iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

was pleasantly surprised by a little maughanii, then saw truncata being stupid about blooming as this specimen always does #plantsky #succulents #haworthia

photo of haworthia maughanii putting out a flowerstalk

photo of haworthia truncata with a medium-length flowerstalk that's bent in the middle and drooping

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

this missing magnusson voiceline of course

"I said we should expropriate that hazard suit and give it to Doctor Mossman. Maybe now they'll listen to me"

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Local man spends years going from one fps community to another being an obnoxious grifter and stirring up petty drama. Do not support that Quake 4 project.

Post screenshot: "it's Spiderman-Dev from moddb whose drama began when I rated HLA NoVR mod as 4/10 based on my experience (and not having rose tinted glasses for it)
that drove him to the depths of desperation unknown to any man. The fact he was already promoting the mod as something like "9.6/10" as a banner on moddb, and that 4 dipped it slightly, may have had something to do with it.
He was generating torrential floods of whine and drama about it. Meanwhile, very obvious bot accs from him started review bombing DI and even mods I favourably reviewed, such as Disrepair. I mean accs that would rate NoVR as 10/10 with samey short texts on the same day they join, and review bomb another mod (Disrepair, DI, Swelter, some others). He even didn't bother setting their countries to be different from his (Canada). Moddb staff confirmed the suspicions and removed those reviews and blocked most of the accs.
At the same time he would go into people's DMs nagging them more and more. About the same subject. The moddb reviews that is.
Then more people also didn't give the mod totally perfect scores, all for their own different (or similar) reasons. Now the mod's not even 9/10.
Other unfavourable parts of his personality included bragging his age and familial status or always nagging people to go buy HLA just to play the mod.
He's also in other mod that has to do with DNF, but I know less about that one."

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

So I was thinking about Valve's Prospero recently #y2k #art #illustration

a landscape of flowing purple shapes dotted with shiny glassy spheres and trees with airplane-shaped leaves. On the hazy horizon there is a city destroyed by sharp angular shapes of red and black stretching into the sky. On the foreground, a giant black woman with rocket engines in her hair locks is half-lying down, her face is a shattered void, and on her chest is painted a blood-red hexagon. She is surrounded by levitating monks with red hexagon prisms instead of heads, and is approached by a small human figure

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

my beloved flat fuck who *almost* made it into water hazard

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Two disks from two very different eras

Portal 2 box with a fancy lenticular print on the cover, and next to it a 1998 shovelware cd with content for Quake 2 and 3, Unreal and Half-Life.

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Commission illustration of @attack-slug.bsky.social's Isle of Ascent project #art #indiedev

a view of a rocky mountain topped with a stone building with giant rusty pipes snaking towards its base with strange growths and spikes. The top of the building glows, and the sky is stormy with colors of sickly green and grey with reddish streaks

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Echinopsis cactus is being both gorgeous and ridiculous

side view of a variegated echinopsis in a smapp pot propped up by plastic cat figurines to stop it from falling because of a singular white flower larger than the cactus itself

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

air exchange exploration sketches for Dark Interval

pencil sketches of different variations of a wide tower with spikes

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

The closest I got is Ruby render they used for the ad

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

can I offer my cat doing this face instead

white cat with black face marks looking a bit stupid

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

They are not good movies, but I think of these costume design choices alot.

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Adopted some sort of kneading machine.

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

I still have a pirate CD with it. Fun fact, HL2 Raising the Bar's first draft had a chapter on Gunman development, but Valve just seemed to hate game's very existence.

Forum post stating: "Woah, now. The Gunman chapter has been a running joke between David and I (most effective with his British accent) ever since it was put on the chopping block. He wanted it gone from the beginning and I agreed with him. The negativity in this thead is a little startling, especially considering that David and I have spent countless late nights for the past couple months trying to make this book a homerun for hardcore fans.

Anyway, people are getting pretty worked up about this without need. All decisions for the book were based on external feedback. Sections that were boring (HL mac, HL PS2 were trimmed while adding much more content on what people thought was cool). David has been great and has continued to contribute to the project and work with me, the whole time. There was no fallout and he is still a key member of the book team. He was fine with wanting to concentrate on "making of" elements and was happy with the decision. Any content that was cool from the earliest drafts of the book was brought forward and remains. Things like the source code leak and release dates are more appropriate for other venues (eg Gamespot). This is a "behind the scenes, making of" coffee table book with a lot of art, not a novel.

Everyone who has seen the early drafts of the book and has seen the final product has said to us that it is a lot better. The whole process had one thing in mind: what you, the fans, would find most interesting. I'm not interested in conspiracies, only making this book something you all would get into. What we think the book should be is meaningless: the only thing that means anything is how those independent, outside potential readers rate it. Based on feedback we've gotten from outside the company, I am confident you guys will enjoy it. The final book is *much* better than the early drafts.

I hope that clears things up."

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

A total mystery, but some people pointed out he looks a bit like this dead fella from the concept art

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Huh, reminded me of Geliy Korzhev's "In the Days of War" (1954) in an uncanny way

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

07.04.2007-21.01.2026 He got so frail, thin and sad, but I'd rather post a photo from the happy years. He died peacefully and painlessly in my arms, and that's all it needed to be.

A photo of a short-haired kurilian bobtail, of red and white color, sitting on a desk with half his butt hanging in the air, lit by sun, eyes half-closed

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Portal 1 Chell is an underappreciated vibe. Quick 30-minute thing.

digital portrait of a woman with messy black hair in a ponytail. She is rolling her eyes at something to the side

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

And more. The latter two were made for an older verion of TLG that was still set in HL universe and had aliens living in Prava, so they don't appear in the game.

Poster for a movie titled "Invasion from Dimension X" in bright yellow letters. There is a brown alien with four purple eyes in the top left corner, looking over figures of an angry bearded man in a yellow suit, awkwardly shooting a revolver at nothing in particular, and a busty brunette wooman peeking from behind his shoulder. There is a row of mysterious glass tubes seen behind them.

A poster for a movie "Abbott & Costello meet NIHILANTH" in yellow, cyan and blue tones. Elderly cartoony versions of Abbott and Costello are in the bottom left corner, running away from a shadowy evil shape shooting energy balls at them.

Movie poster in dark blue and purple hues, depicting an alien grunt from Half-Life with a toothy maw instead of his left arm. He is wearing a bandana and a leather coat with fur collar. Tagline states "He is a nasty piece of grunt work." Below him is a title "Here comes trouble!" in bold red and white letters.

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

I contributed multiple in-universe movie posters for this, and I recommend playing.

Poster for a movie "Terror of the Hyperons" with an orbital view of Earth as background. There is a blonde woman with a displeased expression, wearing shimmering violet clothes and pointing a sci-fi

blaster at something off-screen. Next to her is a man with a grey beard, wearing a blue hat and an orange survival suit, poiting a tiny welding torch in the same direction. The two figures are framed by icebergs, and above them are looming three figures of alien warriors.

Movie poster in cherry-red, white and black colors. It depics an angry moustached man with a hat, a suit and a red rose boutonniere. He is shooting a tommygun, while torn newspapers fly off in all directions behind him. The title font proudly states the name of the movie is "CITIZEN KANE II", and the tagline is "Time to make NEWS". Director and screenplay are as Alan Smithee and Robin Bland respectively.

Poster for a movie titled "Glory of Progress" in painterly colors of soft orange, blue and pale yellow hues. A row of same-faced workers in rubber overalls and gasmasks is marching, looking to the left.
Behind them are abstract building shapes bristling with spikes and antennas.

Movie poster with closeup portrait of an aged scarred 50s gangster and a burning 1930s car. Title is "The Last Job" in bold red letters.

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Heavily referenced Viktor Popkov's "Builders of Bratsk" for this one

Family portrait. On the left is a smiling older man with jet-black hair wearing a green beret, a red sweater and a brown coat thrown on his shoulders. In the center is a young smiling woman, with mixed black and asian features, wearing an old leather jacket and holding a small vividly green alien creature in her arms. On the right is a tall black woman with long wavy hair held by a headband. She is wearing a beige coat, a white top and a black skirt.

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Promo art for @amino-shift.bsky.social Incredibly fun oldschool enemy design, got to reference 80s animes for background, was a blast to make. #indiegame #digitalart

digital painting of a giant green human-mantis hybrid with one cyborg arm gun, charging up a blue energy shot. It stands in a dark blue corridor with pools of blood and glowing green goo.

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Since #HalfLife is 27 today, two Xen pieces from 2019

a digital painting of splintered islands floating among greenish nebulas

a digital painting of two bullsquids drinking water among organically-shaped caves

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Of all things, seeing early pre-release media of THIS game blows my mind. (CD 139)

Early screenshot of My Little Pony: Friendship Gardens (1998). A 2d pony with blue body and yellow mane stands against a 3d render backdrop, depicting flat green hills with rather blobby apple trees and an evening sky with some clouds. A post box and a wooden fence visible on the left.

Early screenshot of My Little Pony: Friendship Gardens (1998). Same pony stands inside a 3d-rendered barn that lacks almost any shading. The barn is old and seemingly decrepit, with a lone sad lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. There are blocks of hay that look like bricks made of american cheese, two ladder and a few cutesy items of furniture.

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Textures for Valve's unfinished sentry turret model, x512. Made for Dark Interval and then donated to HL2 Leak Megapatch 5. (2017)

Multiple views of a gun turret, in yellow and grey colors. There is a miniature of an untextured version in the corner.

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

An idea for Gwen's look before the park executive feedback loop #knightsofguinevere

Full-height portrait of smiling princess Guinevere with waist-long loose blue hair, wearing a pointy golden tiara, a slim two-tone pale pink dress with a golden belt, and yellow shoes

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

I think somewhere in episodic commentary Valve admit they only aim to make *most* of players look the right way, rather than *all* of them, and I like when HL1-2 designers allow you to screw around a bit, to stubbornly stare the wrong way for no reason, instead of forcing the "intended experience".

Quote: "lot of the stuff in there is pretty standard, some of it doesn’t even work (there was a bit where they were bragging about how their design drew the player eye to something, and it was then that I realized I had always been looking another direction when I came upon the scene they were so proud of)…"

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Textured tent for Dark Interval (mesh by Cvoxalury). Closely modelled after soviet tents occasionally used in student expeditions, though we'd usually add extra tarps on top for waterproofing. 1451 polys , 1k texture, handpainted normalmap. #gameasset #indiedev #sourceengine

two renders of a dirty-beige tent with a contrasting blue botton

A terribly overexposed phone photo of a group of tents at the edge of a forest. Someone's single leg is sticking out of a beige tent covered with a green tarp

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

I'm lucky to have almost everything except my old watercolor albums and a few old digital pieces, but the absolute funniest are these printouts of mspaint drawings I made at the age of 5 or 6. I remember it was at parents' office.

A collage of five images featuring crude colorful figures and faces

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Have I got a map for you ["Idyllic" from Eye Candy 2 competition]

screenshot of a houndeye running in front of a snow-covered cottage

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

It's such a great take on the plaza, almost a better last look at city 17 than Ep1 itself. Also reminded me of Attempt to Survive (2010)

Screenshot of a Half-Life 2 mod, Attempt to Survive, depicting dark crumbled ruins of a trainstation in orange sunlit fog

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Pairs up nicely with Alexei Korzukhin's "Fed up" (1886)

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

There's a hole in history that holds it all together #art #sacredandterribleair #pjõl #tw:blood

Portrait of Anni-Elin Lund from the book "Sacred and Terrible Air". The girl is wearing a white t-shirt and a blue skirt, her loose blonde hair is hanging in the air, she is staring into distance with mydriatic pupils, where tiny red sparks can be seen. She is surrounded by stars. The stars are linked by stitched-up bloody cuts, and the entire image has a layer of bruises and grime.

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

I've wanted to see a proper version of this one for decades

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

If you see this, quote post with a robot that isn't from Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who or Transformers. Vincent

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Going through @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social archive and enjoying these Half-Life 2 rumors from 2001. (HL2 was not officially unveiled until spring 2003)

Cutout from Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, Issue 46, July 2001. "Half-Life 2 Shaping Up: I hear from a number of sources that Half-Life 2 is going to be a mission-based affair rather than a sequential story-you jump into any mission you like, and there will be a bunch of different characters you can play. Sounds like it takes the best ideas from all the side stories and add-ons and runs with them. I hear that the game is being designed from the ground up as a console title. It
won't be a PC game shoehorned into console clothing this time. The story certainly sounds very interesting - apparently the aliens from the first Half-Life are actually the guys" (the ones you've been killing.. The
REAL bad guys are the ones that turn up in the sequel. The origi-
nal aliens were apparently being big girlie wusses and looking for
somewhere to hide. Poor babies. It seems they wanted to take refuge on Earth and in order to check the place out, decided they' "test" humans to see if they'd make good allies or not. So all that running around and killing stuff in the first game was just to prove how macho you are. Expect to see the first Half-Life soon (as we revealed in our
exclusive preview last month) and the sequel in a year or so. Excited? I am. If you want to hang out and talk Half-Life smack with people, make sure you check out www.planethalflife.com"

Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, Issue 50. November 2001. "I've mentioned this a few times, but I'm still getting word about Half-Life 3 even before Half-Life 2 is out! The second game has been in development for three years already, and will explain why the aliens came to Earth in the first place. In Half-Life 3, I'm informed that the hero of the first game returns, but this time he's a bad guy. - Sega and Namco are teaming up for another gun-shooting game"

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a-shift.bsky.social @a-shift.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Opened a 1998 issue and was rewarded with this

A section of sales poential section saying "Interestingly enough, in the last week of August, Half-Life was featured on the "Newlywed Game." The question was: "Which game would you say is your husband's love-making style?"

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