Digital Beast Plus+

Realizing that people might not know about the alternative to All Those Gaming Wikis that need to be viewed through municipal-level adblocking. And that, by their nature, can be a bit spoiler-y since they're meant to catalogue all the info, not just the hint you need.

Universal Hint System's been going since 1988. It's hint file system that is easy to understand and make, but also highly curated - since how many guides for a single game do you need if one guide will do? You can browse the site, or buy an offline "reader" for the UHS files. Think of it like a publisher for quality walkthroughs that won't spoil things. They're not going to be able to give you exact numbers and tables and charts - there's GameFAQs for that.

You can get a two-month trial of the UHS client which makes browsing (offline even) stuff quick, and it's a buy-once for $15 if you wanna keep using it (you're really paying for access to the full library of guides). You can still use the website just fine too.

I believe UHS to be a fair price and concept for what they're trying to do (be a publisher of quality, curated hints). They even pay the people that submit good UHS files that are used. I respect that.

There is an open source reader too: OpenUHS

I'd love to see a shift away from gaming Wikis, which serve only to fatten the pockets of the Controlling Party like Fandom aka Texas Pacific Group.

The relatively new site, Nice Game Hints is the same idea, and can also receive UHS files.

Been there.

Source: Diehard GameFan Volume 2, Issue 9 (August 1994)
Scan source: Internet Archive

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Looking to draw DnD characters, fantasy pet portraits, RPG battle screens, and whatever other fantasy tinged piece you'd like to see me tackle.

See more work on my portfolio site. email for rates and timeline - shaferbrownillus@gmail.com

Very happy with the commission I got from @shaferbrown. If anyone is looking to commission a nice gift for a friend or loved one (or just for yourself!), I highly recommend them!

There was honestly so much to see there, original props from movies dating back almost a century. But this one got a lot of laughs.

It was as dumb as you can imagine, and happened in a real strip club (minus the strippers). They picked us up in a stretch SUV, an affront to god. My interview with the sound designer was super awkward since it took place in the 'back rooms' where lap-dances happen, and she was trying VERY HARD to pretend we were anywhere else.

Defunct since 2014. Activision had them churning out Guitar Hero and Call of Duty stuff until the very end. They had a lot of guitars and skateboard decks on their walls.

They're still going, working in the Activision CoD slave pits, afaik. Their Transformers games didn't quite pan out, I think.

They had a whole-ass aircraft hanger, with a recreation tiki-cubicle culture inside. Lots of natural light, and dogs allowed. Was pretty nice. Glad they managed to save themselves out from under Activison's recent layoffs and go independent again.

Sadly, I believe they closed these offices down this year, with the people left working from home.

Hey, Downpour is out!

If you don't know what that is, then:

• it's the thing I've been using to make all the embedded games I've been posting on here
• it's an app you can make games with. Little collage-y type games. Really quickly and simply, without having to look at an angle bracket. And then press a button to upload them to a website.

It is free! But also you can subscribe if you want to help me keep working on it. It's a similar deal to Cohost in that way.

Here is the website, here it is on iOS, here it is on Android. I can't wait to see what people make with it.