hourglasseye
@hourglasseye.com
I like making video games!
I'm a game dev salaryman by day, and a solo indie dev by night. I'm working on a personal project right now (turn-based tactics), and I post progress updates once a week.
https://www.hourglasseye.com
I'm a game dev salaryman by day, and a solo indie dev by night. I'm working on a personal project right now (turn-based tactics), and I post progress updates once a week.
https://www.hourglasseye.com
Pinned
hourglasseye
@hourglasseye.com
· Jan 25
Hey, y'all! I usually post about my turn-based tactics game at least every Saturday 😁
This week, I made it possible to switch loadouts mid-fight... which also means you transform when you switch loadouts!
I hope you like it ✨
#screenshotsaturday #tactics #turnbased #gamedev #indiegame #indiedev 🎮
This week, I made it possible to switch loadouts mid-fight... which also means you transform when you switch loadouts!
I hope you like it ✨
#screenshotsaturday #tactics #turnbased #gamedev #indiegame #indiedev 🎮
I spent the day writing an update/gameloop utility with support for "layers" in #unity - lets me pause/resume and timescale-adjust groups of objects, without resorting to Time.timeScale.
I wish this was a built-in thing... as it stands, there are some trade-offs with my approach.
#indiedev
I wish this was a built-in thing... as it stands, there are some trade-offs with my approach.
#indiedev
October 25, 2025 at 11:41 AM
I started working on a new game - I have some collaborators this time! We're not quite ready to share details about it yet.
Meanwhile, between this new game and a project for work, I'm trying to find time to keep working on my turn-based tactics game. I still wanna work on it!
#indiedev
Meanwhile, between this new game and a project for work, I'm trying to find time to keep working on my turn-based tactics game. I still wanna work on it!
#indiedev
October 22, 2025 at 4:29 AM
I started working on a new game - I have some collaborators this time! We're not quite ready to share details about it yet.
Meanwhile, between this new game and a project for work, I'm trying to find time to keep working on my turn-based tactics game. I still wanna work on it!
#indiedev
Meanwhile, between this new game and a project for work, I'm trying to find time to keep working on my turn-based tactics game. I still wanna work on it!
#indiedev
My theory about #pokemon Z-A is that the player is already dead. You notice how there's no fall damage? Yeah. The player is actually in the hell version of Lumiose where Taunie torments you by keeping you from doing cool shit. I wanna catch Pokemon and explore, Taunie, not get dragged around.
October 20, 2025 at 2:51 PM
My theory about #pokemon Z-A is that the player is already dead. You notice how there's no fall damage? Yeah. The player is actually in the hell version of Lumiose where Taunie torments you by keeping you from doing cool shit. I wanna catch Pokemon and explore, Taunie, not get dragged around.
I just freed up 45 GB of space by deleting the Library folders from the many small Unity projects lying around in my SSD
October 15, 2025 at 12:19 PM
I just freed up 45 GB of space by deleting the Library folders from the many small Unity projects lying around in my SSD
Fiona and Cake season 2 just got announced! I'm so excited to see what's up with Huntress Wizard. Also really stoked to find out how they're going to hurt my feelings this time, because wow that last season.
October 13, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Fiona and Cake season 2 just got announced! I'm so excited to see what's up with Huntress Wizard. Also really stoked to find out how they're going to hurt my feelings this time, because wow that last season.
After several playtests it's evident that the "dungeon building" part of my game is very unintuitive and overly complicated... I think it's time to overhaul it into something much simpler. It's a bit of a bummer but I got the idea out of my system and I pushed it as far as I can.
#gamedev #indiedev
#gamedev #indiedev
October 11, 2025 at 11:31 AM
If you're like me, and you read the MDA paper, then come away needing more info - you may want to also look at the workshop resources (the workshop preceded the paper). The slides and the handout will provide you with more context and detail: algorithmancy.8kindsoffun.com/GDC2004/
#gamedev
#gamedev
Game Design and Tuning Workshop Materials
algorithmancy.8kindsoffun.com
October 8, 2025 at 4:52 AM
If you're like me, and you read the MDA paper, then come away needing more info - you may want to also look at the workshop resources (the workshop preceded the paper). The slides and the handout will provide you with more context and detail: algorithmancy.8kindsoffun.com/GDC2004/
#gamedev
#gamedev
Hi #gamedesign! Any recommendations for game design notation/grammar/diagrams that you actually use (as-is or modified)?
So far I've read The Chemistry of Game Design by Daniel Cook (keen to try it)!
Is there one that focuses on relationships between player actions and objects?
#gamedev #indiedev
So far I've read The Chemistry of Game Design by Daniel Cook (keen to try it)!
Is there one that focuses on relationships between player actions and objects?
#gamedev #indiedev
October 6, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Hi #gamedesign! Any recommendations for game design notation/grammar/diagrams that you actually use (as-is or modified)?
So far I've read The Chemistry of Game Design by Daniel Cook (keen to try it)!
Is there one that focuses on relationships between player actions and objects?
#gamedev #indiedev
So far I've read The Chemistry of Game Design by Daniel Cook (keen to try it)!
Is there one that focuses on relationships between player actions and objects?
#gamedev #indiedev
The playtests didn't go too well... my game broke in two different places for two different people. Still not sure how to replicate the first breakage which happened very early, but I have the stack traces 😬
We found some UX issues that need addressing at least, which I will!
#gamedev #indiedev
We found some UX issues that need addressing at least, which I will!
#gamedev #indiedev
October 1, 2025 at 2:43 PM
It's almost time to bug a friend or two for a playtest for my game. Progress is a bit slow.
Also, to get a more structured understanding of game design, I read A Theory of Fun and watched the 10-years-after video... which references a bunch of stuff I now want to check out too.
#gamedev #indiedev
Also, to get a more structured understanding of game design, I read A Theory of Fun and watched the 10-years-after video... which references a bunch of stuff I now want to check out too.
#gamedev #indiedev
October 1, 2025 at 4:37 AM
I got a request for feature that visualizes the movement range of enemies, so here's what I have so far. It doesn't show attack ranges - just how far an enemy can go, and how many action points it'll cost to reach a tile.
Does this communicate the info well enough? #feedbackwanted
#gamedev
Does this communicate the info well enough? #feedbackwanted
#gamedev
September 15, 2025 at 10:18 AM
I got a request for feature that visualizes the movement range of enemies, so here's what I have so far. It doesn't show attack ranges - just how far an enemy can go, and how many action points it'll cost to reach a tile.
Does this communicate the info well enough? #feedbackwanted
#gamedev
Does this communicate the info well enough? #feedbackwanted
#gamedev
Continuing from the quoted post: here's a demo of the SPREAD curse's simple damage-per-turn effect - this time, it deals less damage but affects adjacent allies!
#turnbased #tactics #indiegame #gamedev
#turnbased #tactics #indiegame #gamedev
September 14, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Continuing from the quoted post: here's a demo of the SPREAD curse's simple damage-per-turn effect - this time, it deals less damage but affects adjacent allies!
#turnbased #tactics #indiegame #gamedev
#turnbased #tactics #indiegame #gamedev
Am I crazy, or does this look like it was built with Dragon Quest Builders 2 as its base/engine?
Serebii Update: Pokémon Pokopia releases in 2026 on Nintendo Switch 2
September 13, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Am I crazy, or does this look like it was built with Dragon Quest Builders 2 as its base/engine?
Originally, the curses do nothing on their own... that didn't work out too well, so I made simple effects for each curse. For this post, I wanted to show the damage-per-turn effect of the DAMAGE curse. I'll post about the others over the next few days!
#turnbased #tactics #indiegame #gamedev
#turnbased #tactics #indiegame #gamedev
September 12, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Originally, the curses do nothing on their own... that didn't work out too well, so I made simple effects for each curse. For this post, I wanted to show the damage-per-turn effect of the DAMAGE curse. I'll post about the others over the next few days!
#turnbased #tactics #indiegame #gamedev
#turnbased #tactics #indiegame #gamedev
This week has been rough. I'll work on my game for a bit while listening to some Ragnarok Online BGMs (thank you, SoundTeMP). Maybe I'll feel a bit better afterwards.
September 10, 2025 at 3:50 PM
This week has been rough. I'll work on my game for a bit while listening to some Ragnarok Online BGMs (thank you, SoundTeMP). Maybe I'll feel a bit better afterwards.
The idea: using a skill repeatedly within one turn can grant bonuses - here, it's stronger damage on the 3rd hit and onwards (extra damage on 3rd and 6th).
I'm hoping to tempt the player to risk saving action points for a bigger payoff next turn.
#turnbased #tactics #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev
I'm hoping to tempt the player to risk saving action points for a bigger payoff next turn.
#turnbased #tactics #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev
August 23, 2025 at 1:18 PM
The idea: using a skill repeatedly within one turn can grant bonuses - here, it's stronger damage on the 3rd hit and onwards (extra damage on 3rd and 6th).
I'm hoping to tempt the player to risk saving action points for a bigger payoff next turn.
#turnbased #tactics #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev
I'm hoping to tempt the player to risk saving action points for a bigger payoff next turn.
#turnbased #tactics #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev
I'm headcanon-ing that Lucius' first Pokémon was Smoliv, and that with it, he somehow beat and caught the Scyther that would become the Kleavor in his team.
August 23, 2025 at 11:46 AM
I'm headcanon-ing that Lucius' first Pokémon was Smoliv, and that with it, he somehow beat and caught the Scyther that would become the Kleavor in his team.
Now I'm wondering... what if I made an enemy that turns invisible, repositions, spends the next turn just saving action points, then leaves invisibility to unleash multiple attacks?
But then... how can invisibility be managed in grid-based #tactics? Force them to become visibile on hit/collide?
But then... how can invisibility be managed in grid-based #tactics? Force them to become visibile on hit/collide?
I implemented a way for the player to conserve their action points for later use! I have an idea for how to make this more interesting for the player... I'll make another post about it - hopefully soon!
#indiedev #gamedev #indiegame #turnbased #tactics
#indiedev #gamedev #indiegame #turnbased #tactics
August 21, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Now I'm wondering... what if I made an enemy that turns invisible, repositions, spends the next turn just saving action points, then leaves invisibility to unleash multiple attacks?
But then... how can invisibility be managed in grid-based #tactics? Force them to become visibile on hit/collide?
But then... how can invisibility be managed in grid-based #tactics? Force them to become visibile on hit/collide?
I implemented a way for the player to conserve their action points for later use! I have an idea for how to make this more interesting for the player... I'll make another post about it - hopefully soon!
#indiedev #gamedev #indiegame #turnbased #tactics
#indiedev #gamedev #indiegame #turnbased #tactics
August 20, 2025 at 1:57 PM
I implemented a way for the player to conserve their action points for later use! I have an idea for how to make this more interesting for the player... I'll make another post about it - hopefully soon!
#indiedev #gamedev #indiegame #turnbased #tactics
#indiedev #gamedev #indiegame #turnbased #tactics
Enemies in my game can now summon minions! I was thinking of having an enemy type that can attack from afar while their minions keep the player busy.
Should summoned minions act on the turn they're summoned? #feedbackwanted
#screenshotsaturday #indiedev #indiegame #gamedev #turnbased #tactics 🎮
Should summoned minions act on the turn they're summoned? #feedbackwanted
#screenshotsaturday #indiedev #indiegame #gamedev #turnbased #tactics 🎮
August 2, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Enemies in my game can now summon minions! I was thinking of having an enemy type that can attack from afar while their minions keep the player busy.
Should summoned minions act on the turn they're summoned? #feedbackwanted
#screenshotsaturday #indiedev #indiegame #gamedev #turnbased #tactics 🎮
Should summoned minions act on the turn they're summoned? #feedbackwanted
#screenshotsaturday #indiedev #indiegame #gamedev #turnbased #tactics 🎮
I added a way for enemies to retaliate whenever hit by the player or the player's minions. It won't be available for all enemies, just for some! I'm thinking it'll encourage the player to explore non-melee options for certain encounters.
#indiedev #gamedev #indiegame #tactics #turnbased
#indiedev #gamedev #indiegame #tactics #turnbased
July 28, 2025 at 5:01 PM
I added a way for enemies to retaliate whenever hit by the player or the player's minions. It won't be available for all enemies, just for some! I'm thinking it'll encourage the player to explore non-melee options for certain encounters.
#indiedev #gamedev #indiegame #tactics #turnbased
#indiedev #gamedev #indiegame #tactics #turnbased