Miguel Sternberg
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spookysquid.bsky.social
Miguel Sternberg
@spookysquid.bsky.social
1.7K followers 410 following 1.4K posts
Game dev @ Spooky Squid Games.
linktr.ee/spookysquidgames

Russian Subway Dogs: Steam, Xbox, Playstation, PS Vita!
They Bleed Pixels: Steam and Switch!

Currently working on unnamed "Goblin Girl Game"
WIP feed: tinyurl.com/goblingg

(He/Him)
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spookysquid.bsky.social
Chatterbox's implementation of Yarn continues to be great for just messing around with dialogue and text. I wrote a few intro sentences and memories to test this fireside memories idea and now it randomly combines them when you look at the fire.
Some yarn scripting with a few custom tags: <<random option>> -> narrator:[goblin,happy]Gazing at the flickering flames your mind wanders back to simpler times... -> narrator:[goblin,happy]The fire crackles and sparks. It's warmth reminds you of the family hearth and childhood... -> narrator:[goblin,happy]The fire flickers, casting long shadows on the walls. You think of home... <<random option>> -> narrator:You recall when your youngest brother was teething and destroyed your father's favorite stone cookware. Goblin [laugh,thinking_low]:He gummed clean through the handle! -> narrator:You'd kill for one of the fire roasted ice-amanders your sister always cooks right now. Goblin [drooling,thinking_low]:All crispy and hot on the outside and tongue numbing cold inside. -> narrator:This time of year the village would be preparing for the festival of bones. All your siblings, painting animal skulls in iridescent hues. -> Goblin [thinking,thinking]: I wonder how the sibs are holding up? I sent a package with that old goblet I found last month. Should be enough for new boots for the winter, maybe a nice goat for the festival?
November 15, 2025 at 7:01 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
Gaze into the fire and think of home...

#screenshotsaturday #GoblinGirlGame
#indiedev #gamemaker #pixelart #ドット絵
November 15, 2025 at 6:52 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
They Bleed Pixels is finally playable on the Switch 2 thanks to the latest firmware update from Nintendo!
switch-software-compatibility.nintendo.com/en-US/detail...

Please pretend this gif is of a Switch 2. I still don't own one 😅
November 12, 2025 at 8:14 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
My current travel work setup I animated this on, pretty similar to what I used when travelling Japan last year.
Just has waaaay more stickers on it now!

bsky.app/profile/spoo...
A Lenovo Yoga laptop unfolded flat, and held up vertically by a stand to put the screen at eye height. A small portable keyboard, mouse and gamepad are on the table in front of it. A Samsung tablet is acting as a secondary portrait monitor beside the laptop connected via USB. Same setup from behind. Both tablet and laptop are heavily stickered. Lots of cartoon characters (Puyo Puyo/Madou Monogatari, Monster Hunter, Evangelion, Delicious in Dungeon, Golden Kamuy) from games/anime/manga as well as independent original character stuff, and some travel stickers from various sites around Japan.
November 8, 2025 at 7:09 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
SAW share's a building with The Gainesville Fine Art Association's gallery and there's a nice symbiotic relationship going on with the two spaces. Love this giant sized Exquisite Corpse show they're running right now.
SAW/GFAA building in background, sign in foreground. Left side: " Gainsville Fine Arts Association 100 Years" Vertical separator: "Studio | Gallery" Right side: "SAW Sequential Artists Workshop. Comics Storytelling Community" Gallery space with large window on the left. Large vertical canvases with painted exquisite corpses by different artists. Each canvas has been split into three sections for the head, body and legs. Reverse shot with more exquisite corpses. The wall has a large opening leading into the back half of the gallery where another show is being displayed. A giant orange masked costume on a mannequin. It has a coral reef/ocean theme with various stuffed details attached to the cloth: a school of fish, octopus arms, sea urchins etc.
November 8, 2025 at 6:53 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
Been working out of the Sequential Artist Workshop (SAW) while I'm in Gainesville, a really incredible community space/library/workspace for comic artists.
Welcome sign for SAW black and white illustrations of art tools with rainbow splashes of water color. TEXT: Welcome to The Sequential Artists Workshop! We're a non-profit, artist-run comics school. When we're not having workshops, we're a sstudio, library, gallery and event space. As a shared space we ask that everyone respect a few simple rules. - Respect the space and other people in it including our neighbors, GFAA. - Clean up after yourself and dispose of waste appropriately. - Do not move any furniture except the workshopping desks and chairs. - No alchohol or drugs of any kind. - Return library books to where you found them. - SAW has a no tolerance policy for any kind of harasment or discriminatory behavior. We reserve the right to ask anyone to leave. THANK YOU!" One wall of the SAW space. Wall covered in posters for 'zine fairs and random art. A small book case full of children's picture books is on the left side. A set of short wide drawers is on the right side, the sort used for holding maps, blueprints or other large documents. Wide shot of the SAW space, various work tables fill the central space. Colored lights are draped from the ceiling. Along the windows on the left side wall is a shelving unit with art supplies and a large lightbox/drafting table. The entire back wall is filled with tall bookcases packed with graphic novels, comic long boxes etc. A neon sign on the right wall spells out SAW Close up of the top of the wide drawer unit, a book display stand shows of various comics/'zines/graphic novels/anthologies mostly by SAW / SAW related artists.
November 8, 2025 at 6:14 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
She laugh!

#screenshotsaturday #GoblinGirlGame #monstergirl #pixelart #ドット絵 #indiedev
November 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
"Meet me at the 3.5" disk table at Satchel's Pizza, we're going to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act"
A restaurant table top covered in 3.5" floppy disks under laminate. They come in a rainbow of colours and at least half are the Y2K clear plastic style. On top are a salt shaker and napkin holder.
November 8, 2025 at 4:22 AM
spookysquid.bsky.social
Grabbed dinner at Satchel's Pizza next door and it couldn't have been more obvious that they used the Repurpose Project for their interior and exterior decorating.
An exterior wall covered in a patchwork of small random items. Bottle caps, small ceramic tiles, sea shells, toys, dominos etc. Close up of the same wall. Next to a field of interlocking dominos, two opposing teams of small plastic football figures poke out from the wall. A giant dragonfly statue hangs from the ceiling. It is made out of an ornate wooden table leg and four yellow ceiling fan blades. An entire small airplane sticking out from a raised second floor balcony.
November 8, 2025 at 4:14 AM
spookysquid.bsky.social
Visited the Repurpose Project, a sort of used goods/junk shop with a bit of an Active Surplus (original location) vibe, and good taste in punk music.
A tree surrounded by toilets of various colors, being used as planters. Hand written sign on the wall: The Candy Shoppe houses & displays items which routinely end up in our landfills. Much of it is plastic. Almost all of it is non-recyclable. Items on exhibit are eye-opening, inspirational trash-treasures for sale." last line is obscured. I think it says "Happy Re-Creating!" A rotating circular retail display column. Each section has a bin filled with plastic bottle caps of various sizes and shapes. They have been sorted by color of plastic: red, green, orange, yellow etc. An old retro glass container with a metal lid, of the type you might find in an old candy shop. It is filled with identical red bouncy balls. A hand written sign on the front reads: "BOUNCY BALLS 10c each $1.00 fill a bag" In red marker. Below, in smaller blue pen is written "Yes, they bounce. No, you don't have to test them."
November 8, 2025 at 4:01 AM
spookysquid.bsky.social
Got up early this morning to do some volunteer grave digging!
Two signs hanging by a forest road: "Alachua Conservation Trust est. 1988. " "Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery" Shot of Florida trees with Spanish moss hanging from them. The early morning light pours through the branches, illuminating the moss from behind so they glow. Photo of myself in a half dug grave shoveling dirt. I'm wearing a red flannel shirt and a "Hardcore Chocolate" baseball cap. The grave has a wood frame around it, another volunteer stands to the side leaning on a rake.
November 5, 2025 at 7:10 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
That graffiti was inside this neat broken-down truck by an outside food area.
Exterior of small truck or bus. Painted with orange geometic patterns. The bottom edge is painted in shades of green instead. The side windows have been replaced with stained glass. Interior of same truck. A long table runs down the center with benches on either side. Light pours in from the stained glass windows. Every surface is covered in marker graffiti.
November 4, 2025 at 11:17 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
Rain World spotted!
Graffiti of the Rain World critter with the words "Rain World" drawn in black maker on grey metal.
November 4, 2025 at 11:09 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
First gator of my trip spotted!
Very small aligator sleeping on mossy concrete surounded by water filled with green plants.
November 4, 2025 at 11:06 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
In Gainesville for a week to visit my sister. Please enjoy this beautiful photo of the moon here I took last night.
Statue of a giant metal crescent moon with glowing red eyes.
November 4, 2025 at 1:13 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
This week I'm sharing an older mockup I haven't shared in full before for #screenshotsaturday. This is 1/2 of a two screen character respec menu you access between dungeon floors in #GoblinGirlGame

#gameui #pixelart #ドット絵 #indiedev
16-bit stye pixel art of an equipment menu. It has a sort of ink on parchment style graphic design style. At the top is the screen title "SET EQUIPMENT" The right 1/5th of the screen is a full body portrait of the goblin girl, floating, head upturned with her eyes closed and her mouth smiling. She has red hair in pigtails and her clothing is a mix of chainmail, plate and leather, with bone accents. In one hand she holds a jagged dagger, in the other a small round shield. The rest of the screen is split horizontally into two windows. The top is a tabbed window showing a variety of armor and clothing choices, with a dull plate mail with green stench lines coming off it selected. The bottom is a text description of the selected mail. "STENCH PLATE [skull with demon horns icon] (+5 [heart icon]): Smells strongly of menthol and blood. At the bottom right of the screen is a button with a blue "mana mouse" and an arrow pointing right, to the next screen)
November 1, 2025 at 10:17 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
If you're looking for something horror themed to play today, our game They Bleed Pixels is 75% off on a bunch of stores! 👻🎃

Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/211260/
Humble: www.humblebundle.com/store/they-b...
Itch: spookysquid.itch.io/they-bleed-p...

Humble and Itch are DRM free + Steam key!
Pixel art of the clawed girl gobbling up candy from a jack o' lantern. Text: nom nom nom
October 31, 2025 at 6:19 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
🌟☄️The Stars have Aligned☄️🌟
Play Russian Subway Dogs *today* to unlock the black cat Hex!
Once midnight strikes you'll have to wait for the stars to align again.
October 31, 2025 at 4:16 PM
spookysquid.bsky.social
October 31, 2025 at 3:40 AM
spookysquid.bsky.social
I have no idea how popular Zork was in Japan but there was inexplicably a Japan only port of Zork 1 for Sega Saturn, given a kinda Sound Novel style treatment.

I guess it was at just about the right time for the Sound Novel boom, so that might actually explain it!
Japanese text ad for the Saturn port of Zork 1
October 20, 2025 at 2:04 AM
spookysquid.bsky.social
I think Wizardry was a much bigger hit in Japan than Ultima, so not surprised it got one and Ultima didn't. The Ultima games did get manga though!
October 20, 2025 at 1:50 AM
spookysquid.bsky.social
Razor Shroom, the next enemy I'm animating for #GoblinGirlGame

#screenshotsaturday #pixelart #ドット絵
October 19, 2025 at 12:30 AM
spookysquid.bsky.social
Been mostly doing behind the scenes work on #GoblinGirlGame this week. Stuff like refactoring most of the in game text to work with Chatterbox. So here is a set of cute cactus enemies from my "enemy ideas sketch file" for #screenshotsaturday.

#pixelart #gamedev #indiedev #ドット絵
16 bit style pixel art. Four cactus enemies. A knight with a cactus flower shield and thorn lance. A mage with a thorn hat and flower hands. Some sort of bull like cactus with large thorn horns. A weird little cactus dude, just a round cactus with legs, thorns in all directions and a little flower on top.
October 12, 2025 at 3:42 AM
spookysquid.bsky.social
Haven't posted about it, but I was able to work full time on #GoblinGirlGame over the summer thanks to a grant from Ontario Creates.🍁
"Made Possible With The Support of Ontario Creates" Ontario Creates logo.
October 5, 2025 at 2:14 AM
spookysquid.bsky.social
She sleep💤

#screenshotsaturday #GoblinGirlGame #indiedev #gamemaker #pixelart #ドット絵
October 5, 2025 at 2:04 AM