Sam Swain
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sam.apparance.uk
Sam Swain
@sam.apparance.uk
920 followers 260 following 400 posts
A child of the procedural generation. Long-time tools coder off of
the games industry. Worked on Fable, NMS, Gloomhaven. Building crazy proc-gen technology: www.apparance.uk 👈 Try Unreal & Unity plugin for free!

he/him ▪ forever 42 ▪ surrey, uk ▪ no AI
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sam.apparance.uk
Sam Swain @sam.apparance.uk · Nov 17
Hello Bluesky! I'm a programmer who has worked on a few well known games, making lots of level editors, content tools, and technical architecture. My interest and involvement in procedural generation over the years has blossomed into my game focused proc-gen middleware called Apparance.
Collection of game logos and box-art that Sam Swain has worked on and the companies that made them: Flaming Fowl (Gloomhaven, Ironmarked), Hello Games (No Man's Sky), Apparance procedural middleware (Apparance Studios), Elixir Studios (Republic The Revolution), Salix Games (Maze), Lionhead Studios (Fable 2, Fable 3, Fable Heroes, Fable The Journey, Fable Legends), Silicon Dreams (Dogs of War, Lego Island 2), and Oxford Softworks (Intelligent Strategy Games 10, Go II Professional, Go III Professional).
Reposted by Sam Swain
patigallardo.bsky.social
This time I do expect everyone to boycott Eurovision
December 4, 2025 at 7:10 PM
sam.apparance.uk
When they want it to show 'Next Day Delivery Available' but don't really want to actually have to send it to you next day. 🤦
Two postage options: 1. Saturday 13 Dec - Friday 19 Dec, Free Standard Delivery (selected). 2. Tomorrow, 5 Dec, £150 Same Day.
December 4, 2025 at 7:12 PM
sam.apparance.uk
This weeks stream in 30 minutes: www.twitch.tv/ga5p0d3
Let's use the dividers in the rooms!
December 4, 2025 at 11:30 AM
sam.apparance.uk
Last week's stream. Building resizable railings from various available kit pieces. A kind-of "best fit" logic used.
December 4, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Reposted by Sam Swain
jonkk.bsky.social
Here’s my Spotify Wrapped 🎵✨
December 3, 2025 at 4:51 PM
sam.apparance.uk
Just jumpscared myself after reading the answer to a Unreal coding question I needed by looking at who posted it seven years ago! Thanks past me. 😆
Cropped shot from Unreal developer forums. A question about scripting/coding answered seven years ago by none-other than myself.
December 3, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
heydanthomas.bsky.social
Cornish devs, assemble!
cornwall.games Cornwall Games @cornwall.games · 3d
〓〓 #Cornwall!
We're doing a study into the Cornish game industry.
This survey is inclusive of all industry game businesses, students, job seekers, freelancers, and non-developer industry workers! It will help us find support for #gamedev
cornwall.games/about/cornis...
Cornish Games Industry Data – Cornwall Games
In December every year we aim to complete a census of the local industry to more accurately track it’s development and contribution to the local economy. We started this in December 2025 and hop...
cornwall.games
December 2, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
deathbulge.bsky.social
2-panel comic about two guys lamenting about modern games whilst refusing to acknowledge indie games
December 1, 2025 at 6:55 PM
sam.apparance.uk
Utterly irresponsible of the media to what can only be described as 'suppress' this important meeting and its message.
We are not safe.
This is an emergency.
cliffharris.bsky.social Cliff Harris (Cliffski) @cliffharris.bsky.social · 4d
Great video on the recent climate emergency briefing. A briefing that some MPs attended, but was not on TV anywhere, and which hardly anyone hears about because our media is obsessed with pointless bullshit like whether or not taylor swift enjoyed her breakfast. I despair.
youtu.be/8sa7uh192r0?...
This is not the video I had planned to make.
YouTube video by Just Have a Think
youtu.be
December 1, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
allgoodbookshop.co.uk
It's not theft - if you say you're using it to train AI algorithm. Man in mask stealing a painting from a house.
December 1, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
leighalexander.bsky.social
the world is learning in realtime what the procgen community has known for years
December 1, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Reposted by Sam Swain
cliffharris.bsky.social
"A collapse in the Atlantic meridianal overturning current (Amoc) would leave London freezing in winters of -20C, “and yet the summers would still be hotter than today’s”, leading to a situation where the UK would be 100% reliant on food imports."

Yup. So kinda more important than 'stop the boats'.
November 27, 2025 at 6:27 PM
sam.apparance.uk
Streaming at 12 GMT again today. Some room partitioning is in order i think :)
www.twitch.tv/ga5p0d3
Twitch
Twitch is the world
www.twitch.tv
November 27, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Reposted by Sam Swain
frodehommedal.bsky.social
Oh damn! Perfection:
idealistisk.bsky.social Go Go Gorilla 🕊️🏳️‍🌈 @idealistisk.bsky.social · 10d
Believing AGI can rise out of an LLM is like seeing Jesus on toast, is the best analogy I've seen so far!
November 26, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Reposted by Sam Swain
moonjam.com
Probably not the best way to start the day but I am ranting on Instagram
A screenshot of an instagram comment from user @moonjam3d. The text reads: "I completely disagree that AI is here to stay. Firstly, it's a weirdly passive aggressive stance that frames naysayers as people who have their heads buried in the sand on this stuff and honestly, the opposite is much, much closer to the truth. There isn't a *single* generative LLM model out there that isn't trained on BILLIONS of copywritten work - the tech literally cannot function without it BUT for some reason, this talking point just gets rolled up and pushed into a barrel labelled "luddite". It's insane to me that people brush that off as a minor hurdle. IP and rights management are the cornerstones of earning a living through creative work! The fact is, I LOVE learning and using new technology! It's exciting and rewarding but that's also how I know AI is not what it's purporting to be, at all. Please, take 20 minutes out of your day and read the reporting of Ed Zitron on the true state of the AI 'industry'. It is physically, legally and financially impossible for these companies to exist! Not only are they running at a loss of BILLIONS, they are all facing the legal consequences of selling a commercial product trained on rights protected material. Even if those chickens don't come home to roost, the fees they will need to charge to turn this into a profitable investment are astronomical... AI seems fun when it's basically free, but would you feel the same way if EVERY output cost you $20-$30? Just like crypto, the people pushing it hardest are the ones with the most to lose when the bubble bursts."
November 26, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Reposted by Sam Swain
arynn.bsky.social
November 20, 2025 at 3:20 PM
sam.apparance.uk
Todays stream was quite a long one, but got a lot more variety, assets, and design logic into the storage fill procedures.
November 20, 2025 at 4:27 PM
sam.apparance.uk
Streaming again in 30 minutes! www.twitch.tv/ga5p0d3
November 20, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by Sam Swain
darwinwoodka.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
asherelbein.bsky.social
I cosign every single word of this

anthonymoser.github.io/writing/ai/h...
I do understand: you want permission. There’s a machine in the corner wrapped in human skin that makes things out of shit and blood to look like whatever you want (as long as you don’t look too closely). You gave one to your teacher and they didn’t notice. Your boss told you to use it after they laid off half the team and it was fine. You fed one to your kids and they liked it. You want to know you can use it sometimes without me thinking less of you. You don’t need me to believe it’s useful, you just want me to be polite about it. But I am a hater, and I will not be polite. The machine is disgusting and we should break it. The people who build it are vapid shit-eating cannibals glorifying ignorance. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.
November 19, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
juliet-turner.bsky.social
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
November 17, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
tomforsyth.bsky.social
Come on. Do it. FUCKING DO IT ALREADY.
theguardian.com The Guardian @theguardian.com · 17d
Stock market sell-off continues, as Google boss warns ‘no company immune’ if AI bubble bursts – business live
Stock market sell-off continues, as Google boss warns ‘no company immune’ if AI bubble bursts – business live
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as shares fall across Asia and bitcoin hits a seven-month low Britain’s stock market has opened in the red, as the sell-off in global markets reaches Europe. The blue-chip FTSE 100 share index has dropped by 101 points, or just over 1%, to 9,675 points, further away from the record high of 9,930 points set last week. “We are committed to ending the scandal of ticket touts.” Reselling tickets for profit is to be outlawed under plans due to be announced this week, the Guardian has learned, as the government goes ahead with a long-awaited crackdown on touts and resale platforms such as Viagogo and StubHub. Ministers had been considering allowing touts – and ordinary consumers – to sell on a ticket for up to 30% above the original face value, as part of a consultation process that ended earlier this year. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Reposted by Sam Swain
aaronparnas.bsky.social
NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.

Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
November 16, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
chrisbratt.bsky.social
The IWGB has just announced that 220 letters, signed by Rockstar staff, have now been delivered to leadership at the company, demanding the immediate reinstatement of their fired colleagues.
A demonstration for the fired Rockstar employees held in Edinburgh last week outside the front entrance of Rockstar North.
November 13, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by Sam Swain
josephcox.bsky.social
New: Google has chosen a side in Trump's mass deportation campaign. Google is hosting a CBP facial recognition app to hunt immigrants; no indication Google will remove. At same time Google takes down apps for reporting ICE sightings

“Big tech has made their choice”

www.404media.co/google-has-c...
Google Has Chosen a Side in Trump's Mass Deportation Effort
Google is hosting a CBP app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, while simultaneously removing apps that report the location of ICE officials because Google sees ICE as a vulnerable gr...
www.404media.co
November 13, 2025 at 2:11 PM