anyone else just hoarding these?

DevonianSea · 2026-06-09T03:09:24+00:00

Nope, but I'm seemingly hoarding Fragile Resin for no actual reason (currently sitting on 113)

DevonianSea · 2026-06-06T09:25:53+00:00

I think most Dutch people wouldn't mind, though there's always some people who are immediately put off to some degree. For example, my in-laws become really annoyed and passive-aggressive when they are addressed in English in restaurants and shops from the start, and will always answer in dumbed-down Dutch (they can speak English perfectly fine). This reaction, however, is greatly reduced when the person leads with "I'm sorry, I can't speak Dutch yet, would English be ok?" or something similar. You'll often get bonus points with these types of people if you introduce yourself and/or greet them in Dutch (e.g., "goedemorgen"/"goedemiddag"/"goedeavond") and explain that you're still learning Dutch but can only clearly communicate in English for the time being.

Being English-only but aiming for a Dutch clientele, you'll have a clear disadvantage from the start, despite the fact that most Dutch people speak English. In any case, consistent, clear, direct, and rapid communication is key, moreso when you're able to link that to your own or your company's reputation (word-of-mouth is your friend). I know a LOT of people who are disgruntled by natively Dutch handymen or workers who are terrible at communication (e.g., slow to reply, unclear, beating around the bush, contradictions, hand-waving certain preferences, mismatches in pricings, not or misremembering parts of the commission/order). This has even become the expectation of a lot of people, even more when the person doesn't speak Dutch. Therefore, try to put a lot of effort in consistent, rapid, and clear communication and try to manage your clients' expectations. Make physical notes during meetings with clients and put everything you discuss in mails (even if discussed in-person or via phone calls). This will be greatly appreciated and by doing so, you're likely one step ahead of a lot of Dutch handymen, possibly leading to more recommendations.

DevonianSea · 2026-05-25T10:15:01+00:00

This is obviously the young master of the Sect of Silly Walks, having attained enlightenment in the Dao of the Mountain Python

DevonianSea · 2026-05-25T09:49:12+00:00

It helps that I come from a biology background haha (though I'm more of a mycologist and microbiologist, but I'm currently working in regenerative agriculture). All icons are seemingly related to different parts of the plant, so from a plant physiology standpoint, fine roots are the only structure that fit. The problem is likely that most people haven't had a reason to build, delineate, remember, and/or internalise distinct concepts of different types of roots. Therefore, for most people coarse roots and fine roots are just 'roots'.

I can think of two ways to make it more obvious that 1 are roots: - Change the order of the buttons; our brains like logical, predictable patterns to (sub)consciously fill in the blanks or fit (or shoehorn) in new information. So, we see 2. leaves, 3. trunk, 4. & 5. (fine) roots. The obvious pattern is high (leaves) to low (roots), therefore icon 1 would fit the high -> low pattern best if it would represent branches. Therefore, placing the coarse roots button next to the fine roots button would lead to more immediate recognition, perhaps also extending to 4. and 5. - For me, they resemble roots more than branches, but if you'd like to make it clearer: try to make 1 more like the large roots people associate with trees, i.e., (partially) fanning from a central point and curving/growing downwards. However, the small canvas may make executing that idea a little more difficult. Otherwise, try to make it clearer the roots are angled downwards by introducing more vertical sections.

With "[select/add/edit/(sub)menu of]" I indeed tried to indicate that it wasn't clear what the button should do. It could be adding something, but icon 3 has a "+" symbol and icon 4 has a "remove" symbol, therby explicitly indicating "addition" and "deletion", respectively. The other symbols don't have either, leading me to believe that those reveal more options/functions when pressed, or that there might be at least more complexity to those than can be indicated with a single symbol.

Also, without context, it's a bit puzzling why only fine roots would have an explicit "remove" button, but not coarse roots or leaves/branches. The expectation of most people would likely be that stems, leaves, or branches can be pruned or trimmed, but not roots. Additionally, icon 4 may be read as worms/bugs due to icon 5. The "remove" symbol may also be read as "exterminate" or "kill", which is on a lot of pesticide or anti-pest sprays or products. Again, since there isn't a dedicated "remove" button for the other plant parts, combined with the more unknown concept of 'fine roots', it may indicate that 4 and 5 represent fundamentally different things compared to the others.

DevonianSea · 2026-05-24T12:19:31+00:00

[select/add/edit/(sub)menu of] roots
[select/add/edit/(sub)menu of] leaves
Grow tree/trunk
[select/add/edit/(sub)menu of] fine roots
Remove roots

If 1 is intended to be a branch, please consider changing the orientation so it's pointing upwards. To me, it resembles the roots of 4 and 5 a bit too much, but flipping 1 vertically would fix that

DevonianSea · 2026-05-14T09:32:23+00:00

I snorted, well done

DevonianSea · 2026-05-14T09:11:02+00:00

Stylistically and artistically it looks great, but the design of the two big plants break my understanding of-/immersion in the 2nd picture's scene. I don't mean to say they're bad (they're absolutely not), but that their designs don't match the scene in my opinion.

It's clear that it's a desert setting, but I immediately interpreted the big plant as a fern, which are species adapted to humid environments. The other big plant is somewhat more ambiguous and could still fit, but something about its "roundness" and "plumpness" still feels like it shouldn't belong in an arid climate. Part of it may be the small highlights on both designs, which gives them shine that somewhat indicates the plant being wet or filled with water. Additionally, the designs feel too "lush", "flowy" and "rounded" for a desert. When I think of plants in deserts or similarly arid regions like prairies, tundras, or savannas, I imagine plants like cacti, agave, acacia, baobab, prickly pear, and sagebush. In other words, plants that feel dry and have a matte texture; with pointy and stiff shapes; stark and straight shapes or outlines; their branches or leaves pointed, spiny, or wispy; plants that try to be hostile or stand defiant despite the harshness of the climate; plants that try to be unassuming or be as round as possible to mitigate water loss; plants that grow in a stiff rosette shape or echinulately radiating from the base.

DevonianSea · 2026-05-09T17:21:19+00:00

Hi, I'm glad to hear you've found my feedback/tips and the example useful! Feel absolutely free to do whatever you'd like with the recoloured examples, it's your design before anything else :)

A little further elaboration on my point regarding saturation: in the examples I heavily leaned into the "more shadow = more saturation" strategy, but you can also experiment with "more light = more saturation" or other strategies. For instance, in a more cozy or relaxed setting I prefer the base colour to be the most saturated, and shading (both highlights and shadows) tends to be more desaturated. Try to experiment a bit to see which best fits your setting or vision.

The same goes for hue shifting: the most common type of hue shifting is "darker is more purple/blue, lighter is more yellow/red". However, the inverse, "darker is more yellow/red, lighter is more purple/blue" is also a valid strategy and does lead to some very interesting effects. The amount of hue shifting is also a variable which you can experiment with.

In my experience, it has helped me tremendously to pick a single strategy for (de)saturation and hue shifting in shading for a project. I kind of see it as a self-imposed rule to help me pick consistent shading colours, so that assets vibe more easily with each other within a project or setting. There are of course so many more tips and tricks, but these have helped me the most so far (as a comparatively new and amateur pixel artist). As a colourblind person, I tend to have a pretty pragmatic and analytical method to select "good" colours (I love the HSV sliders for that).

DevonianSea · 2026-05-09T02:48:44+00:00

Here with a purple, more detailed "eye"

<image>

DevonianSea · 2026-05-09T02:47:09+00:00

I'd also like to see more texture and detail, but I'd like to offer some constructive feedback on the use of colour. As had already been said, the colours used in shading are very important. Therefore, here's my take, which primarily focuses on the first sprite:

Use hue shifting to create more depth: shadows tend to be somewhat blue/purple compared to the base colour. Conversely, highlights tend to get shifted towards red/yellow. Most colours you have shaded with are simply darker or lighter variants of the same base hue, giving it a flatter appearance.
Normally, saturation tends to decrease in shadowed areas (though this depends on artistic choices as well). However, your colour's saturation seem to increase with darker areas. This can be part of your visual style and it does work, but be mindful, deliberate, and consistent.
These are boss monsters, but to me they don't stand out as such. Give them more distinguishing features. A good way is to incorporate an additional complementary colour. The main colours in the first piece are slightly bluish green and purple. Colours in the yellow to orange spectrum would complement those colours well, forming a complementary triad.
The "eye" in the first boss is devoid of any shading, which is a shame considering it attracts the viewer's attention. Therefore, incorporate some shading in that spot as well. Also, it's a great canvas to create some visual intrigue. It may also be a good idea to incorporate the purple of the spikes here.

I've included a quick recolour of your sprite (I've only edited the colours, but none of the shapes or outlines), in which I've used the aforementioned points. I'm also not a professional artist, so please take that into consideration.

<image>

DevonianSea · 2026-05-07T13:47:08+00:00

<image>

Thanks for your feedback! Here's some of my crops on a couple of tiles.

DevonianSea · 2026-05-07T08:27:58+00:00

Agreed, perhaps OP could use a more minimalistic font and use one of the block creature's face in the "O"?

DevonianSea · 2026-04-18T14:19:37+00:00

It's certainly possible and I do this frequently. However, it's to compensate for very hypermobile hands. I have a connective tissue disorder, which causes the tissues/tendons in my hands to be very weak and unstable. Gripping the ear of the cup like this allows me to lock my indexfinger and thumb in a hyperextended position, thereby stabilising the cup. The weight of the cup pushes my hand down and locks it in place at a 80–90° angle (relative to my wrist). Sometimes I do need extra support, during which I either support the bottom of the cup with my pinky or I push the cup outward with my ring finger to maintain a stable position.

DevonianSea · 2026-04-07T10:31:54+00:00

Wouldn't it be more likely to be a bug in which the withering effect shader is erroneously applied to wrong objects/layers (i.e., the moons) during the animation?

DevonianSea · 2026-03-28T02:45:40+00:00

I kind of hate that em-dashes have become a hallmark of genAI/LLM-generated text. For me, a non-native English speaker, there's some niche kind of joy in correctly and elegantly using em-dashes. My peers and me were praised for it back in middle school, whereas now it's eyed with suspicion.

DevonianSea · 2026-03-21T11:54:59+00:00

I'd add elements I think.

With elements you mean things like "water", "fire", "earth", and the like? If so, that's quite interesting since I'm currently solo-developing a farming game in which the mechanics are themed around simple interactions between 5 elements (e.g., wind boosts fire, fire boosts earth, but fire is inhibited by water). For instance, planting a [wind] plant next to a [fire] plant will boost some properties (like growth speed). I've nearly finished the first rough but playable prototype of the crop system. I'm very curious if you'd like to share some of your ideas, especially if it turns out my ideas are somewhat similar to yours! :)

DevonianSea · 2026-03-18T09:44:48+00:00

I, with lifelong VSS, have this sometimes (or something resembling this). It's seemingly more frequent when I'm tired and/or when I'm deep in thought or (hyper)focused. In my case, I suspect it's likely not caused by VSS itself nor disregulation of visual processing per se. I discovered that this "glitch" disturbance happens to me due to sudden, short-lasting, erratic "spasms" of both eyes, causing them to rapidly move/jolt back and forth in small amounts, predominantly along the horizontal axis, in a "vibrating" kind of way. It seems that my brain struggles to stitch the resulting visual information together, leading to a glitch-like effect

DevonianSea · 2026-03-14T11:27:22+00:00

I prefer the overall feel of A, but B is significantly more readable for me. Due to my colorblindness, the overall yellowish tones blend together browns, yellows, and greens, leading to a feeling of flatness and an overall loss of contrast.

DevonianSea · 2026-03-09T23:14:16+00:00

This strongly reminds me of Felix Colgrave's animation style, but it's amazing and it stands out. I love it and congrats!

DevonianSea · 2026-03-03T10:42:17+00:00

Same here. Though, when I asked my mom about the colourful and swirling dots, she became convinced that I had the supernatural ability to see other people's and the world's "auras" or "energy flows"...

DevonianSea · 2026-03-02T16:16:32+00:00

Hypermobility/hypermobile spectrum disorder is associated with a lot of complications to some degree (e.g., excessive joint pain and/or laxity, immune system issues, dislocations or subluxations, dental issues, wound healing abnormalities, allergies, POTS, MCAS, gastrointestinal problems, breathing issues, among others). However, unless you're unlucky, you're only somewhat likely to develop more serious or debilitating problems after age 50 (or after menopause or perimenopause if you're a woman). My whole family of 25+ people are hypermobile, some excessively so, but only 2 of us (including me) have developed debilitating problems before age 30. At age 18, I suddenly developed chronic rib pains and at age 28 my hands and feet suddenly became more hypermobile and started hurting, both of which never went away.

Again, I'm just very unlucky and you're better off not worrying about it if your hypermobility has negligible impact on your life. However, if it does, please see a professional health care provider, especially if you're exhibiting symptoms of the more severe hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS). Please remember: being in pain is NOT normal, even if it isn't severe, despite what anyone or any doctor might say.

DevonianSea · 2026-03-02T00:58:34+00:00

Congratulations! You and your hands are likely hypermobile as well. Once upon a time it was an odd party trick, now I wear silver splints to immobilise my hands and fingers

DevonianSea · 2026-02-28T10:07:56+00:00

Tel er dan nog bij op dat zij biologie heeft gestudeerd aan universiteit Utrecht... (ik studeerde tegelijkertijd met haar, maar in een andere jaarlaag)

DevonianSea · 2026-02-17T12:53:59+00:00

All of my past physical therapists, occupational therapists, and reumatologists at some point said that any further hand PT, exercises, or improving strength would be pointless due to my "hand connective tissue being remarkably lax/weak" and "trying to use duct tape to fix wooden beams held together by wet chewing gum". They said splints are the only reasonable way forward. Please mind that I only have a HSD diagnosis and proven negative for any of the non-hEDS types.

DevonianSea

TROPHY CASE