iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 11/09/2026

Been working on sprucing up the subscreen for Halcyon. Still got a bit to clean up on the icons, but it's getting there! #nesdev

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 05/09/2026

And most of the things that get labeled "roguelike" these days have very little in common with Rogue.

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Kaptajnen @kaptajnen.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Here is a very promising new #Metroidvania #homebrew for the #NES "Hiraeth" by "Linen Games" Navigate your way through an enormous castle with over 200 interconnected rooms and collect new items to help you on your journey. Demo available: castle.linen.games/ja/ #retrogaming #indiegame #gaming

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CutterCross @cuttercross.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Minor update for my NES sound driver - Sabre: github.com/CutterCross/... - Fixes an NMI race condition bug that I somehow missed all this time. 😬 - Minor byte optimizations to keep the driver under 1700 bytes. - Fixed minor typo that prevented ca65 assemble. #NESdev #NES #homebrew #ファミコン #gamedev

github.com

Release Sabre v1.0.2 · CutterCross/Sabre

Sabre v1.0.2 Fix NMI race condition that occured when interrupting the middle of sabre_playTrack or sabre_playSFX routines. [If calling sabre_soundUpdate from NMI.] Minor size optimizations to ke...

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 26/08/2026

Yes sir. The pitch is "what if Blaster Master and Metroid had a baby?"

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 26/08/2026

They aren't happy that you woke them up.... (in Halcyon, my upcoming NES homebrew game) #nesdev

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 26/08/2026

That's pretty neat, but wow it sure would be a crazy niche case to be worth a whole identity table to save a cycle. (although on the 2600, you never know, I guess it might be worth it sometimes!) AND table,x ;4 cycles, 3 bytes vs STX zpvar ;2 cycles, 2 bytes AND zpvar ;3 cycles, 2 bytes

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 19/08/2026

Hahah, looking forward to when you're actually allowed to say something concrete. But I appreciate the non-concrete answer 🤣

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 19/08/2026

Was there ever any more talk about releasing this as an actual NES game/rom?

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 11/08/2026

I don't know anything about testing in the industry, (I only do hobby/small-time-indie games), but in the niche I'm in, it's definitely a fun activity of trying to listen to the testers, keep your game vision, but also put aside your own ego about your decisions. I'm sure it's different in industry

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 06/08/2026

A lot of other more modern systems just do what they were designed to do. NES on the other hand, depended a LOT on cartridge hardware to get the most out of games. So there's a pretty big gap between an emu that will play 80% of commercial NES stuff, and one that will play EVERYTHING.

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 06/08/2026

Not sure if you're referring to the emulators or the games being an issue. But modern NES homebrew devs often target mappers or mapper features that weren't historically used. So an emulator that's designed to (only) run historical licensed games, could fail on a lot of homebrew.

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 30/07/2026

I know there's a flood of NES homebrew being released these days, but Diggy Diggy Mole is head and shoulders above the crowd. It's polished, well-designed, good-looking, and fun. The Steam version includes a NES rom, so now's your chance to get the ROM if you didn't buy a physical cart.

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sebotron | working on an NES JRPG! @sebotron.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

The Book of Rynn demo is out for internal testing. Expect the grand announcement soon! #nes #jrpg #retrogames #indiegames #thebookofrynn

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Kaptajnen @kaptajnen.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

This ain't really a new #homebrew but I was just so impressed with what I saw, that I wanted to share, for the people interested "Over OBJ" is a #SHMUP for the #NES that shows off some absolutely insane visuals for the system. Tons of actions & sprites with minimal slowdown #retrogaming #indiegame

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Morphcat Games @morphcat.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Visualizing RAM access to debug saving. A peek into the NES's brain. #NESdev 1 pixel = 1 byte red = writes, green = reads, white = currently being accessed

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sebotron | working on an NES JRPG! @sebotron.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

To celebrate the upcoming unveiling of The Book of Rynn public demo, we're releasing the game's OST on Bandcamp! We'll be revealing new tracks progressively in the lead-up to our crowdfunding campaign, but you can listen to the main theme today: thebookofrynn.bandcamp.com/album/the-bo...

thebookofrynn.bandcamp.com

The Book of Rynn OST, by The Book of Rynn

12 track album

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Frank @heosphoros.net · 15/07/2026

For the #nesdev heads out there: the Steam version comes with the NES ROM as well!

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sebotron | working on an NES JRPG! @sebotron.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Testing, testing and more testing. You cannot imagine how excited I am to share The Book of Rynn with you all! #jrpg #nes #retrogames #gamedev #indiegames #thebookofrynn

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 11/07/2026

It is a real pain when you end up with more than 256 entries. There are a lot of possibilities, and they all stink.

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Lake George Game Expo @lakegeorgegamesexpo.com · 09/07/2026

Our next Speaker Announcement! Behind the Scenes: Choose Your Own Adventure with Author E.C. Myers. Starting at 3:30 PM in the Glens Falls Room. For more info, please check out their page at @ecmyers.com

Speaker Announcement for Behind the Scenes: Choose Your Own Adventure with Author E.C. Myers

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Julius @miau6502.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

This is one banger of an NES homebrew. Seriously. Can't recommend it enough. #NESdev

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Morphcat Games @morphcat.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Our game Micro Mages is on this! $1 per game is a steal. Many quality NES homebrews in this bundle! It should be a great way to get started and support the #NESdev scene ;) #N8ABundle

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BrewOtaku Homebrew Retro Gaming Magazine @brewotaku.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

🧭 A Journey Into The Unknown (2026) by dalecoop Studio brings a quiet, explorative adventure to the NES. It’s a deliberate, atmospheric walk rather than a sprint. 🎁 dale-coop.itch.io/a-journey-in... #homebrew #nes #retro #game #ajourneyintotheunknown @dalecoop.bsky.social

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 21/05/2026

Depends on the version you downloaded -- I've changed versions of toolchains along the way over time. That said, it's mostly been and older version of devkitArm with libgba. I think arm-none-eabi-gcc is the compiler it uses?

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 14/05/2026

Played a little bit of this yesterday. Really well-made demo. Can't wait to see where this team goes.

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Olof Næssén @olofn.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

I've started to make proper levels in our #nes game. It's quite fun but also challenging, as we are not doing a conventional platformer and need to invent a good formula for levels. I use greyboxing until I have something fun. #gamedev #nesdev #homebrew #indiedev

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Nate Ehlers @supernatetendo.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

I finally got some mock samples made of my boxes and labels for BioCreeps. Had a little emotional moment I wasn't expecting while holding them. Although that cart is empty, everything felt much more real. I'm so excited to get this out, you guys #nes #nesdev #biocreeps #indiedev

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 31/03/2026

I highly recommend posting screenshots and video here during the development process, and tag them as nesdev. People will see it and you'll be able to generate some interest ahead of time.

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 30/03/2026

Another great-looking NES project to follow!

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 30/03/2026

There's definitely a market for it. Well-made games will sell a few hundred CIB copies.

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Nate Ehlers @supernatetendo.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

All of the bosses in BioCreeps have unique intros. I think they're all pretty good, but zone 1 is probably still my favorite. #nesdev #nes #indiedev #biocreeps

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 25/03/2026

This game looks really interesting, and even better, it's open source. Go check it out!

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 19/02/2026

Absolutely required. Along with having an ice and a fire level.

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 19/02/2026

When I was making Anguna 2600, by the end, I was so low on space that every new line of code involved 30 minutes of searching for a place to optimize and free up 3-4 bytes. The last few features were PAINFULLY slow.

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Broke Studio @brokestudio.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

A quick reminder that our Homebrew Factory service allows creators to produce and finance physical versions of their NES, Game Boy, GBC, and Mega Drive/Genesis games. You can also follow all these projects on the dedicated account @homebrew-factory.com ➡️ creator.homebrew-factory.com

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Christopher Arnold @yourfriendkuri.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Attention NES/GB/GBC homebrew devs!🎮 We’re hosting a special activation at GDC Festival of Gaming 2026 to showcase homebrew titles! We'd love to see your games! Space in the build is limited, so please submit your game for consideration🙂 Ends 2/28 forms.gle/Q1Qg5iG5AQ...

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Dullahan Software @dullahansoft.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

put-put-put-ing into the new year. Lots of new stuff coming so stay tuned! #nesdev #gamedev

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 31/12/2025

Found these while cleaning my office. Am I too late to exchange them for an Anakin Skywalker figure?

Proof of purchase tokens trimmed from the packaging of 1980's Star Wars toys.

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 22/12/2025

Finally starting on the boss fights for my upcoming NES adventure game Halcyon.... Boss graphics by FJ #nesdev

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 12/11/2025

A large adventure game like Halcyon can be difficult to adequately demo at a convention, so I'm working on a build that will have 3 "save files" initialized on the cartridge that will let you jump to and experience different parts of the game.

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 12/11/2025

I'm excited to get to show off Halcyon at Magfest this year! Come check it out!

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 03/11/2025

Does it rework the play control at all? Some of the non-standard control mechanics made the previous demo harder to play than I expected. (The inability to attack while holding forward on the D-Pad, or the inability to jump full height if you're pressing forward into a barrier, etc)

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 03/11/2025

What's different about this from the previous release?

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sebotron | working on an NES JRPG! @sebotron.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

Here's the functioning inn system. Scribes can also save games now but I'm not done with them as they also need to revive and remove poison. I got a linker surprise this morning and had to move all string literals to their own dedicated bank. 😅 #nesdev #indiegames #gamedev #jrpg

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 19/10/2025

Do I understand correctly that you'd have a 16k code fixed bank, and then 7ish more 16k banks? (with supporting code/data?) Yes, that would be a good fit for UxROM. If you're planning on a physical release, UNROM512 is a common board that would be more than sufficient.

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Nathan Tolbert @bitethechili.com · 11/10/2025

Janus is still alive! Really looking forward to this one someday.

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