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ben.slinger.com.au
Ben Slinger
@ben.slinger.com.au
1.3K followers 1.4K following 260 posts
He/him. Web programmer, game dev, working on The Grant Grover Anthology (http://s.team/a/4144960). Podcast at Bit Storm (http://bitstormcast.com). Dad of 4, leftist. Melbourne, AU
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ben.slinger.com.au
Continuing with the lighting pass on all the scenes in The Echo Runs Deep.

This scene has a few different angles which added some additional challenges, but I think it's actually come out the best so far!

#gamedev #indiedev #godot

s.team/a/4144960
A screenshot of a scene in a small marketplace. There are two characters standing outside. A screenshot of a scene in a small marketplace. There are two characters standing outside. In comparison to the other screenshot, there is hazy lighting and a sign above the shop reading "Arlo's".
November 15, 2025 at 12:07 PM
ben.slinger.com.au
Working on the lighting and camera for the next scene. This one is a simpler scene, but was maybe harder to light in a way that fits the noir atmosphere.

#gamedev #indiedev #godot
Video game screenshot, black and white. A view through a window into an office, a private detective facing away from us at his desk. A bottle on the desk, and a door in the background. Simple lighting. Video game screenshot, black and white. A view through a window into an office, a private detective facing away from us at his desk. A bottle on the desk, and a door in the background. Harsher shadows, a glow from the computer screen creating a silhouette of the detective.
November 13, 2025 at 12:34 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
Starting a lighting pass on The Echo Runs Deep, which will be the case we include in our demo. I feel like I've made a good improvement to this scene? Always hard to tell when I've been looking at it for this long.

#gamedev #indiedev #godot
A private detective and a psychologist are sitting facing each other, with a harsh sun shadow coming in from the right. They are in her office, books in the background. This screenshot is from the jam version of the game, with lower quality lighting. A private detective and a psychologist are sitting facing each other, with a harsh sun shadow coming in from the right. They are in her office, books in the background. This screenshot is from the version I am polishing, and the lighting has been upgraded with better rim lighting, shadows and some volumetric fog.
November 12, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Reposted by Ben Slinger
ben.slinger.com.au
The Steam page for my first real game release is up!

This is hugely exciting for me, I'm working hard to get a demo out by the end of the year, really hoping to get into the Detective Fest in January 🕵️

#gamedev #indiedev #godot

store.steampowered.com/app/4144960/...
The Grant Grover Anthology on Steam
In Neo Naarm in the 22nd century, augmentation technology has run amuck. Play as Grant Grover, private detective, one of the only remaining citizens without augmentations, as he solves crimes across t...
store.steampowered.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:59 PM
ben.slinger.com.au
The Steam page for my first real game release is up!

This is hugely exciting for me, I'm working hard to get a demo out by the end of the year, really hoping to get into the Detective Fest in January 🕵️

#gamedev #indiedev #godot

store.steampowered.com/app/4144960/...
The Grant Grover Anthology on Steam
In Neo Naarm in the 22nd century, augmentation technology has run amuck. Play as Grant Grover, private detective, one of the only remaining citizens without augmentations, as he solves crimes across t...
store.steampowered.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:59 PM
ben.slinger.com.au
I think our jam game Lan Party '97 from last year's AdvXJam must have hit a popular page on Itch this week, we got a huge spike in plays and visits!
November 8, 2025 at 6:43 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
Frustrated with myself for hitting a problem I didn't have the brain space for and bouncing off it into uselessness, rather than pivoting to a different task.

I don't know how I used to motivate myself for days in end, my attention span is broken. 😫

#gamedev #indiedev
October 29, 2025 at 4:39 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
Anybody else having tons of false positives for Spam on Gmail lately? I'm so tired of Google products degrading into uselessness.
October 21, 2025 at 8:04 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
Evacuation at PAX? I guess that's a sign to chill on the water with a beer. 🍺

(I hope it's a false alarm and nobody got hurt)
October 11, 2025 at 5:02 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
Anybody who is in town for PAX or Fringe, I can highly recommend Ben McCarthy's show Alakazam - laughed my ass off last night, brilliant comedy and mime work 😂🪄

www.melbournefringe.com.au/whats-on/eve...
ALAKAZAM
www.melbournefringe.com.au
October 10, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Reposted by Ben Slinger
junoryleejournalism.com
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems... SIMON: What? SHAPIRO: ...Or saying... SIMON: You imagine that? SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over. SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level. SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this. SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.
October 9, 2025 at 4:42 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
It's great to be collaborating on this project, @aubreyjones.bsky.social is fleshing out our cyberpunk world and I'm looking forward to adding some cinematic flourishes to support the drama.

Thinking of starting an old fashioned blog since I don't have the time for video 😄
aubreyjones.bsky.social Aubrey Jones @aubreyjones.bsky.social · Sep 27
Working on a visual novel with @ben.slinger.com.au , and writing branching narrative is really stretching my brain.

The hardest part is definitely making it feel like you're making meaningful choices.
September 28, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Reposted by Ben Slinger
davemilbo.bsky.social
If you can't side with the world's most extraordinary people against the western world's most bloodthirsty genocidal colony, you could not be more lost.
September 24, 2025 at 1:32 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
This feels like a misunderstanding... 😂
A notification that the user "in politics.news" liked my post declaring that the Judge was defeated, referring to the game Silksong.
September 21, 2025 at 3:36 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
I wish Silksong tallied how many times you've attempted each boss. Got to be close to 50 on Last Judge. I'm determined to beat them tonight!
September 17, 2025 at 11:52 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
The Echo Runs Deep came 122nd overall in the #brackeys game jam, out of 2,302 entries - top 6%!

We're very happy with that result, and we're looking forward to doing more games in the Grant Grover universe 🕵️

bslinger.itch.io/the-echo-run...
bslinger.itch.io
September 14, 2025 at 10:45 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
A couple of the very kind reviews we've received for our #brackeys jam game The Echo Runs Deep 🕵️🫆🙏

bslinger.itch.io/the-echo-run...

#gamedev #gamejam #indiedev
A review from itch.io by Rafael Di Carlo on the game The Echo Runs Deep. The review reads: "Damn!!! I didn't expect this at all. One of the best and most innovatives games in this jam. Congrats! Everything is really great." A review from itch.io by HusseinYouri on the game The Echo Runs Deep. The review reads: "What an absolute cinema experience! The way you introduced “The Biscuit” was super creative and really incredible. The story kept me engaged the whole time, always wanting to know what’s coming next (that girl nobil or something can't remember her name getting clapped tho 😂). You guys did such a great job with this one, and I loved the little details, like clicking to restore memories—which added a nice touch. This could easily turn into a fantastic full game if you added some gameplay elements, like letting the player actually visit places and investigate scenes themselves. Full stars from me! ❤️"
September 7, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Reposted by Ben Slinger
nat-the-dev.bsky.social
What execs are going to take away from Silksong: More layoffs! Smaller teams! Make Metroidvanias!!

What they should take away instead: Devs working on a game they're passionate about with no interference from execs and the time they need to get it done without shareholder pressure
September 6, 2025 at 8:32 PM
ben.slinger.com.au
Our game for the #brackeys jam is getting a great response - it feels really good to have created something that resonates with people.

The extended ending was unlocked for the first time today, as enough people had revealed parts of the final memory!

#gamedev

bslinger.itch.io/the-echo-run...
The Echo Runs Deep by Ben Slinger, Sicasera, Hugo Moroux
A Grant Grover Visual Novel
bslinger.itch.io
September 3, 2025 at 11:56 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
We released "The Echo Runs Deep" this week as part of the @brackeys.com jam!

It's a cyberpunk noir visual novel with a unique collaborative feature - once enough people have played, a new memory and an extended ending is revealed.

bslinger.itch.io/the-echo-run...

#gamedev #gamejam
The Echo Runs Deep by Ben Slinger, Sicasera, Hugo Moroux
A Grant Grover Visual Novel
bslinger.itch.io
September 1, 2025 at 2:50 PM
ben.slinger.com.au
I'm halfway through editing the script for my @brackeys.com jam game after some incredibly helpful feedback from @aubreyjones.bsky.social - two days left and lots to do, but it's mostly polish at this point.

Excited to finish and play some of the other games!

#gamejam #gamedev
August 29, 2025 at 8:26 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
Any game writers out there willing to take a look at my jam game and do a punch-up/editing pass, or give critique?

I'm happy with how far I've taken it, but I'm also well aware of my limitations, so would be great to get an opinion from somebody more experienced.

#gamedev #gamejam #indiedev
August 27, 2025 at 8:46 PM
ben.slinger.com.au
Finished the 1st rough draft for the game I'm working on for the @brackeys.com jam with @trevhscott.bsky.social - and we have a name! The game is called The Echo Runs Deep, and is a noir visual novel set in Neo Naarm.

Not a lot to show visually yet, but here's the first scene:

#gamedev #gamejam
A black and white scene of a therapist's office in low poly style. There is a man in a hat sitting facing away from the camera in one chair, and an empty chair in front of him (character isn't done yet) The right third of the screen is the dialogue area, and shows one line of descriptive dialogue: "The therapist's office was tidy, and was refreshingly free of the metallic scents of technology I was so used to smelling."
August 26, 2025 at 2:27 PM
ben.slinger.com.au
Working on dialogue for the @brackeys.com game jam - I love coming up with characters and narrative, but boy do I find it a slog to actually write the dialogue. It's very satisfying once I have it all down, but when I'm feeling off and my words aren't coming to me it's so demoralizing😵‍💫

#gamejam
August 25, 2025 at 11:53 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
I'm doing the @brackeys.com Game Jam this week with @trevhscott.bsky.social - I'm excited for our idea! We're going to build off of our Grant Grover character but make it more visual novel style, with some meta-elements since I've been playing with websockets. Can't wait to get started!

#gamejam
August 24, 2025 at 2:26 PM