iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Er jump should be mapped to *A* not B (it's mapped to B in the final version, doh.)

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The bat form is *especially* helpful for making it down the towers, so much so that for a lot of it you should probably just farm villagers. The wolf is useful cuz it's immune to getting killed by mobs, but it can't go into buildings and IIRC can't open gates, and you need to go into buildings.

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I will note that I absolutely did provide feedback that jump should always be mapped to the B button, not the A button, heh. The game isn't really as hard as a lot of people make it out to be. Drac can transform if he drains five villagers, and the bat/wolf forms are incredibly powerful.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 03/10/2026

It sounds like we may have played different builds. My testing of the game wasn't anything formal, and I may have played one or two WIP builds, but my cartridge is apparently more or less final. Another "final" copy surfaced and was dumped by the VGHF, and is byte-for-byte identical to mine.

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If you've tried the ROM, this is the actual cartridge that ROM came from. I got it dumped in... ~1999ish? I don't exactly remember.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 03/10/2026

I lived next door(ish) to one of the developers. That whole section of the street had community parties a few times a year so they ended up family friends. I and one of my other neighbors ended up getting recruited as impromptu playtesters. The chance to play an in-development NES game was exciting!

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Do YOU have what it takes to climb a 10,000 floor tower?

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And before you ask if I'll take any excuse to trot this out, yes, yes I will. I unironically love the game and this prototype cartridge is one of my most prized possessions. (And again, it's not slabbed. That's a 3D printed frame with a magnetic back. The game can absolutely still be played.)

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Just getting around to listening to last week's Post Games podcast from @plante.bsky.social and... Is that a Drac's Night Out mention? I'm probably one of the few who can legitimately say this but that game ended up being a significant piece of my childhood!

Drac's Night Out prototype cartridge, frames and hung on the wall of my office.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 01/10/2026

Boo, pass then. Don't need it that badly.

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Looking at The Division 2. $3 on sale on steam for the base version! ... except that the other editions aren't discounted at all. And there's a bunch of DLC, some of which is discounted and some of which isn't. Uh? What do I need here? (Also, why the hell should I need a walkthrough to buy a game?)

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 01/10/2026

< The Director/Sibling/Favorite has gone AWOL/Fishing/??? > Very first line, this is what got me both laughing and going "Too much?" The rest of the interaction definitely follows the funny-but-yikes pattern, but this kind of colored it all for me.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 01/10/2026

I love the Board but I also worry that as an entity with extremely ambiguous motivations that may or may not align with humanity's best interests, its dialogue is just a bit *too* funny.

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Reposted by Gideon Zhi

CASSETTE BEASTS 2002 | Bytten Studio @byttenstudio.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

While you're waiting on Cassette Beasts 2002, why not treat yourself (or a friend) to the OG? Cassette Beasts is now 70% off in the Steam Autumn Sale (and there's discounted DLC too!) Get the kettle on, you've got some creature collecting to do.

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Reposted by Gideon Zhi

Arc Impulse @arcimpulse.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Not my project, but as I don't think the team have a post up here yet: It looks like the Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 3 patch is out! It's available over on their page for it, alongside some details and words from some team members: snsc3translation.github.io (images also taken from their site)

The Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 3 English title screen.

A screenshot of dialogue from the linked patch.

A screenshot of a battle using the patch.

A Flight-type character from the game, with the description in English.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 29/09/2026

Such words... Even I could...

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 29/09/2026

Caput Mortem was pretty great! It's a quick one too.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 29/09/2026

I contributed compression support for the intro font!

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 28/09/2026

I hate these guys. Worse than the cockatrices. Bane of my goddamn existence.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 27/09/2026

The scale of the original makes everything a bit more grounded. There's a sense that the stuff the FBC deals with could happen anywhere, is ordinary despite being extraordinary. Twisted Manhattan on the other hand feels less personal and consequently less believable. Still good, just less intimate.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 27/09/2026

The prefabs make sense yeah, it was more the tunnel room layouts they got me going "eh." But it isn't just the geometry, the scale and speed give the world a different feel.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 27/09/2026

I'm enjoying it, but I can't help but feel that the larger world loses some of the detail and intimacy that made the first game special. I've only just cleared the factory in Central and I can already see reused/reskinned room geometry between it and the underground supply tunnel.

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Reposted by Gideon Zhi

Jordan Starkweather ✨ @jackal27.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

You can’t even comprehend how important Eien ni Hen’s work is to the fan translation community. Romancing SaGa, Fire Emblem, Sakura Wars, Tear Ring Saga, Glory of Heracles, Dragon Force II, Dark Half, Beyond Oasis, Psi-O-Blade, Arabian Nights, and so much more. What a loss. Rest in peace.

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Maybe it's easier to have that much energy since it has less distance to travel

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Pina ✨ ADHD Alien @adhd-alien.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I know, right? This was at like 10pm too!

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Reposted by Gideon Zhi

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU IM A BESTSELLING AUTHOR!!!!!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Thank you for caring about my work and thank you for all the support and sharing photos ❤️✨✨✨ (book -> linktr.ee/adhdalien/ )

Kiki (the adhd alien) is shown super happy and smiling at the bottom. At the top it says „I’m officially a bestselling author“, underneath it shows „feeling like an adhd alien“ on a list being number 10. On the side it says national bestseller category young adult.

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Surprisingly yeah! Crystalis is another banger that's surprisingly inexpensive too! The NES has its fair share of costly games but you can get some great titles for under $20.

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Been a while since I did #RandomGameSaturday so here's something that caught my eye from my NES library: it's The Magic of Scheherazade, which is a Zelda-ish action rpg except for when it becomes a Final Fantasy style turn-based rpg!

NES cartridge, The Magic of SCHEHERAZADE. Someone has scribbled "MG" in marker along the right side (fortunately not on the label though.)

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Fergus gets excited about rides

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Dang, was hoping you'd be able to surface something maps was leaving out :/ Thanks though!

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Except for the Mariners :/

Bluesky's trending. #1: "MLB playoff race heats up"

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I am extremely here for townfall vibes buuuuut I have Control Resonant, so....

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@brandon.insertcredit.com I'm going to be in Emeryville in November. Can you recommend some retro game stores in the Emeryville/Oakland area?

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Yeah, I was impressed by how much traversal opens up in just the first ritual. It was nice to see double jump, but then they gave super jump *and* dash and I was like damn, they aren't messing around. In that sense it feels like it's picking up where the original left off, which is also nice.

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