ISSUE #03 - WE HAVE POKEMON SNAP AT HOME

for the past few weeks, instead of playing any of the 50+ games in my backlog, or finishing the new cloud meadow update, or playing around with the release of fields of mistria 1.0 – i have been absolutely obsessed with cobblemon, again.

cobblemon is an extensive minecraft mod that not only aims to implement every pokemon and many of the pokemon games’ mechanics into minecraft, but to integrate them into minecraft’s existing gameplay loop and style. frankly: it’s fucking incredible work, and blows every past pokemon-in-minecraft mod out of the water. i’ve been playing on the wildera server, which is a good time but not for everyone – it’s a large server and more importantly i had to hack together a version of its modpack that wasn’t so intensive on my pc – which includes a couple supplementary fanmade mods to flesh out some of cobblemon’s systems that aren’t quite there yet.

it also includes exposure.

if cobblemon is the best pokemon-themed mod that’s ever come out, exposure is my favorite mod of all time, period. it’s a deceptively simple photography mod that adds cameras to the game, which can be adjusted with various accessories: colored glass panes act as filters, a spyglass gives you zoom, and a redstone lamp lets you do flash. there’s different kinds of film, and a lightroom to process it in, and albums & frames to display your work. it uses a lot of minecraft’s items, making it feel more like part of the game, and the photos come out charmingly pixelated. if i can’t add exposure to a modpack it’s a tragedy.

the combination of these two mods makes me go insane. i’m taking more pictures than i ever have. pokemon out in the wild will sleep at night, follow each other around, cock their head at you when you get too close. battles are enthralling and catching their moves in action is a treat. it makes me want a pokemon game that lets me do this. and no, i don’t mean pokemon snap, however much love in my heart i have for it. i want them to release a game like legends: arceus that lets you add your own photos to the dex. i want to be able to do it all – catch, battle, dress-up, everything – and take photos, as many as i want, with actual!! photography mechanics!! that feel physical!! fuck the glorified screenshot systems!! but that’s never going to happen, so here i am, making it happen in minecraft instead. and honestly, it rocks. i prefer my homemade snap, tyvm.

now for the actual point of the blog: here are some of my favorite photos i’ve taken in game. none of these have been edited at all, although i do use complimentary shaders & those do affect the shots, so you’ll see nicer-than-standard minecraft lighting. enjoy!!