Swimming in the Rain 🏊‍♂️🌧

Tuesday, swimming and gym day. Today I swam in the rain, warm body and cool rain falling over me is a really good feeling. We did some intervals, 3x50m at light intensity, 2x75m at medium intensity and 1x100m at 100% intensity, all on 1:30 intervals. On the 100 m, I couldn't believe I did it in 1:15. I was really tired and thought I wouldn't be able to do many reps on the pull-up bar, but I managed up to 9. After getting a bit of rain, I was sneezing all day... hopefully I don't catch a cold this summer. D:

Monster3_4, Jellyfish, I made the Battler VX version, which to me looks like a slug, while in the Battler VX Ace version I increased the size, changed the color palette, and I'm thinking about changing the top of this Jellyfish a bit more.

A feeling of discouragement hit me... 🙅‍♂️

This is the second gameplay of "Adventures in Sandland: Al and the Underground Labyrinth ( 砂漠の国の冒険記～アルと地底の迷宮～)", from Stage 6 to Stage 8, the end of the game. I died so many times that I had to cut out many of my deaths, otherwise, the video would be too long to upload to YouTube.

Now, speaking about the game in general. Its art is beautiful, the maps are varied and well designed, making progression through the game difficult. You go through all kinds of dungeons with distinct enemies, some of them can be quite irritating if you're in a hurry to finish the game/stage. It's a game that I consider difficult even on the normal mode, which is the one I played. I'm used to fast paced games, where there's always a time limit to meet or the gameplay itself gives you the freedom to land many hits at all times from different angles, but that's not the case in Adventures in Sandland. You must play calmly and patiently, without worrying about finishing the stages as fast as possible, especially because there are places you can only access once and you only get another chance if you reset the stage or die. However, besides losing a life, you also lose what you collected, making it necessary to collect everything again to achieve a high rank and stay well equipped to face enemies that become harder to deal with toward the end of the game.

The author himself tagged me on his social media regarding the first video I made. I thanked him and he replied that he based the difficulty on the NES. I didn't have many opportunities to play NES games and if I did play any, I don't remember anymore hahaha 👨. So it's expected to be a challenging game. That said, I replayed it again without recording anything and at my own pace. Calmly, I went through the stages without difficulty up to Stage 7 and on Stage 8 I ended up dying only a few times compared to when I recorded the gameplay.

I managed to get Rank S in all of them, except for the Bonus, which doesn't appear in the image above. The change I noticed was that the star on the title screen changed from gold, the first time I finished the game, to silver now and 2 of the 4 remaining artworks that were locked after clearing the game the first time were unlocked. I don't know if they are unlocked if I clear the game a third time.

Now, onto the anime... and lots of anime D:

Golden Kamuy, even in serious situations, they manage to add touches of comedy. The plan didn't go as expected to capture the assassin, everyone ended up splitting up.

Shibou Yuugi, a minefield, it reminded me of a Windows game. It seems this anime will go back and forth in time showing the games the protagonist went through. It will be interesting to see her personality change over time or how she became the way she was in the first episode after so many games.

Jujutsu Kaisen, I was as confused as the protagonist with the explanation, I think I'll need to rewatch it later @.@ .

Sentenced to Be a Hero, if he needed the goddess to defeat the plague, how is he going to win without one? I think she'll appear at the last moment and save him.

Sousou no Frieren, apparently, you can't win every battle...

Gnosia, first time with all participants, I hope the truth is revealed in this game... That's what the previous episode suggested, but nothing yet...

Trigun, thankfully it didn't take long for him to regain consciousness. I hope the main group meets up in the next episodes and it's a shame that Vash couldn't save another life.

Today I couldn't finish the three 700 m running laps, but I did go to the gym as usual. I was very discouraged today and ended up making only 1 frame for today 😔.

Monster3_3, Hornet, this time I included a comparison with the Monster using a human of average height in the RTP VXP style. A common insect wouldn't appear on screen and this Monster is already quite large when compared to the RTP VX Ace style. So I decided to make only the Battler VX version and in the Battler VX Ace version I only changed the colors to better match the Battler and because of the color palette. If I did the same thing I did for the Slime, I think it would end up too large, maybe it would become useful as a Boss Hornet 🤔.

Another Friday... 📅

I woke up at 5 a.m. and went to the gym earlier. I ran after the gym, but my time for the three 700m laps ended up being big than Wednesday's, with 11:04.

Starting a new set, exclusive to RTP VX Ace.

Monster3_1, the Bat, I was unsure whether I should increase the Character design to 1.5 pixels and modify it the way I did with the Slime. Between the two versions, for me the Battler VX is scarier if you run into it in a nighttime environment, it looks like it came straight out of a dinosaur movie. The Battler Ace version, on the other hand, with that white pixel in the eyes, ended up making it cute, hahaha.

Monster3_2, the Gayzer, the versions are quite distinct, the Battler VX has several eyes and thin tentacles, while the Battler Ace has one big eye and a slimy flesh that supports that eye.

Between 33s and 40s, I need to lower this time even more ⏱

Swimming classes are back. Today we did 50 meter sprints, 4 sets of 6 sprints. It was really intense, I was very tired. It had been a long time since I last trained short distances in swimming, so at the beginning my times were around 33, 33, 34, 34, 35 seconds and they kept increasing until the last sprint of the last set reached 40 seconds... I need to train more. After swimming, I went to the gym and had trouble with pull up, I was too tired to do many reps. At least today I managed to do the 3 sets of 60 sit ups that I was already doing before the holidays. After tidying up the house, I went downtown to take care of a few things. Today was a tough day, but a good one, I felt willing all day and had energy to burn.

Monster2_4&8, the Succubus, I made the three versions. The original one seemed to me to have too few details for a tall sprite. I revised the Battler VX version, making it more faithful and detailed, with dark blue colors on the outfit, but I kept some details from the first version I made of the Succubus with green hair. The one in the center is the VX Ace version. I tried to represent the effect the artist gave to her light blue hair, but I feel it doesn't work very well for pixel art. I'm unsure whether to keep it or remove it before making the other sides...

"Gelatin", tutti-frutti and lemon flavors 🔵🟢

I managed to go to the gym and run without any difficulty. I still haven't been able to get back to doing 12 repetitions on the pull up bar, but I already did 11 reps. As for sit ups, I do 3 sets of 60, I still haven't gone back to doing 180 in total, but with a bit more persistence in training, I'll be recover. I was satisfied with today's run, since I did 10:40 over 3 laps of 700m without stopping, last time I did it in 11:30.

Monster2_3&7, the Slime, there isn't much to do with this monster. For me, the original Character works for both Battlers in the VX and VX Ace versions. What I did was increase the size to 1.5 pixels or 150% scaling and rework the distorted pixels to end up with a larger Slime.

Good water, strong sun 🏊‍♂️🏋️‍♂️

Today I had difficulty working out at the gym after swimming. I still haven't returned to my normal condition and I also need to adjust my sleep cycle, I've been sleeping poorly over the past few months.

Monster2_2&6, the Dragon, a version based on the Battler VX design. This one gave me a bit of work. I could have made the version following the original Character design, but I believe it wouldn't match the other characters in this taller version. The "hands" I made for the Dragon left me in doubt, I tried to follow the design, but it still feels strange to me.

The mosquitoes are back 🦟🎾

I didn't manage to sleep very well from Friday to Saturday, so I preferred to rest rather than do any physical activity. Anyway, the new anime season started in January, with some continuations I had been wanting to watch, and there will still be more throughout this year.

From the 2025 seasons that continued:

Gnosia, returned with Part 2, focusing on Setsu and Yuri's concerns about their mission to collect information that connects the various characters. It ended on a cliffhanger where the truth will be revealed. I think Gnosia will be treated as something created by humans and that this "cyberization" mentioned by one of the earlier characters is similar to the Gnosia attacks at the end of each voting phase. Now it’s just a matter of waiting to find out.

To Your Eternity, had a good episode. It was about time to show how people from other eras are trying to survive in this modern world, and how each person wants to follow their own dream or path in life. This seems to affect Fushi a lot, since he doesn’t understand this human side.

Now for the new seasons and returning continuations:

Golden Kamuy, had a very good episode and the situations remain funny and over-the-top.

Shibou Yuugi, surprised me. I didn't even know this work existed. This episode is very well constructed and really managed to hold my attention.

Jujutsu Kaisen, is finally back. I had to watch a recap of the previous season. I almost felt like rewatching it because it’s such a great arc, but I've been short on time lately.

Trigun, my favorite anime, is back. It's good to see a different approach in this post destruction arc and to see Milly showing up. I'm curious about the new human colonial ships, because if I remember correctly, Earth was already gone and the Seed project was the last hope in the 1998 Trigun. I still haven't read the manga to this day, but I know it's different from the 1998 and 2023 anime versions.

Among the ones I've already watched, I'll also keep watching Sentenced to Be a Hero. That makes a total of 7 anime... but Frieren is still coming, so 8 anime, and I might be forgetting one more... ah, Fire Force. That one I'll leave to watch the final season later. There's already too much anime for me to keep up with... ah, this cycle, the eternal cycle. D: 

This time I didn't manage to play much either. I wanted to get through Stage 6 all the way to the end, but I only managed to play up to Stage 8 with many deaths. The normal difficulty level of this game is already hard.

This set also originates from the Tkool Blog, a set created for the Battler versions for RMVX that was later added to the RMVX/Ace RTP.

Monster2_1&5, the Plant, both Battler designs in the VX and Ace versions are very similar, so I thought about mixing details from both designs into just 1.

No pain while running... for now 🏃‍♂️🏋️‍♂️

Today I managed to run after going to the gym. But I still haven't been able to do the 12 repetitions on the pull up bar again, I'm having trouble even reaching 10 reps. Taking a break from physical activities is not a good idea.

Monster1_7, the Death 💀, across its four designs always has these red details around the dark cloak and carries a scythe. I left only the Face/Bust version without the scythe. Among them, my favorite, the one that conveys the strongest sense of presence and fear, is the Battler VX version. However, I should have extended the cloak further downward when pixeling it, because when I compare it side by side with the other designs, him looks like a small.
Monster1_8, the Maō or Devil King 😈, appears in the Battler folder as Darklord. He has interesting variations, I liked all of them. For me, the Battler VX Ace version is the most imposing. In fact, in his Battler image, he is posing on the throne with a dragon or some creature behind it. What bothered me was the horn, even though it does make him unique.

I still haven't gotten back into my rhythm 🏃‍♂️🏊‍♂️🏋️‍♂️

I'm still having a hard time when training, staying inactive for a long time because of the end of the year isn't good. I don't want to miss a single day so I can recover the rhythm I had.

Monster1_5, the Fire Demon 🔥 according to her, or Ifrit in the Battler folder. He has "small" differences between his designs.
I'm thinking about deleting the 1st Battler VX Ace design or changing it to make it more unique, maybe more muscular.
The 2nd design refers to the Battler VX , where he has a light yellow to orange beard, the same color as his skin.
The 3rd design is the Face/Bust, which looks like an Ifrit with skin burns and remnants of hair...
The 4th design, to follow the original Character, I run into the same problem when turning a Chibi into a tall sprite. I followed the flame pixels at the top and bottom to edit later and gradually filled in what was missing in my own way, trying to keep the same proportions as the original Character. I actually liked the result hmmm.

Monster1_6, the Ice Queen ❄ according to her, or Icelady in the Battler folder. She already has more interesting differences. The order of the designs is the same as always, from left to right:
1st (Battler VX Ace), I tried to give volume to her butt thighs and then slim them down with the tight dress, which then flares out to the sides. Her skin is dark blue, her hair is light blue and the tips are a pink/purple tone that gives her an interesting highlight;
2nd (Battler VX), she looks like a different character, with ice on her hands and legs as if she’s ready for battle;
3rd (Face/Bust), she almost looks naked, but she isn't. Her skin is white leaning toward blue, just like her outfit, but I ended up making the skin more bluish to create contrast with the outfit and her curves... *cough *cough 🤭;
4th (Character), I followed the original details and it was only here that I noticed the hair below the shoulder. This outfit without details ended up looking like a jumpsuit with boots :/.
Only after finishing the 1st one did I notice that a detail was missing, the white fabric that runs between her shoulder and forearm. I'll change it later and check if it looks good. For all of them, except the 4th, I had to keep the standard human RTP skin first and only then change it to blue, so I wouldn't get confused during the pixel art process.

No creativity for a title 🙃

I woke up, looked out the window, and saw heavy rain again... D:

I decided to leave my workout for later and get ahead on my work and studies.

Monster1_3, the Orc, the design versions are quite diverse. The Battler VX Ace version has a head very similar to the Character version, with the difference that it wears leather armor and uses a ring on the exposed tooth. The Battler VX version looks a lot like those Dark Fantasy or Tolkien style orcs. The Face/Bust version is the most different among them, it looks younger, has hair and has two exposed teeth on each side, in addition to the outfit having other details. The Character version, however, suffers from the same issue where, when the design is enlarged, some details seem unfinished or empty.

Monster1_4, the Imp, unlike the Orc, there are few differences between its designs. The first is the Battler VX version, the second is the Face/Bust + Battler VX Ace version. And... for the first time, I didn't make a version similar to the Character one. I believe there wouldn’t be much difference due to the sprite’s height, so it's unlikely that I'll do it in the future...