Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social (@BenDroste) header
Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social (@BenDroste) profile picture

Game Designer, 3D Artist, and Jugger. Director and Lead Developer at @100StonesGames working on Memory's Reach.

Melbourne, Australia
Joined February 2010
Photo by Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social (@BenDroste)Photo by Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social (@BenDroste)Photo by Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social (@BenDroste)Photo by Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social (@BenDroste)Photo by Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social (@BenDroste)Photo by Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social (@BenDroste)Photo by Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social (@BenDroste)Photo by Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social (@BenDroste)Photo by Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social (@BenDroste)Photo by Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social (@BenDroste)
100 Stones now has an account over at the other place. (direct link in reply). I will continue to post here for some time yet, but will begin cross posting other there as well until Twitter finally implodes once and for all.
1
1
5
150
The Memory's Reach demo has been updated to the latest version shown at PAX Aus this year. Featuring graphical improvements, new hidden pickups, and other changes. Check it out on Steam! (link in reply)
1
7
1
18
956
Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social retweeted
A NEW WRITER APPEARS @Valkian24 killed it with his first article - a recap of the indies that appeared at @PAXAus he felt everyone should check out. Go show the article some love <3 mobpopculture.com/post/returโ€ฆ
7
2
19
2,491
Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social retweeted
One thing that blew my mind is how Metroid Prime's re-master credits have over 300 people and take six times as long as the original credits that only had 60 people. Even a re-master has giant teams from around the world. That's the cost of asset production in games now.
One of the most important issues in the video game industry right now? Team sizes. Countless veteran game developers, sick of teams swelling into the hundreds or thousands, are going smaller. It's *the* story to watch. My latest feature: bloomberg.com/news/articles/โ€ฆ
3
10
90
8,728
Video interview with @tuesdayreviewau from PAX. I had a lot of fun doing this and showing them the new area. Check it out! (And try to spot the parts of the footage where I'm using cheats to skip them ahead to the end of the level ๐Ÿ˜†)
New Video! In this video we catch up with @100Stonesgames to discuss upcoming games "Memory's Reach" and get the chance to play a new level and discuss the changes since last year's level and more! watch it here: youtu.be/h1dp4vl9baQ #paxaus #pax #gaming #videogames
1
4
178
PAX third and final day is underway! Come check out Memory's Reach in the indie section ๐Ÿ˜ ๐Ÿ›ธ #pax #paxaus #paxaus2024 #indiegames
3
3
4
302
24 hours until #PAXAus 2024! Super excited to show off what I've been working on over the past year. Come check out our booth at the show ๐Ÿช
1
7
109
Setup and ready to go for PAX Aus tomorrow! And I think it looks pretty good with my fancy new green table cloth ๐Ÿ˜„ #pax #paxaus2024
2
1
15
282
Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social retweeted
The #AGDAs24 Winner For Excellence in Sound Design isโ€ฆ Cozy Caravan by 5 Lives Studios
8
7
51
4,711
Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social retweeted
TL;DR: Both low frame rates AND high frame rates are an accessibility feature. One person lost headaches at 120fps->24fps (decrease), a different person lost headaches when 120fps->480fps (increase) It is very human dependent. For some humans, we found a motion-sickness uncanny valley at 48-120fps. Less motion sickness at 24fps and at 480fps. This is because intermediate frame rates (~120fps) can be smooth but still motionblurry (1/120sec) on modern sample and hold displays. Raising frame rate to 480fps 480Hz fixed motion sickness for someone tested; But converse is true; I also helped an office worker fix motion sickness by configuring his display to 24Hz. Many cannot use VR because of the flicker even for Comfortable rated apps. On the Quest headsets, they use 0.3ms pulsewidths. The 0.3ms MPRT requires 1000/0.3 = 3333fps 3333Hz for same persistence without flicker.
Last night, Trista was playing a third person 3D platformer game (Pumpkin Jack) and started to feel a little sick. I suggested cutting the max frame rate from 120 to 60 in settings, and that made it better. Simulator sickness tends to come from high quality rendering of smooth angle changes that you arenโ€™t directly controlling. Skillfully playing an FPS yourself has your brain expecting every angle change, but a third person camera that is only loosely coupled to your actions can be a problem. Closely watching other people play can also be a problem. We first saw this after I got glQuake running on SGI hardware, and SGI invited us to their Dallas headquarters to try it out on a high end Infinite Reality system. A 3DFX could run 640x480 30 fps, but this system could run 1280x1024 60 fps. The room was dark, and I was playing the game on a big monitor at a quality we had never seen. Michael Abrash, watching behind me, got so sick he had to go sit down.
7
18
1
212
20,906
48 hours to go to #PAXAus 2024! Who's hyped? I know I am! I've got a whole new environment and new puzzles for people to play this year. Swing by my booth in the indie section and take a look ๐Ÿ˜ƒ
1
2
5
237
Check out the new zone and puzzles for Memory's Reach at PAX Aus this year! Keep a lookout for my booth in the indie section. @paxaus #paxaus #pax #indiegames
1
2
10
206
Memory's Reach will be at PAX Aus this October - come see me at indie booth 29 and have a go at the new area! #pax #paxaus @PAXAus
1
4
148
Pretty happy with how this little sequence turned out, from placing the power cell through to entering the main section of the level ๐Ÿ˜ƒ #indiegame #adventuregame #puzzlegame #metroidvania
2
8
328
Secrets amongst the undergrowth ๐ŸŒฟ๐ŸŒฟ #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #indiedev #indiegames #puzzlegame #metroidvania
1
1
5
161
Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social retweeted
๐ŸŽฎโœจ Calling all content creators! Want to dive into the world of Aura of Worlds and show off your rogue-lite skills? ๐Ÿ”‘ Request your Nintendo Switch key now! Explore deadly mazes, battle giant bosses, and create epic content. ๐ŸŽฅ keymailer.co/g/games/2feb0cbโ€ฆ
10
1
11
742
Ben Droste ๐ŸŽฎ @bendroste.bsky.social retweeted
PSA: I used a script made by JaimePhan on GitHub to add ALL current 18,876 MegaScan assets to my account so I can keep the forever. Took me 5 minutes from start to finish, super easy, see my purchased account below. Share to let others know! Link: tinyurl.com/MegaScanAll
Replying to @UnrealSensei
They'll be free from Fab launch to the end of 2024. Get them for free in that timeframe and you'll own them forever, like free games on the Epic Games Store: xitter.cf/quixeltools/status/183โ€ฆ
27
287
24
2,084
191,799
It's not a true sci-fi lab until there are vats containing weird creatures. #gamedev #indiedev #indiegames
1
1
8
157
Today, working the exterior courtyard area that adjoins the room in Friday's tweet. The other half of the mini-tutorial that defines this area. Nearly complete, just ignore the placeholder blue triangle ๐Ÿ˜… #gamedev #indiedev
1
8
124
Today's work: Taking this room from greybox to final art. Very happy with the result ๐Ÿ˜Š #gamedev #indiedev
1
1
1
11
251