iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

This picture of the US capitol looks like the negative of the cliffs above Narshe

Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Nowhere is this more true than if you have pivoted from mainstream business to videogames. As I mentioned in the coda to my sample RPG Project Plan:

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Final Fantasy X is just a recapitulation of the 90s kids movie "Surf Ninjas," except half the characters are either imaginary or undead.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

www.workwithindies.com/careers/gian...

Bernie is disappointed in your erroneous game job posting.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Not a bad run. My computer started dropping lots of frames because of how many enemies were on screen, so I'm not sure I could get much further.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

State 12: End. The shader on the enemy sprite disappears. Crono finishes back in his north-facing hurt frame. This, too, only lasts an instant. The goal is to reuse this frame to make it look like he lands in a brief crouch. This sells the "weight" of his movements.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

State 11: resolution. The enemy's hurt frame appears, but the enemy is also shaded with a 100% white overlay for just an instant. Crono uses his basic attack approach frames in reverse on the way back to his launch spot. He used spincut/cleave approach frames on the way towards his target.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

State 10: Finishing the attack proper with another transition back to a white overlay shader on the BG layers. Each white "flash" of the BG layers has been more opaque than the last.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

State 9: Animation is still speeding up. To emphasize this transition, the BG layers go from a white overlay shader to a black one, again.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

State 8: Enemy shaking. As soon as damage numbers start to appear, the enemy sprite is shaken to the left and right, rapidly. Enemy hurt frames don't appear, however.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

State 7: another loop. Here's a clearer look at the sleight of hand with the trailing sprites and the lead sprite. Still just reusing existing frames!

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

State 6: Intensifying the animation. First, there's an 80-90% opacity white overlay shader applied to the background layers only. Second, the rotation and frame changes speed up a little bit. We're still only reusing old frames!

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

State 5: completing the rotation. Because everything is 2D, making Crono appear to rotate around the target requires some sleight of hand. The lead Crono sprite does move in front of the enemy. The clones spawned by the trail always remain below it. It's so fast that you don't notice.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

State 4: transition into circling strikes. This frame is just Crono's east/west prepare frame for a basic attack. There's a 50-60% white simple shader applied to the BG layers when he commences.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

State 3: Crono leaps. He's in his north launch frame. This frame is also from Spincut/Cleave (and any of its dual tech version). An effect script causes clones of this frame to appear below the lead sprite. Those sprites "expire" (are destroyed) rapidly as the lead sprite moves.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

State 2: Crono enters his north-facing hurt frame, but only for a moment. It's not a new frame, but if used very briefly it looks like a crouch before a jump.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

State 1: Prep. The BG layers are darkened with a 50% transparent, black, simple overlay shader. Crono enters the same prep frame he uses for spincut/cleave. He has this prep frame for north, east/west, and south facings, depending on his position relative to the target.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Yes. Hyping games is easy. Actually making games is a fool's errand. To quote Jeff Kaplan, "A game is at its best when you haven't made it. The more of it you make, the worse it gets."

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

So, this is clearly designed to attract attention by enraging. And here I am, spreading it! But I'd like to pick a part of it out and calmly assess. Valve's devs may be detached from the reality of indie development, specifically when they talk about "player retention."

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

It's the "Christmas for Unmedicated Dads"

Vowles and Del Naja looking exactly as old as they are.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

As was foretold! (In 1997 no less.)

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Don't let AI write your "technical game designer" job ads. (I added a few "suggestions" in the spirit of the original.)

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

In 8 years of working for first-time game creators, here's the most important thing I've learned.

A wheel showing that of commercial viability, low budget, and creative control, you can only have two of them.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

What IS going on in this upcoming DLC?

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Post a game you remember playing that nobody else remembers.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

I stole this from David Vinc who stole it from who knows where. But MAN is this funny.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

This is the internet equivalent of becoming a made man in the mafia.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

And here's an example of Thomas using this very technique for the tilesets in Quartet.

A shot of High Street in Leornia, Quartet (2025)

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Secret of Mana doesn't have highly sophisticated storytelling, but even after all this time, I continue to be amazed by how well it does narrative promises.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Oh, this is the one line I've actually localized.

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Pat Holleman @patmakesrpgs.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

Except for the dick joke aspect, this is the *actual plot* of Nikolai's chapter in Quartet. I am not joking. (The ghost of Maimonides may also make an appearance.)