Skyboy Games

Making New Games for Old Game Systems:
https://skyboygames.com/static/Skyboy_Landing.html

Owned and operated by Robbie (she/they), Assoc. Prof. of Game Design at GMU: @nobunagaota

#gamedev #nesdev

Public Key

npub1feushcxw3dncdwlnmwvctwn6p82duwfetv75v9zpt8ak6a3rvqmq4rx370

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsyu7gtur8gkeuxh0eahxv9hfaqn4x78yu4k02xz3q4n7mdwc3kqdspz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerfw36x7tnsw43qe2u484

Publishing to

relay.ditto.pub

Author Public Key

npub1feushcxw3dncdwlnmwvctwn6p82duwfetv75v9zpt8ak6a3rvqmq4rx370

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-06-17 17:20:47 GMT

- reply

@nprofile…valu It's largely due to the genre of game. My current project is a turn-based JRPG, so real-time constraints are light, but there's a premium on volume. A more action-based title would typically have opposite concerns.

2026-06-14 13:24:01 GMT

Next time, I swear I'll work on a NES game that is bound by CPU performance instead of ROM size.
#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #jrpg #indieretro

2026-04-24 01:57:08 GMT

- reply

@nprofile…3q9y It's taxation without representation.

2026-04-23 22:18:12 GMT

Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting when I clicked on this video.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/116/456/336/471/785/914/original/9d5b87cf7dce2da0.png

2026-04-13 23:39:03 GMT

I'm a game dev who sells homemade, artisanal NES cartridges on Etsy.
How's that for branding?
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/116/400/032/414/425/621/original/62de8a7d7aedc980.webp
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/116/400/032/396/862/586/original/f5fcd355561c5a02.webp

2026-03-22 13:24:03 GMT

Fire And Rescue is an indie NES game where you put out fires and rescue people. Playable with 1 or 2 players.
You can get the game digitally at https://skyboygames.itch.io/fire-and-rescue or physically from https://www.etsy.com/shop/SkyboyGames or https://stoneagegamer.com/fire-and-rescue-nes.html.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/116/273/043/333/129/199/original/1259157b39c844d8.mp4

2026-03-06 21:44:03 GMT

My game production super power is having a compiler that literally stops working if I try to add too many features to my game.
Here is build output for Even Goblins Fall In Love that tells me I have an estimated 958 bytes of space left in PRG ROM.
#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/116/184/412/419/533/162/original/64f7c6fe31a16d5b.png

2026-01-03 17:19:29 GMT

Bummed out by the prospect of unfettered AI investment driving up the cost of modern gaming tech?
How about playing some #indieRetro / #homebrew NES games?
Many of our games literally run on 40 year-old hardware:
https://skyboygames.itch.io/

2025-11-13 07:12:08 GMT

- reply

@nprofile…e330 Yeesh! Fingers crossed!
My new machine is a Darter Pro, btw.

2025-11-12 22:13:14 GMT

I had to get a new laptop to replace my old travel computer with the failing battery.
My new notebook from @nprofile…ud6j just arrived. I'm going to see just how much of my #indienes #gamedev I can do on a purely Linux machine.
That's how much I don't want to "upgrade" to Windows 11.

2025-11-07 15:41:10 GMT

I showed Even Goblins Fall In Love, my 8-bit NES JRPG, at Hashtag Gaming Arena last Sunday.
It was a good time!
#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/509/169/324/432/413/original/2253cf7f45da2fac.jpg
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/509/169/368/898/485/original/785bbecaeb00cbb6.jpg

2025-10-19 20:26:52 GMT

- reply

@nprofile…9vka *shakes head sadly*
Another item in the "This is why we can't have nice things" column.

2025-08-13 13:13:42 GMT

- reply

@nprofile…gwm4 Pretty much. Like a difficulty setting for time management.

2025-08-12 20:09:51 GMT

What if...
I let the player choose how grindy leveling will be in Even Goblins Fall In Love, my work-in-progress NES JRPG.
#gamedev #nesdev #nes #jrpg

2025-07-05 18:10:31 GMT

I updated the shading in dungeon and town tiles to a dithering pattern instead of a solid black color. It should add some more subtlety to the shading. Especially on a CRT.
#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro #screenshotsaturday
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/801/968/404/798/014/original/1f2addd927d39ed2.mp4

2025-06-28 16:02:10 GMT

Sure, I'm borrowing from a Dragon Quest cliche by having enemies be stronger across bridges, but I think I've earned it by building my game to the same board spec (CNROM) as the original Dragon Quest.
#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro #screenshotsaturday
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/761/827/590/037/073/original/ffbce8eb04c70e98.mp4

2025-05-17 19:45:10 GMT

I'm working on making sure that field items in my indie NES JRPG, Even Goblins Fall In Love, also have some use in battle.
For example, the keys used to unlock enchanted doors can also instantly defeat Mimics by locking them shut.
#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #nesdev #indieretro
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/524/887/437/438/270/original/7bac1af48ecddc21.mp4

2024-12-19 14:40:17 GMT

The hot new feature for Even Goblins Fall In Love is:
Lowercase Letters!
You may take these for granted, but in #nesdev, they come at a non-trivial resource cost.
#indienes #gamedev #homebrew #retrogame #nes #indieretro
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/113/680/004/445/819/612/original/246bbff28fc1471e.png

2023-09-01 14:15:06 GMT

- reply

@npub1aw2…8vv5 I never realized it before, but I may need a CW for non-POW2 texture sizes.
My heart rate is actually rising.

2023-08-29 13:30:41 GMT

- reply

@npub1aw2…8vv5 "I'm so sorry. We probably didn't test this branch of code thouroughly enough to catch the edge case you are likely encountering. We will try to better in the future. In the meantime, have a cookie on us."

2023-08-29 13:27:42 GMT

- reply

@npub1aw2…8vv5 My pet peeve is that the phrase "Hold on" feels presumptive and rude.
The app is wasting MY time. It should be more apologetic.