Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 25/09/2026* Mega Parodius (MD) Update * Slow but steady progress, Cat boss is near completion - Penguin boss should be much easier ! Had lots of issues with Sprite priority (what shows in front of what ) - all sorted now. Penguin Factory logic was annoying, floating platform and them jumping off the ship ! 0229
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Mega Parodius Update ! Warmup added to stage 1. Broke a lot of things for a while and seaming different styles of level together with h-int effects took time. The starfield has had a Mega upgrade, was quite plain in the arcade. A 168 sprite multiplexor was used to add a lot of parallax effect ! 1342
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 26/07/2026* MD 3D engine v8.5 * Added X scrolling of the sprite based background. Added X camera movement of the 3D plane ( broke stuff for a while due to wrapping and limited coordinate resolution ) . Video from Exodus with sprite boxing enabled to show how the sprite based BG is made up - Neo Geo style !! 58518
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Another day , another incredible megadrive game coming . Real sense of speed , and graphically looks quite realistic / modern . Hills are not so easy to tackle it seems some racing engines , looking great here. Fantastic work by Anael. 1193
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 16/07/2026* Sega Megadrive 3D V8 * Toni Galvez joined the project for GFX / models & level design 25% Larger Buffer 256x160. Music added - XGM1 works, XGM2 doesn't :-( Faster buffer swap, rewrote Quad Renderer. Added a 114 sprite multiplexor ( the background is all sprites ) Added Tilt effects :-) 210336
Reposted by Shannon BirtSpace… bruce! @spacebruce.bsky.social · 23/05/2026more 32X stuff, now using the fullscreen paletted mode 3348
Reposted by Shannon BirtAnaël seghezzi @anaelseghezzi.bsky.social · 21/05/2026Still a lot of work to make it fun, but the physics works for at least one rival, possibly more ! The behaviour is a bit harder to code than I thought 😱 (especially with fixed point) 311321
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 08/05/2026* Sega MD 3D engine update * Added partial/offscreen quad rendering - was painfull coding. Massively unrolled the line filling code for quads/triangles , 15-20% speedup. Implemented an algorithm to account for fluctuating framerate for Z forward movement - it partially works. Getting there ! 920639
Reposted by Shannon BirtGabriel Jones @pepsimanvsjoe.bsky.social · 27/04/2026Tales of Phantasia Wolf Team's evil energy is all over this. - Pulling rocks through poison gas is F U N. - Bosses are aggressively overtuned - Demitel has his friends keep the party distracted while he casts 700 dmg spells. - A party with 3 magic-users is cursed AF. #retrogaming #snes 1175
Reposted by Shannon BirtAnaël seghezzi @anaelseghezzi.bsky.social · 27/04/2026Stress test on real genesis 2 hardware + Amstrad CRT. The ship is not precomputed here (it will be but I wanted to test triangles). I optimised clipping a bit more and reduced the rom size. Synced at 30fps, fully stable (~160% cpu) 1023350
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 25/04/2026** Sega MD 3D Engine Update 6** Exotic FB / DMA system allows near continuous buffer with DMA for the best of both worlds + switched to H40 mode also for more DMA speed. Frame rate up 15-20%. I do lose a spare plane but we have all the sprites yet , the target is more filll rate !! 1296
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 23/04/2026** Sega MD 3D engine update 5 ** Quads added , faster for 4 sided objects vs 2 triangles. Non-Linear Buffer + DMA reworked now faster than linear buffer + CPU blit . Its close still / interesting pros & cons. Assembly vertex calc + looping with qauds & triangle drawing in asm to save C calls. 0304
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 21/04/2026** Sega MD 3D Engine Update 4 ** Arwing from StarFox been modelled. This is using a linear framebuffer (FB) with CPU blitting. Just converted it to non linear buffer with DMA and both versions are running about 20 % faster than shown due to optimisations. Next step, larger FB and some objects ! 29523
Reposted by Shannon BirtSpace… bruce! @spacebruce.bsky.social · 16/04/2026Quick megadrive graphics test, drawing weird shapes using a distorted tilemap. (Yes, like Yoshi's island). details in followup post. 212739
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 10/04/2026* MegaDrive 3D Engine Day 3 * Blast Processing kicks in, 68 assembly for the Line and Triangle Fills . 25-33 % speedups vs C = more Triangles & Lines at the same framerate . Prior C code was surprisingly good. Took real effort to get more speed. Focussing on render speed for now over 3d effect. 3348
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 05/04/2026** Sega Megadrive 3D engine day 2 ** Been playing around with Line & Triangle Drawing on the MD after thinking about doing something in 3d on the system for a while. Theres no hardware for this sort of thing on the MD so its a real optimisation game. All in C so far , 68k ASM next !! 49622
Reposted by Shannon BirtDavid “Mecha Zone” White @mechazone.bsky.social · 06/03/2026Part two of my "making of" series shows the animations in Blender with sprite prep. You also get to see the Manticore in the game as a rough prototype. Watch on YouTube - like and subscribe LOL! youtu.be/TRpQeQzwSFI Or the full post on Patreon www.patreon.com/c/mechazone/... @GameDev @IndieGameyoutu.beNew enemy: MANTICORE for Sega Genesis game - GILGAMECHYouTube video by Mecha Zone 1167
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 16/02/2026Mega Parodius Stage 8 Boss Update !! Tackling the technically challenging bits head on with the full screen scaling boss in Parodius - Puyon . More information in the youtube notes there for those interested. Lots of tricks to get enough performance etc. Genesis does !! youtu.be/pqNbWbk8iPAyoutu.beMega Parodius Sega Megadrive - Stage 8 Boss UpdateYouTube video by Shannon Birt 0318
Reposted by Shannon BirtTwo Black Cats @twoblackcats.jp · 11/02/2026We finally finished integrating the collision gridding system into MD Engine! It was designed by the awesome @shannonbirt.bsky.social! It helps boost performance tremendously for our current shooter examples! It is also highly configurable! #megadrive #mdengine #homebrew #indiedev #gamedev #sgdk 1268
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 16/01/2026Mega Parodius (Megadrive) Scaling !! Went crazy, decided to do the hardest bit (possibly) in the port next , Stage 8 Boss !! Horizontal scaling only at present , vertical is next . Horizontal is much harder to achieve at speed. 1,2,3,4x scale over 74 updates. He's 21kb of tiles ie massive !! 47320
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 06/01/2026*** Mega Parodius Update ( Sega Megadrive ) *** For 60 FPS video I've posted the update on YT below link below. But just quickly - more in the description in the vid , updates on the Blue Bell explosion , Enemy destruction / collisions & VRAM handling !! www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq_I...youtube.comMega Parodius WIP UpdateYouTube video by Shannon Birt 05623
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 12/12/2025*** Mega Parodius (MegaDrive) Update *** Dialing up the engine to see what it can handle and we run out of sprites before cpu so thats a good thing as we don't want any slowdown . Not accurate to arcade but might be an insane mode option, lots of logic / animations missing / WIP etc. 1/.. 35616
Reposted by Shannon BirtAnaël seghezzi @anaelseghezzi.bsky.social · 01/12/2025I just realised that scrolling can be used to do temporal reprojection of interlaced lines to reduce the artefacts. Only in 2d space but still 😮! 810721
Reposted by Shannon BirtAnaël seghezzi @anaelseghezzi.bsky.social · 27/11/2025Chunky, but 60 fps 3d possible with colors and transparency on bare metal Megadrive #SGDK #BlastEm 1319254
Reposted by Shannon BirtLazycow @lazycow.bsky.social · 24/11/2025Ported the #C64 sprite handler to #Amiga (bottom left, using 16blit) and to #SegaGenesis / #MegaDrive (bottom right, using low level functions from #SGDK)... Hello SEGA! 1349
Reposted by Shannon BirtDavid “Mecha Zone” White @mechazone.bsky.social · 21/11/2025My first (mini) boss! It's simple but actually quite fun to battle. I learned a lot from programming all the different aspects. I posted a 3-part dev diary about it on my Patreon if you are curious. www.patreon.com/c/mechazone youtu.be/3oY2uPrjfxE #Gilgamech #GameDev #IndieDev #SegaGenesis #SGDKyoutu.beSega Genesis Game: Gilgamech - MINI BOSSYouTube video by Mecha Zone 2188
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 20/11/2025Was analysing code performance for Mega Parodius for Sega Megadrive as I have just implemented Lazer collisions which are a major performance hog on the arcade port ( even a couple of lazers coliding with the Catboss cause slowdowns on the arcade port for example) and I found something curious... 2293
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 09/11/2025My friend Gabriel Pryon & resident Grand Master pixel artist on Mega Parodius has made a video on the WIP to date on the port from Arcade to the Sega Megadrive and some of the challenges faced, along with comparisons to the Arcade and other ports. Thankyou Pryon !! www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W6K...youtube.comMEGA Parodius DA! W.I.P. 1 - Aventura na ilha dos PinguinsYouTube video by Pyrons Lair 12911
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 17/10/2025* Mega Parodius Update * New WIP: Blue Bell Explosion White Bell Explosion Catboss + Animating Trees Music updated (mark 4 - orchestral hits in) Due to 30 FPS video here on BS, please refer to YT link below ( otherwise the bomb effect is affected ) . youtu.be/ID2WfqSnyk0youtu.beSega Megadrive - Mega Parodius updateYouTube video by Shannon Birt 54817
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 08/10/2025Mega Wipeout incoming ;-) This is looking silky smooth !! Its interesting the potential the Megadrive has for 3D rendering and I'm excited where this goes next. This reminds me a bit of Gasekas work in the Starfox Demos which I hope more updates come also. 0141
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 08/10/2025Love raycasters , this is looking really good with the enemy interaction going on and detail in the wall sections. Keep it coming haha. 1101
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 17/09/2025* Mega Parodius Update * More colors ! Pyron reworked the background to 19 colors from 16 colors in the background, 3 more shades for a better gradient by using raster h/int effects. Music reworked by Vector, smaller size with more detail, includes the choirs created in FM and PSG sound. 1/2 ... 34816
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 31/08/2025Sega Genesis Parodius Update - LAZERS !! Using a rather exotic effect here to draw the lazers using raster trickery . Otherwise 4x options and Lazers would lead to a load of sprite overload/dropout. Needs work yet to get it accurate to Arcade Lazers but I was glad to see if finally work !! 181
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 11/08/2025Thanks to Sega16 for covering our game - amazing stuff !! 160
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 07/08/2025More Scaling and Rotation fun on the Megadrive !! This is the service/menu screen for my game Lufthoheit. The 68k processor is software scaling the image in the X direction and the VDP helps to stretch the image vertically. The 68k processor is doing the rotation on the asteroids also . 48221
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 09/07/2025** Sega Genesis S.O.T.A update ** 30 FPS video kills a few things I'd like to show here , oh well I can show this one at least . The vid shows some secret room dissolving into view and uses Shadow mode for a mid transition transparency effect. Some other bits in notes below .. 1193
Reposted by Shannon BirtSt1ka @st1ka.bsky.social · 06/07/2025PAPRIUM CAN NOW BE PROPERLY EMULATED! THIS IS NOT A DRILL www.comunidademegadrive.com.br/2025/07/papr... 1721655
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 22/05/2025** S.O.T.A Sega Genesis Update ** I've been working on new Sprite cutting tools / middleware for Large Sprite based Objects that can be used for extra backround objects in the game. Video Below of the progress - goals and notes below 1/... 392
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 01/05/2025Too busy to post but this was painfull to get working , what are you looking at ? 15 colors slots used in palette 4 to get 26 colors from onscreen - see Purple and Blue Ninjas. This is a bit tricky on the MD, especially combined with 8 way scrolling and multiple splits. #SegaGenesis #SGDK 2164
Reposted by Shannon BirtStef - SGDK @stephane-d.bsky.social · 02/04/2025www.patreon.com/posts/sgdk-2...patreon.comSGDK 2.10 released ! | Stephane DallongevilleGet more from Stephane Dallongeville on Patreon 0143
Reposted by Shannon BirtMatteusBeus Retro Developer @matteusbeus.bsky.social · 20/03/2025Almost finished integrating the Fusion Driver by Vic into SGDK! This will let SGDK devs fully utilise the Sega Mega CD's sound hardware using ADPCM samples, SPCM, and CDDA. Exciting times for #SegaCD #MegaDrive #Genesis #SGDK #IndieGameDev! 🎵🚀 1289
Reposted by Shannon BirtKulor Research Labs Inc. @kulor.bsky.social · 15/03/2025are the rumors about >1min videos true?? I've got a lot of Sega Genesis stuff for a certain game by a certain @nosebecc.bsky.social (NSFW!!!) that a lot of people probably aren't even aware exists...... here's a cheery festival town theme, featuring what would become one of the game's leitmotifs 47023
Reposted by Shannon BirtSpace… bruce! @spacebruce.bsky.social · 15/03/2025This week I've been working on a tilemap streamer, as you move around it loads new tiles in, so you can have million tile* maps with only a small chunk of VRAM used. Still needs optimisations. Big props to @shannonbirt.bsky.social for giving me pointers. *untested claim 2166
Reposted by Shannon BirtSuperJet Spade @superjet-spade.bsky.social · 04/02/2025Hello. Have a 5-minute sampler of snippets of a few songs from the game Chords. youtu.be/hh3p3Ks3c_A #SegaGenesis #SegaMegaDrive #Homebrew #YM2612 #SN76489 #SegaPSG #FMSynth #chiptuneyoutu.beChords - Act 1: A 5-Minute Sampler [GEN/MD Homebrew Game in Development]YouTube video by SJS Test Tunes, Sketches, and Other Stuff 084
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 01/02/2025* SEGA MEGADRIVE Software Scaling + Rotation * I've been tinkering with Rotating sprites in software aswell as scaling, I think it looks pretty sweet ! In the vid 4 * 32x32 sprites are rotated through 64 steps at 30 FPS on CPU. 1/.. 6327
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 24/01/2025More Megadrive Scaling madness !! Convert scaler to a line scaler rather than column, allows for per line expansion / contraction eg more like mode 7. Speed up the code & have about 50% cpu free running the scaling (cpu calculated) + sprites + audio etc. The target for this is ingame effects !! 24414
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 14/01/2025I love those streamed tiles for the background , gives it a painted look and far more detailed and less repetitive than you normally would see on the system. 130
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 12/01/2025Effects time - Software Scaling on the Sega Genesis !! End goal is to use this in game - right now testing on our Game logo. Written in 68k assembly for speed. Software scaling horizontally with the VDP helping out on the vertical scaling (still takes some cpu). Now for some more optimisation !! 0247
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 28/12/2024Bored of playing games - back to Lufthoheit Dev !! Been playing Lufthoheit in minecraft mode eg boxed sprite analysis time - Exodus supports this and its great !! Trying to reduce sprite dropout in heavy scenes ( > 20 sprites or > 320 pixels per scanline - will cause sprite dropout on MD ) .. 4102
Shannon Birt @shannonbirt.bsky.social · 17/12/2024No4 r us !! Broke going to be us this year too once these games drop .. 😆 020