Henry Goffin
@hgoffin.bsky.social
Just some guy in Seattle. Fan of mystery movies and cream cheese on hot dogs. I know a thing or two about video game technology; credits on Spore, Brütal Legend, Team Fortress 2, State of Decay 2. Also helped grow Steam for half a decade. Currently @ AWS.
I buy the smallest bottle they make and keep it around for when 1/ I want a tiny splash of heat without changing the flavor - eg, clam chowder. or 2/ I’m cooking for others and I have no idea if they can handle anything stronger than black pepper.
December 7, 2025 at 5:36 PM
I buy the smallest bottle they make and keep it around for when 1/ I want a tiny splash of heat without changing the flavor - eg, clam chowder. or 2/ I’m cooking for others and I have no idea if they can handle anything stronger than black pepper.
Hamburger Helper isn’t based on some famous dish. It’s a food stretcher. When you can’t afford enough beef to make a bolognese for five, you buy half as much and a box of filler. It’s not the bad version of some good food, it’s the good version of sawdust.
December 6, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Hamburger Helper isn’t based on some famous dish. It’s a food stretcher. When you can’t afford enough beef to make a bolognese for five, you buy half as much and a box of filler. It’s not the bad version of some good food, it’s the good version of sawdust.
TBQH though, the fancy version isn’t making it from scratch. The fancy version is buying the box and then finishing it with a giant dollop of French butter.
December 6, 2025 at 4:05 AM
TBQH though, the fancy version isn’t making it from scratch. The fancy version is buying the box and then finishing it with a giant dollop of French butter.
Rice a roni is chicken bouillon and cheap grocery store “Italian blend” seasoning. The cheaper the better.
December 6, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Rice a roni is chicken bouillon and cheap grocery store “Italian blend” seasoning. The cheaper the better.
What you’re looking for is the perfect blend of table salt and ranch powder. The delivery mechanism can be noodles or whatever, who cares.
December 6, 2025 at 3:57 AM
What you’re looking for is the perfect blend of table salt and ranch powder. The delivery mechanism can be noodles or whatever, who cares.
I wouldn’t do it for electronics or motors (50hz vs 60hz), but homes in the US get 240v as opposite-phase 120v, and it is perfectly code-compliant to wire a 240v 20a GFCI breaker to a dedicated NEMA 6-20 outlet. Finding a dual voltage US/UK kettle and plug-swapping its cord is only *slightly* dodgy.
November 27, 2025 at 11:38 PM
I wouldn’t do it for electronics or motors (50hz vs 60hz), but homes in the US get 240v as opposite-phase 120v, and it is perfectly code-compliant to wire a 240v 20a GFCI breaker to a dedicated NEMA 6-20 outlet. Finding a dual voltage US/UK kettle and plug-swapping its cord is only *slightly* dodgy.
Most of the foods we hate are hated because, it turns out, other people are terrible cooks. Not all… but most.
November 21, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Most of the foods we hate are hated because, it turns out, other people are terrible cooks. Not all… but most.
This is the actual hardest problem in computer science: teaching someone else how to use asserts properly. No, not like that.
November 20, 2025 at 12:14 AM
This is the actual hardest problem in computer science: teaching someone else how to use asserts properly. No, not like that.
I know this sounds flip but know that I mean it very deeply: what if this is in fact just every industry.
November 4, 2025 at 11:03 PM
I know this sounds flip but know that I mean it very deeply: what if this is in fact just every industry.
For everything else, there’s Mastercard.
September 25, 2025 at 12:28 AM
For everything else, there’s Mastercard.
It’s also a popular cultivar of the holly plant!
May 8, 2025 at 1:17 PM
It’s also a popular cultivar of the holly plant!
I’m not sure if that is more or less chaotic than adding offsides and icing to basketball.
April 25, 2025 at 3:51 AM
I’m not sure if that is more or less chaotic than adding offsides and icing to basketball.
Counterpoint, maybe it has always been tech demos. HL1 was in-game choreographed sequences, HL2 was physics-based gameplay, Alyx was VR and immersive sound.
April 21, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Counterpoint, maybe it has always been tech demos. HL1 was in-game choreographed sequences, HL2 was physics-based gameplay, Alyx was VR and immersive sound.
I honestly do not think that there is. Such a person would flame out immediately at Valve. Even Artifact, for all its transactional flaws, came from a place of pure design: the economy was the game.
April 21, 2025 at 2:31 PM
I honestly do not think that there is. Such a person would flame out immediately at Valve. Even Artifact, for all its transactional flaws, came from a place of pure design: the economy was the game.
There is not much going on there which is being created because someone has a burning hole in their chest and furiously needs to manifest a concept into the world. World-class craft without art. And that’s OK! It’s great to make lots of money and enable Steam’s content ecosystem. But also a trap.
April 21, 2025 at 2:21 PM
There is not much going on there which is being created because someone has a burning hole in their chest and furiously needs to manifest a concept into the world. World-class craft without art. And that’s OK! It’s great to make lots of money and enable Steam’s content ecosystem. But also a trap.
I wonder (a lot) why there aren’t more ex-Valve. The whole place is a kind of accidental trap? It’s not just the lunches and the personal trainers. Similar to how AI lowers critical thinking skills, a workplace with infinite money and no deadlines and no junior employees kills the drive to create.
April 21, 2025 at 2:16 PM
I wonder (a lot) why there aren’t more ex-Valve. The whole place is a kind of accidental trap? It’s not just the lunches and the personal trainers. Similar to how AI lowers critical thinking skills, a workplace with infinite money and no deadlines and no junior employees kills the drive to create.
In general it’s much less like Unity and much more “bolt these extra folders onto your engine and recompile”. Any version can be made to work. But you might need to hire an Unreal expert if your engine version has any homegrown source edits that make things weird.
April 20, 2025 at 5:25 PM
In general it’s much less like Unity and much more “bolt these extra folders onto your engine and recompile”. Any version can be made to work. But you might need to hire an Unreal expert if your engine version has any homegrown source edits that make things weird.
Depends on the target. Green console is just Windows plus stuff. Blue console will usually need shader and material changes; different GPU APIs. Red console, I’ve never tried because squeezing existing UE content into Red’s limitations is damned hard, but maybe Red 2 will be similar effort to Blue.
April 20, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Depends on the target. Green console is just Windows plus stuff. Blue console will usually need shader and material changes; different GPU APIs. Red console, I’ve never tried because squeezing existing UE content into Red’s limitations is damned hard, but maybe Red 2 will be similar effort to Blue.
I booked a hotel on the wrong side of the LVCC complex and it sure was convenient, but the idea of moving any volume of people through that tunnel is ridiculous - the walls are so close, they constantly trip the proximity sensors. Anyone who saw it being built had to know it was a scam.
April 16, 2025 at 4:16 AM
I booked a hotel on the wrong side of the LVCC complex and it sure was convenient, but the idea of moving any volume of people through that tunnel is ridiculous - the walls are so close, they constantly trip the proximity sensors. Anyone who saw it being built had to know it was a scam.
It was absolutely a whole-ass game concept. The way it got tortured and rebooted into S&B was absolutely criminal.
April 8, 2025 at 4:10 AM
It was absolutely a whole-ass game concept. The way it got tortured and rebooted into S&B was absolutely criminal.
I had the honor of previewing several internal variations of the Oops All Ships game over the years and the version I loved best had fantastical pirate ships from varied cultures and time periods all battling sea monsters together in a magical connecting sea off the map at the top of the world
April 8, 2025 at 4:05 AM
I had the honor of previewing several internal variations of the Oops All Ships game over the years and the version I loved best had fantastical pirate ships from varied cultures and time periods all battling sea monsters together in a magical connecting sea off the map at the top of the world
I’ve been working in games for 20 years and yet the best definition I can come up with is “FPS games where you can lean around corners”
April 5, 2025 at 7:22 AM
I’ve been working in games for 20 years and yet the best definition I can come up with is “FPS games where you can lean around corners”
I feel like this branding is self-defeating
February 22, 2025 at 3:43 AM
I feel like this branding is self-defeating
More delay is better! 40-200ms is The Bad Zone. Once the delay is high enough, it’s obvious what the problem is, and I can live with it. The uncanny valley of audio sync is where my brain screams “WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEIR MOUTHS, WHY DO THE SOUNDS COME OUT LIKE THAT”
January 19, 2025 at 10:28 PM
More delay is better! 40-200ms is The Bad Zone. Once the delay is high enough, it’s obvious what the problem is, and I can live with it. The uncanny valley of audio sync is where my brain screams “WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEIR MOUTHS, WHY DO THE SOUNDS COME OUT LIKE THAT”
Unless you want to record different versions for OLED gaming monitors and cheap work monitors, I suggest you get it under 20ms and walk away. :)
January 19, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Unless you want to record different versions for OLED gaming monitors and cheap work monitors, I suggest you get it under 20ms and walk away. :)