Sam Swain
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sam.apparance.uk
Sam Swain
@sam.apparance.uk
910 followers 250 following 370 posts
A child of the procedural generation. Long-time tools coder off of
the games industry. Worked on Fable, NMS, Gloomhaven. Building crazy proc-gen technology: www.apparance.uk 👈 Try Unreal & Unity plugin for free!

he/him ▪ forever 42 ▪ surrey, uk ▪ no AI
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sam.apparance.uk
Sam Swain @sam.apparance.uk · Nov 17
Hello Bluesky! I'm a programmer who has worked on a few well known games, making lots of level editors, content tools, and technical architecture. My interest and involvement in procedural generation over the years has blossomed into my game focused proc-gen middleware called Apparance.
Collection of game logos and box-art that Sam Swain has worked on and the companies that made them: Flaming Fowl (Gloomhaven, Ironmarked), Hello Games (No Man's Sky), Apparance procedural middleware (Apparance Studios), Elixir Studios (Republic The Revolution), Salix Games (Maze), Lionhead Studios (Fable 2, Fable 3, Fable Heroes, Fable The Journey, Fable Legends), Silicon Dreams (Dogs of War, Lego Island 2), and Oxford Softworks (Intelligent Strategy Games 10, Go II Professional, Go III Professional).
Reposted by Sam Swain
charalanahzard.bsky.social
Here’s my breakdown of EA’s pending sale… to Saudi Arabia… and why this is much, much bigger than video games. I’m late to this from a ‘news’ perspective obviously, but it’s because I worked on this video for about a month.

youtu.be/yOzFyrRH_sw
I probably shouldn't post this
YouTube video by Charalanahzard
youtu.be
November 8, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
delaneyking.bsky.social
AI wrote the article,
So nobody had to,

AI edited the article,
So nobody had to,

AI illustrated the article,
So nobody had to,

AI wrote the adverts that paid for the article,
So nobody had to.

AI read the article,
So nobody had to.
November 9, 2025 at 9:53 AM
sam.apparance.uk
Todays stream video uploaded. Managed to get from empty to stacked rooms in an hour and a half :)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMoL...
Proc-Gen Dev Stream #12 - Space Station Storage For Days!
YouTube video by Apparance
www.youtube.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:29 PM
sam.apparance.uk
Want to see some #ProcGen #GameDev in action? I'm streaming in 10 minutes! Continuing my space-station rooms build so you can see what can be built in www.apparance.uk and how! www.twitch.tv/ga5p0d3
ga5p0d3 - Twitch
Games Developer, specialising in procedural generation, tools, and systems. Creator of the Apparance proc-gen plugin for Unreal and Unity.
www.twitch.tv
November 6, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Reposted by Sam Swain
lizardengland.bsky.social
man I dunno this is just off the top of my head, probably missed some things
GDC informa survey of the industry with the question "From your perspective, what is responsible for the rise in layoffs in the game industry?" and the answer "The economy is heading south so people are battening down the hatches. Money continues to flow upwards and consolidate in fewer hands, leaving the rest to fight for crumbs and fold. The promise of cheap labor - whether it's AI or offshoring - combines with the pressures of our capitalist system on infinite growth and competing for ever larger slices of the pie to keep costs down. The business chases profit to the point where our industry seeks out the lowest cost methods to produce the most revenue, sacrificing quality in favor quantity and a sweatshop approach to development. Funding sources have dried up, with fewer investors or publishers willing to fund a game through completion and instead pulling out partway, leaving teams abandoned with incomplete games and no money to finish them. What funding exists requires significant investment on the side of the creators in the first place - money that, again, is not available except for very few - or is dedicated toward the AI bubble, incentivizing companies to go all-in on a technology that requires them to destroy our own labor market."
November 5, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
kendrawrites.com
I knew it would take less than a day for a tiktok dj to make something.
November 5, 2025 at 12:13 PM
sam.apparance.uk
Last weeks #ProcGen #GameDev stream uploaded for viewing. See you Thursday 12 GMT on twitch.tv/ga5p0d3 for more :)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyIU...
Proc-Gen Dev Stream #11 - Rooms now expand vertically!
YouTube video by Apparance
www.youtube.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:47 PM
sam.apparance.uk
My #ProcGen #GameDev stream is live, I'll be starting in 15 minutes. www.twitch.tv/ga5p0d3
ga5p0d3 - Twitch
Games Developer, specialising in procedural generation, tools, and systems. Creator of the Apparance proc-gen plugin for Unreal and Unity.
www.twitch.tv
October 30, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Reposted by Sam Swain
standplaatskrk.pl
Tumblr: oxl: change your name and gender at least twice a year for security reasons goodzillo: using a gender manager so I don't have to memorize what gender I'm currently using for which accounts horriblehottakes: "Man" and "Woman" are commonly used genders. To make yourself more secure, try to come up with a unique gender that only you know.
October 20, 2024 at 10:17 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
daggersmctimbers.bsky.social
I’ll forever hate the people that never took COVID seriously.

It changed mine and hundreds of thousands others lives. It changed our health and twisted it into something cruel. And it killed many more. It continues still.

What a privilege it was to have been so completely healthy, once.
October 29, 2025 at 11:11 PM
sam.apparance.uk
Streaming tomorrow (Thurs) at 12 GMT!
(Note now out of BST so 12pm UK time)
#ProcGen #GameDev #Apparance #UnrealEngine
Ongoing procedural space-station rooms project.
What can we add next? Join the stream to find out:
www.twitch.tv/ga5p0d3
ga5p0d3 - Twitch
Games Developer, specialising in procedural generation, tools, and systems. Creator of the Apparance proc-gen plugin for Unreal and Unity.
www.twitch.tv
October 29, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
flamingfowl.com
0.8 is live, and it's our biggest update yet! New Cargo and Crew! The Sisters of Salvage faction joins the fight, and the Demo gets a massive upgrade.

is.gd/fSSNdn
Konfronto on Steam
A sci-fi roguelike auto-battler. Build a powerful intergalactic starship by interlocking different technologies, then battle through a galaxy populated with other players' creations.
store.steampowered.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:35 PM
sam.apparance.uk
To anyone trying to DM me on here, currently I refuse to do the draconian/pointless age verification the UK now requires and so DM's are unavailable.
Please email me via: sam@apparance.uk if it's important.
Thank-you.
October 28, 2025 at 5:42 PM
sam.apparance.uk
Power to the people. People are the power.
October 28, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Reposted by Sam Swain
czedwards.bsky.social
Reposting with Alt-text:
The lady at the charity shop today told me that she wishes people would clear out their children's old toys in the lead up to Christmas rather than after because she always sees a number of parents in the days before Christmas looking for toys for their little ones who might be strapped for cash. She said there's very rarely anything in just before, but that they get inundated with toys in the days after. And it really made me think about it in a way I never would have before. If you know your child is going to get lots of presents from father Christmas this year, by clearing out your cupboards a few days early you could make another child's Christmas a lot more special too. Saw this & thought I'd repost
October 27, 2025 at 4:24 AM
sam.apparance.uk
This is the sort of attention to mechanical detail that I can get behind.
smoothstepped.bsky.social Lawrence @smoothstepped.bsky.social · 16d
It's also fully rigged!
October 27, 2025 at 6:48 PM
sam.apparance.uk
This is a lovely concept, beautifully realised, and an impressive technical feat too.
October 27, 2025 at 5:26 PM
sam.apparance.uk
Whoops, forgot to stream today. Oh dear, well, a lot going on at the moment in my life. Ho-hum. I did finally get round to uploading last weeks stream though! Look, connected rooms!
October 23, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
geekdadgamer.bsky.social
We are bringing our biggest ever Family Gaming Zone back to EGX! South Hall S1680.

Over 100 games to choose from with experts on hand to suggest titles, explain PEGI and parental controls for consoles, Roblox and PC. www.familygamingdatabase.com/Family+Gamin...

See you there? Shares welcome.
October 21, 2025 at 4:36 PM
sam.apparance.uk
Stream is live. #ProcGen starts on the hour!
www.twitch.tv/ga5p0d3
sam.apparance.uk Sam Swain @sam.apparance.uk · 26d
Streaming again in an hour! Join me to see if I can get rooms joining up properly this time! :D
www.twitch.tv/ga5p0d3
Funky Diagnostics! Procedural Labels! Episode #9 (last week). Me in the corner waving. Unreal Editor in background showing procedural space station rooms with blue and red diagnostics boxes and labels.
October 16, 2025 at 11:52 AM
sam.apparance.uk
Streaming again in an hour! Join me to see if I can get rooms joining up properly this time! :D
www.twitch.tv/ga5p0d3
Funky Diagnostics! Procedural Labels! Episode #9 (last week). Me in the corner waving. Unreal Editor in background showing procedural space station rooms with blue and red diagnostics boxes and labels.
October 16, 2025 at 11:09 AM
sam.apparance.uk
Goodness, I forgot to post last weeks stream video! Never fear, it is here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIPt...

Also, I'll be streaming tomorrow at 1pm BST (12 GMT). Hopefully having worked out what's going on with the door/wall interaction logic 🤔
Proc-Gen Dev Stream #9 - Funky proc-gen diagnostics
YouTube video by Apparance
www.youtube.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
glassbottommeg.bsky.social
What's this? An actually reasonable, explanatory, clearly understandable take on what AI can and can't be reasonably expected to do (and how the "AI" that works has actually been in tools for years already)?

GOSH

Anyways this is real good
britthates.bsky.social britt hayes @britthates.bsky.social · 28d
studio execs & major outlets claim AI is "inevitable" and poised to take over Hollywood. the reality is much different. i spoke with filmmakers, producers, and editors about how AI is actually showing up in productions – and what it still can't do:
Hollywood Has a Major AI Hype Problem
Studio execs and major media outlets claim that AI is "inevitable" and poised to take over film and TV. The reality is much different.
movieweb.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Reposted by Sam Swain
edmorrish.bsky.social
my new ai device will sit in a beer garden that backs onto a small river and drink three to five pints on a sunny late summer afternoon for you, leaving you free for more meetings and business calls
July 26, 2025 at 4:17 PM
sam.apparance.uk
Back streaming #ProcGen dev again tomorrow, also back at 1pm BST (12 GMT).
www.twitch.tv/ga5p0d3
ga5p0d3 - Twitch
Games Developer, specialising in procedural generation, tools, and systems. Creator of the Apparance proc-gen plugin for Unreal and Unity.
www.twitch.tv
October 8, 2025 at 9:01 PM