Jon Ludwig
@jonludwig.bsky.social
Senior technical artist @ Schell Games, Unreal Engine performance goblin. VR developer @ Hypernoodle Games. Workin' on Blightseeker, a VR adventure platformer.
My Links: https://linktr.ee/Jon_Ludwig
My Links: https://linktr.ee/Jon_Ludwig
The crisis of not knowing if you're humming the Kirby theme or the Dragon Quest theme until the fourth note.
May 6, 2025 at 7:44 AM
The crisis of not knowing if you're humming the Kirby theme or the Dragon Quest theme until the fourth note.
Applies to any timeline, any project, yup.
A theme I've been hearing recently, talking to people who worked on games that took 6+ years to make, is that they always made calls thinking they had much less time. Then the game kept slipping, but they were still stuck with those old calls. So six years of development is never *really* six years
March 5, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Applies to any timeline, any project, yup.
Hyper Light Breaker is incredibly good. Hearing all the classic Drifter sound design and seeing those UI icons gave me some big warm fuzzies right before a tree monster crushed me into flaky salt. Congrats @heartmachine.bsky.social, it's good to be in this world again.
January 20, 2025 at 4:36 AM
Hyper Light Breaker is incredibly good. Hearing all the classic Drifter sound design and seeing those UI icons gave me some big warm fuzzies right before a tree monster crushed me into flaky salt. Congrats @heartmachine.bsky.social, it's good to be in this world again.
Also happy new year, everyone. We're old.
January 2, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Also happy new year, everyone. We're old.
I'd definitely stalled out at the tail end of '24. Played with Godot sure, but I definitely wasn't utilizing my free time the way I usually like to. Been able to pick it back up over the last couple weeks though and it's felt very good. Also started weekly target archery back in Nov, which I love.
January 2, 2025 at 3:08 AM
I'd definitely stalled out at the tail end of '24. Played with Godot sure, but I definitely wasn't utilizing my free time the way I usually like to. Been able to pick it back up over the last couple weeks though and it's felt very good. Also started weekly target archery back in Nov, which I love.
Optimist: The cup is half full
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Tech Art: The fluid sim isn't in budget. Can we please fake it with a simpler shader? What angles do we see the cup from?
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Tech Art: The fluid sim isn't in budget. Can we please fake it with a simpler shader? What angles do we see the cup from?
Optimist: The cup is half full
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Concept artist: Here’s five different styles of cups please pick one
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Concept artist: Here’s five different styles of cups please pick one
Optimist: The cup is half full
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Character artist: Get the fuck outta here with your prop modeling Jira task.
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Character artist: Get the fuck outta here with your prop modeling Jira task.
November 24, 2024 at 7:00 AM
Optimist: The cup is half full
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Tech Art: The fluid sim isn't in budget. Can we please fake it with a simpler shader? What angles do we see the cup from?
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Tech Art: The fluid sim isn't in budget. Can we please fake it with a simpler shader? What angles do we see the cup from?
Still have power tonight in Seattle, surprisingly. My UPS says at least 7 power surges in the past few hours. Stay safe out there.
November 20, 2024 at 5:34 AM
Still have power tonight in Seattle, surprisingly. My UPS says at least 7 power surges in the past few hours. Stay safe out there.
Reposted by Jon Ludwig
I just got laid off.
Gutted. I loved Heart Machine. They were good to me. My only regret is that I couldn't stay.
Character rigger of 12+ yrs, 2 GDC talks, 1 Gnomon talk, VES nominee, etc. Spider-Man PS4, The Order:1886, Hyper Light Breaker.
All info here: tinyurl.com/3ccdcmdc
#gamedevjobs
Gutted. I loved Heart Machine. They were good to me. My only regret is that I couldn't stay.
Character rigger of 12+ yrs, 2 GDC talks, 1 Gnomon talk, VES nominee, etc. Spider-Man PS4, The Order:1886, Hyper Light Breaker.
All info here: tinyurl.com/3ccdcmdc
#gamedevjobs
Sol Brennan - Heart Machine | LinkedIn
A highly enthusiastic technical artist with a strong interest in rigging and animation… · Experience: Heart Machine · Education: University of Abertay Dundee · Location: Vashon · 500+ connections on LinkedIn. View Sol Brennan’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members.
www.linkedin.com
November 19, 2024 at 9:07 PM
I just got laid off.
Gutted. I loved Heart Machine. They were good to me. My only regret is that I couldn't stay.
Character rigger of 12+ yrs, 2 GDC talks, 1 Gnomon talk, VES nominee, etc. Spider-Man PS4, The Order:1886, Hyper Light Breaker.
All info here: tinyurl.com/3ccdcmdc
#gamedevjobs
Gutted. I loved Heart Machine. They were good to me. My only regret is that I couldn't stay.
Character rigger of 12+ yrs, 2 GDC talks, 1 Gnomon talk, VES nominee, etc. Spider-Man PS4, The Order:1886, Hyper Light Breaker.
All info here: tinyurl.com/3ccdcmdc
#gamedevjobs
Your tech artist, the morning after they join the team:
November 8, 2024 at 2:57 AM
Your tech artist, the morning after they join the team:
Am I missing something or is the Epic Native OpenXR completely nonfunctional, not just some features broken but controller input itself being busted? App won't even function on Quest without Legacy OVR running as the XR API via the MetaXR plugin.
October 25, 2024 at 6:01 AM
Am I missing something or is the Epic Native OpenXR completely nonfunctional, not just some features broken but controller input itself being busted? App won't even function on Quest without Legacy OVR running as the XR API via the MetaXR plugin.
Gonna make an effort to stick around here for real this time. This place seems nicer.
October 17, 2024 at 3:03 AM
Gonna make an effort to stick around here for real this time. This place seems nicer.
I had the privilege of working on Silent Slayer, Vault of the Vampire as perf optimization lead for the Meta Quest release and now its release on PCVR! store.steampowered.com/app/2923260/...
Save 20% on Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire on Steam
Become a vampire slayer and eliminate powerful sleeping monsters — an endeavor undertaken by only the bravest souls. In this jumpscare game with elements of horror and puzzle, you must destroy a clan ...
store.steampowered.com
October 17, 2024 at 1:41 AM
I had the privilege of working on Silent Slayer, Vault of the Vampire as perf optimization lead for the Meta Quest release and now its release on PCVR! store.steampowered.com/app/2923260/...
Reposted by Jon Ludwig
Little Kitty, Big City's map EXPOSED! (from the editor)
#gamedev #behindthescenes #littlekittybigcity
#gamedev #behindthescenes #littlekittybigcity
October 17, 2024 at 12:06 AM
Little Kitty, Big City's map EXPOSED! (from the editor)
#gamedev #behindthescenes #littlekittybigcity
#gamedev #behindthescenes #littlekittybigcity
Come to the PAX West expo hall entrance in 10 minutes if you want an ass kicking
September 1, 2024 at 4:19 PM
Come to the PAX West expo hall entrance in 10 minutes if you want an ass kicking
Absolutely wild seeing app development for Apple Vision Pro mirroring stuff we did with AR at Toei and NHK in Japan back in '17-'18. Simulcasting a theme park ad on tv synced to an AR diorama on a table, a domo-kun race course, cool to see this stuff get a second chance.
March 20, 2024 at 10:23 PM
Absolutely wild seeing app development for Apple Vision Pro mirroring stuff we did with AR at Toei and NHK in Japan back in '17-'18. Simulcasting a theme park ad on tv synced to an AR diorama on a table, a domo-kun race course, cool to see this stuff get a second chance.
Sadly, most dev tuts fall under the "first year of Spanish class" problem, where getting a beginner to be able to do anything quickly requires teaching them the worst way to do the thing, because the right way is assumed beyond current comprehension.
How proficient are you in Unreal 5 Blueprints?
I know it well enough to be terrified by most YouTube tutorial videos... dear god.
I know it well enough to be terrified by most YouTube tutorial videos... dear god.
February 13, 2024 at 5:08 PM
Sadly, most dev tuts fall under the "first year of Spanish class" problem, where getting a beginner to be able to do anything quickly requires teaching them the worst way to do the thing, because the right way is assumed beyond current comprehension.
Around the beginning of Nov I decided to start a small VR game side project to learn to submit on App Lab, set up achievements + leaderboards, and just to ship a game on Quest 2. And I was feeling particular inspiration from another game that became viral around then. www.meta.com/experiences/...
Crane Pop on Meta Quest
Fill a claw machine with bigger and bigger plush birds, combine pairs into massive new plushies and go for the high score! But once anything falls out of the machine, it's game over.
www.meta.com
January 13, 2024 at 12:11 AM
Around the beginning of Nov I decided to start a small VR game side project to learn to submit on App Lab, set up achievements + leaderboards, and just to ship a game on Quest 2. And I was feeling particular inspiration from another game that became viral around then. www.meta.com/experiences/...
Happy New Year's! We're old.
January 1, 2024 at 8:11 AM
Happy New Year's! We're old.
Out of Scale released today! I was part of the wonderful team behind creating this project, working on performance and optimization: youtu.be/nxXVQYW2qTU?...
Out of Scale - a Kurzgesagt Adventure | Coming Soon | Meta Quest 3
Coming this Fall to Meta Quest 3, the YouTube hit - Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell, a fully immersive educational game that transforms the iconic look and feel o...
youtu.be
October 26, 2023 at 8:00 PM
Out of Scale released today! I was part of the wonderful team behind creating this project, working on performance and optimization: youtu.be/nxXVQYW2qTU?...
Hire this man.
Does anyone need an Unreal Engine dev who can teach 100 people how to use UE5 at once?
Remote or local work only please, I live in the woods.
Remote or local work only please, I live in the woods.
September 30, 2023 at 11:01 PM
Hire this man.
With every passing week I turn more and more into one of those annoying Blender people.
September 29, 2023 at 6:18 PM
With every passing week I turn more and more into one of those annoying Blender people.
Nothing reminds me more of the importance of comfort in a VR headset than slogging through hours of Quest 2 testing, finally being able to return to my Valve Index. Don't even care about the difference in resolution when the comfort levels (+fov) are so radically different.
September 23, 2023 at 1:58 AM
Nothing reminds me more of the importance of comfort in a VR headset than slogging through hours of Quest 2 testing, finally being able to return to my Valve Index. Don't even care about the difference in resolution when the comfort levels (+fov) are so radically different.
The UE5 Actor Palette plugin is a lifesaver in level production. Create an "asset zoo" map full of anything you'll want to manually place in your level, design tools, etc. The Actor Palette opens that map in a second viewport as you work, letting you easily drag in those assets.
September 21, 2023 at 10:15 PM
The UE5 Actor Palette plugin is a lifesaver in level production. Create an "asset zoo" map full of anything you'll want to manually place in your level, design tools, etc. The Actor Palette opens that map in a second viewport as you work, letting you easily drag in those assets.
Just bonkers fireworks happening across the water from Seattle tonight, over in south Bainbridge. Can hear them, hell can feel a fair few of them from West Seattle.
September 17, 2023 at 4:36 AM
Just bonkers fireworks happening across the water from Seattle tonight, over in south Bainbridge. Can hear them, hell can feel a fair few of them from West Seattle.
Love learning that the default character class has built in double-jump after using the engine for 8 years. This whole livestream was gold: www.youtube.com/live/3iIAcOt...
September 9, 2023 at 5:55 PM
Love learning that the default character class has built in double-jump after using the engine for 8 years. This whole livestream was gold: www.youtube.com/live/3iIAcOt...