My fakemon dump

[feather-flower]

But I'm ready to move on to a real programming language.

Ah, I see.

Well, either way, may it be a smooth transition going forward.

Right now I'm struggling heavily with gen 2's final evolution. My artistic process is, it looks horrible until it looks awesome, and I haven't quite hit that last step. But, he just isn't jiving with gen 2's graphical style.

***snip***

But with gen 2, while white and black are fixed, the other two colors are whatever you want. And just that little bit gives pokemon so much more life.

Unfortunate to hear that the increase in graphical capability has presented you with that dilemma.

The only thing that occurs to my mind is to simply iterate different versions with different colour palettes and chose whichever best represents the dynamic you're aiming towards.

Which is likely what you're already doing behind the scenes anyway.

The back sprites by the way are way different, which is why I'm redrawing them all. Gen 1 is 28x28. Gen 2 is 48x48. So much more freedom, but it requires rethinking each one from scratch to get it going..

Gotta say that even the official creatures' back-sprites generally looked like blobs of pixels with only vague clues as to what Pokemon it was meant to be.

So, even if you have to re-draw yours for the second generation, please know that yours were plenty recognizable between the two viewing angles.

Already my angel pokemon has this kind of going on, breaking the rules of reality to exist in this plane. I have another in mind but, it would easily be at home in a Blizzard or Mass Effect property. I want to go as off the wall as possible, make some truly crazy extra-dimensional ideas in the future..

Your future angel design definitely sound ambitious.

And the only example that I am personally aware of, that sorta reseble a "MISSINGNO-but-on-purpose" is actually turning 20 years old this year itself: the "Data Bugs" in the dotHACK// quadrilogy.

But those were just "regular" game-models covered in glitchy stuff.

Where-as, your idea appears to consider the effect that transcendent entities might have on the very environment itself.

Which, again, could be the blueprint for some clever concepts!

You've criticized yourself for your lack of artistic terminology, but honestly this is all that's needed. You were able to communicate yourself well here.
But, I wrote this years ago. This was just an example of stuff I've written that could fit in with the style you were hoping for. I could rather easily write something like this for pokemon, and it would be something that only a Gameboy chip could produce. But you know, opportunity cost.

I shall keep that in mind then.

And I did comprehend that this piece was both old material and not originally intended for PKMN BGM.

But, either way, as you say, "cost/benefit" ratio might not afford the time/effort. So no worries.

I would greatly appreciate it.

And as indicated by this post on June 21st: https://www.pso-world.com/forums/sho...=1#post3482169
I did end up vibing with your "Palace On The Endless Sea" song.

Difficult to assess "why".

The moodiness of the track simply struck me at the right time, I suppose.

And the actual notes being played were a more enjoyable combination than the other songs.

Don't normally gravitate to piano-centric music, which comprises the bulk of what I sampled at your Soundcloud profile.

Yet, this song's selection of instruments very visually evoked my imagination of a character contemplating deeply at the edge of a half-sunken temple while staring out upon a seemingly infinite oceanscape. (Which also alludes to the internal churning of emotion during such ruminations).

In the end, I simply give thanks that you shared this piece of highly atmospheric music.

It really is. I haven't been able to get anything like this from anything else, ever.

Indeed.

It's actually funny because when I first came here, before I stopped actually playing PSO (....and eventually all games in general....), at that time, I didn't fully understand why people would post stuff so actively here when they could be doing the same thing "in-game", back when the servers were active.

Yet, I slowly grew to comprehend the different dynamic of "communication only" interaction, without any audio/video immersion.

And, obviously, the Fan Works section allowed people to express themselves artistically in ways that were impossible within the PSO Ep 1&2 game proper.

(To say nothing of the silliness that went on in Fresh Kills Landfill. Especially when both Youtube and Wikipedia were basically brand new.)

This goes for everyone. At the time of writing, this has 300 views. I know that it counts the same person multiple times, but this at at 6 posts it's easy to estimate that around 50 people have been peaking into this thread. If anyone is interested at anything at all, no matter what you have to say, we're all interested in hearing it.

True.

But: it ould be my "bad karma" for not posting anything over all those years though.

(Sooooooooooooooooooo, sorry Zorafim if it's my fault everybody else here is suddenly silent.)

Yeah hopefully I have something to show soon!

Noted.

(And it looks like there ARE two more posts below, so it seems some updates have arrived!!)

and I want to live in this world where everyone can see their creations come to life.

As lame as it might sound though, just remember: "With great power.... comes great responsibility."

Seriously. We ALL must consider things with forethought of the potential repercussions, and be careful what we create.

I thought it over, and it makes more sense to post progress as I make it instead of in one big batch. So I'll be going over what I've finished in gen 2 so far.

Understood.

The two biggest changes between gen 1 and 2 is:
1: The back sprite is now 48 pixels instead of 28,

***snip***

2: Colors.

May abundant inspiration overflow from within and allow you to bypass any spot you get stuck!

But for now, I'll just post what I'm done with.

The nose was actually really hard to do. I need half pixels in order to draw it well. I had to get creative with the different colored pixels I had to give it shape.

And as you said yourself, the end result is worth it!

Good job on finding the right slope-shape for your character's nose-curvature!

This whole set gave me problems. .

Sorry that these creatures's updates were rough on you.

But the colours DO help visually clarify what was going on in their designs, which had me perplexed in the first batch.

the physical/special split.

Maybe it's my memory being wrong.... but wasn't the split between Physical and Special moves only done in the 4th Generation?

And weren't the differences between Physical and Special kept strictly based on Type?

Like "GHOST-type" was "Physical" and "PSYCHIC-type" was "Special"??

Or am I misunderstanding something on top of misremembering things?

My physical grass/dark type. I may be sacrificing my buggy HM slave, but I think his sacrifice is worth it.

I haven't used a grass type since my first playthrough of gen 1, so that will be a fun way to think about the game.
.

Best wishes that you do have fun with this new one!

^_^

(And the "shadow roots" are a nice visual and correspond well with the TYPING of this design.)

So expect more designs in the future! That won't be for several months, if not a full year. But I have some new ideas lined up already. Mostly I just want to see how this team treats me.

Good luck, Zorafim!

My friend recommended I post my animations as well, so here are what I have so far.

Your friend was probably right, but after watching Wispel's two moves.... I feel too bummed out to really say much.

Maybe another forum-goer will engage you about these attack animations, but I don't really want to mentally dwell in a "combat mode" stae-of-mind.

And, unfortunately, as we already discussed in our previous posts, most games only offer progression via hostile interaction......

.....so......

.....there really isn't anything to be done when confined to Pokemon's fundamental RPG mechanics.

Like, even if you added "healing" moves.....

.......the battles only end when you defeat foes......

So you can't "beat" them through peaceful pacification, hypnotic unconsciousness, or other methods of dispelling the hostilities of wild Pokemon....

***sighes****

However!

These videos DID reveal something I previously failed to ask about:

3 of your creature-names are now known: Vatera, Wispel and Calament.

But.....

1.) what are ALL the names of your custom-creatures?

2.) Do you have nicknames for your specific partners?
Or do they only get referred to by their whole species' name?

3.) Where are your custom creatures actually found in the wild of both the Kanto & Johto regions?

4.) Did you add any other Wild Pokemon encounters?

Like, maybe making wild Bulbasaur/Charmander/Squirtle appear somewhere?

Or wild Eevee/Farfetchd/Jynx/Mr.Mime/Lickitung/Lapras?

Or later evolutions like wild Nidoking/Nidoqueen/Golem/Machamp/Gengar/Alakazam?

Or maybe wild Scizor/Steelix/Ampharos/Blissey/Tyranitar?

Or anything at all that isn't normally found freely in the real games?

[Zorafim]

Unfortunate to hear that the increase in graphical capability has presented you with that dilemma.

Well yes, but that's by design. The more control you have, the more difficulty. Early builds may be easier to work with, but later ones are more impressive. Makes a nice difficulty curve.

Gotta say that even the official creatures' back-sprites generally looked like blobs of pixels with only vague clues as to what Pokemon it was meant to be.

Yeah, I figured mine couldn't have been any worse than what was already there. And they weren't! That will get less true as the series goes on. Even gen 2 already has really good art.

So, even if you have to re-draw yours for the second generation, please know that yours were plenty recognizable between the two viewing angles.

That's a relief. Back sprites are always so hard.

Your future angel design definitely sound ambitious.

I've made a few angel designs in my story based off this idea. Generally being represented by colors, or how a human mind would interpret what they're seeing (often in dreams). With Levia as the protagonist, missing the ability to do those things, she saw it as literally as possible, as a kaleidoscope of body parts shifting in and out of reality.
These sprites are already difficult enough to work with though, so, six wings hiding a body is all I can go for.

Where-as, your idea appears to consider the effect that transcendent entities might have on the very environment itself.

Maybe. I still have some room to grow, but I think my work is getting more grounded and creative as I go. Maybe in the future I'll have a solid design like this.

And as indicated by this post on June 21st: https://www.pso-world.com/forums/sho...=1#post3482169
I did end up vibing with your "Palace On The Endless Sea" song.

Difficult to assess "why".

The moodiness of the track simply struck me at the right time, I suppose.

And the actual notes being played were a more enjoyable combination than the other songs.

Don't normally gravitate to piano-centric music, which comprises the bulk of what I sampled at your Soundcloud profile.

Yet, this song's selection of instruments very visually evoked my imagination of a character contemplating deeply at the edge of a half-sunken temple while staring out upon a seemingly infinite oceanscape. (Which also alludes to the internal churning of emotion during such ruminations).

In the end, I simply give thanks that you shared this piece of highly atmospheric music.

Well good news! This is kind of the themesong for Zorael and Levia's home, which I'm planning on porting into future games as the software becomes easier to work with. So, I'll be porting over this song for use in it!

I am a pianist so a lot of my ideas come from that. But, it is more fun to work with other instruments.

It's actually funny because when I first came here, before I stopped actually playing PSO (....and eventually all games in general....), at that time, I didn't fully understand why people would post stuff so actively here when they could be doing the same thing "in-game", back when the servers were active.

Yet, I slowly grew to comprehend the different dynamic of "communication only" interaction, without any audio/video immersion.

Yeah, this place was great for a downtime place for greater thought and discussion. Eventually the games themselves just weren't as good as the discussions.
I wish we had more places like this, but for some reason Phantasy Star is just good at making that.

And, obviously, the Fan Works section allowed people to express themselves artistically in ways that were impossible within the PSO Ep 1&2 game proper.

It's always great to interact with artists.

(To say nothing of the silliness that went on in Fresh Kills Landfill. Especially when both Youtube and Wikipedia were basically brand new.)

It's boggling that that's always been the most popular area.

But: it could be my "bad karma" for not posting anything over all those years though.

(Sooooooooooooooooooo, sorry Zorafim if it's my fault everybody else here is suddenly silent.)

I think everyone feels like keeping this place alive is their responsibility. I know I was posting dutifully for a long time because I felt it was the best way to keep this place alive.

May abundant inspiration overflow from within and allow you to bypass any spot you get stuck!

Thank you I'll need it.

But the colours DO help visually clarify what was going on in their designs, which had me perplexed in the first batch.

It's funny how much it helps! I still only have four colors, but just *picking* those colors makes such a difference. I'm glad to hear they're clearer now.
I think once I get access to 16 colors, I'll have an easier time showing their shape.

Maybe it's my memory being wrong.... but wasn't the split between Physical and Special moves only done in the 4th Generation?

Yep! The wonders of romhacking, and skilled communities! It's possible to backport some changes, with varying amounts of ease. My build has the physical/special split added in, and it's wonderful.
I also have the fairy type implemented. I could have added it in gen 1, but I figured there's not much point with all the poison types. Plus most of the fairies would have been normal types, and I wanted my fighting type to have a better time.

Your friend was probably right, but after watching Wispel's two moves.... I feel too bummed out to really say much.

Maybe another forum-goer will engage you about these attack animations, but I don't really want to mentally dwell in a "combat mode" stae-of-mind.

And, unfortunately, as we already discussed in our previous posts, most games only offer progression via hostile interaction......

.....so......

.....there really isn't anything to be done when confined to Pokemon's fundamental RPG mechanics.

Like, even if you added "healing" moves.....

.......the battles only end when you defeat foes......

So you can't "beat" them through peaceful pacification, hypnotic unconsciousness, or other methods of dispelling the hostilities of wild Pokemon....

***sighes****

Ah, then maybe I'll just do one final batch once they're all done so they're easier to avoid.
I've been thinking of it as a sports match though. Them fainting is them, just not having any fight left in them. Just kinda going "Ow, good move. You win."
The show kinda goes against this by showing them losing consciousness, but I want to think the show doesn't get everything right. A lot of the creatures were too intelligent, and not as aggressive and animalistic, as they're shown in the games. So I'm free to imagine engagements being friendlier than even the show has.
Except the gang battles. I'm sure those get bloody.

3 of your creature-names are now known: Vatera, Wispel and Calament.

But.....

1.) what are ALL the names of your custom-creatures?

I'll copy from my names file

Fish are:
db "Viacti@@@@"
db "Aquthan@@@"
db "Levigua@@@"

Angels are:
db "Wispel@@@@"
db "Chersion@@"
and Teraph once I get that ready.

Energy forms are:
db "Pyrant@@@@"
db "Dynaraq@@@"
and Novion once that's done.

Reptiles are:
db "Vatera@@@@"
db "Crydine@@@"
db "Ankryotera"

Bovines are:
db "Calament@@"
db "Metaur@@@@"
db "Behetion@@"

Plants are:
db "Hellbloom@"
db "Hellfang@@"
db "Hellmaw@@@"

2.) Do you have nicknames for your specific partners?
Or do they only get referred to by their whole species' name?

3.) Where are your custom creatures actually found in the wild of both the Kanto & Johto regions?

It took some special programming, but they start off in your inventory at lv1. My lore is that Zoreal creates creatures, so all of these are his creations, with some exceptions. Wispel is a buddy of his traveling with him, and Hellbloom is a parting gift from a task he had in hell. I may make more exceptions like this in the future, like one of my future designs is an egg I find out in space. But the general idea I want is, Zorael makes something and tests out his designs.

4.) Did you add any other Wild Pokemon encounters?

Like, maybe making wild Bulbasaur/Charmander/Squirtle appear somewhere?

Or wild Eevee/Farfetchd/Jynx/Mr.Mime/Lickitung/Lapras?

Or later evolutions like wild Nidoking/Nidoqueen/Golem/Machamp/Gengar/Alakazam?

Or maybe wild Scizor/Steelix/Ampharos/Blissey/Tyranitar?

Or anything at all that isn't normally found freely in the real games?

Oh nah I didn't mess with that. It's easy to do, but it's not my focus with the game. In fact, I have a permanent repel on so you don't need to worry about random encounters if you're strong enough.
If I did mess with stuff like that, I would make starters available out in the wild, I would remove any version exclusives, and I would find alternate ways to evolve pokemon. One standard one is Kadabra evolving naturally at a certain level. I could also use a steel tail or whatever it's called on Onix to evolve to a steelix. I'd do that if I was focused on making more of a pokemon game, but, I'm thinking of this as more of a traditional RPG experience where you level up your starting team.

Well it may be a while before I have more progress to show. What I did was backlogged. I'll be working on the attack animations for a while, then on a couple of other tweaks I want to do. Flamethrower for instance is available as a move tutor move, but it's annoying trying to access that. Only available after the Elite Four, only available on a wednesday and saturday, only available once per day. I'm looking for workarounds for that.
But I do have a new song in the works for this gen, and I'll be modifying the previous song as my Kanto battle theme. No telling when that will happen though!

[Dhylec]

Interesting stuff. Looks more fun than what I had back in 2000s. I hope the editing tools are easy to work with.

[Zorafim]

Interesting stuff. Looks more fun than what I had back in 2000s. I hope the editing tools are easy to work with.

Hey, I don't think we've interacted much in the past!
There's a lot of ways to go through this without staring at assembly and trying to figure out what you're looking at. Most of it is tables that are easy to understand. It's very easy to move things around, like changing evolutions or learnsets, or buffing moves and stats. I'm going pretty heavy at 18 different pokemon, but if your goal is to just buff your favorite pokemon to make them more fun to use and give you more time with them or whatever, it's honestly pretty simple.

https://github.com/pret/pokered/

There are some tutorials here if you'd like to see what's possible. Red is the worst game to do in terms of editing the game because it's much harder to work with, but firered and emerald have so many tutorials. You could probably make a whole game without doing too much work.

[feather-flower]

With Levia as the protagonist, missing the ability to do those things, she saw it as literally as possible

Clever interpretation of how an organism's "sensory gateways" can themselves be as limiting for the organism's perception as those gates can be openings to perceive anything at all. One might say they are bottlenecks for experiencing the truly infinite.

So, I'll be porting over this song for use in it!

Quite the coincidence that of all the songs, this one has such inherent significance!

It with certainly be a treat for anyone who hears it in context, that's for certain.

I am a pianist !

Ah!
Well, please pardon me when it comes to the majority of your repertoire.
Preferences are what they are.
Still, I do thank you for sharing the sounds you've created., whether or not I gravitate towards them.

greater thought and discussion. Eventually the games themselves just weren't as good as the discussions.
I wish we had more places like this, but for some reason Phantasy Star is just good at making that.

It is an interesting trajectory. However, I don't necessarily think we need MORE places like this, but instead, simply increased activity.

Of course, activity requires that there be participants interested in such things. Which it appears, they no longer have the interest.

It's a stark contrast to poke one's head into old threads. The level of engagement was in an entirely different stratosphere, when compared to the fleeting exchanges of modern threads.

But, I actually noticed that there wasn't QUITE as much authentic back-&-forth between people as I remembered there being.

Unfortunately all of people seemed to put alot of effort into their posts, which then got ignored.

Seems to be that lack of returned-effort that may have drove people to stop posting.

Although, you made a thread lamenting things in Fresh Kills Landfill, where you did make the strong point that "specialized" forums seem to attract less attention nowadays, when compared with "catch-all" forums & "general"social-media.

I guess some people get enough validation from merely posting their self-contained opinion, with no real interest in actually COMMUNICATING in a dialogue.

Sooooooo..... I once again express gratitude to you, Zorafim, for sharing these moments speaking together, even if the overall future is headed in a direction that's contrary to what we personally might prefer. But thanks for being here right now.

It's boggling that that's always been the most popular area.

Perhaps. Yet it does make sense that an area with EXTREMELY fast response time for each post (back when things were active) would be attractive, since it would give the illusion of being more interactive. Not to forget that if it was less effort to post there, then people might have gotten more fun from it, when compared to the necessary mental-energy required to compose a full-length reply to a more serious topic.

Or maybe people just really liked posting pictures and waiting for others to "LOL" at them!

I think everyone feels like keeping this place alive is their responsibility. I know I was posting dutifully for a long time because I felt it was the best way to keep this place alive.

I can see what you mean.
And sympathize with anyone who tried like you to do just that.

And although, even if this "ghost town" situation never "improves", perhaps our crossing-paths in some authentic communication can help provide closure.

I'm glad to hear they're clearer now.

Yes-sir-ree! They definitely are!

My build has the physical/special split added in, and it's wonderful.
I also have the fairy type implemented.

Oh!
Hehehehehe!
Didn't even consider that that sort of thing was a possibility.

one final batch once they're all done so they're easier to avoid.

For me, it is easy enough to just not watch them.
So don't worry about modifying plans for your own thread!

I've been thinking of it as a sports match though. Them fainting is them, just not having any fight left in them. Just kinda going "Ow, good move. You win."
The show kinda goes against this by showing them losing consciousness, but I want to think the show doesn't get everything right. A lot of the creatures were too intelligent, and not as aggressive and animalistic, as they're shown in the games. So I'm free to imagine engagements being friendlier than even the show has.
Except the gang battles. I'm sure those get bloody.

For the record, I'm not a proponent of sports either.

Even when sports are conducted with honour, these competitions are still ultimately about trying to dominate another entity, to display some sort of superiority for self-gratification at the expense of the opponent's emotions. (No matter how well-composed they are externally. Good-sportmanship can only go so far to mask the inner-defeat, especially when both contenders are "playing to win" for real. Whether the stakes are monetary or mere bragging-rights, the results of an intensely serious match can be signifcant.)

You are correct that there is ALSO a dichotomy between how the video-games present the battles & how the anime presents the battles.

Pokemon's developers probably do want things to be well-intentioned most of the time.

But, just like how they used the character N to try and offer a rebuttal for the ethics & philosophies of CATCHING the creatures.... it cannot be understated that the very foundation of the games/anime are rooted in competition & collection.

And competition & collection are, from any viewpoint striving towards total well-being for all beings.... essentially incompatible.

And depending on the reality of various spiritual claims, these behaviors are hindrances.

Hindrances to nirvana. Hidrances to heaven. Hindrances to letting go of everything that makes it so hard for this world to move past the current discord & allow everyone to finally get along.

And it's not like I'm coming from an unsympathetic viewpoint.

Hopefully it's obvious that I cherished my experiences with both Pokemon and Phantasy Star.

Enough so to be here right now.

But like I've lamented: the game-developers purposely CHOSE to create a scenario & give limited options for how we got to engage with it.

No matter how much I might prefer to SAVE the characters from D-Cellular Infection, there is no option to upgrade your healing techniques so that Anti can cleanse those affected.

Or to use Reverser and revive characters like Blant the butler, or Great Sword Zoke, who were killed before your own character could reach them.

In Pokemon, it is theoretically within the worlds parameters to just use "Bait" and "Rock"s like offered by the Safri Zone.

Which could dissuade any dangerous Pokemon.

And if you insisted on still needing "dfense", then even a Poliwag's Hypnosis or Jigglypuff's Sing could put hostile lifeforms unconscious & easy to avoid, while still journeying.

....

The Pokemon World still has hunger (as evidenced by characters in the anime getting famished). The Pokemon World still has poverty (as evidenced by said characters not always having the money to buy food). The Pokemon World still has crime (as evidenced by Team Rocket, with the popular Jessie & James concocting alot of their schemes BECAUSE they are HUNGRY & DON'T HAVE MONEY!!) The Pokemon World still has abuse & neglect (as evidenced early on by Ash's Charmander). The Pokemon World still has orphans (as evidenced by the entire backstory of Cubone & Marowak). The Pokemon World still has sickness, old age & death....

Thus.... the developers created their world without any intention for it to be a paradise.

So, to contrast that with how the legends about Amitabha Buddha state that he made 48 Vows when creating his Pure Land, known as Sukhavati....

....where one of the very first things he decided was that he needed to create the conditions most conducive to enlightenment as he could imagine:

https://www.onmarkproductions.com/ht...tsu-vows.shtml

Spoiler!

As told in the Infinite Life Sutra (Muryōjukyō 無量壽經; Skt. Sukhavatiyuha Sutra), Hōzō Bosatsu made 48 Great Vows promising to create a Pure Land (the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss), and guaranteed rebirth in the Pure Land to anyone who would recite his name with utmost sincerity, particularly at the time of their death. Dharmakāra fulfilled his 48 vows and thereafter attained Buddhahood and became Amida (Amitabha) Buddha.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, there should be in my land a hell, a realm of hungry spirits or a realm of animals, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should after death fall again into the three evil realms, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not all be the color of pure gold, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not all be of one appearance, and should there be any difference in beauty, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not remember all their previous lives, not knowing even the events which occurred during the previous hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of kalpas, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not possess the divine eye of seeing even a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of Buddha-lands, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not possess the divine ear of hearing [268a] the teachings of at least a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of Buddhas and should not remember all of them, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not possess the faculty of knowing the thoughts of others, at least those of all sentient beings living in a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of Buddha-lands, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not possess the supernatural power of travelling anywhere in one instant, even beyond a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of Buddha-lands, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should give rise to thoughts of self-attachment, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not dwell in the Definitely Assured State and unfailingly reach Nirvana, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, my light should be limited, unable to illuminate at least a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of Buddha-lands, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, my life-span should be limited, even to the extent of a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of kalpas, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, the number of the shravakas in my land could be known, even if all the beings and pratyekabuddhas living in this universe of a thousand million worlds should count them during a hundred thousand kalpas, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should have limited life-spans, except when they wish to shorten them in accordance with their original vows, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should even hear of any wrongdoing, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, innumerable Buddhas in the land of the ten quarters should not all praise and glorify my Name, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters who sincerely and joyfully entrust themselves to me, desire to be born in my land, and call my Name, even ten times, should not be born there, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment. Excluded, however, are those who commit the five gravest offenses and abuse the right Dharma.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters, who awaken aspiration for Enlightenment, do various meritorious deeds [268b] and sincerely desire to be born in my land, should not, at their death, see me appear before them surrounded by a multitude of sages, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the lands of the ten quarters who, having heard my Name, concentrate their thoughts on my land, do various meritorious deeds and sincerely transfer their merits towards my land with a desire to be born there, should not eventually fulfill their aspiration, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not all be endowed with the thirty-two physical characteristics of a Great Man, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the Buddha-lands of other quarters who visit my land should not ultimately and unfailingly reach the Stage of Becoming a Buddha after One More Life, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment. Excepted are those who wish to teach and guide sentient beings in accordance with their original vows. For they wear the armor of great vows, accumulate merits, deliver all beings from birth-and-death, visit Buddha-lands to perform the bodhisattva practices, make offerings to Buddhas, Tathagatas, throughout the ten quarters, enlighten uncountable sentient beings as numerous as the sands of the River Ganges, and establish them in the highest, perfect Enlightenment. Such bodhisattvas transcend the course of practice of the ordinary bodhisattva stages, manifest the practices of all the bodhisattva stages, and actually cultivate the virtues of Samantabhadra.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in my land, in order to make offerings to Buddhas through my transcendent power, should not be able to reach immeasurable and innumerable kotis of nayutas of Buddha-lands in as short a time as it takes to eat a meal, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in my land should not be able, as they wish, to perform meritorious acts of worshipping the Buddhas with the offerings of their choice, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in my land should not be able to expound the Dharma with the all-knowing wisdom, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, there should be any bodhisattva in my land not endowed with the body of the Vajra-god Narayana, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings should be able, even with the divine eye, to distinguish by name and calculate by number all the myriads of manifestations provided for the humans and devas in my land, which are glorious and resplendent and have exquisite details beyond description, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in my land, even those with little store of merit, should not be able to [268c] see the Bodhi-tree which has countless colors and is four million li in height, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in my land should not acquire eloquence and wisdom in upholding sutras and reciting and expounding them, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, the wisdom and eloquence of bodhisattvas in my land should be limited, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, my land should not be resplendent, revealing in its light all the immeasurable, innumerable and inconceivable Buddha-lands, like images reflected in a clear mirror, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, all the myriads of manifestations in my land, from the ground to the sky, such as palaces, pavilions, ponds, streams and trees, should not be composed of both countless treasures, which surpass in supreme excellence anything in the worlds of humans and devas, and of a hundred thousand kinds of aromatic wood, whose fragrance pervades all the worlds of the ten quarters, causing all bodhisattvas who sense it to perform Buddhist practices, then may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the immeasurable and inconceivable Buddha-lands of the ten quarters, who have been touched by my light, should not feel peace and happiness in their bodies and minds surpassing those of humans and devas, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the immeasurable and inconceivable Buddha-lands of the ten quarters, who have heard my Name, should not gain the bodhisattva's insight into the non-arising of all dharmas and should not acquire various profound dharanis, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, women in the immeasurable and inconceivable Buddha-lands of the ten quarters who, having heard my Name, rejoice in faith, awaken aspiration for Enlightenment and wish to renounce womanhood, should after death be reborn again as women, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the immeasurable and inconceivable Buddha-lands of the ten quarters, who have heard my Name, should not, after the end of their lives, always perform sacred practices until they reach Buddhahood, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in the immeasurable and inconceivable Buddha-lands of the ten quarters, who having heard my Name, prostrate themselves on the ground to revere and worship me, rejoice [269a] in faith, and perform bodhisattva practices, should not be respected by all devas and people of the world, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not obtain clothing, as soon as such a desire arises in their minds, and if the fine robes as prescribed and praised by the Buddhas should not be spontaneously provided for them to wear, and if these clothes should need sewing, bleaching, dyeing or washing, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not enjoy happiness and pleasure comparable to that of a monk who has exhausted all the passions, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, the bodhisattvas in my land who wish to see the immeasurable glorious Buddha-lands of the ten quarters, should not be able to view all of them reflected in the jewelled trees, just as one sees one's face reflected in a clear mirror, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the other quarters who hear my Name should, at any time before becoming Buddhas, have impaired, inferior or incomplete sense organs, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the other quarters who hear my Name should not all attain the samadhi called 'pure emancipation' and, while dwelling therein, without losing concentration, should not be able to make offerings in one instant to immeasurable and inconceivable Buddhas, World-Honored Ones, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the other quarters who hear my Name should not be reborn into noble families after their death, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the other quarters who hear my Name should not rejoice so greatly as to dance and perform the bodhisattva practices and should not acquire stores of merit, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the other quarters who hear my Name should not all attain the samadhi called 'universal equality' and, while dwelling therein, should not always be able to see all the immeasurable and inconceivable Tathagatas until those bodhisattvas, too, become Buddhas, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in my land should not be able to hear spontaneously whatever teachings they may wish, [269b] may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the other quarters who hear my Name should not instantly reach the Stage of Non-retrogression, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

If, when I attain Buddhahood, bodhisattvas in the lands of the other quarters who hear my Name should not instantly gain the first, second and third insights into the nature of dharmas and firmly abide in the truths realized by all the Buddhas, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment."

And Amitabha did this for the benefit of ALL beings.

So, once you are made aware of this, it seems to me that anyone creating a world of any variety is falling short of what could be achieved if they had only decided to make their world as useful & wonderful as Amitabha's from the start!

Otherwise, any act of creation is essentially dooming all who dwell there.

Imaginary characters and virtual models might lack a true consciousness and therefore not be subjected to actual suffering....

....but even worlds created for "entertainment" can waste a persons time if they don't provide some meaningful experience or lesson that goes beyond the ephemerality of enjoyment.

That is all on the asumption of some spiritual reality being truth.

But even a purely secular viewpoint should not dismiss that the origins of ALL video-games lie in government-funded military-research.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_...of_video_games

Around the same time in the early 1950s, military research organizations like the RAND Corporation developed a series of combat simulation games of increasing complexity, such as Carmonette, where the player would enter orders to intercept enemy aircraft, or set up their forces to counter an enemy army invasion.[18] These simulations were not yet true video games, as they required human intervention to interpret the player's orders and the final results; the computer only controlled the paths that the enemies would take, and the program was focused on simulating events and probabilities.[6]

Another source:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dpa...th-video-games

“The video game industry is built on technologies that were funded for military research. Things like advanced computing graphics or the internet or 3D environments...when the military funding started to dry up in the late ‘90s, partly because of reduced defense budgets, a lot of the technology companies and simulation makers turned to the video game industry to sell their products.”

Which makes it more insidious that so many video-games opt for violent solutions over peaceful options.

Because there are obviously creative people working on all these projects, and peace-making creativity is eeriely absent.... while new games demonstrate ever-more variations of how to defeat opponents & acquire something from them...

Competition & collection....

Imperial conquest & control of natural-resources....

These things are normalized through making people play what they feel is harmless entertainment....

....but that only further desensitizes people who then get conditioned to reflexively thinking of violent options, instead of peaceful options, through habitual immersion into such simulations.

People are impulsive enough as is.

But, it's not like puzzle-games are peaceful just because they lack depictions of guns & gore.

It all goes back to the fundamental intentions of BOTH the player of a game AND those of the game's developers.

A player chooses what to spend their time & money "simulating".

A developer chooses what scenarios & options for interaction within those scripted-events to make available to whomever enters their creation's parameters.

Soooooooo....... it is my stance that everyone should be aiming higher, in what they are trying to accomplish.

Because the influence of even tiny decisions, leads to much grander chain-reactions.

So I'm free to imagine engagements being friendlier than even the show has.

Yes, you are.

It is only my humble hope that you are able to gain something of true worth from thinking about all these things.

Aiming towards a happier future, is all.

Fish are:
db "Viacti@@@@"
db "Aquthan@@@"
db "Levigua@@@"

Angels are:
db "Wispel@@@@"
db "Chersion@@"
and Teraph once I get that ready.

Energy forms are:
db "Pyrant@@@@"
db "Dynaraq@@@"
and Novion once that's done.

Reptiles are:
db "Vatera@@@@"
db "Crydine@@@"
db "Ankryotera"

Bovines are:
db "Calament@@"
db "Metaur@@@@"
db "Behetion@@"

Plants are:
db "Hellbloom@"
db "Hellfang@@"
db "Hellmaw@@@"

Nice names.

I'm curious about the etymology of your angel.

Is "Wispel" formed from "wisp" + "dispel"?

Is "Chersion" formed from "cherubim" + "scion"?

But what is "Teraph" formed from????? Something + "seraph"?

It took some special programming, but they start off in your inventory at lv1. My lore is that Zoreal creates creatures, so all of these are his creations, with some exceptions. Wispel is a buddy of his traveling with him, and Hellbloom is a parting gift from a task he had in hell. I may make more exceptions like this in the future, like one of my future designs is an egg I find out in space. But the general idea I want is, Zorael makes something and tests out his designs.

I see.

Well, that just makes the idea of "creating responsibly", even more pertinent!

^_^

In fact, I have a permanent repel on so you don't need to worry about random encounters if you're strong enough.

Oh.

Well it may be a while before I have more progress to show.

***snipped***

But I do have a new song in the works for this gen, and I'll be modifying the previous song as my Kanto battle theme. No telling when that will happen though!

Understood, Zorafim.

May your creative process be a fulfilling experience unto itself regardless of the time it takes.

*ahem*

And on a music-related tangent:

Previously, when I brought up the Digimon train-of-thought, I forgot to mention something.

No matter how random this seems: it occured to me that it would have been funny if a handful of the Digimon with "Metal" in their name... formed a metal band!

(Doesn't matter whether in the anime or in one of the games.)

Basically, I imagined a quartet consisting of MetalGreymon on guitar, MetalSeadramon on keyboard, MetalGarurumon on drums and MetalEtemon as vocalist.

Not only that, but it seemed appropriate to further "sub-genre"-ify all their names.

ThrashMetalGreymon!

ProgressiveMetalSeadramon!

IndustrialMetalGarurumon!

MelodicDeathMetalEtemon!

^_^

Looks more fun than what I had back in 2000s. I hope the editing tools are easy to work with.

Does this indicate that you also made a modified version of Pokemon in the past, Dhylec?

[Zorafim]

Clever interpretation of how an organism's "sensory gateways" can themselves be as limiting for the organism's perception as those gates can be openings to perceive anything at all. One might say they are bottlenecks for experiencing the truly infinite.

Yeah I've always been fascinated by the subject! How humans are meant to experience things on this world, and things outside of it are - as figurative as it is literal - alien. I try to do this as much as possible, making something that should work, then seeing how different characters would interact with it. It was one of the more fun parts of writing, along with creature designs and expressing my own world after years of setting it up.

Quite the coincidence that of all the songs, this one has such inherent significance!
It with certainly be a treat for anyone who hears it in context, that's for certain.

Maybe it's not. The other songs, I made for other people, or for other reasons. This one is one of the only ones I made for myself.
But, it's also one of my latest ones. Maybe I learned from my previous works.
The way I'm imagining it, it's going to be at least pretty neat. Make my characters feel like they're real, even if they don't belong.

It is an interesting trajectory. However, I don't necessarily think we need MORE places like this, but instead, simply increased activity.

Of course, activity requires that there be participants interested in such things. Which it appears, they no longer have the interest.

It's a stark contrast to poke one's head into old threads. The level of engagement was in an entirely different stratosphere, when compared to the fleeting exchanges of modern threads.

But, I actually noticed that there wasn't QUITE as much authentic back-&-forth between people as I remembered there being.

Unfortunately all of people seemed to put alot of effort into their posts, which then got ignored.

Seems to be that lack of returned-effort that may have drove people to stop posting.

Although, you made a thread lamenting things in Fresh Kills Landfill, where you did make the strong point that "specialized" forums seem to attract less attention nowadays, when compared with "catch-all" forums & "general"social-media.

I guess some people get enough validation from merely posting their self-contained opinion, with no real interest in actually COMMUNICATING in a dialogue.

Sooooooo..... I once again express gratitude to you, Zorafim, for sharing these moments speaking together, even if the overall future is headed in a direction that's contrary to what we personally might prefer. But thanks for being here right now.

Yeah I remember a lot of fighting, flaming, making fun. The general forums...at least we got to talk about the game we loved, but it wasn't amazing. It was honestly the fan works forum that was great to me, but it was always sparse.

Oh!
Hehehehehe!
Didn't even consider that that sort of thing was a possibility.

Romhacking can be mindblowing. Randomers are my favorite. You have to engage in a game that you never thought possible.
For now, my thought process is pretty straight. I need these things, and I want these things, so I add them.
At the moment it's a menu. There are lots of ways to build features that other people have figured out, and it's all about spending a few minutes adding them in. The custom stuff I'm doing is really hard, so if I'm putting in this much work, I may as well tweak things to be faster.
That reminds me, I need to see if the poison animation is still slow...

For the record, I'm not a proponent of sports either.

Even when sports are conducted with honour, these competitions are still ultimately about trying to dominate another entity, to display some sort of superiority for self-gratification at the expense of the opponent's emotions. (No matter how well-composed they are externally. Good-sportmanship can only go so far to mask the inner-defeat, especially when both contenders are "playing to win" for real. Whether the stakes are monetary or mere bragging-rights, the results of an intensely serious match can be signifcant.)

I don't think this is a healthy way of thinking of competition. Whether you do or don't compete.
You need to test yourself to improve, and the best way to do that is against other people. Every time I do this, I feel joy at seeing not only what I can do at my best, but what other people do. What I can learn from them. It's a great feeling.
There are people who have a more narrow minded, I must be the best. And that's purely destructive.

But, that is also the core of my romhack. Zorael builds his creatures with a purpose in mind, whether or not it's practical. One he may build simply to see how much he can learn about creating a strong, stable design. Another to see how much processing power he can get out of a neuromuscular system. But it's not enough to just build the thing, he must also see what they can do in a more practical scenario.
In a world filled with competition, seeing how far he can progress shows how good his designs were. And there's nothing to do but keep pushing until the design breaks, in which case it's back to studying to see why it broke, and what can be done to improve it.

All for the purpose of gaining skill.

You are correct that there is ALSO a dichotomy between how the video-games present the battles & how the anime presents the battles.

Pokemon's developers probably do want things to be well-intentioned most of the time.

Actually the original design of the series was supposed to be rather dark. At least compared to the anime. It's been kidified by the series becoming popular, but there's a reason there's a gang.
I kinda like the rough sketchy nature of the first game, but that lack of polish also caused a lot of problems. In polishing they created a smoother experience, but sterilized a lot of it too.
I need more data to see exactly where I stand with the series, but I know that too much sterilization just stunts passion, and thus progress.

But, just like how they used the character N to try and offer a rebuttal for the ethics & philosophies of CATCHING the creatures.... it cannot be understated that the very foundation of the games/anime are rooted in competition & collection.

And competition & collection are, from any viewpoint striving towards total well-being for all beings.... essentially incompatible.

See this is one reason why I don't like the anime interpretation of pokemon. They make it seem like they're just as human as the human characters, and in some cases more pure.
But, there's really no reason for that to be the case. Pokemon are just fantastical creatures.
If they're humanlike creatures, then yeah you'll me more inclined to treat them well and like a friend instead of like a tool. But it will always lead to the question of, why are we entrapping them instead of letting them live free? But, if I trap a spider in a terrarium, I don't feel bad, since it can still live how it wants without suffering while also servicing my needs.
It just, makes more sense to think of them as fantastical monsters with no hidden wants.

*snip*

There's a lot of subject matter that I can't get into here. But, all we can do is inherit the world we've been getting, and try to shape it as we can. Major change may not be possible, but we each play our part.
If you could make games or hacks yourself, you could shape a few ideas for a few people, and that may snowball. Or, create some other form or art. Maybe just by you existing you can create a more peaceful world. But, I have what I'm given and I'm doing what I want with it.

Nice names.

Thanks! It was fun.

I'm curious about the etymology of your angel.

Is "Wispel" formed from "wisp" + "dispel"?

Is "Chersion" formed from "cherubim" + "scion"?

But what is "Teraph" formed from????? Something + "seraph"?

Wisp and El, straight up.
Many angels names end with El, which means God in...some language. The translations to their names reference him in some way. Michael for instance is "Who is like God?". So I used that as its angel tie.
Chersion is Cherub Illusion. Teraph is Specter Seraph.

Well, that just makes the idea of "creating responsibly", even more pertinent!

^_^

I had fun exploring this in my chapter. Zorael is perfectly capable of making immortal sentience, but has found it's not the best of ideas.
An early experiment of his came with a mistake, which gave its life massive pain and confusion. Since then he always programmed a short life span into each one. He also knows not to add any features that are unnecessary, both because more moving parts creates more points of failure, and because there is less to exist that can suffer. Even late into his process, one of Levia's prototypes got to be too ambitious of a project and it ended up going really bad, not only causing lots of damage, but living a short life of pain.
I make sure that it's obvious that failure happens around every corner, and you must minimize the damage that can be caused by it. But to push for your dreams as you do so.
With his failures, he's able to create fantastical beasts like the sea serpent Rahab, or something that brings everything he learned together like Levia.

I have a lot of fun with the morality of the position.

Does this indicate that you also made a modified version of Pokemon in the past, Dhylec?

YEAH DOES IT DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW THE CLASS?!

[feather-flower]

How humans are meant to experience things on this world, and things outside of it are - as figurative as it is literal - alien.

"Meant to experience"? Now THAT actually alludes to one of the most significant questions related to spirituality.

Is the "limited" experience of being incarnated in a body how we were meant to exist?

Or is this very way of existing the error?

Different spiritual paths have different assertions about the answer.

But most of the "dharmic" and "gnostic" beliefs make the bold claim that this type of life was NOT what was intended.

Yet, I'm going to refrain from speculating further on this matter at this time.

Because I'm aware of the issues of both blasphemy & heresy.

So without my own experience of such transcendent realities, further prattle could only continue distorting the ultimate truth.

It was one of the more fun parts of writing, along with creature designs and expressing my own world after years of setting it up.

Glad that this was fun for you.

This one is one of the only ones I made for myself.
But, it's also one of my latest ones. Maybe I learned from my previous works.
The way I'm imagining it, it's going to be at least pretty neat. Make my characters feel like they're real, even if they don't belong.

Well, to simply state things: it's a really enjoyable composition.

So, no matter how you integrate it, the music will assuredly elevate the experience.

Yeah I remember a lot of fighting, flaming, making fun. The general forums...at least we got to talk about the game we loved, but it wasn't amazing. It was honestly the fan works forum that was great to me, but it was always sparse.

Amusingly enough, the PSO General section was never my main interest.

Instead, it happened to be that both "Off Topic" and "Rants: The Dead Horse Society" contained the types of discussions which actually proved very important to me.

Beyond just people asking questions or sharing opinions, there were dialogues which communicated not only information but the overarching sense of community.

There were definitely certain forum-goers whom I related to more than others, but the totality that existed between EVERYBODY was something special.

Even if, as you say, there were "hip" cliques and other stuff like that.

Fan Works was an "in-the-middle" section for me.

Sometimes things were interesting. Other times, not.

However, it was a privilege to witness certain artists develop their skill over the years.

People like Tingle, and his evolution into Sayara.

Probably unnecessary to state it, but he has carved out a VERY unique style of art.

Just to name one recognizable forum-goer and compliment them.

Randomers are my favorite. You have to engage in a game that you never thought possible.

Speaking of "randomness", the Challenge Cup of Pokemon Stadium and the Battle Factory of Emerald were good examples of how playing with random Pokemon was a good way to generate a wider variety of experiences than entering with one's own team.

I don't think this is a healthy way of thinking of competition.

From what I've personally experienced in life, I don't find competition to be "healthy".

Whether you do or don't compete.
You need to test yourself to improve, and the best way to do that is against other people. Every time I do this, I feel joy at seeing not only what I can do at my best, but what other people do. What I can learn from them. It's a great feeling.
There are people who have a more narrow minded, I must be the best. And that's purely destructive.

Part of my issue lies with the very fact that "we need to improve".

Yet, your point about seeing what others can do, and then learning from them is valid, even without competition between people.

Showing a drawing, and then receiving constructive criticism is potentially helpful, and does not necessitate entering an art contest.

But, that is also the core of my romhack. Zorael builds his creatures with a purpose in mind, whether or not it's practical. One he may build simply to see how much he can learn about creating a strong, stable design. Another to see how much processing power he can get out of a neuromuscular system. But it's not enough to just build the thing, he must also see what they can do in a more practical scenario.
In a world filled with competition, seeing how far he can progress shows how good his designs were. And there's nothing to do but keep pushing until the design breaks, in which case it's back to studying to see why it broke, and what can be done to improve it.

All for the purpose of gaining skill.

Firstly, I need to clarify that when I'm talking, I might blur topics.

So, when considering the intents of a romhack in specific....

...I should probably just shut my mouth.

(Because I don't want to play one. And because I don't want to play in the official game-world of Pokemon either. As stated about it not offering an experience that I want to interact within.)

However, when considering the fictional character Zorael, it's a fuzzy line between me still keeping quiet.... or saying something that leads to spiritual dilemmas.

Therefore, I'll spoiler-box the potentially upsetting thoughts & warn that maybe they shouldn't even be read:

Spoiler!

To cut straight to the heart of what you were saying about Zorael testing his designs....

....you basically illustrate why I have personal issues with "The Demiurge" a.k.a. "The Creator Deity" of Judaism & Christianity.

If we humans in the real world were "created", then there is the same sense that this very life I'm living is within someone else's "design parameters".

And much of the time, even with free will, what options occur to me for interacting with this world & other creations of this place are not what I would want.

And I even concede that my own choices & preferences limit those options for interaction even further.

But the honest point I'm trying to make, is that there was a time where the entire reason video-games or anime used to appeal to me, was because I could imagine parameters that I thought I'd like better.

Then there's the whole Buddhist notion of dukkha. "Suffering". Or "unsatisfactoriness".

And its claim that even in a "heavenly" or "phantasy" realm, we would still be unhappy.

So, to just double back to your intentions for the character Zorael.

It just sounds incredibly similar to the "flawed" creation of the Gnostic concept of "The Demiurge".

And since I am struggling to persist in the real world which was supposedly created by that very entity....

...it just makes me feel bad about hearing Zorael "pushing his designs until they break".

That hits too close to home and makes me feel that your Pokemon would be unhappy to exist like that.

Sorry if I'm taking things too seriously.

Actually the original design of the series was supposed to be rather dark. At least compared to the anime. It's been kidified by the series becoming popular, but there's a reason there's a gang.
I kinda like the rough sketchy nature of the first game, but that lack of polish also caused a lot of problems. In polishing they created a smoother experience, but sterilized a lot of it too.
I need more data to see exactly where I stand with the series, but I know that too much sterilization just stunts passion, and thus progress.

Ironically, it was when I was a kid that dinosaurs eating people and other forms of fictional violence didn't raise any issue.

But now, the implications of it all become unsettling.

And that's even when I've removed myself from partaking in any of this stuff, but others still do, hence sharing the viewpoint I've gained.

Whether that viewpoint is valuable or not.... comes down to the person receiving it and deciding for themselves.

instead of like a tool. But it will always lead to the question of, why are we entrapping them instead of letting them live free? But, if I trap a spider in a terrarium, I don't feel bad, since it can still live how it wants without suffering while also servicing my needs.

That's merely the difference between our world-views then.

I know a spider would prefer to live freely, because I used to catch them and place them in terrariums for observing too.

But my love for bugs is EXACTLY why I stopped catching them.

Because they DO suffer when living confined.

(Nevermind the fact that all animals suffer when living free in the wild as well, because this is a hostile world of predation & environmental variables unpleasant for everyone subjected to the cold & heat.)

You may not feel bad about trapping spiders in terrariums, but this particular example you mentioned is like a page out of my own youth, so just like the spoiler-boxed reply, it begets a VERY personal response from me.

There's a lot of subject matter that I can't get into here.

So be it.

But, I have what I'm given and I'm doing what I want with it.

And likewise, I'm only offering what I learned, and perhaps it will be of use to you.

Wisp and El, straight up.
Many angels names end with El, which means God in...some language. The translations to their names reference him in some way. Michael for instance is "Who is like God?". So I used that as its angel tie.
Chersion is Cherub Illusion. Teraph is Specter Seraph.

Thank you very much for the clarifications.

And your compound-words do add further nuance to the angel names.

(Also: after looking up El with Google, the language you mentioned was Hebrew.)

I had fun exploring this in my chapter. Zorael is perfectly capable of making immortal sentience, but has found it's not the best of ideas.
An early experiment of his came with a mistake, which gave its life massive pain and confusion. Since then he always programmed a short life span into each one. He also knows not to add any features that are unnecessary, both because more moving parts creates more points of failure, and because there is less to exist that can suffer. Even late into his process, one of Levia's prototypes got to be too ambitious of a project and it ended up going really bad, not only causing lots of damage, but living a short life of pain.
I make sure that it's obvious that failure happens around every corner, and you must minimize the damage that can be caused by it. But to push for your dreams as you do so.
With his failures, he's able to create fantastical beasts like the sea serpent Rahab, or something that brings everything he learned together like Levia.

I have a lot of fun with the morality of the position.

While I am glad you had fun with this in writing, it does again highlight precisely what bothers me.

And it's not just your approach either, because it extends into literally any act of creation.

Obviously, the most problematic are those where true sapience exists.

But in cases like video-games, even if the fictional characters themselves are not suffering, it is still glorifying the drama & tragedy of reality's suffering, which then gets experienced vicariously by actual entities capable of having emotional complications from it due to the influence that any media can exert on a person's life.

With all that said, I'll shut up now.

YEAH DOES IT DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW THE CLASS?!

It would be interesting to even just hear about any of the tweaks specific to Dhylec's custom version (if there is one), even if the actual thing might be lost to time at this point.

[Zorafim]

"Meant to experience"? Now THAT actually alludes to one of the most significant questions related to spirituality.

Is the "limited" experience of being incarnated in a body how we were meant to exist?

Or is this very way of existing the error?

Different spiritual paths have different assertions about the answer.

But most of the "dharmic" and "gnostic" beliefs make the bold claim that this type of life was NOT what was intended.

Yet, I'm going to refrain from speculating further on this matter at this time.

Because I'm aware of the issues of both blasphemy & heresy.

So without my own experience of such transcendent realities, further prattle could only continue distorting the ultimate truth.

You're taking the philosophical approach with the phrase, but there's also the physical. We are designed to experience a short range of things. Certain temperatures, certain chemical compositions, certain wavelengths of electromagnetism. It's very possible to come up to some entity and simply, not have the tools needed to interact with them. We already have this on earth, where we can't tell the difference between a dumb animal and a smart one without them displaying some feature that's familiar to us.
The instant we experience something outside of our limited experience, we go crazy. So I love the idea of toying with that. And especially, thinking about how these beings exist. And, how they experience us.

Glad that this was fun for you.

So fun. So much work.

Well, to simply state things: it's a really enjoyable composition.

So, no matter how you integrate it, the music will assuredly elevate the experience.

Thank you, and I can't wait. It's one thing to edit something that exists, it's another to create something that's completely you.

However, it was a privilege to witness certain artists develop their skill over the years.

People like Tingle, and his evolution into Sayara.

Probably unnecessary to state it, but he has carved out a VERY unique style of art.

Just to name one recognizable forum-goer and compliment them.

Funny you mention him! He's who I wrote that schizophrenia song for! I later added audio I heard from a video of what it's like to experience schizophrenia to make it hit harder.

Speaking of "randomness", the Challenge Cup of Pokemon Stadium and the Battle Factory of Emerald were good examples of how playing with random Pokemon was a good way to generate a wider variety of experiences than entering with one's own team.

Oh god. You're talking about Stadium 2.
That part made me cry so hard.
I have it recorded if you want to see me breaking down.
I like it in concept, but when you're given a pokemon with bad moves and no STAB...man that leaves to a frustrating experience.
I haven't done much with Battle Frontier! I love Stadium so I should love that stuff. Pokemon has a good battle system and it's a shame that's wasted on an easy game.

From what I've personally experienced in life, I don't find competition to be "healthy".

I can see that too. If you're surrounded by toxic individuals who just tear down everyone around you, then it's going to be difficult to grow. I'm thinking of a lot of online communities, like my experience with WoW. Just makes me want to quit and sequester myself...
...oh now a lot of problems about myself are starting to make sense.

Part of my issue lies with the very fact that "we need to improve".

Yet, your point about seeing what others can do, and then learning from them is valid, even without competition between people.

Showing a drawing, and then receiving constructive criticism is potentially helpful, and does not necessitate entering an art contest.

Hm, maybe that's an issue with me. I do feel the need to improve. It has lead to a lot of unhealthy things. For instance, I had to spend 200 hours beating Zelda, because I didn't want to miss anything. It's not easy for me to pull from what I want to do at the moment, and that has lead to problems with me in gaming. I want to make a plan, and follow that plan, and if my experiences don't line up with that, I run into issues.
And for sure it shows in my writing. Every conflict and motivation I have, comes from the desire for better. Maybe I need to reflect, and see what I can do if I'm surrounded by enough.

So, when considering the intents of a romhack in specific....
Because I don't want to play one.

I wish I could change your mind with this. I think romhacking and indie development in general is the most fun interesting experiences I've had with gaming. It offers a way for the average person to create his own work, and you see an unsterilized vision that someone saw through to the end, even if it's a short end.
But, you can get the same benefit from playing Indie games. Those are even better. Romhacks are more, if you really enjoy one game, and want to see more done with it. Pokemon is good because the games tend to follow a certain formula which romhacks are then allowed to break and see what else the game has to offer. Fire Emblem is good because it's a good system for political intrigue. Mario is good because it's a good platformer that you don't have to change much to do what you like.

To cut straight to the heart of what you were saying about Zorael testing his designs....

....you basically illustrate why I have personal issues with "The Demiurge" a.k.a. "The Creator Deity" of Judaism & Christianity.

That's going to be an interesting comparison, because a lot of his motivation does come from the Christian god. If you have problems with him, you'll have problems with Zorael, since he is purely his underling.

If we humans in the real world were "created", then there is the same sense that this very life I'm living is within someone else's "design parameters".

And much of the time, even with free will, what options occur to me for interacting with this world & other creations of this place are not what I would want.

And I even concede that my own choices & preferences limit those options for interaction even further.

But the honest point I'm trying to make, is that there was a time where the entire reason video-games or anime used to appeal to me, was because I could imagine parameters that I thought I'd like better.

Then there's the whole Buddhist notion of dukkha. "Suffering". Or "unsatisfactoriness".

And its claim that even in a "heavenly" or "phantasy" realm, we would still be unhappy.

Final Fantasy XIV went into these themes. I think they're becoming more common. How existence will always be filled with pain and striving no matter what, and removing that leads to a worse unhappiness. How an imperfect, war filled world may be the best we can hope for.
I remain unconvinced. I think the best world is one where we can create and express. And even if we run out of things to create and express, when we can no longer optimize, just the act of doing it brings joy.

So, to just double back to your intentions for the character Zorael.

It just sounds incredibly similar to the "flawed" creation of the Gnostic concept of "The Demiurge".

And since I am struggling to persist in the real world which was supposedly created by that very entity....

...it just makes me feel bad about hearing Zorael "pushing his designs until they break".

That hits too close to home and makes me feel that your Pokemon would be unhappy to exist like that.

Sorry if I'm taking things too seriously.

I go into this in my writing actually. I may paint Zorael in a positive light, and give him positive traits. But sometimes I make it clear that certain things he does do have negative consequences. I argue everything does.
So to get right at the heart of your argument, is it better to have a flawed existence, or no existence at all?
Zorael would consider a flawed existence a design flaw. If a creature built for strength has a weak joint, that's just as bad as that creature not enjoying using his strength.
Behetion is designed to show off his strength, so if he ended up wanting to be a painter, and not being able to do that, that's a critical flaw.

But another question my story opens is, are his creations really alive? He builds their synapses one at a time, each one for a specific purpose. It's possible they interact in a way that was unexpected to him, but a certain input leads to a certain output.
So, is that life? And does that life deserve to exist in a way outside of its design? I'm sure Zorael would be thrilled to send his creations out to lead interesting, novel lives, but so far it hasn't happened yet. The closest is Levia who was so well optimized that she developed her own morality, but she still chose to live at home. And even with her, the concept of happiness and self is not something that exists. And is almost a source of frustration when she interacts with other beings. All she knows is purpose and optimization, and so that's all she "wants".

Ironically, it was when I was a kid that dinosaurs eating people and other forms of fictional violence didn't raise any issue.

But now, the implications of it all become unsettling.

You've gained wisdom with your age. You're starting to develop world views.

You may not feel bad about trapping spiders in terrariums, but this particular example you mentioned is like a page out of my own youth, so just like the spoiler-boxed reply, it begets a VERY personal response from me.

That's growth for me then. I believe one should make the best decision we can with the information we have, and minimize suffering while maximizing joy while doing so. There is some ignorance of "Oh, crabs don't feel pain when you toss them in boiling water". But that seems rather willful to me.
I could make the argument of, there's more good made for me seeing that spider in a terrarium than bad for the spider being in there, so I should do it. But the fact was I was making a decision on incomplete information, and I'll use that to better optimize future decisions.

And likewise, I'm only offering what I learned, and perhaps it will be of use to you.

-.-b

(Also: after looking up El with Google, the language you mentioned was Hebrew.)

Thanks. I didn't want to give out false information, and also I didn't feel like researching at the moment. I figured it would be hebrew, with old testament and all that. But you never know. I could say something comes from a chinese word, then learn that "Chinese" is actually two different languages. So...

While I am glad you had fun with this in writing, it does again highlight precisely what bothers me.

And it's not just your approach either, because it extends into literally any act of creation.

Obviously, the most problematic are those where true sapience exists.

I'm glad you came to this conclusion! I wanted that to be clear from my writing, and tried to highlight it as well. With any act of creation, there is risk.
I should create some chapters where some villain character mirrors Zorael's actions but does so with another mindset and show what could happen without the same level of discipline or care.
But especially your issue of sapience is notable. If you create and fail, it is better to fail with something unvaluable than something valuable. If something is able to suffer and you cause it to unnecessarily, that is far more of a failure than if it is incapable of suffering.

But in cases like video-games, even if the fictional characters themselves are not suffering, it is still glorifying the drama & tragedy of reality's suffering, which then gets experienced vicariously by actual entities capable of having emotional complications from it due to the influence that any media can exert on a person's life.

I could argue there's value in that, but I do also want more stories where people are having a nice time. Maybe that's why I gravitate to children's shows. Even those have some conflict, though much more minor.

It would be interesting to even just hear about any of the tweaks specific to Dhylec's custom version (if there is one), even if the actual thing might be lost to time at this point.

YES PLEASE

[feather-flower]

So I love the idea of toying with that. And especially, thinking about how these beings exist. And, how they experience us.

This does make it clearer where you're coming from then.

It's one thing to edit something that exists, it's another to create something that's completely you.

For sure!
May you get lasting fulfillment from it when the project's done, Zorafim!

Funny you mention him! He's who I wrote that schizophrenia song for! I later added audio I heard from a video of what it's like to experience schizophrenia to make it hit harder.

Is that so?
Hopefully he liked the end-result, but this bit of background info does imply that maybe there should be a warning to accompany the song.
Wouldn't want to catalyze someone to undergo a mental-health event if your composition "hit" them too "hard".

Oh god. You're talking about Stadium 2.
That part made me cry so hard.
I have it recorded if you want to see me breaking down.

Hmmm, wasn't there a Challenge Cup in both of the Stadium titles?

Even if it only existed in the Gold & Silver era, then I still would NOT want to watch such an unhappy occurance.

And I'm truly sorry that you experienced such a strain from it.

I like it in concept, but when you're given a pokemon with bad moves and no STAB...man that leaves to a frustrating experience.

There definitely were scenarios where the options available led to theoretically unwinnable dilemmas.

But despite that, I personally found these randomized modes to be the most interesting.

And in Stadium 2 you could do this in 2 Player as well.

I haven't done much with Battle Frontier! I love Stadium so I should love that stuff. Pokemon has a good battle system and it's a shame that's wasted on an easy game.

As already stated, the Battle Factory was what I enjoyed about the Frontier back when I played Emerald Version, specifically because of the randomized team selections.

The first time I reached the "boss" of the Factory, the confrontation lasted several hours, and ultimately my Cloyster used Struggle to the point of fainting against a Lanturn whose ability was Water Absorb, so because we both had Leftovers & a Shell Bell, neither myself or the computer could actually claim victory.

Yet, despite losing that encounter, it remains memorable.

I can see that too. If you're surrounded by toxic individuals who just tear down everyone around you, then it's going to be difficult to grow. I'm thinking of a lot of online communities

Circumstances like that definitely don't help, but even when other competitors are practioners of "good sportsmanship" and DO make the atmosphere of any given sport more "encouraging", there is still an underlying issue when stoking the drive to dominate others.

For instance, a friend of mine who moved away, used to be very passionate about fighting games.

He actually became part of a little circle that harbored good intentions for each other and would actively teach those who were struggling with their preferred games.

However, you have to realize that those guys were having a good time making virtual characters beat each other up.

Nobody real was getting hurt.

Yet, the activity was still about violence.

So, even if I refrain from speculating about things on more serious subjects, then it still seems to me that their "enthusiasm for self-improvement" was being misplaced.

But again, where our efforts would be most beneficial is almost as contentious as "what's the meaning of life".

Thus, I held my tongue and tried to just be happy that my friend was happy and enjoyed our conversation the best I could, despite my qualms with competitive attitudes and total disinterest in actually playing anything anymore.

I'm thinking of a lot of online communities, like my experience with WoW. Just makes me want to quit and sequester myself...

Sincere condolences that you went through that Zorafim.

May any lingering psychic trauma be healing within you.

Truly.

I do feel the need to improve. It has lead to a lot of unhealthy things.

In general, the things that competitions of all kinds causes people to do, can easily result in more "unhealthy" behavior for the sake of achieving whatever goal.

Even people just obsessively going to the gym, might be physically "healthy", yet harboring DEEPLY unhealthy neurosises because of social competitiveness.

Such stuff might be totally petty and trivial, yet all-consuming internally for them.

It's not easy for me to pull from what I want to do at the moment, and that has lead to problems with me in gaming. I want to make a plan, and follow that plan, and if my experiences don't line up with that, I run into issues.
And for sure it shows in my writing. Every conflict and motivation I have, comes from the desire for better. Maybe I need to reflect, and see what I can do if I'm surrounded by enough.

To relate directly with you here, it is also clunky for me to deviate from what I expected when life veers in different directions.

This is still an issue, even after mostly letting go of long-term planning and trying to live each day as "presently" as possible.

Haven't figured this out, but atleast there's less stress (to a degree) than in the past.

Reflection is always recommended though.

I wish I could change your mind with this. I think romhacking and indie development in general is the most fun interesting experiences I've had with gaming. It offers a way for the average person to create his own work, and you see an unsterilized vision that someone saw through to the end, even if it's a short end.

Firstly, I believe you when you say it's the most fun you've had with games.

But the fundamental issue is that I stopped enjoying games.

Even before trying to live more meaningfully all-around.

Introspection led me to realize what I've said before about games not offering the interactions I'd like to have in their fictional realms.

And virtual experiences only serve as substitutes for the types of experiences I wanted to have for real, anyway.

Which led me to focus on my own creativity for years.

That never arrived at any satisfactory conclusion either.

But along the way, I gained insights.

Some of which, felt worth sharing.

Hence registering here at PSO-W last year to offer what I could.

That causes this weird predicament, where I have a frame-of-mind to reference things that are no longer relevant to me now, yet still matter to me in a past-tense way.

Worse than that, I lack any other commonalities for conversing with most people.

This is ostracizing me immensely, even when I'm meeting more new people outside on the streets than ever in my earlier years.

But no fulfilling connection with them seems possible.

And that unfortunate truth also reinforces the lessons that Gautama Buddha taught.

Sooooooooo.... again, pardon me for not wanting to play.

That's going to be an interesting comparison, because a lot of his motivation does come from the Christian god. If you have problems with him, you'll have problems with Zorael, since he is purely his underling.

It is a problem with the act of creation itself and even my own creativity demonstrates how flawed foundations continue to perpetuate. (And even degenerate, since deities purportedly create walking-talking living-things, while humans create imitations of life in inert mediums.)

I remain unconvinced. I think the best world is one where we can create and express. And even if we run out of things to create and express, when we can no longer optimize, just the act of doing it brings joy.

What you say about Final Fantasy's position, is not what was expressed by Gautama Buddha, or Jesus Christ for that matter.

So even if that game's position was "settling for the world we've got", the supposed saviors from two millenia ago were urging people to reach a new spiritual standard and that also meant not being part of the ways of this world.

And despite my attempts at renunciation, I'm just not finding the right path forward, when the world still surrounds me despite detaching from it as much as I can while still alive.

Seguing to your personal stance, there is a degree of truth to it, considering how drawing has helped.

However, the joy you describe isn't sounding the same as my experience of tedium followed by relief at accomplishing something that can be shared with others.

That has only gone so far in providing purpose.

For me, atleast.

I certainly would find it heartening to learn that you get a more lasting satisfaction from creation & expression.

And if you get authentic joy, then I am especially glad it does that for you, Zorafim.

So to get right at the heart of your argument, is it better to have a flawed existence, or no existence at all?

On a personal level, noone would want to hear how I feel about that.

But because I also realize that my stance itself is confused & flawed, is why I've given such credence to what certain saviours have supposedly said.

Siddhartha Gautama was very clear that annihilation & non-existence were not even possible.

That the desire for non-existence was yet-another compulsion that sends us back into the samsaric cycle of death & rebirth, so it defeats the point & just forces us to start over, possibly in an even worse circumstance.

Hence his urging all who listened, to unbind themselves from all defilements & become established in meditation to reach the only unperturbed state, which he called "nibbana" or "nirvana".

Doing so, supposedly ceases suffering in this life and stops the cycle of rebirth once the body stops functioning.

so if he ended up wanting to be a painter, and not being able to do that, that's a critical flaw.

It's certainly a dilemma.

But another question my story opens is, are his creations really alive?

***snip***

So, is that life? And does that life deserve to exist in a way outside of its design?

You do pose some significant questions here, but the answers dictated within fiction won't necessarily apply to reality.

And vice-versa.

Not to mention, if I was to give any answer, it would already be limited to human understanding of life, which can't even agree about other living things we can see on this planet.... so I'll just opt out & refrain from speculating.

You've gained wisdom with your age. You're starting to develop world views.

The concern is whether those world-views are aligned with the ultimate truth or if they are merely another deluded distortion.

That's growth for me then. I believe one should make the best decision we can with the information we have, and minimize suffering while maximizing joy while doing so.

Min/Max-ing of suffering & joy, eh?

There is some ignorance of "Oh, crabs don't feel pain when you toss them in boiling water". But that seems rather willful to me.

Not only that, but even if crustaceans DID exist without any pain stimulus sensation....

....then it would still be cruel to decide that its continued-life mattered less than one's fleeting appetite that could be satisfied in a myriad of other ways that did not infringe another lifeform's existence.

I could make the argument of, there's more good made for me seeing that spider in a terrarium than bad for the spider being in there, so I should do it. But the fact was I was making a decision on incomplete information, and I'll use that to better optimize future decisions.

This is why I dislike "debate", because a person can make an argument for anything, and even sound convincing, but just because I also lack the right knowledge to counter your points.... doesn't actually mean that the spider should be caged.

Freedom in general is a delicate thing to discuss.

So, ideally, all I can say is that all spiders should be free.

BUT they too are predators, which even as an instinctual animal is a life-or-death issue for their prey.

Which then goes back to my problems with creation, whether or not it could be justified somehow by higher entities.

Saying that, it becomes futile for me to even try communicating, so I'll just drop this train-of-thought, if that's okay.

Thanks. I didn't want to give out false information, and also I didn't feel like researching at the moment. I figured it would be hebrew, with old testament and all that. But you never know. I could say something comes from a chinese word, then learn that "Chinese" is actually two different languages. So...

You're welcome. And I also don't want to give out false information, hence often stating "purportedly" and "supposedly" with regards to the ancient advice brought up in these posts, because no matter how much those spiritual paths have resonated with me in the last 6 years, I can't PROVE very much at all. And that even includes mundane things, nevermind anything mystical or transcendent.

So, I do fully comprehend why you didn't specify recklessly.

And it wasn't troubling to use the search engine myself, so no worries at all.

But especially your issue of sapience is notable. If you create and fail, it is better to fail with something unvaluable than something valuable. If something is able to suffer and you cause it to unnecessarily, that is far more of a failure than if it is incapable of suffering.

Again, this all stems from empathy.

Especially if I was "created".

Even so, it also must be mentioned that Yeshua/Jesus allegedly taught with an emphasis on forgiveness.

And that forgiveness would assuredly extend to even the artificer of a flawed universe.

I could argue there's value in that, but I do also want more stories where people are having a nice time. Maybe that's why I gravitate to children's shows. Even those have some conflict, though much more minor.

The problem wouldn't be that there was "no value", but whether the "value" generated from it was worth subjecting those who suffered from it, to it.

Because it has occured over & over, that a dismal story was conceived to illustrate a life-lesson through fiction.

Many fairy-tales for children originated with grisly versions that acted to dissuade listeners from making the same mistakes.

Which, in a flawed world like this one, probably has helped actual people.

But again, for me, there is an inherent qualm with this approach now that I've allowed the possibility of spiritual reality into my life.

Because I certainly don't want to live a life that was literally created for the express purpose of saying: "See kids? Don't be like that guy."

And he hardships endured by the Buddha and the Messiah sounded even more torturous, despite them being the epitome of role-models.

It would just be nice if existence was already so perfectly pleasurable AND meaningful, that simulated substitutes were never even invented...

But I don't want that sentiment to be the next thing twisted, because I'm sure anything I ever say can be made into an unwanted parody of what was wished....

Thus, it's probably time to end this post.

(May you have a pleasant Full Moon Night this evening, and a Happy Independence Day tomorrow, Zorafim. And everyone else too!)

[Dhylec]

I don't have anything to show now. My edits back then wasn't as comprehensive as what you guys are doing now. It was basic stuff like default names, someone's talking, etc.