Rodion Lab

The things I build when nobody asks for them.

NOBODY ASKED FOR THIS//NO ROADMAP//NO MEETINGS//SOMETHING ALREADY RUNSNOBODY ASKED FOR THIS//NO ROADMAP//NO MEETINGS//SOMETHING ALREADY RUNS

Nobody asked for these.

They are the things I pick apart when I have two spare seconds, for the pleasure of picking things apart. I know nothing about music, for instance, but I still wanted to play: so I built myself a way to never hit a wrong note. The others all start the same way, with a curiosity that will not go away until I take it apart.

Rodion started here too, in a scrap of spare time, with nobody asking for it. Then six real client sites ended up running on it. The others were not that lucky, and that is perfectly fine.

For now I am pulling out one. The rest stay in the drawers and come out one at a time.

Five states, declared up front

So we both enjoy this: when they land, you already know what you are looking at.

Alive

It runs, I use it, I keep it updated. If it breaks I notice, because it annoys me first.

Prototype

Works as long as you do what it had in mind. One step sideways and it sits down.

Retired

It solved its problem, or the problem went away. It stays here out of honesty.

In progress

Moving. Some parts already run every day, the rest is scaffolding. You can look at it, and some of it you can already try.

Playable

You can play it right now, right here. That does not mean finished: it means it starts, it is short, and at some point it stops.

The creatures

Playable

Surgy Boy

You can play it right now, inside the page: eight rooms, a blue rubber chicken and a sung anime opening that lasts longer than the game deserves. It is not a finished product and it is not for sale: it is short, rough, and over in one evening.

Play it

In progress

Bombozzi

The 2D editor and engine Surgy Boy is made with, plus Gattofrigi, the sequencer that listens to what happens in the game and changes the music accordingly. I use them every day.

The case study

The questions you are asking

Why does it exist?

I do not know

And that is exactly the point. Nobody asked for it, so it answers to nobody.

Does it work?

Sometimes

Some are alive and I use them daily. Some break if you look at them wrong.

And the real work?

It is next door

Six client sites run on Rodion, which was born in this very room.

BREAKS IF YOU LOOK AT IT WRONG//RETIRED//PROTOTYPE//DO NOT ASK WHYBREAKS IF YOU LOOK AT IT WRONG//RETIRED//PROTOTYPE//DO NOT ASK WHY

THE SERIOUS WORK IS NEXT DOOR

This is the workshop. The product that came out of it is Rodion, and six real client sites run on it.

SEE RODION