In Zelda NES, level 1 is cyan, and level 2 is blue. This is narrative. It was a story to 5-year-old me, watching in awe as my mom reached that new, mysterious, colorful place. Colors, music, aesthetics inform how you respond emotionally on these journeys. "Aesthetics as narrative." #indiedev

@gravitygales.bsky.social took a foray into the Spectral Web: Hitodama. Check out the video! Thanks so much to Eskay and Vivian for giving the game a shot. It was a delight to watch, and the two of you are hilarious. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbaB...

Two Queers Play The Spectral Web: Hitodama | Boy with a Coin

YouTube video by 80% Relatable

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Labyrinth Memoria is my comfort game. There's been countless times when I've pulled it out when I was depressed or anxious, and it helped me feel better. That's something that keeps me going, the thought that the things I make might be someone else's comfort when they need it. #indiedev #pixelart

When I'm not busy doing game development, I like to relax with different game development.

Get the Spectral Web: Hitodama for $1.50 in the Steam Summer Sale! Help a young boy escape from a labyrinth full of monsters in this top-down metroidvania inspired by NES classics like the Legend of Zelda. store.steampowered.com/app/2547400/... #indiegame #indiedev

Save 50% on The Spectral Web: Hitodama on Steam

Explore a Labyrinth full of magic, monsters, and mystery in this dungeon crawler inspired by retro classics. Wield unique spells to battle enemies, break blocks, and uncover hundreds of secrets hidden...

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Society's so obsessed with conformity we demand it even from the plants, chopping down or poisoning whatever doesn't fit in our green grass lawns of uniform height. As a weed myself, I say let them grow.

With randomizer modes, my games have "limitless content." But isn't rolling a single die limitless content? Satisfying content aligns roughly with development time, whether that's making more levels or refining a procgen function. I'd like to think my randomizers balance that well. #gamedev

Acheron is a place of reflection, a place of despair... It also has a very nice beach! Acheron Island is a Remix zone, taking aesthetics and themes from an older zone and mixing things up. The layouts are totally different, and the difficulty's a bit higher, too. #indiedev #indiegame #gaming

If I had the funds, I would love to support artists, musicians, and programmers by hiring them for my game. But my resources are limited, so I do it all myself. Not all my stuff is fantastic, but it's made with care and love and intent by a human, and I learn more about things every day. #gamedev

How is it that I, a solo dev with no programming background and a budget of $0, code with no AI, but bigger studios with professional programmers suddenly find it impossible? People have programmed in way more obtuse languages since before I was born. Why's it suddenly impossible now? #gamedev

I want to make a 3D realistic fishing game where you can play a 2D fishing minigame where you can play an 8-bit fishing minigame and it keeps going down recursively, like a reverse Evoland of fishing games. But developing like six different game worlds seems like too much work for a gag. #gamedev

Ghosts in the Spectral Web only feel heat and thirst if they retain enough humanity deep in their souls. Some consider their lingering humanity a weakness. I, on the other hand, am vulnerable to heat, but keep taking long cardio walks in 90+ degree weather for some reason.

Sparks fly in this week's zone showcase: Power Cell! Use buttons to divert electric currents to light the way and open doors. But the electricity makes otherwise simple paths a challenge. What does a Labyrinth power plant power, exactly? Don't think too hard about it. #indiedev #gamedev #indiegame

Gen AI is like a cookie factory that makes the dough from the crushed up cookies of all the grandmas in the world.

I'm amazed by @quest64official.bsky.social's ability to nearly singlehandedly reignite passion for a 28-year-old game that's by most accounts "okay at best". As for me, I've always been a believer. Quest 64, and its Game Boy Color demake, are great, especially their innovative magic system.

It's amazing how often I see something in AAA games that I thought was universally accepted as bad design. You can break the "rules" creatively to good effect, but that's not what I'm talking about here. Just professional dev teams that ought to know better putting in clearly awful stuff. #gamedev

Me: Check out how I align the camera for this screen scroll! Non-gamedev friend: Wow.... Me: Why aren't you excited?! #gamedev

When I showed the Spectral Web: Yuurei at the PRGE last year, I got long play sessions, mostly from a handful of kids. I figured my core audience is adult Nintendo fans, so I'm not even sure why. But it's great hanging out with people deeply immersed in the game rather than a bunch of brief players.

I find it hilarious that the gamedev feed apparently automatically includes posts with the word Godot in t hem, so I keep seeing unrelated posts about the play Waiting for Godot. #gamedev

Psykid is a psychic-powered youth whose look and abilities might seem a little familiar. His Electron spell can be controlled and steered into enemies, while Freeze explodes in a burst that freezes foes. His Strong Psi trait boosts a handful of energy-based spells. #gamedev #indiedev #gaming

I've been putting burrowing mechanics in zeldalikes years before Mina the Hollower was a twinkle in someone's eye. Surely this means they stole the concept from me. (It doesn't. And don't call me Shirley.) #gamedev #indiedev #gaming

I'm grateful for the influx of followers from @eternalskies.neocities.org's #noAI game devs starter packs. But truly supporting AI-free games means wishlisting, playing, and reviewing them. Consider starting by wishlisting my own retro zeldalike. store.steampowered.com/app/3870000/...

The Spectral Web: Yuurei on Steam

Explore a giant, shifting Labyrinth and face off against powerful, ancient ghosts in this old-school action game inspired by 8-bit classics!

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It's funny that the Steam store recommends games based on play time in your own unreleased games. But this one is on point, since it's a very similar genre.

I've been a game developer since I was five years old, making paths over imaginary lava with discarded bathroom tiles, running and jumping through the level with little finger-legs. My first tileset was flooring tiles. #gamedev #indiedev

The Spectral Web: Yuurei combines zeldalike exploration with Mega Man-style weapons. Traverse over 80 colorful zones, uncover hundreds of secrets, and face off against ancient phantoms. Wishlist today! www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Ip... store.steampowered.com/app/3870000/... #PitchYaGame #indiedev

The Spectral Web: Yuurei Trailer

YouTube video by AevinAbstract

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WIP demonstration of a new push block effect. It needs a visual cue that it's about to explode, like shaking or something. Effects like this are cool because they mesh well with existing mechanics, creating a chemistry kit for custom levels or my own level design. #gamedev #indiedev

In Poisonous Corridor, pools of corrosive poison cover much of the floor. Standing in them too long damages you, so you'll have to be quick-footed to survive. Watch out for witchrobes! A shader gives the poison pools a nice sheen. With its jazzy music, this zone is a lot of fun. #indiedev #gamedev

I got my start in ZQuest Classic. One of my games, "Yuurand: Tales of the Labyrinth", is even listed in the article. If you like retro games and zeldalikes, give this a read, and maybe get involved with ZC and its friendly, dedicated fan community. www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus... #indiedev #gamedev

How a '90s Zelda PC port became a fangame factory, turning one legend into a thousand

The story of ZQuest Classic, the fangame factory that turned one legend into over a thousand more.

pcgamer.com

Last summer, I threw together a test character in the character creator. He resembles a built-in character, but with green skin and red eyes. Today, Zombie Cal went on a big adventure to Steam's Workshop, then back home to my laptop. We've been through a lot together. #indiedev #gamedev #pixelart

The Spectral Web: Yuurei features zeldalike action, with Mega Man-style spells, and metroidvania map design. Here's a trailer. Wishlist it on Steam today! www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Ip... #gamedev #indiedev

The Spectral Web: Yuurei Trailer

YouTube video by AevinAbstract

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