Bolerosoft
@bolerosoft.bsky.social
Solo game dev since Jan 2025 in Godot. Current proj: "Mysteries of Old Tokyo".
Wishlist on Steam now! https://store.steampowered.com/app/3784300/Mysteries_of_Old_Tokyo/
Wishlist on Steam now! https://store.steampowered.com/app/3784300/Mysteries_of_Old_Tokyo/
Enjoyed my last 90s-style ad for MYSTERIES OF OLD TOKYO so much that I "found" another one.
Mask: Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
Floppy disks: author's own
#retrogaming #90s #indiegames
Mask: Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
Floppy disks: author's own
#retrogaming #90s #indiegames
November 12, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Enjoyed my last 90s-style ad for MYSTERIES OF OLD TOKYO so much that I "found" another one.
Mask: Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
Floppy disks: author's own
#retrogaming #90s #indiegames
Mask: Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
Floppy disks: author's own
#retrogaming #90s #indiegames
Last month I had a demo launch/4-week ad blitz and I averaged 400+ wishlists/week, which was great.
Since the ad spend ended, it's like it never happened. I have been averaging 22 wishlists/week. Some days have even been in the negative. #gamedev
Since the ad spend ended, it's like it never happened. I have been averaging 22 wishlists/week. Some days have even been in the negative. #gamedev
November 10, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Last month I had a demo launch/4-week ad blitz and I averaged 400+ wishlists/week, which was great.
Since the ad spend ended, it's like it never happened. I have been averaging 22 wishlists/week. Some days have even been in the negative. #gamedev
Since the ad spend ended, it's like it never happened. I have been averaging 22 wishlists/week. Some days have even been in the negative. #gamedev
Recently rediscovered print ad for "Mysteries of Old Tokyo" from PC MANIAC magazine, October 1997. #indiegames #retrogames #90s
November 9, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Recently rediscovered print ad for "Mysteries of Old Tokyo" from PC MANIAC magazine, October 1997. #indiegames #retrogames #90s
Nijubashi, the twin bridge of the Imperial Palace.
Apart from the trees, I think this is the view that has changed the least over the last 90 years.
Even individual bricks are the same as they were in 1935. #japan #tokyo #indiegames
Apart from the trees, I think this is the view that has changed the least over the last 90 years.
Even individual bricks are the same as they were in 1935. #japan #tokyo #indiegames
November 8, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Nijubashi, the twin bridge of the Imperial Palace.
Apart from the trees, I think this is the view that has changed the least over the last 90 years.
Even individual bricks are the same as they were in 1935. #japan #tokyo #indiegames
Apart from the trees, I think this is the view that has changed the least over the last 90 years.
Even individual bricks are the same as they were in 1935. #japan #tokyo #indiegames
This weekend I plan to match/overlay the remaining photos that I took back in May on top of the postcards - there's only a few left to do now!
Today I was finally able to firmly geolocate this view. #gamedev #indiegames #tokyo #ginza
Today I was finally able to firmly geolocate this view. #gamedev #indiegames #tokyo #ginza
November 7, 2025 at 7:50 PM
This weekend I plan to match/overlay the remaining photos that I took back in May on top of the postcards - there's only a few left to do now!
Today I was finally able to firmly geolocate this view. #gamedev #indiegames #tokyo #ginza
Today I was finally able to firmly geolocate this view. #gamedev #indiegames #tokyo #ginza
This is amazing. I found an incredible web map of Japan by a student at NIT with aerial photography covering major cities from 1947, 1963, 1975, 1980, 1985 and 1990, as well as older paper maps.
See how Tokyo DisneySea was once just a marshy island. #japan
user.numazu-ct.ac.jp/~tsato/webma...
See how Tokyo DisneySea was once just a marshy island. #japan
user.numazu-ct.ac.jp/~tsato/webma...
November 7, 2025 at 8:48 AM
This is amazing. I found an incredible web map of Japan by a student at NIT with aerial photography covering major cities from 1947, 1963, 1975, 1980, 1985 and 1990, as well as older paper maps.
See how Tokyo DisneySea was once just a marshy island. #japan
user.numazu-ct.ac.jp/~tsato/webma...
See how Tokyo DisneySea was once just a marshy island. #japan
user.numazu-ct.ac.jp/~tsato/webma...
Big milestone today... I finished translating the Japanese text for all 44 postcards in the game!
This was a really interesting task and a ton of fun to dust off my rusty Japanese skills (with a lot of help from the dictionary). #indiegames #gamedev
This was a really interesting task and a ton of fun to dust off my rusty Japanese skills (with a lot of help from the dictionary). #indiegames #gamedev
November 6, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Big milestone today... I finished translating the Japanese text for all 44 postcards in the game!
This was a really interesting task and a ton of fun to dust off my rusty Japanese skills (with a lot of help from the dictionary). #indiegames #gamedev
This was a really interesting task and a ton of fun to dust off my rusty Japanese skills (with a lot of help from the dictionary). #indiegames #gamedev
All these postcards have a short description on the back in Japanese. Some are quite clunky, but others have a real poetry to them. I like this one: #tokyo #postcards
November 3, 2025 at 6:52 PM
All these postcards have a short description on the back in Japanese. Some are quite clunky, but others have a real poetry to them. I like this one: #tokyo #postcards
New look postcard viewer as well.
November 2, 2025 at 7:43 PM
New look postcard viewer as well.
Apologies for the radio silence... A lot of refactoring.
But that's done now, and it's starting to pay off! Alpha gameplay 2.0 where instead of being handed photos and text in the prep stage, you now visit each location and take the photo yourself. #gamedev
But that's done now, and it's starting to pay off! Alpha gameplay 2.0 where instead of being handed photos and text in the prep stage, you now visit each location and take the photo yourself. #gamedev
November 2, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Apologies for the radio silence... A lot of refactoring.
But that's done now, and it's starting to pay off! Alpha gameplay 2.0 where instead of being handed photos and text in the prep stage, you now visit each location and take the photo yourself. #gamedev
But that's done now, and it's starting to pay off! Alpha gameplay 2.0 where instead of being handed photos and text in the prep stage, you now visit each location and take the photo yourself. #gamedev
I spruced up the map screen with an all-new animated player icon, which changes to a train when using the railway.
(Walk animation based on Seliel's Mana Seed collection.) #gamedev
(Walk animation based on Seliel's Mana Seed collection.) #gamedev
October 29, 2025 at 2:12 PM
I spruced up the map screen with an all-new animated player icon, which changes to a train when using the railway.
(Walk animation based on Seliel's Mana Seed collection.) #gamedev
(Walk animation based on Seliel's Mana Seed collection.) #gamedev
Reworking the "spirit report".
While writing the email text, wanting something that sounded like an affidavit, I found out about "kishōmon" which were these gnarly "self-curse" oaths in medieval Japan.
I thought it'd be cool if internal RIA emails came with randomised kishōmon curses. #indiegames
While writing the email text, wanting something that sounded like an affidavit, I found out about "kishōmon" which were these gnarly "self-curse" oaths in medieval Japan.
I thought it'd be cool if internal RIA emails came with randomised kishōmon curses. #indiegames
October 25, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reworking the "spirit report".
While writing the email text, wanting something that sounded like an affidavit, I found out about "kishōmon" which were these gnarly "self-curse" oaths in medieval Japan.
I thought it'd be cool if internal RIA emails came with randomised kishōmon curses. #indiegames
While writing the email text, wanting something that sounded like an affidavit, I found out about "kishōmon" which were these gnarly "self-curse" oaths in medieval Japan.
I thought it'd be cool if internal RIA emails came with randomised kishōmon curses. #indiegames
Over time the data in my game had become this spaghetti mess of references and nested resources that constantly broke. For such a data-heavy game it was a nightmare.
This week I've wrangled all data into one place, and converted some of the fragile Godot resources into nice robust JSON. #gamedev
This week I've wrangled all data into one place, and converted some of the fragile Godot resources into nice robust JSON. #gamedev
October 23, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Over time the data in my game had become this spaghetti mess of references and nested resources that constantly broke. For such a data-heavy game it was a nightmare.
This week I've wrangled all data into one place, and converted some of the fragile Godot resources into nice robust JSON. #gamedev
This week I've wrangled all data into one place, and converted some of the fragile Godot resources into nice robust JSON. #gamedev
In the middle of a massive refactor as I switch up the gameplay loop. I used Mermaid Chart to plot out all the scenes and I think I see a nice, elegant way forward, rather than the spaghetti that got me here... #gamedev
October 21, 2025 at 9:03 AM
In the middle of a massive refactor as I switch up the gameplay loop. I used Mermaid Chart to plot out all the scenes and I think I see a nice, elegant way forward, rather than the spaghetti that got me here... #gamedev
Something I find weirdly interesting about Tokyo is that, for a city with such intensely developed infrastructure, there are still these "dead zones" where transport has barely improved in centuries.
October 13, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Something I find weirdly interesting about Tokyo is that, for a city with such intensely developed infrastructure, there are still these "dead zones" where transport has barely improved in centuries.
A sneak peak of some of the new postcards:
October 11, 2025 at 6:13 PM
A sneak peak of some of the new postcards:
A horrible slog today as I realised the entire spaghetti-signal route-picker logic just had to go.
However, in a more positive note, I have imported 38 of the planned 44 postcard landmarks (shown as red stars on the map)!
In the finished game, you'll be able to visit all of them. #gamedev
However, in a more positive note, I have imported 38 of the planned 44 postcard landmarks (shown as red stars on the map)!
In the finished game, you'll be able to visit all of them. #gamedev
October 11, 2025 at 6:11 PM
A horrible slog today as I realised the entire spaghetti-signal route-picker logic just had to go.
However, in a more positive note, I have imported 38 of the planned 44 postcard landmarks (shown as red stars on the map)!
In the finished game, you'll be able to visit all of them. #gamedev
However, in a more positive note, I have imported 38 of the planned 44 postcard landmarks (shown as red stars on the map)!
In the finished game, you'll be able to visit all of them. #gamedev
Added Steam achievements with the GodotSteam extension: these will be in the next release.
I don't know why, but somehow seeing the achievement icon pop up - and it's my own achievement that I just created! - suddenly makes this feel real.
Like, it's a real game now! It has achievements! #gamedev
I don't know why, but somehow seeing the achievement icon pop up - and it's my own achievement that I just created! - suddenly makes this feel real.
Like, it's a real game now! It has achievements! #gamedev
October 9, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Added Steam achievements with the GodotSteam extension: these will be in the next release.
I don't know why, but somehow seeing the achievement icon pop up - and it's my own achievement that I just created! - suddenly makes this feel real.
Like, it's a real game now! It has achievements! #gamedev
I don't know why, but somehow seeing the achievement icon pop up - and it's my own achievement that I just created! - suddenly makes this feel real.
Like, it's a real game now! It has achievements! #gamedev
This is so cool. I loved @eviltrout.com's "The Roottrees are Dead" so I'm so happy my game has snuck into that game's "More Like This" section (alongside some fine company) #indiegames #gamedev
October 6, 2025 at 8:58 AM
This is so cool. I loved @eviltrout.com's "The Roottrees are Dead" so I'm so happy my game has snuck into that game's "More Like This" section (alongside some fine company) #indiegames #gamedev
It's the start of Finnish Games Week and I'm so excited to be included :) Link in comments.
#finnishgamesweek #fgw25 #fgwsteam25
#finnishgamesweek #fgw25 #fgwsteam25
October 6, 2025 at 6:36 AM
It's the start of Finnish Games Week and I'm so excited to be included :) Link in comments.
#finnishgamesweek #fgw25 #fgwsteam25
#finnishgamesweek #fgw25 #fgwsteam25
A small quality of life update: you can now enter names into the database in either Japanese (family name-given name) or Western format (given name-family name). Partly because I kept forgetting if it was "Takauji Ashikaga" or "Ashikaga Takauji". #gamedev
September 29, 2025 at 9:09 PM
A small quality of life update: you can now enter names into the database in either Japanese (family name-given name) or Western format (given name-family name). Partly because I kept forgetting if it was "Takauji Ashikaga" or "Ashikaga Takauji". #gamedev
So, rather unexpectedly, I hit 500 wishlists this morning.
You can see it took me 3 months to reach 300 wishlists. I'd get +5 on a good day, or 0.
I started running Reddit ads on Monday. After some fine-tuning, on Wednesday I passed 400 wishlists and yesterday I got 45 in a day. #gamedev
You can see it took me 3 months to reach 300 wishlists. I'd get +5 on a good day, or 0.
I started running Reddit ads on Monday. After some fine-tuning, on Wednesday I passed 400 wishlists and yesterday I got 45 in a day. #gamedev
September 27, 2025 at 3:10 PM
So, rather unexpectedly, I hit 500 wishlists this morning.
You can see it took me 3 months to reach 300 wishlists. I'd get +5 on a good day, or 0.
I started running Reddit ads on Monday. After some fine-tuning, on Wednesday I passed 400 wishlists and yesterday I got 45 in a day. #gamedev
You can see it took me 3 months to reach 300 wishlists. I'd get +5 on a good day, or 0.
I started running Reddit ads on Monday. After some fine-tuning, on Wednesday I passed 400 wishlists and yesterday I got 45 in a day. #gamedev