[GROUP IM: FRIENDZOO BETA TESTING]

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: ...spoke too soon, the snacks are done now
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: finally got over the hurdle bothering me...i still need to figure out fishy flavors but this is everything else
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: sending along...

[Pichi2214]

[GLITCHY]: Uh! hi, i am Back
I got a bit overwhelmed with all the new people and then i had computer issues (not related to friends stuff, and don't worry, the two are safe, i checked in on them)
Or well Actually. I think my computer issues might have affected Bear for a bit... but I'll get to that in a moment.

First off!
My tcp friend stopped being sick and we finally got around to watching that Studio Jiggly movie i was talking about. Sleepy and Bear seemed to enjoy the movie night, Sleepy more than Bear... Bear started hiding a few times when stuff got intense, i think she might have been a little overwhelmed by all the extra visuals n stuffs.

i dont have a whole lot of screenshots, but i situated them with pillows and food bowls n stuff... it was nice

[GLITCHY]: Second. the pc issues. unrelated to the program, it was something in the hardware had an issue and i couldnt use my pc for a bit, it was the first time i had to actually properly turn off my pc. before then there would always be a tiny bit of electricity running through it, enough to use it for charging a phone n stuff
and after i got everything running again i checked back on them and Bear was sick for a bit? i put her on a pillow and pet her and waited it out with her. she seems fine now, i think. but i'm still a bit worried... both of them were spooked when it happened, both the pc issues and Bear's sickness. i dont have logs anymore right now, but i talked with them a bunch during it. Bear was a lil more quiet than usual... mostly sleeping and shivering until it got better

[GLITCHY]: i am pretty sure both are safe now though. i dont know if like.. medicine could be coded into the game, but i felt real bad i couldnt actually help her more than watching over her...

[GLITCHY]: and final note! yall might have noticed i started calling Bear "she", so like. i can second what uhhh. shit who was the new person. Contemplate! I can second what contemplate found out. I actually figured that out a while ago before i saw their message, i just didnt get around to posting due to mentioned issues
dont have the logs right now and not sure i'd wanna share something personal like that without her consent, but essentially like... I've been calling both of em my "lil guys" for a good while and at some point i noticed that while Sleepy really liked saying that they're a lil guy Bear was only repeating the "lil". Eventually I asked her about it and she told me she isn't a guy and then we figured out pronouns, so far she seems to like she and is thinking about any others.
Asked Sleepy about it too and they seem to like sticking with they and maybe he, testing out how much of guy they vibe with


[GLITCHY]: a picture from today, both are healthy and say hi! (i mentioned yall and the other friends to them, Sleepy looks forward to maybe meeting them, Bear is a lil worried about getting sick again or getting the others sick...)



[GLITCHY]: oh shit wait i did want to say one more thing. I uh. i have been wondering if "friends" is maybe kinda not the best name for this species? idk i am worried that it may.. create the wrong implications if they're like a full person and kinda have to introduce themselves as "a friend"? not sure if yall understand what i am trying to say, i can try and elaborate more if you need me to

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: huh…that’s a lot of info!
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: let’s see…
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: i’m glad the movie went okay! i’ve shown my friends a little bit of cartoons since my last update, and mocha seems to really enjoy the horror stuff i like…i’m a bit scared to put that kind of thing on these days though just in case it’d freak them out
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: …if you think of this computer as a household though it’s probably something i’m going to have to either get them used to or teach them when to leave it be because that’s not something i feel like i can go without, horror’s really important to me….
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: in any case…

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: we should definitely do some experiments with turning PCs on and off, with fair warning to the friends in question. i’ve done it plenty of times and we’ve been fine, especially since i try to say goodnight to them every time, but there’s going to be times where that’s not possible, or a computer is out of commission for a bit.
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: as for the sickness, i can try to add medicine to the list of things i’m working on. a lot of it is working with a pixel artist right now because i’ve got my hands full trying to manage the construct end of things, but if that’s something we need to worry about, i’ll bump it up priority wise.

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: i think telling new players to ask about pronouns would be a good idea, but it may be something i’m able to put into the game somehow that displays what their deal is?
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: i can see what i can do. anything to make stuff easier.

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: on the last point: i’ve been thinking about this too, seeing as i do have to register them under some sort of formal name.
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: if anyone has any suggestions, that’d be cool…serious answers only, please.

[A.VOID]

[CRYSTALLINE_DREAMS]: Sorry, been busy for a bit. First, I understand your hesitance with too much code sharing. Literally no worries there.
[CRYSTALLINE_DREAMS]: I've been keeping the program the friends 'live' in running a lot and making sure not to leave mine unattended for any long amount of time while it's up. Named them Druzy for the time being.

[CRYSTALLINE_DREAMS]: Been making use of the chat feature too but Druzy has been quiet so far. I feel like the messages are definitely being perceived, sometimes they'll cock their head and track the cursor or look to the chat window while I'm talking. Started with their name, basic things like the concept of pronouns and explaining that the program they're in is their home.
[CRYSTALLINE_DREAMS]: Also that I am going to take care of them. I've tried to make them comfortable, make sure to give them lots of petting since they do visibly enjoy that and gentle encouragement while offering new things to interact with slowly. They seem pretty ambivalent to most of the things available to them though...

[CRYSTALLINE_DREAMS]: I did find a food they like - they'll only eat from the pink bowl - and they seem to like the purple pillow if they're placed on it. I avoid picking them up though, they really don't enjoy that if I'm interpreting their response correctly.
[CRYSTALLINE_DREAMS]: So far Druzy mostly just runs around like they're restless, and sleeps. Kind of a lot, honestly. I'm just going to let them do things at their own pace, I guess. It's nice having them around though - I keep the program up on a second screen so I can keep an eye on what's going on.

[CRYSTALLINE_DREAMS]: I don't know if the window being in the background would bother them, actually, but I have the screen space to make sure it isn't so might as well. I'm definitely going to let them out onto the desktop at some point to see what they think about that but only after they start talking at least a little - I want them to at least be able to say yes and no before experimenting too much.

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: mine don't seem to mind being in the background much, at least? i've only got the one screen...
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: but good on you for getting a good start with druzy!

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: okay, fuck, sorry for going MIA for a bit
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: things got kind of crazy on my end...
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: but i was finally able to sit down and work with another model collaborator today on some things, and we now have glasses ready for the game!
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: ...not the most pressing thing to return with, but i'll send them over.

[DIGITAL_HORROR] uploaded FZGlasses.zip

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: ...i'll have a proper explanation for where i've been soon, i promise. all of my friends in the computer are doing fine, at least...

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: also, since i don't know how active things are going to be here with other people after my hiatus...
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: i think i'm going to start a sort of diary thread, and give my friends somewhere to post their thoughts
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: we've been talking a lot in the hiatus period and we think it could be fun to run it as a group- a family, even.
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: not that we really have blood ties, or anything like that...but we've gotten really close over the past few months. i can't imagine life without them.
[PASSWORD_JOURNAL]: i feel the same tbh! you already know that tho
[PASSWORD_JOURNAL]: ive been keepin up with rags a bit on the side and we've been doin studies together <3
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: yeah, and we've got a lot to divulge, so...
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: stay tuned, i guess?

[Pichi2214]

[GLITCHY]: oh gosh hi! didnt notice the new messages here for a bit since its been quiet for a while
[GLITCHY]: just came back from reading the diary, its really sweet, im happy yall doing okay
[GLITCHY]: Bear and Sleepy are doing well too, they've gotten way better at speaking since last time! They've been exploring a good bunch too. Also Bear hasnt been sick again since she recovered, so.. thats good. hope it stays that way, but theres been no signs either of them are feeling unwell (physical sense at least)

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: i'm really glad to hear that!
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: id be lying if i said i wasn't worried about how all of you and your friends were doing...

[Pichi2214]

[GLITCHY]: yea no, i can imagine. its a lil scary considering these guys are People or at the very least capable of developing Into people (not entirely sure if like. all of em are sapient to the same degree? and not sure how you'd go about testing that)
[GLITCHY]: hope everyone's doin alright, i suppose if some of the critters (are all 'friends' from the critter species? might be better to just call them that than friends if so, idk still feels weird to refer to them as friends if i dont know em) would be unwell they'd.. have left and found someplace else to stay
[GLITCHY]: we're doing alright over here, i let the two know yall are back, they still would like to properly meet some of yall

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: yeah ive still been trying to figure out the friends thing...most of the new friend designs are critters, but i still like to throw a real animal in there once in a while to spice things up
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: maybe we could call them critters and...some other title? i'll have to think.
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: we can try organizing some meetups later this week, too! i want to give people some time to respond but yeah
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: also, we've been working on a lot of new critter species (crit themself is just too busy to message) and also the ethics of how to handle the open species origin end of things
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: would people be interested in seeing them? none of us have adopted any yet, but they work fine in testing.

[Pichi2214]

[GLITCHY]: I'd love to see them! also the meetup sounds nice, even if it may end up just being us

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: okay, so...big image spam incoming, sorry about this







[DIGITAL_HORROR]: you can see the names for all of em in crit's thread...
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: ...i'll try to get them to talk in here more. they've been really reclusive...

[Pichi2214]

[GLITCHY]: ohhhh my gosh.... these are so good... just the (O O) i love them
[GLITCHY]: i have a friend (person, not species) who'd really vibe the the plant one also...

[skinstealer]

[DIGITAL_HORROR]: yeah...i'm glad you like! crit and i worked hard on them...
[DIGITAL_HORROR]: ...if people from before don't come back, should i...open to more beta testers? idk...