Oh I adore visual novels and this one looks amazing!! It's just been a while since I've seen one that's customizable, so I somehow didn't even consider the gennre. Thank you, I'll definitely check it out

I'm probably not only "new", I'm a very, what's it called, on-the-surface kind of a participant? My website hardly looks new and modern (both thanks to my lack of coding skills and my geniuine enjoyment of the messy aethetic), but I'm also perhaps not even half as educated on the subject as I should be to call myself part of the web-revival movement fully.

I was a kid when the old web was still around. Actually, I was probably a kid during the very transtion from that web to the new one and never fully witnessed the true old web at all. I'm also not very well-versed in computer science at all.

What I do remember and do miss is frankly the individuality and still a considerable freedom. Customization of things. My experiences with using website builders and making bright eye-bleeding pages stuffed with pictured of my favorite stuff. The word "cringe" not existing in the sense it does now.

These days I've been finding myself growing exponentially frustrated with 1) the lack of meaningful customization and therefore personality, 2) algorithms and 1000 and 1 way to get your content removed or buried, 3) the constant advertisement and sanitization of space to make it even more sellable and 4) the speed of the conversation and how easy it is to engage in conflict. Comment sections are scary, "read today" receipts are a blight, the pressure of being perfect lest someone devides to call you out for nothing is paralyzing, the expectation of being constantly online is tiring.

So when I bumped into this whole web revival thing, for me it was a sudden chance to escape back to that control I felt I had when I was a kid. The ability to present my art however I want, to style it however I want, to add bright colors and obnoxious gifs everywhere again. To talk on forums instead of twitter threads, slowly and with big posts. Although Discord is still everywhere even on the yesterweb, so the speed part is...nor here nor there.

Is simply wanting to take my agency of self-expression and make being online actually enjoyable again instead of soul-sucking a goal enough? Does it really count if in order to show that art to people I'd still have to post the link on actual social media 'cause not everyone moved to Neocities? I honestly don't know.

Glad to be along for the ride though.

I've recently got a full live recording of a rock concert of my favorite artist Nuki/Nookie (Daria Stavrovich, I even have a shrine to her on my website heh) 'cause I've pledged a small sum to her crowdfunding celebrating 10 year anniversary of her solo project.

It's been a blast to watch the video of the concert, and they made an audio album of it too, so now I just need to burn it on a CD and put in my collection

https://nukiband.bandcamp.com/

There are probably multiple things that were formative to me, as is with everyone, but the first thing that comes to mind would probably be the Gurren Lagann anime.

If I had a penny for every time I've confidently recited the whole "believe in me who believes in you" speech to my friends back in my teenage years I'd be rich. Something about the whole spirit of that anime either altered something in my brain or nourished something that was already there. The idea of always moving forward, the very anime concept of yelling in the face of your problems, the idea that sometimes all you need to win is to Not Give Up and Keep Going and Believe, the importance of interpersonal connections, the praise of incomprehensibility and not playing by the rules or listening to people who tell you you'll fail... That spoke to me then, that speaks to me still.

My soul is the drill that will pierce the very heavens!

As a little kid I was also obsessed with a book about Musicians of Bremen. I think that was the book that taught me how to read and boy did I read it. And then as a teen I also went through a huge Speed Racer phase, what with the whole "an underdog wins against corporate scheming because Family, and Doing the Things You Love, and Not Selling Out, and The True Spirit of Racing. (That was a fixation that taught me how to draw, make videos, participate in fandom...oh, and speak English.)

And then my parents who watched it all unfold act all surprised when I can't find it in me to be motivated by monetary gain and capitalistic culture, staying a broke artist instead. Who would've thunk!!

Okay here's the deal, I've read a metric ton of those "10 games with best character creation!" articles that Google gives you, and all of those games on the list I've either played already (read: AAA and AA RPG games from Mass Effect to Greedfall to Baldur's Gate to Dragon's Dogma) or are online games which are just not my cup of tea (see: Monster Hunter). I've also been around the "character customization" tag on Steam, but there are a bunch of games on Steam and I'm running out of patience to scroll them all (and the top of that list is the same names and online titles anyway). Kinda same with itchio.

So I'm turning to peer recommendations, all hopeful and such.

I'm very big on character customization. I'll build a character and I'll play the game and I'll make a bunch of screenshots of every cutscene (if there are cutscenes) and then I'll build a bunch of backstory and headcanons for them on top of the game material and then at some point I will want to create again but whoops I'm out of games till next installment comes out.

So does anyone maybe know some indie or overlooked games, RPGs or fighting, etc etc (I'm not big on stuff like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley tragically, even if they're very cute)?

I play on PC, but a good game would be worth considering an emulator. It also doesn't have to be fantasy - in fact I'd love me something urban or sci-fi or cyberpunk-ish. I'm an urban kid through and through.

(Oh, also, an important criteria that's just my personal peeve: the ability make gender non-conforming characters. Think Saints Row or Dragon's Dogma. Because my soul cracks every time I encounter some beautiful stuff like Black Desert (yes online but I was desperate) and then the only type of a girl character I can create is the girliest girly ever with revealing armor and zero short hair options...SIGH)

I mean, I don't have many hopes riding on this, but I just have this feeling that there's gotta be something I'm missing because I'm not looking the right way

Funny I haven't noticed this thread right away after joining the forum. I could talk for ages about Cyberpunk 2077.

I'll admit that going into the game you have to have no qualms with the grotesque parts of the cyberpunk genre itself (such as total dystopia, ridiculous amount or corporate influence of everything, subsequent oversexualization of every product there is 'cause "sex sells" and yes, copius amounts of crime in which you'll be personally partaking in while playing - this one is not as much a part of the genre as it is a part of the Cyberpunk TTRPG system on which 2077 is based on. You burn bright, you do stupid shit, you go out in a blase of glory and you never have any hope for a happy ending, 'cause the world is that screwed.), and it's DEFINITELY not advised to go in expecting a new GTA, or a New Vegas, or a Mirror's Edge for that matter 'cause that's also a complaint I've seen people have.

It's kinda surprising that Melon got the impression of a 'game for Musk fanboys', since people like that guy are THE evil of cyberpunk, they're everything wrong with this world. Heck, you even get a guy stuck in your head who won't shut up about greedy corporations and inflated entrepreneurs needing to burn in hell. And he has a fair point. There actually was a moment I think where some social media intern of CDPR (the company behind C2077) joked about adding the Cybertruck to the game and the fans tore them a new one 'cause that's...quite literally the opposite of everything Cyberpunk stands for I believe one of the devs shut that idea down real quick for this exact reason. In some ways I got the feeling cyberpunk comments on corporate destruction of individuality and everything good in sort of a similar manner to the way the old web movement currently critiques Web3, just...about life. With explosions and horrifying poverty.

(Sort of a sad thing though that despite the ways they went to depict this whole dystopia it...doesn't feel as grotesque and unbelievable nowadays as it probably was in the 90s when the TTRPG was coined. I've been to seaside resorts that look just like Pacifica multiple times in my life. Sans the crime levels. For now.)

Also btw if I sound pretentious talking about 'understanding cyberpunk' then drop that impression, this game and the TTRPG were my first introductions to the genre and I'm working on my own understandings from there onward

That is a really long prelude to say that I, for one, absolutely fell in love with the game. I have no problem with playing a mercenary character - especially considering that the world of the game is so rotten than you can manage to play a noble killer and that won't be an oxymoron. I'm also...quite prone to videogame violence and playing characters who are ridiculously overpowered and realistically scary as hell while being secretly soft for their loved ones? And Cyberpunk let me do that in spades.

I'm not a big expert on shooting games and what they should flow like to be considered good. It fact, the only action RPG game where I used a gun frequently was Mass Effect, and that game has aim assist turned on my default. Any other game - I'm always playing melee builds, and Cbp2077 made it REALLY satisfying what with all the armor and literal cyber fists you can put on your body. I can turn enemies in bloody mush before they take 1 hp off of me. A friend of mine plays a netrunner build and it's also very entertaining to watch her drop people dead by looking at them. So can't really comment on other people's disappointment re: gunplay, but can say I really liked the combat I'm personally engaging in.

As far as roleplay goes... Okay, coming in hot with a controversial take - I didn't like, say, roleplaying in Dragon Age: Origins much. And I didn't get past, like, the first open world hour in New Vegas. I don't know what is it about me and the RPGs that are universally praised for their roleplaying systems. Perhaps not being able to hear my protagonist REALLY sours it for me, and no variety of dialogue choices can remedy that for me. But then again...I really really really loved VtM: Bloodlines, so that's confusing.

Dialogue options (and a tragic lack of interactable places in the world outside cutscenes) aside, I really actually enjoyed the gameplay part of roleplaying. Aka the fact that most of the missions, be they plot ones or side ones, always have multiple approaches to them. I've done three playthroughs of the game so far and I have cleared one of the side gigs three different ways already - one time by stealthing in, one time by having a really low health and therefore literally jumping around the wall of the compound with a sniper rifle, and one time being heavy on armor and just barging straight in moving everyone down. Every time a fixer tells you to get rid of someone you have an option of a pacifist route (showing the target into the trunk of a car and letting the fixer deal with them on their own). One time I didn't like the task I was given so I spent like an hour looking for a way to get to the guy peacefully and just tell him to scram (and I did! that was an option!). I did a certain side job before a certain plot point and suddenly gained a new dialogue option to weight that quest's outcome against the guy I was threatening. An implant that gives me melee combat advantage also takes away my ability to hack things so I have to be double smart and careful about the goddamn surveillance cameras. I've never ever had this much fun actually thinking about the way I approach things and feeling the actual consequences of my choices.

Did any of my choices actually change the world? Or even the city? Hell no, this is Cyberpunk, I quite literally do not matter to anyone but the five people I kinda became friends with. Which is realistic and is frankly a breath of fresh air after so many stories where you're chosen and/or save the world somehow.

I also actually liked the characters. They've felt real and flawed (although I will say, the male friends/romance interests feel much more underdeveloped, but I love women, so I'm doing great), and some of their quests packed a serious emotional punch, especially when playing for the first time and being absolutely unprepared for those. The deaths that happened affected me, the break ups that can happen came as a genuine pain and the final choice was hecking emotional. Once again, will admit - it would be nice if they didn't become static and chained to one spot after their questlines end, but, well. I'm a PC player. There's a mod for that.

Have I mentioned that I can talk about this game for ages? Do you believe me yet?

The main story itself I'd say only suffers from the fact that it's all urgent-urgent plot-wise, but then you somehow have time to do all those side things. That's a curse many RPGs suffer from in different proportions, but still, it's kinda glaring. Hardly ruined anything for me though.

I've been playing literally since day one, so that's two years by now, and as I mentioned in another thread I can spend hours just running around in there still.

I'm also a crazy soul who actually likes the driving system in the game. I suck at driving in any other videogame and I don't have a license IRL, but in Cyperpunk 2077 I'm suddenly considerably good. While everyone else is howling in pain. Oh well. Good for me I guess :cheesy:D

Anyway this is enough of a love letter I think, especially since this is a thread from November. Props to the chooms who actually read all of this

I've rewamped my layout a little bit in the most inefficient way possible and also added art gallery and fanfic directory to my site (well, may have had to actually build the gallery on another url 'cause images are scary in terms of space and I already have a webcomic to host, but that's good, now I have a separate art-portfolio if I ever need it)

Feeling hecking tired but accomplished

(Don't tell me my index page is not very responsive I know((( That is for me to figure out in 2023)

I really really like dandelions.

So I took the latin name for them and tweaked it. Hum is for 'some random hooman' and the double r is...for flavor!

It's really all there is, to be honest. I was looking for a new nickname to detach from the old one that has way too many real life connections and then I came up with this idea on the spot

Ooooh desktop sharing!

Mine is currently inspired by my very sudden bout of obsession with Cyberpunk Synthwave so here we are.

Customized with Rainmeter and all the mess (and trust me, there's a mess) hidden with Fences

I watch a couple of reaction channels mainly. Because I have this thing where when I've watched something and really liked it, I immediately want to re-live those first time emotions by showing it to someone else. And once all my friends either watched it or ran away sufficiently far enough, but I'm still not satisfied - I go to YouTube reactions for the same effect of watching a thing you like with someone else while intently observing their reaction. I have a couple of youtubers who react "the right way", so once they're watching something that I like - I'm there, lol.

I also like a couple of channels with "quirky internet lore" like Izzzyzzz and Strange Aeons, for, well, the quirky internet lore and the adjacent content. I don't listen to podcasts - don't have the attention span - so these kinds of essays work well instead sometimes

Okay I'm back, can confirm, scmplayer does not work in iframes

looks like it could be right up your alley, i'll hafta look further into it

I will look into it, thanks! From what I see at the first glance it still uses mp3s stored on the website or elsewhere, and I'd hoped to cheat the system with SCM's ability to play from YouTube, but maybe I just need to bite the bullet and load some songs onto a dropbox

I honestly don't know how to formulate that title any better than this.

So here's the thing. There's this music player for tumblr themes and websites, SCM Music Player. Great thing, lets you choose a skin or even build your own, lets you create a playlist using YouTube videos (which means you don't have to upload mp3s anywhere), etc.

And I had this brilliant idea to have multiple of such players on a page by sticking them inside separate sections of an HTML table.

Well, what I'm quickly learning is that the script for the SCM player is coded in a way that it can only stick to the top or the bottom of the whole page, and putting the script code inside the td section of the table code does nothing to change that.

Which is where I'm faced with the brutal realization that I don't know JS that well (I'm mostly at "putting bricks of pre-made code together" stage of my website making experience…) to know how to do the thing I want to do.

For context, the code for the player looks like this:

Code

<!-- SCM Music Player https://www.scmplayer.net -->
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.scmplayer.net/script.js" 
data-config="{'skin':'skins/cyber/skin.css','volume':50,'autoplay':false,'shuffle':false,'repeat':1,'placement':'top','showplaylist':false,'playlist':[{'title':'VALKILLY -TOKYO RED (HUBRID Remix)','url':'[youtube]G3rLA60DVc4[/youtube] in Reverse-Zombified','url':'[youtube]MP9ELP-bjMs[/youtube] ></script>
<!-- SCM Music Player script end -->

And the corresponding script goes thusly and scares my newbie butt with its complexity.

And what I had in my head before I got the reality check looks like this (roughly mocked up; the table is borderless but basically every element is in its own section, this is a 3x2 table):



Soooo this is the point where I gesture to all of this helplessly and ask if anyone would be so kind and point me to whatever could be done with the table code or the script (suppose I could download it to tweak) to make my vision come true and squish the player in that table frame.

Or to some other way to make a YouTube powered music player that could be squished into a table more easily.

Or just tell me that I'm in over my head, that works too!

Might be the local version stored in your browser cache (or something), usually when I check it out with another browser the site has updated and my main browser follows a bit later. Try ctrl+F5 for a complete reload from the server instead of cache?

Damn you're a life savior. I've been fuming because I couldn't see the changes from any of my browsers (despite them claiming that there's no cash related to my website, filthy liars) and it was driving me nuts not knowing if the changes implemented right

Went around this forum to distract myself, stumbled upon this topic, boom. I can finally see now. I'll need to remember this key combination for later.

Couldn't just NOT say thank you ahah

Nowadays my videos are like 10 seconds and the audio is something funny and I make the characters on screen say it. Way less of a hassle ^^'''

I mean, I can totally get it. First of all, short funny vids with characters saying incorrect quotes (or the like) are a genre of their own and those I do like. But I also get the hustle part. Like, every time I suddenly get inspired to make a MV I'm swearing and asking myself "WHY did I think it's a good idea:dunno:" in, like, a minute.

But then again, the way I approach many things probably looks masochistic for an outsider. If I'm not cursing then I'm probably not properly interested in what I'm doing

It makes me sad that today's generation considers these "cringe" or whatever. I've always found them fun to watch and a good way of finding new songs and bands that I like.

Honestly I still enjoy them no matter what the current-day culture thinks of it. People are always offended by something anyway.

I will say, I haven't exactly seen anyone call them "cringe". The percentage of full AMVs compared to short edits has just dropped, and to me it seems like it's harder to find full AMVs to some titles than it used to be, while the shorts are galore. That being said, they are still out there and I treasure every good one.

(Honestly I still think your fandom ship hasn't made it till there's at least one T.a.T.u song or an "Every time we touch" AMV made about them :grin:smile:

Oh, I've watched AMVs, I've made AMVs, I still make AMVs from time to time (and GMVs, a.k.a. Game Music Videos, and all other kinds of fandom MVs). Not Mew Mew though, and all my works that are worth showing would be of the 10s and even 20s, and the only videos I've made in teeechnically the late 00s would be Speed Racer movie edits, so not even AMVs…and with not much of "editing" involved Still love them as landmarks of where I've started though.

I will say I've always enjoyed making a music video that incorporates the whole song or at least most of it, like, whole 2:30 - 5:30 duration range. Yes, that's a lot of work, but you could really tailor the scenes to match the lyrics, maybe add some quotes, some people even did whole alternative plots with editing. So the format speaks to me.

Nowadays I'm a grumpy grandpa shaking my cane at "kids" and their 5-seconds-long rapid-fire edits where you can barely see the character before it's over and half the frames are repeating, I mean sure they're also complicated to make (I've tried! My respect!), but where's the fun in that? I still make my AMVs (etc.) long, even though they're out of fashion

Now to actually contribute to the time period of the topic: combing through AMVs that are not mine but I very often rewatch, the oldest I can give you is 13 years old, so again, technically still the 00s! Love the song, love the editing, love the characters, so…