Ian Holstead
@ianholstead.bsky.social
Designer of Alter! Gameplay Programmer on Apex Legends at Respawn. Past: Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Comp Eng at uWaterloo. Views mine. They/them
Speaker rehearsal complete! Feeling good for tomorrow, hope to see you all there!
March 18, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Speaker rehearsal complete! Feeling good for tomorrow, hope to see you all there!
I had a dumb grin on my face this whole sequence.
January 18, 2025 at 6:03 AM
I had a dumb grin on my face this whole sequence.
How much did I work? Well, my longest week was about 80 hours, and I averaged 58 hours a week. Chart attached. During the pandemic until launch(ish) I did about 570 hours of (unpaid) overtime. 9/
January 5, 2025 at 8:55 PM
How much did I work? Well, my longest week was about 80 hours, and I averaged 58 hours a week. Chart attached. During the pandemic until launch(ish) I did about 570 hours of (unpaid) overtime. 9/
Repost from 2021. This was a reply to the attached image
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Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and… it’s complicated? Probably the primary emotion was pride, but it wasn’t what I expected a launch to be like.
It’s been almost a year now so I might as well talk about it. 1/lots
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Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and… it’s complicated? Probably the primary emotion was pride, but it wasn’t what I expected a launch to be like.
It’s been almost a year now so I might as well talk about it. 1/lots
January 5, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Repost from 2021. This was a reply to the attached image
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Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and… it’s complicated? Probably the primary emotion was pride, but it wasn’t what I expected a launch to be like.
It’s been almost a year now so I might as well talk about it. 1/lots
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Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and… it’s complicated? Probably the primary emotion was pride, but it wasn’t what I expected a launch to be like.
It’s been almost a year now so I might as well talk about it. 1/lots
Of course, later the animation and camera angle changed, so the feedback is less obvious than it was before, but that’s making games for you. Stills from the win/lose state of the final animations are below. 12/
January 5, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Of course, later the animation and camera angle changed, so the feedback is less obvious than it was before, but that’s making games for you. Stills from the win/lose state of the final animations are below. 12/
Plus the button presses aren't continuous, between presses you actually are getting closer to losing. In the below picture, if you're below the middle line, you're technically losing. How to feedback the overall progress without looking like you're losing between presses? 10/
January 5, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Plus the button presses aren't continuous, between presses you actually are getting closer to losing. In the below picture, if you're below the middle line, you're technically losing. How to feedback the overall progress without looking like you're losing between presses? 10/
I wanted to have some feedback to indicate if you were winning or losing, so the animator made me 'winning' and a 'losing' animations, I could blend between depending on how you were doing. Stills from the proto animations are shown below 7/
January 5, 2025 at 8:33 PM
I wanted to have some feedback to indicate if you were winning or losing, so the animator made me 'winning' and a 'losing' animations, I could blend between depending on how you were doing. Stills from the proto animations are shown below 7/
If you win, you instantly stun the Goliath and if you lose, they grab you and throw you! This is actually slightly less hidden as the codex tips actually mention this. 2/
January 5, 2025 at 8:33 PM
If you win, you instantly stun the Goliath and if you lose, they grab you and throw you! This is actually slightly less hidden as the codex tips actually mention this. 2/
Repost from April 2021, part of a series of AC:V bts tweets
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Second one is what I call the 'rush and bash struggle'. To activate it, you use the rush and bash ability towards a Goliath when they are doing their running charge at you. If you do, you'll enter a little button mashing mini-game 1/
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Second one is what I call the 'rush and bash struggle'. To activate it, you use the rush and bash ability towards a Goliath when they are doing their running charge at you. If you do, you'll enter a little button mashing mini-game 1/
January 5, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Repost from April 2021, part of a series of AC:V bts tweets
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Second one is what I call the 'rush and bash struggle'. To activate it, you use the rush and bash ability towards a Goliath when they are doing their running charge at you. If you do, you'll enter a little button mashing mini-game 1/
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Second one is what I call the 'rush and bash struggle'. To activate it, you use the rush and bash ability towards a Goliath when they are doing their running charge at you. If you do, you'll enter a little button mashing mini-game 1/
Repost from May 2023
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Now that the hunt has concluded, let's talk a bit about the nessies! Once we decided that we were moving to a new map, I wanted to see some new easter eggs in the firing range, especially since we were removing one of the old ones. But what?
Screenshot from @spearheadpr_
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Now that the hunt has concluded, let's talk a bit about the nessies! Once we decided that we were moving to a new map, I wanted to see some new easter eggs in the firing range, especially since we were removing one of the old ones. But what?
Screenshot from @spearheadpr_
January 5, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Repost from May 2023
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Now that the hunt has concluded, let's talk a bit about the nessies! Once we decided that we were moving to a new map, I wanted to see some new easter eggs in the firing range, especially since we were removing one of the old ones. But what?
Screenshot from @spearheadpr_
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Now that the hunt has concluded, let's talk a bit about the nessies! Once we decided that we were moving to a new map, I wanted to see some new easter eggs in the firing range, especially since we were removing one of the old ones. But what?
Screenshot from @spearheadpr_
We also ended up having a LOT of build issues at the last minute with this feature that almost caused it to be canceled, so I had a few stressful days trying to figure that out and fixing it (the first time we tested this with the whole team was 2 days before hard lock for 12.1).
December 27, 2024 at 5:56 PM
We also ended up having a LOT of build issues at the last minute with this feature that almost caused it to be canceled, so I had a few stressful days trying to figure that out and fixing it (the first time we tested this with the whole team was 2 days before hard lock for 12.1).
So yeah, the gun is still a gun that shoots spiders, they just look like nessies. Are you ready for nightmare fuel? This is what they actually look like if the spider is visible.
Arachnophobia warning!!!
Arachnophobia warning!!!
December 27, 2024 at 5:56 PM
So yeah, the gun is still a gun that shoots spiders, they just look like nessies. Are you ready for nightmare fuel? This is what they actually look like if the spider is visible.
Arachnophobia warning!!!
Arachnophobia warning!!!
Repost from April 2022
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Glad to see everyone is enjoying the Nessies!
As always, credit where credit is due, most of this was put together by Pat McDermott with Tyler Parsons doing the adorable nessie sounds and Melody Copeman creating the amazing April fools badge.
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Glad to see everyone is enjoying the Nessies!
As always, credit where credit is due, most of this was put together by Pat McDermott with Tyler Parsons doing the adorable nessie sounds and Melody Copeman creating the amazing April fools badge.
December 27, 2024 at 5:56 PM
Repost from April 2022
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Glad to see everyone is enjoying the Nessies!
As always, credit where credit is due, most of this was put together by Pat McDermott with Tyler Parsons doing the adorable nessie sounds and Melody Copeman creating the amazing April fools badge.
-------------------------
Glad to see everyone is enjoying the Nessies!
As always, credit where credit is due, most of this was put together by Pat McDermott with Tyler Parsons doing the adorable nessie sounds and Melody Copeman creating the amazing April fools badge.
So yeah! Gameplay programming comes in all manner of things, not just 'adding a lot of lines to the screen and cursing at code' (although there's lots of that too).
Bonus little line of code which uhh, demonstrates that.
Bonus little line of code which uhh, demonstrates that.
December 27, 2024 at 5:27 PM
So yeah! Gameplay programming comes in all manner of things, not just 'adding a lot of lines to the screen and cursing at code' (although there's lots of that too).
Bonus little line of code which uhh, demonstrates that.
Bonus little line of code which uhh, demonstrates that.
Finally, you can enjoy a little peak at my jira dashboard! Jira is our task/bug tracking tool.
The coolest of the many filters is the (incorrectly labeled) 'new AI crashes', which is a big search filter for new issues I might not have seen related to stuff I've worked on
The coolest of the many filters is the (incorrectly labeled) 'new AI crashes', which is a big search filter for new issues I might not have seen related to stuff I've worked on
December 27, 2024 at 5:27 PM
Finally, you can enjoy a little peak at my jira dashboard! Jira is our task/bug tracking tool.
The coolest of the many filters is the (incorrectly labeled) 'new AI crashes', which is a big search filter for new issues I might not have seen related to stuff I've worked on
The coolest of the many filters is the (incorrectly labeled) 'new AI crashes', which is a big search filter for new issues I might not have seen related to stuff I've worked on
If you look closely, you can see the priorities on the left side (which range from ^^ (highest) to vv (lowest)). Numbers are assigned when I've decided what order I'll tackle things
Also I often just need a scratch pad for whatever I'm doing, which you can see at the edges
Also I often just need a scratch pad for whatever I'm doing, which you can see at the edges
December 27, 2024 at 5:27 PM
If you look closely, you can see the priorities on the left side (which range from ^^ (highest) to vv (lowest)). Numbers are assigned when I've decided what order I'll tackle things
Also I often just need a scratch pad for whatever I'm doing, which you can see at the edges
Also I often just need a scratch pad for whatever I'm doing, which you can see at the edges
On the flip side, I frequently have pieces of paper on my desk that look like this.
Pic 1 is trying to write an algorithm for edge detection for the tac
Pic 2 is a todo list from last August when I was redoing the tac logic
Pic 3 is checking the math on some hull traces
Pic 1 is trying to write an algorithm for edge detection for the tac
Pic 2 is a todo list from last August when I was redoing the tac logic
Pic 3 is checking the math on some hull traces
December 27, 2024 at 5:27 PM
On the flip side, I frequently have pieces of paper on my desk that look like this.
Pic 1 is trying to write an algorithm for edge detection for the tac
Pic 2 is a todo list from last August when I was redoing the tac logic
Pic 3 is checking the math on some hull traces
Pic 1 is trying to write an algorithm for edge detection for the tac
Pic 2 is a todo list from last August when I was redoing the tac logic
Pic 3 is checking the math on some hull traces
What does Alter's tac do under the hood? It's a simple 11 step process! Ok, maybe not so simple.
If you enable all the debug displays for her tactical, this is what it looks like
The second photo is just showing the debugs for a single step which is much more helpful
If you enable all the debug displays for her tactical, this is what it looks like
The second photo is just showing the debugs for a single step which is much more helpful
December 27, 2024 at 5:27 PM
What does Alter's tac do under the hood? It's a simple 11 step process! Ok, maybe not so simple.
If you enable all the debug displays for her tactical, this is what it looks like
The second photo is just showing the debugs for a single step which is much more helpful
If you enable all the debug displays for her tactical, this is what it looks like
The second photo is just showing the debugs for a single step which is much more helpful
After Alter came out, I commissioned some posters for the team as a thank you for their hard work. I'm so thrilled with how it turned out, the artist bokchoi is super talented!
And guess what, you can get your own print here! bokchoiart.square.site/product/11x1...
And guess what, you can get your own print here! bokchoiart.square.site/product/11x1...
November 19, 2024 at 7:27 PM
After Alter came out, I commissioned some posters for the team as a thank you for their hard work. I'm so thrilled with how it turned out, the artist bokchoi is super talented!
And guess what, you can get your own print here! bokchoiart.square.site/product/11x1...
And guess what, you can get your own print here! bokchoiart.square.site/product/11x1...
Hi folks! I'm Ian, a dev on Apex Legends and the designer of Alter! Before Apex, I worked on Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
Aside from work, I also am an avid hiker, board gamer and dabble in photography!
Aside from work, I also am an avid hiker, board gamer and dabble in photography!
November 19, 2024 at 7:27 PM
Hi folks! I'm Ian, a dev on Apex Legends and the designer of Alter! Before Apex, I worked on Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
Aside from work, I also am an avid hiker, board gamer and dabble in photography!
Aside from work, I also am an avid hiker, board gamer and dabble in photography!