Project 01 Changed
After eight months of development, we're changing which game will become Syscall Studios' first release. On understanding scope, sunk cost, old projects, and choosing the right first game.
Placeholder Art Is Lying to You
Placeholder art is essential for prototyping. It's also great at making good mechanics feel terrible. What we're learning about game feel, polish, and fidelity.
The Game Looks Exactly the Same
A week of game development, and the game looks exactly like it did on Monday. On refactoring, invisible work, and why screenshots are a bad measure of progress.
Temporary Is a Dangerous Word
Nothing is more permanent than a temporary solution. How game prototypes quietly become architecture, and how we decide when technical debt is worth it.
Simple, But Not Simplistic
The game design principle behind our first game: make systems easy to understand without making them shallow, from Minecraft's Redstone to skill trees.
Building Before Announcing
Why we're keeping our first indie game, Project 01, under wraps, and what early game development looks like before there's anything to announce.
Hello, World
Meet Syscall Studios, a new indie game studio building its first game. Why we're starting a dev log, and what's with the [0x80] in our logo.