iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

And to be honest, not a lot of people can. And yet.

Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Ai can make a model/mechanic/song. but it cannot make the phase change in final fantasy XIV where shiva freezes everyone, clicks her heels and the music abruptly shifts into a punk rock anthem with a female vocalist that becomes the definitive moment for many people to play 1000 more hours of an mmo

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I can't think of a company I trust less with robots than Evri.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Why am I asking? I'm deep in a Project Zomboid playthough and about to go on a trip. The briefest thought to install it on the Steamdeck occurred and -LMAO. Zomboid has the most esoteric UI in any game I've played - truely the "Outsider Art" of UX. It's Zbrush bad.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Opinion request!! What game has the best gamepad inventory UX? Specifically for inventory heavy games like Minecraft style building/survival games, or fiddly RPG's. I always play these games on PC, so I don't have a good sense if developers have found a common solution recently.

Dragon Quest Builders UI (gameuidatabase.com)

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Makkon @makkon.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I'm immensely proud to announce that my texture library that's been in the making for nearly a decade is now available on my itchio store for indie devs to purchase commercial licenses. makkon.itch.io

screenshot of my itchio store, showing several texture packs available for purchse

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Would you ever go back through the files and add heightmaps? My specific request would be the nature pack, because height map blending is so valuable for terrain shaders. (After a well deserved rest)

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I don't know if I was going crazy, but I downloaded .tga files from somewhere, then when I checked recently it was .wad only. I assume it was in preparation for this release? Anyway, more than happy to pay for them because it's The Best set of texture packs out there.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The long and short of it is: AI is transformation where it matters - the retro game decompilation scene. Everywhere else, it's going to be a feature in a service people already pay for. The general population are not freelance programmers.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Finally, take all the disruptive ideas AI companies have. An agent who will do your reports, book your meetings, write your emails! Large organizations do not let employees just... Upload company materials to random tech startups. Large organizations struggle implementing new sharepoint workflows!

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Someone else put it another way: "It used to take a month to develop your idea, 6 months to build a product around it, and a year to build a company around that Now it takes a day to develop your idea, 6 months for the product, and a year to build the company."

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

There's an anti/shill AI discussion about "AI is soo good, why isn't the economy TRANSFORMING" and I feel like game developers know that the prototype you make for pre-production is like, 5% of the work, and has very little economical impact.

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Zi @majormcdoom.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Mathy math. 🐧📐📈 #GodotEngine #gamedev #indiedev

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I don't know why thew format of this show gets me in stitches every time! "Both you're characters are named John." ... "He's kiiinda like Mr Beast." 💀 youtu.be/mI4CGmvFgTk?...

youtu.be

GUESS THE CHARACTER ep. 21 | The Best in Jest

YouTube video by The Best In Jest

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

(I did not care for metroid dread)

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I'm going to try to translate: "I don't enjoy Metroid games, but I wish I did, because this trailer looks so badass. But I know I wouldn't really enjoy it if I bought the game."

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I basically see a shrink the industry massively, and small i indies living alongside a calcified mainstream games industry. Idk, Maybe I'll blog all the little cuts and predictions that make me feel this way. But in the mean time... Make games for yourself, or the steadiest paycheck you can find.

static.klipy.com

Elmo's Long Exasperated Sigh

Alt: Elmo's Long Exasperated Sigh

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The current games market "crash" is probably just going to keep accelerating, imho. When the financial bubble pops, AI will still be here. Data centers will still be here. The current combo 'crisis' of discoverability and robloxification is going worsen, for a dozen reasons.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Instead, I feel like I've gotten AI doomer pilled. I don't mean super intelligence wiping out humanity, I mean just realising the long term consequences of AI is going to be devastating to the games industry, and probably most other creative industries. I really don't people are aware of how fucked.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

A couple of months ago I thought I'd check out local AI models to figure out how I might find them useful as research tools, teaching aides. I'm not interested in art generation or "one-shotting" anything. I was very wary of AI psychosis.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

An especially lame thing about the singularity is ending up with a despotic AI overlord that speaks in an average of reddit and stack overflow.

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What Goes Up Game @whatgoesupgame.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

This is What Goes Up! 🤖 A chaotic co-op physics-building game where you stack and jury rig junk towers to ridiculous heights using the power of grav guns and friendship before time's up! ♻️ What Goes Up will be launching on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox later this year! 📅

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

One of the first things I did on one project was write up a presentation on 'how to make blood funny'. Because there are very fine lines between comedy and horror that have to be articulated when discussing the scope of say, dismembering a body in a slapstick physics game.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Thought this was an @ianmcque.bsky.social piece come to life for a moment

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Godot Engine @godotengine.org · 26/08/2026

Development of Godot 4.8 is firing on all cylinders! 🏎️ #GodotEngine 4.8 dev 4 brings Trail3D, VisualShader node groups, main screen dock support, multi-bounce ambient occlusion approximation, directional lightmap specular light… Too many features to count! godotengine.org/article/dev-...

godotengine.org

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.8 dev 4 – Godot Engine

4.8 development is now in full force!

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Chaos @shed.gay · 22/08/2026

This has been on of those posts which has lived in my head rent free to the point that when I DJ'd last month I made sure to reference it, I'm not sure if anyone at #EMFcamp got the joke or not but it was for me so that's not the point.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I genuinely think rockstars strategy has been: "people are so hyped to mythologize GTA, we can't let them know this is just a videogame by releasing footage" and now that strategy is on it's last legs.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

This show has so much of Full Metal Alchemist DNA in it, that it feels like a warm blanket. So many, 'Ah, the villains have somehow kidnapped Edward Elric, they are fucked.' moments.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Everyone agrees that some of the most satisfying TV is "In the face of this crisis, all the characters a very competent actually" and I want to get the word out as a non-anime guy that Deamons of the Shadow Realm SLAPS.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

I get it! Game devs have had to close ranks a bit, the vibes are not good, and every AAAA project feels at risk of being Concorded from user sentiment alone. And yet!

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

There is an idea that Bluesky, and the game dev community here, strives to maintain a kind of ethical purity at the expense of some level of humor, or practical realism, or "not having the sauce" so to say. I think the lack of clowning on wolverine footage in my timeline embodies that to me.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Wake up, Bluesky, FreddieW uploaded a bunch of millennial TV ad parodies for his new DnD book. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JPO...

The entire script to this commercial could be used as an in-field countersign to identify millenials, sort of like "flash" and "thunder" in World War II except this would be "I'll call today" and the response would be "You'll call now" and if the person doesn't respond "I'll call now" exactly like the guy does you just light up the bush with your assault rifle.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Looking like an insane person in the climbing centre car park, using kids activity books and road trip detritus to turn the car into a pinhole camera.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

oh, those free web-based "MMO" games because you're parents won't buy a runescape subscription! I think I remember a kind of neopets knockoff about growing aliens, Mafia economy games, some space economy game too.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Dire-Marsh Goblin graffiti: "Saruman! Open the fucking BOGS you cunt!"

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I'm sure this is still a big driver into PC gaming today. You get a second hand laptop from a family member and suddenly steams whole back catalogue (oh who am I kidding - Roblox), opens up to you.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I remember this so clearly. I got my uncles consoles from the previous generations. Never had a full 40k army I could play games with. Pokemon cards did NOT get off the ground lol. I think this is why I got really into Half-Life mods. Back when you had the budget-bin "PC Gamer classic" boxes!

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

This is a part of *every* toddler parent's vocabulary.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Has anyone investigated why the top comment on every other YouTube video is along the lines of: "I'm 60 and I love to see you kids doing this cool stuff I used to ride a motorbike back in the day. Keep it up!" This reeks of bot engagement farming right? Or am I too cynical about Uncle Posting?

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Sasha @n13e86.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Introduce yourself with 4 mechs.

A smallscale model of a very thick mech, pale olive with dark orange shin guards.
It has glowing blue lights on the head, and a large rectangular shield with a pinup (depicting a blonde woman in a jacket, boots and muzzle, riding a bomb).

A mech on four wheeled legs, pretty and pink, with beautiful flower ornaments all over.
It has a beak-like long body, with arms and legs attached at the sides.

Side view of a quadripedal mech with a large tank turret on a similarly-sized cylinder body.
It is dark green, with white 621 on the side of the turret and a step ladder going down the side.
A crew member is poking out the hatch on top, dressed in a tank helmet with Vietnamese peasant clothes.

A slightly snowy diorama of a short, bulky mech resting in the ruins of a modern building.
The broken walls still have wallpaper.

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Elliott Smith @pushingshapes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Honourable mention to the c303, the 4x4 version that also won the Dakar light truck class in 1983 www.classicdriver.com/en/article/c...

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Harris Foster @harris.zone · 27/07/2026

Just stepped into the wildest Uber of my life

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Parenting is hard, but also sometimes it's teaching 4 yo how to anticipate the drop in a song ("so I can do a BIG jump off my bed!") and how the quiet tracks are actually good water breaks.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

I'm willing to bet there will be a few dozen Inception themed framing devices for this jam!

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

So here's the hook: THE MOB IS AT THE DOOR. 60 Seconds to live. The key to escape is asleep on the floor, plugged into the machine from Inception. First person puzzler where each level is another layer deeper in the dream, where time moves quicker than the layer above it.

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

I've got a fun GMTK "Count Down" theme gamejam idea I think. Only slightly out of scope. And approximately 0 free hours to do anything about it!

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Ian Maclure @fearian.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Also reading about how most of the financing for AI data centres revolve around a 4-6 year lifecycle of production hardware, I think we are still 3-4 years off from any crash where these upstream deals blow up spectacularly, leading to better consumer prices.

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