iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Been awhile. I can draw as well as I want now, but I hate my work as much as most artists apparently do. The art style and my ability doesn't permit me to make what I'd consider to be finished. I want my characters to have interesting faces; Sunny's next, and I hope she comes out well. #indiegames

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

These flowers that aggro the little parry gods were the alpha and omega to those kind enough to try this fever dream -they'd confusedly misstep and their shins would be forfeit. I have improve the experience, not get lost adding features only I understand. #indiegames #pixelart

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

Finally all these mechanics have come together, and the result is fun. Maybe I'll just retire with that, and spend the next ten years sleeping. It's still a bit of a mess but I'm working on it. swordsquid.itch.io/ocean-in-the... #indiegame #pixelart

swordsquid.itch.io

Ocean in the Cold Sky by SwordSquid

You can manually parry attacks, fly a little with your meagre wings, and die instantly

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

I got hooked on Enchant Farm recently and I was thinking RPGmaker is probably the most fulfilling format to make solo. When I prepare an enemy to be animated it loses some raw energy. I'd like to separate them into those that look cool by appearance or by motion. #indiegames #2danimation

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

I have created the most aesthetic mouse cursor known to man. It deserves to be the protagonist of its own game, it's own merchandise, gonna sell acrylic stands or something. #indiegames #uiuxdesign

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Updated the itch demo: swordsquid.itch.io/ocean-in-the.... I made it too hard as a joke. I'm quite happy with how it's turning out so I'll try to present it in the upcoming Steam Next Fest, if I can iron out the wrinkles by then. #indiegames #demo

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Changing the name to Ocean in the Cold Sky. Knight Lolita can't be used poetically and it cheapens a story about suffering by implying Nemo's pain is special, which means I need to redraw the cover art for the vibe too. I woke up and saw my aesthetics were garbage. Mouse control is ready #indiegames

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

This game should have been made by a 2 person team. I get that now. But oh well, at least I'm through the worst of it. I think I'll just use placeholder assets for a bit and expand the content. I'll go crazy if I don't. I need to focus more on the "knight" vibe. #indiegames

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

My 2nd mistake was expanding the level generator to make it "more fun". My 3rd mistake was trying to iterate toward alpha while creating too many assets and drawing unfinished systems together. My 1st mistake was Nemo's character design. #indiegames

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

The game already contains 300 images. A normal indie game would be done by now, but it's my own fault. I don't want to draw something like this again soon. I don't know what compression will do to a gif this huge so here: www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/... #indiegames #pixelart #wallpaper

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

I took part in the agdg demo day 62 and you can play it here: swordsquid.itch.io/knight-lolita and the steam page: store.steampowered.com/app/2943230/... I don't think even my future self will understand how hard it was to get here. Flight, failure states, and the rainy streets are next. #indiegames

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

The stupidest I've felt in a long time. Making an object move an exact distance under a specific amount of acceleration wasted a few days. Now I know how framerates get tied to physics. The generated levels need unique gimmicks I think, so I'm breaking the glass and adding water. #indiegames

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

Dreameater done. The closer I get to finishing the first act the faster development will go, but now art assets are the bottleneck. Even the simple teddies take longer than I'd like, so I'm going to try a clip art style for common assets, like Madoka. #indiegames

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

The teddies seemed like weak enemies in a design sense, but they shaped up into something quite robust. Dreameater is next; it will use a mixture of poison fog zones and bullets that you can cut. #indiegame #2danimation

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

I'd not thought of my game as a roguelike until Steam tags. Seems they sell, but gamers are tired of them. I just wanted an rpg I could enjoy myself after the pain of creating it; you're not meant to die repeatedly, and the levels are made from a list of lists, not pure randomness. #indiegames

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

I accidentally booted up the game with scrambled animation indexes and thought it looked kinda neat. The folders go off the screen in my editor and I've just been giving them alphabetically strategic names so I don't have to program a scrollbar yet. #indiegames #gamedevelopment

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

These early npcs are a bit too good at harassing the player; I don't intend the game to be so combat focused anyways, so I'm programming a random encounter and nonhostile system, so you won't be grinding through static mobs. #indiegames #gamedevelopment

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Look at this thing, it started as something easy to animate and became the opposite. #indiegames #pixelart

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

This guy's job is to not move and save animation time, so I made him overly detailed to make up for that. It makes him sad when he gets converted to an mp4 and his colors wash out. #indiegames #pixelart

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SwordSquid @swordsquid.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

I overworked myself into carpal tunnel in both hands last year, so I pulled back to focus on programming. I'd like to rush through the next few levels. The polyphon is like a giant music box, sometimes coin-operated as a public attraction. #gamedevelopment #indiegames

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