Steven B Smith 🇨🇦
@sbsmith.bsky.social
Steven from Lightning Rod Games. I’m mostly trying to add games industry mutuals right now.
Pinned
Steven B Smith 🇨🇦
@sbsmith.bsky.social
· Nov 19
If any #gamedev (pro or student) were curious about anything let me know and maybe I can do a post about it. I can try to answer just about anything that isn't covered by a partner NDA.
Reposted by Steven B Smith 🇨🇦
If you pay attention to any large industry long enough and follow it to its logical conclusion you eventually end up sounding like a communist even if you started off testing CPU case fans. youtu.be/cUrJVdF2me0?...
December 22, 2025 at 5:58 PM
If you pay attention to any large industry long enough and follow it to its logical conclusion you eventually end up sounding like a communist even if you started off testing CPU case fans. youtu.be/cUrJVdF2me0?...
I knew things were going to be bad, but I was not prepared to hear that a student asylum seeker, staying in Mexico, showed up to his scheduled interview with US CBP, and was then taken from the interview (FOR ASYLUM) and sent to a prison that brags about its human rights violations. He was a prop.
here's the 60 minutes cecot video part 1 of 5 - recorded/uploaded by and all credit to @jasonparis.bsky.social
I just reduced background noise, chopped the 14 minutes into 3 minute segments each compressed under 100 mb for bsky's limits, cropped and rotated a few degrees for easier viewing on here
I just reduced background noise, chopped the 14 minutes into 3 minute segments each compressed under 100 mb for bsky's limits, cropped and rotated a few degrees for easier viewing on here
December 23, 2025 at 12:05 AM
I knew things were going to be bad, but I was not prepared to hear that a student asylum seeker, staying in Mexico, showed up to his scheduled interview with US CBP, and was then taken from the interview (FOR ASYLUM) and sent to a prison that brags about its human rights violations. He was a prop.
Mike Flanagan making a Clayface movie for the new DCU could be interesting!
There are a ton of new horror movies coming down the pipeline in the new year, from 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE to Robert Eggers' WERWULF, here's what we're most excited for.
New And Upcoming Horror Movies We Can’t Wait To Watch In 2026
There are a ton of new horror movies coming down the pipeline in the new year, from 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE to Robert Eggers' WERWULF, here's what we're most excited for.
dlvr.it
December 22, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Mike Flanagan making a Clayface movie for the new DCU could be interesting!
I’m not quoting this to highlight anything negative. I’m quoting this because I appreciate when an organization has a code of ethics that isn’t just lip service. It would be so easy to say “Oh shoot. Too late. We’ll do better next year.” but instead they did the difficult work of enforcing it.
The IGAs Nomination Committee is officially retracting Debut Game and Game of the Year, awarding both categories to new recipients. Additionally, we are retracting one of the Indie Vanguard recipients.
Full details can be found in our FAQ under Game Eligibility: www.indiegameawards.gg/faq
Full details can be found in our FAQ under Game Eligibility: www.indiegameawards.gg/faq
December 20, 2025 at 7:40 PM
I’m not quoting this to highlight anything negative. I’m quoting this because I appreciate when an organization has a code of ethics that isn’t just lip service. It would be so easy to say “Oh shoot. Too late. We’ll do better next year.” but instead they did the difficult work of enforcing it.
Reposted by Steven B Smith 🇨🇦
Sign, sign, sign!
this is a Canadian petition to uphold charter rights for transgender and minority communities
if youre Canadian, please sign it. if youre not Canadian, please share it.
www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...
if youre Canadian, please sign it. if youre not Canadian, please share it.
www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...
December 20, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Sign, sign, sign!
This happened to us once. After our game released we saw another - more established - dev lamenting that they were working on one with a similar mechanic. Their game looked amazing and we told them so.
Indie Dev discovers the game they're making basically already exists, worried of being deemed a ripoff. Original dev responds.
December 19, 2025 at 1:56 PM
This happened to us once. After our game released we saw another - more established - dev lamenting that they were working on one with a similar mechanic. Their game looked amazing and we told them so.
A Fold Apart used emissive glow so the player stood out in puzzles on small screens. They popped too much on big ones though. I wanted to try fresnel edge glow, but it made the character look like a cutout. But then adding a smoothstep to the world normal y made them pop AND blend #unity3d #gamedev
December 17, 2025 at 5:45 PM
I love these highlight threads…
AND YOU WILL TOO!
AND YOU WILL TOO!
This has been a long week but I will make a list of 50 indie games that are:
From this awards voting year (Nov 2024 - Nov 2025)
Not covered by the awards show
Deserve your attention
From this awards voting year (Nov 2024 - Nov 2025)
Not covered by the awards show
Deserve your attention
New rule this year: If you post "Play more indie games" during the game awards, you are required to make a thread recommending 50 of them.
December 17, 2025 at 12:55 AM
I love these highlight threads…
AND YOU WILL TOO!
AND YOU WILL TOO!
A composer sent me their portfolio and they used AI images as the visuals for their tracks on YouTube. My gut reaction was that the music was AI too. I suppressed that reaction, did some digging, and figured the music was legit, BUT that first impression put a stink on the whole thing.
Every writer who generates a slop image for their work is a class traitor.
"I can't afford a visual artist"
So your solution is stabbing artists in the back? Stealing from them?
Furthermore, slop-generated imagery suggests slop-generated writing. That's how you're presenting yourself.
"I can't afford a visual artist"
So your solution is stabbing artists in the back? Stealing from them?
Furthermore, slop-generated imagery suggests slop-generated writing. That's how you're presenting yourself.
December 16, 2025 at 9:31 PM
A composer sent me their portfolio and they used AI images as the visuals for their tracks on YouTube. My gut reaction was that the music was AI too. I suppressed that reaction, did some digging, and figured the music was legit, BUT that first impression put a stink on the whole thing.
Even bumping up the resolution for baked lighting makes a big difference and with better hardware (on both the dev and runtime side) these bigger maps are a lot more practical to make and run. #gamedev
December 16, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Even bumping up the resolution for baked lighting makes a big difference and with better hardware (on both the dev and runtime side) these bigger maps are a lot more practical to make and run. #gamedev
It has been wild watching each game build on the last, and now they’re making stuff that looks like this! #indiedev
Lost in time 💧⛆ Scenes from Echo Generation 2
A sci-fi turn-based adventure, coming 2026
🎮 store.steampowered.com/app/1115990/...
#EchoGeneration2 #scifi #turnbased #wishlist
A sci-fi turn-based adventure, coming 2026
🎮 store.steampowered.com/app/1115990/...
#EchoGeneration2 #scifi #turnbased #wishlist
December 16, 2025 at 3:24 PM
It has been wild watching each game build on the last, and now they’re making stuff that looks like this! #indiedev
Reposted by Steven B Smith 🇨🇦
Finally got good photos of the hand-painted sign I made for the arts market! Step inside and look towards the back of the shop to see ✨ something ⚔️ magical🕯️
December 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Finally got good photos of the hand-painted sign I made for the arts market! Step inside and look towards the back of the shop to see ✨ something ⚔️ magical🕯️
I really hope this breaks through beyond online circles into mainstream media and to the people believing the AI hype.
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
December 15, 2025 at 6:49 PM
I really hope this breaks through beyond online circles into mainstream media and to the people believing the AI hype.
At the start, A Fold Apart was thought to be too complex to work on mobile hardware, but a series of coincidences set the groundwork to make it possible. A thread. #gamedev #indiedev #devlog
A Fold Apart had a tricky dev cycle. It was first intended to be a PC/Console game. This was mostly because I thought the amount of runtime math required to fold the paper, and the magical paper effects relying on GPU fill-rate, would make it impossible on mobile hardware. But then...
December 15, 2025 at 6:43 PM
I was suddenly getting relevant follows when I hadn’t started posting new game stuff yet. This explains it. Great idea!
Excited to connect with more of our fellow Ontario game studios + devs, so we put together these Ontario Game Devs starter packs!
go.bsky.app/8jZjEfP
go.bsky.app/7FjqDhQ
Give them a follow! 🎮🍁
go.bsky.app/8jZjEfP
go.bsky.app/7FjqDhQ
Give them a follow! 🎮🍁
Ontario Game Devs Pack #1
Join the conversation
go.bsky.app
December 8, 2025 at 8:28 PM
I was suddenly getting relevant follows when I hadn’t started posting new game stuff yet. This explains it. Great idea!
Reposted by Steven B Smith 🇨🇦
Canadian citizens and residents, there's a new official parliamentary petition raising the issue of electoral reform and proportional representation. Signing is a direct means of meaningful action toward improving our democracy, and it just takes a moment to do. www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...
Petition e-6993 - Petitions
www.ourcommons.ca
December 3, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Canadian citizens and residents, there's a new official parliamentary petition raising the issue of electoral reform and proportional representation. Signing is a direct means of meaningful action toward improving our democracy, and it just takes a moment to do. www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...
Much better. Still I didn’t score deep enough so they didn’t rise the way I wanted. Lots of room for improvement. Not sure how my very first batch was amazing and my next two have been not at all that.
December 2, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Much better. Still I didn’t score deep enough so they didn’t rise the way I wanted. Lots of room for improvement. Not sure how my very first batch was amazing and my next two have been not at all that.
After doing poorly on a math exam, I used office hours to review it with my prof. He said that I clearly understood the material, and told me about accommodations. I did great on the finals and didn’t need the extra time. I just needed to be in a quieter room without so many people openly weeping.
Even by the standards of The Atlantic, this is an extraordinarily weak evidence base for an article.
Data from a tiny handful of schools that isn't measuring the variable at issue and a few thin, secondhand anecdotes.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Data from a tiny handful of schools that isn't measuring the variable at issue and a few thin, secondhand anecdotes.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
December 2, 2025 at 5:21 PM
After doing poorly on a math exam, I used office hours to review it with my prof. He said that I clearly understood the material, and told me about accommodations. I did great on the finals and didn’t need the extra time. I just needed to be in a quieter room without so many people openly weeping.
Even when you’re not a beginner, sometimes you just screw it up (like I did today) and need to try again (like I will tomorrow).
December 2, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Even when you’re not a beginner, sometimes you just screw it up (like I did today) and need to try again (like I will tomorrow).
We are not hiring, but I was responding to cold-call apps. today and it occurred to me that I need to be taking precautions against AI in that process. This skepticism is going to hurt juniors a lot! 2D artists might need to put extra work into their portfolios to prove they're real, and that sucks.
Yo! So first up: Fuck AI
With that out of the way, the Fortnite AI thing has raised a question in me that I have kept asking for the past year or so, despite there not being an answer -
1/3
With that out of the way, the Fortnite AI thing has raised a question in me that I have kept asking for the past year or so, despite there not being an answer -
1/3
December 1, 2025 at 5:35 PM
We are not hiring, but I was responding to cold-call apps. today and it occurred to me that I need to be taking precautions against AI in that process. This skepticism is going to hurt juniors a lot! 2D artists might need to put extra work into their portfolios to prove they're real, and that sucks.
A “fussbudget” is a person who complains a lot about unimportant things.
The German word for "bagpipes" is "doodlesack"
quote this post with a fun word you know that other people might not know. can be in any language
November 27, 2025 at 4:44 PM
A “fussbudget” is a person who complains a lot about unimportant things.
My adorable enemies continue to vex me.
November 21, 2025 at 10:20 PM
My adorable enemies continue to vex me.
I want it for my coffee table 😂 I did not have Fangoria as a kid and this feels like a good way to go back and read up. Very exciting!
First in Fright: The FANGORIA Compendium is now the sixth most-funded non-fiction book in Kickstarter history?!?! www.kickstarter.com/discover/adv...
Last week of the campaign, if you want in on this historic action:
Last week of the campaign, if you want in on this historic action:
First in Fright: The FANGORIA Compendium
The Complete History of Horror from the Pages of the #1 Horror Magazine
www.kickstarter.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:28 PM
I want it for my coffee table 😂 I did not have Fangoria as a kid and this feels like a good way to go back and read up. Very exciting!
I usually bake my baguettes on unvarnished quarry tiles but I decided to give a baguette oven a go and it produces a different but very nice result. I will need to reduce my recipe a bit so they don’t swell to fill the whole thing next time. Crust was great.
November 20, 2025 at 11:51 PM
I usually bake my baguettes on unvarnished quarry tiles but I decided to give a baguette oven a go and it produces a different but very nice result. I will need to reduce my recipe a bit so they don’t swell to fill the whole thing next time. Crust was great.
