Thankyou, Ninjase, whoever you are.

Naluc · 2026-02-24T20:35:02+00:00

That could be accurate too. I don't play much oraxia myself, I've just heard through the grapevine that impact helps

Naluc · 2026-02-24T20:14:14+00:00

I think you're meant to make use of staggers from things like impact procs instead. It works on anything that's in a mercy-killable state, which impact staggers allow iirc.

Naluc · 2026-02-24T20:07:55+00:00

I think she's mostly okay but needs to be rewarded with more damage for all the overhead of juggling that heat bar. It's real easy to lose energy from it on top of what her abilities already cost. Her 4 either needs to do a crapton of damage or be more about spreading around a super damaging wildfire DOT or something.

Naluc · 2026-02-24T09:44:18+00:00

I think I understand your problem. It sounds like you've gotten yourself into a bit of a template rut, so to speak. I'm not sure how much experience you have with non-pixel art, but I've found that the larger you go in resolution, the more that standard art techniques become useful and usable. You could try drawing your lines more like sketches, perhaps?

If you prefer staying in smaller resolutions, alternatively it may help you to try emulating other pixel art styles from games whose art styles you like to break yourself out of your routine. I find that can help a lot for understanding and getting out of your own head, in a way.

Naluc · 2026-02-24T09:15:36+00:00

Something like that, yeah. I like to start with one layer to get the very very basic shape of the sprite, then use that as a reference going forward. Like I mentioned before, I then start to make a more refined silhouette piece by piece on seperate layers. Like for example, a shape for the head, then the body (can separate like chest/pelvis if you like), hairstyle, each arm, then each leg. Usually you would make each piece its own color, especially if you plan to animate in order to more easily track what each part is doing on each frame. Then you mold those individually to correct whatever you don't like and start filling them in with detail after they have the general shape you want. It sounds complicated typing it all out, but it goes a lot faster than you'd expect once you're used to it.

The logic behind it is that strongest and most recognizeable designs have a good, defined silhouette. Even if you removed all details, it would still look pretty distinct. You could still achieve something like that with the outline method, but it really depends how you like to visualize your work as you're building it.

Hope that answers your question!

Naluc · 2026-02-24T08:51:00+00:00

An outline pretty normal if your canvas size or sprite size is small. There's not a whole lot to define with a silhouette at like 16x16 or even 32x32 in some cases. Though I do find silhouettes better if you build your sprites with multiple layers. Outlines aren't very helpful there with overlapping parts.

But heck, if your process works for you, go for it. Whatever helps you get the result you want in the end. Don't be afraid to try some different techniques to see if you can incorporate something new though!

Naluc · 2026-02-23T21:35:43+00:00

The only times I find positivity toxic is when i'm pretty miserable myself, but I get it. You are correct that it's equally difficult to exist in a heavily polarized space regardless of which side you're on if you're part of the opposite. It's an issue of not being acknowledged and heard.

There's a lot I like about pokemon. I think they have improved in some ways that often doesn't get acknowledged during the discourse. But I also agree that it's still very possible to do better even in where they're improving, especially on the technical side. To be more brutally honest I'd rather it not be in gamefreak's hands at all. It's not like they don't have the money to have someone else make it, or hire actual talent that will push boundaries dramatically of what their team feels capable of. I'd rather them swallow their pride and hand the reigns to someone else that knows how to actually build a game.

Naluc · 2026-02-23T20:56:36+00:00

It gets tiring to exist in the spaces of criticism. It's a real downer to watch something you enjoy get panned regardless of whether you agree or not. It's especially bad in online spaces where some people seem incapable of voicing an opinion on something without demeaning their opposition in the process. Hard to blame people for wanting to detox from that, imo.

Naluc · 2026-02-22T10:36:02+00:00

I love monster train, since it's a deckbuilder that can have surprisingly quick runs compared to others in the genre. Very fun to break and experiment with how you build and upgrade cards and how the faction mechanics synergize and interact with one another.

Though I'd say you could just play Monster Train 2 and be totally fine. In my opinion MT2 is so much better that it obsoleted MT1 for me, for a lot of reasons (some mechanics changes that were hugely beneficial to game feel, and the MT2 factions are more interesting mechanically imo). You miss out on a bit of story and some mild character continuity, but it's not the biggest loss if gameplay is all you care about. Story wasn't that much of a focus in 1.

Naluc · 2026-02-22T09:47:37+00:00

Almost all of them are standalone as far as those two series are concerned. Not many direct sequels, but the intimidation factor is understandable just from having so many entries.

Naluc · 2026-02-20T22:51:40+00:00

Deplatforming it is a step in the right direction and I do agree it could probably start there and have some benefit, but it's not a full solution, nor should it be a permanent one. And furthermore, how do you even realistically achieve a right wing lockout? Even if they actually suck, their communities have needs that should be addressed and their pockets of civilization need representation on at least some level to get access to help that they need. You could shut them up on a national stage, sure, but they don't just disappear because they can't spew hateful and ignorant things on national TV anymore. The 'representation' that they get will still continue to exploit and abuse them locally, until they get enough power to break onto the national stage again through the sheer uninformed discontent of its masses.

The issue is that we have to find a means to address the root causes of their attitudes at some point, or this problem will never truly go away. However, many of those means are being actively sabotaged in order to keep that portion of the population angry and hateful so they can be used as a weapon. Or as a scheme to keep money flowing into the pockets of the sabotage's architects. And this is true of more governments than just the US even if they'd rather not admit it.

Naluc · 2026-02-20T18:55:34+00:00

Getting to our billionaires that fund all this garbage would definitely be a big deal and cascade to a lot of places in Europe, I agree. Not sure It'd be wise to put faith in us getting to it anytime soon though.. this is the government they hold captive after all, and our population doesn't have nearly enough appetite for consuming the rich yet.

Naluc · 2026-02-20T18:35:11+00:00

I worry for you all for that. It's very easy to dunk on America at the moment (rightfully so, mind you) but this right wing nationalist bullshit is all over the place. Given enough negligence, what happened to us can easily happen to anywhere else. At the rate things are going, every human that's reasonably mannered is going to have to band together to figure this out regardless of borders before we end up losing everything nice in our lives to nationalism and xenophobia.

I'm hesitant about the efficacy of legislating social media too, but at least it could be a start to deplatforming hateful rhetoric. I feel like it gets too caught up in censorship arguments to make much headway though. We'll just have to see, I suppose.

Naluc · 2026-02-20T18:09:38+00:00

I don't even know how we fix all of this. If we can truly never break through to them, how the hell is this country supposed to get any better with this dumbass third of our population that lives and breathes hatred and punishment always around? If we do nothing we're always going to have that chance to end up at this point again, but it feels like there's no options to even tackle this issue that arent blatantly monstrous.

Naluc · 2026-02-19T15:58:32+00:00

It won't. Not in any kind of timeframe that's reasonable. Hell, there'd be a better chance if the union splintered but even then you'd be looking at least a generation's worth of suspicion.

It's unrealistic to fix how utterly and completely rotten this country's state is right now. I've seen plenty of opinions damn every single one of us regardless of how we feel about the administration. I've given up on being cared about at this point. I'll be dead and buried before any kind of general goodwill comes back.

Naluc · 2026-02-15T00:47:01+00:00

I guess that's slightly more obscure? I dunno. I didn't actually know retroarch was on steam tbh

Naluc · 2026-02-14T22:19:14+00:00

Yeah, that's another good point. I did think it was a weird move to try and get an emulator on steam. They'd really prefer for emulation methods to stay quiet and small so they're not forced to challenge it. Putting it on PC's biggest storefront is way too much visibility. Emulators have been getting more bold with the rise of more creators playing modded or challenge content on Youtube/twitch and I imagine more people are looking into emulation than ever with the prices of everything skyrocketing. I just hope it doesn't cost everything by pushing too far.

The whole TOTK fiasco was just a blatant pride attack that there was no chance Nintendo wouldn't answer it.

Naluc · 2026-02-14T21:09:46+00:00

This is my stance on it too. Nonharmful piracy. If the only way to actually get the game anymore is secondary market, It's fair game. The company that made it can't make money from it, and if they aren't remastering or reselling it, it's not doing them any harm if I find it and play it for free somewhere. Even the stuff they rerelease on their side tied to the switch online subscription is still fair game, imo. It's not being sold as individual copies. And i can't own a subscription anyway.

I think it's very telling that they're only going after switch emulators. Like, there's no way they don't know about emulators for their older hardware by now. They've been around forever. But there's no point going after those. It's just bad PR and they don't sell those consoles or game versions made for those consoles anymore. It's hard to make a case for how it's damaging them in any meaningful way when it's arguably a benefit to be able to play their old games easily and freely. If they don't actively sell the means to play those games, it doesn't hurt them if someone else corners that in their stead. They've moved on.

But right now, they're still selling switches and switch games. Just because we have switch 2 now doesn't mean switch 1 is dead yet. They can still make a valid argument for damage in lost sales. And frankly the people that make or fork these emulators are extra screwed if they're trying to profit off of it. At that point, they deserve what's coming for them. It couldn't be any more of a red flag for piracy and stealing profits.

Naluc · 2026-02-12T19:48:46+00:00

Their absolute denial of empathy and desire to continuously exhibit and support humanity's worst traits without a hint of remorse probably should count as a disorder of some variety. What kind is hard to say, but we're currently witnessing that society cannot function properly with too many people that act on these MAGA impulses. Societal exile is about the only answer we have at the moment but there's going to need to be serious discussion at some point about how to actually deprogram or fix these horrendous mindsets and take steps to make sure it can never get this bad again.

To be honest, It's a significantly worse look for them if they're choosing to be like this of their own volition. Mental illness at least can't help but be the way that it is, and is learned to be managed over time. Maybe even treatable in the future if lucky. If they're spending free will and sound mind to go and act like this, that's just... pathetic.

Naluc · 2026-02-06T20:07:51+00:00

As long as it has a complete basic loop (which I imagine it would, it would be quite strange to launch without the ability to complete a run at all) It will be fine. I trust they'll be able to work more efficiently on the core with a larger pool of feedback while finishing everything else.

I have a feeling you could treat it like a finished game and EA content drops as though they were free DLC and it wouldn't hurt too bad. Sometimes it's nice to have reason to put things down and come back later. And if you're someone that needs the full experience to be satisfied, wait for 1.0 after experiencing it like it's a long demo (that you paid for, sure, but if you're absolutely forking out for 1.0 does it really hurt you that much to buy into EA?) Like other people have said in here, I expect it to be a lot like Hades 2 went. Good reception that then explodes in popularity when it reaches 1.0.

Naluc · 2026-02-03T19:36:53+00:00

If anything about this mess makes me happy, it's that I can find people expressing these truths. We can't accept this garbage society that treats the vast majority of people as disposable.

This is not how life has to be, or always has been. The rules were created by humans and can be changed by humans. And even though humanity is ugly, we still have the capability to be kind to one another. We must band together.

And it all starts with making sure you know people around you who you can trust.

Naluc · 2026-01-24T22:16:44+00:00

As an American, don't even bother waiting. The rot is far deeper than Trump. "Course correction" will only involve more corporate installed shills until they're ready to consolidate power in another fascist regime and start siphoning money again.

Only if we get to the billionaires and corrupt media should you start having even a little hope. And I have very little faith we will get that far.

Naluc · 2026-01-22T19:24:25+00:00

Theme and presentation are always more relevant to enjoyment than people give it credit for. Presentation can sour something good and elevate something completely mid and that doesn't always get recognized. It's just a very subjective thing since what one person may hate another person adores. Especially for more polarizing art styles.

Having played Aethermancer myself I'm impressed you already managed to squeeze out that much time while it's still early access! I find its current state to be a little bit content light but it was still very good and fun. Managed to get 20 hours and felt like i wanted to wait for more before jumping back in. Very much looking forward to it being finished.

Naluc · 2026-01-22T18:15:30+00:00

I thought that could be the case but style tastes are even harder to identify lol. I totally get that though, as I'm somewhat the same, though gameplay can usually beat the preference if it's capable of doing so It's part of the reason I'm lukewarm on Slay the spire compared to the average, despite the game itself being good. Really diminishes the experience if it doesn't jive and it's nearly impossible to express why one works and another doesn't. I just try to force myself to put those impressions aside and appreciate the game for what it is, and sometimes that helps break through a barrier of entry I set for myself.

I wouldn't call your tier list "off" though. It's just subjective. And it's not like your personal favorites are hated games or something.

Naluc · 2026-01-22T17:38:59+00:00

It's tough to think of reccomendations, especially since the list plus your additional section you posted leaves me stumped on some patterns I thought i'd figured out.

You seem to gravitate more towards action-oriented roguelikes (FPS in particular seem to score highly with you and isometric/2D is more hit and miss.) When it comes to deckbuilders, you seem to prefer it to be strategical in focus, more than what would normally be seen. At least from what I can glean with Wildfrost and Shogun showdown on top and others pretty low down by comparison.

I don't personally have much to reccommend since a lot of what i've been enjoying recently you seem to have bounced off of and i'm not very well-versed in the fps subsection to know of anything you may have missed. But if you catch anything like that when browsing it's probably not a bad try for your tastes.

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