Fractal Diane
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fractaldiane.bsky.social
Fractal Diane
@fractaldiane.bsky.social
240 followers 150 following 83 posts
game dev, code witch, composer
they/she

my games: https://dianesparks.itch.io/
my music: https://on.soundcloud.com/MuAm9
music commissions: https://ko-fi.com/fractaldiane/commissions

icon by PineconePaladin, banner by Magpie_Feather
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Reposted by Fractal Diane
dansalva.to
This concept is often hard for devs to grasp too, not just players. I put it as "the joy of doing" vs. "the joy of being".

Why does some grind or hard challenge feel joyful in game A, but a chore in game B? You enjoy *existing* in game A. The "thing to do" serves that joy.

Pet the dog. Enjoy being
November 18, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
owenkcstephens.bsky.social
September 5, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
aurahack.ca
game awards 2016: we signed a sponsorship deal with schick, here is a bit razor mascot man. he's buff for some reason

game awards 2025: we signed a sponsorship deal with a company that knowingly sells ad time to the government agency that kidnaps immigrants
November 17, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
lena.fyi
like i am not going to devote a fraction of my brain to being upset for longer than a minute, but this says about all you need to know about the legitimacy of TGA's awards at least as it applies to music
a title card from the award nominations video that says: BEST SCORE & MUSIC LEVELED UP BY (SPOTIFY LOGO)
November 17, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
errant-signal.com
It really needs to be pointed out how every one of these embarrassing statements is made by a c-suite executive and not an artist or even art department lead
videogameschronicle.com VGC @videogameschronicle.com · 1d
"Surely there's a middle ground here?" The CEO of Helldivers 2 studio Arrowhead says people "jump to extreme takes" when debating generative AI, and that there needs to be more nuance in the discussion.

www.videogameschronicle.com/news/surely-...
‘Surely there’s a middle ground here?’ Helldivers studio CEO says people ‘jump to extreme takes’ when debating GenAI | VGC
“This is such a trigger point for big parts of the games industry today”…
www.videogameschronicle.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
aurahack.ca
It literally has a disclosure on its Steam page. It didn't "slip through", man. You tried to charge people for a thing that's got slop in it and they're mad.

I have an extension to add a pop-up on the Steam page for it but I really think it should be by default top-of-page.
November 17, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
divisionten.bsky.social
Hello fellow nerds! I've got a hypothesis about the intersectionality of gamers and disabilities I'm trying to test. Even if you're not a gamer or disabled, please take 10 minutes and fill this out!

Thanks so much, and feel free to ask me any questions.

forms.gle/S7F7iSGMAMd7...
Gaming Habits, Conventions, and Disability Intersectionality
Hi all! My name is Sara Winters. I am blind (due to a genetic condition called ocular albinism), a disability accessibility consultant, and gamer, and while I've done a ton of work in the accessibilit...
forms.gle
November 16, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
antlervel.vet
3 years ago today, Riot Games offered me a job making more money than I ever thought I’d make in my life. I had 19 interviews over 2.5 months to get it. Partner and I were moving to LA for it. I put in notice at my job and apartment.

2 weeks later they rescinded the offer due to “headcount issues”.
Facebook memory. On this day 3 years ago Stella Sacco Nov 15, 2022 I am happy beyond words to say that Riot has told me the job is mine. 289 comments 2 shares
November 15, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
rob-sheridan.com
Silicon Valley, 1990s: Free and open access to all the world’s knowledge will usher a new utopian age of information!

Silicon Valley, 2025:
Enable chats with Satan [enabled] Premium subscription required
November 15, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
ramiismail.com
Then why do I keep talking to devs in the US whose salary is suddenly $0
November 14, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
skwinnicki.bsky.social
Lots of folks captioning aurora photos like "for a few minutes we didn't think about politics"

guess I'm built different, every time I'm out trying to see night sky stuff I frequently think about how much light pollution is entirely preventable with just a tiny bit of regulation
Basic light pollution diagram showing four different streetlight set ups ranging from more light pollution on the left to less light pollution on the right. The most pollution option, labelled "very bad" is a street lamp with a round uncovered bulb on top, making a sphere of light in the air. The next option, labelled "bad" has a tiny cap on top, that limits the upward pollution a bit. The "better" option is mostly uncovered on top, limiting pollution above the streetlight. The final option, labelled "best" has a full shroud overtop, limiting the light to only below the streetlight, where it is needed for pedestrians and vehicles.
November 13, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
ramiismail.com
The US straight up saying that fascism is a foundation of Western civilisation wasn't on my bingo card but OK
November 13, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
chrisbratt.bsky.social
The Rockstar union case made its way into UK Parliament earlier today
cajardinemp.bsky.social Christine Jardine @cajardinemp.bsky.social · 5d
Video game giant Rockstar has sacked more than 30 workers across the UK, including my constituents working at their Edinburgh office. I urged Ministers to support workers who have lost their jobs, and stop this from happening again.
November 13, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
innes.bsky.social
"The mainstream understanding of AI is as an interefering piece of shit which doesn't work" pt II

www.askamanager.org/2025/11/the-...
10. The baby announcement At the end of a meeting, a colleague asked their boss to stay on the line for a couple of minutes. The colleague then confidentially shared the great news that they were expecting a baby, and they and their boss talked about a few next steps to plan for parental leave. The AI notetaker then sent out notes to everyone who had attended the meeting with the headline, “Colleague Is Having a Baby.” 19. The equipment I recently saw a ~$50,000 piece of industrial equipment damaged and taken out of commission for about a month because Google AI search told a worker that the tightening torque of a screw was 50 ft*lb instead of 50 in*lb. This resulted in them over-tightening the screw by a factor of 12, which unfortunately didn’t strip the threaded hole (which would have been a smaller problem) but instead warped a bearing assembly that required a full rebuild at considerable difficulty and expense. The kicker is that the correct torque value was clearly printed in the service manual that is stored in the machine. 1. The fake initiative Our execs usually send out a hype email right before the annual employee morale survey, emphasizing wins from the past year, basically trying to put people in a positive frame of mind. Last year’s included the announcement of a major new program we knew employees really wanted. But it was a bit surprising, because it fell in an area my team was responsible for, and we were out of the loop, despite advocating strenuously for this over the years. So I went to the exec to a) convey enthusiasm for his newfound dedication to launching this program and b) ask what support he needed from my team/get us involved again. It turned out the program wasn’t launching at all; he had just asked AI to edit the email to make it sound more exciting and appealing, and it had done so by … launching my initiative. 16. The scam We work with a lot of small businesses just starting up, and as a result are asked to recommend professional services often. Knowing this, a client passed on a discreet warning about the bookkeeping firm we’d recommended to them. They had issues with their accounting software, Quickbooks, and called for help. It was right when Google started providing AI summaries for everything, and apparently their account rep pulled the phone number for Quickbooks’ support out of the AI summary, rather than off the website. You can probably guess where this is going. The number wasn’t legit, but instead put him in contact with a scammer who’d managed astroturf their way into the AI summary. The account rep gave the scammer full access to our client’s accounting software before he realized his error. Our client didn’t share a lot of details about the damages — I got the sense that they were saying very little because they were planning legal action — but they wanted to let us know so we wouldn’t recommend them again.
November 12, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
felipegaonar.bsky.social
I love this.
An exchange on twitter. controlla.xyz: If you hate Al you probably just hate art and expression It's an infinite mashup of all the best art ever made by humans lesliejandersonwriter: If you hate the juice at the bottom of a restaurant dumpster you just hate food and cooking. It's an infinite mashup of all the best food made by humans!
November 12, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
necrosoftgames.com
Hello, not only do we not use AI we would rather cut off our own arms than do so. Demonschool is 100% human made.
November 12, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
ellaguro.bsky.social
this generation of game industry guys like Tim here have always fascinated me, because they may or may not have actually been artists at one point but they don't seem to have ever had much interest or curiosity towards art. their real primary function has been to be a sort of libertarian ideologue.
jakesteinberg.substack.com Jake Steinberg @jakesteinberg.substack.com · 7d
sincerely cannot imagine being this stupid or anti-art
November 11, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
mackeza.bsky.social
“Don’t gather some of the most brilliant activists in the industry, treat us like crap, and then expect us to do nothing about it.” After the Game Awards cancelled its Future Class programme, @alyssamerc.bsky.social talked to its former honorees

www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
“We were effectively props”: young stars of game development feel let down by the ‘gaming Oscars’
Announced in 2020 by the Game Awards as an inclusive programme for the industry’s next generation, the Future Class initiative has now been discontinued. Inductees describe clashes with organisers and...
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
duckvalentine.bsky.social
credits that include the names of everyone who worked on the game at any point
November 11, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
natclayton.bsky.social
sort of incredible to read a review that doesn't just made a vague nod at AI being bad, but actively reckons with the ways in which falling obsessively to AI usage actively obliterates the artistic intent and integrity of the work you've made.
November 10, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
kattenbarge.bsky.social
Senators on the brink of retirement who lived full, wealthy lives and never feared the loss of their own healthcare voting for their constituents to die from their inability to afford the same is treasonous
November 10, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
moomanibe.bsky.social
for me an exciting sense of exploration for me isn't a giant world map, it's being able to wonder if there's an entire world of things I haven't seen under any given bush, even that one I passed hours ago. a sense of inner life that defies "good game design"
November 9, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
luminouslyiii.bsky.social
Not to be the fun police but I do hope people know that Arc Raiders does use generative AI for voice acting, and by supporting the game you're letting higher-ups know that this is an okay practice.

They try to downplay this on the Steam store page by describing the AI usage as vaguely as possible.
AI generated content disclosure via Arc Raider's Steam page: The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this: During the development process, we may use procedural- and AI-based tools to assist with content creation. In all such cases, the final product reflects the creativity and expression of our own development team.
November 8, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
areflectivegem.bsky.social
Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco/Bay Area - here are some restaurants helping with food if you’re struggling with loss of SNAP benefits.

Please share!
November 7, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by Fractal Diane
baddestmamajama.bsky.social
I just keep thinking “Elon Musk just got a trillion dollars”
marisakabas.bsky.social Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 11d
New — While some states have received SNAP benefits for November and USDA is supposedly pushing through all federal payments soon, that doesn’t erase the psychological terror of the last few weeks.

I spoke with 20+ SNAP recipients in 16 states about preparing for a possible future with no food:
The voices of SNAP
Recipients have become political pawns. They explained, in their own words, what Trump withholding funds has been like.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 8, 2025 at 12:11 AM