iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Tom Jensen

N a i t e l v e n i @naitelveni.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The start map for Quake Rooftops is ready soon! Ty for your patience! 💜

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

9 games that shaped who I am...

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Someone needs to do a music PhD on English Civil War drum signals - you get to decipher these weird 17th C shorthands! #history #musicology #ecw #wargames #musictheory

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Science is cool and all, but can doom run on Voyager I?

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Peter once again sharing fascinating insights into wargaming... My Ukraine 2022 rules mentioned alongside some heavyweights!

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Playing in an age of sail Kriegsspiel game at the moment, ~50 players, each commanding their own ship. 10 minute order delay. communication only by signal flags. First person perspective from your ship only. Let me tell you, even staying in line formation is a massive challenge 😂 mass confusion!

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loren schmidt @lorenschmidt.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

this morning i'm playing 'The Ruins of Calaworm! this just came out, and just received its first patch! it's been really fun watching the development of it. the game is here: erdbeerscherge.itch.io/ruins-of-cal...

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

With the release of #ruinsofcalaworm I thought I'd share the process behind the madness creating the music.... It's been one hell of a ride! tom-jensen.com/blog.html#Th...

tom-jensen.com

Music Blogs - Tom Jensen

New Zealand-based composer for video games.

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erdbeerscherge @erdbeerscherge.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

The game has released! #ruinsOfCalaworm is a lovingly rework from an obscure early 90s German Dungeon Crawler. Think #roguelike but earlier: no ranged, no builds, few stats, deceptively simple. Just You and then Dungeon, bumping into Witches and Eldritch Horrors. --> Get it on @itch.io (Link in Bio)

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Game Designers - I will research the instruments and style of 19th C European ballrooms. I will give the melody to the Euphonium. There will be waltzes, there will be dignified yet luscious chord progressions. I will write in full tails at the piano #gamedev #gamedevelopment #gamemusic

youtube.com

Ilya Alekseevich Shatrov 'On The Hills Of Manchuria'

YouTube video by hd 40307g

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

My 10 min microtalk at COMMUNION Auckland in October How soon is too soon? The answer is it's never too soon, and it's also always too soon. People that died in the 490 BC are just as human as those that died in Ukraine or Gaza this year. But how do we handle this in video and board games?

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erdbeerscherge @erdbeerscherge.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

#ruinsOfCalaworm releases in 3 days, on August 28th ...👀 #roguelike #indieGame

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

"I have seen things in this world that would make Isaac Newton crawl back into his mothers womb!" Eggers dropping the mad lines as usual - Nosferatu (2024) Love the hand-drawn looking title font too

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Azure Midsummer @millenia3d.net · 20/08/2026

huge stalker 2 update lookin good

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Retro Game Designers - I will research the specific period and games that your project is drawing on, find out which synthesizers were available, how the music was written, and then GO NUTS creating music in that style. For example: #ResidentEvil and #ResidentEvil2 #gamemusic #gamedesign #gamedev

youtube.com

Descend - Retro Survival Horror Music Pack SAMPLER

YouTube video by Tom Jensen

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

New music for #ruinsOfCalaworm! This is the last track required before the release this month! August 28th! This lovecraftian creepy-cute roguelike features NES synths, live viola, and a bizarre arsenal renaissance, baroque and 20th C contemporary elements. #screenshotsaturday #gamemusic #gamedev

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pmamtraveller.bsky.social @pmamtraveller.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Claude Monet's house kitchen, in Giverny

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Vericocum @vericum.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Owanart Oil on canvas #art #landscape

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Game Developers - I will make a shitty audio recording on my phone, then turn it into a fully produced track with live instruments. Sometimes what a track needs is that "organic" element that comes from improvisation - creating something without the limits of a music program. #gamedev #gamemusic

youtube.com

How to Make Game Music in 2 Easy Steps

YouTube video by Tom Jensen

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pmamtraveller.bsky.social @pmamtraveller.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Gustav Klimt, On Lake Atter

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Game Designers: I will hire a grammy award winning cellist, write a track that other composers said had "TOO MUCH CELLO", but then when I come back with the live recordings they say "ACTUALLY THAT'S THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF CELLO", just for your game Every game deserves the right amount of cello #gamedev

youtube.com

Unstable Equilibrium (Outer Ring Soundtrack)

YouTube video by Tom Jensen

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EVIL NomalWare @nomalware.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

30 YEARS OF QUAKE MORE THAN 30 HOURS OF WORK (probably) HAND PIXELLED. #pixelart #digitalart #retro #quake #doom #id

Ranger with the power of the Pentagram of Protection ravaging into a Shambler tearing its arm with a Waraxe and feeding him a rocket, turning its head into a cloud of fire, evaporated blood and flesh. The Shambler's skin and flesh surrounding the explosion begin to rapidly melt.

A Fiend is trying to kill Ranger holding onto its neck, probably confounded and scared of his power.

The Shambler's arm casts a powerful lightning that fails to hit Ranger.

From behind a Knight swings its sword upwards.

The stream of blood that the axe draws starts from a Grunt's brains, who was intercepted in Ranger's trajectory towards the Shambler.

An ogre attempts to intercept Ranger by throwing a grenade upwards, which is hit by the Shambler's lightning.

Another ogre tries to get back on balance as blood falls on its head.

A Vore behind an Ogre tries to reach for Ranger.

A Spawn wants to join the party.

A Scrag barely avoids the Shambler's lightning and the explosion from the Ogre's Grenade.

A Death Knight in the top left casts a barrage of fireballs from its sword.

The background from the piece. Some sort of small citadel with a tower on the front and a bloody arch covered in religious symbology with a goat's head on top.

In the front an Ogre is seen looking through a window, he looks a little upset.

A polite Rottweiler guards the tower's entrance.

On the upper part of the tower, two stained glass pieces depict two different dragons that never appear in game that sucks. One is yellow, the other is blue.

Between the stained glasses a Zombie is hanging.

Beyond the citadel's wall, one of Quake's wretched amorphous castles can be seen in a distorted gloomy purple landscape. Strange shapes stand tall in the deformed mountains and tentacles can be seen emerging from the flesh skies.

Four of the Magic Runes float surrounding the center large tower.

The tallest tower in the castle is also surrounded by two rings and in the top, Quake's symbol can be seen seemingly holding the moon on its grasp.

An alternative version of the Arch with no blood (or not as much blood)

Closeup of the Citadel's wall with the wicked landscape behind it.

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Adagio Con Fuoco - SLOW WITH FIRE Jensen Piano Concerto 1st movement, bar 135

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Game Designers - I will travel to Turkey, hear some drums in the distance and chance upon a workshop of traditional musicians, befriend a Cümbüş player and record them for your game. Every game deserves a unique musical angle - what could be yours? #gamedev #music www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXcs...

youtube.com

Red Echo - Regolith III - Electric Cümbüş

YouTube video by Tom Jensen

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Dr Pop Culture USA @drpopcultureusa.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Tim Curry as Mozart and Ian McKellen as Salieri in the 1980 Broadway play ‘Amadeus’

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Preparing some material for an upcoming talk: I needed to create the "Abstract-War Crimes" scale in order to rate various games. Where does YOUR game land? 😨 Checkers: Abstract, Medal of Honor: in the middle Train: war crimes, Operation Bøllebank: set in 1994 Bosnia, but not war crimes...

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Game Designers - I will hire an Iranian Kamancheh player and combine him with electric guitar and synthesizers (or some other crazy combination) to get the perfect blend for your game. Every project deserves a unique musical voice, inspired by the setting/story/pacing www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhQq...

youtube.com

Sci-fi game music with Kamancheh and Electric Guitar

YouTube video by Tom Jensen

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Game designers - I will hire a renaissance choir and record legit 1400s / 1500s music for your game. www.youtube.com/watch?v=29V3... If you want to hear some authentic period music, let's talk

youtube.com

Orlande de Lassus - Miserere Mei Deus (Hilliard Ensemble)

YouTube video by Andria Rogava

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sponge @goodass.dog · 06/08/2026

the two last things i worked on were released/announced today. the 30th quake update with dawn of the machine, and the evercade doom port. the quake update also includes an id vault with a lot of in development quake material, almost all of it seen for the first time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Uf4...

youtube.com

Quake: Dawn of the Machine — Launch Trailer

YouTube video by Bethesda Softworks

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

It's about time I finalized the score and parts for my Piano Concerto - written in the first half of 2020 and yet to be performed. There are some pretty wild pages! www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZUR... Any orchestras out there want to play a new Piano Concerto?

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Will be giving a talk at this - head along if you're in Auckland!

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Pᴜʀᴇ Dᴇᴀᴅ Gᴀᴍɪɴɢ @puredeadgaming.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Still can't believe this made it to prime time. On a Nintendo platform no less 😂

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

The Ruins of Calaworm now has a RELEASE DATE! Hell yeah! 🥳 I'm currently writing the very last track for it. Swirling samples of sounds, origins long forgotten, NES synths, fretless bass, harpsichord, non-vib strings, crisp piano...

erdbeerscherge.itch.io

Release Date Announcement

Today is a special day ... On July 24, in the year of Covid, a humble unknown German Radiology Technologist decided to take one last shot at his Programming Skills, and make a game. After 5 or 6 faile...

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

When us Millennials hit management positions, the world is going to see some serious shit: -Born using computers, probably know VLOOKUP and how to edit a registry -Anti establishment, pro human rights and kindness -Sense of humor that will land everyone in HR -95% distrust mainstream news media

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erdbeerscherge @erdbeerscherge.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

I don't consider #ruinsOfCalaworm super-difficult (compared to traditional RLs) - at times, tho, it can feel pretty oppressive and lonely (music by @composertom.bsky.social emphasizes that). Down in the vaults the light radius is smaller, and a few Survival elements (e.g. Equip Strain) do the rest.

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Keep forgetting I have a bluesky account so this post is about a month out of date 😂 Great track though. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9BK...

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Ron McGaughey @ronjons.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

#art#blueskyart#spring #lakechelan#fields #oilpainting#ChelanButte #UnionValley#farmbuilding #breaks#elephanthead#clouds Chelan Butte feature that looks like the head of a sleeping elephant. Seen here from across the valley. Elephant Head from Union Valley oil on canvas 18” x 24” 2/17/26

Oil painting of an elephant shaped part of Chelan Butte seen from Union Valley Road. There is a small red shed and trees in subtle foreground shadow.
Clouds in the sky with blue sky poking through.

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

This song may only be 2 minutes long, but it hits like a ton of bricks... You can turn on the captions to understand what he's saying. Each photo is someone killed last month in the protests in Iran.... fucking heavy #freeiran www.youtube.com/watch?v=EinW...

youtube.com

Shervin - Iranam | شروین - ایرانم

YouTube video by Shervin

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erdbeerscherge @erdbeerscherge.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

#ruinsOfCalaworm final demo build will hit @itch.io servers later tonight. Overall, the game is a wrap! Yay! Here's the accompanying devLog entry where I am commemorating my achievement (I probably should do these more often - writing devLogs, not celebrating myself, that is🤔). #roguelike #indieGame

erdbeerscherge.itch.io

The Ruins have finally been conquered: Demo Incoming

Yes, you read that right. And not just done , but DONE, DONE, DONE , as Rumi, Zoe and Mira would probably put it. Mechanics, content, story, menus, progression data, highscores, features, polish ... i...

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Ruins of Calaworm demo is ONLINE! Check out this charming roguelike with whimsical lovecraftian puzzles and action. I wrote the #gamemusic, combining retro game synthesizers, real viola players, and inspiration from 20th century French and Soviet surrealist composers, as well as Renaissance music

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erdbeerscherge @erdbeerscherge.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Difficulty Settings are a WRAP! These are the final legs of my #gameDev journey. 🥹 Work on #ruinsOfCalaworm will be done in a couple of days, a week or two at most. Next in line for coding: • Logic and visual representation of unlocking diff_page • Displaying intro story #roguelike #gameDev

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demi @cuddlepunk.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

keeping Arash Hackimi in my heart tonight they’re an Iranian game designer who managed to send an email through the Iranian firewall, and it’s a profoundly moving and human read insertcredit.com/feature/a-ga...

insertcredit.com

A Game Developer Without Internet

Iran has been without internet for 9 days. Arash sent a letter as a developer without the internet, in the few moments when the great firewall faltered.

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Nexxtic (Selaco Lead Dev) @selaco.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Some of these maps are just beautiful.

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Tom Jensen @composertom.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Massive respect to the people of Iran. Huge protests over the past 2 weeks. Government buildings burned, entire cities under protester control, police joining forces with protesters. Total internet and phone blackout for the past 24 hours. Follow my threads if you want more info @tom_jensen_composer

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