iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

#PitchYaGame RUNE GUNNER is a 1-4 player Co-op Roguelite Shooter where you fuse guns and magic to become overpowered. 🔀 Mix classes mid-run to build broken synergies ⚡ Runes change how you play, not just your stats 🤝 Short, chaotic runs built for co-op Built by 2 devs.

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Excited to announce our game RUNE GUNNER 🚨 Our Steam page is now LIVE! 🚨 💥 Co-op roguelite shooter with guns & magic 🤝 Build wild synergies with friends 🌌 Survive the Shroud 📌 Wishlist now: store.steampowered.com/app/3769870/... #MadeWithUnreal #IndieGame

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Built new ascensions for our Healing Zone: Drop a healing zone that boosts ally fire rate Make it mobile so it follows you Buff allies the longer they stay inside Or turn it into a Cryo Field that hurts and chills enemies every tick #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Just finished a new set of ability ascensions for our Shadow Mark — an assassination skill that keeps evolving. Now you blink between enemies, deleting whole groups at once. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Added Ability Ascensions: big upgrades you unlock by completing class challenges that drastically change how abilities work to better evoke power fantasy and make your runs feel more special #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Did a much needed upgrade to our Loadout Selector UI. It will ultimately be put in the Network lobby but for now it works for our in dungeon start #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Our AI could shoot, but not up or down. Fixed it by making a quick AimOffset: took a shooting pose, rotated the spine, made up/down versions, and blended it in the Anim BP. Crude, but works for ~30° now they can aim at platforms. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

I wanted our generation to be more controlled randomness. Goals: circular flow, clear visibility, introduce verticality Built rules for doors, center, perimeter, cover, and platforms. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Our Steam page is almost ready, so I decided to panic and rework room generation. First tried Perlin Noise (looked bad), so I just scaled wall pieces into platforms and stairs. My partner couldn’t even tell, so it’s good enough for now. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Added tooltips so you can inspect all your randomized rewards. Mouse hover was easy, controller focus needed custom nav logic, now both work seamlessly. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

After spending an excruciating amount of time deliberating a name for our game we have finally landed on: RUNE GUNNER Steam Page launch later this week! #Steam #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

Machine gun grunts were only firing 1 shot instead of a burst. Fire call hit during recoil was causing crazy firing. I jump the montage back to the shot section (offset 1 frame) to ensure its not still interpolating between frames. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Turned our Shield Golem into a high threat, long range, defensive unit. Spawn a stationary projectile, trace to find its end point, make the collision and VFXmatch, and have the beam fade with the projectile. #MadeWithUnreal #indiedev #roguelite

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Made our wave spawning a little more chaotic. Each foe has a threat “cost” that’s totaled, and when room cost dips below a threshold, the next wave overlaps creating peaks and valleys of intensity. #MadeWithUnreal #indiedev #roguelite

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

What a difference a year can make. We've been hard at work preparing our steam page and trailer and I came across this clip from last July. I'm proud of how far we've come in that year. #roguelite #indiegame #gamedev #indiedev #roguelike #ue5 #MadeWithUnreal

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Fixed shooting in midair. I forgot to request a jump animation so I bootstrapped a free mannequin jump with a shared IK rig and retargeter, then masked a socket error with an upper body blend. Air combat finally looks normal. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedevAsk

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Dialed in camera so combat doesn’t vanish behind the player—pulled in tighter, tweaked offset, and added HUD toggle. Realized I was accidentally on medium graphics 😅 Combat feels clearer and more intense. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Added a visual effect for our Chill status today. It stacks up to 10 times, so I used Unreal’s overlay material system to scale opacity with stacks. Also applied it to weapons for consistency. Still a few bugs, but it's way clearer now. #MadeWithUnreal #indiedev #indiegame

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Improved our ability + talent descriptions. Our game is all about synergy, so I wanted key mechanics to stand out. Used Rich Text to style terms like Burn, Chill, etc., and added inline icons. Then updated all 120 descriptions to match. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Swarm enemies weren’t threatening, so I overhauled them: Fixed nav radius, new collision channel for detection, faster movement, better range, and VFX. Now they actually feel dangerous. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Upgraded our hitscan VFX today 🔫 Player weapons use hitscan for better responsiveness and feel. Took old laser effects, stripped the ends, scaled them down, recolored per weapon. Feels way better now. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Finally upgraded our skybox. I'm not a technical artist, so I just mashed our cel-shading into the asset's post-process and... it actually worked. Tweaked it for a few hours to match our game's look. Feels way better now. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

In third-person shooters your camera and weapon aren't aligned, so we fake it. Trace from the camera and adjust the shot from the weapon toward that point. Works great at range but requires a clamp to prevent wild angles up close. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Enemies were spawning too randomly; sometimes right on top of you or in a wall 😅 I set up an EQS in Unreal to filter bad locations and score spawn points based on distance to players. Now our waves feel way more fair and readable. #MadeWithUnreal #indiedev #indiegame

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Got controller support working today 👾 Unreal makes it easy if you're already set up with input actions. I just added matching controller binds and fixed up the UI to handle input switching. More ways to play is always a good thing. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Was watching gameplay clips and noticed reloads getting canceled. Originally, reloads could be interrupted by abilities for fluidity—but it wasn’t clear when ammo actually refilled. Now it completes on the second click, so timing matters. #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Our dungeon generation is simple use of Dungeon Architect. To maximize our assets each side of each wall piece is different so we can reuse pieces and have effectively more wall appearances. Pattern Match is great for the in room objects #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Going to be launching steam page soon and inviting people from the email list to our private tests before the demo release this summer! falsesummit.dev/newsletter Recent Bugs 🐛 #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

This is the Shaman: the support who gets unstoppable by buffing allies and debuffing foes. 🛡️ Heal or shield a teammate → your damage skyrockets 🐛 Debuff an enemy → your heals & shields go through the roof #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Got a new updated shield effect that follows the skeletal mesh. Skeletal mesh underneath with a material instance that does the effect, match the pose of the animated on the main mesh, look for shield changes smooth with timeline #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

If you want to get up close to your enemies the battlemage with a shotgun is a good choice. Talents revolve around setting enemies on fire with a good chunk providing defense. Inspired by warlock tanks in Baldur's Gate. #indiedev #gamedev #ue5 #indiegame

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Dave Mann @davetartare.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

We're building a Co-op 3rd person Roguelike about using spells and alien weapons to save your fantasy world. Join our newsletter to get updates and access to our private steam demo. falsesummit.dev/newsletter #MadeWithUnreal #indiegame #indiedev

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