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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 6h

future anthropologists have no chance

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Reposted by Jack Monahan

Alex Kain @tdcpresents.bsky.social · 3d

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 3d

yeah no kidding. no easy answers but one of my favorite sayings is “begin as you mean to go on.” take that as you will. all these posting platforms lure you in as a “valuable tool for promotion” when you need to ply your craft more instead of posting. easier said than done i know.

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 3d

the huge turning point for me was pope benedict stepping down. i thought it took humility, honesty, and also cmon on man if the pope can call it long before the deathbed there are many government roles that should stick a fork in it too

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 3d

i think that’s how social media captures savvy, talented people. seldom does their real goal seem to be, get big on yt or “posting a lot”, and yet on the road to getting to do the thing they want to do, they’re captured by the attention amoeba. “this is what you do, now, and don’t ever stop”

Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 3d

which reminds me of Eno lamenting the lack of working class voices in music now. i think that’s true of games in a similar way. i want to hear from many more perspectives and cultures and experiences. better representation of artists enriches us all. but americans tend to pretend class doesnt factor

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 3d

and while i think in game dev now there’s a lot better advice out there for beginners (and way more tutorial content) i think that social class element is sometimes overlooked. i’m speaking about myself of course. those without opportunity i’m sure feel it all too keenly.

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 3d

my friend skateboarded, loved punk, that was the spirit that animates him. he’s one of the most expert artists i know. and he taught himself most of it.
you learn by doing. don’t be afraid (or wait to ask permission) to learn by doing, by making.

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 3d

but then (after time with punk music, a few punk docs, and watching repo man) i realized that in the world i grew up in, DIY wasn’t something you did. in a good upper middle class family you went to school, you apprenticed, you trained. then you “did the thing.” you waited for permission.

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 3d

a good friend and mentor would hear me talk big talk about what kind of project i wanted to do when i was in my early 20s and he would say, “do it, man.” and it would just sort of short circuit me. couldn’t understand what he meant, somehow? you can’t just go around doing stuff!

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 3d

rather than derail an interesting thread, here’s a thought spurred from this post about class background, DIY, and “doing the thing” (making your big creative whatever project.)

Sapient PC-98 Tapedeck (Cosette) @cosettetape.bsky.social · 3d

America post-2008 has become a nation & a people waiting to get enough of a foundation behind themselves to do things risklessly & simply, as we were promised from the late 70s-90s. Bumming it until you brome through wasnt just viable, it was oftentimes smart! Not the case for a while, now.

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 4d

keep us posted if its good, foreign language (and bbc production) shows and films have usually been where the good stuff hides on netflix

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 5d

in happier news i have been waiting for the skate story demo ever since the superb reveal trailer three years ago. easily a top five game trailer. sets a mood and atmosphere that makes the game appeal far beyond fans of skate games. www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6j0...

Skate Story | Reveal Trailer

YouTube video by DevolverDigital

www.youtube.com

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 5d

in summary:
1) let's not all pretend like the 'in front of the computer your entire lives crowd' (that's me) is the vanguard of responsible electricity usage, and

2) i'm sorry for pretending lens flares weren't cool in 2001. they're still as cool as ever in 2025.

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 5d

offloading a bunch of work to gen ai doesn't save you money. in fact it hurts the work, it doesnt pay people, and hurts your rep in the long run. most of all, i think once the moral high ground has been abandoned for a new favorite scold, people won't like gen ai because its just lousy and tasteless

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 5d

but if a robot can take my job maybe it's earned it. maybe i can sleep for a change.
except i don't think it can replace me, and i don't need to scold anyone to make my case as a creative person. i believe that. that's what the work is for. if i can't speak through the work, the work isn't worth it.

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 5d

but it's not impossible. i think the biggest benefit to spending enough time with gen ai to be sort of annoyed/disgusted with it is to spot its hallmarks as readily as most artists can now.
crucially, most clients typically have a ways to go. their taste and acuity now need to get past ai slop.

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 5d

and you're thinking "but most toys don't lose people jobs." i really wish ai didn't. it's wrong. but i also don't think you go make it go away by scolding people.
educating clients has always been a rough part of working as an artist or designer and it just got a lot harder than it needs to.

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 5d

it's what you do with a new tool. or should i say a new toy. i think there are actually decent and even moral applications of gen ai. like any tech not through the gartner hype cycle we've still got some time before people lose their weird fever for lionizing it, or moralizing over it.

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 5d

but PS was still so new for him, the shine hadn't worn off, it hadn't settled down it just another tool. (he might have played with the infamous "plastic wrap" filter, even)

i dont blame him, any more than i blame the kids throwing asset packs into UE5 at 12 fps and marveling at what they've built.

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 5d

a vivid memory i think is relevant here: my industrial design professor circa 2001 giving the class a marker rendering demo. so much technique.
then, to finish, he scans it into photoshop and drops a lens flare on it. at that point i'd already used PS for five years. lens flare?! incredibly passé.

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 5d

i don't like gen ai. and yet i spent a considerable amount of time with midjourney and a few other packages because i thought it was important both to see the limits (felt like procgen in games—you hit them a lot faster than you think) and most importantly, to actively take the shine off a new tech.

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Jack Monahan @gausswerks.bsky.social · 5d

if everyone can turn on george miller that fast, well, i hope your fans are kinder to you in turn.

i don't like gen ai, but i also don't think it's going back in the box, either. and i'd rather talk about it, than pretend i'm turning my back on a great artist. because i'm not.

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Reposted by Jack Monahan

InkyInGreen 🍂 @blackwallmancer.bsky.social · 12d

Found this on the AO3 subreddit, and I'm about to let it change my whole life (or at least work really hard to internalize it wrt my writing).

Someone's screenshot of a two-post twitter thread, from user blue (@bluewmist):

the fastest way to kill motivation is to make your identity depend on the outcome. it's called ego involvement. when failing becomes failing as a person, your brain starts avoiding the whole thing. not because you don't care, but because you care too much.

you don't need lower standards. you need less self-worth tangled up in your goals. the work gets easier when it's not about proving who you are.

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Reposted by Jack Monahan

HughSJ @hughsj.bsky.social · 8d

FROG TEAM SIX, DEPLOY
#Brigador #BrigadorKillers

(this is such a wonderfully odd game)

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