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    12. What did you do this week (and weekend)?

      ~talk Ask (survey)
      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do...

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!

      17 votes

    13. What does your spirituality mean to you?

      ~humanities Ask
      In lieu of a ~spirituality group I figured a dedicated thread could be nice. Posting in this group was suggested by a fellow tildo. So friends, what does your spirituality mean to you? How would...

      In lieu of a ~spirituality group I figured a dedicated thread could be nice. Posting in this group was suggested by a fellow tildo.

      So friends, what does your spirituality mean to you? How would you define yourself? What impact has it had on your life?

      For me, I'm a Christopagan and my faith means a lot to me. The Christian Trinity, Santa Muerte, and Krishna are my rock. The Buddha is a good source of inspiration too, but I don't particularly follow him. I also find a lot of meaning in the Tao de Ching, but I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a Taoist, although I agree with a lot of what it says .

      25 votes

    14. With Map in hand : Finding maps for your VTT RPG

      ~games.tabletop Text 1692 words
      I've been GMing games for years and over the last few transitioned to Online VTT, first Cypher System, then PF2e. My first online campaign was a little off the wall, magic versus technology,...

      I've been GMing games for years and over the last few transitioned to Online VTT, first Cypher System, then PF2e. My first online campaign was a little off the wall, magic versus technology, barbarian party learning that guns and space battles were a thing, aliens and robotic overloads.

      What's more my party tended to blow up stuff and wreck most maps in one session, so in the end I got into making maps or desperately looking for maps everywhere I could.

      So, I thought maybe people could use some of what I've found in their own searches (disclaimer, I don't sell any of my maps, free to all, and I have no connection with any of the pay-for ones, but I've subscribed to most of them at one time or another!)

      Map Tools

      The idea in VTT RPG is to make a map image and import that into your game tool (Such as Roll20 or Foundry) then overlay tiles, tokens, walls etc onto it. The single map image is most, if not all of what you need.

      This is just a short list of what I have tried, lots more than this out there.
      • Dungeondraft One of the best mapping programs and the one I use the most. Offline and stand alone, also encompasses a good default art style of the base assets
      • Inkarnate Online tool that requires a subscription, pretty good, I started out with it and sill occasionally use to make world maps rather than battle maps but can do both.
      • Wonderdraft Dungeondraft but for world maps. I do not make enough of these to have warranted buying it so never tried it
      • Dungeon Alchemist A "AI" driven map creator in Early Access. Can knock out stuff in seconds but I don't like the art style. Good if you need a dungeon in 5 minutes

      Map styles

      There are a couple of popular styles if you are picky about that sort of thing, though mostly important if you want to make your own maps and are looking for asset packs.

      The asset styles you find seem to fall in roughly two forms:

      • Dungeondraft default style. Flat. Line art, less detail
      • Forgotten Adventures (short form FA) Still hand drawn (not rendered) but more detailed computer art style

      Some people prefer the first style due to simplicity, others like the second but some may find it more gamey.

      There is also the "rendered" style that Dungeon Alchemist uses, but that's REALLY gamey to my eyes. I believe there are third party libraries for it but never really looked.

      Lastly, there is the unique art style of hard drawn art that lots of artist draw their battle maps in.

      When I chose a style I went Forgotten Adventures. You can't really mix the two main ones when making your own map, looks horrible. I also found that of the various styles, FA could be matched with many hand drawn styles.

      Maps

      Ok the meat, and what I meant to post before I got side tracked!

      Note most of the sites I am posting above can be used offline on a table top game by just printing the maps out, though I've never tried this.

      My own maps tend heavily towards space and the magic/tech mix due to the campaign. They are in the Forgotten Adventures style. Free to use, including the ones on my Patreon (DON'T SUBSCRIBE TO IT! I started working on making more maps but then got too involved in GMing the game and ran out of time)

      • My main free library ~35 maps, space, ground, some bunkers and others. All in WEBP for faster loading
      • My Patreon, no subscribe! Only take! Only a few maps and then the campaign finished, space ships mostly and then it gets weird if you go back further and find it was a MMORPG Kit tutorial Patreon :/

      Other peoples maps amazing I've found!

      Science Fiction or Modern

      These maps cover mostly futuristic themes such as cyberpunk, world war 2, space ships and so on
      • Hyperdrive Fleet An AMAZING selection of space ships, engine rooms, and space shipy related stuff.
      • Moonlight Maps Scifi A paired Patreon channel to the Moonlight below but for scifi maps. Building interiors, some assets (Vehicles for example), space forests, malls. Flatish style with few shadows?
      • de-Zigner Um, steam punk art? Really cool hand drawn art style, I guess has a mix between modern punk and undead fantasy things.
      • Cracked|Compass This is not the entire library for this mapper, but they do some AMAZING World War 2 maps and several are available on their Inkarnate page. More are available on Reddit in various posts

      Fantasy

      Basic fantasy maps, ruins, temples and the like. Useful for most games
      • Forgotten Adventures A medium size collection of Fantasy maps with some great maps, and has some integration with Foundry complete with walls and actions to switch out parts of some maps on the fly (if you are into that sort of thing)
      • Limithron Lots of pirate ships, islands, water and sea based maps, boats, whales.
      • Cze and Peku Fantasy stuff, hand drawn so may not fit with your campaign style but a LOT of art, A little closer to the Dungeondraft style than FA, LOTS of fantasy stuff, temples, ruins, some ships.
      • Moonlight Maps Again generic (good) fantasy stuff, temples, ruins, villages. Lot of art available, style is of the school of flat line art more than anything.
      • Tom Cartos Has a large asset library which pairs well with FA assets but the maps are what we are here for. Has been expanding recently into 3D scene pictures to accompany the maps recently. Lots of temples, dungeons, inns, villages etc.
      • Bearworks FA style? Lots of fantasy items, had a lot of desert maps which is what I was attracted to. Otherwise standard dungeons and ruins. They do come in very high PPI if required
      • Seafoot games Lots of maps here in a flat DD style. Got some audio mixs. I used their shipwreck maps for a while.
      • Stained Karbon Very stylistic cartoon hand drawn maps of the most bizarre stuff. I've grabbed a few of the free ones but never had the chance to use them. If you need a sword driven through 4 maps of various styles of terrain, then this is the map maker for you
      • Ataraxian Bear VERY clean lined cartoon maps, lots of water and islands. Slightly different style from most but still very nice art so unless you are fussy there are some nice maps here!
      • Borough Bound Some large scale project maps here, as in entire cities with all the moving parts, campaign information, stories, multiple parts of the city etc. You can grab a selection and have a entire city for your players to explore.

      Speciality environments

      These are specific mappers that may concentrate on one unique game theme
      • Gamers Cortex Lots of battle maps of flying wooden sailing ships, all with wings, above and below decks images. They are also beginning to include Foundry VTT files with walls and lights.

      Phased Battle Maps

      Ok this is a niche thing, most of these mappers make various map types, scifi, modern or fantasy, but what sets them aside is the maps come in variants, phases, so you can change the map over time, say every combat round, as the environment changes. Water flowing in and flooding a village, a fire burning down a town hall, bridges breaking etc.
      • Domille's Wondrous Works The main reason Phased battle maps exist! DWW has a lot of these but also has an addon for Foundry to help you use them. I've used a lot of their maps over the years and found the addon stable and works well. Drawn in their own hand drawn art style.
      • Balatro A good alternative to DWW above, lots of maps, Nice style similar to FA in the later maps, more like Dungeondraft in earlier. Boat battles, buildings struck my lightening. List goes on

      Asset Libraries

      Collections of assets to be used when MAKING maps
      • Forgotten Adventures the main alternative for most map makers to the default assets. This is an amazing selection of art,
      • White Fox Works basically just an asset library all matching the FA assets nicely. They started I believe to fill the gaps of FA assets and have done some REALLY well... ALong with FA this is the single most important asset library in my toolkit.
      • Tom Cartos Mentioned in maps but he has a asset library that pairs well with the FA style. Mostly Fantasy but a small section is scifi which I abused a lot in my maps.
      • Hellscape Assets Mostly scifi assets, does not fit the FA style all that well but has a lot of art so may be worth trying. May work with DD style? Some maps, some modern stuff
      • Captain Tom Asset Emporium Amazing Sci-Fi asset packs, many options but a little flatter than FA assets. Can be made to work with FA but more like the DD style

      Tokens

      Ok forgot about these, tokens for player and NPCS!
      • Forgotten Adventures Again FA! Lots of tokens, monsters etc. Lots are free and variants cost money
      • The League of Raconteur Explorers (LORE) A mixture of assets, scifi, maybe steampunk-ish. All really nice and varied. The assets are available FREE from their discord but the Patreon allows you to support the artist and download the assets in a better format and nicely catalogued
      • de-Zigner Some amazing tokens, very stylistic so may not match other token you are using unless you use these for the entire campaign, and honestly you could. Plague zombies, cyber warriors and cyborgs. Lots to unpack here.

      Animations

      Animated movies/gifs etc that can be overlaid on your maps to provide some bling. Fire, explosions etc
      • JB2A Animations If you want to animate spells etc in your game I've only tried JB2A. Free ones and endless updated every month! There may be others but I never needed to look!

      There is more than this of course, but I just wanted to put down what I'd found. Hope it helps someone!

      18 votes

    16. Deep thoughts on tattoos and tattooing culture

      ~hobbies Ask (survey)
      This is my first post so please let me know if I'm doing anything incorrectly! I'm not very clear on how tags work... Apologies. I'm curious if there are many tattoo enthusiasts around. I love...

      This is my first post so please let me know if I'm doing anything incorrectly! I'm not very clear on how tags work... Apologies.

      I'm curious if there are many tattoo enthusiasts around. I love both talking about and looking at tattoos. I have found that more visual-focused places like Instagram or even Reddit don't really allow much conversation on the nuances of the industry, its artists, artistry, criticisms, and so on.

      I am a heavily tattooed woman, which is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I'm happy in my own body. A curse because being fetishized makes me uncomfortable.

      I both love and hate tattoos entering more into the mainstream. As that as happened, artistry has come leaps and bounds alongside it.

      Anyone have any deep thoughts on tattoos and modern tattoo culture?

      32 votes

    18. I need casual, easy going games to help me relax. So, Tildes, what you got?

      ~games Ask (recommendations)
      I like to play games. So I guess I'm a "gamer"? But: I'm not into arena shooters, MMORPMRPORG grinders, anything with endless cutscenes of exposition and absolutely nothing that needs a "pass" to...

      I like to play games. So I guess I'm a "gamer"? But: I'm not into arena shooters, MMORPMRPORG grinders, anything with endless cutscenes of exposition and absolutely nothing that needs a "pass" to play... so where's my games? I feel like there's nothing for casual-but-not-candy-crush-or-clash-of-clans players like me out there.

      I want something that takes me back to the days of Roller Coaster Tycoon, Sim City 2000 or more recently, Stardew that's not going to make my blood boil or nickel-and-dime me to progress. That doesn't mean it needs to be cute or easy, but more... meditative? Or goofy?

      Given the crowd here I figured you lot would probably have some good recommendations. So: fire away!

      79 votes

    19. Norway Chess 2023 | GothamChess YouTube recaps

      ~games.tabletop Text 446 words
      Background The 2023 Norway Chess is an elite over-the-board tournament in Stavanger, Norway. The event starts on May 29 at 10 a.m. PT/19:00 CEST with a blitz tournament, followed by a classical...

      Background

      The 2023 Norway Chess is an elite over-the-board tournament in Stavanger, Norway. The event starts on May 29 at 10 a.m. PT/19:00 CEST with a blitz tournament, followed by a classical event beginning May 30 at 8 a.m. PT/17:00 CEST.

      This edition of Norway Chess features a kr$2,500,000 prize fund, roughly equivalent to $234,000 at the time of writing.

      Format

      The 2023 Norway Chess features a blitz tournament that precedes the classical event. The final standings of the blitz event determine players' seeds for the classical event.

      Blitz Event
      • 10-player single round-robin.
      • Players earn 1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw, and 0 for a loss.
      • The time control is 3+2.
      • In case there's a tie, the following tiebreakers apply:
      1. Direct Encounter
      2. Sonneborn-Berger
      3. Koya System
      4. The Koya System Extended
      5. Drawing of lots

      The winner of the blitz event picks their pairing number. The remaining players pick their pairing number, one by one, according to their final standings in the blitz tournament.

      Classical
      • 10-player single round-robin.
      • Players earn 3 points for a win, 1.5 for a draw and armageddon win, 1 for a draw and armageddon loss, and 0 for a loss.
      • Players can't draw by agreement before Black's 30th move, unless it's an armageddon game.
      • The time control is 120 minutes for the entire game, with a 10-second increment per move starting on move 41.
      • In case there's a tie, players contest an armageddon game where White has 10 minutes on their clock and Black has seven, with a one-second increment starting on move 41. Black has draw odds. The player who played White in the classical game plays White in the armageddon.
      Classical Tiebreaks

      If two players tie for first place, the following tiebreakers apply:

      • A two-game blitz Playoff match with a 3+2 time control.
      • If the tie persists, players contest another two-game blitz match.
      • If still drawn, players contest an armageddon game. White gets 10 minutes, and Black gets 7 minutes with draw odds. The armageddon game has a one-second increment per move, starting on move 41.

      If more than two players tie for first place, the following tiebreakers apply:

      • Drawn players contest a double round-robin with the same tiebreakers as the blitz tournament.

      Players

      Below is a list of the players confirmed to play in the 2023 Norway Chess tournament:

      • GM Magnus Carlsen
      • GM Alireza Firouzja
      • GM Anish Giri
      • GM Wesley So
      • GM Hikaru Nakamura
      • GM Fabiano Caruana
      • GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
      • GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov
      • GM Gukesh D
      • GM Aryan Tari

      Source: Chess.com

      16 votes

    20. Linux newbies: ask your questions

      ~comp Ask
      Whether you're new to distro installs or aiming to delve deeper, feel free to ask any questions here - remember, no question is stupid! I'll do my best to answer, and if I can't, someone here...

      Whether you're new to distro installs or aiming to delve deeper, feel free to ask any questions here - remember, no question is stupid!

      I'll do my best to answer, and if I can't, someone here likely can, or at least guide you in the right direction.

      Background: I've been a Linux user since 2007, starting with Ubuntu Feisty Fawn after losing my Windows XP product key. I've performed countless installs, worked in web hosting NOCs, and use multiple distros daily, including Proxmox.

      If you prefer, don't hesitate to PM me directly!

      30 votes

    24. Are there any communities for black users on Tildes?

      ~life Ask
      Hi, I'm a mod of several black-focused communities on reddit and haven't seen much black community on tildes since making my account ages ago. I know we can't make our own communities yet, which...

      Hi, I'm a mod of several black-focused communities on reddit and haven't seen much black community on tildes since making my account ages ago. I know we can't make our own communities yet, which is disappointing.

      39 votes

    31. Disney is staring down the barrel of a no good, very bad year

      ~movies Text 580 words
      The Little Mermaid opened this Memorial Day weekend. Pre-sales, being the tickets that people buy in advance, were looking strong. It looked like it would open to over 100 for the 3-day weekend,...

      The Little Mermaid opened this Memorial Day weekend. Pre-sales, being the tickets that people buy in advance, were looking strong. It looked like it would open to over 100 for the 3-day weekend, and 130 for the 4-day. Potentially the highest opening weekend for Memorial Day ever.

      That didn't happen. While it had a strong opening day, it failed to keep up the pace for the rest of the weekend. Ultimately opening under 100 for the 3-day weekend. The expected casual audience, referred to as "walk-ups" didn't show up in the numbers that were expected (based on past live-action Disney films). Hollywood trades are seemingly ignoring this, most of them calling the opening weekend a success.

      While the Domestic opening weekend is certainly not bad, it's worldwide opening weekend is terrible. Internationally the film opened behind Fast X's second weekend. It's acting closer to Dumbo, a big bomb for Disney in 2019, than any of the successful live-action Disney films. Domestically, also, the film is acting closer to Solo, another bomb, than Aladdin (which had amazing legs).

      Why this happened is still being debated. Some say that having a black lead turned off a lot of the international audience, others say they were turned off from a lack of a big star in the film (like say Will Smith in Aladdin or Emma Watson in Beauty and the Beast). Whatever the case is for the international audience, it's clear that there was a total market rejection of the film. Domestically, it seems like casual audiences are experiencing a bit of fatigue with these live-action movies (perhaps due to all the bad ones going straight to Disney+).

      And maybe, perhaps, Disney betting big on Disney+ in 2022 while the other studios started to refocus on theatrical, was a mistake. Maybe that's diluted the Disney brand in all forms.

      But whatever it is, Disney now has two bombs on their hands. Ant-Man failed to make a profit and now Little Mermaid is unlikely to reach that as well (considering the huge 250 million dollar budget on it). And the rest of the year is not looking any better for them.

      Disney went to Cannes with Indiana Jones and Elemental. Which we all assumed was a sign of confidence in the films. That ended backfiring as both Indiana and Elemental ended up rotten on RT. Now they have to deal with a negative reception for both films, on top of the fact that there was very little excitement for both to begin with. Pixar, and Disney animation as a whole, is now looking at back to back to back bombs (Lightyear, Strange World, and now Elemental). Indiana Jones had an inflated budget of 300 million and now looks like it won't break even either.

      Haunted Mansion might surprise, but it's gonna be a tough ladder to climb considering the really big 150 million dollar budget.

      The Marvels will need to be as well received as Guardians in order not to be Ant-Man'd out of existence, which most people are not expecting, especially as you need to watch two TV shows to understand it.

      Wish could finally be a win for Disney's animation department, but considering the track record I wouldn't count on it.

      It's really not looking good for Disney, what a fall considering the immense success they experienced in 2019. They really might just end up with one success this year (Guardians).

      38 votes

    32. Parents who have more than two children, what was the transition from two to three like?

      ~life Ask
      My wife and I have two kids, 3 and 1. We’ve talked about the possibility of adding another kid into the mix, but have gone back and forth. What was your main experience going from 2-3? Pros, cons,...

      My wife and I have two kids, 3 and 1. We’ve talked about the possibility of adding another kid into the mix, but have gone back and forth.

      What was your main experience going from 2-3? Pros, cons, everything in between!

      22 votes

    35. I just submitted my first ever merge request!

      ~tildes Text 135 words
      After reviewing all the beginner friendly tags on the GitLab and figuring out easy answers the hard way, I finally made my first merge request for issue #700 to an open-source project! It isn't...

      After reviewing all the beginner friendly tags on the GitLab and figuring out easy answers the hard way, I finally made my first merge request for issue #700 to an open-source project! It isn't much, and probably took me 10x the amount of time it would take for someone who knows what they are doing, and it probably has some issues that needs to be worked out (although I tried to test as thoroughly as possible), I still submitted it. Even if it doesn't get accepted, I'm sure if someone wants to pick up my pieces, they can do so and build out this functionality in a better way.

      I just wanted to share and put it out there that you don't have to be a master programmer to make contributions to this site))

      30 votes

    42. Apple Vision Pro and Vision OS Review Megathread

      ~tech Ask
      I figured it'll be easiest to consolidate discussion of all these in one place. As you find more good, thoughtful ones feel free to comment it and I'll edit them into this list. Overall...

      I figured it'll be easiest to consolidate discussion of all these in one place. As you find more good, thoughtful ones feel free to comment it and I'll edit them into this list.

      Overall impressions seem very positive. LTT, in particular, tends to be pretty comfortable being critical of Apple and even he seems impressed (though I think his is the only review that doesn't have a hands-on component.

      The Bloggers:

      Daring Fireball: https://daringfireball.net/2023/06/first_impressions_of_vision_pro_and_visionos
      Nilay Patel: https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/5/23750003/apple-vision-pro-hands-on-the-best-headset-demo-ever

      The Vloggers:

      iJustine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtCEGztr8cw
      MKBHD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFvXuyITwBI&t=917s
      Linus Tech Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqB0lUcqFbA
      Snazzy Labs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUblFIaZKIk
      Norman Chan (via Adam Savage Tested): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0HBzePUmZ0

      30 votes

    43. What have you been listening to this week?

      ~music Ask (survey)
      What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as...

      What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)

      Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.

      You can make a chart if you use last.fm:

      http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/

      Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.

      38 votes

    45. Happy Pride, everyone! Any of y’all doing anything fun this month?

      ~lgbt Ask (survey)
      My fiancée and I are going to Provincetown, MA to celebrate both Pride and her birthday. Her mothers used to take her to Ptown every summer as a kid, so as an ally I’m looking forward to soaking...

      My fiancée and I are going to Provincetown, MA to celebrate both Pride and her birthday.

      Her mothers used to take her to Ptown every summer as a kid, so as an ally I’m looking forward to soaking up the positive vibes and getting to know this place that’s so special to her. I’ve been learning more about the town and what it’s meant to the LGBTQ+ community over the last few decades.

      It shouldn’t have had to be a hideaway but it’s so cool that such a place exists and that it feels so separate from the rest of the country via that long drive out on the Cape.

      The world is certainly a scary place right now but this month is full of so much love. Are any of y’all going to any parades or events to celebrate?

      46 votes

    50. What are some of the symbols or rituals that make you feel more connected spiritually?

      ~humanities Ask (survey)
      I was inspired by this comment by @rogue_cricket in another discussion on spirituality. I was going to simply reply, but I think it could be a fun, new topic for recommendations and it didn't seem...

      I was inspired by this comment by @rogue_cricket in another discussion on spirituality. I was going to simply reply, but I think it could be a fun, new topic for recommendations and it didn't seem to fit the overall conversation over there. Since I'm brand new, let me know if I'm doing this wrong and if I should just reply instead.

      So what are everyone's symbols or rituals? Whether you are Christian, Buddhist, Athiest, Agnostic, Muslim, etc., what are some things that make you feel more connected?

      Here's my contribution:

      A little context: I call myself agnostic. I believe there might be something bigger out there, but that it doesn't make much sense to put a face to it or try to figure out what it wants from us. Since I don't prescribe to any particular religion, I have come up with my own ways to feel the serenity of connecting with whatever it is (The Universe, God, Nature, etc.):

      Tibetan Singing Bowls:

      My friend bought a big, expensive, crystal bowl that I used several times while meditating. The vibrations are supposed to resonate with and activate the chakras in your body. I found a smaller, more affordable set on Amazon. While they don't have the same gut-vibrating power as the large, crystal bowl, they still help my meditation sessions immensely by giving me something to focus on.

      Character Asset Stones:

      As a member of a 12-Step program, we are supposed to constantly work on weakening our character defects by strengthening our character assets, but I always seem to have trouble remembering them in the moment. My sponsor suggested painting words such as "kindness," "generosity," "honesty," and "forgiveness" on small river stones. I will randomly pick one out of a fish bowl before I leave the house every day, and carry it in my pocket, reminding me all day to work on that one particular character asset. I feel that little spark of connection and a sense of satisfaction every time I get to practice my asset for the day.

      Sitting Quiety and Observing:

      This one is very hard for me, as my brain always defaults to wanting to scroll something or do something. I've found that it works best if I have something interesting to focus on. I'm fortunate enough to live near the beach, so sometimes I will just go watch the waves for a while. Sometimes I people watch on the patio of Starbucks. It's important for me to leave my phone elsewhere, or I'll want to pull it out and check texts-emails-reddit-grindr-blah-blah-blah. But sitting quietly and just being for a little while, enjoying the sights and sounds, "stopping to smell the roses," makes me feel connected to the Universe.

      I'm looking forward to some more ideas...

      13 votes