iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Of course! Always nice to receive fan art, thanks again!

Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Thank you so much! Sorry it took me so long to see it, I haven't been on bsky much recently, but I really appreciate it 😄

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I started the process back at the start of November, so around 8 months for me

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Felt like they were never going to contact me lol. Now I just have to figure out what works, on instant release at the moment, but dose is low so no idea if it's doing much. How have you found it now that it's been a while?

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Took my first ADHD tablet a few hours ago Not sure if it's doing anything? Maybe I need to eat five

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Reposted by Ben Hickling // MNKY

Geoffrey Bunting @geoffreybunting.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

NEW: What's this, actual journalism from Geoffrey? Last year, I spoke to developers who were stepping in to fill the gap in arcade flight shooters left wide open by Nintendo's tardiness in making a new Star Fox. There's challenges, nostalgia, and a whole lot of anthropomorphised animals in cockpits.

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Kyuu's first cameo! (unless you count her ship model in Star Fox EX) Thanks for including her! You really... knocked it out the park 😎

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Maxon Autograph is a new one, it's free although it's still Maxon

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Dang.. Sorry about that, I'll hopefully be getting a macbook soon so then I should be able to debug it better and get it working

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

I've just uploaded a demo .dmg to the page, let me know if you have any luck with it :)

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

It's not signed or notorised, so you might need to play with your os settings to get it running

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

I have one built, but when my friend tested it a while ago it crashed on start up. It may have been the splash screen it originally had which I've since removed, so it may work now. I could upload the mac demo and you can try it if you like?

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Still one more day for this give away! ...and then I'll stop being annoying, I promise 😗

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Glad you're finding it useful! Please let me know of any improvements/features you'd like to see if you have any 🙂

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

wow, Bluesky sure did butcher a nice 60fps video, huh

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

The orb is deciding what you will have for dinner Made in mnkytech.itch.io/blastfx

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

I'm giving away 5 keys for BlastFX 2.0! To enter, just repost this and on Friday I'll pick the winners mnkytech.itch.io/blastfx store.steampowered.com/app/940920/B...

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Thank you, appreciate it! Please let me know if you have any suggestions for it as you use it 🙂

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

It should still be in your library if you did, it's all under the same project etc 🙂

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

BlastFX 2.0 is now on Steam and Itchio, and currently 25% off I've used this tool myself for several effects in Ex-Zodiac, so you can trust its useful 😎 mnkytech.itch.io/blastfx store.steampowered.com/app/940920/B... (if you buy it on itchio you get a steam key + 30% wont go to gabe for his boat)

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

I'll do a proper trailer and some demo/tutorial videos later today hopefully, if I get the time 😭

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

BlastFX 2.0 is out! It's currently 25% off and there's a demo too. Comes with a steam key (steam version is still 1.x, I'll update it later today) mnkytech.itch.io/blastfx

mnkytech.itch.io

BlastFX by MNKY

2D VFX Rendering Tool

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Pretty happy with how the effects are coming out in this new version

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

The original BlastFX came out 8(!) years ago, and although it did the job, it was pretty buggy and limited, and also difficult to maintain or add new features to Here's the the original version www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilGy...

youtube.com

BlastFX Trailer

YouTube video by MNKY

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Brand new version of BlastFX, coming very soon

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

wait, a single drink in london costs £21 now?

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Yeah they've been in there for a while now

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

I've been asked to add a somersault manoeuvre to EZ for a while now, mainly for the all-range stages I didn't think it'd be too complicated (and it isn't technically), however, the movement system I made is built on twigs and spit, so I'll probably have to re-write the whole player controller..

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Yeah I know what you mean, I'll try and keep that dynamic between them as Miko will still be the tech/intel gal :)

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

I'd basically treat it the same way Starfox 64 did it

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

there's definitely a few missions she'd be flying solo

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Unfortunately Bsky doesn't have polls yet, but- I'm considering the idea of giving Kyuu teammates in Ex-Zodiac... Woo! Monkey friends! or No! Only monkey solitude. ?

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Kinda UI related, but I'm pretty sure the back button on my mouse still doesn't do anything when using the file explorer or file dialogs

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

wait, so you didn't even get past the step of becoming an approved dev?

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

I already have to use a vpn for a bunch of stuff in the UK, and there's things I can no longer see as discord has marked them as sensitive and I refuse to upload my ID. You really don't want this, trust me

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Really sad he stopped working on it, it had a lot of character and looked like it got pretty crazy in the later levels

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Reposted by Ben Hickling // MNKY

Retro Blast 👻 @retroblastpod.com · 21/01/2026

HEY! LISTEN!! 🧚 Did y'all know there's a "Tree" style comment thread option on Bluesky? I've been using it for a month and it makes the overall threads of comments and replies MUCH cleaner and more organized! It's something I haven't mentioned yet, but I just wanted to spread the word! ✌️

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