Sign in

Heliosphere

@heliosphere.app
628 followers 1 following 43 posts

A community-focused, queer-led, Penumbra-integrated modding platform for FINAL FANTASY XIV. It's the one with the optional plugin that provides automatic updates […] 🌉 bridged from ⁂ hachyderm.io/@heliosphere, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

PostsRepliesMedia
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 17/09/2026
There's a new shape available for subscribers' profile pictures!
screenshot of a heliosphere user card, showing the name anna with a sparkle next to it. on the other side is a picrew profile picture shown through a paw shape. there are three links underneath that say "website", "donate", and "bsky"
0222
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 24/08/2026
Some people have expressed that Heliosphere's front page lags their devices. Please check to make sure you have hardware acceleration enabled in your browser! If you still have issues, try the new "simple graphical mode", which removes blurs and shadows.
Heliosphere's settings with a red arrow pointing to a new switch labelled "Enable simple graphical mode (reduces lag)"
18627
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 22/07/2026
Changes from the Penumbra testing branch are now supported on Heliosphere. This comes with a plugin update to account for new features. Please report any issues on our forums. forums.heliosphere.app/threads/heli…
forums.heliosphere.app
Heliosphere now supports the Penumbra JSON changes
Penumbra testing recently changed the way that PMPs use JSON files for groups and added new features for groups and options. Heliosphere has been updated to support both of these changes. Updating the plugin is required to take advantage of the new features. The website does not currently...
03917
Reposted by Heliosphere
Anna @alt.anna.lgbt · 17/07/2026
ignore the thumbnails not loading (this is prod data loaded into a local db but not connected to prod data storage), but I've been working on stuff
screenshot of a heliosphere search result showing 18 mods on the first of four pages. on the left side is a column of tags and affected gear items which each have a number to their right. three tags are yellow at the top of the list, and one tag is red. none of the mod thumbnails have loaded.
1325
Reposted by Heliosphere
Anna @anna.lgbt · 02/07/2026
thank you all for reporting a specific mod over the past 24-ish hours. I was in hell upgrading/fixing my computer, so I wasn't able to review them until earlier today, and the mod in question had appropriate action taken. sorry for the longer-than-average delay on the reports!
0273
Reposted by Heliosphere
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 20/01/2026
You can pet the dog on our website. If you give her enough pets (rubbing your mouse cursor around on top of her), hearts will start popping out!
418961
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 01/06/2026
be gay, install mods happy pride! unfriendly reminder for chuds that heliosphere is woke as hell
3358111
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 30/05/2026
Version 4.9.0 of the Heliosphere plugin can scan your Penumbra library and convert alread-installed mods into Heliosphere-enabled mods! Please make backups in case anything goes wrong in the conversion process. Happy modding!
Screenshot of the Heliosphere UI showing a menu dropdown named "Mods" where an item named "Search Heliosphere for installed mods" is highlighted with an arrow pointing to it
116246
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 29/05/2026
👀
516632
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 28/05/2026
You will soon be able to scan your Penumbra library to find mods you have installed that are also available on Heliosphere. Then you'll be able to choose which ones you would like to convert to Heliosphere mods, enabling auto-updates for them without manual reinstallation! Watch this space...
21499134
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 23/05/2026
Did you know Heliosphere has forums? Come say hello! forums.heliosphere.app
forums.heliosphere.app
Heliosphere Forums
Community forums for Heliosphere announcements, discussion, and support.
071
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 14/05/2026
RE: hachyderm.io/@heliosphere/116571492… Tentatively saying service is restored. Please let us know if there are any lingering issues. The site should load somewhat faster!
0100
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 14/05/2026
Heliosphere will be going down for maintenance in ~5 minutes (02:30 Eastern) as it is moved to new infrastructure. This may be a fairly long maintenance, up to a few hours. Thank you for your patience!
05314
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 03/05/2026
Firefox appears to have rolled out local network permissions now, so Heliosphere has been updated to show its warning for all browsers, not just Chrome. If the website no longer offers to use the plugin for you, this may be why!
Screenshot of a Heliosphere download button with a warning below it:

Expecting to be able to download using the plugin? Heliosphere requires special permissions for the plugin integration to work. Click the button below to grant them.

Important: the game must be open with the Heliosphere plugin installed.

There's a button below this warning that says "Request permission" and a link below that saying "Don't show this again".
0153
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 26/04/2026
Due to an oversight by our developer, if you tried to set account-wide creator settings for mod descriptions and URLs when downloaded into Penumbra, you'll need to go back and set them again. They didn't ever save properly. forums.heliosphere.app/threads/206
forums.heliosphere.app
Account-wide creator settings were not saving
Hi, creators. If you saw the previous announcement, Options to control mod descriptions and URLs, you may have gone to your creator settings to set account-wide defaults for mod descriptions and mod URLs. It turns out that I made a mistake and those settings were never saved. Individual mod...
060
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 27/03/2026
There are now new options for creators controlling the behaviour of mod descriptions and URLs when downloaded via Heliosphere. Check out the forum post for more information! forums.heliosphere.app/threads/opti…
forums.heliosphere.app
Options to control mod descriptions and URLs
Hello, creators! Until now, when downloading a mod from Heliosphere, its description and website as shown in Penumbra would be overwritten by Heliosphere. This was intended to reduce the amount of description duplicating needed from creators and to make it easy for users to find where they...
0258
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 27/03/2026
Work has begun on a feature that lets creators set account-wide preferences for whether PMPs of their mods downloaded from Heliosphere should retain their original descriptions and URLs. It can be overridden per-mod, as well.
0220
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 19/03/2026
Let us know what you think about mod descriptions being replaced in mods installed through Heliosphere: forums.heliosphere.app/threads/allo…
forums.heliosphere.app
Allow control over description replacement
I've seen feedback from a couple people that they dislike Heliosphere replacing the PMP descriptions with the mod page description. The reason that Heliosphere does this is so that people don't need to visit the mod page to get relevant information about the mod, and it also prevents the mod...
086
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 14/03/2026
Explore the files in any mod with this new beta feature! You can download any file individually or preview any texture file, too.
113051
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 07/03/2026
RE: hachyderm.io/@heliosphere/116190008… It's live now! Let us know if there are any issues.
0157
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 07/03/2026
A new feature is in the works! Check a box to have all loose files in your PMP automatically uploaded as an extra zip file.
Screenshot of Heliosphere's file upload form. A file called "my mod.pmp" is selected. There is a warning that displays "This PMP contains files that are not used by Penumbra. Heliosphere filters such files before upload, so PMPs downloaded from Heliosphere will not contain them.

You can upload these files as extra files that can be downloaded separately. Heliosphere can do this for you automatically if you check the box below."

Below that text is a checked checkbox labelled "Upload unreferenced files as an extra .zip file attached to version 1.0.1". A text input is beneath the checkbox, and it's labelled "Name of .zip file to be created".

Below that is a list of the extra files contained in the PMP, which are "dds/would you believe it.dds", "png/a loose file.png", and "png/another loose file.png".
06920
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 18/02/2026
RE: hachyderm.io/@heliosphere/116089955… Thank you to everyone who shared this and to everyone who reached out! We have now added enough people in an advisory capacity.
080
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 18/02/2026
Heliosphere is looking for additional mod creators to help advise in private about moderation decisions and policies. Specifically, we are in need of the voices and experiences of people of colour. If you are interested in helping shape our moderation, please see the replies for contact information.
1169140
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 16/02/2026
We've added a tab where you can upload files in the mod "Edit" page for those of you with muscle memory from other sites!
15714
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 15/02/2026
What do creators and users want from resource hosting? Pages, similar to mods, but with multiple files available to download from a list instead of the one big download button?
63510
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 14/02/2026
We've added a new button and link to the mod upload page to hopefully make managing variants easier.
0121
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 14/02/2026
Many people remember the past when Heliosphere required its companion plugin to function. It hasn't required it for a long time. Without the plugin, the big yellow download button downloads a PMP.
16222
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 14/02/2026
trans rights are human rights btw
1289114
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 14/02/2026
We appreciate all the new sign-ups! If any of you are considering subscribing, the code WOKE is available for 75% off your first month for new subscribers. Only 10 uses available. We also offer 14-day free trials!
417458
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 14/02/2026
Did you know that Heliosphere has a function to prevent inappropriate words from being contained in mod IDs? Fortunately, people have already made lists of profane and inappropriate words, so we didn't have to come up with the list ourselves...
0263
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 14/02/2026
Heliosphere has Atom/RSS feeds for all new mods and for creator pages. You can plug in the home page or a creator's profile to your feed reader. NSFW requires you to add ?nsfw=true to the end: heliosphere.app/feed/newest.atom?ns…
1277
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 08/02/2026
Added a tooltip to the PMP download stage icon and numeric progress below the progress bar. Hoping to make this UI even more informational and clear as time goes on!
Screenshot of a PMP download on Heliosphere's website. Newly added to this view are a tooltip on the icon showing what stage the download is in (currently showing "Downloading files") and a numeric progress (currently showing 2,705/12,284).
0131
Reposted by Heliosphere
Anna @anna.blahaj.zone.ap.brid.gy · 30/01/2026
If you ever have questions about Heliosphere's rules or policies, please feel free to reach out on fedi (@anna@blahaj.zone), bsky (@anna.lgbt@bsky.brid.gy), our forums (forums.heliosphere.app), official hs account (@heliosphere@hachyderm.io), or even email (rules at heliosphere dot app).
forums.heliosphere.app
Heliosphere Forums
Community forums for Heliosphere announcements, discussion, and support.
199
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 20/01/2026
You can pet the dog on our website. If you give her enough pets (rubbing your mouse cursor around on top of her), hearts will start popping out!
418961
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 20/01/2026
The pride flags on our website up by our mascot (Sunny) will now show every unique flag available in our flag pack before allowing repeats. Before, it was true random sampling. If you are capable of making pride flags in that style and want one added, let us know! (Originals […]
hachyderm.io
Original post on hachyderm.io
0142
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 08/01/2026
A neat thing about Heliosphere is that it only needs to save one copy of any files that are uploaded inside mods. If two different mods share the same file, Heliosphere only keeps one copy of that file. All told, this has saved us 743.31 GiB of storage space so far!
0224
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 08/01/2026
We have completed maintenance to migrate our database to PostgreSQL 18, which was long overdue but had complications that delayed it. This should make Heliosphere even faster! As always, please report any issues that may arise on the forums.
0357
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 04/01/2026
Heliosphere is always looking for volunteers to help improve our documentation! If you know how to use Heliosphere and would like to contribute some technical writing, please check out the link below. forums.heliosphere.app/threads/call…
forums.heliosphere.app
Call for documentation contributors
Are you good at writing technical documentation or guides? Do you know how to use various parts of Heliosphere? Would you like to make it easier for other people to use those parts? If you answered yes to all of those questions, please feel free to contribute to our documentation repository...
077
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 30/12/2025
Hard at work adding more warnings about common pitfalls or misunderstandings.
A screenshot of Heliosphere's extra files upload form. A PMP file is selected to be uploaded as an extra file, which has caused an orange warning box to appear with the title "PMPs as extra files is almost never right".

The content of the warning:
Uploading PMPs as extra files is almost never what you want to do. This usually happens when a creator doesn't know about variants.

Variants allow you to upload multiple variants of a mod on the same page. Examples include separate packs for 1k and 2k textures or separate packs for different races.

If you know what you're doing, you can upload this PMP file anyway, but remember that users will not receive any of the benefits of Heliosphere for PMPs uploaded as extra files.
0184
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 29/12/2025
We updated the affects database on Heliosphere (finally), so mods that affect newer items that weren't being detected should be mostly fixed!
010
Heliosphere @heliosphere.app · 25/12/2025
This account is now officially bridged to Bluesky, so people on there can also get Heliosphere news! Happy holidays!
1538