TJ Stamm
@talenttreegames.com
AAA game designer, father, husband, and aspiring indie developer as Founder of Talent Tree Games.
Former Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, and Power Puff Girls dev. Weapon/Combat/Systems/Level Design
https://youtube.com/@talenttreegames
#gamedev #indiedev
Former Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, and Power Puff Girls dev. Weapon/Combat/Systems/Level Design
https://youtube.com/@talenttreegames
#gamedev #indiedev
A plethora of fun was had
three men dressed as mariachis stand in a dirt field
Alt: Three Amigos signature salute
media.tenor.com
December 26, 2025 at 7:02 AM
A plethora of fun was had
A few years later, I join a CoD team and they're all saying "ADS this" and "ADS that". Took a while before someone said something with enough context to realize it stood for Aim Down Sights. Even longer before I think we were able to use that term in player facing text.
December 21, 2025 at 3:53 PM
A few years later, I join a CoD team and they're all saying "ADS this" and "ADS that". Took a while before someone said something with enough context to realize it stood for Aim Down Sights. Even longer before I think we were able to use that term in player facing text.
Even simple stuff is affected by the latter. Working on Medal of Honor, we always called bringing the weapon up to aim "iron sights".
December 21, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Even simple stuff is affected by the latter. Working on Medal of Honor, we always called bringing the weapon up to aim "iron sights".
Good point. The problem goes in both directions: same term used to cover different concepts (your example) or same concept gets multiple different named terms.
December 21, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Good point. The problem goes in both directions: same term used to cover different concepts (your example) or same concept gets multiple different named terms.
And I literally had the "smart object" example come up years ago. Talking to another designer who looked at me like I had 3 heads. Had to stop a whole meeting to explain it since it was central to the overall plan. Was surprised how foreign even the concept sounded to them.
December 21, 2025 at 5:16 AM
And I literally had the "smart object" example come up years ago. Talking to another designer who looked at me like I had 3 heads. Had to stop a whole meeting to explain it since it was central to the overall plan. Was surprised how foreign even the concept sounded to them.
It's like, great, it's all learnable...but I feel like now you're at a disadvantage because you didn't spend half your career immersing yourself in reddit threads, articles, or videos about sometimes very specific genres and all of the tribal knowledge and lingo they have developed.
December 21, 2025 at 5:13 AM
It's like, great, it's all learnable...but I feel like now you're at a disadvantage because you didn't spend half your career immersing yourself in reddit threads, articles, or videos about sometimes very specific genres and all of the tribal knowledge and lingo they have developed.
But design?...pfft. I swear, half my time in interviews is describing a concept generically only to finally hear the other side say, "OH, we call it this."
December 21, 2025 at 5:13 AM
But design?...pfft. I swear, half my time in interviews is describing a concept generically only to finally hear the other side say, "OH, we call it this."
I've had recent conversations on this very subject. I noted that some disciplines are better than others e.g. engineering has a lot of shared concepts that have terms and patterns that I see across a variety of contexts.
December 21, 2025 at 5:13 AM
I've had recent conversations on this very subject. I noted that some disciplines are better than others e.g. engineering has a lot of shared concepts that have terms and patterns that I see across a variety of contexts.
Man, your comment in the prior post about being wishy-washy allowing execs wiggling room is spot on. I was taught the very same lesson early on in my EA career when a director explained that phenomenon to me.
December 19, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Man, your comment in the prior post about being wishy-washy allowing execs wiggling room is spot on. I was taught the very same lesson early on in my EA career when a director explained that phenomenon to me.
Evidently, the answer is BlueSky since you're here figuring it out 😜
Honestly though, I must be the only person I know who bounced off of Obsidian. Still going to give it a couple more tries. But I have found Miro useful for lots of "big picture with moving parts" brain mapping exercises.
Honestly though, I must be the only person I know who bounced off of Obsidian. Still going to give it a couple more tries. But I have found Miro useful for lots of "big picture with moving parts" brain mapping exercises.
December 2, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Evidently, the answer is BlueSky since you're here figuring it out 😜
Honestly though, I must be the only person I know who bounced off of Obsidian. Still going to give it a couple more tries. But I have found Miro useful for lots of "big picture with moving parts" brain mapping exercises.
Honestly though, I must be the only person I know who bounced off of Obsidian. Still going to give it a couple more tries. But I have found Miro useful for lots of "big picture with moving parts" brain mapping exercises.
Whole thread you linked makes me wanna 🤮
What you said is no joke: every new news about Roblox is some fresh, new horror.
What you said is no joke: every new news about Roblox is some fresh, new horror.
November 12, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Whole thread you linked makes me wanna 🤮
What you said is no joke: every new news about Roblox is some fresh, new horror.
What you said is no joke: every new news about Roblox is some fresh, new horror.
They like to hire what's familiar :\
Look, it's a timeline of all the bosses in my career!
Look, it's a timeline of all the bosses in my career!
October 16, 2025 at 4:58 AM
They like to hire what's familiar :\
Look, it's a timeline of all the bosses in my career!
Look, it's a timeline of all the bosses in my career!
Great episode! Ya did good. Kept us on our toes the entire way through.
October 16, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Great episode! Ya did good. Kept us on our toes the entire way through.
I was making this same point in conversation the other day, but in the context of people putting out millions of AI songs on Spotify. I don't know if it's even humanly possible to listen, or read in this thread's case, that sheer amount of slop.
October 13, 2025 at 2:49 AM
I was making this same point in conversation the other day, but in the context of people putting out millions of AI songs on Spotify. I don't know if it's even humanly possible to listen, or read in this thread's case, that sheer amount of slop.
Seconded!
No pressure, Scooter.
No pressure, Scooter.
October 10, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Seconded!
No pressure, Scooter.
No pressure, Scooter.
I hear ya. I'm still dragging my feet on getting started on devlogs. At least I set up the channel 😀 Just gotta figure out how or what I decide to do with it. My biggest fear is in it becoming its own timesink.
September 27, 2025 at 4:14 AM
I hear ya. I'm still dragging my feet on getting started on devlogs. At least I set up the channel 😀 Just gotta figure out how or what I decide to do with it. My biggest fear is in it becoming its own timesink.
Finger34_R (or 45 if you counting fingers by 5)?
Just thinking I would group them logically while still keeping it clear it's a finger.
Just thinking I would group them logically while still keeping it clear it's a finger.
September 25, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Finger34_R (or 45 if you counting fingers by 5)?
Just thinking I would group them logically while still keeping it clear it's a finger.
Just thinking I would group them logically while still keeping it clear it's a finger.
So I wouldn't change a thing about your trailer! I would take a bunch of slices and make lots of small ones highlighting gameplay and get them out there on those platforms.
September 24, 2025 at 4:07 PM
So I wouldn't change a thing about your trailer! I would take a bunch of slices and make lots of small ones highlighting gameplay and get them out there on those platforms.
The places that seem to reach the most are YouTube and TikTok.
And the thing that many successful indies seem to say are to make *tons* of small videos/gifs of your game...and blast them to the places.
And the thing that many successful indies seem to say are to make *tons* of small videos/gifs of your game...and blast them to the places.
September 24, 2025 at 4:07 PM
The places that seem to reach the most are YouTube and TikTok.
And the thing that many successful indies seem to say are to make *tons* of small videos/gifs of your game...and blast them to the places.
And the thing that many successful indies seem to say are to make *tons* of small videos/gifs of your game...and blast them to the places.
I don't agree with every last point they make but there's some good data to chew on.
One of the better findings is that bluesky/Twitter/etc are *not* the best for audience reach, which I was surprised by but I think I see the truth of now. It's part of why I haven't done much on here yet.
One of the better findings is that bluesky/Twitter/etc are *not* the best for audience reach, which I was surprised by but I think I see the truth of now. It's part of why I haven't done much on here yet.
September 24, 2025 at 4:07 PM
I don't agree with every last point they make but there's some good data to chew on.
One of the better findings is that bluesky/Twitter/etc are *not* the best for audience reach, which I was surprised by but I think I see the truth of now. It's part of why I haven't done much on here yet.
One of the better findings is that bluesky/Twitter/etc are *not* the best for audience reach, which I was surprised by but I think I see the truth of now. It's part of why I haven't done much on here yet.
I wanted to drop one of the voices that made some good points about all of this (including one about building a rep) in case you haven't come across their vids
www.youtube.com/live/gQBdIGa...
www.youtube.com/live/gQBdIGa...
How to NOT screw up your indie game launch. 30 mistakes in 30 minutes. | Chris Zukowski
YouTube video by IndieGameBusiness®
www.youtube.com
September 24, 2025 at 4:07 PM
I wanted to drop one of the voices that made some good points about all of this (including one about building a rep) in case you haven't come across their vids
www.youtube.com/live/gQBdIGa...
www.youtube.com/live/gQBdIGa...
Hey Mugu! Interesting that you're posting about this since this is something I've been actively looking into even as I start a similar journey. I think you nailed it with your prior comment about shipping more and building a rep (if you can't borrow one).
September 24, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Hey Mugu! Interesting that you're posting about this since this is something I've been actively looking into even as I start a similar journey. I think you nailed it with your prior comment about shipping more and building a rep (if you can't borrow one).