I Want Patrons

obtaining roms:

edge emulation (missing some consoles; CD-based games come in compressed formats such as CHD; very fast DL speed)

myrient (pretty much everything, no strings attached; fast DL speed)

cdromance (mostly has games for CD-based consoles; games come in uncompressed iso or bin/cue; has a lot of pre-patched rom hacks; medium-fast DL speed)

planetemu (largely in french; has a lot of obscure titles other sites lack; very fast DL speed)

alvro collection spreadsheet (pretty much everything, including many newer consoles; slightly inconvenient to navigate; download site has timer and limits to 1 download every 30 mins, can be worked around with vpn; inconsistent medium-to-very-fast DL speed)

script that lets you download from emuparadise post-shutdown (pretty much everything; inconsistent medium-to-very-fast DL speed; can occasionally be uncooperative)

ROMs Megathread/Archive (everything, really; slow DL speed; usually a last resort if you can't find something anywhere else)

i don't currently recommend Vimm's Lair due to very slow speeds, download limits, and offering nothing that isn't on other sites (unless you need prepatched xiso format Xbox roms)

console-focused sites:

HShop (all 3DS. very complete, easy to navigate. has qr codes for direct download from 3ds; yes, the qr codes are safe; fast dl speed)

MarioCube (focused on GameCube/Wii and has everything you'll ever need for those platforms; requires joining a google group for standard roms but it takes like 2 clicks; very fast dl speed)

NoPayStation (practically every PS3/PSP/Vita game and update, downloaded directly from sony's servers; fast dl speed)

sites offering switch and other modern games get shut down very frequently so i won't be linking them in order to keep this post from getting outdated, but you can find them if you snoop around reddit (the switchpirates sub in particular) a little

romsets:

Cylum's Romsets (my personal favorite - not fully complete sets but heavily curated, so no going through a million revisions of the same game)

for 1fichier directories, you can use a tool like 1fichier-dl to download in bulk. i'd recommend doing this on the alvro collections if you want more complete sets.

softmodding and loading roms on some popular consoles:

Switch

Wii

3DS, Vita, Wii U

PS2

PSP

recommended emulators and emulation guides:

Emulation General Wiki

netplay:

wanna play with your friends online?

fightcade covers nes, genesis, pc engine, dreamcast, and snes along with a variety of arcade boards from capcom, snk, sega, and konami. playstation is incoming. all platforms on it have rollback netcode.

mednafen covers psx, saturn, pc engine cd and sega cd, and i find its snes performance better personally. delay-based netcode with server structure. here's a pre-packed version with a gui included and here's a netplay guide i largely wrote myself.

other than that, dolphin is naturally used for gamecube/wii, and project64 with the AQZ netplay plugin is used for N64.

games are great. go play some games.

[edited 3/25/23]

Your capricious nature makes you unfit to be king! It's time to end this childish reign of terror!

Veterans / folks who kept up with the backstage blog (temporarily down, will come back in a different form) might remember these two. It's actually the first time in years that I've drawn them, and the first time I've drawn them full body. 26 and 6 are something like counterparts to 85 and 64.

To make a long story short, a rival entity to Caido, known as Lady Grief, usurped Caido's rule for a time ages ago. During that period, she used some of the negativity she had siphoned off of Caido's crown to create Others of her own, creating 26 and 6 who are embodiments of jealousy and envy respectively.

Of the two brothers, 26 is most invested in defeating Caido and securing Lady Grief's rule over the Nth Dimension. On the other hand, 6 has become apathetic towards this goal, and is now a begrudging participant in this cyclic war over multiple timelines and multiple time loops.

Beyond that, their relationship with their counterparts is also different. 26 loathes 85 almost as much as he does Caido, obsessing over his counterpart and seeking his defeat, but only if it can be brought about by his hand. 6 on the other hand is mostly apathetic towards 64, finding his existence annoying when he remembers 64 exists at all.

Fun little side note is that those badges have a crossed out third eye as their emblem. A third eye (paired with four arms) is a symbol of divinity. In this case, a crossed out third eye is basically shorthand for opposing Caido's rule.

y'all heard about the WGA strike? here's how you can support us if you're not a member.

writers with the WGA have access to a strike fund that will help them out, but there are many other hollywood employees, assistants, and crew members who will need financial aid during the strike. you can donate to the entertainment community fund (tax deductible!) and help ease their burden. choose "film and television" in the drop-down menu under the gift designation.

if you can't donate, please at least boost and spread the word! and thank you to everyone who's been showing solidarity and asking how they can help us out, it's been overwhelming in the best sense of the word ♡

My project just went live on kickstarter

…and I’m both excited and terrified, lol

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aurans/visual-novel-aurans

Aurans is a visual novel about growing up and saving the multiverse while wearing wet shoes.

When homely nobody Rowan Nightingale gets hit by a car, she doesn’t die, but instead is chosen to become an Auran - a being who can make anything happen, on three conditions: she has to be able to imagine it, believe it, and then create it. Taken under her mentor’s wing, she travels to other dimensions and learns to harness the power of her imagination, slowly growing more confident in herself. But dark forces are lurking in the shadows, and who better to manipulate than a young, naïve Auran such as her? Soon, Rowan must fight her inner demons - quite literally - in order to save the dimensions from being destroyed. But can you truly believe that you are stronger than the darkest, most evil force in the entire multiverse, when all your life you have believed you weren’t worth anything at all?

The first seeds of the Aurans universe were thought of in 2006, when I was only 11. Since then, the story, characters, and environments have been fine-tuned over and over again. At first, Aurans was written as a book, but the lack of audiovisual content felt wrong. Many other mediums were brainstormed; A comic? An animated series? A movie? For many different reasons, none of those really seemed to fit. Then it became clear: It had to be a visual novel; the perfect blend of text, image, and sound.

After working with the companies Nix Hydra and Dorian, I felt that I had a grasp on the visual novel medium and the surrounding industry to the point where Aurans would be able to come to life. Teaming up with background artist Ivan Sapnu, the two of us got to work, and now, the first installment is almost complete. All we need is that last push - that’s where you come in.

A super quick overview:

GAME GENRE: Visual Novel / Young Adult / Fantasy / Coming of Age

GRAPHICS:  2D illustrations and sprites on static backgrounds

ART DIRECTION: Stylized and cartoony in vein of W.I.T.C.H., the works of Noelle Stevenson, and  the works of Becky Cloonan

PLATFORM:  PC, possibly Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch in the future

PLAYERS:  Singleplayer

ENGINE:  Ren’Py

MARKET:  Anybody age 12-35 with a love of young adult fantasy stories

Fully hand drawn graphics, deep world and lore

Representation of LGBTQ*, diverse body types and POC, with mentions of neurodiversity, while touching upon the themes of self-worth, identity,and bullying

Can stand alone, but is planned as the first installment of the Auran trilogy

~800 USD (~745 euro) will be used to pay our background artist for the remaining backgrounds.

100 USD (93 euro) will be spent on getting the game onto Steam.

Project funded: 900 USD / 850 euro

STRETCH GOALS:

2500 euro / 2700 USD = Original soundtrack; currently the game will use royalty free music primarily provided by Kevin MacLeod, but how sweet would it be to get a soundtrack specifically made for Aurans?

June 25th 2023: Kickstarter launch

August 24 2023: Kickstarter end

September 1st 2023 - November 30th 2023: Creation and implementation of the remaining backgrounds, music, and sprites. If stretch goal is reached, soundtrack will be commissioned.

December 1st 2023 - January 31st 2024: Proof-reading of prose, GUI updated, and game submitted to Steam.

February 1st 2024: Game launch

Keep reading

Art stream time! Still fundraising for Doctors Without Borders, please drop a $ or two if you have them to spare!

You can donate to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund for as little as $1.00.

There is a fee you can choose to apply to cover processing.

Which if you choose to do leaves you with a total of ~$1.35 (USD) depending on the type of card you have.

PCRF has a score of 97% on Charity Navigator.

Adults and children alike are currently dying in Palestine due to starvation. (World Health Organization Link)

The Gaza Strip is one of two places in the entire world that is categorized as Phase 5 (the highest phase) on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification scale.

So even if you think it isn't enough, remember that donating even as little as $1.35 helps! It's $1.35 they wouldn't have had otherwise. So donate if you can. 🇵🇸

I made a video essay! It's about creative (mainly 3d) software -

some little kris drawings I'm not sure I like but whatevaa I'm not a perfectionist shrug I'm figuring out how I wanna draw them bc I never ever do lawl

10 days until deltarune hoooou brother

Commissions are opennnnnnn!

payment can be taken through Kofi or Cashapp! DM me on tumblr or toyhouse if interestedddd

softly opening comms for summer even tho i have classes on rn bc i need a new drawing tablet for schoolll anywayz

email me at officialspeccommissions@gmail.com

send me your paypal email, commission details, references and any other specifics you want me to add (pose/expression, lighting conditions, etc). the more information the better!

invoices are paid in 2 parts (50% deposit before starting and 50% after final approval)

prices are in USD and you MUST have image references. description only will be rejected. hopefully i can open up actual char design comms at some point but not today

i dont have a lot of free time atm so please be patient !!! ill finish as soon as i can. thank u