Thomas Viktil
@mandarin.bsky.social
Co-founder, Technical director and CEO of @rubarb.bsky.social. Making a game called Share Wars. Recent Godot convertee.
Engineers will remain indispensable for:
- Setting goals
- Designing experiments
- Handling edge cases
- And taking responsibility for outcomes
Machines will assist, not decide.
fastcode.io/2025/10/20/w...
- Setting goals
- Designing experiments
- Handling edge cases
- And taking responsibility for outcomes
Machines will assist, not decide.
fastcode.io/2025/10/20/w...
Why Large Language Models Won’t Replace Engineers Anytime Soon
Explore the mathematical and cognitive limits that stop large language models from achieving true human-like engineering intelligence
fastcode.io
October 20, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Engineers will remain indispensable for:
- Setting goals
- Designing experiments
- Handling edge cases
- And taking responsibility for outcomes
Machines will assist, not decide.
fastcode.io/2025/10/20/w...
- Setting goals
- Designing experiments
- Handling edge cases
- And taking responsibility for outcomes
Machines will assist, not decide.
fastcode.io/2025/10/20/w...
Reposted by Thomas Viktil
Look, it’s really straightforward to get a publisher as a new name indie in 2025. Simply do 95% of the work making and marketing your game, and if your metrics are trending towards almost certain success, a publisher will swoop in to promise the remaining 5%, deliver 3%, and collect 75%
October 18, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Look, it’s really straightforward to get a publisher as a new name indie in 2025. Simply do 95% of the work making and marketing your game, and if your metrics are trending towards almost certain success, a publisher will swoop in to promise the remaining 5%, deliver 3%, and collect 75%
Reposted by Thomas Viktil
Wake up! "Spooky Candy Crush" was just announced!
Basalt: The Cursed Vein is a match-3 roguelite where you delve haunted depths to rebuild a decripit mining town ☠⛏️
Steam: s.team/a/3930130
Trailer: youtu.be/-OEli70mPdc
#MadeWithGodot by @gamespeopleplayas.bsky.social and @rubarb.bsky.social
Basalt: The Cursed Vein is a match-3 roguelite where you delve haunted depths to rebuild a decripit mining town ☠⛏️
Steam: s.team/a/3930130
Trailer: youtu.be/-OEli70mPdc
#MadeWithGodot by @gamespeopleplayas.bsky.social and @rubarb.bsky.social
August 31, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Wake up! "Spooky Candy Crush" was just announced!
Basalt: The Cursed Vein is a match-3 roguelite where you delve haunted depths to rebuild a decripit mining town ☠⛏️
Steam: s.team/a/3930130
Trailer: youtu.be/-OEli70mPdc
#MadeWithGodot by @gamespeopleplayas.bsky.social and @rubarb.bsky.social
Basalt: The Cursed Vein is a match-3 roguelite where you delve haunted depths to rebuild a decripit mining town ☠⛏️
Steam: s.team/a/3930130
Trailer: youtu.be/-OEli70mPdc
#MadeWithGodot by @gamespeopleplayas.bsky.social and @rubarb.bsky.social
Reposted by Thomas Viktil
Basalt: The Cursed Vein mistura roguelite e match-3 em uma sombria cidade mineradora
#gamersegames #themixshowcase
Basalt: The Cursed Vein traz ação roguelite com match-3 em pixel art sombrio. Adicione agora mesmo à sua lista de desejos no Steam.
www.gamersegames.com.br/2025/08/29/b...
#gamersegames #themixshowcase
Basalt: The Cursed Vein traz ação roguelite com match-3 em pixel art sombrio. Adicione agora mesmo à sua lista de desejos no Steam.
www.gamersegames.com.br/2025/08/29/b...
Basalt: The Cursed Vein mistura roguelite e match-3 em uma sombria cidade mineradora
Basalt: The Cursed Vein traz ação roguelite com match-3 em pixel art sombrio. Adicione agora mesmo à sua lista de desejos no Steam.
www.gamersegames.com.br
August 29, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Basalt: The Cursed Vein mistura roguelite e match-3 em uma sombria cidade mineradora
#gamersegames #themixshowcase
Basalt: The Cursed Vein traz ação roguelite com match-3 em pixel art sombrio. Adicione agora mesmo à sua lista de desejos no Steam.
www.gamersegames.com.br/2025/08/29/b...
#gamersegames #themixshowcase
Basalt: The Cursed Vein traz ação roguelite com match-3 em pixel art sombrio. Adicione agora mesmo à sua lista de desejos no Steam.
www.gamersegames.com.br/2025/08/29/b...
Reposted by Thomas Viktil
We just announced Basalt: The Cursed Vein!
A grim roguelite match-3 where you mine, rebuild, and face things best left underground. The deeper you dig, the greater the rewards, but the villagers warn: Don’t dig too deep!
We’re making this game together with @rubarb.bsky.social
A grim roguelite match-3 where you mine, rebuild, and face things best left underground. The deeper you dig, the greater the rewards, but the villagers warn: Don’t dig too deep!
We’re making this game together with @rubarb.bsky.social
August 29, 2025 at 5:22 PM
We just announced Basalt: The Cursed Vein!
A grim roguelite match-3 where you mine, rebuild, and face things best left underground. The deeper you dig, the greater the rewards, but the villagers warn: Don’t dig too deep!
We’re making this game together with @rubarb.bsky.social
A grim roguelite match-3 where you mine, rebuild, and face things best left underground. The deeper you dig, the greater the rewards, but the villagers warn: Don’t dig too deep!
We’re making this game together with @rubarb.bsky.social
ordep.dev/posts/writin...
The marginal cost of adding new software is approaching zero, especially with LLMs. But what is the price of understanding, testing, and trusting that code? Higher than ever.
The marginal cost of adding new software is approaching zero, especially with LLMs. But what is the price of understanding, testing, and trusting that code? Higher than ever.
Writing Code Was Never The Bottleneck
LLMs make it easier to write code, but understanding, reviewing, and maintaining it still takes time, trust, and good judgment.
ordep.dev
July 1, 2025 at 7:25 AM
ordep.dev/posts/writin...
The marginal cost of adding new software is approaching zero, especially with LLMs. But what is the price of understanding, testing, and trusting that code? Higher than ever.
The marginal cost of adding new software is approaching zero, especially with LLMs. But what is the price of understanding, testing, and trusting that code? Higher than ever.
Reposted by Thomas Viktil
More ads, more AI, more stable editor, and fewer employees to handle it all. Latest from Unity. 80.lv/articles/exc...
EXCLUSIVE: Unity CEO's Internal Announcement Amidst the Layoffs
80 Level has obtained the text of the email sent by Matthew Bromberg to Unity employees, announcing the layoffs and shedding light on Unity's strategy going forward.
80.lv
February 12, 2025 at 10:14 AM
More ads, more AI, more stable editor, and fewer employees to handle it all. Latest from Unity. 80.lv/articles/exc...
gamedev.city is like HackerNews for gamedev. So much cool content in one place! Went straight on my browser startup page. #gamedev
Gamedev.city
gamedev.city
February 4, 2025 at 7:01 PM
gamedev.city is like HackerNews for gamedev. So much cool content in one place! Went straight on my browser startup page. #gamedev
The Games playlist I maintain on Spotify just surpassed 2,000 songs, 116 hours of music. Should be enough for a few work days. Features soundtracks from Crypt of the Necrodancer, Fez, Teardown, Silent Hill, SOMA, Slime Rancher, Limbo, Minecraft, Below, etc. #gamedev open.spotify.com/playlist/5NA...
🕹️ Games
Playlist · mandarinx · 2033 items
open.spotify.com
January 29, 2025 at 8:36 AM
The Games playlist I maintain on Spotify just surpassed 2,000 songs, 116 hours of music. Should be enough for a few work days. Features soundtracks from Crypt of the Necrodancer, Fez, Teardown, Silent Hill, SOMA, Slime Rancher, Limbo, Minecraft, Below, etc. #gamedev open.spotify.com/playlist/5NA...
Reposted by Thomas Viktil
Ah, yes, I remember playing Balatro 95 back in my dad's office
January 27, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Ah, yes, I remember playing Balatro 95 back in my dad's office
I've always been nervous about copying other games, even though I always do. This quote made me feel less nervous about it. 😄
Developing a game: 1000s of inspirations and life experiences fused into a unique and multi-faceted gem via an epic soul breaking journey.
Selling a game: List the one game you copied and how your clone is better.
Selling a game: List the one game you copied and how your clone is better.
January 29, 2025 at 7:50 AM
I've always been nervous about copying other games, even though I always do. This quote made me feel less nervous about it. 😄
Dragonsweeper is one of those games that makes me wish I was smart enough to have come up with the idea myself. Try it, it's good! danielben.itch.io/dragonsweeper
Dragonsweeper by Daniel Benmergui
A roguelike minesweeper adventure
danielben.itch.io
January 27, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Dragonsweeper is one of those games that makes me wish I was smart enough to have come up with the idea myself. Try it, it's good! danielben.itch.io/dragonsweeper
Reposted by Thomas Viktil
While trying to make sense of my own GDScript code, I used a sequence diagram to visualize the code flow. This turned out to be a very simple and very useful tool for getting a birds eye view of my code. @mandarin.bsky.social
https://forum.godotengine.org/t/share-wars-have-fun-bankrupting-your-fri…
https://forum.godotengine.org/t/share-wars-have-fun-bankrupting-your-fri…
Share Wars - Have fun bankrupting your friends!
As I was figuring out a good way to properly shut down the game, I found it hard to visualize the code flow. In what order does things happen? And who is responsible for what? I deliberately chose…
forum.godotengine.org
January 27, 2025 at 7:51 AM
While trying to make sense of my own GDScript code, I used a sequence diagram to visualize the code flow. This turned out to be a very simple and very useful tool for getting a birds eye view of my code. @mandarin.bsky.social
https://forum.godotengine.org/t/share-wars-have-fun-bankrupting-your-fri…
https://forum.godotengine.org/t/share-wars-have-fun-bankrupting-your-fri…
What a fun experience Ballionaire is! The visuals, animations, audio, gameplay, it's so well made. Congrats! Great to see that it's made with Godot #madewithgodot store.steampowered.com/app/2667120/...
Ballionaire on Steam
BALLIONAIRE is a fast-paced, kinetic roguelike where strategy meets physics to create outrageous wealth! Find and exploit game-breaking synergies as you theorycraft your way to victory. Welcome to the...
store.steampowered.com
January 15, 2025 at 9:37 AM
What a fun experience Ballionaire is! The visuals, animations, audio, gameplay, it's so well made. Congrats! Great to see that it's made with Godot #madewithgodot store.steampowered.com/app/2667120/...
That was smart! 👏
Godot's matrix system makes the flattening effect simple to achieve, for those who are wondering. No render textures or nested nodes required - just one line of code:
docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/cl...
docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/cl...
January 13, 2025 at 7:06 PM
That was smart! 👏
Check out Dig Dig Boom! It’s a different kind of mining game.
This awesome artwork was made by the talented @powersimon.bsky.social at @rubarb.bsky.social! I'm now using it on the Steam page of my #indiegame game Dig Dig Boom! ⛏️ store.steampowered.com/app/2026040/...
#gameart #digitalart #art #illustration #gamedev #DigDigBoom
#gameart #digitalart #art #illustration #gamedev #DigDigBoom
January 12, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Check out Dig Dig Boom! It’s a different kind of mining game.
The Bustling World looks amazing! Would like to try it. I get exhausted thinking about how many hours it must have taken to make all those assets. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY0u...
The Bustling World - Official Trailer #2
YouTube video by IGN
www.youtube.com
January 8, 2025 at 10:39 AM
The Bustling World looks amazing! Would like to try it. I get exhausted thinking about how many hours it must have taken to make all those assets. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY0u...
Reposted by Thomas Viktil
Daily Godot Tip #32: You can use @ icon to assign a custom icon to a node instead of it having the default icon.
You will need to close and then reopen the node to see the changes and icon must be put before the class declaration
#godot #gamedev #godottips
You will need to close and then reopen the node to see the changes and icon must be put before the class declaration
#godot #gamedev #godottips
January 3, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Daily Godot Tip #32: You can use @ icon to assign a custom icon to a node instead of it having the default icon.
You will need to close and then reopen the node to see the changes and icon must be put before the class declaration
#godot #gamedev #godottips
You will need to close and then reopen the node to see the changes and icon must be put before the class declaration
#godot #gamedev #godottips
Reposted by Thomas Viktil
Does your #godot game startup slowly? Do you use NoiseTexture2D by chance as textures in some materials?
Check this thread to find out how you can unknowingly ruin your game startup time + level load times either instantly,
or slowly over time by using unbaked noise textures. 🧵
#techart #Gamedev
Check this thread to find out how you can unknowingly ruin your game startup time + level load times either instantly,
or slowly over time by using unbaked noise textures. 🧵
#techart #Gamedev
December 12, 2024 at 4:35 AM
Reposted by Thomas Viktil
Reposted by Thomas Viktil
Why does 'finding the fun' fail so often as a design strategy?
#gamedesign
New designers are told to prototype and 'find the fun'. But the naive version of this is a garbage tactic that mostly results in poorly thought out prototypes that are never going to converge on gameplay.
#gamedesign
New designers are told to prototype and 'find the fun'. But the naive version of this is a garbage tactic that mostly results in poorly thought out prototypes that are never going to converge on gameplay.
November 27, 2024 at 7:18 PM
Why does 'finding the fun' fail so often as a design strategy?
#gamedesign
New designers are told to prototype and 'find the fun'. But the naive version of this is a garbage tactic that mostly results in poorly thought out prototypes that are never going to converge on gameplay.
#gamedesign
New designers are told to prototype and 'find the fun'. But the naive version of this is a garbage tactic that mostly results in poorly thought out prototypes that are never going to converge on gameplay.
Reposted by Thomas Viktil
@carolecadwalla.bsky.social knew it earlier than most of us and paid a high price for pointing it out. She’s back now and not for a cheap ‚told you so‘.
But to warn us again. It’s late. But not too late. Just read this. 👇
But to warn us again. It’s late. But not too late. Just read this. 👇
A new era dawns. America’s tech bros now strut their stuff in the corridors of power | Carole Cadwalladr
The era that began with the Great Disruptor’s first term is over. Beware the emerging elite
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2024 at 11:10 PM
@carolecadwalla.bsky.social knew it earlier than most of us and paid a high price for pointing it out. She’s back now and not for a cheap ‚told you so‘.
But to warn us again. It’s late. But not too late. Just read this. 👇
But to warn us again. It’s late. But not too late. Just read this. 👇