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I have an idea. Now to see if I can actually finish a game using it.

Hopefully others are progressing better than I am. I'm still stuck trying to figure out an art style. Nothing I've tried has seemed right at all. If I don't figure something out today, then I'm going to either make it a visual novel style or first person. I do at least have base GUIs made...

I uh... I have a possible "case" to be "solved" and I have kind of figured out the personalities for the player characters. The main thing I need to do next is figure out tone and art style.

Maybe having a better defined idea and starting earlier in the month will mean a higher chance of finishing something this month. The start came from cracking eggs this morning. It's a bad pun, but at least it led to more ideas. Sal and Ella may or may not be the final names used.

I see your point, though when it comes to alienation, I feel like it's just as big of a problem with how these people will spread misinformation, and actively discourage people from getting professional help instead of seeking out blind validation online.

Plus using baby-ish terms like "neurospicy" instead of autism only serves to further stigmatize the actual term autism.

That is a genuine problem, which I feel is further amplified by many online commentators' treatment of any attempt at categories or sub-categories of the autism spectrum as somehow evil and fascist.

It grinds my gears that not only has there been a blatant attempt to rewrite history in regards to Aspergers syndrome; pretending that it fell out of use over Hans Asperger's nazi ties - it didn't, the diagnosis was retired because it was deemed to similar to high-functioning autism, and the diagnosis itself was never used while Asperger was active, but coined in 1976 by brittish psychologist Lorna Wing, but I've even seen people claim that the terms "high-functioning" and "low-functioning" themselves were an evil nazi invention.

The problem is, who benefits from a wide spectrum having all clear sub-categories removed? I sure don't. If I say I have Autism, it comes with the caveat that I also have to spend ages explaining where exactly I am on the spectrum and how my mind works, whereas if I say I have Aspergers, most people will just get the basic gist of it relatively easily.

And this doesn't serve people with high support needs either, because all this discourse that muddies the lines and people using baby terms instead of real diagnosis to describe autism only makes it harder for regular people to understand what it is and how it works, and if it's harder to understand, people will also find it harder to accept.

I admit to not understanding all of this. It's not helped at all by having grown up with media showing people with autism as either being savants or being non-verbal, or in the case of Mercury Rising I think the kid was both. I think Parenthood was the first thing I watched with someone who wasn't either. But his autism was treated more as a problem than being a part of who he is. My mom was even a special education teacher for a few years and she wasn't taught anything about autism beyond the "problem" type. It wasn't until a friend with Autism and ADHD had shared some information that made me think I might be neurodivergent in any way. Every week I'm learning something new, usually from Youtube videos by creators with Autism and/or ADHD. And since I avoid TikTok and most subreddits, I don't ever see these people who use the term neurospicy unless it's brought up by one of the creators I follow. There is damage being done in many areas by many people. Some intentionally, some unintentionally. And by now I think I've forgotten my point. I just know that apparently I care more about how people perceive neurodivergent people than I had realized.

Thanks. I wasn't hoping to get into an argument with you or anyone over this, or bully anyone. Your experiences are of course valid, and I'm not saying that a (tentative!) self-diagnosis cannot be useful to an individual. It's the (online) discourse around it that rubs me the wrong way – in some cases.

The tendency for people to be foolish and obnoxious is a human constant, it just takes different forms in different eras. It seems pretty clear to me that neurodivergent labels have become trendy in a way that attracts frivolous claims – the way gluten intolerance was trendy a couple of decades ago – or even malicious misuse (see: Elon Musk, or Neil Gaiman using a supposed autism diagnosis as a defense against sexual abuse allegations).

Alright. Now we both understand each other a bit more. I wasn't wanting an argument either, just the posts kind of set me off yesterday. I don't remember if it was before or after having watched a video about how some of those in power basically feel like high supports needs autistics have no place in society. But I did take the post more personally than I should have. But this is a thread about grinding of gears, and at the time it ground mine.

I'm sure there are a lot of people who do see neurodivergence as a trend and I know there are some people who say everyone's a bit autistic. But I choose to believe most of it is out of ignorance more than anything. Almost no media shows a balanced view on neurodivergence. And I don't know if Elon Musk or Neil Gaiman are actually autistic or not. It's possible they are autistic AND horrible human beings.

Like what Snarky said, the problem isn't people who use self-diagnosis as a stepping-stone to get a real professional diagnosis (and it's not as hard today as some make it out to be), it's people treating it as a simple way to excuse crappy behaviors whilst simultaneously treating it as a sign of how "special" they are.

I have too much of a sinus headache today to articulate fully, so I'm not going to try. I think it was the comparison to self diagnosing allergies that caused some confusion for me. As someone who had to get allergy tests when I was young on both my back and arms, I wouldn't wish anyone having to go through that if they could could simply identify that they had an allergic reaction to something and could get over the counter medication to help with it. I feel kind of the same about being neurodivergent. And certainly I'm not against someone getting diagnosed if they have the means to. But it's better to identify the possibility of being neurodivergent and doing what's possible to help than to avoid thinking you're neurodivergent out of fear of being bullied by people who say you can't self diagnose. I'm not saying you or Snarky are bullying, but there are subreddits that do basically bully people for what they think of as faking autism. I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt. They could be high masking and on the outside be like "Yeah, neurospicy is cool!" but on the inside they could be completely freaking out. It's better to educate people who claim they're neurospicy than to mock them and make actual neurodivergent people feel even more alientated.

Well, the last couple post grind my gears... Here's my input.

Self diagnosis is perfectly valid if you put in the proper research and it truly fits. I'm 100% sure I have aphantasia, which is a form of divergence. But I'm also more than 90% sure I'm also autistic. I don't think this as a way of trying to feel "special". I've struggled most of my life with trying to feel more normal. Why would I WANT to label myself as being different? I believe I'm autistic because I've had social issues my whole life, I have food/sound/texture issues very common with autistic people, I have photosensitivity, etc. I have a cousin who is diagnosed as autistic and once I learned I probably am, my aunt agrees that I probably am.

I'm an adult old enough that autism wasn't even considered a spectrum when I was a child. It would cost a huge amount of money and time to get a diagnosis which would prove pointless because it's not like it would get me any kind of special accommodations. But since learning more about autism, I've learned ways to deal with some of my anxiety with things and other coping mechanisms, like intentionally stimming. Since I'm not officially diagnosed, does that mean that I shouldn't wear headphones when I know I'm going to be around sounds which make me want to curl up into a ball? Do I stop clicking a pen when I feel social anxiety at the thought of the possibility of talking to a stranger?

Are there people who self diagnose themselves who are wrong? Yes. But does that mean everyone who self diagnoses themselves are wrong? As much as it may feel harmful to you for someone to self diagnose themself and be wrong, it can be equally or more harmful to tell someone self diagnosed who actually is neurodivergent that they aren't.

I have nothing to show yet. I didn't have a specific enough idea until this morning. Last night I rewatched the Into The Dalek episode of Doctor Who and this morning my brain decided something like that would be the basis for my game. So, I'll be using a combination of that episode, the movie Innerspace, and Final Fantasy Legend 2 as my primary inspirations. It won't be scientifically accurate at all.

The only way AI can create masterpieces is if it's stealing from actual masterpieces. But it's no more of a masterpiece than if I downloaded an image of the Mona Lisa and put it on a t-shirt. Real masterpieces are created by people who have spent years of dedication to their craft and then put part of themselves into the creation of the art in a way that people feel an emotional connection to. AI is incapable of doing more than mimicry. AI is like fast food. It's quick, takes little skill to create, and easily forgotten.

I'm getting a few possible ideas. I will at least attempt something less traditional, possibly first person.

The podcast I've been listening to the past few days has made me contemplate a game. But I'm kind of afraid of it being too much like a low quality Wadjet Eye wannabe game.

An in between suggestion is that you could use Mixamo characters and animations and use Blender to export frames. Then there's several options for how to modify those for your finished characters. You go the rotoscoping option like you mentioned or you could reduce and modify the colors, etc.
Youtube and/or other searches should find you the information needed to do any of this.

So, as someone not on that spectrum, but on neurodivergent spectrum, I'm not completely sure how to approach the topic. In the last month I have listened to a fiction podcast with two characters who are on both spectrums. I've also listened to other fiction podcasts with LGBTQIA+ characters. All of these have had an urban/contemporary fantasy aspect. And interestingly yesterday I listened to the first episode of another podcast by the same group that have made some others I've listened to. This first episode was about a rally at a college and a character in charge of it. 

Anyway, my point, if I had any was that I can understand anyone being hesitant to make a game this month. My suggestion for anyone who isn't part of the group is to focus on the characters first. Make sure to have well rounded characters. I've never liked any character who only has one defining characteristic, where it be that they're gay or autistic or whatever. If in doubt, just write characters you'd like to be friends with. Their sexuality can go unsaid or only mentioned once in passing. Or maybe just hinted at by background objects, like photos.

I'm personally going to approach the subject by writing exercises and maybe write a full short story first. If I can write something that I feel is good enough, then I'll make a game.

I fear I've completely failed. I simply didn't get enough done to have anything remotely passing for a game.

Good luck to those who are still working.

I'm mildly sick and struggling with the art style. I'll have something, I just might not be happy with the art and it might end up with 2 backgrounds instead of the planned 3.

How are we getting on, campers?

I've completely lacked any creativity this month. I did come up with a different idea yesterday, but I'd need an extension if I'm going to have anything more than two characters and a single room.

Are we allowed to use assets i.e. game dev market for our projects? Like the ones in the humble bundles? (Music/sprites/sounds)? Or only free ones?

I'm pretty sure that it's fine to use any assets you have the legal right to use. So as long as the assets don't have a stipulation where you can only use them with certain software or such, I don't see any reason you can't.

My best suggestion for proportions is to look for a human proportions guide via whatever search engine you prefer. You should be able to easily find something useful. Adding details is more complicated, though. That depends on what program you're using, how much detail you want, if you're using a limited palette, etc.
My overall advice is to use reference. When doing game art, I always create a collage of reference images for whatever style I'm trying to go toward and just some general images that are useful.

Hmmm. I should be able to do something that's either part of the "wizard college" game I'm wanting to make or in the same world. So guess I'm in after all.