I've officially soft-launched the newest game that I'm working on - The Astra Protocol. It's probably not out for at least a year, but now there's a common place to post devlogs and the like. If you like the other games I've released or want to be kept up to date with what's going on, check it out

The @itch.io summer sale is here. Grab Astra Protocol 2 at 75% off. Explore the vastness of space for less than $2. (And if you're quick, you can jump on our current 'multiplayer' beta). itch.io/s/188532/sum... #itchsummersale

I'm really pleased at how well this has come out. Considering that I'm not an artist or photographer (though I did receive constructive criticism from a professional).

Astra Protocol 2 has finally started to get some user reviews - and currently sat at universal acclaim. Not sure if this will affect it's visibility, but if you've got a spare few minutes, why not drop it a review or rating?

Six years of my indie game development. Here's a mega thread containing six different facts about the game and its development.

For anyone following for Astra Protocol content, I've finally finished inputting all the feature tickets (using Azure dev ops) for Astra Protocol 3. This non-exhaustive list of things to do sits at 735. Lets see what that number sits at closer to launch...

I swear that I am still working on Astra Protocol 3. It just seems that every time I think I've squeezed the last out of the Astra Protocol 2 engine, I find some new way to implement old tech...

I really wanted a web editor for Obsidian, but really didn't like what was out there. Directly inspired by the excellent github.com/Dullage/flat... project. I created github.com/foofly/slate. "A self-hosted Docker web interface for Obsidian vaults."

I've been trying to take a more structured approach to working on my next game, which involves a lot of documentation and so to try and combine that with my love of retro tech, I've been typing it all up on my old Amstrad CPC464. It's a very bare bones approach but good for distraction free writing.

Doing some 8-bit game dev

Today I visited Rudston Church with the Rudston Monolith in it's churchyard - the tallest standing stone in the UK

I try to limit my shilling on here, but my "breakthrough" game is only £1.29 on Steam at the moment. It recently got an update too

Three years ago I launched my first proper attempt at a solo video game I only expected a few people to play it for about twenty minutes but I was amazed by the response Over 2000 sales & 1000 players later, some clocking 20+ hours of gameplay, I've released an update as a way to say thank you

No expenses spared as I take my marketing campaign to Manchester

Here's the latest on my latest game

The past few months I've been working on a remake of my first indie game, Astra Protocol. The original was quite small in scope and remaking it felt like a good way of getting started on a new engine for future games. We're close enough to release that it was time for a teaser trailer. Check it out

First time playing Call of Cthulhu as an Investigator (rather than a Keeper). Generated a decent character based off one I played on a Murder Mystery. Proceeded to fail every roll and even fumbled twice...

Writing the first draft of the next Astra Protocol game. Thought it might be worth writing it on period appropriate hardware

Went to Covesea lighthouse today It has some Eldrich vibes to it - caves underneath used to be inhabited until the 1920s by a group of people known as "The Joyful" who would go around town singing hymns. When we last visited, a dead whale had washed on the beach with an abnormal amount of seaweed

I've been working away on the next game in my Astra Protocol series for a while. Making games takes a while (especially when its a side job) so to show something in advance and hopefully build up a bit of hype, I've been working on remaking the first game

Been contacting streamers for some @slicebargames.bsky.social marketing and it's funny, working in a corporate setting, sending out formal emails to Twitch usernames "Dear Captain_Awesomez..."

Managed to track down Mothership at UKGE. Gives off similar vibes to what I was trying for with Astra Protocol. Can't wait to give it a go

At the UK Games Expo

A bit of reading for the train

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the release of my first indie game, Astra Protocol. The game started off as a lockdown project and took roughly around three months from conception to release since there wasn't much else to do at the time.

From my time working in labs, I noticed that there's a niche for laboratory software. There's a demand, but the money available means that there's not many viable commercial options, which leads to a lot of in-house solutions (part of what my role was).

Due to a well timed work trip and the aligning of the stars, looks like I'll be seeing @apocalypseplayers.bsky.social in just over a week!

To decrease time spent online but still keeping up to date, I've created a modern rendition of the newspaper, that is populated using RSS feeds and can be read offline on an e-reader. This allows for more personalised news / topics without needing to view online websites github.com/DanMallinson...

Some hardboiled crime for a Thursday night

Fresh music

Owning a typewriter is useful for making props for Call of Cthulhu