Love listening to music while I'm coding. Now listening to piano versions of one of my favourite video game soundtracks: #cavestory I'll listen to the actual OST after this (not on Spotify that I can find) but this piano version is very relaxing. open.spotify.com/album/1RiAPS...

Continues. Something I never even thought of adding to my games until requested a week ago for my #pico8 #moonpatrol. Seems a totally obvious QoL addition! I now give the player up to 3 continues. Hi-scores are ineligible if you use one. #retrogaming #arcade #gamdev

Gets tricky in later levels of my #picotron #moonpatrol. For the OG mode, I'm converting the layouts directly from my #pico8 version (give or take). 2 more enemy types to do: missiles and plants. Then I can work on enhanced mode stuff! Keeping my mind busy. #gamedev #arcade

2 weeks today since my dad passed, holding my hand. 40+ hour trip from NZ to Surrey just in time. Not the 7 week stay I was expecting He introduced me to programming in 1983 & I've fond memories playing Wizard or Wor with him Life changes; we just have to adapt to new states of "normal" 🥹😢

Level 1 done, now mapping level 2 from my #pico8 #moonpatrol to my new #picotron version. I've somehow upped the difficulty, pretty stressful jumping all those holes! #gamedev #retrogaming #arcade

I've added the ability to show ceiling (for cave-like levels like #scramble) and for earthquakes to cause to ground to move to my #picotron #moonpatrol game. #gamedev #retrogaming #arcade

Really enjoyed my #pico8 version of #moonpatrol and also the excellent music by @notehead.bsky.social pahammond.itch.io/moon-patrol Thinking of doing an enhanced version for #picotron. Experimenting with ideas at the moment. Graphically, I really like the #msx version #gamedev #retrogaming #arcade

Virus Buster, a #pico8 game I wrote back in 2020 and totally forgot to ever publish on my itch site! pahammond.itch.io/virus-buster From memory, I wrote this straight after bubble bobble as a bit of a cool-down project whist still WFH due to lockdown. #gamedev #chiptune

Small update to #picotron "Grid Rider" to warn the player if they accidentally shoot a power-up. Play for free at: pahammond.itch.io/grid-rider #gamedev #c64 #arcade

Experimenting with the #NES Little Sampson character for my #picotron #loderunner game. #gamedev #retrogaming

No idea whether they'll work correctly yet but I've added "professional" and "fan book" level packs into my #picotron #loderunner. That's 366 levels so far (some look very cruel!) Needed to get multiple packs in place before I start implementing hi-scores and level times. #gamedev

Early days so not too worried about presentation in my #picotron #loderunner game. Haven't settled on a style yet. Simon Hung's git repo is an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to remake this game. Used it for my #pico8 versions too: github.com/SimonHung/Lo... #gamedev #c64

#loderunner is ALL about the algorithm. Get one tiny thing wrong & the level might not work! Thankfully for my #pico8 version, I'd found & adapted JavaScript code. Trick now is to NOT break it if implement a 2 player co-op mode! Seems to be working as expected for 1p. #gamedev #picotron

I know #loderunner's been done a gazillion times (including my own #pico8 versions) but thought I'd start refactoring my old code into #picotron. I feel I can do a no compromises version. Plus there was an arcade 2p version 🤔 #gamedev

#picotron Grid Rider (#gridrunner) updated to v0.82 to increase difficulty when having looped through all levels. pahammond.itch.io/grid-rider #gamedev #retrogaming #c64 #arcade

Bug fix for #picotron grid rider where patroller warning was not showing in the right-hand column. pahammond.itch.io/grid-rider #gamedev #retrogaming #c64 #arcade

Hey #picotron community (yes, I know I could use the BBS), with the latest build, 0.3.0b, none of my HTML exports contain a screen image. I also had trouble with the cart labels but managed to get around that. Anyone else experienced this? I'm simply loading my cart and doing: export grid.html

New #picotron release! Grid Rider (#gridrunner), a project I put on the back-burner a month or so ago but got back to today (indoor day due to cyclone). Based on Jeff Minter's classic but... Ice cream themed - just cos! Play for free at: pahammond.itch.io/grid-rider #retrogaming #arcade #c64

#picotron Balloon Jerks (a #puzzlebobble / #pooyan mash-up) now has executables on itch (not sure whether I ever uploaded them for this one). pahammond.itch.io/balloon-jerks Still horribly addictive! #gamedev #arcade #retrogaming

#picotron Stix Disruption (#qix) rebuilt so the executables (which for some reason had vanished) are now available on itch again: pahammond.itch.io/stix-disrupt... Also features 2-player co-op. #gamedev #arcade #retrogaming

#picotron Jetpac Defenders (based on #dropzone) rebuilt (executables had vanished) now available on itch again: pahammond.itch.io/jetpac-defen... Remember finishing this one in a bit of a rush but revisiting it, I'm really pleased how it turned out! #gamedev #arcade #retrogaming #c64

#picotron #phoenix rebuilt so the executables (which for some reason had vanished) are now available on itch again: pahammond.itch.io/phoenix-2024 Kinda cool to revisit these older projects, even if it is just to re-compile them! #gamedev #arcade #retrogaming

Realising my attention span for my #picotron projects is exceptionally low at the moment (keep getting distracted by the "next" project), I've co-opted my #pico8 #stix music for my twin well #tetris game. Once I've added a few more sfx, I should probably just release it! #gamdev #chiptune

On an AI SDLC course (forced 😮‍💨) today but Claude has made it totally worthwhile 😂

Except Radar Rally, that still has the executables! pahammond.itch.io/radar-rally

In fact, NONE of my #picotron projects on itch.io now have downloadable executables! By older #pico8 stuff still seems intact. Am I really going to have to rebuild and re-upload these files???

Have I missed something about an issue with itch.io? Last week, I was alerted to Wor games having no executable downloads and today, a comment on Phoenix (pahammond.itch.io/phoenix-2024) has brought it to my attention there's no downloads other that the picotron cart file (.png). What's going on?

Identity crisis #5!!! My #picotron twin-well #tetris game now has a Metroid theme (it's what I'd originally planned - hence the wall crawlers - but in a completely different way) and a new name, "Tetroids". Testing level palettes and using the whole screen. #gamedev #retrogaming

@steve-morks.bsky.social. Thank you. Twintris it is! #gamedev #picotron #tetris

My #picotron #tetris game now has a name: teleportris (unless someone suggests something better - a low bar!) and title and mode/level selection screens. #gamedef #retrogaming

Restyled & cleaned up my 1P, twin-well #picotron #tetris. * wall crawlers add penalty rows * massive bonus for 0 penalty rows on level clear * 4 difficulty levels Really hard for me to balance since I'm so rubbish at Tetris but one of the few games I've made where I'm getting distracted playing it!

My #picotron twin-well #tetris style game now has a (kind of) metroidish theme. Really like the wall crawlers as replacements for the timer. Gives the whole thing a more dynamic look. Style is pretty disjointed at the moment but it already plays pretty well. #gamedev

My #picotron twin-well #tetris style game now has a (kind of) metroid(ish) theme. Really like the wall crawlers as replacements for the timer. Gives the whole thing a more dynamic look. Style is pretty disjointed at the moment but it already plays pretty well. #gamedev

A few game rules added to my #picotron #tetris -like experiment. Use space (or shoulder button) to teleport the piece between wells. If you don't clear a row before the red timer bar reaches the other side, a penalty row is added. My brain hurts! #gamedef #retrogaming

obsessed with #tetris ideas in #picotron at the moment. This one is: what if, 2 play wells and, instead of "holding" a piece, you can move (teleport) it from side to side. Have some other ideas for this and I'm quite excited to try them out! #gamedev #retrogaming #arcade

Apologies for anyone who tried to download Wor Games only to find there were no executables! No idea what happened but I've rebuilt and copied the files to itch. pahammond.itch.io/wor-games #gamedev #picotron #arcade #wizardofwor

Experimenting with a "controller" power-up that lets you take control of pacman for a few seconds and eat ghosts that the automatic movement wouldn't usually get. Think it works okay but def need other ways of clearing them out! #gamedev #picotron #arcade

Just playing about in #picotron and thinking: what if "pac-attack" but with proper Tetris shapes? Need a way to clear trapped ghosts. I'm thinking some form of power-up that exposes them. And also a state where you get to control pac-man himself! #gamedev #arcade #retrogaming

Well, every day really is a school day! Repurposing an old #picotron project and, instead of messing around with cameras and clipping etc, I'm simply drawing to user data and rendering. Keeps the code so much cleaner. Bound to be a bit of a performance hit but def worth it. #gamedev #retrogaming

#picotron "Ice Dice" update. Grass! Blocks only slide 1 square so more scope for different types of puzzles! #gamedev #retrogaming #nes

First moving enemies in Ice Dice for #picotron. Definitely makes for a different type of puzzle! Having fun with this one but really want to get back to finishing off my Grid Runner game soon(ish) - I hope! I usually do 1 project at a time. Now I remember why 😀 #gamedev #nes #retrogaming

Having fun creating a few training levels for #picotron "Ice Dice". Portraits by Ctskelgysth Inauarua add a great aesthetic opengameart.org/content/tric... My 16yo tester is back on board after a couple of years hiatus🥰 #gamedev #nes #retrogaming #puzzle

New #picotron NES-style game idea, "Ice Dice". Inspired by: * Adventures of Lolo * Pips (NY Times mobile game) * Kickle Cubicle * Pushingo (www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUhg...) #gamedev #retrogaming

First video clip of my #picotron #gridrunner game. Demoing the massively overpowered double ghost-ships. Some zones have an invisible grid and instead show a star field which seems to work pretty well, especially when used in conjunction with the phoenix-type bird enemies. #gamedev #retrogaming

QOL feature for my #picotron #gridrunner; you can now see where the patrollers will fire next (which you could in Llamasoft's iOS version)! Also some power-up text effects which make things even more arcadey! #gamedev #retrogaming #arcade #gaming

"Slow-down" power-ups in my #picotron #gridrunner game. #gamedev #c64 #arcade #retrogaming

Okay, I think that's all the enemy types done for my #picotron #gridrunner game. Now seems chaotic enough! Re-used my #phoenix birds & added saucers, both of which poison pods so when a centipede hits it, it turns into a trailer which move erratically down the screen. #gamedev #retrogaming #arcade

New power-up type for my #picotron #gridrunner game. Extends the play area the player ship can move. #gamedev #arcade #retrogaming

My #picotron #gridrunner game now has a title screen and a highly original name: grid rider 🙄 Starting to come together. Want to work on the "mystery" mode level generation next but have a few more enemy types I want to get into place first. Oh, and sfx, can't wait to get those it! #gamedev #c64

For no reason whatsoever, I decided to name the modes in my #picotron #gridrunner after ice creams! A bit incongruous with the space-shooter theme but... video games 🤷‍♂️ "popsicle" is a bit of an outlier being an American term but it conveyed exactly what I wanted: beginner mode! #gamedev #c64