Author | Lightnews

Colin MacLeod

@colinmacleod.bsky.social

860 followers 320 following 270 posts

Indie Gamedev. Mediocre Bass Player. Dad to teenage kids. Currently breathing life into "God Complex" - a multiplayer god game inspired by Populous. It's like Civilization but multiplayer, and the little people are autonomous.

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Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 23d

🌍 GOD COMPLEX IS COMING SOON! 🌍

Wanna join us for a game?
👇Sign up to get the beta
http://godcomplex.cc

#gamedev #indiedev #GodComplexGame

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Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 11h

Learning Shaders Day 3
I didn’t do this by myself, just followed along.
Still, now my square moves.
In the previous lesson, the square even reacted to the mouse.
It's progress - it’s movement!
The course: www.udemy.com/share/...

#GameDev #IndieDev #Unity3D #Shaders #TechArt #BabySteps #SquareDev

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Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 18h

🌍 God Complex Update 🌍
Here’s a poor follower dying, but doing it in style! 💀
Powered by Rukhanka DOTS Animation + Behavior Designer Pro.
Even death deserves good animation.

#GameDev #IndieDev #Unity3D #DOTS #TechArt #GodComplexGame

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Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 1d

That’s so funny. I told my student daughter something similar when she asked what mine was this year

Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 1d

Day 2 of the Unity shader course by Nick Lever.
Yesterday I made a yellow circle.
Today: a yellow square and a green square.
At this rate, I’ll have a whole flag by next week.

www.udemy.com/share/...

#GameDev #IndieDev #Unity3D #Shaders #TechArt #LearningInPublic

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Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 2d

I'm working through a VFX course by Nick Lever - and I'm loving it. So far, I've managed to create a yellow circle - it's a start!

The course on Udemy: www.udemy.com/share/...

#GameDev #IndieDev #Unity3D #TechArt #Shaders #VFX #Udemy #LearningInPublic #MadeWithUnity

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Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 3d

I keep saying I’ll learn Tech Art. You know, shaders, VFX, all that stuff.
I even have GDC Vault access… but never seem to get around to it.
So starting today: 30 mins of learning each morning.
Kicking off with a Unity shader VFX course.
#TechArt #GameDev #IndieDev #Unity3D #Shaders #GDCVault

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Reposted by Colin MacLeod

Spirit Ramen Games | Indie Game Dev @lostinyume.bsky.social · 5d

I've been struggling for months trying to figure out how to get large numbers of enemies on screen at the same time.
Found the solution!
I'm really happy and just wanted to share :D
This is my project:
store.steampowered.com/app/3352710/...
#gamedev #indiedev #indiegames #indiegame #Roguelike

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Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 5d

🌍 God Complex: Iteration 27 COMPLETE 🌍
Has it really been 27 weeks?!
Anyhoo, got DOTS animations working (thanks, Rukhanka!) and finally made ECS behavior trees tick.
Next step teach them how to walk again, only bigger, better and faster with ECS. 😅

#gamedev #GodComplexGame #MadeWithUnity

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Reposted by Colin MacLeod

Nikita Lisitsa @lisyarus.bsky.social · 8d

Was refactoring something deep inside my engine's math lib, launched the game and it generated this amazing fractured island 🤯 Thought I've accidentally broken something, turned out my world generator can just do that 😅

#screenshotsaturday #indiegames #indiedev #gamedev

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Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 8d

Oh, love this. Very pretty!

Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 9d

🌍 GOD COMPLEX Animations! 🌍
Migrating from GameObjects to DOTS/ECS with the amazing Rukhanka animation system. Got stuck for a bit, but their Discord support helped almost instantly. I love that! 🙌
assetstore.unity.com...

Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 11d

Just wrapped up another successful Coworkup! Next Tuesday we'll be back at Capital Factory from 10am-6pm! See you all there!
https://unityco.work

Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 12d

Time for something not game-related.
I'm reading Principles by Ray Dalio: radical transparency, meritocracy, reality, and learning from mistakes.
Good stuff, very digestible.
He made a wonderful video explaining economics. Could be the best 30 minutes you'll spend today.

How The Economic Machine Works by Ray Dalio

Economics 101 -- "How the Economic Machine Works." Created by Ray Dalio this simple but not simplistic and easy to follow 30 minute, animated video answers the question, "How does the economy really work?" Based on Dalio's practical template for understanding the economy, which he developed over th

youtu.be

Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 12d

🚨 TOMORROW!🚨
📅 Tue (10-21) | 📍 Whole Foods at The Domain
🎮 N Austin #Gamedev Coworking: Big coworking space + free parking ✅

Bring your project, meet other devs, and get stuff done. Way more fun than grinding solo.

👇 RSVP & details 👇

Gamedev Coworking in Austin - Domain Whole Foods - unityco.work

This week, we're meeting for gamedev coworking at Whole Foods (Domain), in North Austin. FREE PARKING!

unityco.work

Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 13d

🌍 God Complex — Iteration 26 COMPLETE 🌍

Followers now gather in glorious T-pose armies ✨
This week, I bit the bullet and moved from GameObjects to DOTS.
It means we can finally have legions instead of a handful.

#GodComplexGame #Indiedev #Gamedev #DOTS

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Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 13d

So, technically 🌎 GOD COMPLEX 🌎 made it into DEBUG Magazine #11.
The screenshot might be tiny but, hey, print is forever. 😂📖

#IndieDev #GodComplexGame #gamedev #DebugMagazine #TinyButMighty

Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 14d

Neat idea. Can see that being a lot of fun with swiping on mobile

Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 14d

My game was getting sluggish.
Tried manual-ticked behavior trees: a little faster, not fast enough for me.
Time for the big guns: DOTS ECS.
Turbo mode: engage (hopefully). 🚀

So far: one little guy in t-pose. And he's waist-deep in grass. It's a start.

#indedev #gamedev #GodComplexGame

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Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 15d

📅 TUE (10-21) N Austin #Gamedev Coworking
📍 Whole Foods at The Domain (big coworking space + free parking!)
Working on a game? Come jam with other devs. Better together than solo.

👇 Details & RSVP 👇

Gamedev Coworking in Austin - Domain Whole Foods - unityco.work

This week, we're meeting for gamedev coworking at Whole Foods (Domain), in North Austin. FREE PARKING!

unityco.work

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Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 19d

If you're working on a game in Austin, join Will and me at the Capital Factory tomorrow for open coworking.

#gamedev #austintech

Unity Coworking in Austin - unityco.work

unityco.work MAKE GAMES TOGETHER Welcome to UnityCo.work — a coworking group for gamedevs in Austin. We meet most weeks at the Capital Factory’s open day to...

unityco.work

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Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 20d

🌍 God Complex: Iteration 25 COMPLETE 🌍

🏠 Houses spawn defenders + flip when conquered
💀 Rewrote half the AI, deleted it, and rewrote it again in 48hrs
🌐 Oh, and I also worked on the itch.io page - coming soon!

#GodComplexGame #MadeWithUnity #IndieDev

Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 21d

🚀 Austin #gamedev folks: want some help or to share ideas?
Will and I will be at Capital Factory Tuesday (10-14). Come by!
👇 Follow the link for more info 👇

Unity Coworking in Austin - unityco.work

unityco.work MAKE GAMES TOGETHER Welcome to UnityCo.work — a coworking group for gamedevs in Austin. We meet most weeks at the Capital Factory’s open day to...

unityco.work

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Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 21d

It’s quite pricey, but it’s often on sale I guess the next one will be Black Friday

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/visual-scripting/behavior-designer-pro-dots-powered-behavior-trees-298743

I’ve also used BT panda and it’s great but less visual more like a scripting thing

Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 21d

Oh, it's absolutely not a secret. On this project, I'm using Opsive Behavior Designer PRO.

Colin MacLeod @colinmacleod.bsky.social · 22d

If you want to improve Unity performance, you can export Profiler data and feed it into an AI. It can spot bottlenecks fast.
Mine flagged behavior trees iterating every tick for every unit: obvious in hindsight, but the AI caught it right away.

#Unity #GameDevTips #Indiedev #ProfilerNotProphet

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