Feed aggregator

submitted by Indycoone
[link] [2 comments]

submitted by user812
[link] [32 comments]

submitted by Anthoren
[link] [18 comments]

submitted by batchick93
[link] [9 comments]

submitted by TakeMyKnot
[link] [47 comments]

Hello r/furry!

I figured since there's a lot of gamers within the Furry community, some of you fluffbutts might be curious about the Games Industry.

I've been making games for 8 or 9 years now. I've spent about 5 years working in the industry doing Programming (mostly AI and Gameplay) and some Game Design. You can view and play my personal projects on my website.

In 2015 I decided to go full-time indie. I'm currently working on a music-driven twin-stick shooter called Soundsaber, which you can find here.

If you have any questions about game development, the game industry or my general floofy self, ask away!

submitted by Nitram_Hu
[link] [24 comments]

submitted by MisaCollett
[link] [10 comments]

Just for fun.

I'll list some of mine:

Gaming,

Mechanical Keyboards, (/r/mechanicalkeyboards)

Being a furry is also a hobby I guess?

submitted by Vachtig
[link] [199 comments]

submitted by 041744
[link] [6 comments]

(Warning: the following letter describes a very disturbing suicide; if you are a very sensitive person, please do not read this one)

Dear Papa Bear

I only recently learnt about you, and from what I can tell, it'd have been very helpful to know a lot sooner. But, I suppose you play the hand you're dealt, make the best of it and all that. I apologise in advance for taking up you time and there's a couple things some people could find triggering in here, so be warned.

For me, everything started about six years ago. I had just got into high school and made friends with a couple guys who were in university. You know, make friends with older, university guys who are all into the same geeky things as you, because your parent decides to send you to a sport focused high school where you get bullied for liking geeky things. Or, that's what I thought at the time anyway. They were really nice guys and we became very good friends over the next three years.

There were 2 guys in particular I grew very attached to. Like a father-son/brother kind of relationship. Riaan and Danie. We were almost always together. Either I was with them after school and in the evenings, or I sat in Skype calls and chat rooms with them. Inseparable, you could say.

Riaan always said it was like having a younger brother, and he liked that. Partially because he didn't have much of a family. His mother and father hated him, his siblings were continuously told he is the worst of the worst, he didn't really have a pleasant upbringing. Add in the fact that he was severely depressed and often suicidal, cripplingly self doubting and loathing, and had severe anxiety and you have a recipe for disaster.

Danie had an abusive father who slept with everything that he couldn't drink, smoke or snort. His mother ended up grabbing him and his brother and leaving. Socially awkward, shy, and nervous, sort of your typical nerd.

And then there's me. Father cheated on mother, ran of with his mistress to Tanzania and disappeared. Single mother left trying to raise two kids with the father only caring enough to help when convenient for him. Socially inept, awkward, nervous, permanently stressed out and mildly depressed even at the best of times.

Some of our other friends used to joke that we were pretty much just one constant self help seminar. Gave us three a nickname I can't remember. But it was ok. We were happy with the way things were, and we wanted to keep things that way.

Everything was fine up to that point...

About 3 years ago, I was in my second last year of school, I ran over to go visit Riaan at his little student flatlet. Thought we could finally marathon the resident evil movies, like we'd been saying we should. Funny that I have a really bad memory because of a head injury I got when I was 3, but I can still clearly remember everything about that night, right down to what magazines and games he had laying on his desk. Anyway, walked in, everything was dark, thought a bulb blew or something. I walked in on him sitting in his shower, hunched over. He had gone and taken his father's shotgun, the same one his father took on hunting trips to the Karoo to hunt springbok.

I yelled, but nothing, just a loud, sharp ringing in my ears followed by a shower of red. You'd be surprised how loud it actually is.... I can't really remember what he looked like, but I can still clearly remember the grotesque rose on the wall, where every chunk of brain, bone and blood landed. How he sat before, where he fell after. It's this permanent horror still burnt into my eyelids, always there the minute I close them.

No notes, no reasons, nothing. His parents arranged a “private funeral” and dumped what was left in an unmarked grave so it could be forgotten.

That's when things fell apart. I stopped caring. Danie stopped caring. We gave up. Eventually we forced ourselves and each other to move on. We bottled everything up, pretending we were ok. It worked, for the most part.

They all finished their courses, got jobs, I finished school and went off to college. Life went on.

Couple of months ago we found out Danie pretty much destroyed his liver. He was down and out for a while, barely alive and dropped off the waiting list unless he stays sober for at least one year.

Now I've got this constant feeling of dread hanging over me. I can't focus on anything or get myself to care enough, either. I think I've already given up without even thinking of trying to put up a fight and that's what scares me most. I just don't know what to do anymore.

I'm sorry about babbling on and taking up your time. I feel like a complete asshole dumping all of this on someone else and asking them to help, but at this point I've written this about a dozen times and chickened out at the last minute. So, I thought, what the hell, if you sit quietly in a corner, nothing will change. But I thank you for your time, and I'm sorry for taking up so much of it.

Sincerely,
Jean (age 20, South Africa)

* * *

Dear Jean,

That took real courage to write your story to me. I can’t imagine anything as horrible as what you went through when you witnessed your friend’s violent suicide. Please do not apologize or in any way think you are taking up my time. This is what I’m here for, although I have to admit this one may be out of my league. As you know, I am not a licensed psychotherapist. It might be clichéd, but have you sought one out? 

In part of your letter, you say that you and Danie moved on, but I don’t believe you have. Danie is killing himself with alcohol and you are deeply, deeply scarred. What Riaan’s parents did to the body is an insult to his memory. I understand what they did, but I won’t condone it.

All three of you are victims of a society that doesn’t accept those who are different. For a while, you found a solution by creating your own support group, but Riaan, sadly, fell apart and shattered that circle. Normally, when someone goes through a tragic loss such as this, I tell them to seek out support, perhaps go to grief counseling or a local support group of people who have lived through the same thing. In your case, however, I worry that this would just remind you of the trio you already once had, and that would just bring back sad memories. Nevertheless, educating yourself about the grieving process, which is unique when it comes to suicide, may help. Here is a website that has useful information. If you are religious, you might also seek out help from your local church or temple.

But there are several other things I would like to suggest you do, too.

First, make sure you are not blaming yourself for any of this. Riaan’s suicide is not not not not your fault. I’m not sure you’re feeling that way, but if you are you have to get that notion out of your mind.

Second, if you are feeling powerless, empower yourself by being there for Danie. This will help both of you.

Danie internalized his grief, and the result is that his grief manifested itself in alcoholism. You’re also internalizing your grief and damaging yourself in a different way. Have you allowed yourself to cry? Grieving is a catharsis that you must go through before you can continue with your life. You might also be angry at Riaan for what he did. That’s okay, too. Let it out. Yell, scream, shout out your anger. It doesn’t make you a bad person to be angry, and, once you let out that anger, you will feel much better and, actually, not feel so angry anymore. It is very unhealthy to keep grief and anger inside you. I cannot emphasize that enough.

The next thing you need to do is recognize that in life we often go through major transitions. I have gone through two of them: my attempted suicide at age 18, and the discovery, at 40, that I was gay. Both times, it was like I died and was reborn. Both times were extremely difficult for me, but I managed to emerge on the other side. Riaan’s suicide is like that. The breakup of your circle is like that. A phase of your life has died, but that doesn’t mean you are at the end of life.

You are in transition.

Recognize that you are in a transitional phase of life, not at the end of it. This feeling of dread hanging over you is the image of Riaan’s suicide repeating in your soul like a broken LP. 

The Buddhists have something called a 49th Day Ceremony. They believe that when someone dies, there is a 49-day period called the bardo that is a time between one life and the next. After the bardo the soul is reincarnated into the next life.

Although Riaan died three years ago, you can still perform a ceremony not so much for him but for you (and Danie). My suggestion to you is that you create a ceremony that is significant and specific to you. It should include two parts: in the first part, you commemorate the old life, and in the second part you celebrate the new. For example, you could take something that was Riaan’s or that signifies Riaan’s life in some way, tie it to a helium balloon, and let it soar far far away. Then, in celebration of the new life, you could, say, plant a tree in his name and let that tree’s new life represent his. After performing this ceremony for Riaan, guess what? Do the same for yourself. You need a rebirth, as well. Again, if you can convince him, get Danie in on this, as well.

Ceremonies are not an empty gesture. There is a reason that we have them in all religious, spiritual, and cultural traditions. They are a way of giving form to concepts and beliefs that would otherwise seem too abstract to us. They help us to cope with—and celebrate—the changes that are inevitable in life.

In essence, Jean, the reason you are feeling the way you are is because, despite what you think, you haven’t actually moved on and you haven’t grasped the idea of life and death as a transition, not an ending. With transitions, there is hope, while the idea of death as an ending offers no hope.

Embrace that life is in flux. Nothing really dies, sweetie. It just changes. It’s okay to grieve over the loss of what once was and to miss your friend, but please see that this is not the end of hope. There is always hope, love, and rebirth; they are as much a part of life as death is.

Hugs,

Papabear

submitted by Dukurow
[link] [5 comments]

Rare Replay released on the Xbox One today, and includes five short documentary videos about five games in development by Rare that never saw the light of day as fully-fledged games. Some of them sounded quite furry!

The games that can be previewed are Sundown, The Fast and the Furriest, Kameo 2, Black Widow and Tailwind. Unfortunately, the actual video clips of these unreleased games aren't available yet, because no one has unlocked them all yet! As soon as we get videos of them all, we'll update the story. For now, we have these screenshots from the short preview videos attached to the games, courtesy of Kotaku.

Black Widow

Black Widow looks like a primarily vehicle combat driven game, without a lot of furry influence save for the "mech's" close resemblance to a spider.

Sundown

At first glance, Sundown appears to be a horror game starring three teenage-looking undead creatures of some sort. This looks like a relatively fleshed out idea.

Kameo 2

Kameo 2 was probably closer to becoming an actual game than any of the others on this list, and looks like there was already a good set of concept art for the game, along with models and surroundings. I would love to see the different forms Kameo would have taken in this sequel and hope that info is included in the preview vid.

The Fast and the Furriest

No doubt this would have been a furry bonanza racing game. Looks like a game akin to Mario Kart of Sega All-Stars Racing. It's a shame this didn't make it to release.

Tail Wind

Probably the earliest in development game of the five, there's no clues as to whether this game's "Tail" Wind would have actually included anthro characters.

Update to Part 1:  “If there was a Museum of Furry, theatrical “Panto-Animals” would be a major exhibit.“ My first Panto-animal history article shared a discovery of amazing proto-Furry happenings, in an overlooked era of Pantomime theater in Victorian Britain.  Stunning photos show why the topic is worth uncovering.  From these scarce records, a handful of actor names stood […]

submitted by MidknightFox
[link] [16 comments]

submitted by A1N1O
[link] [66 comments]

submitted by LJE_Shot1
[link] [8 comments]

submitted by Greypuppy
[link] [5 comments]

“I was born to serve as a cog in a machine, a terrible and awful machine”

With just under four days left, there is still time to back artist John Mueller’s latest Kickstarter project to fund his comic, Oink. His grim and gritty tells the story of Oink, a pig man who resides in a city under the control of religious zealots who control his kind in a hellish Orwellian fashion. Described by the artist as a comic taking in many elements of his own experiences with the education system and how it’s often difficult for anyone who doesn’t fit the strict mould set out by it. The story of Oink is obviously very personal to the artist as it uses the extended allegory of the school system and takes it to screeching extremes making it both nightmarish and brutal.

First published over twenty years ago, Mueller has spent the last five years working the brutal and oppressively gloomy artwork for the new hardback Icon edition of his comic and from the from the samples shown on the Kickstarter, has developed into a much more confident artist with more ambitious panel composition. Oink is now 200% funded and with the success the artists hopes to fund the second and third volumes of his long running, which Mueller has “had mapped out in my head for the better part of 20 year”, of the series next year.

Jason Karlson: For those who didn’t read it the first time around, what is Oink about and how did the concept start out?

John Mueller: I began working on Oink in 1992. I had become interested in comics after reading Sin City, Judgement on Gotham, and Tell Me Dark. These were the three books that made me realize that I needed to be making graphic novels. I didn’t really think of myself as a ‘writer’ but I wanted to tell a story. The thing that everyone will tell you about writing is to write a story that is personal to you.

Oink is really a story about my experience in the public education system, which I referred to as the Public Slaughterhouse, a system where children’s dreams go to die. We all start out with these great ambitions as young kids and by the time the system is done with us we are trained to make practical career choices and not swing for the fences. What happened to being an astronaut, a president, or a scientist?

The system seemed to be designed to set me up for failure. I was bright, but I was not a math or science kid. I was artistic and a creative problem solver type, but nothing in the system seemed to value that very much. I received a lot of negative feedback at that time, and my grades were pretty terrible. I also had a hard time being contained in a chair for long periods of time, and I’m still that way today. I need to get up and move, moving helps me think and be creative. I spent most of my adolescent years believing what they were saying- that I was a failure. I would put myself in the desk for 8 hours a day and go home really sad and depressed. It’s like training wheels for a prison if you aren’t really succeeding isn’t it? People say ‘well that’s the real world.’ Is it? Is that what we’re teaching, obedience and apathy?

It really messed with my head at that age. Fast forward to Art School and I instantly became a 4.0 student and began feeling confident about my prospects in life. Why did I have to go through 12 years of feeling like a failure? I was just a round peg being jammed repeatedly into a square hole year after year. Under the surface, Oink is about that experience. The bad guy is my guidance counsellor who hounded me to NOT go to art school, he told me I was going to ruin my life.

JK: You also mention forging your own path as a theme of your work, since you started the original Oink, do you think there are a lot more routes for people wanting to get their work out there on their own terms?

JM: If this campaign proves anything, it’s that if you have a vision for your life, there is a way to make it happen in today’s world. I honestly never would have thought even a year ago that I would be as busy as I am with Skyshine and OINK, both crowd-funded, creator-owned projects and both doing really well within their respective fields. When I started out over 20 years ago none of this existed…meaning the internet. It’s amazing how quickly it has evolved, always seeming to make it easier for people to connect and find things they are interested in. So if you are a niche kind of artist like me this is the best it’s ever been.

JK: The project, redrawing Oink has taken a while and must have started before Kickstarter was even around, at what point did you know it was the perfect project for a Kickstarter, and what was the original plan to publish the new edition before this?

JM: When I started, I didn’t know what this project would be, there was no plan, just this desire to get back to my foundation. I just knew that I needed to do it. The original publisher had gone out of print and I was regularly hearing from fans who were asking me what was going on with the book. I started the remastering project in 2010, so I think Kickstarter was pretty new at the time. Kickstarter is the perfect venue for an artist like me, because backers look at not only your art, but also your story. My story is a comeback story and people seem to like those, at least I do.

JK: Did any parts of the story change in the time between the original and this version?

JM: Yes, I added quite a bit, and altered a lot of elements to set the foundation for the series going forward. OINK is connected to a larger world that I created called BEDLAM, which is sort of my own post-apocalyptic universe. My indie video game company Skyshine is producing a game set in that world…albeit a totally bonkers version. You can see the game on our website: http://www.gobedlam.com The game has mutants, marauders, Cyborgs, futuristic tech cities, and bizarre cults brought up in the ashes of our world…it’s like all the stuff I loved as a kid.

JK: This edition also features radically revised artwork, what lead to this decision after all this time? Were you worried about the reaction from fans of the original comic, and how do you feel about revised and edited comics in general?

JM: I love this edition; this is truly me as a fully evolved artist. I created the first book when I was 22 and I don’t mind saying that I was wearing my inspirations on my sleeve- Simon Bisley, Ted McKeever, and Bill Sienkiewicz. This new edition is really all me, for better or for worse. I wanted to update the book to reflect my growth as an artist. It kills two birds with one stone, I get to put OINK back in print and I get to show people who I am today. Most of the fans of the original series that I have talked to have been very supportive of this remastered edition. Regarding the idea of rebooted comics, I think when it is the original creator, I like it, but when it is for corporate interests I am not a fan.

JK: When you first started this, did you imagine it would be over 200% funded within the first few weeks, or did you have more down to earth expectations of it?

JM: I had pretty low expectations, I mean I was hoping it would resonate with people but it’s a dark science, these crowd funding campaigns…there’s really no telling. I’m ecstatic about the Kickstarter community embracing the project as it has, since OINK has always been a bit of a loner in comics. He just doesn’t fit into any genre or mold so I think the big comic news sites like CBR don’t know what to do with it, and it’s hard to stand out in a comic shop unless you are a monthly series…so Kickstarter…let’s do this!

JK: Your Kickstarter pitch mentions plans for the next two arcs of the Oink story as stretch goals, do you think you’ll find it strange to spend years on the first one, and suddenly be able to start work on the next two very soon after this one? Will those too be kickstarted when completed?

JM: I’m hoping to do another campaign for the sequel of Blood & Circus in 2016. These books require a lot of dedication and focus, so if I am able to do another book, I definitely want to produce it in a shorter time frame, but more of a full-time focus. I’m REALLY excited about its direction because it’s going to be so over-the-top with post-apocalyptic monsters for OINK to contend with. He will join a travelling circus with a bunch of freaks from Bedlam, so you can imagine it’s a great setting for some fun art and characters.

JK: Oink obviously features pigs, why do you think pigs are so often used in fiction like this?

JM: Pigs are probably most well known for their gluttony, just rolling in mud and being really fat and not giving a crap about anything but their own happiness. They are short-sighted, and can be devious to get what they want. I think it’s why they are so often used as an allegory for the fat successful politician or corporate CEO. With OINK, it’s more about the ignorant and misunderstood aspects of these animals. I sort of see the ‘masses’, of which I am one, as these misunderstood animals. The gluttonous fat cats think we’re all mindless consumers and they can do whatever they want to us and we’ll take and it and ask for more. When you look at the world it’s hard to not see the truth in that, but we all have a choice to ‘live the change we want to see in the world.’ I’m trying to do that in my own life and it’s been a rewarding experience. I don’t really spend much time trying to change the world around me but more of what’s going on inside myself. I’m happy for people who find happiness, and I want to help those who are struggling. I think that’s why I enjoy teaching art and working with young artists too.

Find Oink’s Kickstarter here.

Hey there! I need to draw -- But I don't know what! So, I'm gonna take requests to help build my portfolio up, and to practice. Which means it might not come out exactly like my old art; I'm trying to improve.

I'll take up to five people (No more, because then everything will take waaaaay too long) and I'll make sure to let you know how progress is going with your drawing. And if you have anything in mind (Scenery, pose, action, event, etc) please let me know beforehand in your original post! I won't draw porn, sorry.

I'll either contact you through: 1. Reddit; 2. FurAffnity; Or 3. Deviantart; All of my accounts share the same username (Slyoren) For simplicity reasons. If you want me to contact you through FA/DA, please put your username in your post :P

It's a first come, first serve kinda deal. So be quick! (Please post your requests as a comment, so others can see)

submitted by Slyoren
[link] [18 comments]

submitted by SmirG3l
[link] [15 comments]