Lars Thießen
@larstofus.bsky.social
Senior Gameplay Programmer and former gamedev professor.
he/him
Blog: https://larstofus.com/
DMs are open.
he/him
Blog: https://larstofus.com/
DMs are open.
TIL that Path of Exile has two different, fully implemented networking modes (Lockstep & "Predictive"), which players can freely switch between o.O
I don't know of a single other game that does this, most developers are glad if they get one mode working properly.
I don't know of a single other game that does this, most developers are glad if they get one mode working properly.
November 16, 2025 at 3:10 PM
TIL that Path of Exile has two different, fully implemented networking modes (Lockstep & "Predictive"), which players can freely switch between o.O
I don't know of a single other game that does this, most developers are glad if they get one mode working properly.
I don't know of a single other game that does this, most developers are glad if they get one mode working properly.
Does anybody know what the first first-person game was that used a full body mesh instead of a floating pair of arms? In my own gaming history the first game that did this was Dark Messiah (2006), but surely there must have been others before it, right?
Googling this is harder than expected :/
Googling this is harder than expected :/
October 30, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Does anybody know what the first first-person game was that used a full body mesh instead of a floating pair of arms? In my own gaming history the first game that did this was Dark Messiah (2006), but surely there must have been others before it, right?
Googling this is harder than expected :/
Googling this is harder than expected :/
Event nodes are even weirder. They start "disabled" and are "enabled" when connecting other nodes to them. So far so logical.
But after disconnecting all connected nodes the node still remains "enabled". This apparently doesn't produce any overhead, but why was it disabled in the first place then?
But after disconnecting all connected nodes the node still remains "enabled". This apparently doesn't produce any overhead, but why was it disabled in the first place then?
October 29, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Event nodes are even weirder. They start "disabled" and are "enabled" when connecting other nodes to them. So far so logical.
But after disconnecting all connected nodes the node still remains "enabled". This apparently doesn't produce any overhead, but why was it disabled in the first place then?
But after disconnecting all connected nodes the node still remains "enabled". This apparently doesn't produce any overhead, but why was it disabled in the first place then?
Next stop: Node editing
Unreal has this handy sequence node to clean up big long functions.
But you can only add new steps to the sequence at the very end :(
If you want to introduce a new step, you have to rewire the whole thing. Being able to reorder the pins could make this a lot smoother (4/?)
Unreal has this handy sequence node to clean up big long functions.
But you can only add new steps to the sequence at the very end :(
If you want to introduce a new step, you have to rewire the whole thing. Being able to reorder the pins could make this a lot smoother (4/?)
October 29, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Next stop: Node editing
Unreal has this handy sequence node to clean up big long functions.
But you can only add new steps to the sequence at the very end :(
If you want to introduce a new step, you have to rewire the whole thing. Being able to reorder the pins could make this a lot smoother (4/?)
Unreal has this handy sequence node to clean up big long functions.
But you can only add new steps to the sequence at the very end :(
If you want to introduce a new step, you have to rewire the whole thing. Being able to reorder the pins could make this a lot smoother (4/?)
Oh, copy & paste is obviously also not available here, so there's really no way around it :/ (3/?)
October 29, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Oh, copy & paste is obviously also not available here, so there's really no way around it :/ (3/?)
Because of reasons I currently use more blueprints in Unreal than usually (normally I work in C++). I constantly stumble over small UI quirks that I never noticed before. Like the function inputs/outputs list. You can use drag & drop to change their order but only in the according subsection (1/2)
October 29, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Because of reasons I currently use more blueprints in Unreal than usually (normally I work in C++). I constantly stumble over small UI quirks that I never noticed before. Like the function inputs/outputs list. You can use drag & drop to change their order but only in the according subsection (1/2)
This sounds like a joke, but I deleted a file by accident and I am *actually* struggling to find the windows recycle bin. It's not on the desktop, not in the start menu and the windows search also can't find it.
I even made a screenshot to make sure I'm not going mad 🫠
I even made a screenshot to make sure I'm not going mad 🫠
October 28, 2025 at 7:48 PM
This sounds like a joke, but I deleted a file by accident and I am *actually* struggling to find the windows recycle bin. It's not on the desktop, not in the start menu and the windows search also can't find it.
I even made a screenshot to make sure I'm not going mad 🫠
I even made a screenshot to make sure I'm not going mad 🫠
I'm mostly ok with modern games trading image clarity for performance, but can we discuss the level of "acceptable noise" again? This is an actual, unedited screenshot from the Halo Remake 😵💫
It looks like a bad scan of an old print magazine
It looks like a bad scan of an old print magazine
October 25, 2025 at 4:30 PM
I'm mostly ok with modern games trading image clarity for performance, but can we discuss the level of "acceptable noise" again? This is an actual, unedited screenshot from the Halo Remake 😵💫
It looks like a bad scan of an old print magazine
It looks like a bad scan of an old print magazine
Just taking another look at the new Unreal FPS Template project because I need an example project for an upcoming lecture. Already on the first step you take you can notice that the new hands clip into the camera at every single step (screenshot attached). Feels a bit rushed tbh.
October 4, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Just taking another look at the new Unreal FPS Template project because I need an example project for an upcoming lecture. Already on the first step you take you can notice that the new hands clip into the camera at every single step (screenshot attached). Feels a bit rushed tbh.
Even Wikipedia isn't safe from being flooded with AI slop!
I hate this timeline😠
I hate this timeline😠
August 13, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Even Wikipedia isn't safe from being flooded with AI slop!
I hate this timeline😠
I hate this timeline😠
Optimization tip for owners of small fur factories aka cats:
Consider cleaning your PC or laptop from time to time and getting all of the hair out of the fans.
Did it this morning, and now I have to re-profile a bunch of stuff because my average frametime was cut in half 🥲
Consider cleaning your PC or laptop from time to time and getting all of the hair out of the fans.
Did it this morning, and now I have to re-profile a bunch of stuff because my average frametime was cut in half 🥲
August 11, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Optimization tip for owners of small fur factories aka cats:
Consider cleaning your PC or laptop from time to time and getting all of the hair out of the fans.
Did it this morning, and now I have to re-profile a bunch of stuff because my average frametime was cut in half 🥲
Consider cleaning your PC or laptop from time to time and getting all of the hair out of the fans.
Did it this morning, and now I have to re-profile a bunch of stuff because my average frametime was cut in half 🥲
Just did the same survey yesterday! The worst part of it is that Microsoft couldn't even afford the 70$ to hide the surveymonkey ad at the end 😵💫
August 6, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Just did the same survey yesterday! The worst part of it is that Microsoft couldn't even afford the 70$ to hide the surveymonkey ad at the end 😵💫
The new blender release halved the start time, probably because somebody on the team deemed 7 seconds too slow.
(I am reading the release notes and writing this text while I wait for the Unreal Editor to start 🐌)
(I am reading the release notes and writing this text while I wait for the Unreal Editor to start 🐌)
July 16, 2025 at 8:40 AM
The new blender release halved the start time, probably because somebody on the team deemed 7 seconds too slow.
(I am reading the release notes and writing this text while I wait for the Unreal Editor to start 🐌)
(I am reading the release notes and writing this text while I wait for the Unreal Editor to start 🐌)
This is a pleasant surprise, Epic actually worked on reducing the Unreal's disk size. The core components are around 9 GB smaller and the templates were even shrunk down from 3.7 to 0.8 GB 🥳
....oh and the new MetaHuman stuff added another 5 GB + 12 GB more debug symbols 🙃
Well, it's something
....oh and the new MetaHuman stuff added another 5 GB + 12 GB more debug symbols 🙃
Well, it's something
June 4, 2025 at 8:59 AM
This is a pleasant surprise, Epic actually worked on reducing the Unreal's disk size. The core components are around 9 GB smaller and the templates were even shrunk down from 3.7 to 0.8 GB 🥳
....oh and the new MetaHuman stuff added another 5 GB + 12 GB more debug symbols 🙃
Well, it's something
....oh and the new MetaHuman stuff added another 5 GB + 12 GB more debug symbols 🙃
Well, it's something
excuse me!!? 😠
Epic marked all my open pull requests for the Unreal engine as "invalid" and closed them. With basically no reason given except a missing "generative AI text".
What "AI text", Epic?
There is no mention of this in the documentation, but a lot of confused coders in the forum🙄
Epic marked all my open pull requests for the Unreal engine as "invalid" and closed them. With basically no reason given except a missing "generative AI text".
What "AI text", Epic?
There is no mention of this in the documentation, but a lot of confused coders in the forum🙄
May 31, 2025 at 6:20 PM
excuse me!!? 😠
Epic marked all my open pull requests for the Unreal engine as "invalid" and closed them. With basically no reason given except a missing "generative AI text".
What "AI text", Epic?
There is no mention of this in the documentation, but a lot of confused coders in the forum🙄
Epic marked all my open pull requests for the Unreal engine as "invalid" and closed them. With basically no reason given except a missing "generative AI text".
What "AI text", Epic?
There is no mention of this in the documentation, but a lot of confused coders in the forum🙄
Oh nooo the official dotnet repo is overrun by spam bots :o
..
ooh, wait those are "official" spam bots, guess it's all fine then 🫠
..
ooh, wait those are "official" spam bots, guess it's all fine then 🫠
May 22, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Oh nooo the official dotnet repo is overrun by spam bots :o
..
ooh, wait those are "official" spam bots, guess it's all fine then 🫠
..
ooh, wait those are "official" spam bots, guess it's all fine then 🫠
The German Dev Days have just announced their program for this year. Guess who will be giving his second talk there? Of course it's about one of my favorite topics: Optimization and framerates.
See you there 👋
#GGD2025 #GermanDevDays
See you there 👋
#GGD2025 #GermanDevDays
May 12, 2025 at 7:36 PM
The German Dev Days have just announced their program for this year. Guess who will be giving his second talk there? Of course it's about one of my favorite topics: Optimization and framerates.
See you there 👋
#GGD2025 #GermanDevDays
See you there 👋
#GGD2025 #GermanDevDays
Fun fact: even in a freshly generated project without any trees, Unreal will *checks notes* ...update the speedtree wind values every single frame?
It doesn't take a lot of time (0.05 ms in my testing), but that's still 0.05ms more than it should 🤨
It doesn't take a lot of time (0.05 ms in my testing), but that's still 0.05ms more than it should 🤨
May 7, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Fun fact: even in a freshly generated project without any trees, Unreal will *checks notes* ...update the speedtree wind values every single frame?
It doesn't take a lot of time (0.05 ms in my testing), but that's still 0.05ms more than it should 🤨
It doesn't take a lot of time (0.05 ms in my testing), but that's still 0.05ms more than it should 🤨
Still one of the prettiest cities of all the RPGs:
May 5, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Still one of the prettiest cities of all the RPGs:
And again I'm working on Unreal's static mesh editor... It's crazy how many basic features are just missing.
May 2, 2025 at 4:09 PM
And again I'm working on Unreal's static mesh editor... It's crazy how many basic features are just missing.
Maybe it's just because I'm mainly a Perforce user, but every time I have to use GitHub I want to smash my head into the keyboard. Why do I only get a "Update Branch" button after selecting the option to sync a fork? 😭Why can't I simply create a second fork? Who designed this interface? 🫠
May 1, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Maybe it's just because I'm mainly a Perforce user, but every time I have to use GitHub I want to smash my head into the keyboard. Why do I only get a "Update Branch" button after selecting the option to sync a fork? 😭Why can't I simply create a second fork? Who designed this interface? 🫠
Fun fact: Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, the biggest launch of a CryEngine game in a long time, isn't listed as a CryEngine game on Mobygames. This is because Mobygames only allows the engine to be added to a game if the major version label is known, which... it apparently isn't?
April 25, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Fun fact: Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, the biggest launch of a CryEngine game in a long time, isn't listed as a CryEngine game on Mobygames. This is because Mobygames only allows the engine to be added to a game if the major version label is known, which... it apparently isn't?
Minu cosplaying as Kaiju (and also interrupting my lighthouse construction)
April 21, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Minu cosplaying as Kaiju (and also interrupting my lighthouse construction)
The sad thing is that Paint is one of very few programs I actually can downgrade :(
Most other programs I have to use at their most recent version due to security or compatibility, even though their older versions would run a magnitude faster.
Most other programs I have to use at their most recent version due to security or compatibility, even though their older versions would run a magnitude faster.
April 12, 2025 at 7:54 PM
The sad thing is that Paint is one of very few programs I actually can downgrade :(
Most other programs I have to use at their most recent version due to security or compatibility, even though their older versions would run a magnitude faster.
Most other programs I have to use at their most recent version due to security or compatibility, even though their older versions would run a magnitude faster.
It works! The old version starts. so. much. faster.
April 12, 2025 at 12:57 PM
It works! The old version starts. so. much. faster.