Lookin to start this up again, stay tuned~

PC GEEK 101: the total basics, press start

SO YOU WANT TO PLAY PC GAMES: THE BEGINNERS GUIDE

Hey there friend! Are you the average tumblr user, who has seen some pretty cool drama/mystery/simulator games , but lack the knowlage on how one would play said games? Are you curious about these fun pc games, but are worried about downloading things from the internet? Or maybe you are just sick and tired of console games, but you're too broke to buy anything from steam? Maybe you dont even know what steam is. And that is totally okay.

Welcome to PC GEEK 101: Gamer startup.

Today, certain video games, consoles and softwares are immensly popular, but not everyone can afford them. Because of this,freeware (free software) and indie games (independent/small group made games) are rapidly becoming the norm. Even more so, many console gamers (xbox, psp, ect) are trading up their hardware (physical structures like a console or handheld) for flexible software (internal programs on a computer) that can be adapted to any operating system (an operating system is something like windows 7 or windows visa vs apple something).

Wow that was a lot of parenthesis. This is going to happen a lot, because I will use terms that need to be defined in order for you to better understand what the hell I'm saying.

What does this all mean? In essence, many gamers have ditched their xbox's for laptops, to play the same games. Huh? How does that work out? Many games are made specifically for certain consoles or systems, and demand the use for handheld controllers.

This, my dear, is the genius of PC gaming. Computer gaming no longer just means World of Warcraft, or dressup games, but a whole new world of possibilites. This has been mainstreamed partially by the revolutionary software hereafter referred to as "Steam Gaming" or "Steam" or "Steam software"

Steam is an internet-based digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer, and communications platform developed by Valve Corporation. It is used to distribute games and related media from small, independent developers and larger software houses online. In October 2012, Valve expanded its service to include non-gaming software. Steam provides the user with installation and automatic management of software on multiple computers, and community features such as friends lists and groups, cloud saving, and in-game voice and chat functionality.

In laymans terms, Steam is a software you can download on your PC, so you can legally access, and run everything from indie games to big label games. In addition to this, you can mangage your game related programs and interact with other gamers in the community. So step aside, X-box-live. Steam is completely free, and its "purchase and play" feature gives a whole new level to gaming.

Of course, there are certain elements lost when switching from a controller to a keyboard. However, new softwares and hardwares allow for an easier transition. Key-mapping softwares allow for certain keyboard strokes to be used as the equivalent of buttons and parts of a controller. The easiest way to understand this is by understanding the joystick-button translation.

Basically, up=W left=A down=S right=D button=spacebar. This concept is very simple, and key mapping softwares allow you to add extras, where controller part=keystroke. For those with cash, there is always available hardware and computer add ons that allow gamers to hook up their favorite controllers to their PCs and games.

Now, Steam Gaming hasn’t always been around. Before Valve was so kind as to create the mainstreamed software, PC gamers had to use different methods to play their computer-based games. Games had to be downloaded directly from the web, or from a physical entity like a CD or flashdrive/memory stick. And for many smaller and foreign games, this is still the case.

Steam is very simple to use, so we are going to be going a little past that- into the alternative, which is foreign and indie based free games which demand tweaking.

Certain games are worth playing, but cannot be run simply by downloading the game itself. Furthermore, when downloading games from the internet, one runs the risk of infecting their computer with a virus or malware, or crashing their beloved PC, …

And this, my dears, is why I am typing this up.

Let me introduce you to VirtualBox,

It is installed on an existing host operating system (your PC) as an application; this host application allows additional guest operating systems(your virtual OS), each known as a Guest OS, to be loaded and run, each with its own virtual environment.

What does this mean? Basically, this badass program lets you create clean slates, brand new and safe computers to download things onto- and your actual computer will never be harmed, because everything is done within the virtual box application.

Overall, it is really helpful if you don’t want to murder your computer as you learn to play around with foreign and indie games. You can download the app here. https://www.virtualbox.org/ . Tutorial here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGUfa2HIx0E

Simply follow the tutorial in this video to get a virtual system with windows 7 in 64 bit, which is my preferred method when I run most of my games. I usually keep 1 or 2 small indie games per virtual machine, and if I mess something up terribly, I can just remake the system from the ground up.This is optional though, and I mainly do this because I like to tweak my games settings and generally screw things up. But I’ll teach you how to do that later. You have to build before you can modify, and accidently destroy.

Now that you’ve got your virtual PC up and running, make sure you have everything going smoothly. To test this, you should be able to open up internet explorer and download google chrome. Why? Because internet explorer is terrible and google chrome makes everything much easier. If you can’t download google chrome then you did something wrong.

Moving on.

You got the basics down, and you understand this, sort of! Now that you have virtual box set up, it is time to download and run your first game! Let’s do this thing!

DOWNLOADING, RUNNING, AND PLAYING YOUR FIRST GAME; PRINCESS MAKER 2

Despite the girly title, Princess Maker 2 is not a dress up game. It’s a well made english beta version of a japanese life simulator, in the Princess Maker series. The basic premise is that you are a warrior with an adopted daughter, and it’s your job to raise her right from the age of 10 to 18. Month by month, you can send her to school, work, or have her go on an adventure to engage in combat in local forests/lakes/mountains/deserts. With your guidance, your daughter can learn to fight, use magic, dance, earn social standing, or whatever else your heart desires. How you raise her determines what she will do with her life when she turns 18. The game is called princess maker because, like the name suggests, one of the possible endings is marrying into royalty, and becoming a princess.

It’s wicked cool, and good for a beginner. It’s easy to pick up and get addicted to, and there isn’t a lot of keystrokes needed besides WASD, enter, and left click.

So do how do you download and run this game? Open chrome in your virtual computer, and get ready to google.

First, you’re going to want to go abandonia, a site where you can download games and game programs. (Consider making a donation!) Go to the services tab and scroll to programs. This will take you to abandonia.com/en/programs. The first program/service you will see on this page is DOSBox. Underneath the tiny banner there will be a red abandonia bubble that says

“GET IT!” We are using abandonia because it’s good to get familiar with the site, so you dont click the wrong download link later on.

This bubble, when clicked, will take you to dosbox.com, and if you go to the downloads tab you will see a list of versions based on the system you are using. The first one is windows, and while it doesn’t say “windows 7 64 bit” it’s the one we will be using. This will take you to something like sourceforge so it will download automatically. Be patient.

This program is essential, to make sure you know where you downloaded it to. Not sure, or using a zip file? Right click that file and check the properties. If it’s zipped, use extract all to move the file over to computer/program files. Bottom line, you are going to need this program to stay in one place on your virtual box. You are going to need to know where that place is. Why? Because dosbox is what is going to make your games be able to run.

Next, you are going to need to download DOSShell, which is a simple interface for using dosbox. Yeah yeah, I know. You’re using a service to run dosbox, which was supposed to be what makes your games run? Yeah, this sort of thing is going to happen a lot.

Here are the links for downloading DOSShell

Mirrors for the installer of DOSShell (315 KB):

download from loonies.narod.ru

download from superutils.com

…..

Now that you’ve downloaed DOSShell, you’ll need to notify the service where in your computer DOSBox is. Open DOSShell and go to the Edit tab. At the very bottom of the Edit list, there is the settings option. A small popup will ask for the DOSBox Folder path. Hitting browse will allow you to find and select the DOSBox Folder, and then confirm the location by hitting "OK"
The config options are not really all that important right now, don't worry about it.



Once you have DOSBox and DOSShell all set up, it's time to get your game installed. Go back to abandonia, because they have the cleanest version of princess maker 2. You can find it here. http://www.abandonia.com/en/downloadgame/181
Make sure you click the red abandonia "GET IT!" button, and not one of their many ads.
Once that is all said and done and downloaded and unzipped into your program files, go to DOSShell.
Clicking the little green plus button allows you to add a new game profile, where you add princess maker 2's files and description. I've opened the edit entry dialogue box for my princess maker 2 profile so you can see what you will need to fill out. Please note that the path to the executable (the file that runs the game) can be found via Princess Maker2\pm2\PM2.EXE because the file you need is PM2. The icon path can be found in a similar fashion.


After filling this out and clicking ok, you can then select the PM2 icon and start the game!

Sidenotes:
If you want to see a manual/extra help with the game itself, a PDF can be found here Many players find that advancing in the game is difficult and worrysome when the player has little assets. This can be fixed by a little program tweaking. Make sure to do any program tweaking before you run the game. Here's how you do it.
Go to the PM2 files

The file we are looking for is titled PM2, and is a CNF file. It is NOT an application. Right clicking on this allows you to access the properties. In the security tab, there are several groups. Make sure each group, when selected, has permission to modify the file. If a group cannot modify the file, then edit that group so it can. Make sure you click 'apply' when making these changes. This will allow you to edit this file. When you click on it, you will be reminded that your computer can't run CNF files on it's own. You're going to want to run it using a list of programs, namely wordpad. When you open this file in wordpad, you are going to add the line
MOPI=1
It should look like this when you are done.

When you have finished this, open PM2. The next time you get the chance to go to town (to go shopping/visit the church, ect) hold down F10 while you select the town icon. You will now have two extra options of stores to visit, one being Mad Eddy's. Visiting this shop will allow you to gain more assets, like gold and special items.


That's all for today, kids. Tune in next time for info on downloading more exciting foreign games and translating them to the language of your choice!

Oh, and, have a magical day, everyone!

Magic Pop!/ Lunar Kitty Productions Tights Review- Siren's Desire

:Hey there sweethearts! For my birthday late January, I ordered a lucky bag from Magic Pop on storenvy, which is run by moon kitty productions. They provide a variety of accessories (some cute gem charms and plastic bead pieces, along with some bracelets and the like) along with 3 different, unique snapbacks, and 8 endearing pairs of tights. I had ordered the lucky bag in hopes of getting a pair of milky idol or merbabe tights, or perhaps a gem, but no avail! However, I managed to snag a unique pair of earrings- which was quickly lost at a family gathering (sobs), as well as some cell phone charms and 2 pairs of tights. Now, the tights were both the same print- Siren's Desire, which happens to be the cheapest pair of tights in their store.

Here are the preview images that Magic Pop provides-

The pictures are pretty low quality, and don't show the product very well. In the first image, the tights base are much more white and opaque than the actual product, and the scales look faded in the first image, and too bright in the second.

In person, the scales are crisper, and have a hand stamped look. Also, the print is darker in color- somewhere between the two main image colors. It is neither grey, nor a bright and vivid blue. However the tights have a nice, smooth feel and a consistant grain.

Lets look at the pattern closeup, shall we?

The seam is fairly visable, but wraps well with this pattern. There is no fading, blank spaces, or "smudges" in the print. These tights have a semi opaque nude base, much like that of skin colored nylons. 

While I compare these tights to nylons, they are actually much higher quality than the average pair of pantyhose. They are very tear and pilling resistant, and on top of that, there are even toe guards! I really like this feature, because a lot of fashion tights tend to tear easily at the toes, so I really look forward to how these hold up! 

I actually am really fond of the transition to the bottom, how the pattern fades out instead of stopping at the ankles or moving all the way through. 

I run into some trouble with the transition from scales to bubbles though. It seems a bit too busy arounf the knees, which is a smidge awkward, but its fine if you don't mind it too much.

Overall, I really love siren's desire. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars

In fact, I'll be selling my extra pair ( still in packaging!) alongside this cute marcelline phone charm for $15- with free shipping to the contiental US! Check out the fairy kei sales group on facebook for more info!

Next up: sweetie cakes shop tights review, and pucchos pieces review! 

Have a magical day, everyone!

How to write product reviews

About Writing Product Reviews

Product reviews are to be made after you receive your free goodies, and can often be found on fashion/shopping blogs. Most product reviews are sponsored, meaning someone is paid or given free items in exchange for making a review and giving feedback.

However, everyone does reviews slightly differently, and it can be very overwhelming if you aren't familiar with making these sorts of posts on your blog. Today I'll be going over how to make a review on tumblr, but this can also work for other blogging platforms. (aka blogger/blogspot through google, or wordpress, ect.)

You're going to want to create a picture post with a "preview image" of the 

products you are reviewing, and make a short label in the text, like so, and then add a read more before going into the review itself

Lucky Bag SetSponsored by Magical Daze ProductionsRead More 

 

First off, start with an introduction that explains why you are doing a review. for example, on cuterevolution.blogspot.com,  the blogger starts a review with this

..~*~ Tilly Me Review ~*~

Hiii cuties~! I hope you have all been well! Today I'm bringing you a new review on Tilly Me c:
The owner of the shop had contacted me about sending me a cute package and I eagerly accepted because I have been following Tilly Me on tumblr for a while now and everything she makes is so cute~ ........ 

I can't wait to tell you all about it c:

...

..Next, you'll want to name the products you will be reviewing, and a link to the store, like ichigoflavor on tumblr does, as shown here (pretend the underlined words are links!)

Today, I’ll be reviewing this Pink Sweatshirt that was sponsored by Sheinside. 

... 

After that,please include a short description of the products, and compare it to similar products available, like so! (if you are reviewing a garment/apparel,this is when you mention which size you received,, and include the sizing information/sizing chart)

 This sweatshirt comes in three different colors, so if you don’t like pink, you have the option to choose from two other different colors which are Blue & Green. I personally find this sweatshirt really really cute! I love the design of it and how comfortable it is to wear. It’s kind of heavy though, but is okay with me because it’s going to be cold soon and I can use this sweater to keep myself warm. I also love how this sweater goes down halfway to my thighs. It reminds me of those cute Japanese school girl jackets.

....

Then you should include some pictures of the product, and maybe even you wearing it! This is always fun~

Finally, you sort of "rate" the product, based on comfort, design, quality, shipping and shop, and overall, with a short explanation for each,like so. 

Overall:    

I really liked the ____, and its super cute!

 Anyways,thats how you you create a review! This is based off of some of my favorite fashion bloggers, including ichigoflavor, karimew, and prince!

I hope this helps, so please contact me if anyone has ANY questions!

And most importantly, have a magical day everyone!!! 

Rules and Guidelines

Affilates and sponsors should keep this in mind!
The motto of Magical Daze Productions is this:
~~~We want everyone to feel cute, confident, pretty, and powerful~ magical in every way~~~

When representing the store, please keep this motto in mind, as each core word is something you should portray and feel. The basic rules follow the core words pretty simply-

Feel cute- Being cute means acting in a sweet and endearing way. Relatively clean language, manners and kind words make for a cute personality.
      Please respect others.
Feel confident- Being confident means knowing your worth and appreciating yourself. You are wonderful. Don't ever wear anything or do anything for others. People come and go, but you are stuck with yourself until the day you die, so get along with yourself.
      Please respect yourself
Feel pretty- Being pretty means you are putting your very best self forward. Clothes are your armor, makeup is your warpaint. Wear the colors you want, paint yourself as beautiful as you can.  It does not matter if your jeans are size 2 or 16, if you are a boy or a girl. You must take care of yourself and your health. This means paying attention to your emotional, mental and physical health.                
      Please respect your body.
Feel powerful- Being powerful means having emotional and mental strength. Sometimes life can be a battle- but that doesn't mean you should stop fighting. Get through every tough moment. There is no need to lash out, or give up.  The world turns out to be wonderful with just a little perspective.
       Please respect the world around you

LETS TALK ABOUT WEBCOMICS AND DEPRESSION

Yo hey lets talk about webcomics and depression because these things are hella related, I mean dang there is an actual connection here and it's important.
First lemme lay this out- I have anxiety, trich, derma, adhd, depression, ect. I am recovering from self harm and in bad moments, I'm suicidal. Writing and art has helped a lot with this, but on really bad days, I can't even do that. It sucks.

 

In the depths of my depression, last year, I was hospitalized. Forget where, honestly. It was a blur.

But in there, I was asked what I lived for.

That question was hard

Why did I wake up every morning? What did I look forward to?

Honestly, I could only think of one or two things. One was chocolate, but that wasn't something I looked forward to per say, I just kinda lived on it.

The other was webcomics. I would always get anxious and excited, wondering when one of "my" comics would update. It was my reason to get up, get dressed, every day.

My first webcomic I got into was Homestuck, which is a great and long and confusing coming of age story. I first started reading it a couple years ago, expecting magnificent art based on the drawings I had seen on deviantart at the time. I kept reading, telling myself the art would be better in the next chapter. Just, just a few more pages! I was stubborn. Very stubborn. Before I knew it, I was hooked on the story, fully immersed. Later on I would join the fourms and have  discussions with some really cool people, about theories and character development, aspects of science in the comic. I ended up learning about quantum mechanics and how to create plots, it was great! I had never been in such a welcoming community, but then again I only interacted with people I eanted to inyeract with...

The complete focus on a story is very similar to what used to happen when I read fiction in elementary and middle school, ect. I was a real bookworm and would read and read for hours on end. The rest of the world and all of its problems just faded off, I was so caught up- it was a problem at times, honestly. When I got bored, tired, sad, overwhelmed, I would just grab a new book, a new story- and dissapear into the pages. 

It was an addicting feeling, but as I grew older, I found myself bored with the repeative nature of the novels targeted at my age group, and so on. Reading became tedious, boring. I couldnt immerse myself because there was nothing that appealed to me. 

My drug of choice was no longer strong enough to get the story high I needed. I moved up into and out of manga, adult novels, nonfiction. None of it clicked. Nothing. 

Homestuck didn't even update on a schedule. New pages were uploaded in random amounts at any given time. You could get a steady stream of a page or two a day... Then nothing for two weeks.

I needed more, something new. Here are the first ones I picked up on;

Girl genius is a steampunk comic about a gaslamp european setting with a badass chick as the main, sciency heroine. Shes an evil genius n all sorts of amazing

Pixie trix comics has all sorts of cute things, and I started out with "eerie cuties" while it was still in color. 

There was also evil diva, hot mess, gnd... Comics that faded or stopped after a handul of months.

Over the years, I've collected an obession with webcomics. It lets me fade out and have this distinct thing to focus on. Manga and graphic novels just dont cut it, though I am dying to have some of my favorite web masterpieces in hand, just to gush over

Bottom line? Webcomic freak overhere. I'll make a list later

But in the meantime, you can read mine if u scroll up

Cigarettes

 I've never smoked in my life, but I want a cigarette, maybe some vodka

I can hear a party off in the distance

I want to be there, and I don't want to be here

I wonder what parties are like

I've never been to one, really. Which is silly and sad, because I'm pretty sure everyone else has. Not that I would know if there is a certain age where you have to have partied. Are they like bars on tv? Do you need a licence or a miniskirt, maybe a photo ID?

My heartbeat matches the rhythm of the far off bass. 

As a kid, I used to lie in bed late at night on weekends and wonder who was playing the drums, maybe a neighbor? That was the only way I could understand the deep thumping rhythms

The sound used to annoy me

Now it gives me hope, whenever I want to run. But it also makes me feel lonely. I can't be there, I'm stuck here.

I want a cigarette, I want a drink. I know what it would feel like, despite my lack of expierence. I want stupid impulsive releif, I want to kiss boys and dance. I want to be somewhere else, feeling okay, feeling numb. But this is coming from the girl who asks her friends not to drink or do drugs or smoke. But this is coming from a girl who can't join in on the fun.

I want a cigarette, and I've never even smoked.

------------------------------

Talk to me, leave comments, let me know what you think.