skywardabyss
LightNews LightNews
banner
skywardabyss.bsky.social
skywardabyss
@skywardabyss.bsky.social
18 followers 19 following 98 posts
I’m an experienced cyber compliance officer and a big fan of retro gaming and game dev, looking to make friends with people who treat others as equals. Not a fan of ego or entitlement.

Banner image is from wallhaven.cc☝️
Posts Replies Media Videos
skywardabyss.bsky.social
Try using Win (Right) mapped to "Disable" and see what happens?
November 12, 2025 at 10:30 PM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
This is a perfect example of one of the things that Nintendo does to make me dislike and boycott them (excerpt from a Kickstarter campaign I backed).

I was almost foolish enough to request a Nintendo Switch key, but thankfully, I came to my senses and requested a Steam key instead 🙌
This is an excerpt from a Kickstarter campaign I backed: "We know many of you are eagerly waiting for the US keys for the Nintendo Switch, and believe us, we are waiting too! The process with Nintendo is unfortunately not as straightforward as with platforms like Steam, where keys can be ordered. For Nintendo, developers and publishers receive a limited number of free keys. Any additional keys have to be purchased. However, these purchases can only be made after the game has been released (and occasionally, a system bug requires manual intervention before that’s even possible). Once the purchase becomes available, Nintendo issues a pro-forma invoice that allows payment to be made. That payment has already been completed some time ago. Afterward, the transaction number must be confirmed, which we’ve already done. Now we’re waiting for Nintendo’s confirmation. Once that comes through, we’ll receive the keys and send them out to everyone immediately. Unfortunately, we don’t have a way to expedite this process. It’s entirely in Nintendo’s hands at this point. We appreciate your patience and understanding while we await the completion of this final step."
November 11, 2025 at 3:08 PM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
I recently purchased the #GDQuest bundle on sale ($216 on early access, IIRC) to work through their #Godot 4 course: www.gdquest.com.

I am at the #GDScript section. I have a game or two in me, I know it.
A screenshot of the Godot 4 course library included with the Godot 4 Starter Pack.
September 13, 2025 at 12:02 AM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
Why are these showing up in #gamedev?

Does anyone else see these?
March 11, 2025 at 2:33 AM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 18: No Man's Sky

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
This is a screenshot from No Man's Sky, encapsulating a gorgeous vista from an alien world. The player's spaceship is flying meters above the vast expanse of water below, captured in the lower left corner. The water below is primarily transparent, featuring pinks, purples, and blues, lit up by the planet's sun behind the player. The background surrounds the viewport with cliffs and mountains of varying heights, shifting in tone from gray to purple to deep, rich pink colors. The spaceship has a massive thruster attached to its rear of a deep neon blue color. The body was designed with maneuverability in mind, with its short body and downturned wing span. The ship's body color is a metallic silver color with accents of red and white. The rocky skyline incorporates a purple-and-pink rainbow effect, dotting the landscape like a clone of the Grand Canyon, modeling its underlying sensibilities.
February 27, 2025 at 8:31 PM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 17: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
This is a screenshot of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The main protagonist Link stands in the center of the frame holding a gnarled wooden club, wearing a light-colored long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up, brown capri-style pants, and a pair of medium height brown hiking boots. A blue bokoblin to his right is wearing what appears to be a brown fur fashioned into a sort of shirt and a lighter-colored fur loincloth underneath. It is swinging a wooden club in Link's direction; although, Link appears poised to dodge backwards out of the club's reach, likely in a counterattack maneuver that will take the bokoblin unaware. The bokoblin looks a bit like a pig with its pink snout and mostly toothless mouth, including its oversized teardrop-shaped ears and pink eyes. A humongous cave stands before Link around the middle to the background of the viewport, carved out of a stone similar to granite, fashioned into the shape of a bokoblin skull with gaping eyes, mouth, and nose holes to let in light and serve as the entrance. You can spot some dangling lit torches, precariously perched upon their skull bases, strung up with a length of rope, explosive red barrels marked with cautionary markings, a locked treasure chest with pale purple eyes, and another bokoblin a short distance from the cave's opening. A black bokoblin approaches from off screen, running into the frame from the left side, sporting a wooden shield fashioned from a thick tree's bark. It looks similar to the blue bokoblin, including a singular bone-like horn protruding from its crown.
February 25, 2025 at 11:11 PM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
Heck yeah, those are awesome ideas!

I believe that if the gameplay is compelling in some way, like fun, surprises, controls, etc. or even better, a combination of those types of factors, you're going to have a good time. You've probably got a solid concept already.

Fill out a GDD and find out
This is a cat shrugging emoji or an anthropomorphic biped with a face like a cat making a shrugging gesture for those who are slightly more cynical.
February 25, 2025 at 7:50 PM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 16: Pokémon SoulSilver

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
This screenshot shows a scene from Pokémon SoulSilver, featuring the protagonist and their Pokémon walking down a gray brick walkway. The main character is wearing a black-billed hat with a yellow strip running vertically across the hat's crown and what appears to be a red and black jumpsuit with white accents. They seem to be walking with a destination in mind. The Pokémon is blue with large eyes and red protruding plates along its spine with some greenish coloring on its tail and underside. The scene is a gorgeous 16 or 32-bit autumn landscape with leaves in colors raining from golds, and reds to oranges and browns donning the viewport.
February 25, 2025 at 4:56 PM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 15: Chrono Trigger

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
This is a screenshot from the SNES classic Chrono Trigger, featuring the time travel machine that enables the protagonists to travel backward and forward in time to fight the forces of evil. This viewport shows the portal engaged by the two machines, allegedly transporting a party member to or from another period. The main protagonist stands at attention in the left middle with red spiky hair and boots in his classic blue jumpsuit until the phasing ends. The three characters to his left are facing the machine, which has an amulet lying at its base, likely facilitating the origin period for the jump point and representing the past. The machine to the right has no objects lying at its base, and this one likely represents the future state. The main protagonist stands with one of his crew to the right, his master at arms in a green and yellow beanie-type hat with additional functionality (unbeknownst to me) and a yellow outfit resembling coveralls. Several bystanders are in the scene, one in an olive green tunic-style shirt with blue pants, two conversing to the character player’s left, and another childlike character to the left and back a few steps. The child in the back has medium-length orange hair and is wearing a green vest with a long-sleeved shirt, dark pants, and shoes. Another similar-looking character to his right The two conversing individuals are men, one bald, wearing an olive green overcoat with dark pants and boots, and the other a spirited man with rust-colored hair and a dark brown goatee. The energetic man animatedly waving his arms while speaking with the bald man. The lively man is wearing a forest green vest, blue pants, and brownish-red boots with a thick leather bracer upon his right wrist.
February 25, 2025 at 1:34 PM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 14: The Simpsons (Arcade)

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
This is a screenshot of Marge Simpson standing in the middle of Springfield Street, accompanied by her trusty Hoover-esque vacuum cleaner, circa 1970, in all its red fabrics, plastics, and silvery steel glory. Marge’s green dress, pearl necklace, and red pumps complete her look as she stares down two mischievous-looking approaching baddies. The twins wear purple suits, blue collared shirts, and brown loafers with matching devilish grins. The storefronts in the background include a seafood restaurant and a video store. The former is adorned with reddish brick and an Italian-style awning, while the video store sports a more modern visage, including its glass front with green and blue steel frames crisscrossed throughout. Light posts line the block with yellow globes and silver colored posts.
February 24, 2025 at 8:29 PM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 13: Dark Souls

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
An artist's rendering of the Dark Souls disc cover focusing on the protagonist is framed beautifully in the mid-to-right center of the viewport. The character stands frozen, donning a knight's armor. Its gaze is fixed upon a fading fire burning in its hand, willing the fire to live. The intricately crafted helmet the protagonist has equipped sprouts a plume of cloth from its rear, waving surreptitiously in the breeze. The armor has been deeply battle-tested and appears worn and very well used, with sporadic dents, dings, and rust spots. Its cape flapping in the wind is a shadow of its former glory, gnawed and chewed through by many different spear tips, swords, and axes through many hard-won battles. This depiction symbolizes the main story and plot of the game. The player’s objective is to either relight the fire or snuff it out, plunging man into another age of darkness and relinquishing the First Flame. Further in the distance, magic and electricity appear to light the night sky, and an overcast and foggy reception awaits the Hollow ahead (a name used to describe those who can traverse the realm of the undead).
February 21, 2025 at 1:42 AM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
@sammgreer.bsky.social I just caught up on “It Eats Planets.”

It is an excellent graphic novel so far, and each new panel is a gift 🤩

Samantha is a fantastic artist and writer, and I can wholeheartedly recommend her work, though, I don't know her personally.

Still, she rocks 🪨

#iteatsplanets
February 20, 2025 at 2:41 PM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 12: San Francisco Rush 2049

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
This box art is from San Francisco Rush 2049. It features one of the unlockable cars in the game front and center, a cyan-blue Indy-type race car that appears to be landing a jump, although it’s difficult to tell from this angle. The opponents are out of frame except for one landing behind the driver and to the right (our left). They are driving what appears to be a cerulean blue (maybe a few shades darker) supercar. A futuristic San Francisco dots the landscape with a lovely purplish pink skyline hinting around dusk or dawn, likely the latter noting the lack of traffic. The box art indicates that the game supports multiplayer for up to four players, Rumble Pak, and Expansion Pak (sold separately).
February 20, 2025 at 1:23 PM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 11: Contra

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
This is a screenshot from the popular NES title Contra, featuring a prominent protagonist avatar firing his assault rifle from the upper left quadrant at an alien cybernetic machine gun turret on the right side of the viewport. The terrain appears to be a lush South American or possibly Asian jungle with rocky outcroppings and multilevel platforms. The player character is shirtless, wearing blue jeans and a red bandana in his hair to prevent the sweat and blood from dripping into his eyes as he decimates wave after wave of alien interlopers. The protagonist's rifle must be some form of alien design because it can switch configurations based on the collection of innocuous football-shaped canisters that propel themselves around the map at high speeds. The alien enemy on screen is running across a lower platform below the player character, dressed in a red and silver space suit. It is carrying its spoils in a vessel across its back. It looks like a cloth sack or a backpack-style container, but the details are intricate for simple 8-bit graphics.
February 18, 2025 at 7:12 AM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 10: Aero Fighters 2

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
A screenshot of a dazzling Aero Fighters 2 screen. This is most likely a boss battle. The player’s jet hovers in the lower left quadrant firing multiple shots from its powered up laser cannon directly at the open eye of the enemy robot boss. One of the enemy’s machine gun turrets is either overheated or has been damaged. The whole right cannon’s casing is glowing red, while it continues to fire shot after shot at the protagonist’s fighter jet. The ground is a muted mud or dirt field with some clear signs of use and decorative effects. The player’s current score and “Insert Coins” request for another player appear along the top of the screen as is typical with most arcade-style shooters.
February 17, 2025 at 8:10 PM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 9: Ape Out

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
A top down scene from the video game, Ape Out. You can’t help but wonder if this is the culmination of the ape-themed sketches from American Ultra come to life on screen. The screenshot is smattered about with the blood and sweat of your enemies, with a sizable amount of your own covering a significant portion of floor. It looks like what I imagine a scene from an FBI forensic’s bloodstain spatter analysis class might look like. Highly visible against the bloody backdrop, there are a few white-colored body parts in small piles from some very unlucky security guards dispatched to the area for support. The smell would be noxious to be frank. The escaping ape protagonist is a slightly darker shade of orange than its vivid orange blood covering the area, making them barely visible in the chaotic display. It bears the mark of a scene that can really only be described as a Jackson Pollock clone with a limited color palette. The scattered desks and chairs and papers provide the only clue that this was an ordinary office building and office a few short moments before.
February 17, 2025 at 4:52 AM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 8: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
This is a digital painting of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night by Daniel Bogni. The main character, Richter, is leaping up and across the crumbling ruins of what was once a pristine stone staircase. The ravages of time have since seen its destruction. This scene’s central theme is darkness, but the juxtaposition of the moon catches the eye and draws the observer in to it. The vast expanse of clouds and sky are visible through the hollow areas in the stairs and castle tower. The miasma of purples darken the overcast sky adding to its foreboding quality. The red carpet leaks from the castle tower in sinew and streams, as if the fabric were bleeding away from the ascending steps over hundreds of years.
February 17, 2025 at 3:21 AM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 7: ToeJam and Earl

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
A screenshot from the Sega Genesis game, ToeJam and Earl. Earl, an alien with two antennae wearing “The Terminator” sunglasses and swim trunks, is standing on a plateau representing the earth. The land mass upon which the game takes place is hovering in space. There is a clearly-defined edge that you can fall off of, too. Earl has deployed a 90’s style boombox to distract the nearby nerd herd, a common in-game enemy, but in doing so has pantsed himself. While he stands in the frame with a look of embarrassment and rosy-red cheeks, a spaceship part on a marble pedestal clamors for your attention with its flashing arrows and blinking lights, its backdrop set on a purple field. There is also a nearby doorway on the right side of the scene, eagerly awaiting Earl’s quick exit to another random location on the level. If the player is deft, they will quickly have Earl’s pants up and make a beeline for the random present, identified by the huge yellow question mark displayed on its crisply folded black wrapping paper, before changing course to exit through the anticipatory doorway, all before the herd of dancing nerds is any the wiser.
February 14, 2025 at 5:51 PM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 6: Bloodborne

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
A gif from Bloodborne showing one of the iconic scenes where one of the later antagonists challenges the player character. The antagonist’s silhouette and some small details on his overcoat are few things you can make out in the foreground. The blood moon’s form drapes ominously over the scene, easily taking up half of the available viewport space. The man in front of you clasps a large stick, one that resembles more of a fence post than that of a cane or walking stick, as he appears to be using it to support his weight as he slowly begins to stand. There are newly fallen deciduous leaves blowing about the ground and around the Yharnum countryside, including pollen and other specks of dried leaves and plants. There appears to be the discarded shell of a man tossed aside in the left side of the image, possibly wearing a hat and coat, but it’s difficult to see from our vantage point. The blood moon looms widely overhead enveloping all in its visage, making it difficult to not get caught in its luminous pull, drawing the eyes ever upward. This is the moment that the game is ushering the player toward, and you stand transfixed, staring upward, moments before the inevitable final conflict.
February 14, 2025 at 10:40 AM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 5: Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
I found and posted this screenshot from Ecco, the Dolphin: Defender of the Future. It allegedly depicts Ecco, the Dolphin, swimming toward us as the viewer. His expression cannot be mistaken. The look on this digital dolphin's face is joy, glee, or amusement, one of the big three serotonin boosters. He appears to have just rescued and returned another fish’s child (fish?), explaining the look of sheer happiness. The surrounding water is crystal clear, reminding me of a swimming pool with its blue-glass color. Meanwhile, the fish and their baby are still hugging, having a touching reunion in the background. Or, this is all speculation, and I don't know what I'm talking about. Either way, it's not you who botched it, so you're golden.
February 13, 2025 at 3:49 AM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 3: Another World

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
This screenshot from the video game Another World features a front-facing view of the protagonist. He is slightly left of center, wearing a black T-shirt and gray pants, waving at the silhouette of another non-player character slightly off-screen and to the right.
February 12, 2025 at 4:48 AM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 3: Metroid Fusion

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
Samus Aran stands tall in her upgraded suit, reddish bronze along the arms, legs, and chest, with a light sunshine yellow-colored torso and codpiece. Her right arm is a metallic laser cannon beneath the elbow joint, poised to shoot anything nearby. The green glow from her helmet’s visor betrays her eyes, the only aspect of Ms. Aran that we can see underneath all that metal. The same green glowing color is on her hands, elbow, chest underside, hip, and knee joints. She is standing in a room filled with presumably space pirates, although they are not in frame well enough to see, floating in a green transparent, viscous liquid, likely on life support or in stasis. They are connected to hundreds of wires that lead up to the ceiling and beyond. The room appears to be submerged underwater. The back wall is made of glass, and the visible slivers presumably have marine or alien life behind them. It represents what appears to be coral and leafy water plants. Samus seems to be looking down and to her left at something that caught her attention.
February 10, 2025 at 1:56 PM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 2: Goodboy Galaxy

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
This screenshot of Goodboy Galaxy has a colorful palette of hues, including a reddish, orangish rocky plateau with bubblegum pink grass cover and square-shaped onyx black stones plugging up the entrance. The protagonist, a dog in a royal blue spacesuit, carries a green laser rifle with a glass dome protecting his head. He interacts with a Keropi-looking frog character with yellowish skin who is visibly bemused. The frog is wearing a green tank top and red pants. The background shows a mysterious green sky, with treetops, tree trunks, and houses visible nearby.
February 10, 2025 at 2:24 AM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day, for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 0:

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
Link and the Picori, Ezlo (aka the Minish Cap, resting on his head), looking at a map with the Picori, aka the Minish Cap, surrounded my Minish folk. The Forest Minish pictured here are elf-like humanoids wearing red hats and green forest clothes made from local flora who help Link throughout his adventure. Their eyes are almost alien in that they have large dark pupils with no white visible in their eyes. The background includes multiple colored flowers and plants that tower over the group, all miniature compared to the Hylians in the world, which are human-sized.
February 8, 2025 at 11:23 AM
skywardabyss.bsky.social
The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you.

One game per day, for 20 days.

No explanations, no reviews, and in no particular order.

Day 0:

#GameChallenge #gaming #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiedev #retrorewind
February 8, 2025 at 5:50 AM