Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 16hDo The Thing, my game about executive dysfunction, was shared on reddit. Found out because somebody left a review, and I peeked at the analytics on itch. It is amazing how that little game has impacted people, even a year+ after I made it, that they're sharing it with others. Makes me happy. 010
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 28/09/2026I spent several hours animating throbbing tentacles today and I am so happy with the result. #pixelart #animation #art 1305
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Oh yeah, my scroll wheel gets quite a bit of exercise when I'm working. And I'm sure my eyes will see it more clearly once I give them some rest. 000
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 25/09/2026I really appreciate the feedback! It's impossible to be an objective judge after staring at it for hours. 100
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 25/09/2026I drew a portrait for the creature - stone "mask" statue fragment and glowy mycelium. Finding pixel art references for almost-smooth stone was hard. But tbh, the simple, harsh lines in the stone contrast with the more complex, soft organic shapes pretty well, I think. #pixelart #gamedev #art 1132
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 24/09/2026When I first started using Godot, I was extending Node-derived classes everywhere, and everything was persistent even when it probably shouldn't have been. Nowadays it's mostly Resources, and a handful of Nodes whose sole purpose is to manage them, and it's made my life much more straightforward. 040
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Last creature post for a bit, promise, but it is *incredible* what a difference just offsetting the timing of each leg a bit makes in readability. #pixelart #animation #gamedev 0202
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 14/09/2026The full walk cycle! I'm rather proud of how this turned out. Something about the strutting walk just screamed "birb head bob" to me. #pixelart #animation #gamedev 0357
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 13/09/2026I made an attempt using bones and meshes, but I have no idea what I'm doing there and the result was truly cursed. 000
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Seems like I've got a bunch of new follows from the anti-genAI game devs list, so hey! Non-binary, ND, and disabled game dev here. I use Godot and Aseprite for most of my work. I've been trying animating Line2Ds in-engine, and I don't hate the early results. #indiedev #pixelart #animation 1102
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 04/09/2026When I first started my project, I was thinking it'd be so cool to use all sorts of modern lighting features in a 2D pixel art game, and I am so thankful for the slew of "HD-2D" releases showing me how wrong I would have been. 020
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Who needs bones? if it fits, i sits. #pixelart #gamedev #animation 0365
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 29/08/2026This strange little creature translated to pixel art more easily than I expected, even though I am out of practice. Was refreshing to get my head out of coding and planning systems for a bit. #pixelart #gamedev 0122
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 25/08/2026The other method I'm considering is to have a small set of "main states" (e.g. InAir, OnGround), and run all actual actions/substates as commands in a queue. Substates could provide contextual input map overrides (e.g. attack1 > attack2 to continue an attack combo) to the MainState. Better? idk 020
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 25/08/2026I've used transition maps in most of my previous character controllers, mapping inputs to states in code. I'm not sure how else to do it. Godot's AnimationTree has a graph-based SM, but I don't need it tied to an AnimationPlayer. I could "animate" a change_state() call but that seems very hacky. 120
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 25/08/2026So the Moving state would reference the Movement attribute (or w/e) and its rules and methods would actually move the entity when the Moving state is entered - the Moving state can be ignorant of the specifics. All it needs to know is that it is moving, and maybe a transition map for next inputs. 110
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Planning the architecture for a state machine that works with my ECS-like attribute system is more challenging than expected. Attributes hold functionality and data but no logic, so just making the FSM one doesn't make sense to me. I could have states grab their desired attributes when entered. 130
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 25/08/2026I think I promised rats at some point, but either way... All three of our boys are still doing well. Aster's still a shit-disturber, and Beans is full of love. Grampa Flea still greets me every morning with a happy boggle, even if he does tire himself out faster. #rats #petrats #ratsky 1272
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Every time I go back to play Satisfactory, I am completely blown away by the gorgeous environment design in literally every crack and crevice of this game. 010
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 06/08/2026"Even the Sun God's mere likeness held the potential for life. When the statue shattered, that potential spilled out and made a shape from the surrounding fungi and moss." #sketch #conceptart #fantasy 030
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Fighting Panthalus on flying horseback is what the Elden Beast fight should have been like. 010
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Also I was so happy (and dismayed) when I found out that the desert actually gets very cold at night and very hot during the day. That really messed up my mount choice when suddenly I froze to my saddle after the sun went down. 040
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Between the heat and the locals, and humans being much squishier than their pals, I was genuinely feeling under pressure. I eventually got to a fast travel point and got out before I burned to death. I love how the world can feel so dangerous but never insurmountable. 130
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Situation wasn't dire, but it wasn't great. A single healing potion on hand to mitigate the heat, and about as far from any fast travel point as I could get in any direction. But navigation, overall, feels very smooth, and I never felt trapped. Environment system is 2/ 110
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Actually I have a lot of mostly good things to say about Palworld, as it's eaten about 100 hours of my time and will be eating much more. An example of why I love this game: I was wandering around a volcano having lost my AC pal and my ride, and was forced to climb and grapple my way around. 1/ 140
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 19/07/2026I went from chasing down hamsters on foot with a club, to jump-dash-gliding in a power suit as I leap off my fire-breathing demon god and plummet towards an enraged demigod, peppering it with a flurry of energy beams on the way. Palworld has one of the most satisfying tech trees I've used. 030
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 08/07/2026It also opens the door for fun random Megastructure events that might affect the speed of time... 010
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 08/07/2026This means time becomes a primary resource to manage rather than a thing you're directly fighting. I think it preserves the thoughtful nature of tactical combat but keeps the pressure of time up as an ever-present threat. This is all just on paper, but I think it holds promise. 110
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Marrying turn-based combat with time limited runs has been an interesting gamedev problem to work on. I came up with "msec" - a resource that counts up every frame while the player is in direct control, until it reaches the time limit. In combat, it is paused, but Actions have an msec cost. 1/ 130
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 25/06/2026It's weird to see this as progress, but this is my ECS, behaviour, AStar grid management, and Action/Turn systems all working together seamlessly. Blue is directed. Red just tries to find an open green spot. I think this will be my last gamedev post for a bit. Maybe a rat or three though. 040
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 23/06/2026Oh, and I can zoom this out and look at it from the Encounter's scope. If the Encounter has a Root logic node that runs the NPCs as subtrees, suddenly we have easy access to coordination and cooperation. 030
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 23/06/2026Actually, this would allow for a sort of sliding scale of difficulty without hit point or damage adjustment - the higher the cutoff value, the more optimal the move used will be, more consistently. Enemies start acting "smarter". 010
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 23/06/2026The only real difference between player-controlled entities and NPCs is that a PC's logic tree just opens the Actions menu and waits. An Entity's Actions/turn are a stack of Callables, which allows for bonus/lost actions, and even externally dictated actions. Tons of potential, I think. 000
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 23/06/2026if the Action's weight is over a cutoff value, that Action is selected, even if other, yet unprocessed Actions would be better. If none meet the cutoff, it takes the highest. The Root node returns this Action up to the TurnBasedActor component, which inserts the Action into a queue. / 210
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 23/06/2026Provided a view of the battlefield through an extended AStar graph, the Action checks things like if an enemy is in range of a pit for knockback. The logic returns a modified Action with a weight assigned to it, based on estimated efficacy. To avoid the AI always picking the most optimal move, / 110
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 23/06/2026Clearing some gamedev negativity by infodumping about my entity behavioural system, which I'm proud of. The core thinking is a) an Entity's behaviour is in its Actions; and b) an Action knows how it is used. So logic trees are like octopus tentacles. The Root evaluates each Action as a subtree. 240
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 22/06/2026Which is an active choice to add genAI capability to the engine. 130
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 22/06/2026To be very clear. #godot #disability #gamedev #indiedev 1100
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 22/06/2026Oh, I am definitely anti-LLM, anti-genAI. I have many reasons to be critical of the tech and how it is being abused. That's not really what this is about. Not all of us have the privilege of being able to just go to another engine or make our own. But anything I make will be considered tainted. 271
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 22/06/2026I don't *agree* with Godot's decision. But those comparisons are ludicrous. And the "slippery slope" argument has been used on a lot of things over the years, but I still don't see anyone allowed to marry their pets. Just saying. 090
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 22/06/2026People are literally putting Godot and it's "we only allow LLM-assisted contributions under restrictions and subject to extra review" policy on the same tier as Unreal, Unity, or even GameMaker - all of which are heavily, and actively, adding genAI and vibe coding into the engine for end users. 3202
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 21/06/2026I'd like to hope not, but the black-and-white absolutism in some people's thinking is honestly upsetting, and I just feel like I'm seeing more and more of it. A vocal subgroup, I know. But it's wearying. 250
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 21/06/2026I really needed to hear this. Thanks. And thanks for being open about yours. 030
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 21/06/2026And like, I don't even use LLMs. Yeah, shit's a struggle, but I'm fucking proud of what I've managed despite everything I'm dealing with. I don't spend much time here as is since every feed is depressing, but fuck me, it's getting more demoralizing every time I check in. 030
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 21/06/2026If anti-Godot sentiment grows, I don't know what I'm going to do. I have a brain injury. I get cognitively overloaded very easily. Learning a new language and engine just isn't realistic for me anymore. Especially if there's no visual editor. So it's Godot or give up, I guess? I don't even know. 440
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Aster had a busy morning chasing his brothers and getting rides around the house. Bet he's having some really good dreams. #rats #petrats #ratsky 0121
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 13/06/2026Anyone else keep getting repeatedly added to spammy pro-AI/crypto/etc troll lists by certain accounts since they got on the anti-genAI gamedev list? The funniest part is how each time they make a new list, the list name/description gets more and more polite. 090
Lex @snoozingrat.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Spent two hours debugging my pathfinding heuristics... only to notice it wasn't taking the easiest path because of my code, but due to the hole I'd left in the floor, hidden by other geometry, just doing its job. I am smart gamedev. 030