Robin-Yann Storm
@rystorm.com
Product & Tool UX Designer, Freelance Workflow Consultant @ https://rystorm.com/
Previously Hytale, Apple, Guerrilla, IO-Interactive, and more. Organizes the Tool Design & OpenUSD Roundtables at GDC.
Gets really excited about workflows.
Previously Hytale, Apple, Guerrilla, IO-Interactive, and more. Organizes the Tool Design & OpenUSD Roundtables at GDC.
Gets really excited about workflows.
Pinned
Robin-Yann Storm
@rystorm.com
· Jan 7
Consulting — Robin-Yann Storm, Product & UX Designer for Tools
rystorm.com
Do you hear that your tools are frustrating to use? Do you find it hard to find out what your users want? Do you wonder what low hanging UX fruit your pipeline has?
Let me help you answer all your questions, and teach your team how to build great workflows: Book a free call!
rystorm.com/consulting
Let me help you answer all your questions, and teach your team how to build great workflows: Book a free call!
rystorm.com/consulting
There is a sense of grind and community in the Cantina Legends of ARC Raiders that I have not felt since vanilla WoW PvP honor groups.
There are also some incredibly strange decisions in the designs of some of the trials, in relation to the game mechanics around them. Definitely a future video idea
There are also some incredibly strange decisions in the designs of some of the trials, in relation to the game mechanics around them. Definitely a future video idea
February 9, 2026 at 10:06 PM
There is a sense of grind and community in the Cantina Legends of ARC Raiders that I have not felt since vanilla WoW PvP honor groups.
There are also some incredibly strange decisions in the designs of some of the trials, in relation to the game mechanics around them. Definitely a future video idea
There are also some incredibly strange decisions in the designs of some of the trials, in relation to the game mechanics around them. Definitely a future video idea
Engaging directly with customers creates a better user experience. As true in ancient times as now.
Meanwhile PUBG: BLINDSPOT (65% positive, rough week) had their team actively responding in 67+ forum threads
Result? Only 2.8% of their negative reviews originated from forums vs Nioh 3's 10%
Community engagement literally changed the review outcome
3/6
Result? Only 2.8% of their negative reviews originated from forums vs Nioh 3's 10%
Community engagement literally changed the review outcome
3/6
February 9, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Engaging directly with customers creates a better user experience. As true in ancient times as now.
Reposted by Robin-Yann Storm
🎮 This week's Steam data: 1,045 games, 25.7K reviews, and a masterclass in why your forums matter more than you think
🧵 1/6
🧵 1/6
February 9, 2026 at 7:27 PM
🎮 This week's Steam data: 1,045 games, 25.7K reviews, and a masterclass in why your forums matter more than you think
🧵 1/6
🧵 1/6
Whenever an engineer says "It's not possible" always remember that what they actually mean is "I don't know how to build that" which sounds different, but means the same thing.
February 9, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Whenever an engineer says "It's not possible" always remember that what they actually mean is "I don't know how to build that" which sounds different, but means the same thing.
Reposted by Robin-Yann Storm
🎉Text Animator for Unreal has received an Epic MegaGrant🎉
This will allow us to keep developing the tool for a bit, hear your feedbacks and reach the same standards we have on other engines
> www.textanimatorforgames.com/unreal
This is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Epic Games, Inc.
This will allow us to keep developing the tool for a bit, hear your feedbacks and reach the same standards we have on other engines
> www.textanimatorforgames.com/unreal
This is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Epic Games, Inc.
Text Animator for Unreal Engine | Coming Soon
Bring your dialogues to life in a few simple steps by using Text Animator for either Unity, Godot, Unreal Engine or your Custom Engine! Trusted by thousands of developers since 2020. Learn more!
www.textanimatorforgames.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:22 PM
🎉Text Animator for Unreal has received an Epic MegaGrant🎉
This will allow us to keep developing the tool for a bit, hear your feedbacks and reach the same standards we have on other engines
> www.textanimatorforgames.com/unreal
This is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Epic Games, Inc.
This will allow us to keep developing the tool for a bit, hear your feedbacks and reach the same standards we have on other engines
> www.textanimatorforgames.com/unreal
This is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Epic Games, Inc.
Reposted by Robin-Yann Storm
This is for a potential future video and presentation I am making.
I would say what I am interested in finding out, but saying that out loud might influence the results, so I won't.
I would say what I am interested in finding out, but saying that out loud might influence the results, so I won't.
February 8, 2026 at 6:41 PM
This is for a potential future video and presentation I am making.
I would say what I am interested in finding out, but saying that out loud might influence the results, so I won't.
I would say what I am interested in finding out, but saying that out loud might influence the results, so I won't.
Reposted by Robin-Yann Storm
I am researching some workflows and would love help if possible.
If you are making a non-NDA'd game in Unreal, Unity, or Godot, would you mind making a fullscreen timelapse recording of yourself working for 3 hours, at 3 frames per second? That'll be about ~18 minutes of footage.
Any game is fine!
If you are making a non-NDA'd game in Unreal, Unity, or Godot, would you mind making a fullscreen timelapse recording of yourself working for 3 hours, at 3 frames per second? That'll be about ~18 minutes of footage.
Any game is fine!
February 8, 2026 at 6:40 PM
I am researching some workflows and would love help if possible.
If you are making a non-NDA'd game in Unreal, Unity, or Godot, would you mind making a fullscreen timelapse recording of yourself working for 3 hours, at 3 frames per second? That'll be about ~18 minutes of footage.
Any game is fine!
If you are making a non-NDA'd game in Unreal, Unity, or Godot, would you mind making a fullscreen timelapse recording of yourself working for 3 hours, at 3 frames per second? That'll be about ~18 minutes of footage.
Any game is fine!
I am researching some workflows and would love help if possible.
If you are making a non-NDA'd game in Unreal, Unity, or Godot, would you mind making a fullscreen timelapse recording of yourself working for 3 hours, at 3 frames per second? That'll be about ~18 minutes of footage.
Any game is fine!
If you are making a non-NDA'd game in Unreal, Unity, or Godot, would you mind making a fullscreen timelapse recording of yourself working for 3 hours, at 3 frames per second? That'll be about ~18 minutes of footage.
Any game is fine!
February 8, 2026 at 6:40 PM
I am researching some workflows and would love help if possible.
If you are making a non-NDA'd game in Unreal, Unity, or Godot, would you mind making a fullscreen timelapse recording of yourself working for 3 hours, at 3 frames per second? That'll be about ~18 minutes of footage.
Any game is fine!
If you are making a non-NDA'd game in Unreal, Unity, or Godot, would you mind making a fullscreen timelapse recording of yourself working for 3 hours, at 3 frames per second? That'll be about ~18 minutes of footage.
Any game is fine!
As much as the sound of infinite hammer cocking is annoying in modern media, it's equally annoying that in sci-fi they have replaced it with every gun somehow making a 'bweeeeeee~' sound as if they are charging up.
Which is then never heard when actually being shot.
Which is then never heard when actually being shot.
February 8, 2026 at 12:15 PM
As much as the sound of infinite hammer cocking is annoying in modern media, it's equally annoying that in sci-fi they have replaced it with every gun somehow making a 'bweeeeeee~' sound as if they are charging up.
Which is then never heard when actually being shot.
Which is then never heard when actually being shot.
The data is in: People like it when I serve face
February 8, 2026 at 8:35 AM
The data is in: People like it when I serve face
This entire building looks like one of my shirts
February 6, 2026 at 11:12 AM
This entire building looks like one of my shirts
I am seeing folks argue about 'AI' again without being specific, and that makes your entire argument murky and unsustainable. It is the opposite of helpful, and creates confusion.
As much as it sucks, you have to be very specific. I made a video with a bunch of examples from over the last 20 years:
As much as it sucks, you have to be very specific. I made a video with a bunch of examples from over the last 20 years:
Please look up the difference between Machine Learning (ML) and Large Language Models (LLMs)
If your definition of AI is 'Any algorithm that runs without my knowledge' then you may as well permanently turn off every single computer you have.
It's just a nomenclature issue:
youtu.be/CeZ_rcDQg6Q?...
If your definition of AI is 'Any algorithm that runs without my knowledge' then you may as well permanently turn off every single computer you have.
It's just a nomenclature issue:
youtu.be/CeZ_rcDQg6Q?...
February 6, 2026 at 10:30 AM
I am seeing folks argue about 'AI' again without being specific, and that makes your entire argument murky and unsustainable. It is the opposite of helpful, and creates confusion.
As much as it sucks, you have to be very specific. I made a video with a bunch of examples from over the last 20 years:
As much as it sucks, you have to be very specific. I made a video with a bunch of examples from over the last 20 years:
Reposted by Robin-Yann Storm
Yesterday I had a conversation with someone about this. You know how in TF2 you see the place and shape of a turret before you place it? Or in World of Warcraft an area of fire is telegraphed before it burns?
Yet in level editors this is rarely done. That’s dumb.
Joe made a door example years ago:
Yet in level editors this is rarely done. That’s dumb.
Joe made a door example years ago:
February 5, 2026 at 8:29 AM
Yesterday I had a conversation with someone about this. You know how in TF2 you see the place and shape of a turret before you place it? Or in World of Warcraft an area of fire is telegraphed before it burns?
Yet in level editors this is rarely done. That’s dumb.
Joe made a door example years ago:
Yet in level editors this is rarely done. That’s dumb.
Joe made a door example years ago:
Reposted by Robin-Yann Storm
most pleasing when your video game's level editor becomes full of meaningful debug shit imo (@sleightofhand.game)
February 5, 2026 at 12:01 AM
most pleasing when your video game's level editor becomes full of meaningful debug shit imo (@sleightofhand.game)
People often forget there is one Unix system that did get good UX and UI ontop of it. So much so that it’s the standard outside of Windows!
And that’s macOS: youtu.be/1fZTOjd_bOQ?...
As long as you have ornery Linux engineers telling you that command lines are best, the UX is going to suck.
And that’s macOS: youtu.be/1fZTOjd_bOQ?...
As long as you have ornery Linux engineers telling you that command lines are best, the UX is going to suck.
February 5, 2026 at 12:09 PM
People often forget there is one Unix system that did get good UX and UI ontop of it. So much so that it’s the standard outside of Windows!
And that’s macOS: youtu.be/1fZTOjd_bOQ?...
As long as you have ornery Linux engineers telling you that command lines are best, the UX is going to suck.
And that’s macOS: youtu.be/1fZTOjd_bOQ?...
As long as you have ornery Linux engineers telling you that command lines are best, the UX is going to suck.
Yesterday I had a conversation with someone about this. You know how in TF2 you see the place and shape of a turret before you place it? Or in World of Warcraft an area of fire is telegraphed before it burns?
Yet in level editors this is rarely done. That’s dumb.
Joe made a door example years ago:
Yet in level editors this is rarely done. That’s dumb.
Joe made a door example years ago:
February 5, 2026 at 8:29 AM
Yesterday I had a conversation with someone about this. You know how in TF2 you see the place and shape of a turret before you place it? Or in World of Warcraft an area of fire is telegraphed before it burns?
Yet in level editors this is rarely done. That’s dumb.
Joe made a door example years ago:
Yet in level editors this is rarely done. That’s dumb.
Joe made a door example years ago:
Reposted by Robin-Yann Storm
new blog post about: makin' it easier to integrate elaborate (or not) contextual character animation stuff into gameplay in @sleightofhand.game. Like all the best shit, this is not so much technically impressive as workflowily excellent.
www.joewintergreen.com/contextual-a...
www.joewintergreen.com/contextual-a...
February 5, 2026 at 7:20 AM
new blog post about: makin' it easier to integrate elaborate (or not) contextual character animation stuff into gameplay in @sleightofhand.game. Like all the best shit, this is not so much technically impressive as workflowily excellent.
www.joewintergreen.com/contextual-a...
www.joewintergreen.com/contextual-a...
For those heading to GDC, you can find me there again this year hosting the Tool Design Roundtables!
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday in Room 306 of the South hall.
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday in Room 306 of the South hall.
February 4, 2026 at 4:36 PM
For those heading to GDC, you can find me there again this year hosting the Tool Design Roundtables!
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday in Room 306 of the South hall.
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday in Room 306 of the South hall.
Reposted by Robin-Yann Storm
Fuck it, putting this out a bit early:
I'll be looking for a 3D Level Designer for a new project.
▶️ No/very low budget (but small scope + lots of control)
▶️ Godot / First Person / Im-Sim "light"
▶️ Open nonlinear levels (Abiotic Factor, Deus Ex MD Prague)
Reach me via Signal or DM!
I'll be looking for a 3D Level Designer for a new project.
▶️ No/very low budget (but small scope + lots of control)
▶️ Godot / First Person / Im-Sim "light"
▶️ Open nonlinear levels (Abiotic Factor, Deus Ex MD Prague)
Reach me via Signal or DM!
February 3, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Fuck it, putting this out a bit early:
I'll be looking for a 3D Level Designer for a new project.
▶️ No/very low budget (but small scope + lots of control)
▶️ Godot / First Person / Im-Sim "light"
▶️ Open nonlinear levels (Abiotic Factor, Deus Ex MD Prague)
Reach me via Signal or DM!
I'll be looking for a 3D Level Designer for a new project.
▶️ No/very low budget (but small scope + lots of control)
▶️ Godot / First Person / Im-Sim "light"
▶️ Open nonlinear levels (Abiotic Factor, Deus Ex MD Prague)
Reach me via Signal or DM!
That's a nice looking zoo
All the Godot vfx/shader things I made in January. I love this stuff.
You can find them here: itch.io/s/178769/3d-...
#godot #GodotEngine #shaders #vfx #gamedev
You can find them here: itch.io/s/178769/3d-...
#godot #GodotEngine #shaders #vfx #gamedev
February 3, 2026 at 8:58 AM
That's a nice looking zoo
One of the most awful things about Agile (or any other production system) is when a studio follows it to the letter because "That's what the system says we should do"
Folks start having to do 'rituals' like standup, not because anyone gets anything out of them, but because it's a box to be checked.
Folks start having to do 'rituals' like standup, not because anyone gets anything out of them, but because it's a box to be checked.
There is a pretty good way to evaluate if a producer is good:
Are they offloading work from the team and making sure they can focus on the development..
..or are they making the team do work *for the producer*, e.g. filling out jiras, reporting work, following rituals and procedures.
Are they offloading work from the team and making sure they can focus on the development..
..or are they making the team do work *for the producer*, e.g. filling out jiras, reporting work, following rituals and procedures.
There are a lot of roles in game dev where someone bad in a role can do damage, but a bad producer can be so unbelievably damaging that it truly would be better to have no one in the role at all.
Just as good producers are force multipliers, bad producers are like throwing sand into a gearbox.
Just as good producers are force multipliers, bad producers are like throwing sand into a gearbox.
February 2, 2026 at 11:35 AM
One of the most awful things about Agile (or any other production system) is when a studio follows it to the letter because "That's what the system says we should do"
Folks start having to do 'rituals' like standup, not because anyone gets anything out of them, but because it's a box to be checked.
Folks start having to do 'rituals' like standup, not because anyone gets anything out of them, but because it's a box to be checked.
I have heard of folks visiting TGS (Tokyo Game Show) before, and it seems like a Gamescom-ish event with a public area, business area, and many exhibited games.
But, is there also a conference attached? Do folks do talks? Can I submit one? I can't quite get clarity through their website.
But, is there also a conference attached? Do folks do talks? Can I submit one? I can't quite get clarity through their website.
February 1, 2026 at 5:00 PM
I have heard of folks visiting TGS (Tokyo Game Show) before, and it seems like a Gamescom-ish event with a public area, business area, and many exhibited games.
But, is there also a conference attached? Do folks do talks? Can I submit one? I can't quite get clarity through their website.
But, is there also a conference attached? Do folks do talks? Can I submit one? I can't quite get clarity through their website.
Lots of leadership loves talking about iteration and being agile, but when you need to put effort into making workflows fast, suddenly there’s no time available.
The cure is simple: Sit behind someone who is actually doing the work. If their tools are bad you’ll get frustrated in minutes.
The cure is simple: Sit behind someone who is actually doing the work. If their tools are bad you’ll get frustrated in minutes.
I think most game dev teams underestimate how damaging slow workflows are to the ultimate quality of their game.
If it takes 5 minutes to launch the game and see your changes, I think your game is going to be MUCH worse than the alternate timeline where it took 1 minute
If it takes 5 minutes to launch the game and see your changes, I think your game is going to be MUCH worse than the alternate timeline where it took 1 minute
January 31, 2026 at 8:36 AM
Lots of leadership loves talking about iteration and being agile, but when you need to put effort into making workflows fast, suddenly there’s no time available.
The cure is simple: Sit behind someone who is actually doing the work. If their tools are bad you’ll get frustrated in minutes.
The cure is simple: Sit behind someone who is actually doing the work. If their tools are bad you’ll get frustrated in minutes.
Something I have seen a few times that instantly lets me know a person does not understand the game community: They see a speedrun of their game with many glitches and immediately say they have to fix their game.
No! There's a big difference between a Reddit post of a broken game, and a speedrun.
No! There's a big difference between a Reddit post of a broken game, and a speedrun.
January 29, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Something I have seen a few times that instantly lets me know a person does not understand the game community: They see a speedrun of their game with many glitches and immediately say they have to fix their game.
No! There's a big difference between a Reddit post of a broken game, and a speedrun.
No! There's a big difference between a Reddit post of a broken game, and a speedrun.
Reminds me of a studio at which there was no time selector in the engine, so level designers and QA were spending hours manually going through missions.
I pushed for a way to speed up time, we got it, and all the level designers were so happy to no longer have to wait around so long.
I pushed for a way to speed up time, we got it, and all the level designers were so happy to no longer have to wait around so long.
Godot feature that just sped me up: there’s a time scale selector right there on the project preview window (spoilers for the top left corner of my next project). That was like 6 clicks and three windows in Unity
January 29, 2026 at 11:40 AM
Reminds me of a studio at which there was no time selector in the engine, so level designers and QA were spending hours manually going through missions.
I pushed for a way to speed up time, we got it, and all the level designers were so happy to no longer have to wait around so long.
I pushed for a way to speed up time, we got it, and all the level designers were so happy to no longer have to wait around so long.