iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I’ve spent a few evenings switching my #ECS library, Necsus (github.com/NecsusECS/Ne...), over from AoS to SoA. The performance results are looking good. #nim

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Another biome for my #playdate #towerdefense game: The server room. I've also started an overhaul of the upgrade system. There was too much choice, so I've reduced it down to two upgrades per turret, with each turrent getting a custom set of options. #indiedev #pixelart

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I've been doing a bunch of non-visual work on my #towerdefense game for the #playdate. Balance, sound, optimization. But I stopped and implemented a new biome. #indiedev #pixelArt

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

I've been quietly working on my #playdate #towerdefense game. I'm reaching the point where many of my changes aren't very visual. But I got a new biome added, so I thought I would share that. #pixelart #indiedev

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

This is a subtle change, but it required rewriting the pathfinding code for my #towerdefense #playdate game. Enemies can now trace preconfigured paths through the level. This gives me a bit more freedom to

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

I've been working on music for my #playdate game. I put together 8 musical themes, which I play randomly. When one theme ends, the next picks up. (That's why the track just cuts off at the end. it's designed to loop) #indiedev

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

I've introduced a set of upgrades into my #towerdefense game for the #playdate that can be purchased between maps. It gives players something to save their credits for. #indiedev

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

I was unhappy with the movement of enemies in my #playdate #towerdefense game. I was using a flow field that made them hug the walls, which then led to jitter. I switched to a zone based system. I split the map into regions, then path find to the midpoint between zones. #indiedev

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Another boss -- the Foreman. It spawns other enemies as it moves. #playdate #indiedev #pixelart

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Added another boss, called the Scrambler. This is a harder one to see from just a video, but when it scrambles a turret, the turret controls get out of sync with the #playdate crank, making it hard to aim. #indiedev #pixelart

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Working on the first boss for my #playdate #towerdefense game. I call it the Magnetron. The beam temporarily disables towers #indiedev #pixelart

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

It's not the most exciting part of building a game, but I've been working on save slots, the HUD, and menus for my #towerdefense game on the #playdate. #indiedev #pixelart

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

I've been working on turret upgrades for the #towerdefense game I'm building for the #playdate. I have the base set in, and but there are two more I'm considering. #indiedev #pixelArt

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

I’ve been doing some profiling and optimization for the last few weeks. Result is that I can handle about 70 enemies on screen at the same time while staying above 30fps. I think that’ll work. #playdate #indiedev

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Another mob for my #towerdefense game on the #playdate. I call it a splitter bot. When it's killed, it spawns 3 bug bots #indiedev #pixelArt

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

I've been working on adding new enemy mobs to my #towerdefense game for the #playdate. I've got a few more to work through before I feel like I've got a good baseline. #indiedev #pixelart

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

I implemented repulsor turrets for my #playdate #towerdefense game. Gotta turn the strength down a bit. #indiedev #pixelart

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Lightning turrets have landed in the #towerdefense game I'm building for the #playdate. I may have to write up a deep dive into how I did this proc gen, as lightning is fun. #indiedev #pixelart #proceduralgeneration

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Back to work after the holiday. I've added a new Disruptor assembly to my #towerdefense game for the #playdate. Units within range take more damage from other sources. I also got to play with procedural generation of the cloud effect #pixelArt #indiedev

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

The first of the AoE towers has been implemented: EMP towers that slow down enemy movement. #towerdefense #pixelart #playdate #indiedev

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Reposted by James

rae @rae.wtf · 06/12/2025

voting for the 2025 #playdate community awards is happening now! i released five good playdate games over the last year, and if you enjoyed any of them i'd appreciate a nomination you can vote here!: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Consider nominating "RowBot Rally" at the 2025 Playdate Community Awards, for "2025 Playdate GOTY", "The CRANKY Award", "Accomplishment in Accessibility", "Best Action Game", "Best Adventure Game", "Best Narrative Game", "Outstanding Visual Achievement (SDK)", and "Best Launch Experience".

Consider nominating "Bona Fido" and "Traffic Jam" at the 2025 Playdate Community Awards, for "Best Arcade Game".

Consider nominating "Mission LunaTrix" at the 2025 Playdate Community Awards, for "Best Arcade Game", "Best Soundtrack", and "Best Sound Design".

Consider nominating "Cloudburst" at the 2025 Playdate Community Awards, for "Accomplishment in Accessibility", "Best App or Knickknack", "Best Sound Design", and "Outstanding Technical Achievement (SDK)".

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

I've added more level decoration to my #towerdefense game. I'm trying to decide whether it's now too noisy. #playdate #indiedev #pixelart

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

I wanted the maps for my #playdate #towerdefense game to be a bit more interesting, so I added some large machines and background noise. The machines also limit where you can place turrets, so they're part of the game mechanics too. #pixelart #indiedev

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Another turret implemented for the #playdate #towerdefense game I'm working on: the corrosion turret, which inflicts damage over time. This is the last of the projectile based turrets. The next set will be AOE. #indiedev #pixelart

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

I took a break from writing code for the last few days to build out the title screen from my #playdate #towerdefense game. I was up way too late finishing this last night. #indiedev #pixelart

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

My goal is slow and steady progress for my #towerdefense game on the #playdate. I added support for multiple span points, as well as health bars. #indiedev #pixelart

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Rocket turrets with seeking missiles have landed in my #turretdefense game for the #playdate. I'm still playing with the feel of them, but the mechanics are done. #indiedev #pixelart

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

I've added laser turrets to the #playdate #towerdefense game I'm working on (the crank controls the aim of the towers) #nim #PixelArt #indiedev

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Reposted by James

Destination Playdate @destplaydate.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

🟨🟨🟨 The Long Arc - Playdate gameplay + impressions 🟨🟨🟨 youtu.be/QAVzAR2UmGs #playdate

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Reposted by James

TheGameLlama @thegamellama.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

It's time for The Long Arc from @jarmsicle.bsky.social on Playdate Unofficial! www.playdateunofficial.com/the-games/the-long-arc

playdateunofficial.com

The Long Arc — Playdate: The Unofficial Website

Worms tower defense

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

I'm back to working on my tower defense game for the #playdate. I started in on the UI for laying turrets #indiedev #PixelArt

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

@helloplaydate.bsky.social Just started listening to the latest episode! Thanks for the shout out :)

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

An update to The Long Arc on #playdate has landed with support for achievements! Check it out: playdatesquad.github.io/pd-achieveme...

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

It's the last day of the sale for 🏹 #TheLongArc on #playdate, grab a copy! play.date/games/the-lo... #indiedev

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

I started adding support for achievements (via gurtt.dev/trophy-case) to my #playdate game #TheLongArc -- which is still on sale, btw: play.date/games/the-lo...

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

The Long Arc for #playdate is on sale — grab a copy here: play.date/games/the-lo...

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

I'm working on an update to #TheLongArc that includes bug fixes and game balance tweaks, but also adds support for high scores #indiedev #playdate

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

I don’t know who they are, but a user named tallyfoley is the first person to beat #TheLongArc on #playdate! I feel like I should commemorate this in some way

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Incremental progress: turrets can now damage enemies. I also put together a design document so I have a formalized set of features, enemies, and upgrades that need to be built. #playdate #towerdefense #indiedev

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

The turrets can fire bullets now! They can't damage enemies yet, but that's next. #playdate #indiedev #towerdefense

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

I'm starting to add turrets to this tiny #towerdefense game I'm toying with on the #playdate. They don't shoot yet, but you can control their direction with the device crank #indiedev

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

After resolving a device crash caused by storing too much data on the tiny stack of the #playdate, I got my performance test running on device. I’m pleased with the results for right now. #indiedev

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

Testing the performance of the path finding and spatial indexing for the #playdate #towerdefense game I'm poking at #indiedev

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

I picked up the tower defense project I was playing with a few months back. I got an enemy moving across the map today #playdate #towerdefense #indiedev

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Reposted by James

Playdate @play.date · 09/07/2025

Whip out those Playdates, new Catalog games are here 🙌 !! Open up Catalog inside your Playdate or head to play.date/games ✨

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Started in on a new #playdate project. I'm just playing around at this point, but I got a map being rendered using LDtk, then a flow field that I'll use for enemy steering. #indiedev

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James @jarmsicle.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

I’m proud to announce that #TheLongArc has been accepted into the #playdate catalog. No date yet, so if you can’t wait its available now on itch: elephantstarballoon.itch.io/the-long-arc

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