Douglas
@dmgregory.ca
Game design professor, math and science geek.
Did spreadsheety stuff for Splinter Cell Blacklist, Starlink: Battle for Atlas, and Far Cry 6. Moderator on gamedev.stackexchange.com
Formerly @D_M_Gregory on Twitter (he/him/his)
Did spreadsheety stuff for Splinter Cell Blacklist, Starlink: Battle for Atlas, and Far Cry 6. Moderator on gamedev.stackexchange.com
Formerly @D_M_Gregory on Twitter (he/him/his)
Reposted by Douglas
All of that is to say, once you devalue your brand its tremendously difficult to build it back up into a premium brand. You can't be both low end and high end simultaneously. You're going to have to pick a lane and maintain it.
November 18, 2025 at 4:29 PM
All of that is to say, once you devalue your brand its tremendously difficult to build it back up into a premium brand. You can't be both low end and high end simultaneously. You're going to have to pick a lane and maintain it.
Reposted by Douglas
In every product category there is a profitable market for garbage slop products. Some consumers don't care, or actively like garbage slop, or how cheap it can be. That's fine. Its a separate market from the non-garbage things and usually there is clear delineation what's garbage slop and what isn't
November 18, 2025 at 4:29 PM
In every product category there is a profitable market for garbage slop products. Some consumers don't care, or actively like garbage slop, or how cheap it can be. That's fine. Its a separate market from the non-garbage things and usually there is clear delineation what's garbage slop and what isn't
Reposted by Douglas
I folded and used microsoft's chatgpt to ask it how to turn off its "AI designer" tool that keeps stealing input and giving me suggestions every time I paste an image into powerpoint and it gave me detailed, confident instructions that fail on the very first line
I am so tired of this
I am so tired of this
November 18, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I folded and used microsoft's chatgpt to ask it how to turn off its "AI designer" tool that keeps stealing input and giving me suggestions every time I paste an image into powerpoint and it gave me detailed, confident instructions that fail on the very first line
I am so tired of this
I am so tired of this
Reposted by Douglas
Nobody asked, but:
I think the biggest pitfall of sci-fi/fantasy storytelling, especially for worldbuilders, in the infodump.
You're (rightfully) just so proud of all the work you put into creating a cohesive setting that you just wanna PUKE it all over readers/watchers on page one.
(thread)
I think the biggest pitfall of sci-fi/fantasy storytelling, especially for worldbuilders, in the infodump.
You're (rightfully) just so proud of all the work you put into creating a cohesive setting that you just wanna PUKE it all over readers/watchers on page one.
(thread)
November 18, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Nobody asked, but:
I think the biggest pitfall of sci-fi/fantasy storytelling, especially for worldbuilders, in the infodump.
You're (rightfully) just so proud of all the work you put into creating a cohesive setting that you just wanna PUKE it all over readers/watchers on page one.
(thread)
I think the biggest pitfall of sci-fi/fantasy storytelling, especially for worldbuilders, in the infodump.
You're (rightfully) just so proud of all the work you put into creating a cohesive setting that you just wanna PUKE it all over readers/watchers on page one.
(thread)
Reposted by Douglas
"Scars of Time" is one of the best pieces of video game music out there and I will fight anyone who argues otherwise
'Chrono Cross' was released on the PlayStation 26 years ago today in Japan.
November 18, 2025 at 4:09 PM
"Scars of Time" is one of the best pieces of video game music out there and I will fight anyone who argues otherwise
Reposted by Douglas
To hear things in a little more detail, you can find Mike's 2018 talk on Subsurface Circular's development thanks to the GDC archives!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcYc...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcYc...
Applying Level Design to Dialogue in Subsurface Circular
YouTube video by GDC Festival of Gaming
www.youtube.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:18 PM
To hear things in a little more detail, you can find Mike's 2018 talk on Subsurface Circular's development thanks to the GDC archives!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcYc...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcYc...
Reposted by Douglas
Reposted by Douglas
Oh look another event highlighting how maybe having entire swathes of the worlds functionality dependant on a handful of companies is actually a very bad thing.
Cloudflare has confirmed a server issue that has knocked out significant parts of the internet. https://bit.ly/4pfZ8WW
November 18, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Oh look another event highlighting how maybe having entire swathes of the worlds functionality dependant on a handful of companies is actually a very bad thing.
Reposted by Douglas
"We're writing software that requires more electricity than we can generate…
"Instead of addressing fundamental quality issues, Big Tech has chosen the most expensive possible response: throw money at infrastructure… This isn't an investment. It's capitulation."
"Instead of addressing fundamental quality issues, Big Tech has chosen the most expensive possible response: throw money at infrastructure… This isn't an investment. It's capitulation."
When I go off on big tech, less online friends think I'm whinging about a hobby issue, and I am, but the *entirety of life* is now mediated by technology. Articles like this demonstrate what uncaring and corrupt custodians big tech are, and how desperately we need govts to hold them to account.
The Great Software Quality Collapse: How We Normalized Catastrophe
The Apple Calculator leaked 32GB of RAM.
techtrenches.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:43 PM
"We're writing software that requires more electricity than we can generate…
"Instead of addressing fundamental quality issues, Big Tech has chosen the most expensive possible response: throw money at infrastructure… This isn't an investment. It's capitulation."
"Instead of addressing fundamental quality issues, Big Tech has chosen the most expensive possible response: throw money at infrastructure… This isn't an investment. It's capitulation."
Reposted by Douglas
I have been waiting for this!
#Crownfell is an asymmetric, abstract, 2-player strategy card game that is live on @thegamecrafter.bsky.social!
No stretch goals, except for this: The more people get it, the lower the price goes *for everyone*.
Add-ons include a playmat & solo expansion.
www.thegamecrafter.com/crowdsale/cr...
No stretch goals, except for this: The more people get it, the lower the price goes *for everyone*.
Add-ons include a playmat & solo expansion.
www.thegamecrafter.com/crowdsale/cr...
November 18, 2025 at 2:51 PM
I have been waiting for this!
Reposted by Douglas
Here's you PSA for today: host your webserver at a local provider.
Everyone moved to AWS because they offered the best 99.999999% uptime. Now that's off the table. And the prices are shit anyways, you can get a better deal literally anywhere else.
Everyone moved to AWS because they offered the best 99.999999% uptime. Now that's off the table. And the prices are shit anyways, you can get a better deal literally anywhere else.
November 18, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Here's you PSA for today: host your webserver at a local provider.
Everyone moved to AWS because they offered the best 99.999999% uptime. Now that's off the table. And the prices are shit anyways, you can get a better deal literally anywhere else.
Everyone moved to AWS because they offered the best 99.999999% uptime. Now that's off the table. And the prices are shit anyways, you can get a better deal literally anywhere else.
Reposted by Douglas
October 16, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Reposted by Douglas
The annoying thing about the "oh we left a placeholder" generative AI slop excuse is that that is EXACTLY NOT how you should be using placeholders. Anything "not obviously terrible with a panicked hurried half-awake glance" is getting shipped.
In gamedev, if you're using a placeholder asset, best practices involve marking it as placeholder so garishly and offensively clearly PLACEHOLDER that you can't possibly miss it. Also flagging that asset in the dev process so it can be identified quickly before the final build.
November 17, 2025 at 6:33 PM
The annoying thing about the "oh we left a placeholder" generative AI slop excuse is that that is EXACTLY NOT how you should be using placeholders. Anything "not obviously terrible with a panicked hurried half-awake glance" is getting shipped.
Reposted by Douglas
This week in generative AI being good for things:
Childrens toy safety: God no.
Mental health: Nope.
Water supplies to towns: Nooooope.
Global warming: haha fuck that.
Employment: Not on your life.
Medical decisions: hahaha no.
Judges decisions: nope
Power bills, energy consumption: fuuuuck nooooo
Childrens toy safety: God no.
Mental health: Nope.
Water supplies to towns: Nooooope.
Global warming: haha fuck that.
Employment: Not on your life.
Medical decisions: hahaha no.
Judges decisions: nope
Power bills, energy consumption: fuuuuck nooooo
November 18, 2025 at 7:10 AM
This week in generative AI being good for things:
Childrens toy safety: God no.
Mental health: Nope.
Water supplies to towns: Nooooope.
Global warming: haha fuck that.
Employment: Not on your life.
Medical decisions: hahaha no.
Judges decisions: nope
Power bills, energy consumption: fuuuuck nooooo
Childrens toy safety: God no.
Mental health: Nope.
Water supplies to towns: Nooooope.
Global warming: haha fuck that.
Employment: Not on your life.
Medical decisions: hahaha no.
Judges decisions: nope
Power bills, energy consumption: fuuuuck nooooo
Reposted by Douglas
Ok, my other contribution-
What is the function of defining a "genre"? What IS a genre, even?
Here's a definition I gave awhile back:
What is the function of defining a "genre"? What IS a genre, even?
Here's a definition I gave awhile back:
December 26, 2023 at 7:00 AM
Ok, my other contribution-
What is the function of defining a "genre"? What IS a genre, even?
Here's a definition I gave awhile back:
What is the function of defining a "genre"? What IS a genre, even?
Here's a definition I gave awhile back:
Reposted by Douglas
Sometimes I hate myself for the kind of gameplay ideas I have, coding this tumbling block physics with the screws was SOO hard
But I'm happy that the block puzzles are getting more varied and better integrated with the platforming, pacing and all
(game is ABYSS X ZERO, btw)
#gamedev #lowpoly #axz
But I'm happy that the block puzzles are getting more varied and better integrated with the platforming, pacing and all
(game is ABYSS X ZERO, btw)
#gamedev #lowpoly #axz
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Douglas
Cloudflare is down again but you can't even check because downdetector is on cloudflare :P
November 18, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Cloudflare is down again but you can't even check because downdetector is on cloudflare :P
Reposted by Douglas
Reposted by Douglas
“I want to feel that my children are safe, that when I go to sleep I can say: ‘OK, there’s nothing [to worry about]. But at any moment something could happen … This can’t go on. It can’t be that we keep living our whole lives in a state of fear and danger.”
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
‘They have total impunity’: West Bank settler violence surges after Gaza ceasefire
UN logs 260 attacks in October alone, its highest monthly tally, as settlers attack farmers and burn olive trees
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:12 PM
“I want to feel that my children are safe, that when I go to sleep I can say: ‘OK, there’s nothing [to worry about]. But at any moment something could happen … This can’t go on. It can’t be that we keep living our whole lives in a state of fear and danger.”
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Douglas
somebody asked again how I got used to hearing my own voice for video courses, youtube, podcasting, again the trick is I never did, it's still unpleasant, every day I'm embarrassed by existing, but that's no reason not to do things, many people need help and dealing with that is part of helping them
November 18, 2025 at 2:30 AM
somebody asked again how I got used to hearing my own voice for video courses, youtube, podcasting, again the trick is I never did, it's still unpleasant, every day I'm embarrassed by existing, but that's no reason not to do things, many people need help and dealing with that is part of helping them
Reposted by Douglas
I never had the privilege of interacting with Burger Becky, but she is one of those people whose work has undoubtedly influenced you without your knowledge if you make or play games.
There are so few trans elders in our community (for several sad reasons), and we just lost a real one.
There are so few trans elders in our community (for several sad reasons), and we just lost a real one.
My trailblazing game industry bad-ass friend Rebecca Heineman has passed away.
Fuck cancer.
Friends, let’s not forget her: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca...
Fuck cancer.
Friends, let’s not forget her: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca...
Rebecca Heineman - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 17, 2025 at 10:51 PM
I never had the privilege of interacting with Burger Becky, but she is one of those people whose work has undoubtedly influenced you without your knowledge if you make or play games.
There are so few trans elders in our community (for several sad reasons), and we just lost a real one.
There are so few trans elders in our community (for several sad reasons), and we just lost a real one.
Reposted by Douglas
In Unity a clear way to do this is to tag the object as "EditorOnly" - this way it will be stripped from the build completely - which can be very useful for assets that "must not ship"
In gamedev, if you're using a placeholder asset, best practices involve marking it as placeholder so garishly and offensively clearly PLACEHOLDER that you can't possibly miss it. Also flagging that asset in the dev process so it can be identified quickly before the final build.
November 17, 2025 at 8:23 PM
In Unity a clear way to do this is to tag the object as "EditorOnly" - this way it will be stripped from the build completely - which can be very useful for assets that "must not ship"
Amazing naming here. 😁
BeTween is a biographical game documenting Li'l Doodler's final summer of childhood. Play one of five personality traits to tell your own stories about the magical years of tweenhood.
Come play it with me at PAX Unplugged in the Unpub Hall!
1/▶️ Read on for more...
Come play it with me at PAX Unplugged in the Unpub Hall!
1/▶️ Read on for more...
November 17, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Amazing naming here. 😁
Reposted by Douglas
“What ChatGPT says about politics — or anything — is ultimately what the people who created it say it should say, or allow it to say; more specifically, human beings at OpenAI are deciding what neutral answers to those 500 prompts might look like and instructing their model to follow their lead.”
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia Is a Warning
The centibillionaire’s Wikipedia clone is ridiculous. It’s also a glimpse of the future.
nymag.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:05 PM
“What ChatGPT says about politics — or anything — is ultimately what the people who created it say it should say, or allow it to say; more specifically, human beings at OpenAI are deciding what neutral answers to those 500 prompts might look like and instructing their model to follow their lead.”