iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 22/05/2026

The entire logic is written using objects and connections in Tiled: this level uses a couple of timers (that effectively act like latches) and AND gates to create a sequence of events. Doesn't feel very practical though...

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 22/05/2026

I implemented AND and OR gates. Along with the timer, this allows for some pretty nice sequencing (this level makes no sense, it's only meant to demonstrate how sequencing works) #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 21/05/2026

We wanted to have some targets to hit, so I added a parameter to the walls to make them light up when hit and make them work with the timer system #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 20/05/2026

Got the timer working. I'm getting very close to the token limit though... #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 19/05/2026

Working on a timer system. This involves adding a "reset" parameter to the objects that calls an "init" function when another object is touched. #gamedev

Screenshot of the Tiled editor showing a test level of my pinball game

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 16/05/2026

Also made some cool badges with @pieropbes.bsky.social (the little ghost is from PieRo's game "Chagrin d'Amour": pbes-studio.itch.io/chagrin-damour) #pico8 #sauerkraut #douceurintense

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 14/05/2026

I'm starting to run into some performance issues when the number of objects gets too high, so I'm implementing a "loading zone" system where entities only get updated when you're in a particular area. #pico8 #gamedev

Tiled screenshot showing a map with several objects connected to each other with arrows

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 13/05/2026

Still experimenting with doors and multiple paths #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 12/05/2026

Playing with the trigger/door system. #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 10/05/2026

#LDJam results are out! 7th overall in Compo ?! I'm so happy! Thank you to everyone who took the time to try and review cosmic relay!

Screenshot of my results for Ludum Dare 59. Reads:

Results
Final results

Overall: 7th (4.275 average from 22 ratings)
Fun: 12th (4.15 average from 22 ratings)
Innovation: 22th (4.025 average from 22 ratings)
Theme: 47th (4.2 average from 22 ratings)
Graphics: 15th (4.325 average from 22 ratings)
Audio: 29th (4.025 average from 22 ratings)
Humor: 34th (3.7 average from 22 ratings)
Mood: 29th (4 average from 22 ratings)

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 09/05/2026

Thinking about level design (I have no idea what I'm doing) #gamedev

A diagram showing circled with arrows between them

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 08/05/2026

The game needs objectives. For now I've implemented simple pickups that trigger the end screen when they're all collected. #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 07/05/2026

🎉 Every object is encoded in one long byte string. I use LZSS to compress it, and write the result in the __map__ area of the cartridge. Token count could still be worked on, but this will be easier than fighting with the character limits. #pico8 #gamedev

Screenshot of the output of INFO in my PICO8 game. Reads:

FILE: MAIN.P8
TOKENS: 7757/8192
CHARS: 56178/65535
COMPRESSED: 13750/15616

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 03/05/2026

Looking for solution for our space problem. The first one is obvious: store only one version of each different polygon, and use a reference table to build new instances. I've also temporarily disabled polygon triangulation. At least it's running, which is good enough for now #pico8 #gamedev

Screenshot of the output of the INFO command on my pinball prototoype. Reads:

FILE: MAIN.P8
TOKENS: 7823/8192
CHARS: 62334/65535
COMPRESSED: 16674/15616

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 02/05/2026

The levels are stored as a long string containing the coordinates of every points of every polygons. So yeah, this was bound to happen. #pico8 #gamedev

Screenshot of a PICO8 game that crashed. The text at the top reads:

#INCLUDE FILE TOO LONG:
GAME_SCENE.p8

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 01/05/2026

Starting to experiment with colors and effects #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 30/04/2026

Finally added directional bumps. This will definitely need to be put on a cooldown #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 29/04/2026

Exploring the possibilities of the trigger system. #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 28/04/2026

We had a way to make objects pop out of the board, but no way to make them appear. So I've added a "trigger" parameter to the objects that activates them. #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 26/04/2026

Just sent the last version of the editor to @pieropbes.bsky.social to make a test level and he went crazy with it #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 25/04/2026

Completely stole this from Devils on the Moon: I've added an "output" parameter to the kickbacks so they can also work as warps. Combine this with the camera system and we have *secret areas*. #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 24/04/2026

Finally added kickbacks. Now that I have rollovers and checkpoints, these were pretty easy to implement. #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 23/04/2026

Putting things together in a test level. I was afraid that navigation would be too tedious/random, but it's actually quite fun! #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 22/04/2026

Leaning into the exploration/platformer vibe: the pinball game now have checkpoints. #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 21/04/2026

Back to the pinball project: moving targets. The object's trajectory is based on a polygon drawn in Tiled. #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 20/04/2026

I finished my compo entry for #LDJAM ! It is very short, and features a gray alien playing DDR. You can play it here : ghettobastler.itch.io/cosmic-relay #gamedev #pico8 #ld59

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 16/04/2026

Added rotation for the ball based on the tangential speed on contact. This is not physically "accurate": some energy should be spent changing the ball's rotation speed, and there is no friction on the walls. But it feels better! #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 15/04/2026

Objects can have arbitrary shapes. While we could use sspr to draw them, we would have to fit everything on a 128x128 spritesheet (without compression). So I'm testing filling the polygons in using electricgryphon's trifill function (www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?uid=10844). #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 14/04/2026

Added a "key" parameters to walls that makes them "drop". So now we have doors. #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 12/04/2026

Rollovers! And I got to learn to use object references in Tiled. Looks pretty powerful! #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 11/04/2026

I've actually worked on a similar camera system for an unreleased platformer project to handle level transitions. It could be fun to have those in a pinball game. #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 10/04/2026

We want to have levels that are larger than the screen size, so I've added some camera movement to handle that. These are based on rectangular areas that are also defined in Tiled. #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 09/04/2026

Reworked the way object are handled. Now that they can have multiple shapes attached to them, no more pointy flippers. Also: plunger and one-way walls! #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 08/04/2026

2/2 ...so I wrote a custom exporter for Tiled to make editing the level easier

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 08/04/2026

1/2 Up until now I've been placing the different objects by editing the code directly, which is pretty tedious... #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 07/04/2026

After adding spatial partitioning, the engine can handle way more objects and shapes. So now I can use a several line segments to approximate a Bézier curve. #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 05/04/2026

Slowly re-adding elements to the new engine. We now have the flippers back! #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 04/04/2026

Changing the physics engine. My solution relies solely on segment intersection to detect collision, which makes handling corners troublesome. Plus circles are approximated using polygons, which I find a bit limiting. So instead I've decided to go with a classic impulse resolver. #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 02/04/2026

After some tweaking around, it works! #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 01/04/2026

While @pieropbes.bsky.social works on board design ideas, I'm building a basic pinball prototype. I wanted to reuse my segment intersection code from Celestial Serpent to build a physics engine. This is going well. #gamedev #pico8

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 30/03/2026

Literally minutes after seeing the trailer for AMANO's Devils on the Moon EN translation: @pieropbes.bsky.social : I want to make a pinball game so bad... ghettobastler: well let's go #gamedev

Excerpt of a Discord chat:

PieRo_PBeS_studio: j'aimerais trop faire un flipper...
ghettobastler: ben go

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 14/03/2026

Small update to the game! I've increased the score ceiling, and updated the cart label: it now features amazing art by The Sailor (the-sailor.itch.io) #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 14/03/2026

Haha ! @jackturps.bsky.social (these scores are fake btw, they were written in the save file directly for testing purposes)

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 12/03/2026

JOULE THIEF is out! You can play it here: ghettobastler.itch.io/joule-thief The cart is also available on the Lexaloffle BBS: www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=155... I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I did making it! #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 11/03/2026

Started implementing the title screen. I'm going with a "terminal" look, to match the minimalist style of the game. I also did this thing I've seen in nizakashii's games (nizakashii.itch.io) where you have to press the "clear save" button 10 times before it actualy does so #pico8 #gamedev

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ghettobastler @ghettobastler.com · 10/03/2026

Finally decided on a name for the game: JOULE THIEF. Yes, I am a nerd. Started to mockup the title screen. Pretty bare for the moment, and the text is a placeholder (that's why it says "start" three times). #gamedev #pico8

Mockup of the title screen of my game JOULE THIEF.

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