u/kay000000

hi guys! I recently found out about sokpop collective (https://sokpop.co). They're a group of 4 guys that make small individual games with monthly release schedules. Their individual games are relatively successful but they also have a patreon and community that support them which is amazing!

I thought it would be fun and potentially fruitful to create a sokpop style collective but for cozy games! With a larger group of artists, devs, musicians, etc to pull from and collaborate with, it would hopefully make it possible to achieve a similar release cadence and community! it would also ideally help each of us individually to make bigger games than we could achieve ourselves. by tapping on each other's expertise and licensing each other's works, I think there's a lot that we can achieve together!

my vision is to have a discord group with devs, artists and other contributors that commit to different projects, contributing different work to each. If all goes well, released project revenue will go to the specific contributors in that project and any revenue from patreon or community support will be divided among all contributors across projects.

If you're interested do reach out by DM or comment!

My only requirements are:

- that you have worked on a released game (no matter the scale!)

- you have a love for cozy games!

This is to help screen for commitment but I'm still happy to chat if you're interested but don't meet all criteria.

Here's my game if you'd like to see!

https://wildfishgames.itch.io/meowys-blind-box-clicker

Hi! I'm month 1 into my attempt at being a full time artist. I've managed to get a few projects but I'm getting a little overwhelmed, especially since I'm also trying to market myself, do personal projects to improve my skills/portfolio, find clients, etc all at once.

I'm taking on too much tbh, but in order to earn a liveable wage month to month I know I have to do this right now. In the long term, with a stronger portfolio I can hopefully charge higher and have fewer concurrent projects.

In the meantime, I'd love to know how you guys balance different projects and deliver on time? Right now I'm doing them round robin style, tracking the last day I sent an update to a client. Every morning, I pick the project with the oldest update and allocate the day/a time block to work on it. I work on 1-2 projects every day.

It works but my time feels so limited that I haven't really been able to plan ahead toward deadlines either, I just try to do as much as I can for the time allotted to the project. I worry I'll end up missing deadline this way but I'm not sure how else I should manage my time?

The better way might be to prioritise by urgency and fully dedicate time to finishing one project at a time? But with so many concurrent clients with returning requests, I feel I have to touch base regularly. Would love to hear your experiences and insight!

I'm trying to do digital art freelance. I've been able to get commissions and that's been great but I'm constantly hunting for more commissions and my whole life is surrounding my work and job search because I'm so worried I won't be able to find work the next month.

I totally understand that this is part of the deal, so I'm not asking for help about that. Rather, how do you guys keep a well rounded schedule and routine and keep that scarcity mindset feeling away?

I've been terrified of playing games or watching movies or doing things that take away time I could be working on commissions, getting more commissions, learning or building portfolio projects. I'm really worried I'll burn out

I'm trying to freelance full time, so I've been very conscious of how much time I spend on each piece in order to keep my per hour pay above minimum wage.

I honestly feel a bit bad. I'm still doing very good work, but I could definitely do better given more time. I just can't justify spending too much extra time because I need the extra time to find more work or work on my own portfolio.

in my mind the tradeoff is like this: spend more time, make a better piece, maybe improve your portfolio and skills, but lose out on other comms and time to make other comms better

spend less time, make a mid piece that you can't add to your portfolio but gain time to work on all comms equally and find more work

there's a lot in between, and the ultimate goal is to skill up so I get faster but in the meantime? any suggestions or sharing about how you deal with it yourself?

hi! I finally got an interview to do environment concept art work for an animated youtube show. The problem is the company seems really suspicious (not a known animation company, seems like a general tech consulting company with no visible portfolio)

I really thought it was a scam but we had a google meets call and i was given an art test. The interviewer told me they would pay 25/hr but it would be under a delayed payment scheme where payment would only be provided after the first 6 episodes are completed.

I have no experience with the animation industry. Is this normal? is this a scam? are they going to take my work and disappear with it? I'm worried if the 6 episodes don't pan out i won't be paid at all

(but then again i can't find any work so i should just take it right...)

https://preview.redd.it/vrxom3l8mdah1.jpg?width=3199&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e473ff6c282cc01a8dcc0681b3e4ab5327800a9c

Hi! I'm developing a cozy campsite management/decoration game but I want to include story and romanceable characters in a similar way that stardew valley does it.

Would furry/anthropomorphic characters like these turn you off? I'm not fully in the furry community myself, but I really like the art direction and I felt it stood out. I'm just not very sure if it gels well with the cozy game demographic.

Any suggestions or wishlist items you have for romanceable/story characters in cozy management games?

I'm considering taking the plunge and going into game dev full time, I have some savings from previous jobs but I really want to make this work.

But I keep feeling really guilty because it feels like I'm not being responsible, and anxious because I'm constantly worried about my future. So I was wondering if anyone has the same experience and how it's going for you?

Or is it just not possible to be a full time game dev in this economy haha..

Hi! I'm currently developing a campsite decoration game! I'm really inspired by games like viva pinata and animal crossing so I'd love to hear more about everyone's experience with decorating games!

what are some of the issues decorating games commonly have? like do you prefer when there's progression or if everything's unlocked at once? do you prefer a sandbox or when there's some requirements from NPCs?

or are there things that you specifically look for in cozy decoration games? good music or art style? not having any stressors like combat? does time stress you out in games?

If you could make your own cozy decoration game, what would it absolutely need?

I'd love to chat about it!!

I just watched the movie and have been hunting for other posts about this but it seems not a lot of people agree! so I want to write my own baby thesis on it.

First, I want to establish why I think Obsession was about AI. What clued me in initially was the inclusion of the shot of Bear and Nikki looking at an AI generated image of a happy couple (presumably them). I saw some viewers attribute it to just couple-y things that fit the time and age, but I don't think that phase was a big enough deal in our cultural history for it to be just a fun throwaway.

Nikki's initial reaction when she first gets turned is also suspicious. The awkward dialogue and strange pacing that seemed to turn some people off, is to me the signs of AI trying to adjust to fit their user. She starts off being extremely direct but that creeps Bear out, so she apologises, pivots, apologises, pivots, then cries and hallucinates that her father has cancer. Not-Nikki has only approximate knowledge of who Nikki was before, but doesn't know the nuances like her not realising Nikki wasn't close to her father at all, she just knows that humans like Bear would react with pity when faced with a friend whose close relation is ill.

The constant apologies also mirror AI conversations. And the weird behaviours like making the cat memorial or feeding the cat to Bear feel like approximations of human behaviour and flirting, and the kind of pulling your pigtails teasing that Ian mentions at the beginning but way worse because the AI is clueless. the weird hansel and gretel incest fanfic is also written in such a flowery and inhuman way that it is definitely reminiscent of AI writing.

Not-Nikki also seems to only operate when Bear is around, kind of like how AI agents are suspended in time when you shut your computer. And she eventually even admits that she's not Nikki and she's trying to be Nikki but she can't be Nikki and she's freaking out because she's trying to follow Bear's instructions but she can't because she doesn't understand what "stop being weird" means.

To me, all of this feels very much like smoking guns but I'd love to hear any arguments for or against this reading!

The second part is that this reading of Obsession being about AI actually makes the movie stronger! I see some push back on this because it takes away from the core message of women's agency but I actually think it makes it even stronger.

imo, the point of the movie is to explore wish fulfillment - If you made a wish for love, does that make it real? (Reminded me of the last wish in Witcher lol) Comparing Nikki to an AI dehumanises her, but that's exactly how Bear wants her. And that's what the movie wants you to see as bad.

To the disgusting cowards like Bear, the ideal woman is a hot and soulless robot who cooks and cleans, has sex whenever they want, hangs on their arm in public, doesn't ever talk back and prioritises them in every single aspect, even at her own expense. Just like an AI machine, they want to type in a prompt and control everything about their partner because they cannot handle having to introspect and fix their own issues. But the point is that it's a hollow imitation.

Bear initially succeeds with his wish, he gets the dream relationship and there's a cute romcom montage. but it shows him getting gradually more bored. it's the same shit over and over because AI can't learn beyond its capacity, it can't go beyond what it thinks is the pattern of a relationship. it constantly mirrors what you want and what society thinks it should want and will always feel hollow. it also shows us he was always more into the concept of a relationship with Nikki than Nikki herself.

Bear also consistently puts his feelings ahead of her autonomy, never makes an effort to meaningfully raise any flags about Nikki's wellbeing because he'd rather be in a relationship than not. he suspects the willow wish worked early on but never tries to do anything about it until Nikki's behaviour starts to affect him. He'd rather continue the farce because he'd prefer a robot he can control over a woman he cannot.

He ends the movie completely and utterly unloved because the Nikki that "loved" him is not real. there is nothing real or true about a woman being forced to love a man like a machine.

And he, on the other hand, never once showed any interest in Nikki as a human being, never interacted with her beyond the awkward small talk. The worst part is that you can contrast this with how he interacts with Sarah. When he treats a woman with respect, he can be genuinely interested in how she's doing in life and be excited for her future, and a real relationship can actually form. But instead of choosing genuine connections, he chooses a robot. and his love for Nikki is also clearly shown as fake because even in his very last conscious act, he can't even kill himself to free her, he's still a coward to the end who continues to choose the easy way out. This might be a harsh reading, because irl giving your life for another isn't that easy ofc, but I'm seeing this as an exaggerated reverse Romeo and Juliet where neither of them want to make the final sacrifice for love - Nikki because she literally cannot choose and Bear because he remains a coward.

And btw after all that, the woman is the one who must bear the consequences because he's dead and she's now regained agency but in this horrifying state.

All in all, I think reading the AI comparisons strengthens the overall reading of the movie. It's a cautionary tale of the importance of preserving agency because agency is what leads to real, genuine connection. I hesitate to fully claim this is the reading Curry Barker intended but the shots of AI use feel so intentional that I hope at least part of it was meant to be read this way.

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts! I felt this all so strongly when I came out of the cinema so it's been interesting to see opposing opinions!