iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

My favorite part of programming is when you spend hours debugging an issue and finally figured out it was because you were using the wrong variable. You assumed that you were using the right variable when you were skimmed it so you didn't triple check it until hours later and AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Improved the readability of the charts for Concertmaster by flipping it vertical again. Also reversed the down bow/up bow colors. I realized I was slowly reinventing the bowing markings that already exist with my earlier prototypes so I'm just using the actual markings now. #screenshotsaturday

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Reposted by Liz Zhang

IGDA NYC @igdanyc.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

GAME-A-PALOOZA is BACK!!! NYC area #gamedevs, applications to show your game to the local press, industry and community are now OPEN. FREE to submit (Aug 28 deadline). With limited tables, selected games will be notified by Sept 4 for this Oct 7 all-day event. #NYMakesGames #NYC #events

gameapalooza.love

Game-A-Palooza 2026 | NYC Indie Showcase — Oct 7, Brooklyn

A curated showcase of New York indie games. Publisher session, then doors open to the public. October 7, 2026 at 339 Adams St, Downtown Brooklyn.

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Still working on the new bowing mechanic. Just finished implementing lifting the bow so you can reset your bow position when you inevitably run out of bow. But you don't need that because you always remember to save bow for the rest of the note, right? #indiegame #gamedev #violin

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

When you're trying to understand the code for an existing mechanic so you can expand on it: How did this ever work 🌎👨‍🚀🔫👨‍🚀It never did

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Overhauled the rhythm gameplay for Concertmaster. Previously (left), it was more like playing a piano rather than a violin so I redesigned the rhythm game to be 4 key + mouse (right). Move your mouse right to down bow and left to up bow, just like real life! #indiegame #gamedev #violin

Screenshot of rhythm game with a vertical note highway for 8 keys

Screenshot of rhythm game with a horizontal note highway for 4 keys and a bow controlled by a mouse.

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Iterating on visuals for Concertmaster. Can you guess which one's the new version? #gamedev #indiegame

Screenshot of Concertmaster thats two adults standing in a room with a music stand and clock. One of them is talking.

Screenshot of the same scene but with a different room visual style

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

#gamedev Was integrating concept/placeholder character art into the build and realized it'd actually be pretty easy to add portraits to the dialog boxes with how I architected my project. I used a simple technique in Godot to make character traits easy to add and update 🧵

Screenshot of a videogame. The room is label orchestra and is colored purple. Two female characters are in middle, one is on a podium. She is saying "Good morning. And congradulations, I guess".

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

❌readable code ✅a "one liner" you have no hope of comprehending in 3 months time

$Long line of code that reads: PossibleHitBeatCount = _songInfo.Score.Beats.SelectMany(x => { var beatUnits = new List<BeatUnit>(); if (x.BeatUnits != null) { beatUnits = new List<BeatUnit>(x.BeatUnits); } if (x.QuarterBeats != null) { beatUnits.AddRange(x.QuarterBeats); } return beatUnits; }).SelectMany(x => x == null ? new List<Score.Lane>() : x.Lanes).SelectMany(x => x == null ? new List<Score.Block>() : x.Blocks).Count(x => x != null && x.NoteType != NoteType.NONE);$

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

My orchestra teacher in highschool used to say "don't play the whole piece until you can play the passages you're sturggling with with 10 times in a row perfect". I added tools to allow you to bookmark difficult passages and play them over and over until its 10 times perfect. #screenshotsaturday

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

There's this video that used to be on twitter with @bradshoemaker.bsky.social from @giantbomb.com whispering "they killed mass effect" over the EA logo that would pop up in my mind every few months. That tweet has since been deleted and I can't find it anywhere so I recreated it.

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

I've had this concept in my head for so long I can't evaluate if its a good idea or not any more.

Before: name of my game "Concertmaster" in a boring, default, sans serif font.

After: The name of the game "Concertmaster" with the words "Classical Music Rhythm" above it, all in the Metal Gear Solid font.

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

I think I've reach a level of proficiancy with Photoshop that I can confidently, as a user, say: Adobe is my enemy.

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Working on a cover image/splash screen for the classical music rhythm game I'm working on. #screenshotsaturday Play the protoype here ms-liz-zhang.itch.io/concertmaster I always looking for feedback!

Pink stage in a dark pink room is lit up by a yellow spotlight. The spotlight is partially lighting up the words "Concertmaster"

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

@remapradio.bsky.social Is there any chance of @patrickklepek.bsky.social doing any more interviews like the Stern pinball interview from last year? Industry folks in gaming industries that aren't video games chatting about their experiences?

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

Still vibrating from this Balatro run

Balatro end game score screen. Some highlights: Ante 18, Round 47, 8.324x10^29 single best hand score.

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

Sex-ed classes should have the students play XCOM so they understand what 98% effective means for condoms.

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Liz Zhang @ms-liz-zhang.bsky.social · 12/05/2024

When programming, the only thing worse than having a lot of errors is having no errors. That's when you're so wrong, the computer thinks its intentional.

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