DevDave

In Kiopioke you're a bird 🐦 who pokes your beak into objects and flings into the air. You also play as an elephant 🐘 with a stretchy trunk. Hundreds of levels, multiple endings, secret areas, and quirky characters. 🕹️ 🔗 store.steampowered.com/app/2696660/... www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC7g...

Even though ME:Andromeda didn't quite hit the highs that the trilogy hit (I still liked it!), I had hope for the new ME. This trailer shows that they understand the vibe, such a disappointment with the shutdown news.

Notice to Unreal devs who use pixel art in their games: don't use a high ortho width unless you want excessive ghosting on your sprites. I'm out here thinking I can scale sprites 10X to maintain physics when suddenly my outlines are doubled when moving. OrthoWidth=3840 is not a good time. #gamedev

A few thoughts on Unreal Engine GAS after my time with it: www.davidhardie.net#blog TLDR: There's friction and frustration, but less than if I was building from scratch. It's a definite recommendation, even with a pixel art setup. #unreal #gamedev

Just over a year ago, the antagonists were found irl.

getting back into pixel UV mapping, but this time trying out some layering strategies. this would make characters with custom equipment feasible while keeping a certain aesthetic. can sometimes look a little trippy.

i worry for Unreal Engine's future. there are rumblings that Disney may want to purchase Epic Games. if that happens, start the clock on enshittification. my guess is they'll gate features behind paywalls. line only go up. #unrealengine #gamdev #indiegamedev

yeah, you could say i'm a gamer.

why is it always like this

gave state trees a try. felt familiar but didnt quite hit for me #unrealengine #gamedev

here's something to check out on your lunch or while your login routine spins up: Kiopioke on a crazy deal rn store.steampowered.com/app/2696660/...

It looks like Steam's popular upcoming algo has been changed; it's gonna hurt small games bigtime. From what I gather, the wishlist cutoff is something like 300K where it used to be 7K-10K. Ouch. This vid explains it and the probable downsides. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYML... #gamedev #indiegame

A lot of people on Steam still don't know that getting the first 10 reviews is imperative. Once my game hit that mark, the discovery queue started showing my game. So, uh, if you liked a game and the dev team is small, please drop a review. Otherwise it stays buried. #gamedev

Occasionally refactoring and starting to notice something as RAM prices skyrocket. If this continues then maybe I can fit my game on a SNES cart. #solodev #gamedev

Visualizing NPC zone coverage with a whiteboard and kids magnets. Of course the home team defence are the stars. #gamedev

Having trouble figuring something out, so I'm trying some really simple language pseudo code. Maybe too simple. This will surely lead to a solution. #gamedev #unrealengine

Here's how I do sprite recolouring: -Apply UV map pixels to a sprite -Use the UV values to select colours from a Coloured UV --->add customization options like hair colour, beard, etc -Add shading #gamedev #pixelart #Habs

Been spinning my wheels on NPC behaviour logic, particularly on how NPCs should choose another NPC to defend against in a sports setting. Finding literature and examples has been difficult. Anyone know a direction I could explore? #gamedev

I think the saying goes "fifth time's the charm" #hockey #NHL #oilers #kings

Felt the urge to update and refresh my site. Goal was to keep it clean, make it more "dark mode", and sort the updates. Also gave me a chance to move to Bootstrap5 and learn some new javascript tricks. Happy with the result. www.davidhardie.net

Here's an interesting watch about a dev couple executing a strong vision to create a game based on Irish mythology which is often borrowed and misconstrued by other games.

It's Bandcamp Friday and I'm really proud to share the album I created called Kiopioke: Songbird. Hard charging tunes that build excitement with catchy melodies. Perfect for work or workouts. #bandcampfriday #music #chiptune #OST davidhardie.bandcamp.com/album/kiopio...

Dragging through your week? These tunes might help. www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6rK... #music #gamedev #chiptune

What other stats do you want to see in a hockey game? #gamedev #hockey

Refactoring from Behaviour Trees to State Trees. help #unrealengine

Test was a success. Absolutely thrilled to continue the project! #gamedev

Testing Steam Remote Play Together on a prototype tonight with some friends. High hopes for this one, wish me luck! #gamedev #steam

HoF trolling from this #Habs fan. For those not in the know, the 67 is not some reference to the meme, but rather to the last time the Leafs won the Cup, 1967. (Montreal has 10 cups since then.) They aren't even playing Toronto. Just chef's kiss work from this legendary hater. #NHL #hockey

West games are on late so I don't know how Calgary and Vancouver do their powerplays and penalty kills, but based on the stats, I'm guessing it looks like this. #pixelart #nhl

listen up NERDS, this is your new pricing guide: wanna price your game at 4, 5, 6, 7.99, or 8? ---> your price is 8 what about 2? ---> your price is 3 what about 0? -->your price is 2 10? ---> 12 13? --->15 got it? #gamedev #indiegamedev

listen up NERDS, this is your new pricing guide: wanna price your game at 4, 5, 6, 7.99, or 8? ---> your price is 8 what about 2? ---> your price is 3 what about 0? -->your price is 2 10? ---> 12 13? --->15 got it? #gamedev #indiegamedev

Happy new year! Let's start 2026 with a bang through these awesome events: www.ottawagames.info/events/ Jan 8 | Ottawa Game Makers: The use of dark patterns in video games and the legal implications Jan 23 - 25 | Eh! Game Jam Jan 26 - Feb 1 | Global Game Jam #events #ggj #gamejam #gamedev

Had some time to play indie games over Xmas! Really enjoying playing Kiopioke with @bibdu.bsky.social - developed by @davidhardie.net

The delivery guy trying to make his last delivery before Christmas #gamedev

I made this using a series of render targets. The chug was so real that the engine consistently and frequently crashed. So I remade it using materials (shaders) and wow, what an improvement. From literally unusable to buttery smooth. Lesson learned. #unreal

Happy early crimbus. Kiopioke -> 80% off store.steampowered.com/app/2696660/...

Here's what I did this year: www.davidhardie.net/retrospectiv... A coffee read about love, failure, disappointment, growth, patience, and determination. TW: multiple instances of scope creep spoiler alert: some successes too! #gamedev

Excited to connect with more of our fellow Ontario game studios + devs, so we put together these Ontario Game Devs starter packs! go.bsky.app/8jZjEfP go.bsky.app/7FjqDhQ Give them a follow! 🎮🍁

Here's what I did this year: www.davidhardie.net/retrospectiv... A coffee read about love, failure, disappointment, growth, patience, and determination. TW: multiple instances of scope creep spoiler alert: some successes too! #gamedev

And here's how smaller-media defines Indie: @sixoneindie.com The Indie Game Awards 2025 GOTY Noms: Same list minus Ball X Pit, and adds: and Roger - 39 Citizen Sleeper 2 - 41 Consume Me - no listing but it looks to be <20 Keep Driving - 30 Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo - 55 #gamede

Here's what mainstream defines as Indie. Game Awards 2025 Best Indie Game Noms: Game - approx # credits (from @mobygames.com) Clair Obscur - 400 Absolum - 360 Ball X Pit - 290 Hades 2 - 130 Blue Prince - 110 Silksong - 90 I hope all the tiny teams out there aren't getting discouraged... #gamedev

In the past year I have completed 4 prototypes and 1 major patch release. Was I spinning my tires on those little games or did I need those experiences to be ready for the next big one? Either way, I found it and I'm ready to take it all the way. Thank you all for your kind words. #gamedev

Looking for people's thoughts on Steam Remote Play: -How was your experience with Steam Remote Play? -What games have you played on it and how many people were connected? -How was the lag? -How did it compare to something like Parsec? (if you have used that) #gamedev #steam #retrogaming