Do you research to find games that are popular / upcoming in your niche? For example, looking at metrics on Steam, seeing what other streamers are playing, checking news and press release sites, watching or attending showcases.
When I was in college I adopted a dog from the humane society. She had been there for over a year and was considered “aggressive” but after meeting her for the first time I could tell it wasn’t true. I adopted her, trained her, and within a few months she was the sweetest kindest dog ever. She was a faithful companion for almost 15 years and her passing a few years ago was devastating to say the least.
Since I’m not ready for the long term commitment of another dog, I decided to foster to help honor her memory. (My intention was to prevent another dog from sharing the same fate of being labeled as aggressive and having to spend a long time at the humane society.)
This cutie(pictured above) came into my life shortly after that. We fostered him off and on (two failed home placements) for half a year and now he’s at the humane society and will hopefully be going to his forever home soon!
I’m so glad I fostered him. I loved training him, having a cuddle buddy, the playful puppy antics, and I feel like I achieved my goal of preparing him for adoption. But now that he’s gone there’s an emptiness that to me feels like a child moving away for college. It’s happy and exciting, but at the same time it feels almost like the loss of a loved one.
I would 100% consider fostering again in the future, as they joy outweighs the hurt, but my question is how do you deal with this feeling? Is it a normal part of the fostering process? Are there ways to prevent becoming attached or is it something that you just accept when you take on a foster? Does it get easier over time?
Why is it that some bars still insist on keeping your card if you open a tab? I will always close out immediately versus risk forgetting my card.
If instead they swipe my card and apply an auto gratuity if I don’t close out, I’ll always keep it open. It seems like a win win. I am more likely to get another round, which means more business for them and if I forget to close out or have to leave unexpectedly, there’s no penalty for me.
Looking for songs that are about addiction (drugs, relationships, feelings of isolation, self-destructive behaviors, etc) that acknowledge the issue is self-imposed but ultimately they can’t stop the cycle by themselves. Could be any genre and have elements of hope, but primarily focused on self resignation and the feelings of being trapped.
Some examples:
- Hey You (Pink Floyd)
- Otherside (RHCP)
- Shattered (O.A.R.)
- Love the Way You Lie (Eminem/Rihanna)
- Self Esteem (The Offspring)
- Semi-Charmed Life (Third Eye Blind)
- I Want to Break Free (Queen)
I recently acquired a steam deck (yay!) and am looking for recommendations. I’m looking for something that has the “wrapped up in a blanket, sitting in the reading chair while playing” vibes.
I’m making The Magical Quest of Molly the Marble, a fantasy marble adventure game where you explore by tilting cardboard diorama worlds. At its core, the game is somewhere between Zelda and Super Monkey Ball: you tilt the world to roll Molly through dungeons, puzzles, secrets, and handmade environments.
For handheld gaming, what features or settings matter most to you?
A few I’m actively working on:
Steam page: The Magical Quest of Molly the Marble
My art pipeline for Molly the Marble mostly consists of making things IRL, taking pictures and using them to create the game assets. Outside of claymation / stop motion games, I have not seen this process used.
The pictures in this post show the menu system I’m currently working on. You can see the end result of the broader art process in the screenshots on the game’s Steam page: Molly The Marble Steam Page
I’m curious whether any other developers use a similar physical-to-digital process and would be willing to share lessons learned, challenges, or best practices.
We’re getting ready to go to TooManyGames to showcase our game for the weekend and I was thinking about how to attract people to play. The easiest solution I came up with is to play the trailer if the menu is idle for a minute and that got me thinking.
I remember games used to always have something happen if you let the menu sit for a little bit but either I haven’t paid attention or it’s no longer a thing. Have you added or do you plan to add any menu Easter eggs?
Has anyone found a reliable way to locate water sources (e.g. springs) that are safe for human consumption? I'm planning a trip to Shawnee National forest and trying to find somewhere in the area I can go to get potable water.
In Arkansas I know of a few public fountains like Libby Thermal fountain in Hot Springs that you can visit to refill your water vessels for free, but aside from talking with locals I'm not sure how to locate them. I've tried a few apps but they all are outdated or limited to big cities, not ideal for finding water while camping.
Any advice or experience is greatly appreciated!
I’m so excited, nervous, and thankful to finally announce The Magical Quest of Molly the Marble!
The idea came from the old wooden marble mazes that I used to play with as a kid. I wanted to turn that feeling into the fantasy adventure I imagined in my head: a marble rolling through dungeons, forests, oceans, deserts, etc.
It’s a fantasy adventure game where you move and explore by tilting cardboard dioramas. It’s inspired by games like Zelda, Tunic, and Lil Gator Game but with the main character being a marble named Molly. There are lots of dungeons to explore, puzzles to solve, and secrets to uncover as you roll through the environments on your quest to find your lost friends.
And I’m very proud to say the game art was not made with AI. Many of the set pieces were actually made by hand out of construction paper then digitized by taking pictures and then using the pictures to create the models and textures in Blender.
The game was selected for The MIX Summer Game Showcase, and I’m flying to LA tomorrow for Summer Game Fest and to publicly demo the game at the in-person MIX showcase on June 5 at the GRAMMY Museum.
Here is a link to the Steam page: The Magical Quest of Molly the Marble
I’d love to hear what you think of the trailer and any thoughts on the art style.
I’ll never forget being a little kid and going downstairs to find this box under the Christmas tree.
I like hidden bars with weird entrances, passwords, or places you’d never notice unless someone told you about them. It makes going out feel more like an adventure.
I feel like Memphis used to have quite a few more hidden spots years ago, but Fat Charlie’s is the only one I still know about. Are there any others around Memphis?