The Litterbox site update thread

[SickAlice]

Basically the same from me. However you guys want to, I'm not the host here (now I'm kind of toying with looking into that next year, maybe buy and reserve some storage space?). Regardless I'm not ready to make a move at this moment. I have my entire site backed up already. Also again I think I should clean it up before releasing it again, it was an obvious mess.

And otherwise I have a lot of time looming, figure I'm looking at three to four months from now. I haven't actually settled on where the house is going to be at this moment so it's kind of up in the air for now. Either Bullhead City, Kingman/New-Kingman and *maybe* Fort Mohave. I really want Lake Havasu, it's gorgeous and I love taking the London Bridge ferry. But expensive. I'm basically holding for a bit and trying to predict the next housing market bubble burst, it seems to be set in that three month period. I lost a really good bid in Lake Havasu in 2008 the last time the market crashed and don't want to make an inpatient move once again and/or just end up having to flip it like I did in the desert in 2021. If that helps to explain my timeframe. This will effect when I will have an internet connection, time to rework the site and links and when I won't if that makes enough sense.

Short of it is as far as my stuff is concerned there is a lot of time to figure it out. No rush needed here. And yeah life WyldFyre. If I could devote it all to Freedom Force, painting, sculpting, gardening, gaming and volunteering in community I would be all up in that. Then again that's the goal I'm working towards with all this. It's how I'd like to retire sans medical stuff.

[SickAlice]

So the site is up and running no thanks to Tomato. I fixed any bugs I could find. I also redid pages including the index and am going to do more work on that to make them easier to access. It will be some time, I'm approaching a move across the country very soon and have a lot of work to do there as well when I do I will not be online, being in car driving across the country of course, then establishing a new internet connection at the new house of course. But during the year. The desert gets hot during the summer so needless to say it's when I will spend more time inside working on this stuff as opposed to how I do it during winters in the North. At any rate I have a lot of plans for the site that I have been working on and off on for several years that will get rolled out. I want to say that I will hang it up after the next year but...well Freedom Force "Forever" and mostly I just find all this very therapeutic. I came into this to deal with physical pain, I was bed ridden and couldn't walk when I started here, something I only divulge sparingly and also turned to it to cope with the grief of loss. Needless to say I think I'm lying to myself and will probably be hooked for life. So I'll be around. But I do take time, typically whole seasons for other stuff I have to do and vanish from everywhere online when that happens. Be it personal, work, hobby or health.

Piece of mind because it bugs me is I watched a heated fight happening here recently. I really did not feel like indulging it but without naming names I was certainly being fingered and some unkind things said. I'm not asking for your opinions here. I do not want you to tell me "it's cool". It isn't for me. I don't appreciate people I do not know saying I'm bad or something. This all revolved around legal issues, making a game engine and taking other peoples work here. What I will do is ask anyone to consider the following things: Respect other people here. If someone says they do not want you to distribute their content or use it for skopes for example? Honor that and don't. There is no reason to lay into them about it.

The other is legal stuff. I have a LOT of detailed knowledge about that area. I won't tell you people what to do anymore than I would take you telling me what to do. But? Take it into consideration at least. No one "needs" to take content from certain games and convert it to this game. There's no reason it "has to" happen. And understand other peoples concerns is that any blowback will effect this very forum. And that is how it does work. If expensive programs are linked here and the company that sells them gets upset? They will take it to this forum, not to an individual. If a company that sells a video game does that? Same thing. They will came at this forum, not you. I'll name Activision right now because I seen some interest in converting their contents and distributing. And I will always say Warner Bros. There is a reason I have not made a lot of DC content and they way they behave about copyright stuff and how aggressive is why. Again do as you will but when other users here suggest legal things and ask if you could not at least do consider it and/or consider there is no need to badger them in turn for bringing it up.

This is just how I feel about what I was seeing here. In my view this is a community and that is good. It's not a job and really at the end of the day for anyone that passes through it isn't even about the art. It's about community. It's about being with each other and just taking some time out of maybe an otherwise difficult life and just being excited about stuff we all enjoy together. Because it isn't as fun to play with toys alone of course. So please try and keep it as such. A community works when it is civil and respectful. It hurts my heart when I see people get volcanic with one another particularly because I know there too, it does not "need" to happen. I mean the world outside in a lot of ways is bad enough like that already. Social networks absolutely are. So there is no reason to create even more of it here.

Peace, Love and Killer Whale.

[deanjo2000]

Great news, I?m the same really when it comes to freedom force, I do have burn outs but always come back.

[cmdrkoenig67]

Fist bump, buddy...I may not know your exact situation, but I can try to sympathize. I?m in chronic pain, myself (I have a degenerative spine issue and damaged disks in my neck and lower back). I?m disabled and may not be able to walk someday. I also started having severe migraines (2-4 times a week, since 2011 (after a car accident), never had them before that (ugh, I never knew how awful they were). They are being better managed now, by meds and Botox (26 injections in the top of my shoulders, back of my neck, base of my scalp, sides of my head, front of my hairline, on the forehead and between the eyebrows LOL!...every 90 days). Yay for Botulism!

For what it?s worth, I?m glad you?re here and got your site going again, and that you?re doing what you do. You?re far far more talented than I with the tech stuff for FF and FFVTTR. I?m trying to get back to working on my mods and getting objects for maps and stuff and get my meshes all sorted, the music in order and I?m finding I?ve forgotten a lot about NifScope and having to re-learn it. Ugh! Even using FFEdit to work on maps, I?ve forgotten a lot and have re-learn, because my memory is so bad.

Anyway, I?m very glad you?re here, SA...and I?m sure that other folks are too.

Dana

So the site is up and running no thanks to Tomato. I fixed any bugs I could find. I also redid pages including the index and am going to do more work on that to make them easier to access. It will be some time, I'm approaching a move across the country very soon and have a lot of work to do there as well when I do I will not be online, being in car driving across the country of course, then establishing a new internet connection at the new house of course. But during the year. The desert gets hot during the summer so needless to say it's when I will spend more time inside working on this stuff as opposed to how I do it during winters in the North. At any rate I have a lot of plans for the site that I have been working on and off on for several years that will get rolled out. I want to say that I will hang it up after the next year but...well Freedom Force "Forever" and mostly I just find all this very therapeutic. I came into this to deal with physical pain, I was bed ridden and couldn't walk when I started here, something I only divulge sparingly and also turned to it to cope with the grief of loss. Needless to say I think I'm lying to myself and will probably be hooked for life. So I'll be around. But I do take time, typically whole seasons for other stuff I have to do and vanish from everywhere online when that happens. Be it personal, work, hobby or health.

[SickAlice]

deanjo2000: I won't say I have burn outs. I was offended here a long time ago and left for years but I was still doing this stuff as a hobby. What I do have is "busy". And adulting of course. I mean I have a new house. It's going to consume a lot of my time making it all perfect, getting to know the town, seeing the sights, establishing everything and so on. And I do have the health which is why I bring it up. It get's in the way. Sometimes I physically can't do this. At times I can't even type because it gets very bad. Just so there isn't an idea that I'm blowing people or this place off. There's just something happening on my end is all. And not all bad of course, I have a lot of cool events planned in my new locale. Concerts and tours and so on.

cmdrkoenig67: Ty and I empathize back at you, enough people here actually. Long short? An autoimmune condition I was born with and my body has just gone from there. Add injury, spinal actually and I had some C removed from the tailbone years ago, injury to other body parts, I was assaulted badly by a gang and I'm messed up from that and carpel tunnel which effects this stuff of course. I can only use a mouse a so much before the wrist screams at me. I also lost a lot of people, nearly everyone now in fact and I'm struggling with depression about it. I miss them all so much. The parents are currently in bad shape physically and mentally and they are difficult to put it in a way. The stepfather is terminal, mother probably does not have long either the way things are going.

So...all the fun grown up stuff, right? I'm rated as disabled btw too, I get a check cut and everything for it. But I'm obstinate enough to drive myself and work too much anyways. Until the points where my body tells me I'm done lol. But? I have also reached the point in life where I really do understand that being a work pig is a waste of time. As opposed to just trying to seek contentment and happiness. So I'm directing my life instead towards more pleasure and fun, albeit the grown up obligations of course.

And thanks for the props. I'm not all that with this Freedom Force. I just think it's all straight forward. Really I like hearing about the maps. I'm into your maps big time. In fact I study you specifically to try and learn it myself but I just never got the map thing down pact. Or I just don't have a strong enough desire to sit and make them. There's two map ideas I have always had but just never did it. I also don't understand what I need to do for it. But I look forward to yours and really I know all of that will just return to you soon. The same thing happened to me and I thought there was something wrong but in reality I was just atrophied and picked it all up again with little resistance.

[Randomdays]

Sorry to hear all that SA. Got some of that from are talks.

On the maps, not an expert, but I did learn a lot working on the one I was doing last year. If I can help get you started, let me know.

[cmdrkoenig67]

If you need any help with realizing your map ideas, I?m here, SA. I?ll give you any advice and assistance that I can. I regret hearing about your health problems. I?m sorry you have to go through that. You can always email me, if you need to chat.

Best,

Dana

[SickAlice]

As I said to RD in the chats too it's just daily life. I mention it just so I gave a reason I have lapses. But I deal with it, you know? Yeah, you both do. And I don't forget to count my blessings. It's been worse and a lot of people out there do have it worse than I do. I have a lot of good things going on too and the health is better than it used to be. I started doing FF stuff when I was bed ridden which was for about nine months. Then I had to learn to walk again of course. These days I can walk so that's way better than it was. And I live a pretty good life outside all that.

I may ask you map questions but probably not until I actually attempt one. I am curious about "teleporting/portals". Not so much like the actual move but just where there is a point on the map when the character steps into it they are moved to a different specified part of the map. If it's a thing? I was also trying to figure out how to make an over/under object. Like say a bridge where a character can land on it or walk under it but I tested it every way I can think of and we all concluded here that we can't actually implement that function. So unless we missed something? The only other thing I guess out of curiosity is if we can make actual light sources. Like a spotlight say. I've been told we can't because it's a Bethesda thing that wasn't implemented in these games either but I swear there's a hanging spotlight in the second game. Again none of this is immediate since I won't get to a map anytime soon but those were the things I've been the most curious about.

[SickAlice]

Just to keep it separate since I get real wordy Spring is the time I'm looking at for releases. Since I've had a few PM's. This is because I am moving to a different part of the country and will have to set up a new internet service. That also means I will vanish for awhile in March. I called the new city yesterday and well? Not a lot of leads but a lot of incompetency. It seems the company I was going with went out of business last month in that county. Anyways figure the month of April for me to be set up fully and uploading stuff to the site.

[Tomato]

Yer good, focus on yourself first. The rest will happen when it happens.

Good luck on the move, btw.

[cmdrkoenig67]

Wishing you luck with your move, SA...and hoping everything goes well and you get your internet set as soon as possible. 😺

Best,

Dana

[WyldFyre]

I hope everything goes smoothly for you with the move.

Get your new place ready. We'll still be here.

[Randomdays]

Same from me. Looking forward to seeing some pics of your new place.

[SickAlice]

It's a little place but everything is new and up to code. I wanted the utilities to be efficient. Also it came it 50k with no Lot or HOA. That and the desert. Above all else my health was better in that enviroment.

[SickAlice]

Here's the realtor shots of my bungalow at any rate.

[Randomdays]

It's not a bad looking place. Since I'm from wet, soggy Florida I'm used to a lot more green but of course this is a completely different climate.

Some nice looking wood inside but I think the best part, from the pics, is that there's no-one right on top of you and there's a tree or two to sit and relax under.

Now you just need to turn a house into a home.

[cranlox]

CLYPTA, FATALITY, GLOMULUS, and SISTER SERCY?
Definitely I had never seen those before. Maybe I was missing interesting things

[SickAlice]

@Randomdays: I had a lot of choices, some big deco style places and different cities in the area but? I kept thinking the increasing cost of gas and other COL's. That and HOA and Lot rent in particular and popular in the area and I just don't want that in long run for me. Climate is not as extreme in Kingman due to the elevation yet it's all on a metro line to Phoenix, California and Nevada. So it works well as a central. Less crime than Bullhead. It really came down to this. And I can't do humidity anymore. That's a health and injury thing. When I was in the desert I found much of the pain melts away.

@cranlox: I was thinking about Glomulus tonight. It's when I first learned the color index for transparency. I keep that same texture on hand incase I need to look at the numbers again. Trying to do some costume fishnet with it tonight but, well I have to texture fishnet under 100x100 and Photoshop just doesn't want it to happen. Most of those Lanterns are where I learned to do anything given the variety. Volthoom was the first time I made an animated texture. And I had tricky with some of the bodies. Most body and head types can found in one of the other of those.

[SickAlice]

The 26th. But the 25th then is when the internet router and so on gets disconnected. There is a bad winter storm right now and the 26th is the only clear day in the forecast to get on the road and out of the state.

[Randomdays]

Have a good, save move. Hopefully your new home has great internet and we'll see you soon after you take a brief break.

[cranlox]

good luck in the move !

[style]

See you soon SA!

[WyldFyre]

Good luck and god speed SA! Hope you have a safe and stress-free move!

[SickAlice]

Ty. Stress-free, no promises. Starting around the Upper Peninsula down to the Panhandle and across to Route 66 on the Tri-State. If you seen the US weather as of late it's going to be rough especially as we near the South trough. I'm already conceding I40 shuts down when we come to it, it has for four days now and figure we layover somewhere between New Mexico and Flagstaff as a result. Else I'm crossing my fingers about not getting flooded out in eastern Arizona. Taking the direct route this time, not the site seeing one to The Enchanted Highway and so forth. To much furniture in the UHaul for that. By the end of the journey I will just glad to drop on the floor in my other room and get a good nights sleep of course.

My route for anyone that's curious.

La Crosse WI
Albert Lea MN
Des Moines IA
Omaha NE
Salina KS
Guymon OK
Dalhart TX
Tucumcari NM
Albuquerque NM
Flagstaff AZ
Kingman AZ

[spydermann93]

Hey everybody,

Just an FYI: Chrome may have an issue with downloads from the Litterbox. Apparently clicking on a picture or opening a picture's link in a new tab to download does NOT work.

To get the download to work, you must copy the link and paste it in your URL bar. Or, you could use another browser like Firefox.

[SickAlice]

I'm online again for now at the house, sort of. The house has a No Service order due to prior tenants debts. I'm hijacking my phones internet instead. The speed is iffy but it's something.

The site link now is:
http://thelitterbox.freedomforce4ever.com

Regarding what spydermann93 is saying, thanks for checking it while I was out btw, I am seeing a security issue with Chrome. Unsure how to solve that, I'm not good with connection stuff but if anyone else knows feel free to walk me through it. You can download with Chrome by Right Clicking and Saving though, I just tested that out. Just Left clicking doesn't seem to do anything on my end at least.

[SickAlice]

So I'm just a TMobile hotspot now, settles that and I'm online again. In fact I think it's a fair deal. Anyways I'll be doing uploads pretty soon as well if anyone has questions, needs help with stuff or just wants to chat I'm around again.

[SickAlice]

Update, more for online presence. My internet is real buggered. I in their defense watched the tower get struck by lightning, so yeah. Mostly sharing here because Discord among much else is annoyingly hard for me load at all. So I'm okay, I just can't really can't get back to anyone (this very page has been open for over fifteen minutes and the animated smileys are still loading on high speed wifi to give you an idea) is all. I don't know when it will be resolved. I called customer service and they rattled off script from their cubicle for over and hour and tried selling me things. Just so no one is worried or feels I'm ghosting them.

[SickAlice]

Repaired the link to the 2nd Spider-Man page and went through all other links. As always if you have visited a page prior you may want to refresh to see the new changes.

What's been going on? First I don't live and breath the site and Freedom Force. Typically I am seasonal and do this stuff when I'm inside during winters. Otherwise I work outside. I also have other things to do in my life and have illness to cope with, currently I have influenza which is making tasks a little difficult (because I can't concentrate or am heaving a lot). Sorry but this is just how it is. This my hobby, not my job. Just for fun when I have the free time to do it. I'm also slow to it on account of moving and my new internet being T-Mobile 5g. Which if you know is actually crap outside of certain regions and does not load very fast at all and dl/ul can be a real nightmare. You'd be better off with rural low end DSL to put it a way.

So the site moved as you know and that means the actual page address changed. Tomato had set it up so that all the links changed automatically for us which was great (for real, thanks for that. It was a load off) but not all of mine did. Probably because of my shoddy page scripting. Also the program I use to make webpages keeps defaulting back to the old addy and I have to pay attention and switch it back manually make changes. I missed it with my recent X-Men uploads but fixed it later.

I'm also slowly redoing everything on the site. I plan to get rid of some things because they were garbage. The second Spider-man page was chosen and every thing on the page, I just didn't manage to get rid of the image that says Page 2 on it. Those Nifs were weight copies of a VERY high poly model from I think a PS2 game that derived them from a stock male model for some reason. They are terrible for  and I didn't want to make them but a friend here specifically wanted them so I did that. In meantime I have been making new Spider-Man/Spider character models and nifs that are lower poly and a lot more cumbersome to these games. And much easier for skinners to work with. But I'll leave that page up for the time being while I finish the others.

My current page links should read "thelitterbox.freedomforce4ever". I went through every single one and other than the Spider-Man page, which was intentional on my part, the only links that were mucked up were on the TMNT page which I just fixed. The Turtles themselves are slated for termination as they have been several times, these being the third or fourth iteration now and also weighted game models (TMNT Smash-Up I think) as I am completing what I think will be my final version of the Turtles soon, all hand made then. As will Slash and that old Usagi is slated to be replaced as well. Keeping Fugatoid and Tigerclaw models because I love them and had prior consent to use them (the companies don't have the license now anyways).

Everything tracks on my end so try refreshing the page if there's a problem. If not something else is going on beyond me. Also there is a common downloading issue when using Chrome. Resolve it by right clicking and "Save Link as..."

The Konami Code is broken do to the web host of the embedded applet used for it having gone offline. I only left the Contra sprites on the page for tradition reasons and to honor one of our old members who we lost who actually requested those in the first place.

More content will arrive as I have time to complete it. I'm working all sides of it alone which is time consuming. Keyframe animations in particular take me an exhausting amount of time. Else I will announce any page updates in this thread and as always mind to try and refresh the page after that happens.

I hope everyone is having the best 2023 that can be had and if not I hope everyone's luck changes ASAP. You are loved and deserve the best, always. Peace, love and killer whale.