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Andy Toone

@lockfarm.bsky.social

1.3K followers 680 following 3.3K posts

Petabytes in my day job, kilobytes in my spare time. Maker of Beasts - https://feersumbeasts.com/ 8-bit Z80 kit Technologist, cynical optimist, occasional CTO, regular tinkerer. Rural hideout in UK

feersumbeasts.com

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Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · Oct 18

You're meant to share the work you're doing..

I'm particularly bad at that, and somewhat overwhelmed with stuff..

..at which point I'm meant to end on a positive note and a call to action, but really, that's the post. That's it.

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Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 3m

I'm going to guess... 6.4?

(No. No I don't know what the Hfuhruhurr-Hobbit Index is).

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 5m

It does also open up the question as to whether the world would notice if it was taken over by Bond villains. After all, they'd put out a lot of propaganda to convince us otherwise...

Hmmmm.

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 7m

Book? We want that librarian in real life.

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 9m

That's what I'm doing with VideoBeast - feersumbeasts.com/videobeast.h... - it's designed specifically for 2D arcade graphics, tiles, sprites, bitmaps, layers. Using all the tricks so that a low powered host processor can punch way above it's weight.

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 33m

It would be a possibility - do it all in an FPGA that can't (easily) be re-written. Accessible hardware would be a big benefit though - to encourage add-ons and hacking.

I'm certainly not against the idea of a custom processor that sets the right sort of level for coders to have fun.

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 37m

Possibly. Something of that order of magnitude.

I think the PlayDate and Pico8 have both shown how an 'underpowered' device can open up ideas and opportunities for solo devs and indies to have fun.

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Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 39m

It's been interesting to discover how these guys are actually pretty stupid (for want of a better word) in some respects. The bubble they're in stops them from having to think about basic stuff, so they can swan around making nonsensical statements without being corrected.

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 41m

If you have physical hardware powerful enough to run a VM, you're straight back into the uneven playing field of a device that 'power users' will run a full game engine/OS on.

It'd be nice if it ran something like Lua or a similar scripting language, but bare metal is right there to be used.

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Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 3h

One of my goals is designing a "low resource console" - something that doesn't run Linux, Godot, every emulator under the sun, but that can run fun, engaging games.

The trick is finding the balance - enough power, but not overwhelming complexity.

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Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 6h

We somehow have both more knowledge now, and less...

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 20h

These guys have missed a vital part of their social education, and when faced with unlimited power and riches are substituting half baked philosophy and cod religion to make themselves feel better.

Sadly, a lot of the tech sphere don't know the difference and think this is some sort of insight.

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Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 20h

I suspect I'm on a lot of lists.

You never saw me. I was somewhere else at the time.

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Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 21h

That's a Google search I can't do.

From that book, I sent my Dad to the chemist to buy a kilo of saltpeter. They asked some *very* pointed questions, but let him buy it because he was the local Doctor.

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Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 21h

When I was a kid, I found a book called "How to Make Your Own Fireworks" in the library. It even included instructions on how to make a lever arm weighing scale.

After some... um... interesting experiments, I took it back to renew it. They took one look at the title and confiscated it.

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Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 21h

Susanna Hoffs is at least partially responsible for me getting funny feelings around women with backcombed hair.

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 1d

This looks like a lot of fun.

Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 2d

💥💥SURPRISE!💥💥

You can play Earth Must Die *right now*

We just launched a huge demo for the game on Steam -- an entire hour long slice of it. See how @danthat.bsky.social's latest is shaping up!

store.steampowered.com/app/4057540/...

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 1d

What's depressing is how readily the government has swallowed the narrative to withdraw care.

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 1d

It's almost like they're being advised by a venal, self-serving group of parasitic tech consultancies and a completely insular civil service both of whom only see expansion of projects they can own.

Oh, and Tony Blair.

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Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 1d

They say visions of future tech inspire reality... but I wasn't expecting this.

The future is... isometric apparently.

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 1d

Sadly that latter experience is all too often lacking in the people in government who create the regulations.

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 1d

OK BlueSky network, can we do the six degrees of Kevin Bacon thing? Does anyone know Ian Livingstone or someone in similar tech/tabletop gaming/boardgame area? I've got a tech demo that I'd love to take further, or at least show to people who might 'get it'.

Reposts appreciated.

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Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 1d

It's pretty important in difficult times to keep finding and sharing opportunities for all, and not just the privileged few.

Sad that that's a controversial thing to say in some circles.

Anil Dash @anildash.com · 1d

We’re fully in the “don’t ask don’t tell” era of DEI, but fortunately these are the communities most experienced at thriving underground. www.anildash.com/2025/10/07/d...

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Era of DEI - Anil Dash

A blog about making culture. Since 1999.

www.anildash.com

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 1d

Celebrity Traitors is epic.

I won't spoil the first murder, but oh boy.

Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 1d

I can't say I've ever found social media to be very useful for business, but that was particularly ridiculous.

..and also the end of my LinkedIn Premium subscription.

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Andy Toone @lockfarm.bsky.social · 1d

A while back I developed an indoor navigation technology that worked on phones without beacons or complex surveys. Really suited to hospitals, airports, museums, conferences. Sent out introductions on LinkedIn to gauge interest.

Eighteen months later, one replied just to say, "I'm not interested" 🧵

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