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Posts by Thomas Van Bouwel

An overview image of a courtyard in The House of Hikmah video game. Set in the Islamic Golden Age, the image is bright and sunny. There is a large olive tree in the middle of the image as the focal point. There is an 8-pointed star water feature around the tree.

An overview image of a courtyard in The House of Hikmah video game. Set in the Islamic Golden Age, the image is bright and sunny. There is a large olive tree in the middle of the image as the focal point. There is an 8-pointed star water feature around the tree.

An overview image of a hallway leading from the courtyard in The House of Hikmah video game. Set in the Islamic Golden Age, the image is bright and sunny. There is a large wooden door at the far end and plants on either side of the hallway. Light streams in from high windows, and an antique-looking lamp hangs from the ceiling.

An overview image of a hallway leading from the courtyard in The House of Hikmah video game. Set in the Islamic Golden Age, the image is bright and sunny. There is a large wooden door at the far end and plants on either side of the hallway. Light streams in from high windows, and an antique-looking lamp hangs from the ceiling.

An overview image of a courtyard in The House of Hikmah video game. Set in the Islamic Golden Age, the image is bright and sunny. There is a large olive tree in the middle of the image as the focal point. There is a young girl in teal and orange clothing standing on the middle-right side of the image, looking at the tree. She has a long brain wrapping around her body, and one arm has a metal bracer on it.

An overview image of a courtyard in The House of Hikmah video game. Set in the Islamic Golden Age, the image is bright and sunny. There is a large olive tree in the middle of the image as the focal point. There is a young girl in teal and orange clothing standing on the middle-right side of the image, looking at the tree. She has a long brain wrapping around her body, and one arm has a metal bracer on it.

An overview image of a bench in the courtyard in The House of Hikmah video game. Set in the Islamic Golden Age, the image is bright and sunny. There is a large olive tree in the middle of the image as the focal point. There is an 8-pointed star water feature around the tree and a red bench with an arch above it where the player often wakes up from dreams. A blue rug matching the water feature sits under the bench.

An overview image of a bench in the courtyard in The House of Hikmah video game. Set in the Islamic Golden Age, the image is bright and sunny. There is a large olive tree in the middle of the image as the focal point. There is an 8-pointed star water feature around the tree and a red bench with an arch above it where the player often wakes up from dreams. A blue rug matching the water feature sits under the bench.

The House of Hikmah is out on Steam, so I wanted to share some of the beautiful artwork the team did, starting with the Atrium.

Serving as the 'Hub' of the game, the Atrium is where Maya returns when she is going to visit a new Scholar's Realm.

#ArtDirection #TheHouseOfHikmah #VideoGames #Grief

6 days ago 228 86 3 1
Ghost Butterfly Catcher (Nordic Game Jam 2026)
Ghost Butterfly Catcher (Nordic Game Jam 2026) YouTube video by Thomas Van Bouwel

Finally back and recovered from #NordicGameJam last week which was such a good time!

I'm super proud of the work our team did on Ghost Butterfly Catcher, an asymmetric Coop ghost hunting VR game. I had such a good time making some spooky-cute music for it πŸ‘»πŸ¦‹

πŸ“Ή youtu.be/lZ2WaBbyisE?...

4 days ago 6 2 1 0
Edge in Person with Peter Molyneux and host JΓΆrg Tittel

Edge in Person with Peter Molyneux and host JΓΆrg Tittel

Today at 3pm
at New Game Plus
Exhibition White City

Peter Molyneux & Your Truly

Talking Live on Stage

Brought to you by @edgemagazine.bsky.social

Tickets and info (scroll down):

games.london/newgameplus/

@londongamesfest.bsky.social

5 days ago 17 3 0 1
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So you want a fillet in your 3D CAD program? Sure! here is a video on how to do it.

#AI

8 months ago 5 3 0 0

haha true, but it would still look awesome I think! Especially since this is depth API based, they would be properly composited in the virtual environment.

1 week ago 0 0 0 0

Been wondering about depth API + body segmentation as a way to 'solve' the lack of full body tracking in Laser Dance without the need for external trackers, but highly doubt that would yield consistent results, plus your body would only be able to collide with lasers when you look at it haha

1 week ago 1 0 1 0

oh interesting! I imagine for most play space and applications that would work just fine for sure. Could be neat to have a slightly transparent margin around the cylinder for added safety when playing in small spaces.

1 week ago 0 0 1 0
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I think I invented something. I believe this is possible on the Apple Vision Pro, but I haven't seen it done on the Meta Quest 3.

I've been calling it "Egocentric Masking," but that's a little self-centered. It's a way to see your actual body in VR, instead of a pair of floating ghost hands.

1 week ago 34 5 3 0

This looks great! I've been wondering if something like this would be possible.
Are you running a body segmentation algorithm with camera API to segment out just the body depth? How does it handle when other people are in the room?

1 week ago 0 0 1 0
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Going to @nordicgamejam.bsky.social has become a yearly tradition, and the 20th (!) edition this weekend was a blast like always!

Met some very talented people on-site, and ended up making a little asymmetric VR game about catching invisible ghost butterflies.

zirk.itch.io/ghost-butter...

1 week ago 6 0 0 0

Very Good Commentary

1 week ago 17 2 1 0
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Prove You're Human announced (by 1000xResist dev sunset visitor) www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WKL...

store.steampowered.com/app/4533950/...

1 week ago 364 68 6 16
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1 week ago 73 6 0 0
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Puzzling Places is on popular upcoming on Steam πŸ•ΊπŸ’ƒI am slightly anxious for the launch as usual! πŸ˜…Wish us luck and leave us a review β™₯️

1 week ago 13 3 1 0
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Skate Story will be screened next week at the Centre Pompidou in Paris as part of a three-part show among some incredible works.

Thanks to Alice Bucknell and the Hodler Prize for supporting my work. Feeling very grateful. I didn't know this was possible.

2 weeks ago 64 6 8 0
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Excited to see @laserdancegame.bsky.social got two nominations at Debug’s Indie Game Awards, for both Best VR Game and Best Accessibility!

2 weeks ago 11 1 0 0
The 'Award for Accessibility' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Adventure to Fate: Dungeons, an unplayable game?!, Laser Dance, Squeakross: Home Squeak Home, Trash Goblin, and Wednesdays

The 'Award for Accessibility' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Adventure to Fate: Dungeons, an unplayable game?!, Laser Dance, Squeakross: Home Squeak Home, Trash Goblin, and Wednesdays

The shortlisted nominees for 'Award for Accessibility' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

Adventure to Fate: Dungeons
an unplayable game?!
Laser Dance
Squeakross: Home Squeak Home
Trash Goblin
Wednesdays

Thank you to @gamemaker.io for making our ceremony possible. See you there 25 Apr 2026!

2 weeks ago 39 13 1 4
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Our games have a new, permanent lower price as of today! πŸ₯³

Live on both Steam and Meta, the budgets have been cut ✨

(not an april fools joke I promise)

store.steampowered.com/developer/Ne...

2 weeks ago 14 5 1 0

'We're going to search your house. We don't have a warrant, but we paid your landlord $100 to give us a spare key. So now we're searching your house without a warrant,' Laperruque www.npr.org/2026/03/25/n... from @npr.org

3 weeks ago 3 1 0 0
Event Calendar β€” NZGDA

NZGDC 2026 is about to be revealed! πŸ₯³ Register for the event in Auckland below.

Did you know you can see upcoming New Zealand Game Developer Association events in one place? πŸ‘‡

3 weeks ago 2 1 0 0

I really can't put this more clearly.

If you watch the new Harry Potter series, you are directly funding the genocide of trans people, because that's what Rowling gleefully spends HP revenue on.

There's no "death of the author" here, no "there's lots of awful creators." You are funding genocide.

3 weeks ago 3965 2153 30 16

Really enjoyed my conversation with Ian on the Good Virtual Reality podcast - check it out below!

3 weeks ago 16 2 0 0

Only a few hours left to go!

4 weeks ago 5 2 0 0
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Welcome to Paris, the City That Said No to Cars Outgoing Mayor Anne Hidalgo leaves the city more walkable, bikable, greener and cleaner.

The most effective and influential urban transformations of any city in the world during Hidalgo’s term.

β€œWhat’s most remarkable is the sheer volume of aggressive new policies @annehidalgo.bsky.social has managed to push through. Sunday’s mayoral election may determine the direction of her legacy.”

1 month ago 275 68 3 9
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Podcast | Good Virtual Reality | Ian Hamilton | Substack Audio from people building toward good virtual reality. Click to read Good Virtual Reality, by Ian Hamilton, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

Coming next week to all podcast platforms is a 45-minute talk with Thomas Van Bouwel, the creator of Laser Dance and Cubism. Listen now as a paid subscriber.

There's over 5 hours of audio now public from the Good VR podcast:

www.goodvirtualreality.com/s/good-vr-po...

1 month ago 4 2 0 1
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βž•Playable at New Game Plus

PLEASE, WATCH THE ARTWORK - @thomaswaterzooi.bsky.social

Please, Watch The Artwork is a casual yet suspenseful experience where you spot changes in living paintings during your night shift.

🎟️ tickets.games.london | #LGF26

1 month ago 17 7 0 1
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BOOKING NOW OPEN!! You can book tickets for the new Brussels-Milan @EuropeanSlpr which starts running from 9 September, 3 times a week (I've just booked myself on the first southbound Brussels-Milan sleeper on 10 Sept!) For details & tickets see www.seat61.com/trains-and-r...

1 month ago 123 23 2 0

It's been a long time coming, but I am *very* happy to get Unseen Diplomacy 2 out of early access and into player's hands. The whole team have been amazing and I'm very proud to get some really unique mechanics out there for everyone to play. :)

1 month ago 4 3 0 0
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Revealed! #UnseenDiplomacy2 !
The INCREDIBLE real-life #VR obstacle course in your living room
Wishlist and store links ➑️ unseendiplomacy2.com
For #MetaQuest & #SteamVR
Follow us for more! #GameDev #IndieDev

10 months ago 84 28 5 10

Have the happiest birthday man!

Love everything you do to bring the community in this town together, and the sincerity and consistency you put into your own work is a constant source of inspiration!

1 month ago 5 0 0 0