M. Tarah Henry @Lobst@scalie.club

#introductions

Hi, everyone; I'm tarah, otherwise known as lobst. I've drawn a few comics that people have seemed to enjoy, and programmed a game demo that won 10th-place in a 140+ entry game jam despite having no sound. My ability to finish any individual project has been stymied by mental health problems for over a year, but I've been seeking treatment and making progress. I've also been streaming videogames on weekends. Watch this space!

https://lobstworks.com/
https://lobst.itch.io/

Still haven't picked up Half-Life: Alyx, partly because I've seen it played elsewhere and partly because it takes a lot to get me interested in VR experiences where ballistic/explosive weaponry are your primary mechanisms for world interaction

The same film also features at least one dolly zoom with the camera tilted up at an actor's face, which was a real lean-in "how did they actually pull that off" moment

There's a brief scene in the Ace Attorney live-action film where the actor who plays Phoenix picks up and acts against a real live cockatoo, and during those few seconds I became completely convinced that CG action scenes in live-action cinema are boring as hell

Pogchamp emoji, let's GO

Saint-G's route has had me saving before every decision, I only have a tenuous idea what to do with each one. I'm still enjoying it a lot, saying anything more would be a spoiler

The other guys teach combat skills, chemistry, technology, and stealth; this mysterious MFer shows you around the city, all the while teasing the idea of getting to know him just SLIGHTLY more intimately

Three routes down, I'm glad that even though I've gone this far into exploring the story I don't have the slightest clue what the hell the remaining pre-endgame route (in which the MC pursues anime Saint-Germain) could even be about, or who its major players might be

(I say "comparatively" because for as serious as the story wants to treat itself, the Japanese dub still has the antagonist referring to him affectionately as "Van". That's it, that's the only reason)

Finishing up the Van Helsing path in Code: Realize, I appreciate how no matter how thoroughly each character has been used as one-note comic relief, the game treats the choice of "this is who I'd like the MC to pursue" as warranting a comparatively serious ending arc

That tenuous few seconds after pressing the game icon on the console dashboard when you wonder if its splash screen will display, followed by another tenuous few seconds when you hope it doesn't quit out with an error message that reads "Something went wrong."

I say this as someone who generally doesn't care about graphics and can live with inconsistent framerates, as long as the creator's intent shines through; I just want access to the work as intended without having to buy the best new console every three years

I think it was the broken release of Control on base Xbox One/S that made me realize one of the biggest reasons people cite for playing games on a console -- 'I can just buy this box and the game and I'm set' -- had become granular enough that it was no longer a guarantee

For my second of the five available routes (after I finished cleaning up Impey's) I've chosen this star of a "to let you past I'll need to confiscate all your weapons" skit