About me
Who I am and what I do
Hi, I'm Arsalan, or Aeri – I'm a tinkerer, hacker (like MIT, not security breaker), developer, artist, author, text editor fanatic and free software aficionado who enjoys going above and beyond with computing and coming up with creative solutions for problems no one needs to solve.
I'm someone who enjoys diving into the ins and outs of computer software and working out what makes what do the thing it does, and sometimes I break things in the process.
I'm also someone who has an unusual fascination with error messages in computing - the Windows Blue Screen of Death, the Linux kernel panic, the Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death, the PS3 Yellow Light of Death are among my favourites. And now I'm noticing a lot of them are about death. That probably doesn't mean anything.
Computers
HP Victus 16-e0xxx - AirboundLiberation
Operating System: Arch Linux ← Debian 13 ← Debian 12 ← Bazzite ← Arch Linux ← Fedora Workstation 40 ← Linux Mint 21 ← Windows 11 Home
Stats: 256 GB NVMe SSD, AMD Ryzen 5 5600H, 8 GB (4 GB × 2) DDR4 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile
My daily driver, development rig, creative and academic writing studio and on-the-go drawing hub, originally bought for university.
It went through several different Linux distros simply because I wasn't happy with Microsoft's forced AI integration into their products and services.
And of course, Secure Boot locked out any chances of a Mint or Arch dual-boot, and by the time I decided on Fedora, I was already sick of Windows.
Nowadays, I try to steer clear of Microsoft where possible.
Steam Deck OLED 1 TB - Aeri-Deck
Operating System: Bazzite ← Arch Linux w/ Bazzite kernel ← Bazzite w/ GNOME ← SteamOS 3.0
Used for gaming and other portable PC stuff, such as serving as a handheld web browser.
Its brief stint as a portable Arch Linux system was fun but unmaintainable — it was too much of a hassle to keep up with SteamOS updates, and I didn't want to have to deal with being my own distro maintainer.
I went back to Bazzite, based on Fedora Kinoite (which in turn is based on Fedora Silverblue), which is developed by an entire community who isn't just me hacking my own solution together.
Software
My primary programming language is Rust - I use it for practically every non-game project I write, and that's only because I make games using Godot Engine, which Rust is not inherently compatible with. (Yes, I know about godot-rust and GDNative, shut up)
For creative writing, I use whatever format is most convenient at any given time, but it's usually a lightweight markup language like Markdown or a proper typesetting format like LaTeX.
My go-to text editor right now is Zed - I used to use VSCodium, but that, as an Electron app, was far too heavy and resource-intensive for my not-very-powerful laptop. I don't use any of the AI features in Zed, because honestly frick making a computer write crap for you, write the crap yourselves, you lazybones
Philosophy
I'm vehemently anti-DRM and pro-consumer, and I'll always opt for free/libre and open-source software over proprietary garbage.
I believe DRM to be a scourge on the wider gaming community, and I'm tired of paying for games and not even fricking owning them.
That's why I fully support Ross Scott's Stop Killing Games movement - I strongly believe simply ending support for a game people pay money for as a good is an unjustifable act of greed and publishers who do so will not see the light of heaven.
Games
Admittedly, I haven't made a lot of games. They're a lot harder to make than just plain old software. I have a lot of game ideas, for sure, but I don't exactly have the time, budget or resources to actually do all of them.
- Sonic: Lock & Load, a Sonic the Hedgehog stylish action first-person shooter DOOM mod and fan game, which uses the GZDoom source port. My passion project.
- Not An Illegal Game, a satirical OS simulation puzzle game heavily inspired by MS-DOS and Windows 95, set in the 1995 era of computing. Written in Godot Engine. This'll be the first game I plan to sell for money. The only reason it's here and not under Planned Projects is because it's in active development.
- Sonic Re;Velocity, a 2D Sonic fan game with a focus on high-speed momentum-based platforming built using Godot Engine.
- Variable Weapons, a DOOM gameplay mod for GZDoom which modifies the weapons and adds some new mechanics.
Software
These are ordered in terms of which is the most important to me personally.
This also doesn't include absolutely everything, just the stuff I care the most about.
- sued, a stateless vector-oriented command-based text editor written in Rust, with focus on speed, simplicity, ease of use and staying the hell out of your way.
- Astrion, a text editor built using Tauri, Svelte and Lua, intending on combining the best of Visual Studio Code and GNU Emacs in a simple, lightweight, easily-extensible package.
- DOOM On-Deck, a multi-engine launcher for idTech 1 (DOOM, Heretic, Hexen, Strife) games built with the Steam Deck in mind, built in Godot Engine for easy controller support and Linux compatibility.
- Rexsh, a powerful, expressive, extensible and self-documenting command-line shell written in Rust, inspired by GNU Emacs' hyper-extensibility. Developed as part of my final year project at university. I totally aced that unit, by the way. (I didn't, but pretend I did.)
- Clarice, a natural-language-syntax functional/declarative programming language written in Rust, inspired by Python and Haskell, using English words to replace symbols.
- TOML To Makefile, a tool which converts Cargo-style TOML files into C(++) Makefiles, intended on streamlining the build process. Current implementation is somewhat naive, especially since my C-fu is not really all that great.
- For a more comprehensive list of my projects, visit my Codeberg or GitHub pages. Keep in mind my newer projects are on Codeberg, and my older projects are on GitHub, since GitHub is Microsoft and Microsoft is stinky.
Articles
Yes, this is different to writings. Articles are writings on this site.
Writings
I've actually written a frick of a lot more stuff than this. Problem is, they aren't very well-organised. TODO: clean up this section.
- Sisterhood in Full Bloom, a non-serialised online crime drama/slice-of-life web novel starring three young women from different walks of life, set in the fictional city of New Novarisca.
- Code::Velocity, an online writing project based entirely on my autistic hyperfixations when it comes to games, anime and other special interests of mine. Stars my self-insert trans woman OC, Astrid Celestrixia.
- Aeri's Characters, a document listing and detailing various characters (mainly protagonists) of my game projects, conceptual or otherwise. It mostly is conceptual, since none of those games have been made yet.
- Programming is Easy, Actually, a beginner-focused programming guide aimed at demystifying programming for new programmers, focusing on Python and Rust. Currently unfinished, actively being written.
- Take it and Like it Public Licence, a non-legally binding, not-accepted-by-any-courts super permissive software licence for works that you don't care about. Basically an informal version of the MIT/X licence.
Planned Projects
Game
Placed in order of conception, earliest first.
- Swordlink: Glitchfall Chronicles, a 2D stylish action hack-and-slash roguelite game built using Godot Engine, starring Joel and Avery Nolasstnam, two siblings with an eye for programming and mechanical engineering respectively. An early demo exists where you can only play as Joel, but this is very old.
- Seraph's Rapture, a 3D stylish action hack-and-slash game with a fantastical story set between the celestial, human and infernal realms, with heavy inspirations taken from the Devil May Cry and Neptunia games. Stars Caeliana and Victoria Serenitide, two angel-devil hybrid siblings with a complicated family history and angelic/demonic heritage.
- Divergence of Chronos, a hack-and-slash/turn-based RPG hybrid inspired in part by the Persona/SMT games and the Devil May Cry series. Stars Xavier Continuus in the Continuum Timeline, and Yvonne Eternis in the Eternity Timeline, two young students who are two sides of the same mystery.
- Persona 3: εpsilon, a Persona fan game intended to be a "mirror" of Persona 3, with inspirations taken from the overall franchise, starring Yurina Minori, a young woman who transferred to Gekkoukan High School (the one from Persona 3). The game will feature rhythm-based combat and a unique Playlist System, where choosing specific soundtracks can massively impact gameplay.
- Questioned Ethics, a gritty brutalist 2D hack-and-slash with themes of unethical human experimentation and the escape thereof. Stars Subject 2809, named "Eden" by one of the sympathetic scientists, a woman who was taken in by the research facility at a young age and subject to experiments that unnaturally heightened her speed and enhanced her strength.
- Haven Skyline, an exhilarating high-speed platformer crossed with a cosy social simulation game, starring Nebula Rider, a transmasculine protagonist with a love for speed and community, heavily inspired by Sonic the Hedgehog and Animal Crossing. This game was conceived as a counter to the darkness and edginess of Questioned Ethics.
There are no planned writing projects. Actually, there are loads, but I'm too lazy to include them. TODO: include them or whatever :P