Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@Zuljaras Very Halloween 🎃

@Zuljaras I love it! Do you like to sell your work, or is It just your hobby?

@WoomyNNYes Thank you!
@Heavyarms55 Indeed

@App Just a hobby for now. However I would love to be able to sell polymer clay figurines as I read that people love to play something called Tabletop D&D gaming.
And ofc I would love to be able to profit from my game Castletoria!

Maybe it would be cool to design unique character and enemy tokens with clay, making molds out of them, and selling cool resin figurines for D&D and other games.

@Zuljaras I have a friend who does 3D Printing and sells it. It's almost like clay figurines, I suppose. It all started as a hobby. With your art, I wouldn't think business would be hard to find.

Where can I find this Castletoria game you speak of?

@Zuljaras So, is that a computer painting? Forgive me if there's a better name for it.

@App So here are the links. Will make them spoilers so it does not flood.

This is very old 2018 Demo of the game. I added so much after that just did not record it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvkwjHyp954

And here are the usual screenshots from later builds.

I am trying to do everything myself except the music I will try to outsource that later.
Maybe someday it will be on the Switch

@WoomyNNYes Yes it is digital painting. I draw on a Pen Display just like on paper.

EDIT: Ok the spoiler tags did not work I will remove the whole pictures and leave just the links.

Yes it is digital painting. I draw on a Pen Display just like on paper.

@Zuljaras Now that's a proper setup. Nice! I cant believe those pen things haven't replaced computer mice entirely. Wrists could use a break from mice.

@WoomyNNYes You are right but they are pricey. Ofc there are cheaper options without the display but the display ones start from 400-450$ for the Chinese brands.

And those are without touch functionality, meaning you can only "touch" it with its pen. No fingers.

The others unfortunately start at 800$ and up in the space!

With all of that said I can't see myself playing FPS game son it. But I might try some strategy games

You could try using a base model ipad and getting the apple pen. I know people can do lots of artsy stuff with that.

My iPad Mini is unfortunately too old to use the pen, but I'd love to try it one day.

Colors!, an upcoming art app on the Switch, will also have compatibility with it's own type of pressure senstive pen. You can order those online, I think the app itself will release soon.

@Eel I am thinking about getting iPad compatible with the iPen. It looks amazing! I really hate Apple and I worked with all of their products and my opinions is that they are OVERpriced pieces of garbage EXCEPT their iPads.

But still overpriced

Well, from the perspective of using it as a drawing tablet, I think a base model plus the pen would be like 400-430 dollars (assuming your country doesn't add tons of taxes like mine!). So it's on par with those you mention as the cheapest options.

And you get all the other things tablets do.

(Except Fortnite)

@Eel Yes but I am a little worried about the build quality. Also the new iPads do not last that long from normal usage.

But the strongest point of the iPads is ProCreate. Their proprietary drawing app. It is really nice. Still it can't beat Photoshop but I don't see anything that can beat Photoshop in at least 10 years

I've been wanting to use that app. But I figure there isn't much point in buying it if I can't use the pen. So I haven't!

I'm not sure about that. My iPad has been with klutzy old me for 2-3 years now, it looks as good as new. I do use a protective case and a screen protector though.

Perhaps newer ones are worse? Mine came out in 2015.

I do know that software-wise they tend to be supported for about five-six years after launch. Mine is getting there unfortunately.

@Eel The new ones have nice displays but their longevity is questionable .

They also admitted to push iOS updates that intentionally underclock the devices in order to "conserve" the battery (because it is old) but in reality they just try to slowdown your device to make you buy a new one

They do that with old stuff like the iPhone 5/6 etc.

But yeah no reason to use ProCreate without the pen. Unless you want to do some photo editing etc.

Well, the iphone 5-6 are extremely old now. The 5 came out almost a decade ago.

I've heard they still go something like that. But that they've gotten better at it, enough for it to be basically unnoticeable on newer hardware.

Because, as it turns out, it really did have to do with keeping the phone usable. Apparently changing the battery completely solves the issues.

Though of course, changing them is not easy. And apple would prefer if you didn't

@Eel I thought the phones are capsulated and it is impossible to change the battery without some professional help. Still if you have to make all those adjustments to an old phone it is best to buy a new one

That is true for all new phones as well. They are all capsulated and their screens are laminated so if you break your glass you HAVE to change the display as well as they are bound together and it is cost a fortune

I found that the hard way!

Ah yeah the laminated displays, the cost of nice things. It's funny because for the cost of replacing one, you might as well just buy a new device.

It's odd with the iPad, basically all current iPads (mini, pro, air) have laminated displays, except the basic iPad. Even the one they released last month. It's both and advantage and a downgrade at the same time I suppose.

There's repair shops that will change the battery for much cheaper than Apple. But yeah it's a mess of glue and delicate pieces so I don't recommend trying to do it at home.

@MarioLover92 It's very possible that my memory is playing tricks on me with that Apple computer lol. I did inquire about it a few years ago, and it's either buried in storage or was junked at some point. I was dying to know what model it was.

The Atari 2600 shell that I played with was real; someone at my college had mostly gutted one to try to mod it for their human & computer interaction class. They loaded emulated games onto a Raspberry Pi, mounted it in the case, and was trying to configure it so that you could play with a Xbox 360 controller. They were almost there, but they couldn't quite get the controller to work; you had to use a keyboard. That's how I've played a small handful of those games, including Pitfall and the infamous E.T.

Edutainment games get a bad rap sometimes, but there really are some good ones out there. I enjoyed the likes of Math Blaster, the aforementioned Oregon Trail series, the Reader Rabbit games when I was younger, various Carmen Sandiego games, Gizmos and Gadgets, and a few others. For free time when I was in Jr. High, we also had access to some less educational (but still fun) games. Typically computer board games (Clue, The Game of Life, Monopoly, etc.) and a few of the earlier, more kid-friendly Maxis SIM games (SIM Ant, SIM Town, etc.), but I do also fondly remember playing Civilization III.

@Heavyarms55 The amount of space they take up, plus the fact that LEGO really knows how to upcharge for some of their cooler sets, has kept me from going too crazy on that hobby. XD

@Tyranexx Lego has always been pricey but from what I have seen it's even worse than it used to be.

I really don't need any more. I have at least 2 of those huge plastic tubs full of them. You know those big hulking ones they sell for Christmas ornaments and other holiday junk? Yeah those. Unless I need some very specific pieces in a certain color, I have plenty. When I was a kid and even through high school, I had 2 large tables covered in Lego in my parent's basement and still those big boxes underneath. I used to spend hours building and rebuilding. At one point I even wrote a Star Wars fanfic to go with my own Lego Star Wars base. I was a massive, shameless dork and I loved it.

Hard to believe that was over a decade ago now... I must be getting old.