Modding on the spectrum

[Pseron Wyrd]

Congratulations!  

[smr1957]

Just posted a link to the site at The Old Farts' Coffee House thread in the Steam SSE forum.

[Selene310187]

I want to let you know that important changes to the Neurodiversity discussion sections have been made. The goal is that users feel comfortable talking about those topics without feeling judged.

• The general neurodiversity discussion area and its subforum "Mental Health" can be seen by all users. Registered users can comment and start new topics. These two areas are open to show people that there are problems that effect everybody and nobody should be ashamed of these problems. The administrators and moderators will remove any inappropriate comments without warning as soon as they are aware of them.
• Commenting and starting new topics in the specific neurodiversity discussion areas can only be done by members of the Neurodivergent users group which can be joined upon request

 

Edit:

 

The forum slowly gains traction. Thank you for all your support 

 

 

Edit 2:

 

This point is not valid anymore:

Quote

Only registered users have access to the specific neurodiversity discussion areas (like ADHD/ADD or autism)

There was a second change to the rules.

[Selene310187]

I did a second change to specific Neurodiversity subforums:

Quote

I updated the rules regarding the visibility of the specific neurodivergent sections. They are now visibile to guests as well BUT sensitive information can be hidden to guests using the "hide" BBCode (see the first post for more information).

 

My last post on AFK mods was about two months ago. I dedicated too much of my free time to get the Spectrum going (discussion-wise) and making it more known that I exhausted myself too much and neared (another) burnout. I realized this in the very last moment. Luckily, some very helpful members make me aware of that some things need time. So I began to concentrate more on other things again, to turn the corner, around Christmas of last year.

[Selene310187]

You may have noticed that the Spectrum underwent several changes since its existence. The underlying reason of most of them was and is to increase the activity in the neurodivergent sections. The outcome never was what I hoped. I thought a lot about why the majority of the users don't talk about these sensible topics. It could be that they need more time to break the ice. Whatever the reason is, all I know that if something isn't working as expected, you need to try something new. This doesn't mean that I gave up the neurodivergent subject. I plan to integrate it into the Mental Health subforum and this subforum will have the (soon renamed) Neurodiversity hub as parent forum/category (currently, it has the "Neurodivergent - General Discussion" as parent forum). The new name of Neurodiversity hub will probably be "Life". I consider life as a spectrum as well:

Quote

Life is a spectrum with extremes at either end, and in the middle, there is balance. The experience of life has the potential to be whatever we make of it.

source: https://medium.com/know-thyself-heal-thyself/life-is-a-spectrum-efabc4e2ad85

 

All neurodivergent sections will be backed up and moved to the future BACKUP section which can be accessed by administrators only and the topics that are still relevant will be moved to the "Mental Health" subforum. Members can tag neurodivergent topics with appropriate tags (like "ADHD" or "Autism").

 

I tested the "Life" hub idea in the test forum on my local machine:

If you have a better name for this hub and/or ideas for additional subforums that fit this category, please don't hesitate to post them in the threads (here or on Modding on the Spectrum).

 

The second part of the current changes to the Spectrum is calibrating the board's main emphasis. I couldn't decide which side of Modding on the Spectrum - the modding or the divergent one - is more important. So I said both. However, concentrating on both sides equally also contributed to my exhaustion. But which side is more important, better, where should the focus of the board be now? I looked at how I see myself. I'm not only my neurodivergent conditions. I'm a mod user and a mod author for so many years. The whole neurodivergent stuff came a lot later. That's why I wrote in this thread that the true heart of the Spectrum is the Modding hub and the Spectrum is a gaming and modding community after all.

 

Last but not least, I changed the board's tagline from "Neurodivergent mod users and authors united" to "Gaming and modding in all facets of life". 

Edited January 24, 2023 by Selene310187

[Selene310187]

Edit 2:

The (selection of) changes to the Neurodiversity hub will be implemented sometime in the late evening of January 27, 2023 (my time zone: Europe/Berlin UTC+1)

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

My current plans are still a work in progress. Today, I got a new idea for the structure of the Life hub. Above the Mental Health forum there will be a link which leads to a small guide. This guide informs new users which topics they can post where. It makes them aware that there's a hide BBCode (for an extra layer of safety regarding sensible content which can be hidden to guests) and that they can use tags to differentiate between the various neurodivergent conditions. Below the Mental Health forum is the Neurodiversity forum (here come the tags into play). And yes, the neurodiversity forum is back again (in my planning process) but this time without the specific neurodivergent sections (the tags take over the task of differentiation).

This is how it looks in the test forum:

 

If the font in the picture is too small for you, here's the updated structure of the Life hub in written form including the forum descriptions:

[ Life ]

• About the Life hub: New user? Read this small guide to get started in the Life hub
• Mental Health: Talking about things that bother you and finding solutions; Self-help resources
• Neurodiversity: in real life, games, literature, social media and other media; Discussion about problems related to neurodivergent conditions

 

Regarding raising the activity in the neurodivergent sections of the Spectrum, I forgot to try one thing: Removing the posting restrictions in these sections.

Initially, they were implemented to gave members another layer of safety but just like the (discarded) Newly Registered Users group (its purpose was protection against spam) they might keep a majority of the people back from engaging in the first place. 

 

I will sleep over my ideas one more time. Tomorrow, if I'm still content with them and nobody raised any objections until then, I will integrate them in the live forum. 

 

Edit:

No, I haven't slept yet. My mind can't stand still right now. Before I try to go to bed, I want to let you know that I will implement only a few of the ideas that I got recently. I realized that intregrating all at once may be too much. Which ideas made it onto the shortlist remains a surprise

Edited January 28, 2023 by Selene310187

[Selene310187]

Some of the ideas from my brainstorming were implemented (like the guide about the Neurodiversity hub which is directed at new users), some were dropped for the time being (like the renaming of the Neurodiversity hub). And I added a glossary that give you a brief overview about the listed neurodivergent conditions and some other terms you may come across on the Spectrum.

You can find more detailed information about each change here.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Selene310187

[Selene310187]

General offer: The  #AskSelene31Something advise series

Spoiler

I started #AskSelene31Something on "Modding on the Spectrum" and "Selene's Shadow Realm" today. It's an invitation to ask me questions which are related to mental health and neurodivergent/neurodiverse conditions. I want to help the people concerned to understand themselves better. Although I'm not a professional, I would like to pass on the knowledge I gathered in the course of years on my ongoing journey. It's also an experiment because I haven't done something like this before and I don't know if there's a need for it. My plan is collecting the questions to build up a pool and picking subjects from the pool from time to time to write about them in more detail. Due to my limited amount of free time and the other stuff in my pipeline of projects, I cannot answer your questions right away. I know that this can be difficult if the questioner is currently in a crisis and needs an immediate answer for the problem in question. That's why I mentioned for example the crisis line at the end of this post.

All posts of this advice series are marked with #AskSelene31Something hashtag.

 

Edit:

If you want to know how my words of advice can look like, here's an example:

Hey Selene, should I disclose my diagnosis or not?

 

 

Edit 2:

I enabled the forum search function for guests. This feature is needed to make the hashtags work.

Edited February 7, 2023 by Selene310187

[Selene310187]

Amendment statement to the #AskSelene31Something advice series:

Spoiler

I'm well aware that these subjects are very personal ones and it takes courage to entrust them to a stranger like me. It's very likely that I'm a stranger to you. Or maybe you think that I'm not qualified enough to be a adviser. But if you ask me, you don't need to be a professional to be able to help a person. How often do you ask a good friend and the members of your family for advice regarding your very own problems? I admit, problems related to mental health and neurodiversity are a bit different. You don't have to call a spade a spade. It often does help when you talk about the limitations that you have (e.g. sensitivity to noise).

It can take some time that I build enough trust that you can entrust yourself to me and I give you the time. My offer still stands.

Until then I use the pool of my own questions to fill the #AskSelene31Something advice series .

 

Edit:

I forgot to mention that I sometimes post mental health related topics on Selene's Shadow Realm. No, it's not like the advice series. I just want to talk about my own experiences without giving a direct advice (I already do this on Modding on the Spectrum).

 

Edited February 7, 2023 by Selene310187

[Selene310187]

Today, I thought about what the forum, Modding on the Spectrum, can be. How can I explain it.... It was my initial idea to build a forum which should be a safe place for gamers/mod users/mod creators on the autistic spectrum. The forum got its first members and they contributed new ideas or sparked new ideas in my mind. With each cycle of new ideas the target audience of Modding on the Spectrum expanded and finally included all gamers, mod users and mod creators. I didn't communicate this clear enough in the last couple of months; I have to live with the result probably for a long time. The forum was once my idea, I shaped it, laid the groundwork and had hold the reins. This doesn't mean that I resign as admin. I just try to stay more in the background as admin, let things take their course, and take part in as a user more often. You will notice that I made some adjustments to my profile on Modding on the Spectrum to emphasize the focus on being more a user than an admin. I always saw the admin thing as embellishment and, if I'm honest, I don't need this big red admin banner ;).

Edited February 8, 2023 by Selene310187

[Pseron Wyrd]

I gave folks discussing Neurodivergency a link to your site over on Bethesda's Discord.  Maybe it will bring in a few new members.  

[Selene310187]

Community News - April

 

I hope you are doing well. 
 
Let's begin the Community News with the newest addition: You can join the Spectrum with your social network account now! At the moment, Steam and Google are supported. They are only integrated in the registration and login forms of the board so they don't distract you from reading the posts and threads.

You are able to take part in polls without being a member of the Spectrum.
 
Altbert released Floating Island of Legends SE and started the project Shalidor's Legacy.
 
I expanded my strategies to combat noise guide and showcased some white noise generator apps.

The second newest addition is a list of similar topics at the bottom of each thread. This is done via the Precise Similar Topics extension.

 

 

I will post the Community News with links to interesting threads here in this thread about once in a month. Stay tuned ;-)

Edited May 23, 2023 by Selene310187

[Selene310187]

Starting on May 6, 2023, guests will have the possibility to comment anonymously on Modding on the Spectrum! It's planned that the members of the staff will approve guest posts before they are visible to the public to combat spam and inappropriate posts. Our new moderator Altbert offered to help us out with this endeavor.

For more information, please see the official announcement on the Spectrum. 

Edited May 7, 2023 by Selene310187

[Sigurð Stormhand]

Good luck with moderating the comments.

You might need it.

[Selene310187]

I enabled the anonymous guest posting in all areas of Modding on the Spectrum !

Anonymous posting allows users, who have anxiety for example, to talk more openly about their problems and voice their opinions without fear of being judged or ridiculed.

Furthermore, I created guest posting guidelines to foster a supportive and inclusive atmosphere in the forum.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Selene310187

[Selene310187]

Community News - May
 
 
I hope you are doing well.
 
Let's start the community news with a poll asking all users which position of the Recent Topics section they prefer. They can choose from "top", "to the side" and "bottom". The winner of the poll becomes the new default position of the Recent Topics section. The poll ends on June 6, 2023. All votes are anonymous by default and everyone can take part in the poll.
 
 
Skyrim Special Edition mod releases:
 
Altbert released Fence? No Fence! which edits the Fence perk.
 
I released my companion and outfit mod Samuel - Master of Dark Arts and a new version of Spectral Music Player containing bug fixes for the Anniversary Edition (the download link can be found in the main post).
 
 
Skyrim Special Edition mod projects:
 
ScytheBearer started the project Shalidor's Maze which is not related to Albert's project that has a similar name.
 
 
Short stories:
 
smr1957 published The Blood of Mor, the final story of his "The Adventures of Etienne" story collection, and a fragment of his Lost Stories.
 
 
Neurodiversity and mental health:
 
I asked the question if anyone else thinks too much or too long about something and posted a couple of mental health videos.

 

Previous Community News

Edited May 29, 2023 by Selene310187

[Selene310187]

Community News - June/July
 
 
I hope you are doing well.

Let's start the community news with the recent changes to the area below the Recent Topics section (I will keep Recent Topics at the top by the way; see poll). There's Topic Spotlight which represents the variety of discussion topics of the board. The purpose of Game Spotlight is giving certain game discussion sections more exposure. I plan to add one or two more (upcoming) games to Game Spotlight in the future. I already have one game in mind - the official announcement of the discussion section for the game in question will happen in the second half of August.
 
 
Skyrim Special Edition mod releases/updates:

I published version 1.6 of Spectral Music Player which fixes a lot of bugs and version 1.2 of Samuel - Master of Dark Arts which adds a "pacify" effect to Samuel's combat spells.

 
Skyrim Special Edition mod projects:
 
Some of Altbert's projects are on hold due to problems that occurred during the development. Maybe you can help him out? Here are the links to the projects he mentioned:
Secure Chests
Shalidor's Legacy

My work on the pacify effect for Samuel's combat spells led to my current project Bond of Friendship. One part of the mod is stopping the hostility between followers due to friendly fire automatically. This time, I haven't created a project thread on Modding on the Spectrum but I talked about it more extensively in the Regulars' Table. The features that I listed in the post in the Regulars' Table are part of one lesser power now. There will be three lesser powers. The second one is a debug utility to debug NPCs/creatures and the third one opens a quick menu to command followers.
 
 
Other Skyrim related topics:
 
Your (modded) adventures in Skyrim
 

Quote

What things did you experience on your recent journeys through the land of the Nords? Did something funny happen? Did someone or something scare you to death or get on your nerves? Or were you enchanted by beauty of the landscape while traveling?
 
Here you can share your impressions, talk about quests, occurrences with your followers, your encounters, mods, and much more. And if you just want to showcase your character, you can do this as well.
 
Feel free to complement your post with screenshots and videos.

 
 
General modding:
 
What mods are you working on for which game?

 

Quote

There are a lot of mod projects for different video games in the works and not all of them are known to the public. I invite you to shed some light on your project. It doesn't matter how small or big it is or if it's for a classic or a modern game.

 
 
Poetry and short stories:
 
Words by ScytheBearer
The Jungle and Season of Beauty by Steven Ross
 
 
Neurodiversity and mental health:
 
The Autism iceberg
Struggles with asking for help and accepting it

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Selene310187

[Selene310187]

The Spectrum will open up a discussion area for Starfield next week. An overhaul of the Modding hub accompanies the implementation of the new discussion area making the navigation easier. If you want to know more about the changes, please take a look at the announcement.

Today, I started a thread to get in the mood for Starfield where you can talk about, e.g., your hopes or, if don't intend to play the game, why you won't play it.

Edited August 29, 2023 by Selene310187

[Selene310187]

Hello everyone,

Starfield has arrived on the Spectrum!

(I've had a lot going on in the last few days, I have only now found the time to inform you)

Edited September 9, 2023 by Selene310187

[Selene310187]

Community News - August/September
 

I hope you are doing well.
 
Let's start the community news with the overhaul of the list of mod hosting sites. I gave it a better structure and expanded it with further sites.
 
  
Skyrim Special Edition mod projects:
 
Altbert recently made an update regarding the current state of his projects and ideas for new mod projects.
 
I put my Bond of Friendship project and all of my other projects on hold in favor of Starfield (reason). 
 
  
General gaming related topics:
 
Game suggestions on August 7
Game suggestion on August 31

Neurodiversity and mental health:
 
Aphantasia
If you feel constantly tired then have your blood tested for these things

Edited September 27, 2023 by Selene310187

[Selene310187]

Community News - October/November
 

(and a couple of things I forgot to mention in the previous community news)

 

I hope you are doing well.

 

Let's start the community news with some changes regarding attachments and user galleries:

• increased the file size limit from 0.7 MB to 1 MB
• the maximum dimension of 1800 x 1800 pixels is suspended; images will be resized automatically
• increased image limits in the user galleries:
  • Miscellaneous album: 20 images per user
  • Starfield - Public Gallery: 20 images per user
  • Personal user album: 50 images per user, unlimited number of subalbums

 

And the Spectrum celebrated its one-year anniversary on November 1st! 

 

 

Skyrim Special Edition mod release:

 

Altbert released "Skyrim's lost settlements":

Quote

Following up on the forum thread with the same name, I created a simple mod, placing monuments of all the lost settlements that disappeared some time before the events in Skyrim:

Amber Guard, Amol, Bardmont, Blackmoor, Dragon Wood, Dunbarrow, Dunpar Wall, Dunstad Grove, Granitehall, Greenwall, Helarchen Creek, Karthwasten Hall, Korvanjund, Lainalten, Laintar Dale, Markarth Side, Neugrad Watch, Nimalten City, North Keep, Oakwood, Pargran Village, Reich Corigate, Snowhawk, Stonehills, Sunguard, Vernim Wood, Volunruud and Vundeheim.

This is just my interpretation of the Arena map of Skyrim, known distances in the game Arena, and settlements mentioned in literature.

Each monument consists of a pillar, blue fire on top, and an etched tablet, which reads "In memory of the lost settlement/city-state of ...". 

 

 

Fallout 4:

General Fallout Mods and Tools to avoid and why

 

Starfield:

Maps of Starfield

Mod recommendations

 

Neurodiversity and mental health:

new mental health video recommendations

Dwelling on mistakes