpad (https://novelpad.co/) Browser based.

Looks very promising, there's a youtuber with really informative videos about it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHN8TnwjG1g). I wanted to love it, but the editor didn't work on Firefox on my phone. It might now, but I'm reluctant to switch again.

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So, this is my list. Please add more suggestions in reblogs.

#FINALLY FOUND IT #WRITING RESOURCES

charlataninred

Character duo where one *remembers I don’t like fitting characters into trope boxes* is a completely fleshed out and realised person *remembers treating characters as real people and not story devices written with intent is bad* who is written by the author and *remembers death of the author* uh. And *fumbles and drops my pile of queue cards* ah fuck wait no *the menacing horse* what was that.

fakesorbet

being a slow fandom artist feels like this

Please wait for me . Art for the topic we all moved on from is not too far

sea-mists

literally though if you feel like your life is slipping through your fingers and every day goes too fast… try doing hard things, not just taking the easy route, like reading and making art and exercising and cooking a meal from scratch and journaling, doing these things without distraction, without being absorbed on a screen… the time will stretch and you’ll be reminded that life is long and beautiful if you make it so.

queriesntheories

Reblogging this with these tags because oh my goodness

To the person I reblogged this from THANK YOU i am now going to stick this on my pinboard where I’m gonna see it every single day

“Life is long and beautiful if you make it so”

maidenvault

Not “Only my reading of canon is correct” or “Interpretations are subjective and all valid” but a secret third thing, “More than one interpretation can be valid but there’s a reason your English teacher had you cite quotes and examples in your papers, you have to have a strong argument that your interpretation is actually supported by the text or it is just wrong and I’m fine with telling you it’s wrong, actually.”

mooncustafer

If the text says the curtains are blue you can argue about what that means; but if you’re going to claim they’re actually yellow you’d better have a really good argument.

elucubrare

You’ve heard of “i didn’t say it was good, i said i liked it,” get ready for “i said it had some technical problems & didn’t fully deliver on its themes, not that i didn’t like it”

elucubrare

#I voiced a criticism of some of its aspects#which in no way implies I did not like it#“and especially does not imply that I would like to hear a defense of it of the form 'shut up and let people have fun'”

REALLY endorsing these tags from galileosballs

mihai-florescu

Sometimes a fanon interpretation shared by so many people will gaslight you into thinking YOU're not smart enough to understand it when, in reality, no, the collective of a fandom can indeed just be misinterpreting a character beyond parody. It's not you, it's them

macdenlover

it came to my realization that 99% of my fandom related headaches would be cured if everyone understood this

dirtyriver

shuilian

#a reminder!

macdenlover

it came to my realization that 99% of my fandom related headaches would be cured if everyone understood this

bunabi

We gotta abolish early access. My one anti-consumer take. You cannot trust most fans to give feedback that respects the vision. They will tell you the characters are too mean and the protagonist needs more aura and we need a button to pet the dog every single time. Stop listening to them! Please!

pixelartpeach

I already reblogged this but actually I have more to add.

The thing about fan feedback is that sometimes, it CAN be valuable! But not at face value, and that's the other half of the problem. "Oh, my players hate my potion mechanic, I should probably axe it" NO. THEY are not experts in your game design, YOU are.

Fan comments should be sorted into three categories:

People who know what you're trying to do and want to help you reach that (DO NOT COUNT ON ANYONE BEING LIKE THIS)

People who like the idea but don't study game design so don't know what would fix it AND fit your vision (90% of players)

People who want your game to be EXACTLY like their ideal game and do not care what you have in mind/do not want the game you're making (DO NOT LISTEN TO THESE AT ALL COSTS)

Number 2 is where you need to be able to dissect, if you want to take in feedback at all.

"My character feels too slow"

Gut reaction: Increase player speed. <- WRONG. You are doing a patch job based on blindly accepting randos' critiques. You're gonna have cascading problems from this (NPCs too slow in comparison to PC, enemies need rebalancing to account for the speed, world size and clock need adjusting, etc)

Reasons your character might feel too slow:

Animation speed doesn't match the movement speed (slightly too fast, needs tweaking so players don't feel like they're running in place)

There isn't enough to do/see between point A and point B (players are too focused on walking, they get bored without things to look at)

Time moves too fast (clock is running at too fast a timescale, players don't feel like they can do everything they want to before it runs out)

^ THIS is what you should be taking away from user feedback. Rinse and repeat.

Everyone hates the potion mechanic? Maybe it's useless compared to the other options around, or the minigame for making them is too difficult. Tweak balance to give it more use/enjoyment.

This character is too mean? Maybe players feel like they don't have the option to be mean back, and it's making them feel like a doormat. Maybe they're tired of so many characters being mean, so you should add one or two more nice characters, or make your already-present nice characters a touch more sweet. Maybe the aggressive commentary or snarkyness needs better pacing to feel like it's earned.

Or maybe your commenters requesting this are part of that 10% that want your game to be JUST LIKE "game I played before but slightly to the left" and you should IGNORE THEM.

You can't please everyone. You SHOULDN'T please everyone. User feedback has its place, but YOU have to develop the critical game design skills to recognize what the ACTUAL problem is beneath the complaints, if one exists at all.

Your target audience should be:

YOU

Your best friends/mutuals who you want to like your game

That's it

STICK TO THAT. Fill out your vision! Get an actual QA team that knows game design and have THEM give you feedback on the mechanics you doubt! As long as you're committed to your vision, you'll cultivate an all new audience who loves what you've made, how you've made it!

Whew. Game rant over.

100line

I’m actually kind of amazed how many people do not understand this concept

automatuck9

ekjohnston

Tolkien: I suspected the weirdest dude of all time, but literally nothing else.

Me: ...feels right

87437732156806533-deactivated20

I can feel The dryness of those markers in my bones

the-silent-screamer

Fun fact those dry markers were supposed to have water put into them to make them work. You take off the bottom thing and pour water in and bam, instant marker success. Only learned about this four years after I’d lost my set 🙃