iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

No lies detected. I mostly remember being suspicious of the CG animated film “Robots” as a grown ass dude working on the very bad video game tie-in because I wasn’t about to get tricked into all those weird robot feelings again.

Ha! My mom didn’t let me rent Brave Little Toaster after All Dogs go to Heaven. But she did accidentally imstead rent a movie for her Star Wars droid loving child that honestly she should have known better about

Can I tell you a secret? I have NEVER seen the rest of it. It’s up there with “Charlie, you can never go back” when Dog Heaven and Dog Hell scares you more than actual Catholic school ever did.

My aunt and uncle showed me this movie on a night they were babysitting and ascan adult: just like… tell me you don’t have kids without telling me you don’t have kids and pick a movie to show your nieces and nephew when they’re ten.

The books of John Bellairs with art by Edward Gorey. Just unbelievable terror when you least expect it. Where Goosebumps went big and obvious these books went subtle and full of dread in deeply fucked up ways.

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Every now and then it’s important to remember that life can be good with surprisingly little.

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This was an almost MFA one week project in the Wild West days. I don’t think they like me telling that story but I love it

Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

You are so right to point that out. That’s on me. Making note of that right now and it’s locked in. Would you like me to start a comprehensive sweep for Sarah Connor or should we get to work on the blueprints for the Arch Weapons Platform?

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Dude I’ve just been giving the parallel universe talk about DEVELOPMENT. I’m gonna read this a second time tomorrow with coffee, but 🙌

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Reposted by Jesse V

Philip Tibitoski @ptibz.younghorses.com · 28/09/2026

Indies, I need you to know that when someone says they can look past a game's in development lack of polish and envision what a game will be like when it's done, they are unintentionally LYING. Even I fool myself into thinking this is the case each game. It's rarely true.

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I’m seeing it again Saturday. Someone asked me how gross it is, should we eat before or after and I said “it’s not disgusting but let me put it like this: I don’t think very many people went home to fuck after seeing Barbarian”

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I was in the theater with these critics and I can attest they had a good time at the movies. When you see it you’ll know why.

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

If you know someone who doesn’t understand why watching Twitch streaming is a thing people enjoy, I highly encourage you to go see Resident Evil in a rowdy theater this weekend. That’s all I’ll say, except that it’ll be better as a shared experience in a theater and you’ll know why I said that.

static.klipy.com

Resident Evil 2026

ALT: Resident Evil 2026

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Oh my gosh, me too. I fantasize about a version of rock and roll fantasy camp that’s just “here are some medium-nice cameras and a bunch of new friends. You’re permitted for everything up here. There’s a prop cabin and a costume cabin and a limited workshop. Please have fun. No hustle no divas.”

Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I wish my students knew how good they had it. My dudes, your only job today is to put care and attention and craftsmanship into your art, which by the way, does not need to succeed or satisfy shareholders. You have the rest of your lives to be miserable amd sleepless making 6/10 action games, TRUST.

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Oh hey your clone wars run unlocked secret cloning facilities. That’ll come in handy. Build Death Star. Whoops. Next run we’ll add a shield generator. Recruit a Skywalker, whoops! Recruit another Skywalker, whoops. Recruit another Skywalker?

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Poe Dameron: Somehow, Palpatine Returned

Pitch day in class: My riff: oh my god the star wars roguelike logline is literally just “somehow palpatine returned” - you are the emperor, every run you are trying the same thing, rule the galaxy kill the Jedi . Every run they get you but you can build on it next time.

static.klipy.com

ALT: Poe Dameron: Somehow, Palpatine Returned

Not to mention what a far more interesting game when the rampant feral frenzy is a lose condition instead of the core fantasy.

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How many million dollars spent on blood and wearable guts simulation vs including Charles Xavier saying “you don’t have to be this way just because they made you that way”

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So much of what is wrong with the games industry right now might be summarized by spending countless years making a game called “Wolverine” but not including any of the moderating redemptive influences in that character’s core story that get in the way of letting gamers play as a meat grinder.

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Who is eating sammich in the dark in my systems class why does my systems class smell like a subway

Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Most banks won’t even talk loans until you’ve been in business for two years. Fun totally unrelated fact: most small businesses fail in the first two years. When we started our company we had a signed six figure contract and couldn’t get a 10k loan to buy computers for the office to do the work.

Jay Bushman @jaybushman.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Reposted by Jesse V

🎶 I saw Noah Nelson drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic’s. And his hair was *perfect* 🎶

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I’m teaching a new class this fall and I wasn’t sure if I was really nailing it all summer but I think this class is gonna be good after all.

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

When I die and arrive in hell I think there’s even money Satan will choose to make hell a flight on Air China

Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I muted the audio because it’s mostly a click track, but here’s a sample run through the alpha 1 milestone. Still needs tons of tuning and visual polish, and a ton of audio work but for a one button game I’m building in a hotel room I’m pretty enthused about this as a creative project.

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

One button arcade game about being a sysadmin defending from Gibsonian cyberspace icebreakers-using Godot for the first time, building it in my hotel room while teaching my workshop. It’s using vector art but runs in a sophisticated music system I designed so secretly everything happens on the BEAT

Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I am doing my own assignment in the hotel room just to prove I’m not a monster and it’s possible to make a fun game using only one button that can accomplish a simple experience goal. I rolled “just one more game” and “you are a giant eyeball” and brainstormed some ideas in front of my shy class.

lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 09/08/2026

Reposted by Jesse V

if they're drinking nounwine it's fantasy. if they're snorting a verb it's sci fi

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

I made this in the hotel room for the workshop attendees. Hi, by the way, I’m in Beijing. I used Google translate on the text until my student assistants get here to fix it. If it’s wrong please forgive me, native speakers will adjust it before it is deployed. If it’s hilarious please tell me.

Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Okay I know all the indies are saying this but as a lightweight “just fucking rapid prototype” tool Godot rocks so far. I’ll share some progress since I am going to prove to my workshop attendees this is possible by doing my own project.

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

One thing every professor I know will of course agree with is the notion that we feel our students are listening to and heeding anything we have said in our classrooms lately.

Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I’m teaching a design workshop for the next two weeks and we’re starting by building this controller. I know. But just wait. I think some remarkable things will come from designing for this controller.

Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

When we talked about doing a new show I died inside knowing I’d have to learn about “clipping” and be good about it this time. I thought it would be a chore but NOPE, it’s my reward. I love the clips. The hard part is choosing! check out @everydamnframe.com there’s lots more #ResidentEvil ahead

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I’m so pissed because I liked the tool but the hosting is NOT worth the money and hassle and what it cost us in terms of launch. Both @everydamnframe.com episodes should sound loads better now.

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

So it turns out our old podcast hosting service and its AI helper were LYING to me and gaslighting me deeply about whether or not they were compressing and altering the audio I uploaded even to their own AI’s specifications. I spend this morning migrating us and finally had proof. 1 is RIVERSIDE.

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

I have fond memories of watching adults crowd around it, I was never able to play it, there were huge crowds always when I was a kid in arcades.

Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Seeing both trailers back to back before Spider-Man I think we were wrong to call it #DunesDay when we could clearly be calling it #PughsDay

Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I did my 3 miles this morning with hills! I got stuff done promoting my show! My talk that I’m giving at @indiecade.bsky.social’s climate jam soon is a good and useful one about QA and Polishing which I care about so much that I have bullied my program into making it curriculum. Good morning!

I would also accept a game about hitting a jukebox perfectly to make it play the song.

They auctioned so many of the props and costumes years ago and I’ve been trying so hard to get you the actual graveyard sweater

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Honestly sum up 2026 right now. I love that it’s been deleted whatever it was

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New-Cleckit Dominie @ncdominie.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

So a fun fact here is that I deliberately cropped the visuals here for this clip because when taping the show we never went back to look at the graveyard sweater, so it became slowly an object of myth in our oral tradition. Really am loving this show. Please subscribe. It’s free and ad-free!

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Reposted by Jesse V

This is just to say I have OCRed the text thet was in tne arch:ve and whicb yov were prabaldy seamhing for "breahtast" Fargme ms fheg mem debo:w5 sb ?mccf mmb 5c oc1b

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Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I would say that I would not be surprised to learn that at least one studio head has a Nemesis Program.

Jesse V @jessev.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I keep hearing “movies are back, baby” but some of them never leave! This has been so much fun and I always leave an episode with a long list of movies I want to sit down and enjoy when we wrap.