Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Wor Games (Eulogy) coming soon. Love you always dad xxx #chiptune #arcade 170
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 27/09/2026New Wor Games mode: Core Defense The anxiety levels are high!!! 😱 #pixelart #picotron #arcade 0100
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 24/09/2026My updated version of Wor Games will have a quick, skippable tutorial before each game (can be turned off). Especially useful for the new game modes and players not familiar with #wizardofwor. #gamedev #arcade #retrogaming 0243
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Haha, #pico8 GIF capture got rid of all the explosions (frame timing I guess). Here they are! 090
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Not sure why, on my itch page, my #pico8 #missilecommand gets most hits and plays. pahammond.itch.io/missile-comm... I became pretty obsessive about learning all about the original when I did this back in 2021. Even got a trackball! Might revisit in #picotron next 030
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 08/09/2026"Core Defense", a new #towerdefence mode for Wor Games (#wizardofwor). Defend the core crystals against spawning monsters. Block passages with up to 3 temporary shields. #pictron #gamedev 1124
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 04/09/20261 player "Core Defense" mode (WIP) for Wor Games, my #picotron #wizardfwor based game. Requires proper path-finding so I've used Breadth First Search (BFS) - basically move to the lowest adjacent cell (with a bit of randomness) #gamedev #retrogaming #gaming 1244
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 29/08/2026"Alien Frenzy" mode in Wor Games (#wizardofwor) adds alien eggs and pac-man type power-ups for collecting them. Leave it too long and they hatch into super-fast baby monsters! Totally different and fun experience to the other modes. #arcade #gamedev #retrogaming #picotron #c64 0296
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 28/08/2026#picotron Wor Games (#wizardofwor): "Eulogy edition" dev now underway: * new logo * speech (my voice for now lol) * photo-sensitive mode * more control schemes Keeping it super retro! #gamedev #arcade #retrogaming 0192
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Made Wor Games for #picotron 2 years ago: pahammond.itch.io/wor-games Creating an enhanced version * More controls schemes * Speech! * More modes One thing I dislike when playing games is having to guess/look up the controls. 100% of my games have had zero on-screen help. Fixing that! #gamedev 1192
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 28/06/2026Giant squid, the nemeses of every submarine... ever... #gamedev #moonpatrol #picotron 0162
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 26/06/2026It's not "under the sea" without seaweed and bubbles! #picotron #gamedev #moonpatrol #arcade #retrogaming 1171
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 25/06/2026Haven't had much of a chance to work on my #picotron #moonpatrol mashup recently but have added underwater mines and updated a few sprites which I'm now really happy with. Had a go at animating the mines (something I struggle immensely with) but the results are far better than I expected! #gamedev 1110
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 19/06/2026Not convinced about the buggy -> submarine transition but I like the idea! More limited weapons, underwater themed. Why not! #picotron #gamedev #arcade #retrogaming #moonpatrol 1151
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 14/06/2026The buggy in my #picotron #moonpatrol now transforms into a space ship for the #scramble type levels. Also did a bit of size reduction which I think makes the buggy a bit cuter and means the size fits well with the ship. #gamedev #retrogaming 092
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 11/06/2026Adding #scamble style levels into my #picotron #moonpatrol. Randomly generated landscape (seeded so I can repeat layouts) and rockets. I think it'll fit in pretty well. Nice to mix it up. #gamedev #retrogaming #arcade 6436
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 09/06/2026Love listening to music while I'm coding. Now listening to piano versions of one of my favourite video game soundtracks: #cavestory I'll listen to the actual OST after this (not on Spotify that I can find) but this piano version is very relaxing. open.spotify.com/album/1RiAPS...open.spotify.comCave Story (Piano Selections) - Album by Game Soundtrack Cat | SpotifyGame Soundtrack Cat · album · 2016 · 36 songs 030
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 06/06/2026Continues. Something I never even thought of adding to my games until requested a week ago for my #pico8 #moonpatrol. Seems a totally obvious QoL addition! I now give the player up to 3 continues. Hi-scores are ineligible if you use one. #retrogaming #arcade #gamdev 1202
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 06/06/2026Gets tricky in later levels of my #picotron #moonpatrol. For the OG mode, I'm converting the layouts directly from my #pico8 version (give or take). 2 more enemy types to do: missiles and plants. Then I can work on enhanced mode stuff! Keeping my mind busy. #gamedev #arcade 0103
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 06/06/20262 weeks today since my dad passed, holding my hand. 40+ hour trip from NZ to Surrey just in time. Not the 7 week stay I was expecting He introduced me to programming in 1983 & I've fond memories playing Wizard or Wor with him Life changes; we just have to adapt to new states of "normal" 🥹😢 0140
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 03/06/2026Level 1 done, now mapping level 2 from my #pico8 #moonpatrol to my new #picotron version. I've somehow upped the difficulty, pretty stressful jumping all those holes! #gamedev #retrogaming #arcade 2224
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 02/06/2026I've added the ability to show ceiling (for cave-like levels like #scramble) and for earthquakes to cause to ground to move to my #picotron #moonpatrol game. #gamedev #retrogaming #arcade 0232
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 01/06/2026Really enjoyed my #pico8 version of #moonpatrol and also the excellent music by @notehead.bsky.social pahammond.itch.io/moon-patrol Thinking of doing an enhanced version for #picotron. Experimenting with ideas at the moment. Graphically, I really like the #msx version #gamedev #retrogaming #arcade 1213
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 26/05/2026Virus Buster, a #pico8 game I wrote back in 2020 and totally forgot to ever publish on my itch site! pahammond.itch.io/virus-buster From memory, I wrote this straight after bubble bobble as a bit of a cool-down project whist still WFH due to lockdown. #gamedev #chiptune 1549
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 24/05/2026Small update to #picotron "Grid Rider" to warn the player if they accidentally shoot a power-up. Play for free at: pahammond.itch.io/grid-rider #gamedev #c64 #arcade 0124
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 02/05/2026Experimenting with the #NES Little Sampson character for my #picotron #loderunner game. #gamedev #retrogaming 1213
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 01/05/2026No idea whether they'll work correctly yet but I've added "professional" and "fan book" level packs into my #picotron #loderunner. That's 366 levels so far (some look very cruel!) Needed to get multiple packs in place before I start implementing hi-scores and level times. #gamedev 0245
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 01/05/2026Early days so not too worried about presentation in my #picotron #loderunner game. Haven't settled on a style yet. Simon Hung's git repo is an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to remake this game. Used it for my #pico8 versions too: github.com/SimonHung/Lo... #gamedev #c64 0283
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 23/04/2026#loderunner is ALL about the algorithm. Get one tiny thing wrong & the level might not work! Thankfully for my #pico8 version, I'd found & adapted JavaScript code. Trick now is to NOT break it if implement a 2 player co-op mode! Seems to be working as expected for 1p. #gamedev #picotron 0252
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 23/04/2026I know #loderunner's been done a gazillion times (including my own #pico8 versions) but thought I'd start refactoring my old code into #picotron. I feel I can do a no compromises version. Plus there was an arcade 2p version 🤔 #gamedev 1211
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 23/04/2026#picotron Grid Rider (#gridrunner) updated to v0.82 to increase difficulty when having looped through all levels. pahammond.itch.io/grid-rider #gamedev #retrogaming #c64 #arcade 0205
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 15/04/2026Bug fix for #picotron grid rider where patroller warning was not showing in the right-hand column. pahammond.itch.io/grid-rider #gamedev #retrogaming #c64 #arcade 1133
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 14/04/2026Hey #picotron community (yes, I know I could use the BBS), with the latest build, 0.3.0b, none of my HTML exports contain a screen image. I also had trouble with the cart labels but managed to get around that. Anyone else experienced this? I'm simply loading my cart and doing: export grid.html 030
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 12/04/2026New #picotron release! Grid Rider (#gridrunner), a project I put on the back-burner a month or so ago but got back to today (indoor day due to cyclone). Based on Jeff Minter's classic but... Ice cream themed - just cos! Play for free at: pahammond.itch.io/grid-rider #retrogaming #arcade #c64 0166
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 11/04/2026#picotron Balloon Jerks (a #puzzlebobble / #pooyan mash-up) now has executables on itch (not sure whether I ever uploaded them for this one). pahammond.itch.io/balloon-jerks Still horribly addictive! #gamedev #arcade #retrogaming 1245
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 11/04/2026#picotron Stix Disruption (#qix) rebuilt so the executables (which for some reason had vanished) are now available on itch again: pahammond.itch.io/stix-disrupt... Also features 2-player co-op. #gamedev #arcade #retrogaming 2133
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 11/04/2026#picotron Jetpac Defenders (based on #dropzone) rebuilt (executables had vanished) now available on itch again: pahammond.itch.io/jetpac-defen... Remember finishing this one in a bit of a rush but revisiting it, I'm really pleased how it turned out! #gamedev #arcade #retrogaming #c64 0135
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 11/04/2026#picotron #phoenix rebuilt so the executables (which for some reason had vanished) are now available on itch again: pahammond.itch.io/phoenix-2024 Kinda cool to revisit these older projects, even if it is just to re-compile them! #gamedev #arcade #retrogaming 0114
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 11/04/2026Realising my attention span for my #picotron projects is exceptionally low at the moment (keep getting distracted by the "next" project), I've co-opted my #pico8 #stix music for my twin well #tetris game. Once I've added a few more sfx, I should probably just release it! #gamdev #chiptune 0201
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 08/04/2026On an AI SDLC course (forced 😮💨) today but Claude has made it totally worthwhile 😂 050
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 06/04/2026Except Radar Rally, that still has the executables! pahammond.itch.io/radar-rallypahammond.itch.ioRadar Rally by pahammond1980's style arcade maze racing action 030
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 06/04/2026In fact, NONE of my #picotron projects on itch.io now have downloadable executables! By older #pico8 stuff still seems intact. Am I really going to have to rebuild and re-upload these files??? 120
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 06/04/2026Have I missed something about an issue with itch.io? Last week, I was alerted to Wor games having no executable downloads and today, a comment on Phoenix (pahammond.itch.io/phoenix-2024) has brought it to my attention there's no downloads other that the picotron cart file (.png). What's going on? 120
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 06/04/2026Identity crisis #5!!! My #picotron twin-well #tetris game now has a Metroid theme (it's what I'd originally planned - hence the wall crawlers - but in a completely different way) and a new name, "Tetroids". Testing level palettes and using the whole screen. #gamedev #retrogaming 0303
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 04/04/2026@steve-morks.bsky.social. Thank you. Twintris it is! #gamedev #picotron #tetris 0213
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 04/04/2026My #picotron #tetris game now has a name: teleportris (unless someone suggests something better - a low bar!) and title and mode/level selection screens. #gamedef #retrogaming 2141
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 03/04/2026Restyled & cleaned up my 1P, twin-well #picotron #tetris. * wall crawlers add penalty rows * massive bonus for 0 penalty rows on level clear * 4 difficulty levels Really hard for me to balance since I'm so rubbish at Tetris but one of the few games I've made where I'm getting distracted playing it! 1111
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 31/03/2026My #picotron twin-well #tetris style game now has a (kind of) metroidish theme. Really like the wall crawlers as replacements for the timer. Gives the whole thing a more dynamic look. Style is pretty disjointed at the moment but it already plays pretty well. #gamedev 0246
Paul @paulhamx.bsky.social · 31/03/2026My #picotron twin-well #tetris style game now has a (kind of) metroid(ish) theme. Really like the wall crawlers as replacements for the timer. Gives the whole thing a more dynamic look. Style is pretty disjointed at the moment but it already plays pretty well. #gamedev 0152
