iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

The commander has a new map. Full region, real roads, real obstacles, and live data on every town. Will it be enough to combat the outbreak? #indiegame #solodev #gamedev #zombiegame

081

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

I've been building a zombie RTS in public for months without telling you the name. Today that changes. Command the Dead is on Steam. #indiegame #solodev #gamedev #zombiegame

082

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Early start. Feedback from my devlog flagged that players couldn't tell I was controlling units. Added a path arrow. Simple fix, big difference. Does this read clearly to you? #indiegame #solodev #gamedev

A top-down tactical map showing a zombie outbreak in its early stages. Two army units are visible with a dotted path arrow indicating movement orders. An orders log in the bottom left reads "Secure Reed Bluff, move a unit to the city within the hour." The infection rate is 20% with one active horde on the map.

282

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Really grateful for the feedback coming out of my latest devlog. Hearing people discuss strategy, information flow, and decision-making under pressure has genuinely helped shape the direction of the game. A lot of work, but absolutely worth it. #indiegame #solodev #gamedev

A helicopter trying to fly with zombies clinging on, and jumping towards it.

292

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

My zombie RTS doesn't let you micromanage units. You set the strategy, they execute it. Sometimes brilliantly, sometimes not. Do you want control or do you want to be surprised? #indiegame #solodev #gamedev

282

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your game is step away from it. Loch shore, pine trees, and a bike. How do you step away from the screen? #indiegame #solodev #gamedev

A mountain bike parked on a sandy shoreline beside a Scottish loch. Pine trees frame the left of the image, rolling hills visible across the water under a blue sky with scattered clouds.

1103

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Sometimes a week of work produces this. A log. A timer. Simple on screen, significant under the hood. That's solo dev. That's the iceberg problem. #indiegame #solodev #gamedev

0122

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Moving from prototype to game and the architecture is starting to push back. Anyone else hit that wall where the code that got you started becomes the thing holding you back? #indiegame #solodev #gamedev

4103

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Most plans fail in the first hour. Your job isn't a perfect plan. Your job is to still be standing when it falls apart. That's the commander fantasy at the centre of my zombie RTS. #indiegame #solodev #gamedev

092

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

My latest video is live. I'm building a zombie RTS where you're the commander, not the soldier. 72 hours to stop the outbreak before it spirals. Is this a game you'd play? #indiegame #solodev #gamedev www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVal...

youtube.com

I'm Building a Zombie RTS Where the Army Actually Wins

YouTube video by David makes games

042

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Some days the code flows. Today it stuck. Spent the session hunting a bug that was killing my orders log display. Found it. Fixed it. Back on track. #indiegame #solodev #gamedev

042

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

#gamedev truth: Some days you're a coding wizard. Other days you're proud you remembered to save your file. Both days matter. The wizard days get the glory, but the showing-up days build the game. Consistency beats intensity every time. Progress is progress. #solodev #indiedev #indiegame

0142

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Most zombie games put you on the ground. My zombie RTS puts you in the operations centre. 72 hours. Can you do better than every army in every zombie movie you've watched? Full devlog drops Tuesday. #indiegame #solodev #gamedev #zombie #ZombieRTS #zombiegame

032

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Thinking about Steam capsule design early. Clean, simple — just the soldier on yellow. No title treatment yet. Is this the kind of image that stops the scroll on a storefront? #indiegame #solodev #gamedev #zombie #ZombieRTS #zombiegame

Illustrated, black and white soldier on a biohazard yellow background.

192

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Good dev day ✔️ Brain dump complete ✔️ Now it’s just me, a quiet path, and some well-earned downtime. 🌳🎮 #indiegame #gamedev #solodev

A small road going through a tunnel of trees in the summertime

1112

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Feeling like you don't deserve your gamedev wins? Maybe you're exactly where you need to be. Your path doesn't have to match others. Your timeline is your own. Stop comparing. #indiegame #gamedev #solodev

3133

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Building a zombie RTS where you're the commander, not the soldier. I went NORAD style —easier to build solo and fits the fantasy. Does it sell the concept or get in the way? #indiegame #solodev #zombiegame

A tactical display showing a zombie outbreak in crisis. 21 active hordes in red spread across the map, 37% infection rate, one army unit remaining. Cities are losing population. The situation is deteriorating.

181

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Place your units on a city and civilians flock to you for protection. A horde shows up — they scatter. Horde gone — they return. Nobody told them to do this. It emerged from the rules. The game is starting to feel alive. 🎮 #gamedev #indiegame #solodev #zombie #zombies #zombiegame

0102

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Didn't program this. It just happened. Refugees cluster around army units for protection. When a horde appears they scatter. When it's gone, they return. Simple rules. Emergent behaviour. This is what I'm building toward. #gamedev #indiegame #solodev

192

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Shipped procedural map generation this week. Every game is a different theatre. 🗺️ Zones, roads, rivers, crossing points — all generated, all affecting gameplay. No two containment scenarios are the same. #ScreenshotSaturday #gamedev #indiegame #solodev

#screen of zombie outbreak prototype game where urban centres, urban density zones, roads, rivers and crossing points are procedurally generated. An Army Unit engages a horde in an urban city called Price Landing. The map is littered with hordes attacking refugees. All units are represented as discs.

063

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Spent the morning merging an architecture refactor. Spent the afternoon watching in-game refugees disappear for no reason. Solo dev is just this, repeated. #solodev #indiedev #gamedev

073

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Ending the day with a walk 🚶‍♂️ As a solo game dev, I wrapped up a big chunk of refactoring today. It’s the kind of work that rarely gets seen, but it was essential to make prototyping at scale actually possible. Not flashy—but foundational. #solodev #indiegame #gamedev

0144

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Hordes don't chase randomly. They follow noise. Move and you attract attention. Fight and you attract everything. #indiedev #gamedev #solodev #godot #RTS

084

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

6am start. Blinds open, coffee on the desk, nobody else awake yet. Spent the first hour refactoring a component architecture. Nobody asks for this work. Nobody sees it. The game just gets harder to break. #indiedev #gamedev #godot

2155

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

In every zombie movie, the army shows up. And the army fails. Working on a prototype. A zombie outbreak RTS on a NORAD-style tactical display. You're the commander, not the soldier. Can you do better than the army? #indiedev #gamedev #godot

084

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

I spent the last year making games I wanted. Time for a reset! Going back to the drawing board to build simple prototypes people might actually enjoy. First up: a casual space mining concept. Just experimenting for now! 🚀 #GameDev #IndieDev #ScreenShotSaturday

0103

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Game development is hard, making it a business even harder, but both pale in comparison to keeping your glasses fingerprint free. That is an unsolvable problem. 🤓 #solodev #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev

1232

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Mountain biking in the highlands. Good for the heart, mind and creative juices. #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev #solodev

0162

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Struggled for months to come up with a good idea for my second game. A few days in the Highlands with the family and boom, I've come up with probably my best idea yet. Collecting my thoughts now but pretty happy. Fresh air is good for the mind. #solodev #indiegame #gamedev #indiedev

0224

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

In Braemar for two weeks. Fortunate to have a family cottage here. Every year we spend at least two weeks in the Highlands. This place recharges the batteries and gets the creative juices flowing. That's my boy. I can only dream of having long curly locks. #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev

0171

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

#Solodev life: You are the artist, programmer, designer, tester, marketer, and therapist (mostly to yourself). Some days you feel like a renaissance master. Other days you feel like you're drowning in your own ambition. But it's your beautiful mess. #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev

1337

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

The brutal truth: I know consistency is everything. I preach it. I believe in it completely. And I still fail at it regularly. The gap between knowing and doing is where most indie dreams go to die. Bridging that gap daily. #indiedev #gamedev

1171

Reposted by David makes games - Solo game developer

Matt Cane @matt-cane.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

I made it, now I need to find you lovely game developers and artists to follow! #gamedev #indiedev #gameDevelopment #indiegamedev #devlog #unrealengine #solodev

2155

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Second indie game project and I'm still learning the same lesson: consistency isn't about being a machine. It's about being human and showing up anyway. Even when your code is messy and your motivation is MIA. #indiedev #gamedev

0295

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

#gamedev on hard days: Open your project. Change one variable. Tweak one color. Fix one typo. Close it. That's enough. Momentum isn't built with grand gestures - it's built with tiny, consistent actions. Tomorrow you might code for hours, but today you just stayed connected. #indiedev #indiegame

1379

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Productivity gurus: 'Eliminate all distractions!' Me, a human with bills: gets distracted by paying the mortgage. Sometimes life isn't the enemy of your creative work—it's literally the thing keeping you alive long enough to finish it. #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev

0143

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

The beauty of being a #solodev is that your game is pure you—no compromises, no committee decisions, no diluted vision. The terror of being a solo dev is that your game is pure you. What if your vision isn't good enough? What if it is? Both thoughts keep me awake. #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev

2295

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Watching other devs post daily progress while I'm over here celebrating that I opened my IDE twice this week. Comparison is the thief of joy, but inconsistency is the thief of progress. #indiedev #gamedev

3253

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

The scariest competitors aren't the ones with perfect code or stunning art. They're the ones who've been quietly working on their craft for 1,000 days straight. You can't sprint past someone who never stops walking. Consistency compounds like interest. #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev

2286

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

#Solodev paradox: You have complete creative freedom but no one to bounce ideas off. You can change anything instantly but second-guess every decision. You're the boss and the employee, the critic and the creator. It's lonely and liberating at the same time. #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev

4578

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

#gamedev limbo: That moment when you open your project and just... stare. The code works, the art exists, but you've lost the thread of what you're actually making. Sometimes the hardest bug to fix is losing sight of your own vision. Time to step back and remember the "why." #indiedev #solodev

0232

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Motivation has been pretty difficult of late. However, when your son makes you a #fathersday card based on the game you have on #steam, it kind of helps. #fathersday #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev #spacerockarmageddon - store.steampowered.com/app/2658560/...

A handmade fathers day card based on a steam game

0135

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Not a #indiedev / #gamedev post but as a #softdev, I’ve done a lot of work for the private and public sector. Our governments, national, devolved and local use Microsoft products and cloud services. Is this going to be a security issue in the near future? Is #datasovereignty the next big project?

061

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Over the years, I’ve learnt that techs revolving door means a #softdev is constantly retraining whilst creating wealth for others. The endless cycle of learning and obsolescence seems like a poor investment. That’s why I’m investing in my own thing now. #indiedev #gamedev

0103

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Decision-making as a solo #gamedev feels like a constant battle. Each choice is a struggle between doubt and determination. I’m constantly fighting through uncertainty to keep my game moving forward. #indiedev definitely sharpens your intentional thinking.

2131

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Stephen Covey’s concept of focusing on your circle of influence rather than your circle of concern is incredibly useful at this point in human history. We can influence our #indiedev / #gamedev projects. That other stuff… Well it’s definitely concerning.

061

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Currently, my latest #indiedev game is nothing more than a bunch of white objects on a grey canvas. However, over the last week, things have started to take shape. But at the same time, I feel like the arse could fall out of the project at any given moment. #gamedev is psychological warfare.

081

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

Last week, I used the pomodoro technique to achieve ten hours of focused work. It isn’t a lot but the game moved leaps and bounds. Time and progress are loosely correlated. #indiedev #gamedev

191

David makes games - Solo game developer @reiddavi.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

This is Dr Lorraine Collins, she got a mention in my last game, however since then, I’ve developed her story and she’ll have a recurring role in the dystopian, techno-feudalist future that my games are set in. #screenshotsaturday #indiedev #gamedev

ID card of a fictional character from a game.

072