Steve de Niese
@stevedeniese.bsky.social
Lead/Game dev at Metal Pandas Studio. Founder and Creative Director at Assemblo. Sometime solo game dev. Programmer, artist, musician. Melbourne, Australia. 🇦🇺
https://linktr.ee/letterafterz
https://linktr.ee/letterafterz
Okay so maybe three coffees this
morning was a bad, bad choice for me…
morning was a bad, bad choice for me…
February 6, 2026 at 2:01 AM
Okay so maybe three coffees this
morning was a bad, bad choice for me…
morning was a bad, bad choice for me…
I am finally getting to see one of my all time favourite bands live tomorrow night, The Dear Hunter. Pretty amped about this gig, though I really wish they were headlining instead of supporting.
February 5, 2026 at 1:08 PM
I am finally getting to see one of my all time favourite bands live tomorrow night, The Dear Hunter. Pretty amped about this gig, though I really wish they were headlining instead of supporting.
Gen z barista today said to me he only played the classics, retro games… then followed it up by saying you know like minecraft, call of duty. 😦
After that the wind me away as dust.
After that the wind me away as dust.
February 5, 2026 at 7:53 AM
Gen z barista today said to me he only played the classics, retro games… then followed it up by saying you know like minecraft, call of duty. 😦
After that the wind me away as dust.
After that the wind me away as dust.
Finally hit up Schedule 1 earlier tonight and its got me hooked nice and early.
February 3, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Finally hit up Schedule 1 earlier tonight and its got me hooked nice and early.
Trying to come up with some fancy boi way to handle mixed behaviour overrides for my customers that can be added through a lil scriptable object. Think I finally have a good pattern, but so many possible options…
February 3, 2026 at 12:26 PM
Trying to come up with some fancy boi way to handle mixed behaviour overrides for my customers that can be added through a lil scriptable object. Think I finally have a good pattern, but so many possible options…
A little trip down to the market earlier today and picked up this big old box of fruit and veg for $35.
January 31, 2026 at 9:14 AM
A little trip down to the market earlier today and picked up this big old box of fruit and veg for $35.
I am such a paper prototype convert now. Using Miro to build and remote collaborate on them (along with some lil rng websites in the bg) has been pretty good.
Next game jam I will definitely be doing the whole game on paper in depth first.
Next game jam I will definitely be doing the whole game on paper in depth first.
January 25, 2026 at 8:21 PM
I am such a paper prototype convert now. Using Miro to build and remote collaborate on them (along with some lil rng websites in the bg) has been pretty good.
Next game jam I will definitely be doing the whole game on paper in depth first.
Next game jam I will definitely be doing the whole game on paper in depth first.
Finally watched Wonka, what a great film. I hadn’t realise Paul King had directed it - a few little Mighty Boosh references sneaking in were a nice surprise.
January 24, 2026 at 8:39 PM
Finally watched Wonka, what a great film. I hadn’t realise Paul King had directed it - a few little Mighty Boosh references sneaking in were a nice surprise.
My wife’s started getting into whittling. Love this lil guy.
January 20, 2026 at 8:41 AM
My wife’s started getting into whittling. Love this lil guy.
Garden shop got me feeling like I need to go slay some Naga
January 18, 2026 at 4:28 AM
Garden shop got me feeling like I need to go slay some Naga
bought my first manga on a whim while in a country town bookstore.
January 17, 2026 at 11:04 PM
bought my first manga on a whim while in a country town bookstore.
Ahh this is why I have just been stuck shy of the payout threshold for ages…
In April 2024, Spotify implemented a new scheme: songs with less than 1k streams per year would no longer receive royalties.
The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized.
Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.
The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized.
Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.
January 16, 2026 at 10:06 AM
Ahh this is why I have just been stuck shy of the payout threshold for ages…
Sometimes I look at a massive shelf of books and imagine what it’d be like if only I could magically absorb them all at once. I come up with the worst superhero powers…
January 16, 2026 at 10:03 AM
Sometimes I look at a massive shelf of books and imagine what it’d be like if only I could magically absorb them all at once. I come up with the worst superhero powers…
So I rediscovered Beat Saber, but I played it too late and now I can’t sleep.
January 15, 2026 at 1:15 PM
So I rediscovered Beat Saber, but I played it too late and now I can’t sleep.
I have a lot that no-one remembers, but this was one of my more obscure all timers on the C64 back in the day. (it was between this and Adventure Game Construction Set)
January 15, 2026 at 1:12 PM
I have a lot that no-one remembers, but this was one of my more obscure all timers on the C64 back in the day. (it was between this and Adventure Game Construction Set)
Reposted by Steve de Niese
btw if you or someone you know is a beginner/intermediate gamedev having trouble finding friendly teammates we connect people in a flexible process to finish long-term projects together, freeware jam vibes but 2-6 month schedules. no genAI art etc, the whole purpose is for people to learn and collab
Dev Pods - Learn Skills, Join Teams, Make Games
Dev Pods Helps You Learn Game Dev By Working On Real Games With Live Teams - So You Can Finally Finish Projects!
devpods.gg
August 1, 2025 at 1:29 AM
btw if you or someone you know is a beginner/intermediate gamedev having trouble finding friendly teammates we connect people in a flexible process to finish long-term projects together, freeware jam vibes but 2-6 month schedules. no genAI art etc, the whole purpose is for people to learn and collab
Still waiting for confirmation around NDAs but a game port we worked on, for a property that I have always loved growing up, just shipped recently and I can’t wait to talk about it more later. 🎉
January 15, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Still waiting for confirmation around NDAs but a game port we worked on, for a property that I have always loved growing up, just shipped recently and I can’t wait to talk about it more later. 🎉
Moved my business into a co-working space and I don’t think I’d ever go back to a traditional office ever again…
January 14, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Moved my business into a co-working space and I don’t think I’d ever go back to a traditional office ever again…
A solid week of building out Asana templates and processes, my brain is tiiiired
January 9, 2026 at 8:49 AM
A solid week of building out Asana templates and processes, my brain is tiiiired
What other game genres are named after the OG game itself? I can think of Sokoban, Roguelike and Metroidvania. I guess Doom Clone before FPS came around. Any others?
January 6, 2026 at 2:13 AM
What other game genres are named after the OG game itself? I can think of Sokoban, Roguelike and Metroidvania. I guess Doom Clone before FPS came around. Any others?
I think my paper prototype is ready for some testing. Feeling pretty happy with what I ended up with
January 4, 2026 at 8:24 AM
I think my paper prototype is ready for some testing. Feeling pretty happy with what I ended up with
Reposted by Steve de Niese
And to kick off 2026, here's my 9th starter pack for games and studios to follow!
I've been curating games and studios since I joined this site to try and help push devs and studios to promote their games more here so RTs are appreciated!
Find the rest of my packs on my profile.
I've been curating games and studios since I joined this site to try and help push devs and studios to promote their games more here so RTs are appreciated!
Find the rest of my packs on my profile.
January 2, 2026 at 7:58 PM
And to kick off 2026, here's my 9th starter pack for games and studios to follow!
I've been curating games and studios since I joined this site to try and help push devs and studios to promote their games more here so RTs are appreciated!
Find the rest of my packs on my profile.
I've been curating games and studios since I joined this site to try and help push devs and studios to promote their games more here so RTs are appreciated!
Find the rest of my packs on my profile.
Hotel bathroom mirror light reflections, giving me android eyes.
January 2, 2026 at 9:36 AM
Hotel bathroom mirror light reflections, giving me android eyes.
I’ve decided to try and make a little paper prototype/ boardgame for the supermarket segments to more rapidly test adding mechanics before spending so much time coding features I may drop.
I am so surprised how quickly it just all fits into that format perfectly!
I am so surprised how quickly it just all fits into that format perfectly!
December 28, 2025 at 8:10 PM
I’ve decided to try and make a little paper prototype/ boardgame for the supermarket segments to more rapidly test adding mechanics before spending so much time coding features I may drop.
I am so surprised how quickly it just all fits into that format perfectly!
I am so surprised how quickly it just all fits into that format perfectly!