Ben Slinger
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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
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
Ours came out pretty well in the end, after lots of hot glue burns!
A 12 year old in a homemade Knight costume from the game Hollow Knight.
October 31, 2025 at 9:50 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
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
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
My kids were home sick today and I discovered this great environmental storytelling on our driveway.

If it turns out to be a zombie virus the survivors will know what happened here.
A photo of a driveway with "I Am Sick" written on it with chalk
August 21, 2025 at 6:31 PM
ben.slinger.com.au
Working on a collaborative puzzle box idea - having fun playing with physics and shaders I'm Godot for this little intro scene.

Glitches galore that I will eventually have to fix, but I'm happy with where it's going!

#gamedev #indiedev
August 19, 2025 at 10:47 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
I realized I'd overscoped so I'm paring down the colour palette and gameplay complexity of my game. I'm going to keep it as a straightforward arcade experience and remove the upgrade and building elements.

There will still be powerups though, like this sauce cannon!

#gamedev #indiedev #saucecannon
August 6, 2025 at 1:31 PM
ben.slinger.com.au
Added a background, I'm not sure my main elements quite pop enough now though, what do you think?

#badatart #gamedev #indiedev #solodev
July 30, 2025 at 2:47 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
Steering behaviours are working well enough that I could move on to some other things. Added today:

- XP pickups
- new weapon (Farfalle/Bowtie launcher)
- explosions! (better effects TBD)

#gamedev #indiedev #solodev
July 29, 2025 at 3:23 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
Adding some juice to the game - I may need to tweak these sauce explosions a little. 🍕💥

#gamedev #indiedev #solodev
July 22, 2025 at 4:32 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
Family trip to the old fashioned Sims factory
The front of an old fashioned building with a sign reading "W.Proctor Wheelwright and Coach Manufactory"
July 7, 2025 at 4:37 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
I grew up on these streets
July 4, 2025 at 12:56 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
Latest progress on this goofy Pasta vs Pizza shooter:

Recruit additional chefs
Penne Turrets!
Improved enemy AI (still some work to do there)
Added XP (doesn't do anything yet)

I have nearly all the main elements in place now, then I'll start balancing and working on art 😎

#gamedev #indiedev
July 2, 2025 at 5:14 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
My son gave me the idea of making the turret barrels a piece of penne pasta, so here's the beginning of that 😁 It may be hard to see, I'm still working out the best sizes, but it's embedded in a nice spaghetti bolognese 🍝

#gamedev #indiedev
June 30, 2025 at 11:56 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
I've started work on a very silly arcade shooter - as a pasta-based alien society, you are fending off the attacks of the pizza invaders.

Still very early days of course!

I'm planning some light base building mechanics and potentially storylets for some narrative too.

#gamedev #indiedev
June 30, 2025 at 5:21 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
Here's the zombie rising animation on its own, I'm most proud of this one!
May 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
ben.slinger.com.au
I've been working on my pixel art and animation for Pixel Game Jam, and I'm quite proud of how this has come out so far!

Need to polish up the zombie walk cycle and add some idle and backstepping animations on the main character next, and then add some shooting and reactions.

#gamejam #gamedev
May 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
ben.slinger.com.au
Building out the start of a level and working on the bullet slowing areas - this is the most shader work I've ever done, it's fun once you get the hang of it 😁

Anybody know how I would feather the edges of an arbitrary polygon though? Shader is good except for the sharp edges 😑

#gamejam #gamedev
May 7, 2025 at 12:22 PM
ben.slinger.com.au
@dropout.tv , I expect this is a Ticketmaster issue but the artist pre-sale for the 2026 Melbourne show just started but is showing no tickets - not that they're sold out, but as if it hasn't been set up properly.

cc @ticketmaster.com
A screenshot from ticketmaster.com.au showing the ticket buying screen for Dropout's show on July 30th 2026 at the Palais in St Kilda. No seats or tickets are showing up.
May 7, 2025 at 12:13 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
This is starting to feel like a real game! My 11yo son did the sprites which I think are fantastic - once I add some juice and get the bullet slowing mechanic in there I can start building out a level proper.

#gamejam #gamedev #bullethell
May 5, 2025 at 6:35 AM
ben.slinger.com.au
Added some temporary assets from Kenney's asset packs, and started playing around with a gimmick that slows bullets in particular areas. I think it'll work well once I tweak the enemy bullet patterns and start visualizing the effect!

#gamejam #gamedev #bullethell
May 4, 2025 at 7:00 AM