Posts on Merlijn Van Holder

Pilot Panic Update 1.1.0

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Ever since the release of Pilot Panic, I knew there was a lot of room for improvement. The game was fun and relatively bug-free, but way too short. So, I decided to work on an update that would add a whole bunch of new levels, some kind of progression system, and enhance the visuals of the game.

Pilot Panic’s refreshed logo & artwork.

The update includes a brand new set of levels that will take players on a longer adventure. They gradually become more challenging, and will require practice (and some reflexes) to get gold stars on each level.

I Am DOOM

Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve now completed and 100%’ed every DOOM (and Quake, Heretic & Hexen) game on Steam. Bring on the next ones!

The amazing old-school DOOM artwork by Don Ivan Punchatz from 1993.

DOOM: Eternal was the last one left to complete, and I finally finished it up last night. Since its release back in 2020, I’ve made several attempts to play it, but it never really clicked, and I would abandon it each time around level 2. However, after finishing DOOM: The Dark Ages recently (which I really loved), I decided to give Eternal another shot.

Godot Multi-Resolution Screenshots

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

My biggest pain of making mobile games is arguably the Apple and Google Play store submission process. They both require screenshots in various resolutions. You might already have captured some great screenshots, but Apple in particular requires screenshots in a variety of different aspect ratios.

Simply resizing your screenshots won’t do, in most cases the different aspect ratios will result in cropping, cutting off the UI, etc.

Pilot Panic running at different resolutions and aspect ratios.

Galaxika: Nintendo Game Boy Homebrew

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Making my very own Nintendo Game Boy game has been a dream of mine for a long time, since I was a kid, really.

Galaxika is a 2D shoot-em-up game developed for the Nintendo Game Boy, written in C using the GBDK development kit. The game features 8 levels, 4 types of enemies and 2 bosses.

The alien insect Void Empire has harvested countless star systems, yours is next. Command the lone starfighter Galaxika-1 through 8 treacherous sectors, dodging asteroid fields, blasting enemy drones, and facing their colossal fleet. Can you reach the Void Queen’s mothership before civilization falls?

Website Refresh 2026: Hugo

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve wanted to do more with my website for a while, especially as I’ve become less active on social media. Abandoning Twitter altogether. In an era of endless feeds and brain rot, returning to ’the blog’ feels right.

My annual web hosting bill added up, and I eventually cancelled it. The old blog used WordPress, which offers a nice back-end for managing content, but a PHP server, a MySQL database, and the frequent WordPress updates were too much effort for my lazy bones.

Analogue Pocket x Game Boy Development

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Back when I was an 8-year old or so, I was already obsessed with video games, PC/DOS games mainly, but I also carried my Nintendo Game Boy around nearly everywhere I went. Packed up in a little carrying bag, accompanied by Game Pak classics like Super Mario Land, Wario Land, Spider-Man, Pokemon, and Zelda: Link’s Awakening, etc.

I had a Sega Game Gear, too. However, that one was way too bulky to carry around. :)

Pilot Panic Android Release

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been working on a new mobile game, out today on Google Play! The App Store version will follow soon. I had to hit an April deadline or my Google Play account would be closed for inactivity. Maintaining mobile games is… not great.

Pilot Panic is the successor to my earlier mobile game, Pilot Express. I originally built it in Unity, but I’ve been learning Godot over the past few months. Porting an older game felt like a nice learning opportunity, though I ended up rebuilding almost everything. The game is now fully 2D, which in my opinion, looks better than the old low‑poly 3D style.

LG Ultragear 45" OLED

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

After 2 years of using my Samsung Odyssey G9, I decided to upgrade to the latest LG UltraGear 45" OLED 45GS95QE.

Hunt: Showdown looks incredible on this monitor.

Playing a lot of Hunt: Showdown, I was looking for an OLED monitor that had would have better colours and contrast. While the huge aspect ratio of the Samsung Odyssey G9 was immersive (and obviously very impressive), it overloads you with visual information while playing competitive online games.

Samsung Odyssey G9

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve had my Samsung Odyssey G9 for a few weeks now. Its been on my wishlist for 6 months; I kept daydreaming about it while watching YouTube reviews, and finally decided to pull the trigger during the winter holidays as a gift to myself.

It almost spans the entire width of my large desk.

It’s a 49-inch ultrawide monitor with a 32:9 aspect ratio, 5120x1440 resolution, and a 240Hz refresh rate. It’s an absolute beast.

Hello, Korea

Sun, 06 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve arrived in South Korea, and I’ll be staying here for a while! 🇰🇷

A long time ago, back in my high school years, I joined a penpal program. Several students from South Korea & Japan contacted me, and we exchanged letters for a few years. Sharing stories about our lives and cultures, shipping big boxes of food, drinks and snacks to eachother. It was great.

Seoul’s Han River by night, a beautiful sight.

Satisfactory Co-Op Satisfaction

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Over the past few months, my girlfriend and I have been spending a lot of time with Satisfactory, safe to say we’ve become pretty addicted.

Satisfactory is a game about factory management and planetary exploration (or *cough* exploitation). As a pioneer for FICSIT Inc., you drop onto an alien world with just a handful of tools. Your mission: harvest natural resources to construct increasingly complex automated factories. Think conveyor belts, lots of them.

Quake 25th Anniversary

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Today marks Quake’s 25th anniversary, which also happens to coincide with my birthday. Coincidence? I think not!

Quake released on June 22, 1996. I was still in elementary school and I’m not entirely sure how I got my hands on it, probably through my cousin, but my dad and I were hooked and played nothing else for a good while.

Quake wasn’t just among the first fully 3D, real‑time‑rendered FPS games; it was executed so well that it still holds up today, that quality is what makes it unforgettable.

Poisonator: My Rogue Quality of Life Addon

Sat, 04 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

With the release of World of Warcraft Classic some months ago, I’ve been casually playing most weekends (until the nostalgia eventually wears off). One of my work colleagues happens to run a guild, and has been pestering me to write some guild management addons. Having no experience with WoW modding, I’d give it a go.

Since I’m playing a rogue, I found myself having to re-apply poison to my weapons constantly. Tedious. After looking into the guild addons, I realized this was the perfect opportunity to /scratch my own itch.

Pneumo Hacker VR Game Taiwan

Wed, 10 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been active in the VR community for a while, being one of the original kickstarters for the Oculus DK1 VR headset. I was totally sold on the tech since E3 2012, thanks to John Carmack’s DOOM 3 ski goggles tech demo. I’ve owned about every Oculus headset and dev kit since then.

This eventually led to a contract with HTC, the Taiwanese electronics giant behind the popular VR headset HTC Vive. In collaboration with a Taiwanese filmmaker, we built a small VR game to raise awareness of the Air Quality Index (AQI) and Taiwan’s pollution problem, an issue ironically tied to the country’s massive electronics manufacturing.

Hidden Kitty Mobile Game Release

Tue, 18 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

My second mobile game is officially out on iOS, grab it on the App Store!

Hidden Kitty is a cute seek‑and‑find game. Explore the rooms of a cozy house and figure out where the kitty is hiding. Behind a pillow? Inside a cupboard? Tap and slide things around to discover new spots.

There’s lots of objects in the house to interact with.

This summer I wanted to build something smaller (and cuter) than my other projects. Unlike my previous mobile game Pilot Express, which was free‑to‑play, Hidden Kitty is a paid download, something I’ve been wanting to try for a while.

Pilot Express Mobile Game Release

Tue, 28 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been working on a little mobile game this summer, which is finally released on both the App Store and Google Play!

Pilot Express lets you fly a small plane up and down, avoiding mines and other obstacles along the way. Collect coins to increase your score and fly through hoops to gain a speed boost. The controls are simple, the challenge comes from reacting quick enough, and deciding when to go for the bonus items versus playing it safe.

Spirited Away VR

Wed, 08 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

One of my favorite movies is Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away. I love the the characters, the story, the atmosphere, and especially the music. It’s a masterpiece that I’ve re-watched many times over the years.

Chihiro and No-Face board the spirit train.

My favorite scene is the train ride through the flooded countryside, where Chihiro and No-Face travel to meet Zeniba. The music is solemn, and the scenery passing offers a glimpse into the spirit world beyond the bathhouse. The scene lasts for quite a while, and nothing really happens, yet it’s one of the most memorable parts of the movie for me.

Ludum Dare #30 – Tribe of the Giant

Sun, 24 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Ludum Dare is a fantastic challenge: make a game from scratch in 48 hours. Every year more people join, resulting in thousands of entries by the end of the weekend. This was my second time participating.

Running into time-consuming problems is dangerous when you only have two days, preparing your workspace before you start is important, and best to use tools you already know. For me, C# programming, Blender for 3D modeling, and Unity to bring it all together. I set up Chronolapse to capture a timelapse and OBS for livestreaming on Twitch.

#Nar8 2014 – Compute Thought

Thu, 10 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Compute Thought is a short cyberpunk point-and-click adventure game created for #Nar8, a narrative‑focused game jam. I usually lean toward gameplay and level design rather than writing, so this project was a deliberate exercise in story building. You can play it on itch.io or browse the source code on GitHub.

The opening scene is my favourite, but went through many iterations.

The game centers on a detective investigating a murder case, in a world where humans and androids coexist (uneasily). My favorite cyberpunk classics like Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell inspired me.

Ludum Dare #29 – Ocean Rescue

Mon, 28 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Ludum Dare #29 ran from April 25th – 27th, a 48-hour jam where people build games centered around a single theme. Unlike the Global Game Jam however, it’s common to work solo.

With this year’s theme “Beneath the Surface”, I set out to make a game about a giant monster lurking in the depths, part sandworm from Dune, part Moby-Dick.

I started with building a little drivable boat: you sail around collecting treasures drifting on the water, while the monster tries to swallow you whole. The game takes place at night, hoping this would cover up any art assets that look too rough around the edges.

Tactical RPG Prototype

Fri, 14 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000

I spent a few days prototyping a turn-based tactical RPG, a genre I’ve grown to love. X-COM: Terror from the Deep hooked me when I was a kid, and I’ve been looking for similar games ever since. It’s great to see the genre making a comeback with titles like The Banner Saga and X-COM: Enemy Unknown.

Like any proper tactical game, players choose their actions turn-by-turn: moving, attacking, or guarding. During the computer’s turn, it identifies the nearest player character and moves in to attack. The battle ends when either side is defeated.

Unity RPG Prototype

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Lately I’ve been tinkering with a small first-person RPG prototype in Unity. It’s very old-school, inspired by games like Ultima Underworld and Daggerfall, the kind of games I could really get lost in as a kid.

The goal is to create a small vertical slice of the game, with a single dungeon level, a few enemies, and some basic RPG mechanics like combat, loot, inventory, and character stats.

XNA Platformer

Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

With some of the tools I’ve built for XNA, I’ve been prototyping a simple 2D platformer last month. It’s pretty basic so far, very much inspired by Super Mario World, with the character being a combination of Sonic’s Tails and Yoshi’s movement-style.

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I’ve been studying frame-by-frame how the camera in Super Mario World works, there is an area of “dead space” in the center of the screen where the player can freely move without the camera following, but once you hit the edge of that area, the camera starts moving horizontally on the X-axis to keep up.

Learning Microsoft XNA Game Engine

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Recently I’ve been teaching myself C#, together with the Microsoft XNA game engine.

XNA is really a freeware toolkit rather than a full engine. Microsoft launched this to make hobby and indie game development approachable. It sits on top of the .NET Framework and can target both Windows and the Xbox 360. For an indie developer these days, XNA feels like the most practical way to getting something onto the Xbox.

Foreign Legion: Buckets of Blood Steam Release

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

After six months of development, the game I’ve been working on has finally been released on Steam!

Foreign Legion: Buckets of Blood is a fast-paced, cartoony third‑person shooter. Missions range from defending an oil pipeline against waves of attackers, to escorting a bus packed with tourists driving through hostile territory.

I created most of the levels and 3D environment art.

The escort mission at dawn is one of the prettier levels I made.

Half-Life 2: The Bridge

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 00:00:00 +0000

For the HLFallout.net mapping contest, I built a single-player map called “The Bridge”. It’s set in the lost coast, on the outskirts of City 17.

It’s more of a set piece than a full level, as the competition’s goal was making a memorable environment rather than a full playable level. I’m happy to say I won the contest, and I’m very proud of how it turned out! \o/

Half-Life: Knowren

Thu, 12 Dec 2002 00:00:00 +0000

Since I’ve been itching to make more Half-Life maps, I’m building a new single-player map called “Knowren” (the name is just whatever, for now).

Set deep in the bowels of the Black-Mesa research facility, I’m trying to focus on moody lighting with a lot of emergency spotlights and shadows, setting a darker atmosphere than most of the standard Half-Life maps.

This is pushing the ZHLT (Zoners Half-Life Tools) to its limits, HLRAD specifically, and its taking a long time to compile the map each time already.

Half-Life Deathmatch: NORAD

Tue, 12 Mar 2002 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been working on a Half-Life deathmatch map these days, set in the mountainous NORAD complex. The layout is fairly simple, built around a central courtyard with two main buildings, both have multiple levels, and a shared basement/garage area.

Some areas offer 3 levels of verticality, but the rocket launcher is placed in the basement by design. Getting it first and then working your way up is a good risk/reward strategy.