DDS
@ddsdev.bsky.social
Professional Game Dev/Systems Programmer
Talking about the games industry, or whatever comes to mind. Opinions are my own and not reflective of any current or past employers.
Talking about the games industry, or whatever comes to mind. Opinions are my own and not reflective of any current or past employers.
Side project screenshot
September 1, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Side project screenshot
Not trying to gatekeep, but I feel like the youtube gaming tutorial space has too much "the blind leading the blind" - people who haven't shipped a game, who's source is ANOTHER tutorial on youtube, giving advice against best practices, without any explanation on the "why" behind their methods
July 11, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Not trying to gatekeep, but I feel like the youtube gaming tutorial space has too much "the blind leading the blind" - people who haven't shipped a game, who's source is ANOTHER tutorial on youtube, giving advice against best practices, without any explanation on the "why" behind their methods
Doing any custom shader work in Unreal (not authoring materials but changing the underlying shaders) has so much friction, I am convinced it is intentional on Epic's part.
June 29, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Doing any custom shader work in Unreal (not authoring materials but changing the underlying shaders) has so much friction, I am convinced it is intentional on Epic's part.
More character art - finally got the shader to a point I am happy with
February 28, 2025 at 6:15 AM
More character art - finally got the shader to a point I am happy with
I wish we could “turn back the clock” on crowd sourcing for games. I think crowdsourcing as a model has the ability to better align incentives and give gamers more of the games they want, but currently is flooded with scams and over-scoped projects.
January 11, 2025 at 6:29 PM
I wish we could “turn back the clock” on crowd sourcing for games. I think crowdsourcing as a model has the ability to better align incentives and give gamers more of the games they want, but currently is flooded with scams and over-scoped projects.
I think there is a lot of potential in the RTS and “RTS-like” genre, even in the indie space. I think it’s going to take a smash-out title to show people what’s possible, and then the flood gates will re-open on the genre.
January 4, 2025 at 2:53 AM
I think there is a lot of potential in the RTS and “RTS-like” genre, even in the indie space. I think it’s going to take a smash-out title to show people what’s possible, and then the flood gates will re-open on the genre.
When it comes to the topic of making your indie “dream game”, the elephant in the room for me is that a lot of these dream games are MMOs, and making an MMO is a serious technical challenge.
Not impossible, but you should know what you’re getting yourself into.
Not impossible, but you should know what you’re getting yourself into.
December 24, 2024 at 6:30 PM
When it comes to the topic of making your indie “dream game”, the elephant in the room for me is that a lot of these dream games are MMOs, and making an MMO is a serious technical challenge.
Not impossible, but you should know what you’re getting yourself into.
Not impossible, but you should know what you’re getting yourself into.
Make sure to take breaks from programming to be active. Invest in your posture, your game will be better because of it.
December 23, 2024 at 10:11 PM
Make sure to take breaks from programming to be active. Invest in your posture, your game will be better because of it.
Updated my shader, added some bloom, made a new skyscraper. Getting closer to the look I’m going for. #indiedev #gamedev #ScreenshotSaturday
December 21, 2024 at 6:30 PM
Updated my shader, added some bloom, made a new skyscraper. Getting closer to the look I’m going for. #indiedev #gamedev #ScreenshotSaturday
When I was coming up, a major point of discussion was around if "games were art".
I think the overwhelming answer in 2024 is - yes, absolutely.
I think the overwhelming answer in 2024 is - yes, absolutely.
December 17, 2024 at 12:55 AM
When I was coming up, a major point of discussion was around if "games were art".
I think the overwhelming answer in 2024 is - yes, absolutely.
I think the overwhelming answer in 2024 is - yes, absolutely.
Controversial opinion time - game programmers should embrace unit tests and integration tests more.
Having a solid unit test suite is soooo nice when you have to make a change to a major system that’s been running in production for years and the original author has long moved on.
Having a solid unit test suite is soooo nice when you have to make a change to a major system that’s been running in production for years and the original author has long moved on.
December 15, 2024 at 6:09 PM
Controversial opinion time - game programmers should embrace unit tests and integration tests more.
Having a solid unit test suite is soooo nice when you have to make a change to a major system that’s been running in production for years and the original author has long moved on.
Having a solid unit test suite is soooo nice when you have to make a change to a major system that’s been running in production for years and the original author has long moved on.
Don’t get “analysis paralysis” over code quality. In games, and programming in general, end players don’t see the code quality directly in the way they see the art or UI or design of the game.
Players see code quality by proxy via things like how buggy the game is, and the games performance.
Players see code quality by proxy via things like how buggy the game is, and the games performance.
December 14, 2024 at 4:55 PM
Don’t get “analysis paralysis” over code quality. In games, and programming in general, end players don’t see the code quality directly in the way they see the art or UI or design of the game.
Players see code quality by proxy via things like how buggy the game is, and the games performance.
Players see code quality by proxy via things like how buggy the game is, and the games performance.
Work in progress character concept - spent a lot of time working trying to get that stylized look in lit unreal 5. Not quite happy yet but I am getting closer.
Awesome base model from artstn.co/m/Lrzpn I've modified and rigged. #gamedev #indiedev
Awesome base model from artstn.co/m/Lrzpn I've modified and rigged. #gamedev #indiedev
December 13, 2024 at 4:58 AM
Work in progress character concept - spent a lot of time working trying to get that stylized look in lit unreal 5. Not quite happy yet but I am getting closer.
Awesome base model from artstn.co/m/Lrzpn I've modified and rigged. #gamedev #indiedev
Awesome base model from artstn.co/m/Lrzpn I've modified and rigged. #gamedev #indiedev
Game ideas do have worth, but the real VALUE is in the implementation and execution of those ideas.
December 12, 2024 at 4:50 PM
Game ideas do have worth, but the real VALUE is in the implementation and execution of those ideas.
QA is one of the most important parts of the gamedev process. Players can feel a well tested game.
December 11, 2024 at 4:57 AM
QA is one of the most important parts of the gamedev process. Players can feel a well tested game.
I think most of the “new dev tutorial” space approaches optimization in a poor way. There is too much of a focus on specifics like “don’t use Update()”, or “disable this feature if you aren’t using it”, which are valid in a general sense, but don’t really teach how to optimize.
December 9, 2024 at 4:43 PM
I think most of the “new dev tutorial” space approaches optimization in a poor way. There is too much of a focus on specifics like “don’t use Update()”, or “disable this feature if you aren’t using it”, which are valid in a general sense, but don’t really teach how to optimize.
Unity should move away from HDRP and work towards a singular, very customizable render pipeline for more stylized graphics. They won’t be able to outflank Unreal in photo realism, and should focus on their core strengths.
December 8, 2024 at 7:43 PM
Unity should move away from HDRP and work towards a singular, very customizable render pipeline for more stylized graphics. They won’t be able to outflank Unreal in photo realism, and should focus on their core strengths.
Coffee is the critical component to programming
December 8, 2024 at 5:11 PM
Coffee is the critical component to programming
I think it's important to know who you are making your game for. It's fine (and awesome even) to make your game for you! Make the game you want to make!
December 7, 2024 at 12:54 AM
I think it's important to know who you are making your game for. It's fine (and awesome even) to make your game for you! Make the game you want to make!
I don’t like that the industry is moving to TAA as a way of denoising or hiding dithering for other effects. While it is effective, it often gives a “blur” (separate from motion blur) or a “smear” effect.
Especially the trend of forced TAA - I get the “why” but don’t like the result.
Especially the trend of forced TAA - I get the “why” but don’t like the result.
December 6, 2024 at 4:35 PM
I don’t like that the industry is moving to TAA as a way of denoising or hiding dithering for other effects. While it is effective, it often gives a “blur” (separate from motion blur) or a “smear” effect.
Especially the trend of forced TAA - I get the “why” but don’t like the result.
Especially the trend of forced TAA - I get the “why” but don’t like the result.