Alan Au
@alanau.bsky.social
Trickster disciple. 🦊 Game developer. 🎲️✂ Emeritus data generalist. 📊 Delightfully imperfect. ☁️ Not that kind of doctor. 🎓 [E] Itsatrap 🎮 He/Him
Pinned
Alan Au
@alanau.bsky.social
· Nov 13
Days since uttering "what the actual fuck?": 0
Reposted by Alan Au
Seattle friends: the race for mayor is extremely close. Ballots can be cured until Nov. 24 at 4:30 p.m.
Please go check your #vote:
voter.votewa.gov/portal2023/l...
Please go check your #vote:
voter.votewa.gov/portal2023/l...
If you haven't checked to make sure your vote counted, you need to do it now - the race for Seattle's future depends on it!
Your Vote May Not Have Counted: 1,930 of You Could Decide This Election
Your ballot might be sick. Cure it, please. We can't bear to watch it suffer.
www.thestranger.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Seattle friends: the race for mayor is extremely close. Ballots can be cured until Nov. 24 at 4:30 p.m.
Please go check your #vote:
voter.votewa.gov/portal2023/l...
Please go check your #vote:
voter.votewa.gov/portal2023/l...
Periodic reminder that "performance" is subjective and mostly just numbers made up by executive leadership.
Sony says Destiny 2 has underperformed since it acquired Bungie
Sony says Destiny 2 has underperformed since it acquired Bungie
Bungie was acquired by Sony for $3.6 billion in 2022 but it seems that bet has yet to pay off.
www.gamedeveloper.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Periodic reminder that "performance" is subjective and mostly just numbers made up by executive leadership.
Reposted by Alan Au
I've judged IGF for years and done Narrative jury a couple times, too. If you need advice on submitting your game to IGF, I'm happy to give it, but here are some pointers to start with...
I am thinking at this point that anyone submitting a game to IGF should ask a current or former judge to review their submission. There are some great games making some easy to avoid mistakes.
blog post boiling within me titled "indie publishers, you need to get your shit together" based on this year of indie pubs submitting games to IGF w/ a demo and then when asked for a dev build so anyone can actually judge it, either ghost or go "we will provide you with a build on the release date"
November 11, 2025 at 1:41 PM
I've judged IGF for years and done Narrative jury a couple times, too. If you need advice on submitting your game to IGF, I'm happy to give it, but here are some pointers to start with...
I guess we're doing Bond discourse today? I kind of want Bond to fade into legend. Tell a story where people just whisper about Bond doing stuff off camera while another story unfolds. I mean, they basically already did this with the Bourne franchise.
November 11, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I guess we're doing Bond discourse today? I kind of want Bond to fade into legend. Tell a story where people just whisper about Bond doing stuff off camera while another story unfolds. I mean, they basically already did this with the Bourne franchise.
Reposted by Alan Au
Chatting with Future Class inductees for my latest at @theguardian.com. They paint a pretty clear picture of the perils of performative allyship.
Thanks to all who spoke with me, and always, to Keza for the chance to do important work!
Thanks to all who spoke with me, and always, to Keza for the chance to do important work!
“Don’t gather some of the most brilliant activists in the industry, treat us like crap, and then expect us to do nothing about it.” After the Game Awards cancelled its Future Class programme, @alyssamerc.bsky.social talked to its former honorees
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
“We were effectively props”: young stars of game development feel let down by the ‘gaming Oscars’
Announced in 2020 by the Game Awards as an inclusive programme for the industry’s next generation, the Future Class initiative has now been discontinued. Inductees describe clashes with organisers and...
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Chatting with Future Class inductees for my latest at @theguardian.com. They paint a pretty clear picture of the perils of performative allyship.
Thanks to all who spoke with me, and always, to Keza for the chance to do important work!
Thanks to all who spoke with me, and always, to Keza for the chance to do important work!
Today's "I should be sleeping topic"? Dessert pizza.
Normally I believe in the sacred power of bread and cheese, but you can also just put fruit on things. Consider that tomatoes are technically fruit. You can also put figs or pears on a pizza and they work fine.
And then there's pineapple. 🤔
Normally I believe in the sacred power of bread and cheese, but you can also just put fruit on things. Consider that tomatoes are technically fruit. You can also put figs or pears on a pizza and they work fine.
And then there's pineapple. 🤔
November 11, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Today's "I should be sleeping topic"? Dessert pizza.
Normally I believe in the sacred power of bread and cheese, but you can also just put fruit on things. Consider that tomatoes are technically fruit. You can also put figs or pears on a pizza and they work fine.
And then there's pineapple. 🤔
Normally I believe in the sacred power of bread and cheese, but you can also just put fruit on things. Consider that tomatoes are technically fruit. You can also put figs or pears on a pizza and they work fine.
And then there's pineapple. 🤔
Reposted by Alan Au
I believe in the concept of variable backup plans, the idea being the amount of detail is based on the likelihood of having to execute them.
Plan 2, several steps lined up. Plans 3-4, initial step lined up. Plans 5-7, have assessed viability. Plans 8+, have assessed comedic potential.
Plan 2, several steps lined up. Plans 3-4, initial step lined up. Plans 5-7, have assessed viability. Plans 8+, have assessed comedic potential.
November 9, 2025 at 11:59 PM
I believe in the concept of variable backup plans, the idea being the amount of detail is based on the likelihood of having to execute them.
Plan 2, several steps lined up. Plans 3-4, initial step lined up. Plans 5-7, have assessed viability. Plans 8+, have assessed comedic potential.
Plan 2, several steps lined up. Plans 3-4, initial step lined up. Plans 5-7, have assessed viability. Plans 8+, have assessed comedic potential.
LOL. Fallout 4 has received an Anniversary Edition "upgrade," by which I mean they have introduced a new bug that causes the game to crash upon exit. This is very much on brand for a Bethesda game.
November 11, 2025 at 8:13 AM
LOL. Fallout 4 has received an Anniversary Edition "upgrade," by which I mean they have introduced a new bug that causes the game to crash upon exit. This is very much on brand for a Bethesda game.
Reposted by Alan Au
A rare interview with the creators of the always-funny, always-brilliant, and *usually*-sexy—or occasionally anti-sexy—OGLAF!
Cooper has kept a low profile over the years, but is legitimately one of the very best artists in comics today. Read OGLAF if you're old enough to drive!
Cooper has kept a low profile over the years, but is legitimately one of the very best artists in comics today. Read OGLAF if you're old enough to drive!
Talking Oglaf with Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne: 'We'd stay up all night drawing stuff to make each other laugh' - The Comics Journal
Other than some time off every year for Christmas, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne have delivered a new Oglaf comic, skewering fantasy tropes with absolutely not safe for work humor, every week since 2008...
www.tcj.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:42 PM
A rare interview with the creators of the always-funny, always-brilliant, and *usually*-sexy—or occasionally anti-sexy—OGLAF!
Cooper has kept a low profile over the years, but is legitimately one of the very best artists in comics today. Read OGLAF if you're old enough to drive!
Cooper has kept a low profile over the years, but is legitimately one of the very best artists in comics today. Read OGLAF if you're old enough to drive!
Reposted by Alan Au
JUST IN: Katie Wilson is now ahead of Mayor Bruce Harrell in the Seattle mayoral race.
Stay tuned for details on today's count.
Stay tuned for details on today's count.
November 10, 2025 at 11:54 PM
JUST IN: Katie Wilson is now ahead of Mayor Bruce Harrell in the Seattle mayoral race.
Stay tuned for details on today's count.
Stay tuned for details on today's count.
Reposted by Alan Au
okay, seriously: if we were to corral this, would anyone be interested in contributing? Here is the google form:
forms.gle/m2V4j4cDvwNu...
forms.gle/m2V4j4cDvwNu...
November 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
okay, seriously: if we were to corral this, would anyone be interested in contributing? Here is the google form:
forms.gle/m2V4j4cDvwNu...
forms.gle/m2V4j4cDvwNu...
It's cold and wet outside, and I want to hide in my warm, cozy bed for just a few more hours before I have get up and do stuff. 🥺
November 10, 2025 at 4:46 PM
It's cold and wet outside, and I want to hide in my warm, cozy bed for just a few more hours before I have get up and do stuff. 🥺
Reposted by Alan Au
Who needs enemies when you've got ... whatever the fuck this is.
February 4, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Who needs enemies when you've got ... whatever the fuck this is.
Reposted by Alan Au
This is definitely *not* the normal amount of internal screaming. 😒
Trying to decide if this is the "normal" amount of internal screaming. 🤔
November 10, 2025 at 5:52 AM
This is definitely *not* the normal amount of internal screaming. 😒
This is definitely *not* the normal amount of internal screaming. 😒
Trying to decide if this is the "normal" amount of internal screaming. 🤔
November 10, 2025 at 5:52 AM
This is definitely *not* the normal amount of internal screaming. 😒
I spent the weekend practicing my "delegating" skill; it's a weird one to both learn and practice. It turns out I greatly value the ability of folks to operate independently and exercise good judgment about when to escalate. Obviously I've felt this way for years, but it's weird to *formalize* it.
November 10, 2025 at 3:38 AM
I spent the weekend practicing my "delegating" skill; it's a weird one to both learn and practice. It turns out I greatly value the ability of folks to operate independently and exercise good judgment about when to escalate. Obviously I've felt this way for years, but it's weird to *formalize* it.
Oh cool, a new doc essay! This one is more rambling than usual, but it's still good food for thought and definitely worth your time. Check it out!
YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT! I HAVE WRITTEN A NEW ARTICLE!
this one's a bit weird; rather than doing my usual "trying to organize my thoughts and building a winding case that builds on itself," I decided to show you what my EARLY article creation process looks like:
docseuss.medium.com/some-loosely...
this one's a bit weird; rather than doing my usual "trying to organize my thoughts and building a winding case that builds on itself," I decided to show you what my EARLY article creation process looks like:
docseuss.medium.com/some-loosely...
some loosely organized thoughts about dialogue sysin games
think of this as me trying to find out what parts of dialogue choices are load bearing game design and what else can be done with dialogue.
docseuss.medium.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Oh cool, a new doc essay! This one is more rambling than usual, but it's still good food for thought and definitely worth your time. Check it out!
Do not trust the promises of your enemies; they do not have your best interests in mind.
Best case, they will try to wriggle out of it on technical grounds. Worst case, they will simply renege without consequence.
Best case, they will try to wriggle out of it on technical grounds. Worst case, they will simply renege without consequence.
November 10, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Do not trust the promises of your enemies; they do not have your best interests in mind.
Best case, they will try to wriggle out of it on technical grounds. Worst case, they will simply renege without consequence.
Best case, they will try to wriggle out of it on technical grounds. Worst case, they will simply renege without consequence.
I believe in the concept of variable backup plans, the idea being the amount of detail is based on the likelihood of having to execute them.
Plan 2, several steps lined up. Plans 3-4, initial step lined up. Plans 5-7, have assessed viability. Plans 8+, have assessed comedic potential.
Plan 2, several steps lined up. Plans 3-4, initial step lined up. Plans 5-7, have assessed viability. Plans 8+, have assessed comedic potential.
November 9, 2025 at 11:59 PM
I believe in the concept of variable backup plans, the idea being the amount of detail is based on the likelihood of having to execute them.
Plan 2, several steps lined up. Plans 3-4, initial step lined up. Plans 5-7, have assessed viability. Plans 8+, have assessed comedic potential.
Plan 2, several steps lined up. Plans 3-4, initial step lined up. Plans 5-7, have assessed viability. Plans 8+, have assessed comedic potential.
Reposted by Alan Au
Many people think this race could be decided by only a handful of votes (here’s former Seattle mayor Greg Nickels). Have YOU checked to make sure that yours was counted? Check our link in bio to check on your vote with King County elections!
November 9, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Many people think this race could be decided by only a handful of votes (here’s former Seattle mayor Greg Nickels). Have YOU checked to make sure that yours was counted? Check our link in bio to check on your vote with King County elections!
Reposted by Alan Au
i guess you can't spell arc raiders without AI 😔 this sucks and if you're a dev you should be speaking out about it!
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.
They try to downplay this on the Steam store page by describing the AI usage as vaguely as possible.
November 9, 2025 at 10:28 PM
i guess you can't spell arc raiders without AI 😔 this sucks and if you're a dev you should be speaking out about it!
Hollow Knight: Silksong (2025)
A pitch-black cave in the Balkans is home to what appears to be the world’s largest spider web, which researchers say is a singular work of cooperation by two usually-hostile species of spider. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/s...
November 9, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Hollow Knight: Silksong (2025)
Reposted by Alan Au
In operations management, everyone is taught the beer game to demonstrate how bottlenecks occur and how easy it is to underestimate capacity, problems with demand forecasting, and the impact of a lack of trust between parties, leading to a bullwhip effect. mitsloan.mit.edu/teaching-res...
November 9, 2025 at 8:18 PM
In operations management, everyone is taught the beer game to demonstrate how bottlenecks occur and how easy it is to underestimate capacity, problems with demand forecasting, and the impact of a lack of trust between parties, leading to a bullwhip effect. mitsloan.mit.edu/teaching-res...
Reposted by Alan Au
Periodic reminder: whenever people say "this will make things better" you should always ask "for whom?"
May 27, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Periodic reminder: whenever people say "this will make things better" you should always ask "for whom?"