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The Mission - "Mission Possible": Taking My First Step
I accepted the invitation—so now it’s time for the mission. The objective? Build my very first game using Baldr. No coding experience. No budget. Just a story, an idea, and the curiosity to see if I could bring it to life. This wasn’t about testing software; it was about testing me —my storytelling, my creativity, and my willingness to take the leap. If I listened closely, I could almost hear Ethan Hunt asking whether I’d accept this mission. I did. So I mapped out my plan: S
Rachel Barton
8 hours ago1 min read
Carrying the Fire: What Founders Learn on the Hardest Part of the Journey
There comes a moment in every journey - every startup, every mission worth pursuing - when the weight becomes too heavy for one person to bear alone. The path grows steeper. The fire that once burned bright begins to flicker. Doubt creeps in, quiet but relentless, like the shadows of Mordor stretching across the horizon. This is the point where many lose heart. But it’s also where the best founders reveal who they truly are. Because in the strongest teams, no one walks alone.
John Thornewill
2 days ago1 min read
Building Universes from Code: The Logic of Worlds
When we design a game, we’re not just crafting visuals or interactions—we’re drafting the laws of an entirely new universe. Every snippet of logic we write, every rule governing movement, light, or collision, becomes its own kind of physics. These systems mirror the forces that shape our own cosmos: gravity, inertia, energy, entropy. But instead of atoms and molecules, our universes are built from vertices, scripts, and intention. And as we construct these digital worlds, a d
Tim Ellis
2 days ago1 min read
The Invitation: My Hogwarts Letter Has Finally Arrived
(Where it all begins…) For years, I worked in a game studio, surrounded by brilliant developers who could conjure entire worlds out of nothing but imagination, code, and caffeine. I’ve always known I was a storyteller. But even though I was part of the team, I never quite felt like I belonged in the team. While the developers worked their technical wizardry, I was the one handling storylines, writing dialogue, shaping ideas - and yes, also making the tea, doing the pizza run
Rachel Barton
2 days ago2 min read
Red Nought's First Beta Filled Up in Just Hours - Here's What's Next
Well, that didn’t take long! We’re still catching our breath after the incredible response to our first Red Nought beta programme, which was completely oversubscribed in just a few hours. The enthusiasm, curiosity, and creativity from our early community have truly blown us away. To everyone who signed up: thank you. Your excitement and feedback remind us exactly why we’re building Red Nought - a platform designed to make game creation accessible, inclusive, and truly democra
John Thornewill
3 days ago1 min read
An Inspiring Weekend at the University of Bristol: Accessibility, Innovation, and Collaboration
This weekend, John and I had the pleasure of visiting University of Bristol with Freya Shaw from Immersion Sound Studio to take part in an event focused on accessibility and assistive technologies - and what an inspiring day it was! We had the opportunity to connect with brilliant students, researchers, and industry professionals who are pushing the boundaries of inclusive design. A big shoutout to Kyle Keane Lecturer in Assistive Technologies at the University of Bris
Rachel Barton
4 days ago1 min read
Building Universes from Code: When Worlds Misalign
In the vastness of our universe, even the smallest variations can have profound effects. A fraction of a degree in a planet’s orbit. A subtle shift in a star’s gravity. Change one variable, and an entirely new solar system unfolds. The same is true in the digital universes we build. When creating complex virtual environments, we’ve learned that harmony between disciplines - art, design, and computation - is essential. And yet, it’s remarkably easy for those worlds to fall sli
Tim Ellis
4 days ago2 min read
Building Universes from Code: A Million Paths Through a Digital Universe
When we began building our mapping algorithm, we thought the challenge would be teaching a machine where it could walk. After all, our digital worlds are not shaped by gravity or erosion, but by vertices, textures, and light. Surely the hard part would be giving structure to the void. But once the world revealed its form - every floor, slope, and surface understood - we discovered something deeper. The real difficulty wasn’t knowing where to walk, but deciding which path to t
Tim Ellis
Nov 71 min read
Our first commercial partnership has been agreed!
Avalandia Teams Up with Red Nought to Supercharge VR Experiences London, UK – November 5, 2025 – Avalandia, the innovative VR services provider for the event management industry, today announced the signing of a strategic collaboration agreement with Red Nought Limited, creators of cutting-edge game development tools. This partnership will integrate Red Nought's intuitive "Baldr Engine" into Avalandia's unique ecosystem of hardware simulators and custom software, enabling rap
John Thornewill
Nov 61 min read
The Baldr Experiment: A Strange Journey (ground zero, budget zero)
As they say in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, “I would like, if I may…to take you on a strange journey”. One of creativity, curiosity, and the occasional “What does this button do?” moment. It all began, not with lightning or mad science (though there was plenty of coffee fuelled chaos), but a thought, “How can somebody who has spent their entire life on the story side of games, not the technical side, create a game?” I’ve spent years watching our incredible developers conjur
Rachel Barton
Nov 61 min read
Building Universes from Code: How Algorithms Learn to Walk
How algorithms learn to walk... Our universe is built from atoms and molecules, governed by the quiet laws of physics. A mountain stands because gravity demands it. A valley forms because water insists on finding its way. But in a game world, none of that exists - not until we create it. A mountain is just geometry; a field is only an arrangement of vertices and pixels. There is no gravity, no friction, no path - unless we teach the world to understand itself. So, the questi
Tim Ellis
Nov 51 min read
Sparks of Imagination: Celebrating Creativity on Bonfire Night
Tonight, the sky lights up with colour and sound - sparks of imagination painted across the dark. Every firework begins as an idea: a small spark, carefully crafted, designed to shine for just a few second...but in those seconds, it reminds us of something powerful. That creativity, when shared, has the power to transform the night sky. At Red Nought, that’s what we believe in - taking an idea, igniting it with passion and technology, and lighting up new possibilities for eve
Rachel Barton
Nov 51 min read
Great Scott
That’s the moment. The exact instant when theory becomes reality - when the lights flicker, the gears spin, the sparks fly - and suddenly, it works. You’ve spent weeks (maybe months!) chasing equations and ideas that refuse to behave. You’ve doubted yourself. Others have doubted you. You’ve muttered, “maybe this is impossible...” more times than you’d like to admit. And then - click. A wire connects, a circuit completes, a line of code finally makes sense... and your creation
John Thornewill
Nov 41 min read
The Light in the Dark: A Halloween Reflection on Creativity
There’s something about a single light in the dark. Something that speaks to the soul. Some might see just a Halloween decoration. But we see something more. We see imagination made real - an idea carved from nothing, shaped by patience, and lit with purpose. That’s what creation really is. Not the tools. Not the code. But the courage to take what’s in your mind... and bring it into the world. This Halloween, we celebrate that spark - the one that turns a simple pumpkin into
John Thornewill
Oct 311 min read
BTW, the Cake was Real - and so is Human in the Loop
BTW, the cake was real! When we won our Innovate UK grant for Virtual Guide Dogs, we wanted to celebrate in a way that was more than icing on a cake; the RedNought way, by combining human and AI in a way that makes things better. So we asked AI to dream with us. It gave us ideas - wild ones, colourful ones, ones that made us smile. Also a lot with creative spelling mistakes, but you know what AI is like... But ideas are only half the journey. The other half is rolling up your
John Thornewill
Oct 281 min read
Red Nought Wins Innovate UK Grant for Virtual Guide Dog Solution
HUGE NEWS!! Red Nought Wins Innovate UK DCMS Create Growth Programme Grant to Develop Groundbreaking “Virtual Guide Dog Solution”. Red Nought, the inclusive technology studio behind the pioneering Baldr Engine, a no-code games development platform, has been awarded a prestigious Innovate UK grant to create a Virtual Guide Dog Solution. This is an augmented reality (AR) navigation solution designed to transform independence for blind and visually impaired people. Powered by
John Thornewill
Oct 272 min read
The only way to fail
They said you couldn’t do it. They said you would fail. They said you were stupid to even try. They doubted your ability, your vision, your resolve. They whispered that you’d fail quietly, fade away, give up like so many before you. But you didn’t. You didn’t argue. You didn’t waste your breath proving them wrong with words - you did it with action. With progress. With results. They tried to measure your limits, but they never saw your heart. They never saw the late nights, t
John Thornewill
Oct 231 min read
You broke free
You made it. You crawled through five hundred yards of foulness I can’t even imagine to escape your old life, but you came out clean on the other side. That’s what it feels like. It's day one. You broke free. For years you endured it - the routines, the walls, the small talk, the quiet resignation. You told yourself there was no other way. But deep down, you knew you didn’t belong there. You were made for open skies, not fluorescent ceilings. And when you finally crawl out -
John Thornewill
Oct 221 min read
It all starts with an idea
It all starts with an idea. A small thing, really. No louder than a whisper. You don’t know where it comes from - maybe a quiet Sunday morning, maybe the middle of a long, sleepless night. But once it’s there, you can’t ignore it. At first, it doesn’t look like much. Just a thought, a flicker, a ‘what if’. But deep down, you feel it - that faint electric pull that tells you this could be something. Something worth building. Something worth believing in. And so you start. Not
John Thornewill
Oct 201 min read
Plan your escape: Breaking free from the ordinary
Ever get that feeling you’re just… doing time? You show up. You clock in. You do what you’re told. But somewhere deep down, you know you were meant for something more. The walls might not be made of stone and steel - they’re made of routine, comfort, and fear of the unknown. But the truth is, the door isn’t locked. It just takes courage to push it open. If this is how your job makes you feel… maybe it’s time to plan your escape. John Thornewill 21st October 2025
John Thornewill
Oct 201 min read
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