If next-gen consoles are going to force digital sales (likely at a prohibitively high price point) why wouldn't consumers just buy a PC at that point? Consoles exist in a unique cultural space. For many consumers, physical media is part of a console's identity and experience.

There's a part of me that wants to write a review and go over all of the changes that stuck out to me in the new Star Fox, but suffice to say, it's a great remake all in all. Finished all the expert mode medals and challenges. There are a few subtle details that I love.

So Sony's abandoning physical media in 2028. Man... the future seriously sucks.

Yoo Star Fox time boyyyyy!

Here's a music track I've been working on for VISEGUNNE.

Been working on music for VISEGUNNE. It's mostly rock for levels, but between missions it's 99% super funky late '80s, early '90s vibes. There's this unique feel soundtracks on the Sega CD, Saturn, and PC Engine had that I'm hoping to capture. I think it defines VISEGUNNE's personality.

The proper Star Fox 64 remake accomplishes a few things 1. Reestablishes Star Fox using the series' best mechanics 2. If it does well, could get a proper sequel down the road 3. I'm sure Nintendo wanted to take the wind out the sails of those cool recomp projects (but they'll still be out there)

I'm totally nerding out on the Star Fox 64 remake right now. As a kid that counted down the days for the original 1997 release and watched that goofy promo VHS tape over and over, I'm floored.

Star Fox 64 has the crunchiest explosion sounds. I'd guess they're layered samples with pitch bending and modulated frequencies. Not 100% sure, but I think that's what's creating that rough "crunchy" sound. Paired with the game's smokey particle systems, explosions feels super gritty & tangible.

I really need to come up with a better missile trail system. What I have is passable right now, but it's just not quite where it should be with how we have things moving through the environment. I'm working on a few ideas for improvements though.

This enemy's blowing up pretty good in these tests! How it crashes depends on what you take out. I hand animated the all interactions here to guarantee the pieces go where I want them to (so no physics). #indiedev #pixelart #gamedev #shmup #VISEGUNNE

The best workflow I've found for creating destroyed machinery is to kitbash all the destroyed internals, leave plenty of empty space, then just just erase the outer body away. It's fun, too. Just needs a final detailing pass. #gamedev #pixelart #indiedev #shmup

The narrative in VISEGUNNE is super interconnected and I wanted share how it works. If the main character talks to his squad between missions, the game is highly reactive to what you've learned & experienced. Here's what my doc looks like to track it all, with all the links.

DLSS 5 is pure hubris to me. The sheer premise of going to an artwork, made by an artist with intent, and you'll slather AI over it to "improve" it, is in its very premise insulting. Where does it end? I guess we can fix Van Gogh and Monet next.

Had to rewire a few animation scripts to make them easier to trigger from dialogue. But to keep my spirits up I gave myself permission for precisely one new frame of animation for a cigarette tap on this guy. Kinda lovin the idgaf energy. #pixelart #indiedev #VISEGUNNE #gamedev

I'm at the point where I think the inclination to classify games into strict, narrow genre "orthodoxy" is hurting game discourse. It's fine in passing probably, but it often turns into mindless group-think that robs audiences of their own thoughts. Games are designed with unique goals and aims.

My old ass version of FLStudio is like ~10 years old. I want to upgrade it but I also don't want to risk breaking some weird VST configuration. I do need to investigate migration to a new machine one day, though.

So in our first stage, I've tried to have the music -mostly- sync up with the in-game action, but I forgot I added a new enemy battleship sequence and it messed up the timing, so I'm trying to add 35 seconds to it... somehow... without messing up the ending. Looping tracks are so much easier.

I've been thinking of AI art/music generation and how it contrasts with human made things. I just wanted to get my thoughts out for my own sake. Humans have a kind of innate accumulation of imperfections, lived experience, lack of proper tools, having a bad day, needing to breath, having an itch...

Got sidetracked setting up some special water FX interactions for bullet shells and explosive weapons. The spread of the falling water particles are a little different on each gun, but no one will ever notice. haha. #gamedev #VISEGUNNE #pixelart #indiedev

Working on a new environment (abandoned reservoir). Lots of water FX and creepy vibes which is fun. #gamedev #pixelart #indiedev #shmup #screenshotsaturday

Working on a new environment (abandoned reservoir). Lots of water FX and creepy vibes which is fun. #gamedev #pixelart #indiedev #shmup #screenshotsaturday

Working on NPC portraits a little bit. I animated many of them off a similar base, but I think they round out our random NPCs you can talk to in the overworld. Bunch of civilians, PMC troops, and ally soldiers. #gamedev #pixelart #indiedev #screenshotsaturday #indiegamedev

Finally redid this boss mech's sprites. It's not 100% my favorite, but at least the new sprites play nicely with the old attack animations. It was a struggle. #pixelart #gamedev #indiedev

Honestly, AI depresses me. I kinda feel like the genie's out of the bottle though. My hope is that a big independent creative backlash will occur, where humans push harder against the boundaries of narrative, genre, and convention to build stuff AI simply can't train on (or refuses to make).

More battleship work: underside blows up now! I redid the color scheme to improve silhouette visibility. And there's a mech hitching a ride, too. If you shoot out the armor panel it's standing on, it'll just drift off into space #gamedev #indiedev #Visegunne #pixelart #shmup #indiegamedev

This battleship is kinda fun to blow up. Still doing some tests, but I dig it. #gamedev #indiedev #pixelart #VISEGUNNE #indiegamedev

So I built all these mechs doing complicated rappelling and dismount animations, but it's the goofy robot carrying a box around that's honestly my favorite. #gamedev #pixelart #indiedev #shmup #IndieGameDev #VISEGUNNE

Is it feature creep if you genuinely need the system? haha. This is my justification for everything though. But I neeeeed it.

Finally, cutscenes are now swapping and switching from the overworld now, whenever we need 'em. I know I showed a prototype a while back but we're cooking for realsies now. I swear I've been working on these damn menus and transitions forever. #gamedev #pixelart #indiedev #shmup