James Randall Musings on software development, business and technology.
SprEd: New selection tools
Annhexation gameplay — a hex-based 4X strategy map
Annhexation Steam demo

A turn-based 4X strategy game you can complete in an evening — built from scratch with a custom WebGPU engine and eight civilisations. Try the demo on Steam.

In what is either a massive display of ego and hubris or something to be modestly proud about (you decide) I’m using my own Mac and iPad sprite editor SprEd to work on the textures and icons for my city builder.

However I realised I’d not included any tools to rotate things and so this morning have quickly reloaded Swift and the source code back into my head and added those features.

Will hopefully land in the App Store soon but in the meantime I’m using my own build to work on the road graphics.

SprEd isn’t open source, nor is it free, but it is the cost of a couple of cups of coffee for a perpetual license so if you’d like to keep a fellow developer fuelled up with caffeine then check it out.

Editing roads

Annhexation gameplay — a hex-based 4X strategy map
Annhexation Steam demo

Forty-two years after I first started programming, I built a 4X strategy game from scratch — a custom WebGPU engine, eight civilisations, and a game you can complete in an evening. Try the demo on Steam.

Built by James Randall — tool-maker, system builder, and occasional cyclist. Walking the hills with my four-legged friend when I'm not building worlds.
© 2025