Zeta
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zeta0134.bsky.social
Zeta
@zeta0134.bsky.social
Programmer, musician, 6502-tickler
Currently wrangling the finer points of controller standards. Check it out though: I can detect the controller type and display the appropriate glyphs! It feels... so odd for my #nes game to display #playstation buttons in the interface, but it matches the controller, so... it does. #gamedev
November 16, 2025 at 2:48 PM
I'm so excited to finally be able to demo Tactus in person at #SuperMAGFest2026! This will be the game's first public showing, so come on by and Slay to the Beat!

Shoutouts also to @frankengraphics.bsky.social and the rest of the Halcyon team! That game looks *rad* and you should check them out!
The #SuperMAGFest2026 Indie Retro Homebrew Showcase FINALISTS are locked in, and the lineup is next-level amazing. Which game title are you excited about? 🎮

Check them out: bit.ly/MCSMFIR2026F...
November 12, 2025 at 4:46 PM
As part of the effort for the PC port, I'm slowly working on alternate button labels. Good lord, there are so many buttons. Why do we have so many competing standards for what to call shoulder buttons? #gamedev #pixelart
November 9, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Here's a fun polish-y detail. When a bomb explodes, I need to scroll the playfield 3 pixels "up" for screen shake. But there isn't any valid data "underneath" the playfield to draw. To avoid glitchy tiles, we use extra scroll splits to repeat the last scanline instead. Problem solved! #nes #gamedev
November 6, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Added a new accessibility feature after getting some feedback from playtesters: high contrast mode! This forces the floor color to always be $0F (black) even in rooms that would otherwise be fully lit. It's also great if you just prefer that classic NES aesthetic. #accessibility #pixelart #nes
October 23, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Today in especially cursed input methods, I am pleased to present working Power Pad support for my #nes game Tactus. Like other entries in the rhythm-based roguelike genre, it is **remarkably** difficult to play like this. Ermh... enjoy? #gamedev #screenshotsaturday
October 11, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Zeta
Reposted by Zeta
🌈I've been working on the NES Rainbow mapper a lot lately, trying to squeeze a bit more features and fixing some issues. I also ported it for the Everdrive N8 Pro so everyone can now play with it on their computer with Mesen2 or with their NES! So if anyone is curious, links are below...
September 24, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Sometimes it's the little things that take all the time. Today that was adapting these title splash screens for widescreen, so they don't awkwardly cut off at the edge of a 4:3 boundary. SDL2 and set_color_mod got the custom palettes working... hopefully. I need to run tests! #gamedev #sdl
September 21, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Working on the HUD for the PC build, which has to be totally rearranged. Today I got particles working! That's tricker than it sounds since the NES's 256x240 canvas is still mostly running the show. Particles cheat, and are drawn by SDL2 directly to maintain the illusion. #gamedev #nes #rust
September 20, 2025 at 11:53 PM
I am pleased to report that Tactus is running, for the first time, on my real NES hardware. How exciting! ( I might be dancing around my house like a complete fool. ) Here's a recording from my unmodified US NES. #gamedev #nes #homebrew
September 14, 2025 at 6:08 PM
I spent this entire run bullying One-Armed Bandits for their lunch money. I'm thinking the economy might be just a **bit** unbalanced. :D #nes #gamedev #screenshotsunday
August 17, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Tactus v0.8: "Perfectly Normal Chests" is now released to my Patreons. Warp zones, one-armed bandits, evil cultists and loads of items! Also, v0.7 is now public! Check out the full changelog, there's a ton of new features in here. #gamedev #nes #chiptune

zeta0134.itch.io/tactus/devlo...
August 3, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Zeta
📢NEW NES PRE-ORDER CAMPAIGN

Hold the Light is an action game where the player tries to prevent darkness from extinguishing the central fire.

A new NES game by TSBF Studio

Only 25 pre-orders required to launch production :)

➡️ www.homebrew-factory.com/nes/152-hold...
July 22, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Zeta
Wicked Plague by Locus Motion
2024
#gbstudio #retro #gameboy

Play as Ramuel, a young boy who destroy his enemies with his Gun-Lighter. Get inside a hunted building and eradicate the menace!

locus-motion.itch.io/wicked-plague
May 22, 2024 at 4:33 PM
One nifty feature of my custom sound driver that I gloss over on here is the concept of variants. Each stage has "normal", "cave" and "pause" versions of the music, and I can hop between them at phrase boundaries.

Also shown: a fancy new RTA timer for speedruns :D #nes #gamedev #screenshotsunday
June 30, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Check it out! Two new items for Tactus:
"Dingbat": Sound a chime when near a hidden secret
"Interrogation Beam": Preview chest contents

Also, new chest types!
Timed Chest: Defeat all enemies quickly to open
Perfectly Normal Chests: Not suspicious at all!

#gamedev #screenshotsaturday #nes
June 28, 2025 at 6:35 PM
From left to right: Standard Chests, Rare/Legendary Chests, Challenge Chests, completely normal chests, nothing out of the ordinary here, no sir! #pixelart #nes
June 16, 2025 at 4:24 PM
I present: the newly invented Charge-a-bulb™! This ingenious contraption harvests latent energy from the very monsters giving you trouble. Turn the tables and light your own path!* #nes #gamedev #screenshotsunday

(*The Charge-a-bulb will automatically deactivate when it detects natural light.)
June 15, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Am I supposed to do two #screenshotsaturday posts on the same Saturday? Anyway, I was on a roll, so please enjoy this new footware: the Ninja Footwraps! Featuring the all-new player invulnerability, these will reliably dodge incoming attacks, provided you can keep them charged up. #nes #gamedev
June 15, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Four new accessories in one day. Not too shabby! Finally something other than the Chain Link to go in this slot. #pixelart #screenshotsaturday #indiegame

These all interact with the new elemental affinity system, and the limited equipment slots should hopefully encourage more strategic builds.
June 14, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Player jumps were looking a bit stiff due to a frame pacing problem, so I fixed it. Now I can switch out frames independent of the musical tempo, allowing me to squish the player sprite upon landing. This helps a ton! #pixelart #gamedev #nes
June 12, 2025 at 3:00 AM
After finishing Mario and Luigi: Brothership, an RPG with timed hits, I've started Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, an RPG with timed hits.

This is some real emotional whiplash, right here. Good grief.
June 1, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Finally wrapping up work on a fancy new enemy type for Tactus. These guys teleport around and cast the FORBIDDEN SHAPES, with various debilitating effects! Try not to get caught in the blast. Also, they glow in the dark! #gamedev #nes #pixelart
May 25, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Reposted by Zeta
Introducing robust dynamic lighting in Former Dawn, a new Action #RPG for the NES and PC!

This is just 1 part of a fairly big update (21 pages) that we just posted on our Kickstarter page:

kickstarter.com/projects/som...

New art, music, features...check it out!

#nesdev #indiegame
May 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM