iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

i'm glad i don't have to be the one to convince people to try this stuff. i find arcade-style games *much* more interesting to replay/learn than static console-style games thanks to RNG, variance, snowballing etc but it'd be exhausting to try to explain that to someone who doesn't want to play them

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

thanks! there wasn't any catharsis; i just wanted the info to be out there for other arcade-style devs so i replayed violent storm, recorded some clips and wrote up my thoughts. it's nice to hear some non-arcade players also got something out of it but the post was not written with them in mind.

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

adding an extremely dumb memo trap to my game because of the post i wrote yesterday

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

to me it feels less like "you died, now keep practising your fundamentals" and more like "you died, now go back to the checkpoint and do literally the exact same thing you already did last time until you get here again". results in a very different overall feeling imo

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

the trap itself is borderline imo but the biggest difference is the game surrounding it. mega man 2 has checkpoints/passwords and feels drastically more static and puzzle-like than most arcade games, thanks to its focus on static platforming challenges and lack of random enemy behaviours/spawns etc.

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

absolutely! i suppose i'm biased because i make games myself, but it's always been surprising how many people think developers do those things out of spite. everything about violent storm's encounter design makes it seem like the devs were having a blast putting it together

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

that's one of my favourite things about ghouls n ghosts! i gotta play the original gng sometime, it looks so fun for that exact reason

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

what is the point of these replies, other than making whoever retweeted my post onto your timeline feel slightly guilty about it? would you do the same thing if you saw a stranger talking about how she liked reading horror, competing in sports, or anything else that seems stressful or loss-heavy?

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

if your takeaway from those violent storm clips, the first of which appears 8 minutes into a run and deals very low damage, is that the game is being *mean-spirited*, we live in such vastly different universes that it is not worth talking to each other.

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Boghog @boghogstg.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Forced memo traps are good cuz they require players to get over their overinflated ego and just deal with the game's whims for a bit

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

i can confirm that this got my ass the first time i reached that boss

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Revenge of Princesscore @princessrevenge.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

basically all discourse on transition is this one exchange and for some reason we have to keep doing it

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

New Blog Post: Why I Love Unfair Traps in Arcade Games People usually dislike hard memo traps in arcade games, or at best think they're "not that bad". I love them, though, and I think arcade games would be worse without them. Here's why: duckberet.com/blog/i-like-... (game: Violent Storm)

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🍃 WindyGria 🍃 @windygria.art · 27/05/2026

#VGenComm Surprise Me comm for @kurosami.bsky.social! A quick fix-up!

Izve, a robot girl with a white and grey chassis and purple hair + top, is lying on an operating table and blushing on her face display while her wife Aya gently cradles her neck and fixes internals visible through a panel in her tummy. Aya is a rabbit girl with black and cyan hair, black skintight top, and a techwear jacket that's partially see-through.

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

the year's not over yet! i still have time...

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🌓ⒼⓁⓄ🌗 @glopossum.com · 11/07/2023

true story :)

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StrayCatChillin @straycatchillin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I NO MISSED THE DEMO FOR UPCOMING ARCADE ACTION GAME HYPER BUN BUSTER. CHECK IT OUT. youtu.be/SHd0b40vs20?...

youtu.be

HYPER BUN BUSTER: ROCKET HAMMER ACTION DEMO 1CC - HYPER - NO DEATH/NO MISS

YouTube video by YoStrayCat

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Mike Stabile @mikestabile.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Adult content creators are seen as real people by fans, rebutting years of anti-porn claims that sex work strips creators of humanity. In fact, OnlyFans creators were percieved as having more self-control, free will and capacity for independent thinking than other women.

psypost.org

Sexual objectification does not erase the perceived humanity of OnlyFans creators, study suggests

People who sell explicit digital content online are heavily sexually objectified by observers, yet they are still viewed as capable individuals with free will. These findings challenge traditional psy...

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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

FINAL FIGHT 1cc on hardest dips. Win/popoff clip here; full video linked in the next post. Will also do a commentary at some point soon.

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

i'm getting xrd next week, play it with me!

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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

enjoy the suffering you fucking vampire @boghogstg.bsky.social

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

djungelskog spotted! and whoa i'd never heard of life signs, it looks neat

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

yeah, exactly! most shmups have no hitstun and lots of them won't let popcorn enemies die until they get off their first attack. so accidentally making a ship too strong won't break the game in the same way as, say, giving a bmup char a strong jump attack and OTG grab www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9f9...

youtube.com

The Combatribes Blitz 1cc US 50 HP recovery settings

YouTube video by MURPHAGATOR

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

yeah, that's pretty much how i feel. part of the fun is learning to deal with a char's weaknesses, so having to use them for the entire run goes a long way. most games have a tradition of splitting leaderboards by char too. to me they feel like an arrange mode, not a route or difficulty setting

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

whereas with branching paths i usually just try them as a novelty then stick to the best one. imo char select has historically been better in shmups, just because they tend to have better scoring systems and solid difficulty that is harder for other ships to undermine. there are exceptions tho!

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

it's a good question! imo having multiple chars can share the downsides of those other things, but in return it can add a lot to the game when balanced well, even for serious players. i had a great time relearning the king of dragons as fighter/wizard/elf, and replaying lots of shmups w/ other ships

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

it really is. i play haggar myself despite not being a grappler player, just because i don't enjoy how many otherwise-interesting situations get solved by cody's jab mash

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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

the infinite isn't too mashy, thanks to the hitstop after each hit. mashing jabs in neutral is the tough part, which is an extremely strong tool for cody. it even consistently beats out andore and bill bull charging at you, if you mash fast enough

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