Skip Navigation

Jeffool

@ Jeffool @lemmy.world

Posts
11
Comments
143
Joined
3 yr. ago

Hobbyist gamedev, moderator of /c/GameDev, TV news producer/journalist by trade

  • YouTube adds new hurdles for ad blockers, and there's currently no way around it

    Jump

  • Like was already said, I'm considering cancelling YouTube Premium too but our numbers won't really matter. The reports of worsening Firefox compatibility almost some me in and I didn't even notice.

    I have a family plan with my brother and cousin on it. I know they're cracking down on sharing with people who don't live together, but if they cut them I'm done. I'll figure it out. And I'm probably petty enough to comment about it on everyone's videos that I follow. (Which also won't really matter, but I'll feel better voicing the discontent.)

  • The TV industry finally concedes that the future may not be in 8K

    Jump

  • This makes sense to me. A hybrid would be nice. Have a calendar or some art while it's "off". But then, that's probably pretty expensive. (Not that I've looked, I'm just assuming.)

  • Microsoft is working to rebuild trust in Windows

    Jump

  • Honestly I think people would unironically that as an option.

  • Windows 10's extended support ends in eight months, but users are still rejecting Windows 11, at least in Germany

    Jump

  • Gaming is my big issue. But now that my quality gaming time with family has gone from Warzone to ARC Raiders, it's a far less daunting concern. I'll probably wait and see if DMZ 2 supports Linux, which sadly I doubt, and if that game will cost

  • One-Third of U.S. Video Game Industry Workers Were Laid Off Over the Last Two Years, GDC Study Reveals

    Jump

  • I completely agree that huge teams aren't needed. That said I think at least some of that is exactly because smaller studios full of expert talent were getting funded for several years, because those big studios weren't making the games developers wanted to make. And those devs understood that "fun" wasn't the same as "top of the line presentation".

    ARC Raiders' Embark Studios has a lot of people from DICE. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Sandfall Interactive has a lot of people from Ubisoft. Even Dispatch's Ad Hoc is a lot of Telltale people (at least some of them by way of Ubisoft.) They knew a lot about their process, but their big companies weren't making the games they were interested in. So they got funding elsewhere (and famously Ad Hpc's funding dried up mid-development.)

    I'm curious about Wikipedia's sourcing here. Granted there's the Balatros and Stardew Valleys of the world, and Helldivers did well. But do smaller games really make up half? Year after year the big ones are usually COD, two big sports game, a Nintendo game, another big fps, a big action game, and a few others.

    Again I agree with you when it comes to good games. But man, those big ones are huge sellers. I just wish we had clear insight into sales. But that's been a thing for a long time now.

  • One-Third of U.S. Video Game Industry Workers Were Laid Off Over the Last Two Years, GDC Study Reveals

    Jump

  • Investment money is not as plentiful as it was several years ago. I've heard it in several interviews with developers or devs themselves. (Game Maker's Notebook, Mike and Rami are Still Here, and a few devs on YouTube come to mind.)

  • It's not about Highguard itself.

    Jump

  • I may be wrong as I don't really play the genre, but I think Marvel Rivals is kinda the king of the hero shooter genre right now.

    But that said I generally do agree that "another live service game that doesn't clear a very high bar" is the issue. The recent success of ARC Raiders despite social media telling me people "don't want extraction shooters and to give it up" really drives home the point of "if it's good enough... It'll probably do well."

    (And I realize those two are third person games, so not "first person shooters", but I'd still consider them competition for them.)

    And with the economy the way it is, yeah, money matters a lot more. People are more likely to dedicate their time to one big game, and sometimes a couple of smaller ones. It makes things an "all or nothing" proposition. And most games don't look like "all".

  • With all this talk about Ai not being profitable why aren't we using it in video games? I dont mean replacing developers I mean in NPCs in the game. I make them more realistic.

    Jump

  • AI in games (using code for entities to make non-player decisions) is about being good enough, cheap enough. It's just like how games determine their physics. The existence of large scale "black box" AI like OpenAI does not reflect what's good or cheap. It can't play chess. You think it's going to understand The Sims and make reasonable choices in that system?

    They've already created well tuned system to give your Sims in obtaining their needs. It leads to you having to manage the chaos, and that's what the fun is. To better hone that is to have the AI play the game for you. And even that, if efficiency of play is the goal, is better done by TASbot and machine learning.

    That generic black box style of AI like popular LLMS is like creating a hammer. Now everyone is treating every problem like nails. AI decisions making in games is like washing windows; don't use a hammer.

    The problem is that "AI" is a poorly defined, very vague, and widely used term. Most people here have assumed you meant LLMs because everyone pitches those as ways to solve everything. "Oh, irer up an agent, give it instructions, and let it make requests that are context dependent". Then, like everyone says here, that usually turns into people testing boundaries and breaking your game. So that makes it both "not good enough" and "not cheap enough".

    Now, look at AI with the term "machine learning" in mind and it's different. Games like ARC Raiders use machine learning to teach NPCs movement behavior, and to train AI voices like Siri so they can't add things without further paying people. They think that up-front investment is worthwhile. But those are both far cries from "uploading it to Claude or ChatGPT and see what happens". Especially when you would have to teach that black box AI your system anyway, for it to use it. And you're already doing that with current "good enough, cheap enough" bespoke methods, for much cheaper, and they're good enough.

  • “For All Mankind” S5 Teaser

    Jump

  • Yeah it’s become less believable as time has gone on, but it’s still a fun ride.

    Yeah, at this point I'm so locked in, I'm willing to go along for whatever shenanigans they're up to.

  • AEW Dynamite Maximum Carnage 1-14-26 Discussion Thread (SPOILERS!)

    Jump

  • I love a great championship match on weekly TV.

  • Pet Peeves with Games?

    Jump

  • I started the first one and really liked the little walking I did in the first hour and a half, but I just tapped out after that because of the ratio of cutscene to game. ... I should play them.

  • What are your technology mispredictions?

    Jump

  • I get it and was very skeptical at the time... But soon after I began to believe they'd stick around, and my annoyance at installing through multiple discs (and also putting discs in the tray to play a game) won out.

  • What are your technology mispredictions?

    Jump

  • I bought and moved like 1 in late 2013 when it spiked just to play with it and see how it worked, out of curiosity about the tech. (And soon after, mined Dogecoin on Reddit when it started, and we all began tipping like crazy because it was fun and funny.) I made a few bucks off the BTC and kinda regretted not holding it longer. Then cut to a decade later... Sheesh. I may be more sour on the tech now, but damn I'm not so crazy as to not regret selling it.

  • Pet Peeves with Games?

    Jump

  • I've often wondered why some more advanced games like Elder Scrolls don't keep track of dramatic actions in some way and offer them up to you when you leave the game for a while. A "previously..." kind of element. Big budget action games too, like from Rockstar.

    Obviously they just don't think it's worth the work, but I do wonder if it would affect completion rates.

  • Pet Peeves with Games?

    Jump

  • You're completely right of course, but I'll say it bugs me too at times. I was always able to forgive it but as we got more advanced visually it bugged me more. Then finally in Oblivion it was too much for me. I still love and respect the game, but it actively bugs me there are portals around the world that are just waiting for me to decide I want to fight. I know it's dumb, but it is what it is.

  • What do you feel the Fediverse could improve on?

    Jump

  • I can easily imagine tiny towns, neighborhoods (and even apartments) using a Mastodon server to create a community based social media. Now, whether people would WANT to use that, and if it would just turn into NextDoor, are separate issues.

  • Ron Gilbert cancels RPG project due to lack of support and funding

    Jump

  • He's been talking about it on Mastodon for quite a while now. It's a shame.

    /edit: It wasn't the game he talked about on Masto; that game finished/released! My dumb. I thought it was continued development.

  • Games @lemmy.world
    Jeffool @lemmy.world

    Ron Gilbert cancels RPG project due to lack of support and funding

    www.gamesindustry.biz /ron-gilbert-cancels-rpg-project-due-to-lack-of-support-and-funding

  • Best vertical games on Android?

    Jump

  • Downwell and Holedown are both fantastic games played in portrait. But I won't lie; lately I've fallen back into Marvel Snap and I live it. (Not love, live.) But never spent a dollar on it.

  • A cool feature/mechanic you want to see in games again

    Jump

  • There's plenty of better deep dives on YouTube, but basically it's a system in Shadows of Mordor (and moreso in Shadows of War) that would take a random NPC you were fighting and were joined by (or almost killed,) and elevate them thematically. If one knocked you down there's a chance they would pick up your sword and break it, smack talk you, and walk away. That guy, of his name was Doug, became Doug the Sword Breaker. Never time you saw him, he'd get a short introduction and a quip or two to remove you of who he was.

    If you died, since you were a spirit they'd just mock that they already best you before. But if you were killing them, they might get a scene where they manage to get away to amplify the story. Or maybe you'll just kill them. It was random and happened with random NPCs, elevating them in the enemy army.

    I believe in the second one you could even mind control someone, and take out the people above them, and have a spy in the upper ranks.

    Imagine an action game with some Crusader Kings plot drama happening.

    Honestly I think there's probably enough prior art to get away with using whatever you wanted from it. But a) I'm no lawyer and b) I'm not risking millions of dollars making a game.

  • A cool feature/mechanic you want to see in games again

    Jump

  • there's a grappling hook in ARC Raiders (called the snap hook) and I have one but have never bothered using it. I should change that some day.

  • News @lemmy.world
    Jeffool @lemmy.world

    Bank of England warns AI stock bubble rivals 2000 dotcom peak

    arstechnica.com /ai/2025/10/bank-of-england-warns-ai-stock-bubble-rivals-2000-dotcom-peak/
  • Games @lemmy.world
    Jeffool @lemmy.world

    Rock Band 4 to be delisted on tenth anniversary following the expiration of its licenses

    www.gamesindustry.biz /rock-band-4-to-be-delisted-on-tenth-anniversary-following-the-expiration-of-its-licenses
  • Video Game Suggestions @lemmy.zip
    Jeffool @lemmy.world

    PVE/co-op games shaped like BRs or extraction shooters?

  • Games @lemmy.world
    Jeffool @lemmy.world

    The big Call to Arms update for Valheim is out now

    www.gamingonlinux.com /2025/09/the-big-call-to-arms-update-for-valheim-is-out-now/
  • Games @lemmy.world
    Jeffool @lemmy.world

    Xbox fans are compiling lists of all the Activision, Bethesda, and Microsoft games still missing from Xbox Game Pass — and it's pretty huge

    www.windowscentral.com /gaming/xbox-fans-are-compiling-lists-of-all-the-activision-games-still-missing-from-xbox-game-pass
  • Games @lemmy.world
    Jeffool @lemmy.world

    Blackbird Interactive acquires full ownership of Hardspace: Shipbreaker IP

    www.gamesindustry.biz /blackbird-interactive-acquires-full-ownership-of-hardship-shipbreaker-ip
  • Games @lemmy.world
    Jeffool @lemmy.world

    Krafton Delays ‘Subnautica 2’ Game Ahead of $250 Million Payout

    www.bloomberg.com /news/articles/2025-07-09/krafton-delays-subnautica-2-game-ahead-of-250-million-payout
  • Community Promo @lemmy.ca
    Jeffool @lemmy.world

    Gamedev community - news and current events for hobbyists and game developers

  • Games @lemmy.world
    Jeffool @lemmy.world

    Balatro yet again subject to mods’ poor understanding of “gambling”

    arstechnica.com /gaming/2025/04/balatro-yet-again-subject-to-mods-poor-understanding-of-gambling/
  • Games @lemmy.world
    Jeffool @lemmy.world

    Marvel Snap is banned, just like TikTok

    www.theverge.com /2025/1/19/24347034/marvel-snap-banned-tiktok-bytedance