Martin Christopher

https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@yora

Gardener from Germany with a background in Cultural Studies and interest in Sword & Sorcery, Space Opera, Cyberpunk, Neo-Noir, RPGs, Metal, and Synthwave.
I started working on my own videogame in 2024, even though I have basically no prior experience with videogame development.

Bumblebee Games: https://bumblebeegames.eu

Public Key

npub1cx478vqw9t72xp79ve3xuq8tjg207u8wdshh8s45s24h9nxye8xqewey5k

NIP-05 Address

yora_at_mastodon.gamedev.place@momostr.pink

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nprofile1qqsvr2lrkq8z4l9rqlzkvcnwqr4ey98lwrhxctmnc26g92mjenzvnnqzvsm3x

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npub1cx478vqw9t72xp79ve3xuq8tjg207u8wdshh8s45s24h9nxye8xqewey5k

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Last Notes

2025-04-13 19:21:10

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The next sensible project for the world would be to make the advances of modern engineering and medicine available to everyone.
The technologies are here, most of the resources are here. All we need is to collect the waste money that is stagnating in hyper-rich people's wallets.
But there is no point in any of that for the people who define their entire identity around having more than anyone else.
And you can't really tell stories about everyone living like middle-class Europeans.

2024-08-12 18:20:13

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Yeah, I remember back in the day when everyone complained about stupid EU regulations. You don't hear that that often anymore.
In the recent EU parliament elections, one hyper-capitalist German party had a poster "Europe thrives on freedom, not on regulations."
Regulations are the basis of our freedoms.

2024-07-04 20:51:12

I always found it strange when artists talk about their work being all about expressing their own personal experiences and struggles. Sounds like their works would have to be really boring, and I don't have any emotional baggage that I'd need to unload on other people either.
But recently I noticed that I am putting a lot of me into the things I am working on, simply by what I consider challenges that make interesting stories, and how characters should be handling them.
#gamedev #hobbydev

2024-07-04 10:28:42

It's been 22 years, but it just occurred to me that one could have made a great custom human campaign for Warcraft 3, about Jaina travelling to Kalimdor.
Starting when she leaves at Stratholme and ending in the cave at Stonetalon Peak. We really don't get to see her for the 16 levels between those.
And there surely must have been great adventures to be had. From gathering a force of followers, getting out of Lordaeron, and landing at Theramore.
#Warcraft #Warcraft3 #retrogaming

2024-06-30 18:44:39

Two weeks I've now been waiting to get internet installed in my new place (with no clue how much longer it will take).
And I found that the thing I miss the most are Warlockcracy, Mandalore Gaming, and Seth Tzenchach(?) videos.
I've clearly turned into a retro gamer.

2024-06-30 18:07:16

Jedi Knight is a cute game.
I would not say it's a good game.
The attempt at creating a city in level 5 is adorable, but it really makes you appreciate what a massive deal Half-Life was for level design.
And what's up with old Star Wars game wanting you to fight swarms of probe droids, which for some unfathomable reason are broadcasting their observation data over speakers to announce their presence? 😂
#StarWars #retrogaming

2024-06-29 19:16:05

Having completed the fourth level of Jedi Knight, I have made a terrible discovery.
The lightsaber sucks!
It didn't bother me that all the other weapons handle badly, because in Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy, you'll be using the lightsaber 95% of the time anyway.
But this thing is terrible. Maybe it gets better with increasing your force powers, but the fourth level was a save scumming slog.
#retrogaming

2024-06-28 12:02:47

This is really weird.
When I really got into PC games 25 years ago, there were a lot of games that were very highly praised and I always wanted to play them.
But I never did.
And now I do.
About 15 years ago, I did get around to finally play Thief past the third level and try out StarCraft. And they became some of my favorite games.
Now I am playing Fallout, Jagged Alliance 2, and Jedi Knight. And they are just as much of a blast now as I thought they would 25 years ago.
#retrogaming

2024-06-26 14:42:39

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Well, this was unexpectedly quick to solve.
Because when you only indicate the height of the original resolution but not the width, it assumes a 16:9 image. Which is clearly spelled out in the documentation.
A #retrogaming #linuxgaming tool with a functional documentation?!
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/112/683/446/905/607/292/original/7733d171676d0704.webp

2024-06-26 14:35:19

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Ripping the iso files of my old disks is doing the trick. (As would just installing from disk, but my computer doesn't have an internal drive.) This installation plays well with Gamescope.
Now I only have to figure out how to get two black bars on both sides of the screen instead of one big black bar on the right.
And then I finally have the computer doing what it should have been doing by default from the start!!!

2024-06-26 14:03:16

Now trying to figure out how to create an iso-file in Fedora, with 100% of the search results being about creating an iso-file of your OS installation...
#linux

2024-06-26 12:16:45

Here we go again.
Pretty much exactly 25 years ago, Baldur's Gate was my first encounter with RPGs and my introduction to fantasy beyond fairy tales. It's second only to watching Star Wars in how much it defined my interests and creative life.
Getting into #crpg #gamedev now, it seems a great time to replay this one again and study its gameplay and visual design to take cues for my own game.
#hobbydev #retrogaming #baldursgate
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/112/682/850/915/826/064/original/dd7f6af8f148ee00.png
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/112/682/851/626/614/632/original/a459869f77b75f6e.png

2024-06-26 11:55:33

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This does exactly what I needed.
Just downloaded the appimage file, put it into the Baldur's Gate installation directory, and executing the appimage starts the game in a Window that can be maximized and turned to fullscreen.
The issue with gamescope seems to be all about the way GOG makes the game run without disks in a drive. The BGMain.exe files don't execute by themselves on a linux system. Which is why there's no problem with StarCraft.
#retrogaming #linuxgaming #baldursgate

2024-06-26 08:49:19

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Ah, interesting. The issue seems to have nothing to do with Gamescope in the first place.
The exe file that I am trying to launch through gamescope doesn't run by starting it directly from the file manager either.
Somehow the launcher icons that the GOG installer created are starting the game differently than just executing the exe.

2024-06-26 08:20:20

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Looking at the output for Gamescope in terminal for both Baldur's Gate and StarCraft does not show any lines in the BG output that the SC output doesn't.
BG just shuts down at a point where the SC output still continues for a while until the game runs.
Not helpful at all. 😐
#linuxgaming #retrogaming #gamescope

2024-06-26 08:00:57

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Adding --force-grab-cursor to the Gamescope command fixed the mouse issue in StarCraft.
#linuxgaming #retrogaming #gamescope

2024-06-26 07:45:54

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Baldur's Gate refuses to launch, and StarCraft has the mouse not working, but it looks like a start in the right direction. 🙃

2024-06-26 06:48:10

Since I upgraded to Fedora 40 with KDE and Plasma 6.0.5, old games with a fixed resolution no longer get scaled up to fill up the whole screen when in full screen.
And are of course just as tiny in windowed mode. Which makes them effectively unplayable.
Does anyone know why this happens and what I can do to fix this?
What would I even have to search for to start looking for a solution?
#linuxhelp #linuxgaming #retrogaming #Plasma6 #Fedora40
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/112/681/572/305/740/671/original/10030d2990d0fc17.png

2024-06-21 12:49:26

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Hosting forums is really easy and cheap, though.

2024-06-15 19:12:00

Just heard about Forever Winter for the first time.
And this immediately sounds like the most awesome concept for a game I've heard in probably a decade.
Might not turn out to be a fun game, but the concept just totally kicks ass! This is exactly what big budget shareholder pleasing can't give us.
#foreverwinter #indiedev

2024-06-10 19:53:37

New insane ADHD plan:
At the end of next week is the start of my summer break in my awesome new home. I'll be using that opportunity to start another attempt at doing a #BaldursGate, Baldur's Gate II, and Throne of Bhaal complete run with one character.
I completed BG at least 10 times in the last 24 years, but BG2 only 3 or 4 times. And I actually managed to make it all the way to ToB only once back in 2001 when it came out.
I probably forgot most of it by now. Nice! 🤩 👍
#retrogaming

2024-06-10 16:16:34

Trying to install Wacraft 3 on Linux using iso-files of my disks (because my computer doesn't have a DVD drive). And for some reason the installer will start just fine from the mounted iso and ask for my key, but can't actually find the disk in the drive to install the game.
Never had that problem with Warcraft 3 on Fedora before.
Anyone having suggestions how to fix this?
#linuxgaming #linux #fedora40 #retrogaming

2024-06-09 19:33:26

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The idea smells a bit like Halo Reach.
But it worked really well in Halo Reach.

2024-06-08 17:12:37

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Which makes me once again realize how amazing 1998 was for PC games.
This presentation and storytelling for an RTS was considered the gold standard, and then you get something like Mengsk, Carrigan, and Zeratul crash through the door like nobody's business.
#retrogaming

2024-06-08 17:01:43

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First I was thinking "Man, #Warcraft 2 can't be almost 30 years old!"
But having now played the first three Orc missions, it does very much feel like a 30 year old game.
Unit quote from Stacraft: "This is not just Warcraft in Space! It's much more sophisticated!"
And it really is.

2024-06-08 15:57:16

Even being a big fan of Warcraft 3 since it came out, I only played Starcraft for the first time some 10 years after its release, and it became one of my favorite games.
Now I'm finally going to try out #Warcraft 2, after 29 years.
#retrogaming

2024-06-04 19:51:42

I wanted to give Neverwinter Nights 2 shit for looking ugly as sin, even for a 2006 game.
This came out the same year as Oblivion, Twilight Princess, Gothic 3, and Final Fantasy 12...?
Yeah, okay. That checks out.
Graphics really made giant leaps, with Mirror's Edge and Dead Space coming out two years later.
#retrogaming #nwn2
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/112/560/057/436/067/429/original/1106a830dc347ded.png

2024-06-04 06:19:21

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I thought Recall had already been recalled?

2024-05-28 18:44:52

People keep talking how Steam sales are bankrupting them.
Meanwhile, I'm rebuilding my entire games library from the 90s on GOG, because the GOG versions run with little trouble on modern computers, and you can literally get a dozen of them for the price of a new release.
There were a lot of games in the late 90s that I always found very compelling but bounced off because I was just too bad at them.
Now I feel like catching up to all the greatness I missed.
#retrogaming

2024-05-25 13:24:21

Learning more about Analog Horror, it seems like the same principle as low-fidelity game design.
Don't worry about the quality of the visuals or sound, reuse assets, take shortcuts any time it's convenient. Just focus on making it a compelling story and engaging appearance, and don't let your creativity bogged down by polish that would take a lot of time and money.
#gamedev #hobbydev

2024-05-25 06:20:25

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Two people have been using #hobbydev in the last half year already.
We can make this an established term just by using it.
#gamedev

2024-05-25 06:10:11

Do we have a term for hobby #gamedev?
I'd like to follow more people who make games just for fun, and talk about the fun of making games.

2024-05-19 10:07:47

New Site Post: Project Hornet
https://bumblebeegames.eu/project-hornet.html
As concept work on my first videogame is progressing, it's becoming increasingly clear to me that I would much rather create shorter CRPGs with shorter development times, that take place in various different settings, rather than one big game tied to one story in one place.
Project Hornet is my plan to create the bare bones of a CRPG, that will be easily reusable for a number of different games.
#gamedev #bumblebeegames #kaendor