Steven🛰️
@starmotedev.bsky.social
gamedev | procgen addict | making arcticide
had a few family challenges recently, so may have to push release to ~Q1 2026, but still mulling it over 🤔
November 4, 2025 at 5:29 PM
had a few family challenges recently, so may have to push release to ~Q1 2026, but still mulling it over 🤔
grinding away on future-proofing. although doing an EA release, I want to avoid breaking saves/continuity as much as possible. so, I'm trying to get at least tracer versions of everything in beforehand: handcrafted level support, trading interface, agents targeting other factions, etc
November 4, 2025 at 5:28 PM
grinding away on future-proofing. although doing an EA release, I want to avoid breaking saves/continuity as much as possible. so, I'm trying to get at least tracer versions of everything in beforehand: handcrafted level support, trading interface, agents targeting other factions, etc
Reposted by Steven🛰️
PROCJAM - the Procedural Generation Jam - is back for another year! Join us on itch.io this November for another week of making something that makes something - a bskybot, a videogame, a digital artwork, a dice table or something else!
🗓️ Nov 21st - Dec 1st
🔮 itch.io/jam/procjam
🗓️ Nov 21st - Dec 1st
🔮 itch.io/jam/procjam
PROCJAM - The Procedural Generation Jam
A game jam from 2025-11-21 to 2025-12-01 hosted by PROCJAM. Let's Make Something! PROCJAM - the Procedural Generation Jam - is a creative coding jam about making things that make things. This normally...
itch.io
October 27, 2025 at 3:35 PM
PROCJAM - the Procedural Generation Jam - is back for another year! Join us on itch.io this November for another week of making something that makes something - a bskybot, a videogame, a digital artwork, a dice table or something else!
🗓️ Nov 21st - Dec 1st
🔮 itch.io/jam/procjam
🗓️ Nov 21st - Dec 1st
🔮 itch.io/jam/procjam
besides spaghetti, amazing how much junk you can accumulate in a long project: dozens of obsolete items, systems, scenes, canvasses. maybe the positive is that it's evidence of ample iteration, but really is a chore to sift through and clean up
October 24, 2025 at 8:05 PM
besides spaghetti, amazing how much junk you can accumulate in a long project: dozens of obsolete items, systems, scenes, canvasses. maybe the positive is that it's evidence of ample iteration, but really is a chore to sift through and clean up
duckov is pretty damn good. Feels like a lightweight, casual take compared to ZS. difficulty feels coffee-break level, and the silly vibe and simplicity plus the extensive progression seems to land in the addictive long-playable spot for a lot of people, like dave the diver, maybe arpgs, mmos, etc.
October 24, 2025 at 6:54 PM
duckov is pretty damn good. Feels like a lightweight, casual take compared to ZS. difficulty feels coffee-break level, and the silly vibe and simplicity plus the extensive progression seems to land in the addictive long-playable spot for a lot of people, like dave the diver, maybe arpgs, mmos, etc.
amazing how much more work immersive ux can be than arcadey. for example, right now flashbanged enemies have a ✨particle above their head. I'd like to replace it with an animation, but that requires: anim, anim state, logic to handle transitions, logic to turn off aim/look targeting, and .., and ...
October 2, 2025 at 6:49 PM
amazing how much more work immersive ux can be than arcadey. for example, right now flashbanged enemies have a ✨particle above their head. I'd like to replace it with an animation, but that requires: anim, anim state, logic to handle transitions, logic to turn off aim/look targeting, and .., and ...
added the trilux sight for the fal. feels pretty neat, though I'd like to make it take up less of the screen
October 2, 2025 at 4:23 AM
added the trilux sight for the fal. feels pretty neat, though I'd like to make it take up less of the screen
(also trying to get the cameras working better, including viewing photos in-game. if I can get it working, could use it for quests as well as flavour. long lenses can also be used to scout ofc. years ago I made a system where you could snap procgen chars and it would tag them, so should be doable
October 1, 2025 at 9:29 PM
(also trying to get the cameras working better, including viewing photos in-game. if I can get it working, could use it for quests as well as flavour. long lenses can also be used to scout ofc. years ago I made a system where you could snap procgen chars and it would tag them, so should be doable
Added black-billed magpies as an alternate perching bird (only had crows). Not in the Arctic archipelago currently, but in this scenario (~2070) there is a bunch of natural and manmade forestation. Not a huge deal, but trying to add little anchors to the setting (also just fun/quick to add)
October 1, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Added black-billed magpies as an alternate perching bird (only had crows). Not in the Arctic archipelago currently, but in this scenario (~2070) there is a bunch of natural and manmade forestation. Not a huge deal, but trying to add little anchors to the setting (also just fun/quick to add)
not much to show as been mostly slogging through invisible stuff recently: saving, settings, progression. did do a pass on the base NPCs though. pretty pleased with the approach, but still a few to do, as well as bespoke anims etc
September 30, 2025 at 7:15 PM
not much to show as been mostly slogging through invisible stuff recently: saving, settings, progression. did do a pass on the base NPCs though. pretty pleased with the approach, but still a few to do, as well as bespoke anims etc
it's hard for me to get too excited about the new sub-genre of indies which is basically: gambling, with extra steps. at the same time I can't criticize them as randomness is the special sauce in many of my favourites; gambling-likes are arguably just distilling that down to its purest form.
September 30, 2025 at 6:56 PM
it's hard for me to get too excited about the new sub-genre of indies which is basically: gambling, with extra steps. at the same time I can't criticize them as randomness is the special sauce in many of my favourites; gambling-likes are arguably just distilling that down to its purest form.
worked in attachment compatibility (so not all suppressors can be used with any gun, etc.) Keeping it fairly loose, so each attachment can be used with at least a few guns. (can be frustrating in realistic games finding a new scope, only to learn it can only be used w/ one specific gun)
September 10, 2025 at 1:09 AM
worked in attachment compatibility (so not all suppressors can be used with any gun, etc.) Keeping it fairly loose, so each attachment can be used with at least a few guns. (can be frustrating in realistic games finding a new scope, only to learn it can only be used w/ one specific gun)
interesting post-mortem on r/gamedev, with discussion that emotion is key for players. tricky for me as I enjoy works without that aspect, but it is a nice to have. (ie; the protag in 3body books is quite melodramatic, which pulls you along.) worldbuilding for arcti is fairly tragic, so maybe doable
September 9, 2025 at 4:21 PM
interesting post-mortem on r/gamedev, with discussion that emotion is key for players. tricky for me as I enjoy works without that aspect, but it is a nice to have. (ie; the protag in 3body books is quite melodramatic, which pulls you along.) worldbuilding for arcti is fairly tragic, so maybe doable
letting weapons decide enemy firing behaviour, and split it into 3 ranges: they poke from long, burst at mid, and go almost full auto up close. had trouble with pistols spamming from afar; tried a hard distance cutoff, but it felt awkward watching them unable to shoot until nearby. a fair compromise
September 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM
letting weapons decide enemy firing behaviour, and split it into 3 ranges: they poke from long, burst at mid, and go almost full auto up close. had trouble with pistols spamming from afar; tried a hard distance cutoff, but it felt awkward watching them unable to shoot until nearby. a fair compromise
been starting to track more stats, and displaying them on run loss/win. besides adding a bit of flavour, I could potentially tie them into quests or steam achievements. it's a bit tricky deciding what to track/display though, as it's meant to be a more organic experience than an arcadey one 🤔
August 26, 2025 at 6:05 PM
been starting to track more stats, and displaying them on run loss/win. besides adding a bit of flavour, I could potentially tie them into quests or steam achievements. it's a bit tricky deciding what to track/display though, as it's meant to be a more organic experience than an arcadey one 🤔
one thing I find interesting is how, in many games, it's easy for players to avoid combat if they really want to. ie, sprinting by mobs to get to fromsoft bosses, stealthing past 90% of enemies in an fps, ratting in battle royales, eco runs in tarkov, etc.
August 26, 2025 at 5:57 PM
one thing I find interesting is how, in many games, it's easy for players to avoid combat if they really want to. ie, sprinting by mobs to get to fromsoft bosses, stealthing past 90% of enemies in an fps, ratting in battle royales, eco runs in tarkov, etc.
doing 1-2 runs a day is really a great catalyst for bugfixes. every time I die to a bug, I get a huge burst of motivation and often resolve it quite quickly. the emotion of unfairness is really such a strong and bitter one (hopefully I can reduce the number of players who experience it to a minimum)
August 26, 2025 at 4:16 PM
doing 1-2 runs a day is really a great catalyst for bugfixes. every time I die to a bug, I get a huge burst of motivation and often resolve it quite quickly. the emotion of unfairness is really such a strong and bitter one (hopefully I can reduce the number of players who experience it to a minimum)
it's a bit confusing to me when I see people conspicuously consume and posture around games/gamedev like a 'scene', where coolness is to be hoarded. growing up, games were just something silly to kill time. I suppose the explosion in eyes around games makes status seeking possible and attractive (?)
August 26, 2025 at 4:10 PM
it's a bit confusing to me when I see people conspicuously consume and posture around games/gamedev like a 'scene', where coolness is to be hoarded. growing up, games were just something silly to kill time. I suppose the explosion in eyes around games makes status seeking possible and attractive (?)
reworking the harvesting and cooking systems. a rewarding process, as it makes the survival elements feel more deliberate and thoughtful. (has also been pretty painful as cooking touches like 10 other systems, but I've almost got it sorted)
August 1, 2025 at 7:36 PM
reworking the harvesting and cooking systems. a rewarding process, as it makes the survival elements feel more deliberate and thoughtful. (has also been pretty painful as cooking touches like 10 other systems, but I've almost got it sorted)
making a habit of playing the 'daily challenge' everyday. it's highly random, so a good stress test for the design, especially the resource economy. mostly been dying to the cold... fitting maybe, but a sign I need to revamp firemaking, etc. (ideally, any start should be winnable with enough skill)
July 22, 2025 at 9:21 PM
making a habit of playing the 'daily challenge' everyday. it's highly random, so a good stress test for the design, especially the resource economy. mostly been dying to the cold... fitting maybe, but a sign I need to revamp firemaking, etc. (ideally, any start should be winnable with enough skill)
realized that future-proofing saves is trickier than I thought. I was saving seeds for level layout (and saving enemy & item positions manually.) But, if I add props etc it'll change the lists they are randomly pulled from, altering the results. I may need manual all the way down to be consistent 🤔
July 17, 2025 at 5:06 PM
realized that future-proofing saves is trickier than I thought. I was saving seeds for level layout (and saving enemy & item positions manually.) But, if I add props etc it'll change the lists they are randomly pulled from, altering the results. I may need manual all the way down to be consistent 🤔
the level gen for this project is usually not that painful. I think the main reason is that it's a 'one and done' system: you generate once and that's it. real time dynamic things like agents are harder because they are constantly online and so harder to understand and debug.
July 15, 2025 at 9:02 PM
the level gen for this project is usually not that painful. I think the main reason is that it's a 'one and done' system: you generate once and that's it. real time dynamic things like agents are harder because they are constantly online and so harder to understand and debug.
besides enemy ai, tuning the heat system has been one of the trickier things. unlike food/water, it's not just a case of carrying items around. there are heat packs, but they are more of a band-aid for having bad clothes. warming by fires is also tricky in terms of not making it too slow and boring
July 15, 2025 at 8:47 PM
besides enemy ai, tuning the heat system has been one of the trickier things. unlike food/water, it's not just a case of carrying items around. there are heat packs, but they are more of a band-aid for having bad clothes. warming by fires is also tricky in terms of not making it too slow and boring
finally got player proning in. reduces sway and recoil, but makes your body temp drop faster. will be interesting to see how it plays out wrt combat balance
July 15, 2025 at 7:47 PM
finally got player proning in. reduces sway and recoil, but makes your body temp drop faster. will be interesting to see how it plays out wrt combat balance
making a procgen game, it's interesting how simply adding more cosmetic options can have a big impact on gameplay. that is, typically adding more building styles to a game might just be a 'nice-to-have'. But, in a procgen game it could be the tipping point to make levels navigable and interesting
July 10, 2025 at 6:34 PM
making a procgen game, it's interesting how simply adding more cosmetic options can have a big impact on gameplay. that is, typically adding more building styles to a game might just be a 'nice-to-have'. But, in a procgen game it could be the tipping point to make levels navigable and interesting