TheAstralBackstage

 Hello. C J here. A few months ago I looked into AI art generation as a way of doing concept art for the company faster and without a budget. This worked well. In that time I’ve built up quite a collection of AI art that I like. I hand code each image or image series in something that resembles a combination of Java and Blueprint code from the Unreal Engine. I reliably get what I want out of the system. I am going to continue doing this. It works well and now that I have the hang of it doesn’t really require much work. I have no intention of ever selling or profiting from this art but I thought some of it is cool enough to share. I’ve added a new Concept Art Archive folder to the Books link in the Free Samples section. The generator can do some cool Pride or pinup themed art as well so I’ve split the archive into content ratings. All of it is consent driven regardless, including any sword fights or weapon use depicted. Nothing here is offensive. Now that I have all that art sorted ...

 Hello. C J here. Time for more Dragon Engine updates. I’m working on making the 2D textures for the ground, landscape, mountain, hill and cliff tiles that will be used to make the environments in Dragon Engine. I’m also working on the wall, floor and roof tiles for buildings at the same time. There are a ton of both and it’s a ton of math to make them because they’re hand made using hand drawn textures that I mix together. I’m including some final examples at the end of this post. Procedural terrain generation is really easy to do in GDevelop so in a future update I’m adding it in as an option. The default option is a grid of bedrock tiles that can have a final landscape or floor tile spawned on top of them. Tiles don’t move. I have some screenshots below of my proof of concept for these. I’m making all of the hundreds of them I need and then making a menu to sort and access them while playing the game. All of these tools will be given to the player in Creator mode, one of the gam...

 Hello. C J here. We’ve started birthday preparations here at the Mcpherson household. Birthdays are a big even around here and mine is soon. Me and my family just finished unboxing a new mattress and we’re debating the benefits of Pokemon sheets on team morale. Considering our team is mostly Pokemon squishmallows I think they’ll approve. I’m currently sipping an iced coffee and it seemed like a good day for a personal life update. Find my iced coffee recipe in my Heat Wave Survival Guide post. I’m meeting up with one of my friends from Facebook Dating later today for coffee and maybe lunch. This is good. I’ve also found that there is a website called Furry Events Ontario that manages all of the furry fandom events in the region and also works with people to host and promote events. I’ve always figured all the furry fandom in this city know each other somehow and now I think I’ve found how that happened. Time to resume doing house party planning. I’m putting the things I’ve learned...

 Hello. C J here. I’ve updated the Quantum page again with a ton of new stuff including my complete plans for the first three Expansions, some notes about the Expansions after that and what will come bundled in the Starter Set. The Starter Set has everything needed to play the game but doesn’t use even most of the rules. Once it’s out I’m going to be following the plans laid out there pretty much in order and the pace of production here will speed up substantially. All of the new card types I’ve mentioned recently will be essential in making this list work. C J Mcpherson

 Hello. C J here. It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full jar of oats, half a bottle of honey, some dark chocolate and we’re wearing sunglasses. Hit it. Thank you, Jake and Elwood Blues for the introduction. I made scratch made dark chocolate granola. It’s great. Ingredients Four Cups Oats One Cup Honey One Cup Peanut Butter One Teaspoon Salt One Cup Dark Chocolate For the Dark Chocolate Granola Mix the oats, honey and peanut butter. Spread the salt on top and stir to incorporate. You can use other nut butters or tahini if desired. Spread out on a baking tray or two on top of parchment paper. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until the oats start to look golden brown. Shred or grate the dark chocolate. Mix it in while the granola is still hot from the oven. Let cool and store in an airtight container. C J Mcpherson

 Hello. C J here. It’s a slow, heat wave Sunday so I thought I’d type something nice for fun. It’s hot out. No, we’re not at the fun part yet. It’s really hot. I’ve spent the last few Summers running free barbecues for local fandoms and really they cost a lot of money and no one showed up. Still not the fun part yet. I’m widening my recruiting efforts to include Facebook and Bluesky and that’s going well. I’m also inside from the heat and that’s getting boring. You know what would be fun? Yes, this will be the fun part of the post here. What if I went out for ice cream? Well, really I make amazing ice cream. What if I had a bunch of friends from Facebook and Bluesky over to my house for house made ice cream parlour time? I could make a ton of ice cream in everyone’s favourite flavours and everyone gets free toppings and whipped cream. If they wanted they could tip, including by PayPal, and buy tubs off me for like $15-$20 a tub. I know where to get the tub containers as well and th...