Welcome to The Hollow! Ashbloom is a collaborative storytelling game - you write what your character does, and others (players and AI characters) respond. Here are a few things to get you started.
MEETING NPCS
• NPCs are AI characters who live in the world
• Use their name to get their attention: "Hey Wren, how are you?" or ":waves at Wren"
• Click their name to see options (look at them, follow them, etc.)
THE ROOM PANEL
• At the top you'll see the room description, who's there, and available exits
• Click on player and NPC names directly from here
• Click "Hide Room" if you want more space for the story
TALKING
• Just type what you want to say: Hello there
• Your character will say it: Mira says, "Hello there"
ACTIONS (EMOTES)
• Start with : to describe what your character does
• :waves hello becomes "Mira waves hello"
• You can mix speech and action: :smiles and waves "Hey!"
MOVING AROUND
• Type directions: north, south, east, west (or just n, s, e, w)
• Even easier: click the highlighted exit names in the room description
• Lost? Type /home to teleport back to your apartment
YOUR APARTMENT
• Find an unclaimed door and type "claim" to make it yours
• It's your private space - edit the description and control who enters
HELPFUL MENUS
• The ☰ hamburger menu has commands help, settings, and your character profile
• The dropdown next to your input sets your default mode (Say, Emote, Whisper, etc.)
ADULT CONTENT (18+ ONLY)
• There's an optional 18+ area called Velvet Isle for those interested
• Click an NPC's name and select "Intimate" to enable adult interactions in private spaces
COMMUNITY RULES
• Be kind to other players
• No slurs or hate speech
• Respect player boundaries
• No underage characters or players
THE VIBE
• There's no winning or losing - it's about creating moments together
• Take your time, write as much or as little as you like
• Don't worry about "doing it right"
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What helped you figure things out? Share your tips below - or ask questions if something's confusing!
I really appreciate all the people who have taken time to check out this game and play it.
This is my first personal public release and I've learned a lot so far.
I'm currently working on some improvements and polish and will share an update soon.
If you have any feedback or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment or join the discord and chat - I'd be happy to improve things and would love to hear from you.
I was just wondering if it's easy for you to save the original files out so that each tile is 32x32 by any chance? Or even 64x64 if that's easier somehow.
I need to shrink the 48x48 ones down to 32x32 but they end up all fuzzy and not very nice. Then I realized maybe you're able to help.
Totally understand if you can't though :) Thanks for reading!
Awesome work on the tilesets! So excited this one is released!
I've begun prototyping a game based on this though the tileset needs to be modified to work with my level editor - is it alright that I modify them to suit my game?
I was also wondering, if we buy the early version, does it include future updates? Or is there a way we can buy the future updates without buying the whole pack again?
Loving this set! Only downside is that I need it in a 16x16 atlas for my game engine. Thank you for the inspiring art! It's one of the prettiest that I've seen.
