✂️ Tile cutting is live! Now tiles play nicely with object assets so we can smush them together for some wild combos 🤩 Next step: smushing tiles into 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴! Can’t wait to break… I mean, 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥… new worlds with this! 🔥 #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

🕹️ Who else misses old-school LAN parties? Gonna bring that energy back with Manifest Destiny Online -- multiplayer made for real-life and virtual co-op! 🎮 Don’t know how we’ll do it (modern consoles don’t make it easy), but we're gonna do it! 🚀💾 #indiedev #LANparty #pixelart

📢 For those wanting a little more in depth detail on the sprite > blender > asset process we're using... 📽️ Here is a short video that explains it a bit better! #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

Just saw someone wrote this article 😆 80.lv/articles/2d-... #indiedev #gamedev #pixelart #blender

🛠️ For those curious, here's our workflow pipeline! From 🖼️2D sprites.. 🔺Triangle map ➡️ 🌐Blender build ➡ ⚡Back into our engine! Custom logic creates normal maps & perspective shifts to bring it all together for top-down magic ✨ #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

🙏 Huge thanks to @lanawanderwood.bsky.social for bringing our first desert village to life! This 1st pixel art building fits into the layout 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮, like the world of Aerenia is breathing on its own 🏜️✨ Couldn’t be happier with how this is shaping up! #pixelart #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame

🦴 Experimenting with a bone-rig system for worn/held items! ⚔️ Character gear snaps to keyframe 3D sockets instead of needing every frame redrawn 👀 Weapons show in idle/attack, holstered while moving Feels like the perfect mix of clarity + flexibility 🎨 #gamedev #indiedev #pixelart #indiegame

❤️‍🔥I'm about to become Rock Lee y'all!! FINALLY they've added ankle weight exercises to this tonal machine 🏋️ Time to FEEL THE POWER OF YOUTH!!🔥🔥🔥 #indiedev #gamedev #fitness #workout #tonal

🧙‍♂️Learning from the tile sorcery of @transientcode.bsky.social .. Top half = my clumsy imitation 🎨 Bottom half = his glorious original 🏛️ I only had pillows + pots to decorate so… welcome to IKEA: Aerenia Edition 😭🛋️🍯 #pixelart #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #artmoots

🪨📄✂️Who loves Rock Paper Scissors?! ⚔️ WE DO! Our game is based on the same concept of 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, but with blades and spells! Every move is a gamble, every feint a mind game. Strategy and anticipation decide who triumphs 👊 #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

Just want to say, such a well done song recreation! I hope to have music as beautiful as this in our game one day! ❤️❤️❤️ #gamemusic #indiegame

Playing around with what Hornet could look like if her gear was in the game 😆 #pixelart #silksong #indiegame

Throwback to when I tried to become a real-life anime character in college… 💪😂 Anyone else go full weeb mode & try to power-up IRL? Drop your nerd stories below, let’s unite! #GameDev #IndieDev #Anime #NerdsUnite

💃Working on our female base sprite! Which design do you vibe with more? 𝗟𝗲𝗳𝘁 (green 💚) or 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 (blue 💙)? Your input means a TON, and helps shape Aerenia's world while keeping it fun! 🎨🌟 #pixelart #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame

✨ Jump isn’t just vertical movement! 🛡️ Anticipate & vault over enemy strikes 🌀 Use it as a "safe-ish" dodge option 🧗 Scale walls & reach new heights, or... 🐉 Pump your jump stat and go full Dragoon, leaping across entire arenas 😆 #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

🌱 Grass WIP! Testing out individual blades of grass + subtle layering to bring the fields of Aerenia alive! Still tuning so it feels natural without being distracting, but already loving the vibe 🌾✨ #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

Another tile commission for @ss1shadow.bsky.social! This is an edited version of a mockup I made for him, I painted over it to cover up small imperfections and change the lighting on parts of it. I think it's quite nice to look at. #pixelart

🔦 Cave logic WIP update! The system now hides(properly) interiors until you’ve got line of sight 👀 Still some glitches to squash but the foundation feels solid ⚒️ It's getting closer to perfect, I can taste it! The world is feeling more alive each step! 🌍✨ #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

✨ Tech magic unlocked! We now have programming that converts regular normals ➡️ smooth normals! 🎨 Right: raw normals 🪄 Left: smoothed result This makes edges look softer & cleaner where appropriate automatically! #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

✨ Normal mapping magic Trying to turn this normal map edge-smoothing effect into code so it runs automatically 🔧💡 Still early WIP, but the goal is to make caves + terrain lighting look smoother without hand-painting every tile! #gamedev #indiedev #pixelart #indiegame

🗻 Caves logic WIP! The inside of caves stays hidden until you’ve got line of sight 👁️ 👣 Step in, and the darkness parts to reveal the unknown. Still rough around the edges, but it’s already adding a ton of atmosphere 👀 #gamedev #indiedev #pixelart #indiegame

SO EXCITED, my abs are finally starting to show again! 🥳💪 Keeping up with fitness goals so I can power through more hours of pixel art and coding 🚀 What helps you stay motivated on your creative grind? #indiedev #gamedev #pixelart #selfcare #devlife #WellnessJourney #fitnessmotivation

🌿Sharing a WIP of our upgraded grass tiles, done by none other than the man.. the myth.. THE LEGEND... @bananannertoast.bsky.social !! 💥🔥 Seriously though, I'm so grateful to be able to work with this pixel art genius 🙏 #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev #pixelart

🎨 Sharpening the blur! Working on localizing normal map pixel bands so soft edges become blocky and pixelated. 🏖️ This sand dune is a good example of what we gotta fix! Gotta keep the pixel art crispy feel! #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

🎨 When normal people use Notion, Excel, or sticky notes to plan their week... 👀 I fire up Aseprite and make a pixel-art spreadsheet like it’s the final boss of productivity. Being a dev is just finding new ways to nerd harder 😸 #gamedev #indiedev #aseprite #pixelart

👀 Working on cave logic! Right now the inside is visible at all times, but it shouldn't be visible until the player has line of sight. 🔦 What you see is what you get ⚔️ Tactical ambush potential The cave should keep its secrets 🤫 #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

📐Talking through ideas visually... A hallmark of game development 🎮 🧠 Great for brainstorming new systems! 😵‍💫 ..or maybe I'm just a crazy person Any other devs out there that have.. unique prototype diagrams? #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

🏋️Soooo thankful this app keeps track of this stuff! Anyone else on the #indiedev #fitness health goals train? 🥵

🏝️ The waters of Aerenia have never looked more alive! Added distortion back in and lightened the foam for a softer, more natural look. Probably the last water update for a while! 🎵 Music: "Emotion" from Pokémon Black & White, remixed by 𝗭𝗮𝗺𝗲 on YouTube ❤️ #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

💧 New life under the waves! Water now shimmers with updated animation, and shadows move beneath its surface. 🔜Next up: restoring proper water distortion for submerged objects. ..and one day, splashes and ripples when things are tossed in! 😆🌊 #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

🌊A quiet moment where the waves do all the talking. Gentle tide, soft breeze, and sunlight dancing on the water. Time slowing just enough to breathe... Sometimes the world feels perfect, for a minute : ) #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

✨ Reimagined A new vision of Isolde done in a dreamlike style, amazingly done by @kwon-soon.bsky.social! 🌿 Childhood friend of Eldryn 💡 A guiding light in his journey ⚖️ Protector of balance Her story will change everything. #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

🏝️ A new island takes shape! Every addition brings beauty… and its own set of headaches. 🌊 Sculpting miles of shoreline 🪨 Smoothing jagged terrain edges 🧩 Filling gaps so it feels 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 It’s all part of the process, but man.. these growing pains are real! ☠️ #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

⚔️ MDO is built on the foundation of 4 legends that shaped its DNA. 🔥 FFT – tactical mastery ⚡ CT – rich worlds & story 💥 DOA – fluid arena combat 🌟 PS – chaotic freedom ..fuse to 1 genre: Tactics Arena Fighter RPG. The spirit of these classics lives on in each fight. #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

🧗‍♂️ Slope runs & ledge jumps just got smoother Pathfinding now supports small elevation shifts, making traversal feel more fluid/grounded. 🌄 Run up natural slopes 🪨 Jump down short ledges 🤖 Auto-detect safe paths One step closer to a living, breathing world! #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

🔥What if fire wasn't just an element, but a language? 🔹Infusing the spell matrix with different shapes 🔹Icons shift based on the spell you're preparing 🔹Each pattern warps the nature of the flame in reality Your flame speaks. What will it say next? 👀 #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart

𝘊𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 to be able to crash and smash through all these pots and crates 🤗📦💥 #pixelart #indiedev #indiegame

🧠 Mental bandwidth idea: 🔴 Active buffs = instant but must be mentally maintained 🔵 Passive buffs = slower prep, but self-sustaining Active buff limit could scale with INT. Push too far… and risk dropping one mid-fight! What other stat-based features would you love to see? #indiegame #gamedev

Wasn't sure how this was going to turn out 😅 Guess life 𝘪𝘴 kinda like a box of 🍫✨ #pixelart #indiedev

🧱 Unintended shading bugs🐜 We’re adapting how structure collision shading works: 🌓 Dark overlay shows between separate walls 🚫 Shouldn’t appear when walls are flush Fixing this will add to the mystery of, "..what's inside that large structure over there?" 👀 #indiedev #pixelart #gamedev

⚔️ The gods didn’t build Aerenia in a day. Rather, it was done one step👣 at a time. Game dev is the same! Some days you’re just stacking pixels. Others, you’re shaping legends. 🔥 Keep building! The world you’re crafting 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴! #gamedev #indiedev #morningmotivation

😬Super late to the party, I'm the worst at social media☠️ Just 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁 first, you can 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 later! #gamemaker #indiegames #pixelart

🔦Trying out a new way of adding shadows in #aseprite! 1) Coloring in where I think shadows are on a shadow layer in 🟥 2) Replacing the color with ⚫ 3) Changing the layer effect to Overlay! Maybe the most unoptimized way to add shadows, but it felt nice to me 🙃 #pixelart

🧠 UI and logic finally syncing = serotonin. Green = go, red = nope. Circles pop up, and suddenly: 🟢 Moveable tiles feel obvious 🔴 Blocked paths feel 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 👉👈 Feels like my fingers are finally touching 😭 #indiedev #pixelart #gamedev #gamemaker

🌸 Isolde’s earliest design pass Before the trials, the tragedy, the legends - she was just a curious girl. Eldryn’s best friend. 🎒 Explorer’s satchel ✨ A light to the world 🧤 Gentle courage in harsh lands She’s grown a lot… but this was the start. #pixelart #indiedev #aseprite

🦘 Jump range isn’t just vertical! With a jump range of 3, you can leap: 🧱 3 tiles horizontally 🧱 2 up + 1 over or 1 up + 2 over ⬇️ Drop 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 3 + 2 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 without damage It’s about freedom, not just height. (Landing FX coming soon 👀) #pixelart #indiedev #tacticsgame

Hope I did this right, please excuse the uneven squares and rectangles 😭 #artvsartist #pixelart #indiedev

☀️ Real-time lighting is finally hitting just right Sunlight now sweeps across the world, shadows included! 🌗 Time-of-day light shifts 👤 Player shadows (crisper edges coming!) 🪨 Terrain changes affect mood Still tuning, but the feel is 🔥 #pixelart #indiedev #tacticsgame

⚔️ High-level doesn’t mean untouchable Even the strongest enemies shouldn't feel unfair. 💡 Player 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 must still matter 🧠 Mid-levels should stand a chance 🎯 Tactics & prediction should win fights Trying to make high-level combat 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 like this... ...but stay balanced. #indiedev #fighter #tactics

🧙‍♂️ Magus class animation teaser! I dropped it directly into 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 Chrono Trigger scene 😈 Couldn’t resist paying tribute before the full FX system is ready! 🔮 Classic dark caster vibes 🌀 Floaty motion + silhouette pop 🧵 Built for future spell layering Childhood dream unlocked. #MDO #pixelart #indiedev