iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Its like, why do it at this point? There are tiny black lines everywhere and now I can't unsee them. And when I look really closely its like some of them just... warp. On the other hand, 800dpi!

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 19h

Found a pretty major flaw in a few assets graphically. Good news, my new image handling workflow fixes it. Nicely, too! Bad news, its enough to justify redoing the card bases entirely, and thats before Cocktail 1.2.0 options. There's a few backend things I can fix now, like attached leader foils.

110

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 22h

Okay, so working on the Disgaea Netherwar card base to try and mitigate a future issue and getting the text and UI synced across card types is technically working on the cards, right? ...I really am procrastinating, since the character art and text is going to take so much time...

010

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Yeah, the TTS plugin is in a stable, if not elegant, state. Im about out of things to work on that arent the actual cards themselves.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

A lot of this is just Tabletop Simulator hating card meld physics... so now the melds are static and you move a representative standee instead. Disgaea Netherwar uses a "condensed" playfield to rep being an SRPG. As for why *now*... extreme job hunt panic means more is necessary to distract myself.

010

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

...why is this working It should not be working There's still a *lot* to adjust, and this is nowhere near the most elegant solution... but technically this is playable once I have more cards. Its a mess but its *my* mess. Four days of effort to get here and I feel its only just getting started.

100

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The amount of rejections I got tonight pretty much confirms what I had been hearing: the ATS score rejects you immediately, but it waits 48 hours or so to notify via batch email. Never seeing a human. I applied to a bunch on Friday, half rejected just in the last hour. Its almost midnight here...

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Alright, Ive gotten the art renders about as good as they get for a while. Time to work on the cards... ...nope, distracted myself with Lua. But hey, that means Tabletop Simulator! Maybe I can figure out these melds and playability concerns! The melds themselves are almost done! A ha ha ha... ha

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

And there's the full rejection, one business day later when batch goes out at midnight, workday default. Blarrrrrgh. Knew this was coming and not just from the button going away, but still sucks. Well, not like I stopped applying, just the furthest Ive been in a while.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Trying to refocus. Ended up setting up an eight hour plus render session. Its not even updated to the latest Disgaea RPG set, but at this point Im just happy that I have an improved set to work with. Redoing all of the previous work doesn't sound as fun, though...

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Today's rejection officially put me in the mindspace that I am likely not going to get a mainframe job ever again. No local IT work, either. Can't do much else. Logically, I know I'm panicking. But the card games will never make me anything, my wife is trying her best, and I don't know what to do.

001

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The "winner" likely got their status changed already, so when mine hasn't, thats the biggest sign of failure.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

...sigh, they found the other reject button. When Workday removes the withdrawal button and the listing itself closes, it is 99% of the time a rejection, the email will just show up in the next two days. Actually heartbroken. This was one I actually reached final interview.

100

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

#my9anime , actually formative picks just like the games one, because I followed the letter of the prompt both times. ...this explains a bit. I also didn't do half bad for being in actual backwater south US growing up (I am no longer even remotely near it now)

Oh my goddess, Excel Saga, .hackSIGN, Tenshi Muyo, Girls Bravo, Sailor Moon, Love Hina, Read or Die, Midori Days

010

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Well, one of the found the reject button, for the role I technically qualify for but knew I had no chance at. Since its workday the rejection will show up later tonight. Mondays are always slow for job hunting. I think I made a breakthrough in the Makai Wars art, though? Its not a 100% fix...

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Sometimes this job search just feels like they forgot where the reject button is. Been two weeks since the positive final interview. Im pretty sure I didn't get it at this point. ...at least Im making progress in the Makai Wars art recovery efforts.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Did the #my9games thing. ...did you know I got into one of the biggest anime simfile collections of its day? My effort was awful... #10 would probably be one of the full YuGIOh World Championship games on the GBA.

Disgaea
Legend of Dragoon
Final Fantasy 9
Monster Rancher
Pokémon Red
Thousand Arms
Guilty Gear X2
Tales of Symphonia
Stepmania

020

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I mean, I got what I needed (the entire discord history of Disgaea Netherwar for just shy of a *decade*, along with trabslation history), and I trust the mods and other admin to take care of the server for the day.

001

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

...whoops. Triggered the discord anti-scrape and will be back online there tomorrow.

100

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Basically, the remaining Disgaea Netherwar workflow is placing the art on each card (which cannot be automated due to source weirdness) and then placing the text content on each card (which also cannot be automated, I need to write it). So just, ya know, the bulk of it. Decided on art first.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

So the project to try and improve/rescue the Makai Wars art is going surprisingly okay. ...but it also means Im going to have to redo the character art on the card. Thankfully didn't get *that* far into that part, and I can get better naming culture in there at the same time.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Another interview for a separate role today. Went alright again. Didn't help that there was a storm this morning that made everything miserable. Decided to work on the dumped Makai Wars art afterward to try and improve what Ive got for Disgaea Netherwar. Small gains.

020

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Interview went alright. Managed to hold onto the conversation for a decent amount of time, so progress there. Don't feel that I got it, but Im getting better.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Got my first "we shouldn't have sent you that moving forward email, whoops" moment for this job hunt. Took longer than last time.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

...theyre literally found on Hypocrite Hill.

101

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Will always, *always* shill for Gnosia.

010

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Not the best nintendo direct, not the worst, and once again Japan got the better direct. They actually showed Prinny Party. And a few seconds of touhou.

010

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

...Well, almost had the dryer, but on unpack it was revealed to have the bottom of it crushed. Exact replacement is another month... so non exact it is. Its the last thing we needed to replace for the lightning strike damage. Annoyed.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

"We need proof you are able to work with AI tools." ...in mainframe? When that damn chip only really got announced last week? Not even the first time Ive heard this! Like, I get it, I really do, but what does that even *look* like right now? (And no, generative AI isnt touching the card games.)

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Oh, its going to be *that* type of week. Recruiter that somehow broke my DnD by marking it as urgent before 8am, for a zVM role I was rejected for two weeks ago and the end client *really* wants the contractor to move to Cincinnati after the year is up. Neat trick, but now I'm awake and grumpy.

010

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Ive been wanting to work on things today but its been a significantly aggressive "recruiter" day and Im drained. Pretty certain the focus for this morning just isnt real, and Im pretty sure the focus of this afternoon was one I was rejected for without feedback or interview two weeks ago.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Latest interview went fairly well! Ive even gotten more work done on the card game! ...Just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Disgaea Netherwar card game: Managed to automate another workflow part since TTS is giving me fits, but attach faces work now. Also, the setup shown is *technically* possible...

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

...the typos stay, Im trying to rescue a lizard our might hunter of a cat brought into the bathroom.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Job hunt continues... unfortunately for me, I managed to confirm that the tools these recruiters use to "score" resumes pretty much fail completely on my skillset. On the other hand, its catnip for a skillset I don't have! Like instant tip of list level for somwthing not actually in resume!

100

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

...honestly, my card workflow would make six years ago me jealous... let alone mlpdcg me. Alas, plugging things into a spreadsheet does not make for riveting entertainment, and I can't carry a stream on my own. It was the best way to keep me on task back in the day, though.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Meanwhile, Im a Death's Oath enjoyer that only just learned of this league and has to now fight another distraction. But I do see your point.

110

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Tried adding a time value to make the foil shaders animate, since most are at a level I'm comfortable with. Ow.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I was like... The pals have IVs, breeding chains for traits, and there's even different builds required depending on if they're for camp, exploring, arena, or raids. Even move choice based on strength:cooldown ratios. Prepping for raids is on the same tier of making a competitive pkmn team!

010

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Also, working in Tabletop Simulator! Just needed to turn global reflective surfaces down.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Disgaea Netherwar: Tabletop Simulator holo foil card. Not the final form of this either, and solving one thing about this one took two days... ...but negative edge foil. It *might* have been a very rough week for the job hunt and I needed motivation.

110

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Disgaea Netherwar: tabletop Simulator foil work continues, especially since a lot of these were crafted in the early hours of the morning in a delirious stress state. Oceanfoil is for the Beachside subgroup. I originally avoided these due to keeping it somewhat sfw... but meh.

020

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

There might be 13 different foil types after going a bit overboard. Columns, Menace, Gate, Confetti, Shatter, Fireworks, Valentines, Ocean, Halloween, Snowflakes, Damascus, Crosshatch, and Black Hole. ...not sure the last one actually works, it kinda removes light from the card and its *weird*.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

From a security standpoint, Ill always advocate for just a full reinstall of the system. If that can't happen (such as if you need specific versions of your software for your editing), then defender + malwarebtyes. The other nuclear option is tronscript but absolutely do not use that on your own.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

A decent part of me working on card foils (and the game in general) is me just brushing up on my python because it came up in an interview. I don't think shadergraph counts as C#... Just want a job in my field. I know the card game will go exactly nowhere but it at least focuses me.

010

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

The corners are cut in TTS and the card still renders properly on flat png for thing that don't cut it. Its me trying to find any motivation to work on this game.

010

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Disgaea Netherwar... this took 10 hours in unity to troubleshoot, but it is working, I have multiple foil types, it works in Tabletop Simulator, and I have a pipeline to update any of these in around five mouse clicks after the original card render. See, I can upskill, I swear it! ...I need sleep.

231

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Upscale for card assets finally finished. Turns a 830kb image into a 155MB one in probably the most inefficient way ever, but keeps the quality during that step and gives it the "proper" color profile before Krita gets ahold of it, shrinks it to card print size, and turns it into a 6MB thing again.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Haven't done an upscale pass for DRPG assets in a minute. Time to update everything and see what I can do. Havent done any steam farming in about as long, either. ...I might need a distraction from the 40 or so spam/scam recruiter calls today. No, I dont know Spanish or anything else in that stack.

000

Age @blitzerage.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I do apologize for all of the job hunt drama when Im supposed to be the disgaea card guy. Its been utterly draining and depressing. I would much rather be working on cards than having to figure out keeping the lights on for me and mine. Actual work is easier than the job hunt.

010