Dustin Mierau
@mierau.me
Blippo+. Playmaker. Path. Napster.
MacPaint remake. Hotline remake.
Mac nerd. Maker of software.
I delete my account annually when I tire of social media. But for now.
MacPaint remake. Hotline remake.
Mac nerd. Maker of software.
I delete my account annually when I tire of social media. But for now.
Another invisible upgrade to MacPaint: pressure sensitive brush. I forgot this was included on mouse events in macOS. So now I can move a MacPaint window over to my iPad and draw on the canvas with my Apple Pencil. I use MacPaint's gradient patterns as a mask against the selected pattern. 😄
January 11, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Another invisible upgrade to MacPaint: pressure sensitive brush. I forgot this was included on mouse events in macOS. So now I can move a MacPaint window over to my iPad and draw on the canvas with my Apple Pencil. I use MacPaint's gradient patterns as a mask against the selected pattern. 😄
Added ⌘ and ⌥ modifiers to the brush tool. These modifiers existed on other tools to change drawing modes in the original MacPaint, but not the brush tool for some reason. So ⌘ adds just the black pixels from the selected pattern. ⌥ instead draws just the white pixels. Super useful!
January 11, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Added ⌘ and ⌥ modifiers to the brush tool. These modifiers existed on other tools to change drawing modes in the original MacPaint, but not the brush tool for some reason. So ⌘ adds just the black pixels from the selected pattern. ⌥ instead draws just the white pixels. Super useful!
Added your standard spacebar to pan the canvas shortcut to MacPaint. Love sprinkling these invisible quality-of-life improvements over the app.
January 11, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Added your standard spacebar to pan the canvas shortcut to MacPaint. Love sprinkling these invisible quality-of-life improvements over the app.
I nabbed macpaint.app
Is this the most niche thing I've ever worked on?
Absolutely. But you've gotta have your hobbies, right? 😉
Is this the most niche thing I've ever worked on?
Absolutely. But you've gotta have your hobbies, right? 😉
January 11, 2026 at 1:41 AM
I nabbed macpaint.app
Is this the most niche thing I've ever worked on?
Absolutely. But you've gotta have your hobbies, right? 😉
Is this the most niche thing I've ever worked on?
Absolutely. But you've gotta have your hobbies, right? 😉
Found a great tool that works on Mac OS 7.5 that rasterizes outline fonts and saves them as TrueType bitmap fonts that I can then load into MacPaint remake. So I now have Chicago in more than 12pt. Playing with a bitmap version of Apple Garamond as well.
January 11, 2026 at 1:02 AM
Found a great tool that works on Mac OS 7.5 that rasterizes outline fonts and saves them as TrueType bitmap fonts that I can then load into MacPaint remake. So I now have Chicago in more than 12pt. Playing with a bitmap version of Apple Garamond as well.
Small upgrade this evening: like shape tools in the original MacPaint, you could hold ⌘ while drawing a shape to paint its contents overlaid (i.e. only paint black pixels from the selected pattern onto the canvas). I added this functionality to the paint brush tool as well. Great for shading!
January 10, 2026 at 3:54 AM
Small upgrade this evening: like shape tools in the original MacPaint, you could hold ⌘ while drawing a shape to paint its contents overlaid (i.e. only paint black pixels from the selected pattern onto the canvas). I added this functionality to the paint brush tool as well. Great for shading!
I have text selection in the MacPaint remake mostly working. I know the original did not have this, but these are the sorts of quality-of-life improvements we can make without changing the classic feel of the app. 🙂
That said, I need to figure out how I'm going to handle italicized selection. 🙃
That said, I need to figure out how I'm going to handle italicized selection. 🙃
January 10, 2026 at 12:08 AM
I have text selection in the MacPaint remake mostly working. I know the original did not have this, but these are the sorts of quality-of-life improvements we can make without changing the classic feel of the app. 🙂
That said, I need to figure out how I'm going to handle italicized selection. 🙃
That said, I need to figure out how I'm going to handle italicized selection. 🙃
Very cool. Impressive speeds.
I'm making a game engine based on dynamic signed distance fields (SDFs)
YouTube video by Mike Turitzin
youtu.be
January 9, 2026 at 10:54 PM
Very cool. Impressive speeds.
Reposted by Dustin Mierau
Baby Steps, Blippo+, and Titanium Court received the most nominations.
The winners will be revealed on March 11, 2026 at the IGF Awards Ceremony at @officialgdc.bsky.social.
We'll be there in person to cheer on all the nominees—but you can watch at home on twitch.tv/GDC
The winners will be revealed on March 11, 2026 at the IGF Awards Ceremony at @officialgdc.bsky.social.
We'll be there in person to cheer on all the nominees—but you can watch at home on twitch.tv/GDC
January 9, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Baby Steps, Blippo+, and Titanium Court received the most nominations.
The winners will be revealed on March 11, 2026 at the IGF Awards Ceremony at @officialgdc.bsky.social.
We'll be there in person to cheer on all the nominees—but you can watch at home on twitch.tv/GDC
The winners will be revealed on March 11, 2026 at the IGF Awards Ceremony at @officialgdc.bsky.social.
We'll be there in person to cheer on all the nominees—but you can watch at home on twitch.tv/GDC
Reposted by Dustin Mierau
OH MY GOB!
Blippo+ has been nominated for four awards for the 28th annual Independent Games Festival!
🏆 Seumas McNally Grand Prize
🏆 Nuovo Award
🏆 Excellence in Visual Art
🏆 Excellence in Audio
🏅Honorable Mention: Excellence in Narrative
See you @officialgdc.bsky.social!
Blippo+ has been nominated for four awards for the 28th annual Independent Games Festival!
🏆 Seumas McNally Grand Prize
🏆 Nuovo Award
🏆 Excellence in Visual Art
🏆 Excellence in Audio
🏅Honorable Mention: Excellence in Narrative
See you @officialgdc.bsky.social!
January 9, 2026 at 6:18 PM
OH MY GOB!
Blippo+ has been nominated for four awards for the 28th annual Independent Games Festival!
🏆 Seumas McNally Grand Prize
🏆 Nuovo Award
🏆 Excellence in Visual Art
🏆 Excellence in Audio
🏅Honorable Mention: Excellence in Narrative
See you @officialgdc.bsky.social!
Blippo+ has been nominated for four awards for the 28th annual Independent Games Festival!
🏆 Seumas McNally Grand Prize
🏆 Nuovo Award
🏆 Excellence in Visual Art
🏆 Excellence in Audio
🏅Honorable Mention: Excellence in Narrative
See you @officialgdc.bsky.social!
It was weird being off social media during the Blippo+ release but in a way it was very healthy.
The fan mail we’ve received (yes, physical real letters) from viewers is from another level, or planet I should say. Truly. 🙂
Absolutely lovely and meaningful to be part of a project that resonates.
The fan mail we’ve received (yes, physical real letters) from viewers is from another level, or planet I should say. Truly. 🙂
Absolutely lovely and meaningful to be part of a project that resonates.
January 9, 2026 at 5:49 PM
It was weird being off social media during the Blippo+ release but in a way it was very healthy.
The fan mail we’ve received (yes, physical real letters) from viewers is from another level, or planet I should say. Truly. 🙂
Absolutely lovely and meaningful to be part of a project that resonates.
The fan mail we’ve received (yes, physical real letters) from viewers is from another level, or planet I should say. Truly. 🙂
Absolutely lovely and meaningful to be part of a project that resonates.
Amazing. Blippo+ being nominated for the IGF grand prize this year (and 3 other IGF awards!!).
❤️🤞
❤️🤞
Finally, the Seumas McNally Grand Prize nominees are:
Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, & Bennett Foddy's Baby Steps
Analgesic Productions's Angeline Era
YACHT, Telefantasy Studios, Noble Robot's Blippo+
Santa Ragione's HORSES
AP Thompson's Titanium Court
Three Bees' Perfect Tides: Station to Station
Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, & Bennett Foddy's Baby Steps
Analgesic Productions's Angeline Era
YACHT, Telefantasy Studios, Noble Robot's Blippo+
Santa Ragione's HORSES
AP Thompson's Titanium Court
Three Bees' Perfect Tides: Station to Station
January 9, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Amazing. Blippo+ being nominated for the IGF grand prize this year (and 3 other IGF awards!!).
❤️🤞
❤️🤞
MacPaint had this top-left preview overlay that displayed the pixels of the area you were zoomed in on at 100%. Because this version of MacPaint is resizable, I of course had to make this preview resize too and show exactly what you were seeing (snapped to pixel boundaries). 😄
January 9, 2026 at 5:12 AM
MacPaint had this top-left preview overlay that displayed the pixels of the area you were zoomed in on at 100%. Because this version of MacPaint is resizable, I of course had to make this preview resize too and show exactly what you were seeing (snapped to pixel boundaries). 😄
I love how zen MacPaint is fullscreen.
January 9, 2026 at 4:44 AM
I love how zen MacPaint is fullscreen.
Doesn't get old: copying a document created in MacPaint on macOS 26 over to System 6 and seeing it open perfectly.
January 8, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Doesn't get old: copying a document created in MacPaint on macOS 26 over to System 6 and seeing it open perfectly.
MacPaint remake will appear on stage at CES 2027. We're going to synergize the AI industry with our initial offering of MacPaint NFTs and the introduction of MacPaint Coin.
January 8, 2026 at 6:35 PM
MacPaint remake will appear on stage at CES 2027. We're going to synergize the AI industry with our initial offering of MacPaint NFTs and the introduction of MacPaint Coin.
A hybrid approach and I kind of like it... I mean, relatively speaking in this liquid glass world. 🤷♂️
January 8, 2026 at 5:18 PM
A hybrid approach and I kind of like it... I mean, relatively speaking in this liquid glass world. 🤷♂️
Fun fact I never thought about until I had to implement it: marching ants selection animation is actually a diagonal line pattern drawn on the 1px outline. The animation is just moving the pattern offset at 60fps. Kind of like a barber pole. A neat trick that worked so well we still use it today.
January 8, 2026 at 5:18 AM
Fun fact I never thought about until I had to implement it: marching ants selection animation is actually a diagonal line pattern drawn on the 1px outline. The animation is just moving the pattern offset at 60fps. Kind of like a barber pole. A neat trick that worked so well we still use it today.
The feature I was most terrified to implement in MacPaint was the lasso tool. I used an LLM to help me understand the original MacPaint's assembly code. 😄
This is because the tool doesn't just select the area you outlined nor select just black pixels. It actually collapses on the outlined shapes.
This is because the tool doesn't just select the area you outlined nor select just black pixels. It actually collapses on the outlined shapes.
January 8, 2026 at 5:05 AM
The feature I was most terrified to implement in MacPaint was the lasso tool. I used an LLM to help me understand the original MacPaint's assembly code. 😄
This is because the tool doesn't just select the area you outlined nor select just black pixels. It actually collapses on the outlined shapes.
This is because the tool doesn't just select the area you outlined nor select just black pixels. It actually collapses on the outlined shapes.
As I excavate 40 year old Mac screen fonts from the depths of system floppy disk images and forgotten resource forks, I stop to appreciate just how amazing these fonts were at a mere 9pt.
Each one clearly and cleanly expresses its unique character at even the smallest sizes.
Each one clearly and cleanly expresses its unique character at even the smallest sizes.
January 8, 2026 at 3:31 AM
As I excavate 40 year old Mac screen fonts from the depths of system floppy disk images and forgotten resource forks, I stop to appreciate just how amazing these fonts were at a mere 9pt.
Each one clearly and cleanly expresses its unique character at even the smallest sizes.
Each one clearly and cleanly expresses its unique character at even the smallest sizes.
The original Macintosh MacPaint guide book is 98% accurate still for the remake. So I can just point people to this book for help. 😄
archive.org/details/maci...
archive.org/details/maci...
Macintosh Mac Paint : Apple Computer, Inc : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
MacintoshMacPaintApple Computer, Inc. 1983How to Use This BookLearnign MacPaintUsing MacPaint Lines and patterns Text Using the paintbrush Editing...
archive.org
January 7, 2026 at 7:22 PM
The original Macintosh MacPaint guide book is 98% accurate still for the remake. So I can just point people to this book for help. 😄
archive.org/details/maci...
archive.org/details/maci...
MacPaint will support multiple documents and tabbed windows as you'd expect. :)
January 7, 2026 at 5:50 PM
MacPaint will support multiple documents and tabbed windows as you'd expect. :)
Implemented Brush Mirrors in MacPaint remake. Since the original MacPaint window wasn't resizable, I wonder if I should make the mirrors act on the visible canvas area vs the entire canvas. It's a neat tool.
January 7, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Implemented Brush Mirrors in MacPaint remake. Since the original MacPaint window wasn't resizable, I wonder if I should make the mirrors act on the visible canvas area vs the entire canvas. It's a neat tool.
I remember reading in an interview that Bill Atkinson had built this feature for the original MacPaint that allowed you to edit text you had placed even after you closed the document.
He removed the feature because he didn’t want customers to get confused with overlap between MacPaint and MacWrite.
He removed the feature because he didn’t want customers to get confused with overlap between MacPaint and MacWrite.
January 7, 2026 at 3:22 AM
I remember reading in an interview that Bill Atkinson had built this feature for the original MacPaint that allowed you to edit text you had placed even after you closed the document.
He removed the feature because he didn’t want customers to get confused with overlap between MacPaint and MacWrite.
He removed the feature because he didn’t want customers to get confused with overlap between MacPaint and MacWrite.