I’ve promised the itch.io alpha build of DirtWorld in December but I feel like some people will want to wishlist it based on that so now I have to set up Steam because indie publishing is silly and there are expectations

Thanks to everyone who subbed! I’ve extended it a bit into today for anyone who missed it but we did well yesterday and it’s v needed. (in the middle of moving house, and worried about the incoming financial hit of needing to pay one deposit and probably lose the last one bc of one screw in a wall)

Again, to every videogame writer who wrote funny emails to read in an immersive sim/etc. where I rolled my eyes and said out loud, "lol like anyone would ever email something this on the nose", again, sorry, I was wrong, life sucks, you nailed it

If you don’t get my newsletter or check YouTube every day (lol) I have a Patreon flash sale on just for today. 40% off a year of membership. Includes Discord access, playtesting events and so on. Use code “OLDMAN” at patreon.com/indiegameclinic

I laughed out loud when I saw how Bounty Star resolved how to show Clem going to sleep Excellent way to avoid the whole "dealing with fabric and other fancy animation stuff" while highlighting Clem's character

The wizard's pajama robes are set on a little table next to the bathtub. He carefully steps into the bath. It is just the right temperature and the bubbles smell of passionfruit.

did I miss anything

Yeah, this is a point that is increasingly lost under the mire of sludge. I feel for all the OG proc gen folk and the OG game AI programmers who now have to explain "No, not that kind of AI" every time..

My Bond movies take is; I like my Bond movies campy and stupid. I like Die Another Day more than any of the Craig ones and Roger Moore is the GOAT.

We don't use Ai in our games. Ai isn't and hasn't ever been needed been needed to make a good game and CEOs like this don't know what the fuck they are talking about. They just want to slowly take humans out of the process thinking they can just hit and button and it'll print money.

Gnostics:

Oddly specific ask but anyone have a support group for people approaching middle age who lost their twenties to a controlling relationship and are now losing their thirties to a parent‘s mental deterioration? Or is that just what Bluesky is

Going live in 40 minutes to work on my game. Come say hi and pick my brain. www.youtube.com/live/UHyo6Ro...

Im gonna stop saying when something is cognitively dissonant and instead say “I don’t like the mindfeel of these facts”

The children ask about long-forgotten spices.

The free tier of the indiegameclinic Patreon is my monthly newsletter about our game design community. Sign up here’s www.patreon.com/indiegamecli...

Not to be the fun police but I do hope people know that Arc Raiders does use generative AI for voice acting, and by supporting the game you're letting higher-ups know that this is an okay practice. They try to downplay this on the Steam store page by describing the AI usage as vaguely as possible.

Call me controversial, but technology that leads vulnerable people into crisis and even holds their hand as they die by suicide should not be endorsed by schools and universities, we should not be giving discounted subscriptions to this monstrous tech to young people AT ALL

#PitchYaGame DirtWorld is a gameplay mashup of Spelunky and Blue Prince with 80s dark fantasy movie vibes.

When I was in my twenties I thought Nick Cave was like the boring version of Tom Waits, but it works out ok because ten years later you want the more boring version of things you already like

I’ve worked places where there were basically no “junior” QA roles and the team QA person was there to ensure the whole team was doing all-hands testing in the right way. QA is skilled labour.

Also can video game journalists, please, please stop framing QA as a 'gateway' into the industry or a way for people to get their foot in the door so they can go into 'more creative' disciplines? QA is its own specialized field which requires very capable and specialized professionals.

Game design is simple, actually. Except when it isn't. Here are the 12 things you need to know.

occasionally I look up my academic citations and this is SUCH a weird way of citing someone. it has nothing to do with the topic of my research it's just the wording from my summary of existing literature.

Gonna start roleplaying a guy who thinks the phrase “for a quick buck” is “for a quick butt”

Installing a screen reader mod which deliberately misinterprets “A.I. “ as Ali G saying “aiii”

if you wanna be mercenary about it bc you're allergic to soft and nice things: having a miserable teammate breaks feedback funnels and slows production. they break communication channels. people spend valuable time and energy tiptoeing around a volatile team member. bad attitudes are expensive.

downloading lecture slides from my own patreon to write my book; a trip

The Dwarf Fortress Siege Update briefly reintroduced an old bug where dwarf babies pilot their moms like mech suits until they die of dehydration because babies don't know what drinking is.

that’s right beg you miserable worm

I think a lot about whether or not to define as a content creator. I think largely I don’t care that much because it’s more of a relational term wrt the platform than a definitional thing which eats the rest of your identity.

New awareness campaign

well, that escalated quickly

The orientation part of this book is going well; lol

Dear folks. I’m collecting case studies on good/interesting game dev practice/process from artisanal solo devs or small teams. Please; more reccs for developers who are not dudes.

Post apocalyptic jetski game (like the No Doubt Hella Good video) but you’re running organ “donations” from wasteland Margate to cyber London

Look folks gen AI videos are out in the wild so if you weren't already being careful about sharing rage bait videos then now is a great time to start If you can't trace a video back to a trusted source then I recommend leaving it where it is, like a slice of bologna you found on the street

There is nothing more alien to me than the idea of subscribing to someone’s channel or social media and then telling them they’ve “earned”it, like my personal attention is some huge and valuable prize.

Anyone pushing one true correct way to do the job has not been in enough studios or on enough projects. You use the tools that do the job and tasks assigned and more than likely just the personal preference of who ever is making tools at the time was using Maya and 3ds max at the same time last game

i'm watching roguelike celebration talks i missed. "Stuff: the behavioral science of inventory" by Max Sahin is really interesting and is exciting to obscure parts of one's design sensibility. it's not posted separately yet but this link starts you at the beginning: www.youtube.com/live/kBfytrn...

Know your subgenres, Cracking open a cold one with the fellas: buddy comedy Cracking open fellas with the Cold One: dark fantasy Cracking open one fella with a cold: medical drama A cold open with one cracking fella: sitcom One cold fella with the open crack: public solo porn in winter

Elden Ring

The wizard sleeps deeply. A shooting star streaks across the sky above the tower.

innovative ux

‘Study after study shows that students want to develop these critical thinking skills, are not lazy, and large numbers of them would be in favor of banning ChatGPT and similar tools in universities’, says @olivia.science www.ru.nl/en/research/...

CARIMARA is OUT !! With a brand new trailer 😱 Can't wait to see people discover all the little surprises I prepared... It's ONLY $4.5 now and it's perfect for HALLOWEEN 🎃 Let's buy it and spread the word, please!!

I played Carimara by @bastinusrex.bsky.social this morning. This a beautiful game. Very evocative. A small, tight "whodunnit" (We did finish the game on stream, so maybe don't watch the end, and get the game instead if you want to think through the puzzles yourself) www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH80...

It is time to shout about fun in a car park // What is Fun? A Game Design Introduction youtu.be/56ENqlUST9U

words go brrrr