Spring 2026: Flipping Bits Again

Things have been going really well on the game development side for me. For about a year now, I’ve been dedicating near full-time effort to my projects, even despite personal hiccups here and there.

Behind the Silence

Reasons why I haven’t been posting much on my blog lately:

First, I don’t want to build hype too early. This time, I want to handle the upcoming release campaign the right way.

Second, I don’t want to share core concepts prematurely. In the past, some of my ideas were taken because I revealed them long before I had the chance to properly execute them myself. When that happens, it hurts the sense of originality and takes away some of the momentum.

I’ll definitely begin sharing more material once I feel the momentum can properly carry the project toward release without major obstacles getting in the way.

Eternal Eden 5: Deeper Development Cycle

At the moment, my main focus is entering a deeper development cycle for Eternal Eden 5, with the goal of releasing it as soon as it’s ready. For this project, I’m not aiming for any special commemorative date. It will launch when it’s done, as simple as that.

If you want to learn more about Eternal Eden 5, feel free to browse through older posts on my blog from past years. The project revolves around a dream-themed world filled with some really interesting gameplay mechanics. You’ll also find a few cool monster assets that were shared along the way.

I want to clarify something

At this point, my goal with the next one or two projects is mainly personal creative fulfillment. I’m not trying to chase a huge mainstream audience.

That’s one of the reasons why Eternal Eden 5 will not be coming to Steam or GOG. Instead, I’m intentionally aiming for a very niche space: the Game Boy Advance homebrew scene.

There’s a positive side to that approach, though. The digital version of Eternal Eden 5 will be completely free and available as a ROM download. Niche doesn’t have to mean inaccessible! Heh.

I may also offer separate merchandise for those who would like to support the project. And for collectors who enjoy playing on original hardware, I’m not ruling out the possibility of a real cartridge release either.

Personal Achievement Above All

In the end, what matters most to me is being proud of what I created, feeling a sense of personal accomplishment, and making the kind of game that I genuinely love to play.

Working on Game Boy Advance homebrew development is also my way of fulfilling a goal I originally had back in 2005 but never managed to complete. Back then, everything was incredibly difficult: there were very few tools available, barely any accessible information, and I was still inexperienced.

Today, things are completely different thanks to modern technology, especially LLMs like ChatGPT. Whenever I need clarification or hit a technical wall, it helps me keep moving forward instead of staying stuck in the dark.

For example, I managed to map my entire Yamaha PSR-S910 to a software program. It was an extremely complex undertaking, and even with ChatGPT’s help, it was still a steep challenge. But in the end, I achieved something that would have felt almost impossible and overwhelming to me a decade ago.

In the same way, ChatGPT is now helping guide me through every nook and cranny of GBA development.

What About Eternal Eden: Reboot

I decided to aim for its release around the series’ 20th anniversary, sometime around 2029, God willing.

This project is intended to target triple-A jRPG standards, and right now I’m not in the best financial position to fully commit to a production of that scale. Because of that, I cannot gamble on resuming its development yet.

At this moment, Eternal Eden 5 simply feels like the right project to make thanks to its genuine 16-bit old-school spirit.

Current Risk

Going back to low-level programming has definitely been a challenge, especially after spending so many years working with the convenience of C# features. The asset pipeline is also far trickier to manage. Despite that, it’s an incredibly fun way to program.

I’ve always loved working close to hardware registers, flipping bits on and off directly. There’s something deeply satisfying about it.

The Game Boy Advance is full of hardware limitations, but those limitations are actually part of the fun. Once you truly understand the system and learn how to work within its constraints, the hardware begins to reveal surprisingly powerful capabilities, sometimes effects and behaviors that can even be harder to reproduce cleanly in modern PC programming.

Final Note

This time, I want the release to come as a surprise, without major warning beforehand.

Honestly, I can’t wait for the day I finally hit the button and send out the newsletter to thousands of old (and hopefully new) fans who signed up all those years ago.