Valentine Kozin
LightNews LightNews
9of9.bsky.social
Valentine Kozin
@9of9.bsky.social
880 followers 580 following 380 posts
Lead Technical Artist at ☠️Rare☠️ | 🎭 BAFTA Member
Game developer, Houdini user, maker of pretty things.
Posts Replies Media Videos
9of9.bsky.social
It's interesting that the author is baffled by the inclusion of Gone Home, but while it arguably maybe doesn't fit the genre in spirit, it very much meets the technical definition argued here? If you've played the game before you very much *can* just use that knowledge to immediately go and beat it.
Text excerpt: In a "true" metroidbrania, what you know is the only real form of progression; a player who already knows all the secrets can start a fresh save and immediately go through the motions of beating the game, skipping over most of the game.
November 13, 2025 at 12:55 PM
9of9.bsky.social
Too Far Left Off The Visible Spectrum
Infrared false colour photo showing a photo of cotton-candy-pink trees, blue skies and one featureless white flag. Infrared false colour photo showing blue skies and one featureless white flag. Infrared false colour photo showing a photo of cotton-candy-pink trees, blue skies and one featureless white flag atop a lamp post.
September 30, 2025 at 4:18 PM
9of9.bsky.social
Seven year old Reddit comment sums it up better than me
Posted by bduxbellorum 7 years ago: Holy shit, that was by far the stupidest scene in the episodes for me. Let's build an ethical AI that's smart enough to figure out when it's necessary to change from protocol. But let's have that AI be too ignorant to actually use that capacity until it is challenged/coached through it by a smart lawyer-like prisoner! Her arguments were not clever! Her instructions were not clever! But the AI would have let her die if she hadn't asked for them specifically. Any AI smart enough to calculate the odds of escape would have taken action so long before being asked by a human, this scene should never have happened. This was mind-killingly earth shatteringly stupid. This multi-billion dollar spaceship has The Microsoft Paperclip for its AI.
August 31, 2025 at 7:54 AM
9of9.bsky.social
Thank god for the ability to pixel peep other people's photos to satisfy my FOMO. Not that I could afford it but... yeah, this camera looks pretty, yet it bleeds like any other.
Crop on a tree in a photo from the Verge Hasselblad X2D ii review, showing completely unremarkable, blurry leaves. Crop on a power line in a photo from the Verge Hasselblad X2D ii review, blurry due to camera shake. Crop on some vegetation in a photo from the Verge Hasselblad X2D ii review, showing blurry and garishly overexposed leaves in sunlight. Crop on some boats in a photo from the Verge Hasselblad X2D ii review, showing completely unremarkable, blurry pixels.
August 26, 2025 at 10:57 PM
9of9.bsky.social
Look at these scopes! I did no manual tweaking of hue and saturation whatsoever, default Lab settings and everything! This is so cool!
Vectorscope display of colours from the digital photo with film emulation. Vectorscope display of colours from the scanned film photo. It's pretty bloody close!
August 18, 2025 at 10:04 PM
9of9.bsky.social
I cannot understate what a crapshoot matching film emulation to actual film scans that have come From Some Lab and their specific development, rather than a controlled process, but I am so damn hyped for how much closer these are and how much less tweaking they need to get there now.
A digital photo of some camera lenses with UltraMax 400 Filmbox Pro film emulation. A film photo of some camera lenses taken on Ultramax 400 and then scanned.
August 18, 2025 at 10:04 PM
9of9.bsky.social
The Immortality Design Works Deluxe Edition box is a beast, I was not prepared for this level of cool. I didn't even realise these were signed, my apologies to your wrist @mrsambarlow.bsky.social!
The Immortality Design Works Deluxe Edition box sitting on my desk, featuring signed "Polaroids" of Manon Gage and Ty Molbak, as well as a card signed by Sam Barlow. Photo of the box set from the side, showing off the thickness of the book and the three film scripts + miscellanea it comes with
August 15, 2025 at 2:06 PM
9of9.bsky.social
If you see this, post a vampire.
Screenshot close up of Smiling Jack from Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines
July 20, 2025 at 6:33 AM
9of9.bsky.social
Many thanks to @daggersmctimbers.bsky.social for taking good care of the camera for the group photo! 😀 It came out stellar!
Group photo from Sea of Thieves fest of some of the Sea of Thieves developers and a couple of folks from the community.
July 12, 2025 at 9:30 PM
9of9.bsky.social
Full disclosure for my shilling, I do get mentioned in the acknowledgements, which is entirely underserved, but unbelievably awesome, and I am eternally grateful @lswisnom.bsky.social
Photo of a page out of the Acknowledgement section in The Library of Ancient Wisdom. The full passage (though cut-off in this photo) reads: This book has its unlikely roots in the theatre. I first got to know Ashurbanipal, his family, and scholars through writing a trilogy of stage plays about them. I thank the creative team, cast and crew of the National Theatre of Akkad for the heavy metal/Noh production of Ashurbanipal: The Last Great King of Assyria - Thomas Stell, Andrew Garner, Tom Clucas, Alex Woolley, Anahita Hoose, Timothy Foot, Rebecca Daley, Ante Qu, Abigail Adams, Claudia Freemantle, William Bolton, Frencesca Whalen, Darya Shchepanovska, Antonio Mateiro, Tess Colley, Dòmnhall-Iain MacDonald, Francesca Balestrieri, Trudy Lynn, Sami Ibrahim, Felix Pollock and Valentine Kozin; all who worked on teh naturalistic Esarhaddon: The Substitute King - Lucy Wood, Andrew Garner, Rebecca Wilkin, Laura Cull, Catherine O'Leary, Rose Azad Khan, Hannah Street, Olivia Lalude-Haworth, Francesca Balestrieri and Elyn Vandenwyngaert; and all behind the immersive version of Ashurbanipal staged at the Crypt Gallery in 2019 - Justin Murray, Victoria Jones, Charlotte Potter, Laurence Varda, Michal Banai, Wayne Wilson, Melissa Taydon, John Lutula, George Chaffey, Hakan Hafizoglu, Rachel Wise and Davide Vox.
March 6, 2025 at 6:50 PM
9of9.bsky.social
The fact that the cuneiform on the front is embossed is such a cool touch. I love the hardcover edition so much.
Close-up photo of a cuneiform tablet... wait, no, it's just the sleeve of Dr. Wisnom's new book, The Library of Ancient Wisdom!
March 6, 2025 at 6:44 PM
9of9.bsky.social
"Haecceity", Avowed writers? *Really*? 😅 Man, there's a word I haven't seen written in 15-odd years.
Screenshot from a text in Avowed, which reads: "Unless the words we use to describe this continent, "The Living Lands," were given to us by the Godless. Unless these words have a meaning only they could comprehend. Unless these words have a history only they could know - and the haecceity, the "thisness" of this place, was lost with them."
February 17, 2025 at 8:34 PM
9of9.bsky.social
It's been a good and insightful read, but is in need of editing? There's a fair bit of repetition, e.g. these two paragraphs show up verbatim twice in the article, first talking about Balaji, then Srinivasan:
Screenshot of article, from a segment talking about Yarvin's critique of democracy and the mention of Balaji in Vanity Fair, which segues into two paragraphs that start by saying "However, his thinking increasingly aligned with neo-reactionary ideas, particularly around the concept of exit" and ends with "the final step is embracing the idea that democracy should be replaced entirely with more efficient forms of governance, often modeled on corporate structures or technological systems". Screenshot of article, from a segment further down talking about Srinivasan approaching crypto from a techno-libertarian perspective, which segues into two paragraphs that start by saying "However, his thinking increasingly aligned with neo-reactionary ideas, particularly around the concept of exit" and ends with "the final step is embracing the idea that democracy should be replaced entirely with more efficient forms of governance, often modeled on corporate structures or technological systems".
February 10, 2025 at 12:09 PM
9of9.bsky.social
Fate of Atlantis was right all along!
Screenshot from Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, showing Indy and Sophia Hapgood on the Azores. An old man, Felipe Costa asks Indy "Do you know where Atlantis is?" Screenshot from Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, showing Indy and Sophia Hapgood on the Azores. An old man, Felipe Costa explains "You're STANDING on it!" Screenshot from Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, showing Indy and Sophia Hapgood on the Azores. Indy replies incredulously, "The Azores?!"
February 8, 2025 at 2:51 AM
9of9.bsky.social
Wow, it's funny how just a few tiny tweaks turns serviceable UI on PC into pure joint pain on mobile. Strange choices were made, for sure.
Analogous screenshot from V:TM Shadows of New York PC version, featuring menu buttons in the top left rather than top right, speaker name justified left, along with the text, a condensed text box and generally somewhat more sensible, nicer flow.
February 8, 2025 at 2:40 AM
9of9.bsky.social
Just a little treat for myself, collating some of my favourite photos from the last couple of years, featuring @inetsj.bsky.social, @esthersmisdom.bsky.social, @monstressmedusa.bsky.social, @bintymadger.bsky.social and others.
February 2, 2025 at 3:39 PM
9of9.bsky.social
I'm sorry but on top of all the other travesties Netflix is guilty of, this should be illegal.
Highlighted excerpt from the article: "...to qualify them for Academy Awards - in a small number of theaters, a few of which the company owns or operates like the [begin highlight] Paris in New York, or the Egyptian in Los Angeles [end highlight]. After that it dumps them on the platform. Some of these films, including Martin Scorsese's The Irishman..."
December 29, 2024 at 6:36 PM
9of9.bsky.social
Had the dubious pleasure of seeing Jensen's/Zuck's keynote at SIGGRAPH live, and this was a major part of Zuck's spiel. Utterly bewildering pitch, and conveniently no questions where taken from the audience after (unlike Jensen's keynote earlier, which had a Q&A).
Wide angle shot of Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg on stage in Denver at SIGGRAPH 2024.
December 27, 2024 at 7:55 PM
9of9.bsky.social
One of my favourite little details about TNG is that the viewscreen is actually holographic! I love the fact that they went to the trouble of shooting it specifically for that little detail. Makes total sense they'd use it over hologram calls - it's the cinema version of smaller holograms!
Screenshot of the TNG Enterprise viewport head on, showing a Romulan admiral from the front (TNG episode Data's Day, courtesy of reddit user MurrayL). Screenshot of the TNG Enterprise viewport in perspective, showing a Romulan admiral in perspective (TNG episode Data's Day, courtesy of reddit user MurrayL).
December 13, 2024 at 10:34 PM
9of9.bsky.social
Pig pot in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Perfect. 10/10. No notes.
Just a sleepy little clay pig pot, just a little guy.
December 10, 2024 at 11:33 PM
9of9.bsky.social
Storm Darragh sweeps into Shoreditch at midnight on a Friday.

#streetphotography
#nikon
#photography
@bskyphotos.bsky.social
Photo of Shoreditch at night, with drizzling rain bright lights, office buildings rising up ominously in the distance.
December 7, 2024 at 2:56 PM
9of9.bsky.social
If you see this, post a knight

#photography
#portraitphotography
#nikon
#analogvibes
@bskyphotos.bsky.social
Studio portrait, Welshman with a great big two-hander sword, looking like a dope-ass warrior Studio portrait, Welshman with a great big two-hander sword, in combat stance, ready to strike
December 1, 2024 at 10:10 PM
9of9.bsky.social
Took a new Tamron 35-150 out for a spin - exciting having a fast, versatile zoom finally after shooting so much on primes.

#streetphotography
#photography
#nikon
#analogvibes
@bskyphotos.bsky.social
Close-up shot of a bee sitting on the yellow flower stalks of a mahonia plant. Wide city street shot of a couple walking down a busy pedestrian road, while an older man buys produce from the market. Long shot of an older couple walking a pram down a narrow city street with a looming cathedral in the background. In the foreground, a single hand reaches out from behind the stairs to grab another pram. Telephoto of an easyjet plane crossing the pale blue sky with a twin pair of contrails trailing behind it, framed by the spires of a cathedral.
December 1, 2024 at 1:20 PM
9of9.bsky.social
Very photogenic cat.

#photography
#animals
@bskyphotos.bsky.social
A very handsome cat sitting on a wall, looking at the camera demurely.
November 30, 2024 at 5:45 PM
9of9.bsky.social
Some photos from @twycrosszoo.bsky.social this summer.

#photography
#animals
#naturephotography
@bskyphotos.bsky.social
@stillframes.bsky.social
Close-up portrait photo of a tiger, from below. Cinematic long shot of a heron standing on a rock by the edge of a pool. Close-up of a penguin looking wet and somewhat suspicious Close-up portrait of a L'Hoest's monkey looking out of shot
November 28, 2024 at 8:08 PM