"Have you ever thought to yourself, "I wish arcade games were more immersive"? How about, "Why don't trees grow more than just fruit - like maybe... kittens!". Hell, if you've got even the slightest taste for the out-of-the-ordinary, stop on by Salt's Oddity Emporium for an experience you won't be able to forget!"

One of the Oddity Emporium's attractions, "Jumpman". Players are transported into the virtual world for a maximally immersive gaming experience.

 A few of my friends make a hobby out of creating story games and 'myths' in Roblox. Over the years, they've created a handful of incredibly creative and inspiring games on the platform.

 After spending a while helping out with others' projects, I recently decided to finally dive in and dedicate some time to learning my way around the Roblox game engine by creating a game of my own. The Oddity Emporium is the result.

The neon sign atop the roof of the Oddity Emporium. WIP IMAGE!

 "The Emporium is a hub for those with a love for all things weird! Visitors come from far and wide to interact with our ever-growing collection of anomalous objects, reveling in their unique properties.
 Thanks to the help of our brand new, state of the art interdimensional space-time interfacer, interacting with our many weird, wonderful items can now earn you tokens! Use these tokens in the Oddity Emporium shop to purchase a wide selection of unique prizes, including snacks, memorabilia, and even marketable plushies..."
 - Salt, founder of the Oddity Emporium

 "Greetings, Neighbor! I'd like to invite you over for dinner with me and my grandchild. Join us for a memorable evening of stories, laughter, and a lovingly prepared meal. Just remember, don't look into the trees; They might look back. Let's create cherished memories together!"

Matthew Garv, along with his grandaughter Ivory, welcome players into the Garv Manor.

 As I mentioned in the "Oddity Emporium" section, some of my friends make story games on Roblox. The Garv Residence is one of these games. A group effort between Bero, Wraifeu, and yours truly, The Garv Residence sees the player experiencing an evening at the Garv Manor and its surrounding neighborhood.

 When we started the project back in 2023, my role was to play a character in the game, tacked onto which was the task of constructing my own, smaller residence down the road from the Garvs. After a nearly year-long hiatus from the project, my role has expanded to that of the project's sole programmer. Throughout my time spent with them, I've found that Bero and Wraifeu are incredibly talented artists, and though I am not, I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to incorporate my own area of expertise into the project.

The sticker board displays stickers that the player has found around the Experience! Programming this was my trial-by-fire for the project :)

 Eventually, I hope to fully flesh out the experience and welcome everyone to spend an evening with the Garvs. Although this is a rather large project, I'm learning that working as a specialized team makes things much more manageable than working solo!

 This project has been a long time coming. For the past year or so, I've found myself repeating a series of actions that looks a little something like this:

• Decide that I want to make a desktop application
• Research the tools that I can use to do so
• Decide that I want to use C++
• Remember that I don't know C++
• Put the project off for later
• REPEAT

 Finally, I decided that enough is enough. I found an amazing (and free) online resource with in-depth coverage of all of the C++ concepts needed to become proficient in the language, and got to work.

 The progress bar represents my reading progress :)