hamefang's recent activity

  1. Comment on What is there to do anymore? in ~talk

    hamefang
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    Learn a new skill. It can be computer related or not, it can take place outside or inside, it can involve other people or not. You can pick and choose what fits you. Some ideas: New sport....

    Learn a new skill. It can be computer related or not, it can take place outside or inside, it can involve other people or not. You can pick and choose what fits you. Some ideas:

    • New sport.
    • Programming. At some point you could use the skill to contribute to an open source project, publish your own project, etc. You could also go for gamedev specifically.
    • Some sort of art. For traditional art, you can look for or organize local art meetups where you do art with a set theme alongside others - some call these "doodle dates" from what I heard.
    • Adding locations to OpenStreetMap database for your area, or volunteering in Humanitarian OpenStreetMap.
    • Repair of all kinds. Electronics, house stuff, etc. Very useful skill to have.
    • Tinkering / crafting. Look for so-called maker workshops near you, they should have a lot of equipment already that you could use and likeminded folks that'll lend you a hand.
    • Running a tabletop game. There are always some folks out there who would love to play but struggle to find a game master. And you can pick to play locally or online.
    • Advanced cooking recipes / techniques.
    • Gardening. See if there are any community gardens near you.
    • Nature photography. You could also organize a bioblitz in your area.
    8 votes

  2. Comment on If you came into a lot of money, what would be the indulgent thing you would buy? in ~talk

    hamefang
    Link
    I would buy the flat adjacent to my bedroom. This way I could get rid of noisy neighbours that live there, and also use the new space for an art studio and a plant growing room.

    I would buy the flat adjacent to my bedroom. This way I could get rid of noisy neighbours that live there, and also use the new space for an art studio and a plant growing room.

    2 votes

  3. 2023 art supplies highlights

    ~creative Ask (survey)
    As the year draws to a close, I've been thinking back on the things I've been using in my craft. I figured folks might like to join me, and it could spark some interesting discussions about...

    As the year draws to a close, I've been thinking back on the things I've been using in my craft. I figured folks might like to join me, and it could spark some interesting discussions about different kinds of artistic tools.

    • What have been your go-to art/craft supplies this year?
    • What have you tried for the very first time?
    • Have you returned to using something you haven't touched in a long while?
    • Have you been pleasantly surprised by something?
    • Has something disappointed you?
    • Was there something you dreamed about making art with, but couldn't get for some reason?
    25 votes

  4. Comment on What did you do this week (and weekend)? in ~talk

    hamefang
    Link
    I've been messing around with my Debian 11 VPS on DigitalOcean. Here's what I accomplished this week: I upgraded PHP from 7.4 to 8.2, which is the minimal required version for something I'm going...

    I've been messing around with my Debian 11 VPS on DigitalOcean. Here's what I accomplished this week:

    • I upgraded PHP from 7.4 to 8.2, which is the minimal required version for something I'm going to attempt to install soon,
    • I set up Samba to have easy access to a few server folders from my personal PC,
    • I created a very simple bash script for backing up a few config files (it makes copies with timestamp in the name to the backup folder),
    • I turned off Mouthful default formatting, so I could personalize it for the two websites I'm using it on.

    I also started watching an 18h-long Django course - I'm currrently 1.5h in.

    From non-tech things, I've been playing a lot of Oxygen Not included, did some drawing (I'm trying to finally finish a very old sketchbook), and started watching a let's play of Echo with my sister.

    2 votes

  5. Comment on How do you journal? in ~talk

    hamefang
    Link
    I personally use Obsidian, together with Obsidian Sync to be able to have access to notes on my phone. Each month gets a note with "YYYY-MM" title (for example, upcoming January would be...

    I personally use Obsidian, together with Obsidian Sync to be able to have access to notes on my phone. Each month gets a note with "YYYY-MM" title (for example, upcoming January would be "2024-01"). One of the things I have within each monthly note is a list of headings for each day of the month, under which I list things that happened on given day in bullet points. It's very simple, and really mostly meant to help me remember what happened when - my memory's not the best about things like that.

    Recently, I also received a beautiful yellow notebook as a gift for my birthday. I'm thinking about using it for taking up more mental health-focused journalling as well. I hope it could become another way, on top of medication I'm currently taking, to help me deal with anxiety.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on Eight questions for anyone who has developed a game (especially with Unity's Engine) in ~games

    hamefang
    Link
    A few tips from me, with a disclaimer that I don't actually have a finished game under my belt, just an in-progress project I work on ocassionally with my friend + a lot of reading/watching...

    A few tips from me, with a disclaimer that I don't actually have a finished game under my belt, just an in-progress project I work on ocassionally with my friend + a lot of reading/watching various resources.

    1. A video game, unless it's very simple and tiny, usually takes at least a few years to make for a solo developer. Just so you have an idea about the time frame here.

    2. It's worth it to search for devlogs on Youtube and see how others are approaching their solo game developer journey. Also check out gamedev communities, such as gamemaking.social and gamedev.place, or look for a Discord servers for users of your pick of game engine.

    3. Write down useful things you learn and figure out as you go. Save cool code snippets and links to recources where you found solutions to your problems, and write down the context for them. Document your game. Document it all. Memory is a faulty thing, and making a game is a long process. Make it harder to forget things about your code and project when you go back to it after a break.

    4. Consider participating in a game jam.

    5. GameFromScratch is an excellent source of gamedev news. I recommend following.

    6. There are many game engines out there. Unity and Unreal are pretty heavy, geared mostly towards big game studios. For a solo indie game, you might want to check out Godot engine instead. It's a free and open source engine, and it has quite a few resources available out there to learn from. Some examples: (1) (2) (3) (4). Also check out this thread on Tildes about Godot.

    7. You can find bundles of various gamedev assets and resources on Humble Bundle on regular basis. There's one for learning Blender up right this moment, which you should probably look into if you are interested in making custom 3D art for your game.

    8. Continuing on with 3D art, Kenney has many free assets that you might want to check out if you decide on a more stylistic rather than realistic approach to game art. Kenney Shape and Asset Forge could also be of interest, although in this case they are paid tools.

    9. If you change your mind about pixel art, Aseprite is probably the best tool to learn in that regard.

    10. Itch.io has a lot of gamedev assets, some free and some paid. It might be worth taking a look to see if there's anything that would fit your project and save you some work.

    11. For game music, check out Kevin MacLeod, and keep an eye out for Humble Bundles with royalty free music.

    4 votes