Pre-apocalypse

Late 2023: I had doubts about my content creator career. My videos were low quality, my music was not to my liking, and my drawings basically had no future. I wanted to devote more time to my real-life work. But then, through the sheer power of Discord/communication, I hosted NGBS. This contest would motivate me and pull me back to the game.

Early 2024: I wanted to mock my last "embarrassing" year, so I put all of my energy into one album which was completed within January. I drew plans for this year, a lot of plans. I wished to make at least 2 EPs. As for YouTube? Sure, I could exploit the infinite content glitch. I would replay DMC3 and flex my skills. And then-

Apocalypse

Admittedly, I wasn't the best at managing my emotions and making decisions, even to this day. I'm generally not a smart person. Whenever negativity happened in life, I made careful to not tell anyone on the internet about it since I didn't want to bother them. The same couldn't be said for this period. Everything has its limit. I explained what happened in my older news. How ironic. Additionally, I quit as an organizer of the Touhou music circle Irodori (though, I don't regret this decision).

Post-apocalypse

Mid 2024: I spent a lot of time thinking and reflecting after quitting. "Was it the right decision?" was my number one question. I rewatch my videos, revisit my music, looking at the potential of my drawings,... They weren't as bad as I used to feel. Maybe they were never so bad after all. Maybe I had let my emotions overrode. Maybe, just maybe, had I approached content creation as a hobby rather than a career, I wouldn't have fallen off. I started looking back at my sketched plan for this year and attempted to finish as many of them as possible. In addition, not only I motivated myself to continue making content, but also my internet friends. I should also thank the chatbots which reminded me to always think of the good things that I can make rather than my past mistakes.

Present: One of the plans was to broaden my connection, and the best way for that is to join and host music collabs. And I did just that. Also, I won a prize in the Madness Day Contest. I failed back in 2022 but I came back. I was very grateful to have exchanged with my idol. NGBSR has just completed its run. I'm planning to host NGBFS next year. I gotta say, the contest was just as enjoyable, if not more so, as before. There were incredible entries and i had mixed emotions during my livestream. Although I can't complete every plans in my to-do list, I'm content with what I have done so far.

The answer:

Honestly, I don't feel much negativity right now. I just needed to learn to control my emotion outburst, to move on and to make better decisions. 2024 wasn't a bad year, but not a good year either. It is my saddest year but also my happiest. It is a lesson for me.

The future?

The more I grow up, the more I think about the future. But I also think more of how thin the barrier between life and death is. Things become more and more unpredictable. I hate promises. I prefer having a goal than a plan. But that's all I can say for now.

It's been a while since I played any NG games. When I entered the Games tab, the first thing that caught my eye was MÆRE II. Not only was it scary-looking, but also very familiar, cuz I played the 1st game last year. I was excited to see new content and boy hoh oh boy I was not disappointed. Compared to the 1st game, the sequel requires less action but has more ambience, which makes it more unnerving. You're supposed to sleep but shouldn't, basically. I also like the new ranking system as it allows more replayability. I'll be waiting for the full trilogy, @Chris ! Btw may I ask if there's a lore to this series?

You can watch my reaction here.

The novel/album was made to mock the downfall of JinZ the Author. Disappointed in his previous work, JinZ put himself into a tale in which he pretended his work killed him, not his mentality.
The details of the story have been covered in the past. Let's discuss the link between the music and the fictional novel, "Who killed JinZ?" 

Prologue: The track is divided into 3 sections corresponding to 3 genres: Mystery, Action, and Sentimental.

Chapter 1: After releasing the prologue, I realized a theme among the 3 genres. Each genre would have 10 chapters. As a chapter of the Mystery genre, the track is just like that, mystery-sounding. The second drop was when Jayden (J) discovered his potential to become a successful artist.

Chapter 2: Self-explanatory.

Chapter 3: Self-explanatory.

Chapter 4: J would rather share his art on social media than with his family and friends. To J, having more connections with people was the only way to get more traction. This closed-minded decision resulted in a very monotonic track. The whole track is played in the F-note.

Chapter 5: Introducing L, the (technically) opposite of J. The way L changed J was shown in the track. The first drop was J before meeting L and the second was after. J was enlightened to see another artist like him. The track's title referenced the change in J's perspective. He didn't need to practice by himself anymore, he had L to look up to.

Chapter 6: The bridge referenced JinZ's theme, the same one played in Tergiversation and 25th. Hence the name and the plot of the chapter.

Chapter 7: J had to somehow catch up with the busy life. He could've focused on one thing but he prefer trying to balance between studying and drawing. At the end of the day, nothing got done, just like the emptiness of the track.

Chapter 8: Self-explanatory.

Chapter 9: Self-explanatory.

Chapter 10: J wanted to stand out from his peers, like a Melbourne Bounce track that isn't filled with vocal chops or exciting elements. This is the end of the initially planned-to-be Mystery volume.

Chapter 11: The track was meant to be hip-hop, with fake rap vocals. Hip-hop is suitable for talking about a gang. But I ran out of time and went for another genre.

Chapter 12: No correlation. Just good music.

Chapter 13: The heaviness and the screams foreshadow L's unfortunate fate. The title referred to being decepted to S.

Chapter 14: The loss quality represented J's mood going down. The outro represented L's mood going up.

Chapter 15: The first drop was where J's art stood, simple, yet has some sweetness. The second drop was what J wished to become. However before he could reach it, there was a sudden extra beat. This beat was the sudden phone call.

Chapter 16: Self-explanatory.

Chapter 17: The intro correlated with J's lonely trip. The same laugh that appeared at the pre-drop, can be found in Chapter 5's outro. J had a feeling his friend was close, yet so far away from him. 

Chapter 18: The first half of the track showed R's anger towards his subordinates. The drop's sustain bass was J's screaming. It got weaker when J felt hopeless. Also, Reece was a reference to Reese bass.

Chapter 19: Self-explanatory. The dissonant piano showed that these 2 men were about to break character. At least, that's what I thought when I was writing the chapter.

Chapter 20: Self-explanatory. The track was meant to be neurofunk, which related to Nero. But pure neurofunk requires a lot of effort and time. So I switched over to glitch-hop. The outro was when N's vision started to fade away.

Chapter 21: The title is a reference to Chapter 1. This is the start of the third arc/volume. The track was semi-sampled from Chapter 19 and had every instrument, except drums, reversed.

Chapter 22: Self-explanatory. 

Chapter 23: The title referenced King Crimson's The Court of the Crimson King. There was a court which appeared within J. Sidenote, the first drop lacked a critical element, a vocal. To compensate, I added a new layer for the second drop.

Chapter 24: No correlation. Just good music.

Chapter 25: This is the final title which referenced Daft Punk's Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. M was a character based on a fellow producer of mine whose main genre is breakcore. This track was made based on him. The first drop signified the dangers that were about to occur whilst the second indicated M was still competing with J.

Chapter 26: Like Chapter 11, this one is an introduction to the third arc's main antagonist. The genre and the carefree atmosphere of the track were just like him.

Chapter 27: The crowd scream at the start was a foreshadow. Died around noon, H could never experience sunset again. Hence "There is no sunset, only eternal light. And life." Perhaps H believed in Heaven. The rest of the track represented the antagonist's evilness. 

Chapter 28: This track manifested fears and discomforts. The new antagonist was smart and untraceable, unlike the previous one. Despite that, W was determined to bring her son justice wherever, whenever.

Chapter 29: The drops ended 1 bar earlier than it supposed to be. This indicated that the antagonist's plan was going well until unforeseen events occurred. The main synth in the bridge also appeared suddenly. In the first drop, the antagonist was laughing. But not in the second drop. 

Chapter 30: The title referenced Chapter 2, and the genre referenced Tergiversation. In my opinion, no other genre is more cold yet heated than Liquid Funk. And this vibe was the perfect conclusion to the story.

All of this was done within 31 days.

My videos, my music, my drawings, etc. I hate them all. I don't hate you, reader, I hate myself.

This is the end.

Back at it again with another banger from @ErikSwahn!

This game has an impactful plot and fun and creative boss fights!

Besides the bugs that I had while playing the game, it generally isn't too bad from a casual player's standpoint.

Overall, the game should have a bit more consistency with the power-ups and fix some glitches where enemies may get frozen.

I had a second play-through to see if I missed anything and I did. The seller is supposed to sell a sword and a bow iirc, and the items aren't listed, you get 'em or never be able to. which imo it's kinda... restricted.

But hey, I expect more from Erik in the future and his banger music as well!

This game gives me anxiety throughout. There are so many unexpected events!

Short but terrifying, an amazing game you've made, @Chris!

Today, I bring you a fun game hosted by @Karlestonchew called Pico-Cross. I was told it was an epic mega collab, so I headed in to play the game. And sure enough, I was not disappointed. I recommend y'all play this game. And, because it is based on Nonograms, it will teach you more about this classic puzzle.

Every contributor has done an amazing job bringing this game to life.

Here is my reaction while playing the game:

This brought me back

WHAT IS HE DOING HERE???

The greatest plot EVER!

I was browsing some NG games this morning and came across this interesting game name called Bloodsoil. Fascinated by the game's description, which is something about FARMING and ZOMBIES, I gave the game a try. Y'all can see my reaction to the game here: Youtube

@aplovestudio has done an excellent job delivering a unique game that's made within 72 hours! Make sure to check out his other cool games as well.

Yesterday, I came across a very cool short game about cutting ro- I mean, grappling whips!

It was none other than Grapple Whip from @MrNannings. He is an experienced developer and producer! Make sure to check out his fancy and cute stuff on his website.

Every comment that I have for this game is in these two videos: Part 1 and Part 2

Be sure to check them out too!

Please NG don't ban me for promoting >~<