Clara Gale ✈️ NS 0.4.1 out now!
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claradoth.bsky.social
Clara Gale ✈️ NS 0.4.1 out now!
@claradoth.bsky.social
1K followers 140 following 320 posts
Game dev making the arcade flight game Nova Squadron in my spare time. Opinions are my own, nothing here is related to my day job.
She/her -- 🇬🇧|🇯🇵 OK

You can play the Nova Squadron alpha demo on Steam! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1826830/Nova_
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claradoth.bsky.social
So to celebrate hitting 1000 followers over here (omg hi everyone!) I thought it'd be fun to set up a mission in #NovaSquadron with 1000 planes.

This was a mistake.

Join me on my quest to try and stabilise the FPS by blowing them up as fast as possible.
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday
January 31, 2026 at 12:23 PM
claradoth.bsky.social
If you're making a flightcade game, and you're taking any one feature from Nova Squadron, please let it be this one.

Accessibility benefits everyone, not just the people who "need" it.
A ton of comments I've had on the chat log feature: "that's so good, ace combat should have that too" "Galaxy-brained idea." "Ive always wanted this feature" "I *despise* missing conversation in a game when I'm trying to focus on the gameplay. Having a chat log available is A+!" "ooo thats a good idea!" "oh this rocks, wishlisted" "Man thats so useful" "Nice! I'm still annoyed with Ace Combat 7 for missions that you fail without knowing why because the comms make no sense."
January 26, 2026 at 5:04 PM
claradoth.bsky.social
Ever got into a situation where you're focusing on the combat so much, you only realise afterwards that you have no idea what anyone's been saying over comms?

Yeah, me too.

Which is why I'm adding a chat log to #NovaSquadron.
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday #accessibility
January 24, 2026 at 12:28 PM
claradoth.bsky.social
The #NovaSquadron VFX improvement pass has made its way over to laser beams now! I'm not done yet, but you can already see a huge improvement over the live version of the demo.
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday
January 17, 2026 at 9:01 AM
claradoth.bsky.social
The new fonts are spreading! Now #NovaSquadron 's main menus are more readable and, dare I say, more classy.
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday
January 10, 2026 at 9:39 AM
claradoth.bsky.social
New year, new...HUD?!

Yep, I've redone all the text on #NovaSquadron 's HUD (next up, the rest of the game!), and I'll be moving some more things around in the coming weeks.
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday
January 3, 2026 at 12:09 PM
claradoth.bsky.social
Platform infrastructure and orbital railguns were next on the list for the #NovaSquadron visual overhaul...so I figured why not do both at once, by calling in a little help from above?
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday
December 27, 2025 at 12:33 PM
claradoth.bsky.social
BlueSky, this GIF is ELEVEN KILOBYTES, how and why did you compress it that much

okay we're trying again but with it 10x upscaled.
2700x3150 GIF.
December 20, 2025 at 10:12 AM
claradoth.bsky.social
For today's #NovaSquadron post, it's the holidays, so I wanted to do something a little special.

We have an early Christmas present from us to you:

AWACS Storm Chaser smiling.
#pixelart #screenshotsaturday
December 20, 2025 at 10:00 AM
claradoth.bsky.social
Just adding a new menu to #NovaSquadron ...wait, is that a save select screen?

Why the heck would a roguelite flightcade game need multiple save slots?

What the hell are we cooking in 0.5.0?!
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday

(yes that's Fenrir's canon name)
December 13, 2025 at 9:05 AM
claradoth.bsky.social
Meet AWACS Storm Chaser, the lady who says things like "Nova One, Fox Two!" and "Bifrost's laser's about to fire, everyone get to cover NOW!" during missions in #NovaSquadron.
Interests:
- fashion
- radar maintenance
- playing support characters
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday #pixelart #oc
A pixel art portrait of a woman with purple eyes and lipstick, and green hair tied into a ponytail. There's a little silver cross dangling from one of her pointy ears, a silver crescent moon necklace around her neck, and she's wearing a fur-collared leather jacket and a stripy black-and-purple top. The same portrait, but this time with the in-game CRT filter applied. Storm Chaser in-game, saying "The enemy base might look undefended, but I'll be watching your backs all the same. If that squadron comes over the horizon, I'm getting you the hell out of there."
December 6, 2025 at 12:39 PM
claradoth.bsky.social
a fun fact about the Nova Squadron official Discord is that I have literally no idea what is happening at any given point
A screenshot of a Discord conversation that, um... So we have a guy named Stinko saying "clara have plant on profile. need eat it. cover it in vinegar." Me saying "stinko that was auto-attached to my profile by Discord for TWO MINUTES" Then Sanikku, who by the way is our server moderator, showed up to say "SOBBING LMAO, we need to EAT CLARA'S PLANT" Back to Stinko: "WE HAVE TO EAT CLARA PLANT" I quietly suggest "maybe that's why it's not on my profile any more" This doesn't help. Stinko again: "EATING CLARA HAIR-- wait why am i banana" Robin, another NS developer: "eat stinko banana" Sanikku, watching the tables turn: "Robin you can't say tha--" "you can't stop me"
December 5, 2025 at 6:43 PM
claradoth.bsky.social
One last bit of #NovaSquadron global UI work before I can start declassifying the features I've been working on for the past few months:

I've always wanted to make one of these silly little fade-to-black effects
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday
November 29, 2025 at 11:28 AM
claradoth.bsky.social
Happy #Tanksgiving everyone!
Here's those extra reinforcements you asked for.
I mean, more tanks are always better, right?
#gamedev #indiedev
November 27, 2025 at 8:00 PM
claradoth.bsky.social
I've been so busy with #NovaSquadron 's menu and subsystem overhaul that I haven't posted any gameplay videos for months, so here, as a treat for us both -
the beginnings of some new, fancy, cel shaded explosions!
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday
November 22, 2025 at 12:37 PM
claradoth.bsky.social
Introducing the man who's been giving you briefings in #NovaSquadron the whole time, Commander "Öz" Özdemir (and his moustache!)
Interests:
- watching everyone come back from a mission alive
- mecha anime
- facial hair
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday #pixelart #oc
Pixel art of a grey-haired man in a white naval officer's uniform, with one piercing blue eye and one robotic prosthetic eye. And a gigantic handlebar moustache. The same pixel art, but with the in-game CRT filter applied. And that pixel art in situ in-game, as Öz gives you a briefing.
November 15, 2025 at 12:23 PM
claradoth.bsky.social
I bet this isn't surviving social media compression in one piece, but #NovaSquadron 's buttons now 'fizz' when you hover over them! Lots of little floaty particles drifting around as an extra visual indicator of what you've got selected.
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday
November 8, 2025 at 9:05 AM
claradoth.bsky.social
And here she is again, but without the CRT filtering!
#gamedev #indiedev #pixelart #oc
(it feels really weird using that last hashtag but...yeah, I guess this is my first ever OC?! If only Baby Clara knew what she'd be doing in a few years...)
Pixel art of a woman with tanned skin, long ginger hair and green eyes, wearing a pilot's flight suit. She looks like a bit of a dumbass (because she is in-game).
November 2, 2025 at 10:08 AM
claradoth.bsky.social
I've had to keep most of my top-secret #NovaSquadron work under wraps for the last few months, but I can finally start declassifying some of it now that we have...pixel art?!

Introducing the first member of Nova Squadron, callsign Fenrir.
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday
A screenshot of one of the briefings from Nova Squadron, now featuring a pixelated, CRT-filtered portrait of a ginger lady in a flight suit in the bottom-left corner. She's saying "Oh, come on Öz, one silly little superweapon isn't going to stop us, especially with the Admiral backing us up! We'll handle it."
November 1, 2025 at 11:43 AM
claradoth.bsky.social
I genuinely do not know where the public perspective of #NovaSquadron as the gayest flightcade game of all time came from. 0.4.1 has, like, three characters, and they only talk about mission objectives. At this point I'm just going along with it
#gamedev #indiedev
A bunch of screenshots of people talking about Nova Squadron: "Its a plane game roguelike that's gay as <redacted>" "guys caution when joining, the game and its community might give you gender dysphoria, have fun tho!" "the lesbian piloted hyperfuturistic space a-10 game has a discord guys"
October 28, 2025 at 10:11 AM
claradoth.bsky.social
I can't believe I'm actually finally saying this but...
we have a Discord server now!

If you're interested, here's the invite: discord.gg/YVdeju6zEw
and if you have any friends who might be interested, please spread the word - let's get this community started!
#gamedev #indiedev
The Nova Squadron key art with a big ol' Discord logo over the top of it.
October 25, 2025 at 8:54 AM
claradoth.bsky.social
what could it mean
A rather pixelated screenshot of Nova Squadron's protagonist faction's logo. There's a weird rounded grey border around it, and text over it reading "25/10/25". Huh.
October 22, 2025 at 6:52 PM
claradoth.bsky.social
Taking a break from all the top-secret #NovaSquadron stuff I can't show you, to do something I can -
the background hexagons now glow around your cursor, and sweep across the screen from different directions!
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday
October 18, 2025 at 7:34 AM
claradoth.bsky.social
So I made a promise to a couple of people in the Discord server for @yoyoyollie.bsky.social's #DeliveryMustComplete.

The promise was that this weekend, I'd put a hat on a plane (long story)

so here you go.
Plane in a hat.
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday #NovaSquadron
October 11, 2025 at 11:20 AM
claradoth.bsky.social
hey is it me or does the main menu look different now
#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday #NovaSquadron
October 4, 2025 at 11:10 AM