nathaniel
@pedrothedagger.bsky.social
game developer (derogatory). Senior Game Designer at Epic Games on Lego Fortnite
instanced structs are the best UE feature in recent memory change my mind
November 12, 2025 at 12:15 AM
instanced structs are the best UE feature in recent memory change my mind
i think it's pretty clear. the shutdown was starting to affect the constituency they actually care about - upper middle class professionals
I'm having a hard time even figuring out this Democratic cave. Like ever work with a guy so stupid he will do something and you can't even tell exactly what he was trying to do
November 10, 2025 at 5:18 AM
i think it's pretty clear. the shutdown was starting to affect the constituency they actually care about - upper middle class professionals
Reposted by nathaniel
also sorry I am never going to call deduction games “metroidbrainias”. sorry. I am open to other terms but not to that one
November 9, 2025 at 12:25 AM
also sorry I am never going to call deduction games “metroidbrainias”. sorry. I am open to other terms but not to that one
CPI inflation is not nearly the problem that asset inflation is imo
NYC is home to “384,000 millionaires” while 20% of residents are on #SNAP.
“.. the extent to which some .. have it all while others have absolutely nothing .. without a civil uprising .. is a minor miracle unto itself.”
@downtownjoshbrown.bsky.social
www.downtownjoshbrown.com/p/there-s-so...
“.. the extent to which some .. have it all while others have absolutely nothing .. without a civil uprising .. is a minor miracle unto itself.”
@downtownjoshbrown.bsky.social
www.downtownjoshbrown.com/p/there-s-so...
November 8, 2025 at 11:56 PM
CPI inflation is not nearly the problem that asset inflation is imo
without being too much of a shill if you like daft punk you should totally do the daft punk experience in fortnite, shit slaps imo
November 8, 2025 at 2:58 AM
without being too much of a shill if you like daft punk you should totally do the daft punk experience in fortnite, shit slaps imo
Solving a production problem with game design is one of the most curiously satisfying parts of being an experienced designer imo
November 7, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Solving a production problem with game design is one of the most curiously satisfying parts of being an experienced designer imo
Hm. I don’t think Wizardry/Nethack/Diablo and Super Metroid belong to the same structural family or have the same structural benefits.
Whenever I’ve heard the term megadungeon I’ve always taken it to mean the Metroid style sprawling interconnected dungeon and not the layer cake Diablo thing
Whenever I’ve heard the term megadungeon I’ve always taken it to mean the Metroid style sprawling interconnected dungeon and not the layer cake Diablo thing
"Why megadungeons?" My pitch is that they are a campaign format that concentrates ideas, maximizes novelty, uses familiarity to advantage, and can be run in 2-4 hour sessions. Plus, between Silk Song and Delicious in Dungeon- everyone knows what they are! icastlight.blogspot.com/2025/09/why-...
WHY MEGADUNGEONS? A Campaign Structure for Modern Lives
Why Megadungeons? Over on the Prismatic Wasteland Discord, a member asked essentially, "Why megadungeons?" This is a good perennial questi...
icastlight.blogspot.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Hm. I don’t think Wizardry/Nethack/Diablo and Super Metroid belong to the same structural family or have the same structural benefits.
Whenever I’ve heard the term megadungeon I’ve always taken it to mean the Metroid style sprawling interconnected dungeon and not the layer cake Diablo thing
Whenever I’ve heard the term megadungeon I’ve always taken it to mean the Metroid style sprawling interconnected dungeon and not the layer cake Diablo thing
this is one of those jokes where if you are a game developer I think you had to laugh like 50% harder
shoutouts to toby fox for just doing this when a platform tells him he HAS to add achievements to his games
November 7, 2025 at 2:23 AM
this is one of those jokes where if you are a game developer I think you had to laugh like 50% harder
I think fulfilling player fantasies is a bad and infantilizing way of referring to a more serious goal which is basically ludonarrative consonance in more academic terms. basically the goal of making the act of playing a role feel like what the player imagines it should feel like. This doesn’t have
Weigh in nerds!
Do you find it helpful to discuss "player fantasies"? Does the term fill you with disgust? Do you have a good handle on what it means?
Do you find it helpful to discuss "player fantasies"? Does the term fill you with disgust? Do you have a good handle on what it means?
I am writing something about "fulfilling player fantasies" in games. I would appreciate any thoughts people have on the subject (positive or negative - is this a valuable concept?), talks or papers discussing or popularizing this sort of rhetoric, etc etc
November 7, 2025 at 2:16 AM
I think fulfilling player fantasies is a bad and infantilizing way of referring to a more serious goal which is basically ludonarrative consonance in more academic terms. basically the goal of making the act of playing a role feel like what the player imagines it should feel like. This doesn’t have
Also, despite thinking this is mostly silly… I do think that it’s probably true that there’s room for some basic genAI work in doing things like throwing your daily automated smoke test videos at an LLM and having it spit out human readable lists of issues. No clue what the hit rate of that would be
Square Enix wants 70% of its QA work to be handled by generative AI by the end of 2027, in partnership with the University of Tokyo's Matsuo-Iwasawa Laboratory. https://bit.ly/4qKdyQR
November 6, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Also, despite thinking this is mostly silly… I do think that it’s probably true that there’s room for some basic genAI work in doing things like throwing your daily automated smoke test videos at an LLM and having it spit out human readable lists of issues. No clue what the hit rate of that would be
this is a case where I think they’re just using the term “generative AI” in a silly way but the actual deck is talking about automated testing. Which kinda just means “catching up to the rest of the industry” in all likelihood.
Square Enix wants 70% of its QA work to be handled by generative AI by the end of 2027, in partnership with the University of Tokyo's Matsuo-Iwasawa Laboratory. https://bit.ly/4qKdyQR
November 6, 2025 at 9:04 PM
this is a case where I think they’re just using the term “generative AI” in a silly way but the actual deck is talking about automated testing. Which kinda just means “catching up to the rest of the industry” in all likelihood.
Reposted by nathaniel
Brad Lander is at the victory party and, folks, he has the custom one-of-one “GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE” shirt.
November 5, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Brad Lander is at the victory party and, folks, he has the custom one-of-one “GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE” shirt.
it is way too perfect that they announce zohrans win almost exactly at the “if you have half a brain lyric” lol
November 5, 2025 at 4:08 AM
it is way too perfect that they announce zohrans win almost exactly at the “if you have half a brain lyric” lol
I love that it looks that Mamdani is over 50% so this shit doesn’t matter but it would have been genuinely funny for them to have done this and cuomo to lose anyways
according to @jessyedwards.bsky.social of @hellgatenyc.com Curtis Sliwa just said on stage that he was offered $10 million to drop out of the race
November 5, 2025 at 3:02 AM
I love that it looks that Mamdani is over 50% so this shit doesn’t matter but it would have been genuinely funny for them to have done this and cuomo to lose anyways
Reposted by nathaniel
As many have pointed out, Mamdani didn't stand apart from our trans brothers and sisters. He didn't play the "Gee, gosh, it sure is complicated," milquetoast moderate card. And he crushed.
The way forward is together, not over the bodies of our own.
The way forward is together, not over the bodies of our own.
November 5, 2025 at 2:52 AM
As many have pointed out, Mamdani didn't stand apart from our trans brothers and sisters. He didn't play the "Gee, gosh, it sure is complicated," milquetoast moderate card. And he crushed.
The way forward is together, not over the bodies of our own.
The way forward is together, not over the bodies of our own.
Reposted by nathaniel
If you’re still in line, STAY IN LINE
November 5, 2025 at 1:04 AM
If you’re still in line, STAY IN LINE
Reposted by nathaniel
Still one of the bleakest quotes I have ever read, from one of George W Bush’s senior advisers.
![The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' [...] 'That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors...and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do'.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5ygvvtokrezoev7nol4wgxjc/bafkreict5fc4gs3ctiqtgfxjkx7rliiylycp4bkm37eitwrjzqssbtddiy@jpeg)
November 4, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Still one of the bleakest quotes I have ever read, from one of George W Bush’s senior advisers.
games are weird enough and varied enough and tech changes rapidly enough that in reality this becomes “any leader who gives orders before listening”. Acting too confidently as if you know anything without understanding reality on the ground is a recipe for this kind of out of touch leadership
I can answer that
* business guy who runs a company because he has an MBA and rich friends
* person entering leadership sideways from leadership in an unrelated industry w/ no desire to learn
* single-discipline dev who went indie and has never had to think about full production before
* business guy who runs a company because he has an MBA and rich friends
* person entering leadership sideways from leadership in an unrelated industry w/ no desire to learn
* single-discipline dev who went indie and has never had to think about full production before
seriously how do you get to a lead role in the games industry without understanding concepts such as "greyboxing" or "bugs not yet fixed in this version". like what is the career path, for these people?
November 4, 2025 at 8:02 PM
games are weird enough and varied enough and tech changes rapidly enough that in reality this becomes “any leader who gives orders before listening”. Acting too confidently as if you know anything without understanding reality on the ground is a recipe for this kind of out of touch leadership
Reposted by nathaniel
I can answer that
* business guy who runs a company because he has an MBA and rich friends
* person entering leadership sideways from leadership in an unrelated industry w/ no desire to learn
* single-discipline dev who went indie and has never had to think about full production before
* business guy who runs a company because he has an MBA and rich friends
* person entering leadership sideways from leadership in an unrelated industry w/ no desire to learn
* single-discipline dev who went indie and has never had to think about full production before
seriously how do you get to a lead role in the games industry without understanding concepts such as "greyboxing" or "bugs not yet fixed in this version". like what is the career path, for these people?
November 4, 2025 at 7:35 PM
I can answer that
* business guy who runs a company because he has an MBA and rich friends
* person entering leadership sideways from leadership in an unrelated industry w/ no desire to learn
* single-discipline dev who went indie and has never had to think about full production before
* business guy who runs a company because he has an MBA and rich friends
* person entering leadership sideways from leadership in an unrelated industry w/ no desire to learn
* single-discipline dev who went indie and has never had to think about full production before
dude this is so insanely common, especially back in the day when you were doing WFH for publishers... truly nauseating
seriously how do you get to a lead role in the games industry without understanding concepts such as "greyboxing" or "bugs not yet fixed in this version". like what is the career path, for these people?
November 4, 2025 at 7:51 PM
dude this is so insanely common, especially back in the day when you were doing WFH for publishers... truly nauseating
Reposted by nathaniel
the doc is maybe even better
November 4, 2025 at 1:58 AM
the doc is maybe even better
i love my aloof wife
[the NY Post scrambling to make a last-ditch scandal:]
"umm, uhhh, his aloof wife Rama Duwaji secretly ran the campaign"
"umm, uhhh, his aloof wife Rama Duwaji secretly ran the campaign"
November 4, 2025 at 7:02 AM
i love my aloof wife
wow was randomly curious and looking at square enix’s job page, they’ve adopted western job titles! (designer for game design instead of planner, artist for artist instead of designer)
November 4, 2025 at 4:45 AM
wow was randomly curious and looking at square enix’s job page, they’ve adopted western job titles! (designer for game design instead of planner, artist for artist instead of designer)
yet undiscovered levels of aura farming over here youtu.be/iuch008sm0k?...
Yoshinobu Yamamoto Delivers Speech In English To Dodger Stadium Crowd At World Series Celebration!
YouTube video by Dodgers Nation
youtu.be
November 4, 2025 at 2:15 AM
yet undiscovered levels of aura farming over here youtu.be/iuch008sm0k?...
