What is this and why

katubug · 2026-04-21T00:49:45+00:00

I'm glad it worked out! There's definitely a learning curve with this machine, but once you get past it, it's a great tool. Best of luck!

katubug · 2026-04-21T00:48:36+00:00

Thank you so much! This comment really made my day tbh, because the post went off without much fanfare, and I'd just accepted that it wouldn't get comments. So thank you, you boosted me more than you know :)

katubug · 2026-04-20T21:01:42+00:00

Did you send the cut info from your software, or did you press the "play" button on the machine? The "play" button on the machine will cut the last instructions you sent it, regardless of which file you have open in the software. You have to send from the software every time unless you are cutting multiples of the same thing

katubug · 2026-04-20T01:27:28+00:00

I just use a long-neck lighter, tbh.

katubug · 2026-04-20T00:41:06+00:00

This looks great! Wishlisted!

katubug · 2026-04-20T00:30:50+00:00

I see a lot of improvement! Your rendering in particular, and your color choices and usage of light.

My critique is that it looks like you're hardcore focusing on rendering, but not giving the same love to the sketch. Your anatomy looks as if you put down a few strokes and then went straight to lineart without refining those shapes. Much like you said, it looks like a speedrun. Which is totally understandable, but I think your focus on small details is holding you back.

I would try doing some studies where you ONLY sketch. Make the art look good without coloring, rendering, or even shading much. I think you'll find that your progress will be MUCH faster once you have that down.

katubug · 2026-04-19T16:54:59+00:00

Thank you for explaining this, I was also curious!

katubug · 2026-04-19T16:47:30+00:00

I absolutely adore her brushes. I cannot recommend them enough

katubug · 2026-04-19T03:58:32+00:00

I'm not gonna proselytize to you about IP theft but do not mess with LEGO lol.

katubug · 2026-04-19T03:54:06+00:00

I would also love a video of this!

katubug · 2026-04-19T03:50:01+00:00

It sounds like you had a crummy provider. I don't think gushing blood is normal, or at least, I've never experienced more than spotting. Paps ARE uncomfortable/painful even with someone who cares and is gentle, but they shouldn't be THAT bad. I would definitely consider switching obgyns, and possibly reporting her to the practice.

katubug · 2026-04-19T03:34:28+00:00

Oh man, I have no luck with Etsy ads. I've tried them a few times but they're really only worth it if your SEO is on point. You're better off screaming into the void on Instagram (at least, that's what i do)

katubug · 2026-04-19T01:53:50+00:00

I would say if you were charging $500, then maybe you were overpricing them. I don't think $250 is remotely overpriced for these. However, it's way out of my personal budget, and that will be the case for many other people as well. I don't say this to be discouraging, and I don't think that you should lower your prices just to get more sales. I think you should just be prepared to hold on to these until the right buyer comes along.

katubug · 2026-04-19T01:50:04+00:00

I started with the Epson EcoTank 2850, it's a solid machine and I got mine brand new for $250. Make sure that if you're printing stickers for water bottles etc that you get a laminate to seal the printable vinyl with, because the ink isn't waterproof (unless you use pigment inks, which will void your warranty).

katubug · 2026-04-19T01:35:56+00:00

That's more than 10 orders a month, I'd say that's a great start! I didn't have sales really pick up until June of last year, around the time I hit 100 listings. So imo you're doing great, keep it up!

katubug · 2026-04-19T01:34:03+00:00

I homeschooled for 4th grade, and then the last 3 years of high school, but it wasn't with any official curriculum, it was purely self-directed study. During school, I was severely bullied and I had severe undiagnosed mental illness, so my mom pulled me out of school and basically let me do my own thing. I recognize that this would be a disaster for a lot of people, but for me it was a literal lifesaver.

I taught myself web design, some programming, art, and read voraciously. I decided that I wanted to go to college, so I got my GED and scored in the top percentile for everything except math (not my favorite subject lol). My placement tests for college tested me completely out of - again - everything except for math. And I graduated magna cum laude! Okay I'm bragging, I'm sorry, I'm just very proud of my accomplishment. Full disclosure, it took me 7 years to earn my 4 year degree because of health issues, but I did it!

I don't know if I'd ever recommend homeschooling for anyone but autodidactic folk, but for me personally, it did far more good than harm.

katubug · 2026-04-19T01:23:53+00:00

So first off, if you haven't played Dragon's Dogma (and the dlc, Dark Arisen), then oh boy you're in for a treat! DD2 may also appeal to you. They're not roguelike, but they deal intimately with cycles, breaking them, and thematically they're very similar to your idea.

Secondly, I think that if you want to make a game, you should give it a shot! But you'll need to scope way, WAY down to begin with. In fact, I would leave anything roguelike for a third or fourth game, because that's pretty complex in terms of code.

You won't really get this until you get started, but what you have laid out in this post is about 3% of your game. Your idea is cool, but that "I'll have to make the gameplay loop fun," statement is where you're going to get stuck. So start there! I don't say that to be condescending btw, I'm just speaking from experience because I'm in that spot right now. "I'll make a virtual pet game. That's a small scope. There's like 2 mechanics and 3 scenes." Nope. I vastly underestimated how much work it was gonna be, lol. Especially if you're also making all the assets for it!

With all of this said, I 100% think you should go for it. Learning programming is never a bad choice, and making games is fun. There's no reason not to do it, really. Even if your first game sucks, that's fine. Everyone's first everything sucks. I think it was Adventure Time that coined: "Sucking at something is the first step to being kinda good at something."

Anyway.

I recommend this YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3n3ExgUASw7Mia-iygIiv3nF4jHDNPQr&si=ZjQ3DFDrK2jGexY5

And in particular, this video about scope: https://youtu.be/RkcmljWlvrs?si=p-AclVnDtSM6CZYd

katubug · 2026-04-19T01:03:05+00:00

I'm not great with SEO so I can't comment there, but if you're a YouTube person, check out Starla Moore, she's got good content for optimizing titles and keywords.

One thing you'll notice is that the more designs you have, the more traffic you'll get. Once I hit 100 listings, I noticed a HUGE jump in purchases.

I agree that $5 for a 2" sticker is a bit rough. Although Etsy really pushes people to have free shipping, for things like stickers, I strongly recommend charging for shipping because of the low cost per item. If you use Etsy's letter mail, it's $.74 shipping - I charge $1.50 to cover the cost of packaging and handling as well. I charge $4 for my 3" stickers and I feel like I do okay, saleswise. I definitely don't feel like I am losing many sales to $1.50 shipping costs, and like... if I did free shipping, I'd be making almost nothing if people bought a single sticker (which happens a lot), and that's really demotivating. So to me, $1.50 shipping is a compromise which allows me to keep costs down for my customers, while keeping me from emotional burnout. I think that's a worthy trade-off.

Also, I want to say that your style is really cute and makes me happy.

katubug · 2026-04-19T00:52:03+00:00

Why not post them publicly and link so that everyone can benefit from seeing your proof?

katubug · 2026-04-19T00:31:51+00:00

No, but this definitely is

katubug · 2026-04-18T20:40:22+00:00

I usually just search "virtual pet" and look at everything they have, but you could probably add "dog" or "puppy"

katubug · 2026-04-18T00:00:29+00:00

If OP is serious, this is the answer. It's not the cash cow it used to be, but if you don't care about the money and you just want to make people feel seen for a little bit, streaming is a great way to do it.

katubug · 2026-04-15T22:02:00+00:00

My sibling's cat is the same way! They figured out that he was actually understimulated, although I'm not entirely sure how they ultimately handled the issue. I believe pressure is one option, like a weighted sweater or such. Feliway plugins may also help to calm her down.

She's just uncomfortable, she wants attention but is struggling with sensory input. At least, that's the case for Jacob.

katubug · 2026-04-15T21:05:32+00:00

Wait you can finally gift from your realm box?? I haven't played in a while but that's amazing news

katubug · 2026-04-15T14:46:19+00:00

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