iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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innes mck @innes.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

but doctor,

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Design Room @designroom.site · 14/10/2025

🚨🚨🚨 We are live! Welcome to Design Room, a new independent games media site. • We specialize in oral histories like the Final Fantasy 7 and Street Fighter 2 ones I (@mattleone.bsky.social) did at Polygon • Our first big story is on Shadow of the Colossus: bit.ly/4hjwz8n • See more: designroom.site

designroom.site

Design Room

Video game oral histories

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

Thank you, Big-Ass Rainbow, for reminding me that magic still exists.

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ceej @ceej.online · 10/10/2025

damn. hoping it at least signifies something

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Mine just got delivered, it’s beautiful, super excited to dig in!

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

I’ve been summoned! Shading is pretty simple, cel shading with a smoothstep + soft directional ambient. Ian is doing a lot of heavy lifting with his beautiful compositions here, and I tried to give the art team as much fine control over colour as possible. Nice shapes + nice colours = v. pretty!

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Some of IQ’s domain warping examples have a similar look, I think you could get something very close with some tinkering. Just lots of layered perlin noises, distorted with even more perlin noises. iquilezles.org/articles/warp/

iquilezles.org

Inigo Quilez :: computer graphics, mathematics, shaders, fractals, demoscene and more

Tutorials and articles of Inigo Quilez on computer graphics, fractals, demoscene, shaders and more.

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Oh man, it was such a shame given the strong start to the season. Just aggressively unpleasant television.

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passivestar @passivestar.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

How to create beautiful terrain with erosion in Blender fast (thread) ✨

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

Boarding my 11 hour, transatlantic flight with a promise to myself that I WILL understand the Caves of Qud when I land.

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

You just know the Rayonné is the dirtiest synth bass you’ve ever heard.

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Kaden 🥩 Stranger Still - Out Now!🥩 @kadenramstack.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

I dont want AAA games anymore, i want games made by a little freak with a vision

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

Oh hey, I did some fun work on this one! Well over a year ago now, very surreal to jump into a Monument Valley game as a player, essentially blind! (I assume it has changed greatly since my tenure)

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 06/11/2024

Hello America! (please be normal)

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 05/11/2024

The tracker seems to imply a possibility that my flight could decide go to Jamaica today instead, which sounds ideal, fingers crossed!

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 05/11/2024

I have somehow, through a series of unexpected personal and economical events, found myself on a plane to relocate my whole damn self, from the UK to the US, on election day. Everything feels totally unreal, here’s hoping I land in a normal country!

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 04/11/2024

Oh my god! This is incredible, thank you! How did I not find this? And yeah, I’m using Unity, but was seriously considering porting everything over to dots physics or something else less black box-y!

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 04/11/2024

Oh that’s amazing! I’ve actually been tackling the exact same problem over the last week or so, and have been plain stumped by the way physx handles its inertia matrices. It’s been very difficult to get right, well done for seeing it though!

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SCREAMING MADi west @fauxedo.bsky.social · 15/11/2023

Maybe the funniest ad copy I’ve ever seen

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Ninn @bleu-capsicum.bsky.social · 20/10/2023

Hello! I'm a person who draws the sky a lot, but sometimes other things too! I'll be hanging out around these parts.

Digital painting of some towering clouds in dramatic yellow and orange lighting, and dark grey shadows.

Digital painting of a character walking in a field of brown grass around golden hour. The sky is filled with large, pastel iridescent clouds. The character is seen from the back.

Digital painting of a woman standing still up to her stomach in a bright red river that somewhat resembles lava. It is around nightfall, and the woman is lit from underneath by the reiver.

Digital painting of a seascape at night, with a huge two-story iridescent cloud overtaking the sky and brightly shining over the sea. In the middle of the ocean, there is a small boat with a small figure sitting in it, watching the sky.

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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 17/10/2023

(1989) archive.org/details/Zero...

anti-piracy print ad.
huge font at top of page: warning
photo: two floppy disks side by side, one that official disk for a game called 'see it, shoot it', the other a pirated disk with 'see it, shoot it' handwritten on the disk label.
below the official disk, the text: this disk will give you hours of fun.
below the pirated disk, the text: this disk could give you 6 months in prison.
more text: if you pirate softare you are a thief. thieves will be prosecuted.
bottom right hand corner: a skull and crossbones with a circle and a diagonal line through the skull and the text font: 'piracy is theft' below it.
the ad was published by e.l.s.p.a.: entertainment and leisure software publishers association

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kelsey irene @holographic.pink · 10/10/2023

hurgh it's #portfolioday and i am very tired and am down for 3D generalist work sure, all my portfolio stuff is characters and texture work but can you imagine how badass my gradient textures would look on props? get in here early and you get my great personality and jokes for free

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Alan Wolfe @demofox.bsky.social · 10/10/2023

I'm looking for gamedev and graphics peeps to follow. Who you got? Reposts appreciated!

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 10/10/2023

Feels like most graphics folk are much more active on Mastodon, which is fair. If more people make the jump here, as Twitter continues to implode, I would love to (or for someone else to) set up a custom Graphics feed!

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 08/10/2023

It's true, I'm actually just 15 million mosquitos in a trench coat and glasses.

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 06/10/2023

Of course, that makes perfect sense!

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 05/10/2023

This is so cool, have never heard the term ‘multi-armed bandit’ before and I kind of love ‘regret’ as a metric. Are there any common problems in graphics/games that could be characterised this way, or is this primarily an ML space thing?

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The Ken In Yellow @kenlowery.bsky.social · 26/09/2023

Why should I care enough to read or behold something no one cared enough to actually make?

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 03/10/2023

I think most sci-fi that I've been exposed to was either too deeply entrenched in then topical Modernism ("We're on a trajectory for the stars!"), or Post-Modernism ("Megacorps own your organs! How grungy!") to honestly engage in this specific kind of self reflection.

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fran riolobos @franxurio.bsky.social · 02/10/2023

QRT the character VS how do you draw them

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 02/10/2023

Struggling with the lack of any kind of map in Cocoon! This is 100% a me problem, Cocoon seems so beautiful and incredibly well designed. But being unable to look beyond my immediate surroundings combined with the number of blind forks and one way gates is very stressful for Maxes!

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 01/10/2023

Ag! Totally obsessed with The Devil's Plan. It's a korean reality game show with a heavy emphasis on game design, and a spiritual successor to 'The Genius' one of my favourite TV shows of all time! It's BACK baybee! (its on the netflix or can probably be gotten via other means or whatever)

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Reposted by Max van der Merwe

Rianna @vividfax.bsky.social · 30/09/2023

👾 OUT NOW 🪡 vividfax.itch.io/crossle Crossle is a daily cross-stitch pathfinding challenge where you have to complete all of the crosses in the pattern using the least amount of thread. I find a tactical combination of the English and Danish methods works best ;)

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 30/09/2023

Recording pitches with a face cam (yuck) and I’m not sure how people record long videos in isolation and remember to be aware of and personable to the camera. I’ve stuck a little guy up there to be my stand in audience and he’s helping me through it.

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 28/09/2023

Very cool to be working in an industry that appears to be crumbling apart at every imaginable front!

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Jordan DeVries @jordandevries.com · 28/09/2023

If you fuck up badly enough that nine hundred of your own employees lose their jobs, you should be laid off too

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 23/09/2023

The most frustrating part of this being, that for a pretty big segment of games, Unity is STILL going to be the most sensible option *on paper*, and they know this. The fees are still lower than Unreal and the technical risks of Godot are still too high. It’s a mess out here!

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 23/09/2023

Just catching up on the unity walk-back now and oh dear! I get that there’s probably not much they can say about this, but this is a hilariously terrible excuse! I am simultaneously savouring the drama and frantically recalculating my own future plans.

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 21/09/2023

You're right, it totally IS Seamonkeys! That's a funny connection!

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 21/09/2023

It's so cute and confident in doing it's own little weird thing, I love it! Also 'created for my daughter lucia' 🥹

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 21/09/2023

I can’t post gifs here, which sucks because it’s incredibly charming in motion, hopefully that changes soon! So cute though! Kind of like a passive doll house / fish tank? The guy in my computer has a dog and wears sunglasses even when he’s showering.

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 21/09/2023

Just found out about 'Little Computer People' and I'm totally obsessed. LOOK AT THIS LITTLE GUY! The pitch is that ALL computers already have a tiny guy inside, and the disk just contains a 'house' that he will move into. Which is just, very cute.

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 21/09/2023

That sounds fun, excited to hear how this goes! Also can’t wait to see the little unreal robot man run around that environment before he is de-unrealed!

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 21/09/2023

I honestly can’t see this getting much better in the near future. Business folk seem spooked by the state of the market and increasingly conservative. The ‘indie game space’ is feeling more and more like 2005 era shovelware every day. Somethings got to give!

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 20/09/2023

Hey! Thank you! Honestly for these guys I can’t remember. I THINK they had napkin or post it note doodles, but they’re usually the barest scribbles. These two are just SDF blobs too, which lends itself to winging it.

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 20/09/2023

Ok, first things first. HELLO! I am Max! I make the video games, most of them are currently secret! When I'm not doing that, I do the graphics! When I'm not doing THAT I like to make models of cute little guys! That's my deal!

This is Alba: A Wild Life Adventure. I worked on this and made it pretty.

A person and a dog by a car overlooking a sunset view

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Max van der Merwe @maxvdm.bsky.social · 19/09/2023

Hello friends, nice to see you! Hello strangers, I make video games and tell the pixels where to go. Nice see you all! 👋

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