Mike Cook
@mtrc.bsky.social
AI, creativity and procedural generation researcher. No, not that kind of AI. I write and make games and take photographs of cities. Senior Lecturer at King's College London.
A prototype for a much larger system
http://www.possibilityspace.org | he/they
A prototype for a much larger system
http://www.possibilityspace.org | he/they
Pinned
Mike Cook
@mtrc.bsky.social
· 11d
New Paper: Game Design is Generative Design. Designing a procedural generator and designing a game share a lot of skills, problems and philosophies, even if we think of them as distinct. I try to connect them here, for good!
Read here: ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AI...
Read here: ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AI...
📌 Three new papers at #aiide25 from me:
1. A 'vision' paper about why game design is like procedural design bsky.app/profile/mtrc...
2. A new system for generating mechanics called Pixie bsky.app/profile/mtrc...
3. A big group paper about speedrunning as an AI challenge bsky.app/profile/mtrc...
1. A 'vision' paper about why game design is like procedural design bsky.app/profile/mtrc...
2. A new system for generating mechanics called Pixie bsky.app/profile/mtrc...
3. A big group paper about speedrunning as an AI challenge bsky.app/profile/mtrc...
@okiokipanic.bsky.social Am I right in thinking, when you demo'd super slime arena in person, you had this like... massive multi-tap USB hub for many many controllers? What did you use for the hub? Did you have any weirdness getting all the inputs to come through as distinct signals?
November 27, 2025 at 9:49 PM
@okiokipanic.bsky.social Am I right in thinking, when you demo'd super slime arena in person, you had this like... massive multi-tap USB hub for many many controllers? What did you use for the hub? Did you have any weirdness getting all the inputs to come through as distinct signals?
Reposted by Mike Cook
LOK Digital is coming to Nintendo Switch on December 9th!
Learn a cryptic language of world-changing words and master their mind-bending effects. Embark on your charming puzzle-solving journey to help the LOK creatures thrive.
Play the demo and pre-order now:
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
Learn a cryptic language of world-changing words and master their mind-bending effects. Embark on your charming puzzle-solving journey to help the LOK creatures thrive.
Play the demo and pre-order now:
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
November 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM
LOK Digital is coming to Nintendo Switch on December 9th!
Learn a cryptic language of world-changing words and master their mind-bending effects. Embark on your charming puzzle-solving journey to help the LOK creatures thrive.
Play the demo and pre-order now:
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
Learn a cryptic language of world-changing words and master their mind-bending effects. Embark on your charming puzzle-solving journey to help the LOK creatures thrive.
Play the demo and pre-order now:
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
Your coat is white as winter skies,
The judges said they loved your eyes,
I cannot compete with you,
The judges said they loved your eyes,
I cannot compete with you,
National Dog Show contestant Jolene is relatable on so many levels.
November 27, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Your coat is white as winter skies,
The judges said they loved your eyes,
I cannot compete with you,
The judges said they loved your eyes,
I cannot compete with you,
Reposted by Mike Cook
Latest VODs are out! I show photos from my recent London (and #AdvX2025 trip), paint more double-wide pixels, and visit a couple new locations in Karuizawa Yūkai Annai! Happy Crimson C'Thursday! youtu.be/ldB2e8_23Mo
Art Stream -- Making The Crimson Diamond... November 256, 2025
YouTube video by Julia Minamata
youtu.be
November 27, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Latest VODs are out! I show photos from my recent London (and #AdvX2025 trip), paint more double-wide pixels, and visit a couple new locations in Karuizawa Yūkai Annai! Happy Crimson C'Thursday! youtu.be/ldB2e8_23Mo
Reposted by Mike Cook
SocArXiv has had enough of AI papers. Requires acceptance of those papers first. Exceptions are made for studies of the effects of AI in society.
1. Pausing new submissions about AI topics for 90 days. That is, papers about AI models, testing AI models, proposing AI models, theories about the future of AI, etc. We will make exceptions for papers that are already accepted for publication (or published) in peer-reviewed scholarly journals
/2
/2
November 27, 2025 at 4:25 PM
SocArXiv has had enough of AI papers. Requires acceptance of those papers first. Exceptions are made for studies of the effects of AI in society.
Just a few days left to sign up for this!
Do you like weird puzzles? You don't mind playing the first experimental iterations of a game? Like this post and DM me your mail, I'll have a surprise in your inbox everyday of December 🎁✨
November 27, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Just a few days left to sign up for this!
Last night there was a huge algorave at Corsica Studios to celebrate/commemorate the venue as it's closing its doors soon. A huge chunk of the London livecoding scene performed, across two rooms, I was gutted to miss it but there's a recording! www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzSt...
London Algorave — Room 1 livestream
YouTube video by pastagang
www.youtube.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Last night there was a huge algorave at Corsica Studios to celebrate/commemorate the venue as it's closing its doors soon. A huge chunk of the London livecoding scene performed, across two rooms, I was gutted to miss it but there's a recording! www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzSt...
Reposted by Mike Cook
🦃🎮 Creator Day returns this Friday with the start of our Black Friday 2025 Sitewide Sale. For 24 hours we'll waive our free on all transactions. Over 15,000 projects to be on sale from this Friday through December 3rd. More details here itch.io/blog/1124058/creator...
November 26, 2025 at 8:41 PM
🦃🎮 Creator Day returns this Friday with the start of our Black Friday 2025 Sitewide Sale. For 24 hours we'll waive our free on all transactions. Over 15,000 projects to be on sale from this Friday through December 3rd. More details here itch.io/blog/1124058/creator...
Reposted by Mike Cook
Inspired by lo-fi study beats and driven by my desire for peaceful winter ambience, Endless Winters is a simple hack of EarthBound that perpetually pans over a snowy landscape.
Designed for original hardware, it functions as a installation piece that can be quickly installed using a SNES and a CRT.
Designed for original hardware, it functions as a installation piece that can be quickly installed using a SNES and a CRT.
Endless Winters by Michael Iantorno
A lo-fi ambient hack of EarthBound
michaeliantorno.itch.io
November 20, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Inspired by lo-fi study beats and driven by my desire for peaceful winter ambience, Endless Winters is a simple hack of EarthBound that perpetually pans over a snowy landscape.
Designed for original hardware, it functions as a installation piece that can be quickly installed using a SNES and a CRT.
Designed for original hardware, it functions as a installation piece that can be quickly installed using a SNES and a CRT.
Reposted by Mike Cook
UK games industry is having a fuckin moment this week.
Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
Splash Damage places entire studio into consultation ahead of extensive layoffs: www.gamesindustry.biz/splash-damag...
Splash Damage places entire studio into consultation ahead of redundancies
Splash Damage has announced a consultation process affecting all staff at the Bromley-based studio, which will conclude…
www.gamesindustry.biz
November 26, 2025 at 5:28 PM
UK games industry is having a fuckin moment this week.
Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
New @draknek.bsky.social game looks pretty cool.
So this happened in Oslo yesterday. Four articulated buses got stuck in a roundabout.
November 26, 2025 at 4:07 PM
New @draknek.bsky.social game looks pretty cool.
Reposted by Mike Cook
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Reposted by Mike Cook
Harmony in the hive? Think again! 🐝⚔️
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
November 24, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Harmony in the hive? Think again! 🐝⚔️
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown!
Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵
Reposted by Mike Cook
Last night's interview with Novara on the Rockstar firings is now up as its own standalone video, if you'd like to watch.
Delighted to see the story picked up by the wider media in this way, as surreal as it felt to appear on a show I've been watching for years now.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxuP...
Delighted to see the story picked up by the wider media in this way, as surreal as it felt to appear on a show I've been watching for years now.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxuP...
Rockstar Games’ MASS Firing Of Unionised Workers
YouTube video by Novara Media
www.youtube.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Last night's interview with Novara on the Rockstar firings is now up as its own standalone video, if you'd like to watch.
Delighted to see the story picked up by the wider media in this way, as surreal as it felt to appear on a show I've been watching for years now.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxuP...
Delighted to see the story picked up by the wider media in this way, as surreal as it felt to appear on a show I've been watching for years now.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxuP...
KCL UCU are hosting the final stop of the Campus Voices for Palestine tour this Friday at 5pm - a great opportunity to hear from important speakers, and it coincides with the end of the strike ballot period too. Anyone can come: luma.com/go15utyg
KCL hosts Campus Voices for Palestine 2025 · Luma
KCL UCU is delighted to host the Campus Voices for Palestine tour again this year. As the final date of the UK tour, the event will coincide with the end of…
luma.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:13 AM
KCL UCU are hosting the final stop of the Campus Voices for Palestine tour this Friday at 5pm - a great opportunity to hear from important speakers, and it coincides with the end of the strike ballot period too. Anyone can come: luma.com/go15utyg
Reposted by Mike Cook
Reposted by Mike Cook
🚨🚨 Calling on all KCL UCU members: TODAY is the last ⭐️safe day⭐️ to post your ballots for both national and local disputes! VOTE today, VOTE yes and put them in the POST!! 📦 📦 ➡️ ALSO if your ballot papers arrive later than today please contact us as we can deliver in person on Friday afternoon 💫💫
November 26, 2025 at 9:31 AM
🚨🚨 Calling on all KCL UCU members: TODAY is the last ⭐️safe day⭐️ to post your ballots for both national and local disputes! VOTE today, VOTE yes and put them in the POST!! 📦 📦 ➡️ ALSO if your ballot papers arrive later than today please contact us as we can deliver in person on Friday afternoon 💫💫
Reposted by Mike Cook
I guess we will soon see if “don’t use unsafe thing to do unsafe things” is a sound legal defense.
Additionally, OpenAI argues its not liable because Raine, by using ChatGPT for self-harm, broke its terms of service
November 26, 2025 at 12:31 AM
I guess we will soon see if “don’t use unsafe thing to do unsafe things” is a sound legal defense.
Reposted by Mike Cook
I'd appreciate if any audio tech folks could help circulate this exciting call for a fully-funded PhD position working in multichannel audio design for galleries.
It's part of an ARC funded project 'From Noise to Signal: Improving Sonic Experiences in the Gallery'
www.unsw.edu.au/research/hdr...
It's part of an ARC funded project 'From Noise to Signal: Improving Sonic Experiences in the Gallery'
www.unsw.edu.au/research/hdr...
November 25, 2025 at 10:28 PM
I'd appreciate if any audio tech folks could help circulate this exciting call for a fully-funded PhD position working in multichannel audio design for galleries.
It's part of an ARC funded project 'From Noise to Signal: Improving Sonic Experiences in the Gallery'
www.unsw.edu.au/research/hdr...
It's part of an ARC funded project 'From Noise to Signal: Improving Sonic Experiences in the Gallery'
www.unsw.edu.au/research/hdr...
Reposted by Mike Cook
For lack of better ideas for #procjam, I was going to remake my old Fantasy Manor (basically, a roof generator). After spending a day on it, I realised that it was boring, so I still need to come up with something. But Dwellings are going to have better roofs now.
November 25, 2025 at 9:02 PM
For lack of better ideas for #procjam, I was going to remake my old Fantasy Manor (basically, a roof generator). After spending a day on it, I realised that it was boring, so I still need to come up with something. But Dwellings are going to have better roofs now.
Reposted by Mike Cook
UFO 50 has been shortlisted for Best Game at the 2025 #GameMaker Awards! Fantastic group of games we're a part of - it's an honor.
Our team members have been using GameMaker to make games for a long time. Big thanks to everyone at @gamemaker.io!
🗳️You can vote for us here: opr.as/GMA25-Vote
Our team members have been using GameMaker to make games for a long time. Big thanks to everyone at @gamemaker.io!
🗳️You can vote for us here: opr.as/GMA25-Vote
November 25, 2025 at 8:30 PM
UFO 50 has been shortlisted for Best Game at the 2025 #GameMaker Awards! Fantastic group of games we're a part of - it's an honor.
Our team members have been using GameMaker to make games for a long time. Big thanks to everyone at @gamemaker.io!
🗳️You can vote for us here: opr.as/GMA25-Vote
Our team members have been using GameMaker to make games for a long time. Big thanks to everyone at @gamemaker.io!
🗳️You can vote for us here: opr.as/GMA25-Vote
Something that sounds a lot like an air raid siren keeps going off somewhere in central London, not sure if that's generally a good or a bad sign, maybe someone can advise.
November 25, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Something that sounds a lot like an air raid siren keeps going off somewhere in central London, not sure if that's generally a good or a bad sign, maybe someone can advise.
I saw some chat about Arc Raiders' use of AI voice actors recently - I'm probably not going to rerecord the talk I gave at EXAG but I thought I'd drop in a few slides about the idea that you can make generative AI ethical by getting people to sign a piece of paper to say you can use their data.
November 25, 2025 at 1:09 PM
I saw some chat about Arc Raiders' use of AI voice actors recently - I'm probably not going to rerecord the talk I gave at EXAG but I thought I'd drop in a few slides about the idea that you can make generative AI ethical by getting people to sign a piece of paper to say you can use their data.
Reposted by Mike Cook
Part 2 of my procjam diary!
This time its wonky mesh generation, triplanar pseudonoise and even more cheats!
www.nullpointer.co.uk/procjam-25-d...
This time its wonky mesh generation, triplanar pseudonoise and even more cheats!
www.nullpointer.co.uk/procjam-25-d...
ProcJam 25 Diary - p2 a 3D dungeon
This is the second part of my 2025 procjam diary. The previous…
www.nullpointer.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Part 2 of my procjam diary!
This time its wonky mesh generation, triplanar pseudonoise and even more cheats!
www.nullpointer.co.uk/procjam-25-d...
This time its wonky mesh generation, triplanar pseudonoise and even more cheats!
www.nullpointer.co.uk/procjam-25-d...
Reposted by Mike Cook
We did something different with the credits for Demonschool. We used this format: name, title, lengthy description of what they did. Often you see credits in games where you don't know what the credited developer was actually responsible for. We wanted to give people proper, actual credit.
November 24, 2025 at 10:23 PM
We did something different with the credits for Demonschool. We used this format: name, title, lengthy description of what they did. Often you see credits in games where you don't know what the credited developer was actually responsible for. We wanted to give people proper, actual credit.