Mark Aherne
@wiredmark.bsky.social
Technical Director #NoesisGUI (https://noesisengine.com)
Indie developer, creating Persevere, a narrative strategy game (https://perseveregame.com)
Indie developer, creating Persevere, a narrative strategy game (https://perseveregame.com)
Pinned
Mark Aherne
@wiredmark.bsky.social
· Dec 6
In the early hours of yesterday morning, we completed the prototype of Persevere, our narrative strategy game. I'd like to introduce you to it!
Starting with arriving on the level with your train, containing five crew, who we'll get to, and a Ballistics train car. #gamedev #screenshotsaturday
Starting with arriving on the level with your train, containing five crew, who we'll get to, and a Ballistics train car. #gamedev #screenshotsaturday
Work on Persevere's pitch deck continues. Here is the final draft of the Core Loop slide, and the first draft of the Market Opportunity slide (there will be a separate Market Analysis slide with metrics). #gamedev #indiedev #narrative #strategy #simulation #pitchdeck
January 12, 2026 at 11:52 PM
Work on Persevere's pitch deck continues. Here is the final draft of the Core Loop slide, and the first draft of the Market Opportunity slide (there will be a separate Market Analysis slide with metrics). #gamedev #indiedev #narrative #strategy #simulation #pitchdeck
I'm working on the pitch deck for Perservere, our narrative strategy game. This is the most technical slide in the pitch deck. It's designed to show our competence, how well we have considered the design and the moment-to-moment gameplay of the player. I'd love to hear feedback on it. #gamedev
January 11, 2026 at 10:07 PM
I'm working on the pitch deck for Perservere, our narrative strategy game. This is the most technical slide in the pitch deck. It's designed to show our competence, how well we have considered the design and the moment-to-moment gameplay of the player. I'd love to hear feedback on it. #gamedev
Reposted by Mark Aherne
Neat write up of @psychicsoftware.com's The Necromancer's Tale here: medium.com/@Froswald/th...
December 27, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Neat write up of @psychicsoftware.com's The Necromancer's Tale here: medium.com/@Froswald/th...
Reposted by Mark Aherne
Axyz is a fantastic puzzle game based on the PS1 classic Kula World (Roll Away). One of the rare 'indie homages to an old game' that understands what made the original fun and builds on it in a smart way. Highly recommend!
Save 30% on Axyz on Steam
Axyz is a retro gravity switching puzzle game that asks the player to use their environmental and spatial awareness to beat every level. Soak in the vaporwave, switch gravity, collect tapes, and more ...
store.steampowered.com
December 20, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Axyz is a fantastic puzzle game based on the PS1 classic Kula World (Roll Away). One of the rare 'indie homages to an old game' that understands what made the original fun and builds on it in a smart way. Highly recommend!
Reposted by Mark Aherne
The Séance of Blake Manor has been nominated for Best Art Direction in the @thinkygames.com Awards!
December 19, 2025 at 4:54 PM
The Séance of Blake Manor has been nominated for Best Art Direction in the @thinkygames.com Awards!
Here's the first draft of the "Ballistics" train carriage for Persevere, our narrative strategy game. When added to your train, it gives you access to basic projectile towers. Train cars aren't just for tower defense though, there will be cars for research, medical, training, scouting, and more.
December 17, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Here's the first draft of the "Ballistics" train carriage for Persevere, our narrative strategy game. When added to your train, it gives you access to basic projectile towers. Train cars aren't just for tower defense though, there will be cars for research, medical, training, scouting, and more.
@harvey1966.bsky.social Hey Harvey. I had been meaning to reach out and say hello, but I deleted my Twitter account, and I only have your old arkane-austin.com email. I took the plunge this year and started my own studio, to create a narrative strategy game, Persevere. I'd love to catch up!
December 16, 2025 at 11:19 PM
@harvey1966.bsky.social Hey Harvey. I had been meaning to reach out and say hello, but I deleted my Twitter account, and I only have your old arkane-austin.com email. I took the plunge this year and started my own studio, to create a narrative strategy game, Persevere. I'd love to catch up!
I do really like your pronoun notation, particularly when it comes to the more complex <doctor.they+trails/trail>, it is fairly easy to follow/read.
December 13, 2025 at 7:30 PM
I do really like your pronoun notation, particularly when it comes to the more complex <doctor.they+trails/trail>, it is fairly easy to follow/read.
Really, I feel we have to write a lot more scripts for Persevere before I have a handle on what will work on terms of traits, the personality system, and scripting features. I think the bones of the system are good, but I am not sure if it's enough.
December 13, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Really, I feel we have to write a lot more scripts for Persevere before I have a handle on what will work on terms of traits, the personality system, and scripting features. I think the bones of the system are good, but I am not sure if it's enough.
Oh, cool! I've signed up to be notified of the release. Thanks.
December 13, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Oh, cool! I've signed up to be notified of the release. Thanks.
We limited pronoun generation to he/she for the prototype, for simplicity. Our writers for the prototype had never written for a game before. I will need to extend the system during production in order to support a full range of pronouns, much as you have with <doctor.they+trails/trail>.
December 13, 2025 at 7:12 PM
We limited pronoun generation to he/she for the prototype, for simplicity. Our writers for the prototype had never written for a game before. I will need to extend the system during production in order to support a full range of pronouns, much as you have with <doctor.they+trails/trail>.
It just happened to be that the secondary character was written without gender in this case. We still need to work on consistency between writers, some drifted towards they/them explicitly, instead of using the pronoun function, as it was easier for them to write. I'm learning as I go.
December 13, 2025 at 7:12 PM
It just happened to be that the secondary character was written without gender in this case. We still need to work on consistency between writers, some drifted towards they/them explicitly, instead of using the pronoun function, as it was easier for them to write. I'm learning as I go.
And yes, pronoun implementation is an ongoing topic of discussion!
December 13, 2025 at 6:39 PM
And yes, pronoun implementation is an ongoing topic of discussion!
Will your essay be public? I'm keen to read it.
December 13, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Will your essay be public? I'm keen to read it.
We'll have more depth in the character motivations, which are collections of narrative events which tell a more authored story for that crew member. In the motivation data, we specify what traits are compatible with the motivation, and use that when generating the character's traits.
December 13, 2025 at 6:36 PM
We'll have more depth in the character motivations, which are collections of narrative events which tell a more authored story for that crew member. In the motivation data, we specify what traits are compatible with the motivation, and use that when generating the character's traits.
Yes, the poles design was very much a trade-off between the needs of the mechanics, and the narrative. In the end, we decided that this should be fine for our use-case, as we don't expect to have a lot of depth within the procedural events.
December 13, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Yes, the poles design was very much a trade-off between the needs of the mechanics, and the narrative. In the end, we decided that this should be fine for our use-case, as we don't expect to have a lot of depth within the procedural events.
This may be of interest to you @radiofreelunch.bsky.social. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
December 13, 2025 at 4:34 PM
This may be of interest to you @radiofreelunch.bsky.social. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
I recorded a dev log for Persevere, giving an introduction to how crew traits are used to generate personality profiles, and how those personality profiles are used in our narrative scripts to fill roles, and adjust behaviour, within the story.
youtu.be/0IDsIvnasz0
#narrative #strategy #gamedev
youtu.be/0IDsIvnasz0
#narrative #strategy #gamedev
Persevere Dev Log - Trait/Personality System Introduction
YouTube video by Universe or Nothing
youtu.be
December 13, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I recorded a dev log for Persevere, giving an introduction to how crew traits are used to generate personality profiles, and how those personality profiles are used in our narrative scripts to fill roles, and adjust behaviour, within the story.
youtu.be/0IDsIvnasz0
#narrative #strategy #gamedev
youtu.be/0IDsIvnasz0
#narrative #strategy #gamedev
Reposted by Mark Aherne
This is cool. The Séance of Blake Manor made GameSpots 10 Best games of the Year list! We're up there with some big games.
www.gamespot.com/gallery/game...
www.gamespot.com/gallery/game...
GameSpot's 10 Best Games Of 2025
We've tallied the votes, debated the games' merits, and chosen our top 10 games of the year.
www.gamespot.com
December 12, 2025 at 12:32 PM
This is cool. The Séance of Blake Manor made GameSpots 10 Best games of the Year list! We're up there with some big games.
www.gamespot.com/gallery/game...
www.gamespot.com/gallery/game...
Reposted by Mark Aherne
The Necromancer's Tale is Mortismal's favourite indie RPG of 2025. This means a lot to me, Mortismal being a very in-depth RPG reviewer with high standards!
Well done @unfetteredmuse.bsky.social @zgpope.bsky.social @michaelthomet.com @davetheallthing.bsky.social Damir and all the voice actors! :-)
Well done @unfetteredmuse.bsky.social @zgpope.bsky.social @michaelthomet.com @davetheallthing.bsky.social Damir and all the voice actors! :-)
The Necromancers Tale made quite the impression on Mortismal Gaming. He chose it as his indie game of the year!
@psychicsoftware.com
youtu.be/pbdmvGXStTI?...
@psychicsoftware.com
youtu.be/pbdmvGXStTI?...
My Personal 2025 Game Awards
YouTube video by Mortismal Gaming
youtu.be
December 12, 2025 at 12:47 PM
The Necromancer's Tale is Mortismal's favourite indie RPG of 2025. This means a lot to me, Mortismal being a very in-depth RPG reviewer with high standards!
Well done @unfetteredmuse.bsky.social @zgpope.bsky.social @michaelthomet.com @davetheallthing.bsky.social Damir and all the voice actors! :-)
Well done @unfetteredmuse.bsky.social @zgpope.bsky.social @michaelthomet.com @davetheallthing.bsky.social Damir and all the voice actors! :-)
Reposted by Mark Aherne
The Necromancer's Tale is in the #ChooseWiselyFestival this week, celebrating branching narrative games where choices matter! Thanks @studioephua.bsky.social for hosting!
20% discount this week... time to dabble in the occult and raise an undead army 💀💀💀💀💀
store.steampowered.com/app/1315320/...
20% discount this week... time to dabble in the occult and raise an undead army 💀💀💀💀💀
store.steampowered.com/app/1315320/...
December 8, 2025 at 6:45 PM
The Necromancer's Tale is in the #ChooseWiselyFestival this week, celebrating branching narrative games where choices matter! Thanks @studioephua.bsky.social for hosting!
20% discount this week... time to dabble in the occult and raise an undead army 💀💀💀💀💀
store.steampowered.com/app/1315320/...
20% discount this week... time to dabble in the occult and raise an undead army 💀💀💀💀💀
store.steampowered.com/app/1315320/...
The Necromancers Tale made quite the impression on Mortismal Gaming. He chose it as his indie game of the year!
@psychicsoftware.com
youtu.be/pbdmvGXStTI?...
@psychicsoftware.com
youtu.be/pbdmvGXStTI?...
My Personal 2025 Game Awards
YouTube video by Mortismal Gaming
youtu.be
December 12, 2025 at 12:06 PM
The Necromancers Tale made quite the impression on Mortismal Gaming. He chose it as his indie game of the year!
@psychicsoftware.com
youtu.be/pbdmvGXStTI?...
@psychicsoftware.com
youtu.be/pbdmvGXStTI?...
I played the ~30 minute Deathwish Bloom build at IndieDev. I can honestly say that I have never connected to a narrative in any game as quickly and deeply as I did with it. It's still in my head. I have a strange ache looking at the screenshots, I have unfinished business there.
It’s high time for a November-December DevLog post! 🤯😱
🌸🐁❤️
www.sharpglassgames.com/post/novembe...
#indiedev #vndev #gamedev
#devlog
🌸🐁❤️
www.sharpglassgames.com/post/novembe...
#indiedev #vndev #gamedev
#devlog
November – December 2025: IndieDev Finale & Prototype tests
News, so many news!We have just wrapped the educational part of the IndieDev 2025, an all-Ireland initiative that selected 8 teams to support throughout a new game prototype development. The initiativ...
www.sharpglassgames.com
December 9, 2025 at 12:54 AM
I played the ~30 minute Deathwish Bloom build at IndieDev. I can honestly say that I have never connected to a narrative in any game as quickly and deeply as I did with it. It's still in my head. I have a strange ache looking at the screenshots, I have unfinished business there.
And finally, I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, everyone who helped me to make this prototype a reality. In particular, my amazing team, who each contributed their skills, passion, and unique perspectives, to the game. #screenshotsaturday
December 6, 2025 at 11:27 AM
And finally, I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, everyone who helped me to make this prototype a reality. In particular, my amazing team, who each contributed their skills, passion, and unique perspectives, to the game. #screenshotsaturday
One really cool element of the storyteller/traits/personality profile system is that people gain traits in the game, from narrative and the environment. These traits, which can be transient or permanent, change the personality profile, and so characters evolve over time. Traits also affect gameplay.
December 6, 2025 at 11:27 AM
One really cool element of the storyteller/traits/personality profile system is that people gain traits in the game, from narrative and the environment. These traits, which can be transient or permanent, change the personality profile, and so characters evolve over time. Traits also affect gameplay.