#SITV

[blueberry-lemon]

Shouting into the Void about Palia, which has begun its open beta.

Palia is a "cozy sim MMO set in a fantasy world", as pitched by the developers at Singularity Six. If I had to set it up in one sentence, I would pitch it as something like "what if an MMO didn't need to have combat?"

Which is something I'm really excited about.

To clarify, I think the MMO term is slightly misleading. When you log on, you're sent to an instance of around 25 players or so, similar to how Sea of Thieves works. For what it's worth, I think this is actually a preferable experience versus being a "true MMO" with hundreds of people crowding around the town area. I think they made the right call.

Although I have some small critiques and some reservations about recommending Palia during its open beta state, I'm having a really fun, relaxing time and I'm really looking forward to how the game grows. Full thoughts below.

--- I'm sure people will be quick to compare Palia to Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. This is valid, and probably something the developer wants you to do. Like those games, Palia is about relaxing and having a good time in a simple town with charming NPCs.

That said, I think the closest analogs to how Palia works are actually Disney Dreamlight Valley and Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles. Dreamlight Valley I think is the most direct competition, so to speak. It's funny to see that another developer got to the multiplayer pie before Disney's teams were able to fully add multiplayer, lol.

In Palia, you dress up your character and you customize your home. I think the art is really great, and the animation has really impressed me. There's a great variety of outfits (although to be clear, 30% of clothing options are available from the start and the other 70% is, for now, premium currency only.) There's unfortunately only 2 choices of body type in the Open Beta, although the devs claim that more are coming.

There's a shocking amount of customization for your house and your lawn. At least, picture Animal Crossing: New Horizons but with better controls for dragging and dropping where you want everything. People who like setting up their plot of land will have a good time. You can even expand your property to make it larger.

The core of Palia's loop involves you hopping around between progressing the Main Story and progressing 8 different skills: Cooking, Hunting, Bug Catching, Gardening, Foraging, Fishing, Furniture Making, and Mining. In addition to this, you're progressing your friendship meter with the different NPCs and, if you'd like, selecting one to Romance.

There's some really smart innovations in Palia that I like.

For example, your Mining skill only increases when you PICK UP the ore loot that drops from destroying a vein of ore. Why is that? Because you're supposed to work together with friends and strangers. If the skill increased for each time your pickaxe struck the vein, then you'd get annoyed if your friend helped you, because working together would destroy the vein in less strikes. If the skill increased for destroying a vein, then only the person who got the "last hit" would reap the exp reward. In Palia, so long as a player strikes the vein at least once, the loot will drop for them when it's destroyed. This way, anyone around you can "get their hand on that ball" by helping strike the vein at least once. This encourages working together, sharing the loot, etc. The same goes for chopping trees: anyone who contributes at all will get the wood that drops. This naturally encourages people to work together. There's no reason not to, because you're not "stealing" the loot from anyone else or "stealing" the exp.

Cooking is the most fleshed out co-op experience from what I've seen. Recipes require ingredients and a stove or prep station. Then, when you start the recipe, you do minigames to chop ingredients and stir them. So long as any player contributes an ingredient or does one of the minigames, they get the full exp and the finished dishes from cooking, even if that contributing player doesn't have the recipe. So if your friend loves cooking, and has a bunch of recipes, they can initiate the cooking and then you can bring the mushrooms and do the chopping. Then you all get to level up and get the dishes.

Even activities like Fishing are more fun to do together. If you fish near someone else who's fishing, you'll both get a buff that makes the fish bite your hooks much sooner. It stacks higher the more you fish together.

Another smart innovation: a rework of the infamous "stamina meter." This time, it's a Focus Meter. If your Focus Meter drops to 0, nothing happens. You don't pass out, you don't starve, nothing. However, if you DO have Focus, you get a Exp Gain Multiplier. This encourages you eating dishes to stay well-fed without punishing you too strongly if you ignore it.

And then, lastly, the core conceit of the game: there's no combat or danger. Although there is a Hunting Mechanic, it's completely one-sided, like hunting deer (which the game is quick to tell you are overpopulated in the area.) You can't die, you can't get hurt, you don't take fall damage, you don't even have health, period. I think this is great at trimming the unnecessary parts of a game like this and keeping it truly relaxing.

Although I'm having a fun time, I can't wholly recommend the open beta of Palia for everyone. The game is still early in its life and is missing a lot of important UI/UX and central features. The Pause and Settings menus are pretty sparse. You can only have 1 character so far, there aren't multiple character slots. You can't even change your characters name once you've made it, so choose carefully. In addition, you might feel like there "isn't enough to do together" if you play with friends, which is similar to a complaint I have about Animal Crossing multiplayer. It's mostly a chill hangout game about fishing next to each other.

There are a lot of things in the game that still need to be fleshed out, but I'm really happy with the core structure they've set up. Once this game leaves Open Beta, I think it'll be an easier recommendation, especially for folks who have enjoyed Disney Dreamlight Valley. I think these devs are smart about how they're handling the core desire here: wanting to play a game like Final Fantasy XIV or Stardew Valley without having to worry about combat or stamina.

My partner and I love to play these relaxing zone-out types of games. While trying Atelier Ryza recently, my partner said: "I just want a game where you zone-out and pick stuff up off the ground." My friends, we finally found it. It's called Palia.

You can find the Palia Open Beta on PC, and the game is slated to release on Nintendo Switch.

#Palia #Palia game #Disney Dreamlight Valley #shouting into the void #sitv #blogofkylelab

[quinndelightful]

Community Event!

Hello there!

We're looking for people to join our spaceship crew! Lead by me! Your Captain, Captain Quantum! Nice to meet you!

Now, you maybe are looking for reasons to join- but! We're going on a mission to THE VOID! And need a good crew to back us up! Or just for company!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Community event Ahhhhhh!!!! :D

(Inspired by @lovepuppett Ghostsails Event!)

We're in the middle of space! Gathering Aliens to join the crew! You can be anything you like (save for a Earth human, humanoid is still good! :D and we have some very loose guides to help in our discord server!)

To join just make a character for the ship and tag me! Art isn't required! (tho it is preferred! But picrews and such are good too! and none is still perfectly fine!)

As well as join our discord!

And follow out Tumblr! @stardust-in-the-void :D

Everyone is welcome!!! Just be nice to everyone else!! :D

Our tag is #SITV all caps :]

And your captain :D

#SITV #So excited!!! #And do reblog so it can reach everyone! Ahhhhhh!!! :DDDDD

[groovygladiatorsheep]

“He’s the moment, except when he ruins it.„

Meet REEF !!! My oc for the SITV ( Stardust In The Void ) server !!

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Credits !

SITV belongs to : @quinndelightful <33!!

The badge on Reefs outfit was designed by the beloved @novae-viking :]

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Info !

- Alien that came from a star…

- Do NOT talk about oranges or he’ll start rambling on it. Do not..

- Literally his whole civilization is dead whoops

- Maybe one or two survivors left aside from him tho whoops 👀

- the species could be called Narcissus in human language.

- grows flowers !!

#mdraw #oc #alien oc #Reef #SITV #stardust in the void #god I love that project sm #ref #alien

[spirirsstuff]

lazuli has a trade offer for quix

Quix belongs to @chasani

#my art #SITV #stardust in the void #lazuli #quix #oc: lazuli #lazuli just wants to cause chaos muahahaha #and not get caught but that’s besides the point- #and yes i was lazy on drawing quix but that’s also besides the point #the entire thing was a fast drawing so it’s messy and the proportions are weird

[chasani]

@quinndelightful

I’m unique

#working on alt outfits rn but this is the main :) #chasani #sani.art #sani.sona #fav tag ❤️ #sani.ref #SITV #Quix SITV #art #my art #digital art #my digital art

[sylensombrr]

THE MECHANIC TRIO!!!!!!! So cute <333333

Link to it on YouTube if you wanna check it out

Flare belongs to @freshmichael

Reef belongs to @groovygladiatorsheep

#idk what about sitv that gives me motivation to animated like no other #but im all for it #a 12 year old homestuck meme inspired this #do with that as you will #also groovy why did you make reef so not animation friendly #i love him but god damn lololol #stardust in the void #SITV #animation #animation meme #oc #ocs #art #my art #space #alien #alien oc #roleplay #rp #space rp #buri hamachi #buri hamachi meme #flare #reef #wayne #mechanic trio

[stardust-in-the-void]

Update!

Hello everyone!

I wanted to give a small update to SITV :D

We're doing great so far! We've got 14 members and are growing strong! Don't be scared to join us over on discord!!! We've got lots of shenanigans going on over there :]

I've noticed an uptick in people finding us! Yay! So I wanted to share again and show we are still alive and well! :D

Also!!! I want to thank everyone who's joined so far and made this a wonderful community event so far! :D I'm so glad we can all get together and excited to extend the invitation to all reading this! :D

Everyone has also been very sweet doodling each others characters <3 I love to see it! :D And will try to share them both here and on my OG blog :]

Anyway! Thank you all again! And I can't wait to see you in THE VOID ;]

#SITV #SITV Update #sitv #community event

[jayssillycreativitybox]

Hello hello!! Meet Kailo!!!

(One of the members of the Stardust in the void crew members!!)

Info!

(for people who can't read my handwriting-)

°Kailo - He/They°

•5'8 tall

•Actor & Pretender!,

•Enthusiastic persona!,

•Missing pinky fingers on both of the hands,

•Joined the crew for a change in lifestyle

•Used to work in a Theatre 🎭

•May be acting creepy or unsettling from time to time

•The third eye closes when negative emotions are felt , or he's angry.

•Judging his acting can hurt their feelings.

•Can go invisible!

°-Stardust in the void belongs to @quinndelightful !!!°

(the upper jacket thing was supposed to be a bit darker but aa--)

#star dust in the void #KAILO!! #art #digital art #heheheh #goofy #silly #vdkshdkhd #aaaaa #im just making random tags lmao #kailo #took some time to make and post this- #hdkshkfhd #i do take my time often eh? #sitv #i didnt do digital for a long time- #aaaaaa #these exams driving me nuts #help me #aa

[eveeonaartz]

@quinndelightful, @stardust-in-the-void here's my character for the ship. ^^

Their name is Lav. Very shy and not really social able. It's hard to tell even if she's on the ship, because she teleports somewhere new every few seconds. But there somewhere. Collecting nuts and bolts.

#SITV #New OC #elgyem #I did what I do best #Lav

[rainnotliam]

Okay I’m scared *laughs nervously* @quinndelightful

(Info for character because I couldn’t fit it)

Name: Flynn R.

Gender: He/Him

Age: Human years 18

Height: 6’0

Scar is from surgery he had to undergo after an incident

He looks humanoid but the crystal keeps his appearance, repels any touch including himself

Hair flows into different colors representing many worlds of colors

Rings at the tips of his hair to remind him to keep on guard

Spirir made me interested hi sorry this isn’t my best work

#SITV #stardust in the void #rainkvee’s art #oc art #flynn my precious

[novae-viking]

Sitv sillies :]

#noveart #art #digital art #sitv

[ace-bookdragon]

My character for @quinndelightful's Stardust In The Void event! Meet Lilian, a one-armed entity who likes to take notes on everything and tries to look human despite not really knowing what one looks like.

#SITV #digital art #my art

[still-living-like-im-trying]

"Trust Me"

"I Do"

A Butterfly caught by a Spider~.

#my drawing #my sketch #my oc #oc #spiderverse fanart #Spiderverse #spiderman into the spiderverse #spiderman across the spiderverse #spidersona #spidersona art #this was meant for yesterday but i didn't manage to finish it yesterday #still: HAPPY PRIDE! #happy pride month #happy pride 🌈 #happy lalet pride! #sitv #satsv #into the spider verse #across the spiderverse

[spirirsstuff]

Here’s my character for @stardust-in-the-void, (by wonderful @quinndelightful) Lazuli! They may not always be apparent on the ship, but they’re there… somewhere.

#my art #oc: lazuli #lazuli #wooo im so happy with how they turned out!!!! #SITV

[blueberry-lemon]

Shouting into the Void - Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend

Shouting into the Void about Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend

(don’t mind the screenshots, the game is localized into English)

I've seen barely anyone talk about this game, but I love it. It's a Touhou fangame, and it's a deckbuilding roguelike very much in the style of Slay the Spire.

Yes, I know, there's like 30 games out there in the style of Slay the Spire these days. But this one might honestly be one of my favorites. Between this and Monster Train, I haven't really felt a desire to go back to Slay the Spire.

The structure is as you'd expect: You pick a character, you get a starting deck, and you start doing battles. You pick your "path" among battles, random events, and shops. You get different artifacts (called "Exhibits") that give you passive abilities that will sway your playstyle.

First off, I love the art. For me it's one of my favorite-looking deckbuilders and favorite-looking Touhou games. The danmaku-style attack animations are an incredible touch.

Secondly, I love the different permutations and decks you can go for. The game uses a very streamlined "mana color" system for playing cards. Unlike Magic the Gathering, you don't have to worry about actually drawing cards randomly to get the colors you need. You automatically start each turn with the same colors (for example, "3 red mana and 2 yellow mana.") Different colors can be used for different cards, which invites different strategies.

Every time you start a run, you not only choose which character to play as but ALSO which color deck you want to start as. This level of choice reminds me of the fun of starting a Monster Train run.

If you're into deckbuilders or Touhou, give it a shot! It's still in early access, and some lines are still being fully translated into English, but it's completely playable in its current state.

Find it on Steam!

#sitv #shouting into the void #touhou #deckbuilder #blogofkylelab #indie games

[sylensombrr]

Chibi practice doodles for Flare and Reef because <33333333

Flare belongs to @freshmichael

Reef belongs to @groovygladiatorsheep

#i love them so much <333333333 #i need to get better at drawing them lololol #try to guess which flare drawing was the first XDDDDD #stardust in the void #sitv #flare #reef #art #my art #rp #roleplay #space #aliens #doodles #freshmichael #groovygladiatorsheep