James Youngman
@jyoungman.bsky.social
He/him Game Designer, composer, writer
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/ten-lessons-over-ten-years
http://jamesyoungman.bandcamp.com
https://jyoungman.itch.io
Senior Tech Designer at Elsewhere. All opinions my own.
#gamedev | #gamedesign
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/ten-lessons-over-ten-years
http://jamesyoungman.bandcamp.com
https://jyoungman.itch.io
Senior Tech Designer at Elsewhere. All opinions my own.
#gamedev | #gamedesign
Reposted by James Youngman
Super Mario World has an extremely eclectic art style whereby many enemies are drawn in completely different ways. Development files reveal Mario went through many stylistic changes; it is possible that all the enemies were made to fit Mario, but at different points in time.
November 12, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Super Mario World has an extremely eclectic art style whereby many enemies are drawn in completely different ways. Development files reveal Mario went through many stylistic changes; it is possible that all the enemies were made to fit Mario, but at different points in time.
Reposted by James Youngman
November 15, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Reposted by James Youngman
Giving this a co-sign, yeah. One of the reasons Black people stay frustrated about people appropriating AAE is precisely because whatever weird thing that it gets morphed into becomes what replaces the OG conceit. And yes, languages evolve, etc., but there's evolution & then there's theft. (1/2)
Stop using the word "woke" the way white conservatives do. "Staying woke" just means to be aware of the ways structural inequality and police violence harm Black (and sometimes other oppressed) communities.
The term you all want is "politically correct"
The term you all want is "politically correct"
"my least woke opinion is---"
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
November 14, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Giving this a co-sign, yeah. One of the reasons Black people stay frustrated about people appropriating AAE is precisely because whatever weird thing that it gets morphed into becomes what replaces the OG conceit. And yes, languages evolve, etc., but there's evolution & then there's theft. (1/2)
When I say game design is about understanding context, that absolutely includes how players fit your game into their life. Knowing when they won't give your game their full attention is game design.
You wanna know why we're having nag line discourse in 2025? Because developers know we're fighting an attention economy war we'll lose no matter what. Players don't read, have TikTok open next to them, god forbid we are scared you miss something and then blame us for not giving you all the info.
November 14, 2025 at 9:20 PM
When I say game design is about understanding context, that absolutely includes how players fit your game into their life. Knowing when they won't give your game their full attention is game design.
Citizens in a democracy have a right to the education (formal and otherwise) needed to understand public policy matters. Anyone denying them that, including through suppressing relevant information and spreading disinformation, is denying people their rights and doing violence to democracy itself.
"my least woke opinion is---"
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
November 14, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Citizens in a democracy have a right to the education (formal and otherwise) needed to understand public policy matters. Anyone denying them that, including through suppressing relevant information and spreading disinformation, is denying people their rights and doing violence to democracy itself.
Reposted by James Youngman
lately i've been thinking about how LLMs must feel really amazing to use if you're a dumbass, but incredibly frustrating if you're just basically competent in life.
Is AI making job recruitment less meritocratic? We're getting some v interesting research studies on this question now, and the news is... not good. @jburnmurdoch.ft.com & I dive in, in the latest edition of our newsletter The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
November 14, 2025 at 12:55 PM
lately i've been thinking about how LLMs must feel really amazing to use if you're a dumbass, but incredibly frustrating if you're just basically competent in life.
Reposted by James Youngman
It's so interesting that in the name of practicality we are urged to avoid any practical action; in the name of redemption we are urged to exonerate people who have shown no interest in redemption; in the name of civility we are urged to overlook the cruelty of those who scorn all civility
November 14, 2025 at 1:03 AM
It's so interesting that in the name of practicality we are urged to avoid any practical action; in the name of redemption we are urged to exonerate people who have shown no interest in redemption; in the name of civility we are urged to overlook the cruelty of those who scorn all civility
Reposted by James Youngman
This chart shows that progress has actually been made on climate change www.axios.com/2025/11/13/c...
This chart shows that progress has actually been made on climate change
The possible trajectories are better than a decade ago, but still indicate significant global warming.
www.axios.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:30 PM
This chart shows that progress has actually been made on climate change www.axios.com/2025/11/13/c...
Broke 10,000 words on my DINowrimo project!
November 13, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Broke 10,000 words on my DINowrimo project!
Reposted by James Youngman
impeachment and removal remains the goal & it’s not clear there will be a better opening for democrats to start talking about it than right after this vote
POLITICO: “.. GOP leadership aides believe dozens of Republicans will vote it, possibly 100 or more, according to five people granted anonymity to speak candidly.”
@politico.com
www.politico.com/live-updates...
@politico.com
www.politico.com/live-updates...
November 12, 2025 at 11:52 PM
impeachment and removal remains the goal & it’s not clear there will be a better opening for democrats to start talking about it than right after this vote
The Righteous Mind by Haidt helped me understand how moral reasoning works, the different ways people gauge morality, and the ways the brain handles all of this.
Enlightening read that's helped me better navigate moral and political questions in both private and public life.
Enlightening read that's helped me better navigate moral and political questions in both private and public life.
performative reading, lack of reading skills, nobody's reading anymore -- NO!
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
November 12, 2025 at 6:24 PM
The Righteous Mind by Haidt helped me understand how moral reasoning works, the different ways people gauge morality, and the ways the brain handles all of this.
Enlightening read that's helped me better navigate moral and political questions in both private and public life.
Enlightening read that's helped me better navigate moral and political questions in both private and public life.
Reposted by James Youngman
I confess I cannot help but question the moral fiber of anyone still willing to openly and loudly support a president who seems quite clearly to have raped underaged girls, in league with a notorious sex-trafficker.
I am not sure how you can support that and be a good person. I don't think you can.
I am not sure how you can support that and be a good person. I don't think you can.
November 12, 2025 at 3:18 PM
I confess I cannot help but question the moral fiber of anyone still willing to openly and loudly support a president who seems quite clearly to have raped underaged girls, in league with a notorious sex-trafficker.
I am not sure how you can support that and be a good person. I don't think you can.
I am not sure how you can support that and be a good person. I don't think you can.
Reposted by James Youngman
I'm begging you all in the media. Please read the emails for more than 2 seconds. They don't just say Trump "knew" about underage girls. THE EMAILS SAY HE PERSONALLY PARTICIPATED.
BREAKING: Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein said Donald Trump knew about the underage girls that Epstein was accused of victimizing, according to emails released by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives reut.rs/4hZV3nw
November 12, 2025 at 3:31 PM
I'm begging you all in the media. Please read the emails for more than 2 seconds. They don't just say Trump "knew" about underage girls. THE EMAILS SAY HE PERSONALLY PARTICIPATED.
I need someone with a soldering iron and a 3d printer to prove my theory that the perfect four button controller splits the face buttons between a GameCube style A and X (the latter mapped to B) and paddle inputs for X and Y
I've been revisiting my GBA collection with a Brawler 64, and the ergonomics of having A and B both under my thumb at once are a huge improvement over the original horizontal layout.
Related, I use an Ultimate for modern games, and I've mapped the paddles to the north and east face buttons.
Related, I use an Ultimate for modern games, and I've mapped the paddles to the north and east face buttons.
November 12, 2025 at 6:16 AM
I need someone with a soldering iron and a 3d printer to prove my theory that the perfect four button controller splits the face buttons between a GameCube style A and X (the latter mapped to B) and paddle inputs for X and Y
I've been revisiting my GBA collection with a Brawler 64, and the ergonomics of having A and B both under my thumb at once are a huge improvement over the original horizontal layout.
Related, I use an Ultimate for modern games, and I've mapped the paddles to the north and east face buttons.
Related, I use an Ultimate for modern games, and I've mapped the paddles to the north and east face buttons.
November 12, 2025 at 6:06 AM
I've been revisiting my GBA collection with a Brawler 64, and the ergonomics of having A and B both under my thumb at once are a huge improvement over the original horizontal layout.
Related, I use an Ultimate for modern games, and I've mapped the paddles to the north and east face buttons.
Related, I use an Ultimate for modern games, and I've mapped the paddles to the north and east face buttons.
Getting Verizon to let me use my new phone on a network my tax dollars paid for
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 AM
Getting Verizon to let me use my new phone on a network my tax dollars paid for
Reposted by James Youngman
Should #videogames receive fewer patches? What is gained—and lost—when games can be endlessly refined?
@mcconnell.bsky.social raised these ideas on a past #podcast of @pixelsandpolygons.net, and we go further into that topic with him in a new episode.
👇🏻
www.soundstone.network/kirby-conver...
@mcconnell.bsky.social raised these ideas on a past #podcast of @pixelsandpolygons.net, and we go further into that topic with him in a new episode.
👇🏻
www.soundstone.network/kirby-conver...
November 12, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Should #videogames receive fewer patches? What is gained—and lost—when games can be endlessly refined?
@mcconnell.bsky.social raised these ideas on a past #podcast of @pixelsandpolygons.net, and we go further into that topic with him in a new episode.
👇🏻
www.soundstone.network/kirby-conver...
@mcconnell.bsky.social raised these ideas on a past #podcast of @pixelsandpolygons.net, and we go further into that topic with him in a new episode.
👇🏻
www.soundstone.network/kirby-conver...
Reposted by James Youngman
And one other thing: we’re being told that AI is the only way to make games cheaper and faster, to pull us from this precipice of production nightmares the industry has found itself in. That it’s necessary.
We put out roughly 3 motherfucking games a year, not touching the stuff.
Skill issue.
We put out roughly 3 motherfucking games a year, not touching the stuff.
Skill issue.
November 12, 2025 at 3:34 AM
And one other thing: we’re being told that AI is the only way to make games cheaper and faster, to pull us from this precipice of production nightmares the industry has found itself in. That it’s necessary.
We put out roughly 3 motherfucking games a year, not touching the stuff.
Skill issue.
We put out roughly 3 motherfucking games a year, not touching the stuff.
Skill issue.
Thread
I wrote a piece a few weeks ago claiming antisemitism was on the verge of going mainstream. It was clear to me that most people had trouble buying it.
That's understandable. But it's happening.
Example: Conservatives themselves are now saying that 30 to 40% of Zoomers in Washington are Groypers.
That's understandable. But it's happening.
Example: Conservatives themselves are now saying that 30 to 40% of Zoomers in Washington are Groypers.
What I Saw And Heard In Washington
Groyperism's Spread Among Generation Z Conservative Apparatchiks Is Real
roddreher.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Thread
Reposted by James Youngman
Just want you to know that when I asked Geoff why he gave the silent treatment to an open letter written by his own "future of games" program (& co-signed by 3000+ industry peers), he replied:
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
“Don’t gather some of the most brilliant activists in the industry, treat us like crap, and then expect us to do nothing about it.” After the Game Awards cancelled its Future Class programme, @alyssamerc.bsky.social talked to its former honorees
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
“We were effectively props”: young stars of game development feel let down by the ‘gaming Oscars’
Announced in 2020 by the Game Awards as an inclusive programme for the industry’s next generation, the Future Class initiative has now been discontinued. Inductees describe clashes with organisers and...
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Just want you to know that when I asked Geoff why he gave the silent treatment to an open letter written by his own "future of games" program (& co-signed by 3000+ industry peers), he replied:
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
"Because that's my show and nobody gets to tell me how I should use my platform". 💀💀💀
Reposted by James Youngman
If your game has voice acting, then working with the voice actors is half of your writing process. It's not complete until you've heard it interpreted and reimagined by a voice actor. And they always reimagine it in ways that elevate the writing, in ways you never would have imagined yourself.
November 11, 2025 at 2:52 PM
If your game has voice acting, then working with the voice actors is half of your writing process. It's not complete until you've heard it interpreted and reimagined by a voice actor. And they always reimagine it in ways that elevate the writing, in ways you never would have imagined yourself.
Reposted by James Youngman
credits that include the names of everyone who worked on the game at any point
November 11, 2025 at 4:32 AM
credits that include the names of everyone who worked on the game at any point
Reposted by James Youngman
So every part of this is dumb but the idea that the Iliad is about 'fighting for princesses' is such a vapid take on a work that tells you exactly what it is about in the first (and last) lines.
You can tell the poem isn't really about Bryseis because her return does not resolve the conflict.
You can tell the poem isn't really about Bryseis because her return does not resolve the conflict.
*maximum alpha at 1.25x speed* continuously lives on in my head, unfortunately.
November 11, 2025 at 2:22 AM
So every part of this is dumb but the idea that the Iliad is about 'fighting for princesses' is such a vapid take on a work that tells you exactly what it is about in the first (and last) lines.
You can tell the poem isn't really about Bryseis because her return does not resolve the conflict.
You can tell the poem isn't really about Bryseis because her return does not resolve the conflict.
Their profits shared by the people who worked on them, regardless of their present relationships with the studio where they were developed
November 10, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Their profits shared by the people who worked on them, regardless of their present relationships with the studio where they were developed