Patient Zero
We think of art as something which we create and then put out in the world, where it affects others and perhaps, in some small way, changes them. What we often ignore or disregard is that in addition to being…
Breaking, Unbroken
Something I used to think about a lot was what we mean when we use the term ‘free will.’ Some people argue a great deal over whether it exists, which has always seemed a bit silly to me: The so-called…
Septembers
The lights are projections on slate-gray screens A sneak preview of a nuclear winter The orange seeps in like rusty water A sneak peek at a burning eternity Every moment is a tiny apocalypse The world is ending for somebody…
EverEnding DevBlog, August 2020: Mist
Last month I had just started working on a system for transforming the color of sprites. I finished it pretty early on into this month, and immediately afterward made an post-processing effect which performed the same effect but across the…
Multimedia
What’s interesting about games as a medium is that, as I touched on briefly last week, they aren’t a medium in any substantial sense. Yes, there are certain expectations and technical restraints and conventions, but nothing that can’t be easily…
Patrolling the Premises
I recently read this article decrying the famous trolley problem’s newfound fame and ubiquity. While I may have quibbles regarding some of its arguments, I still found it a very interesting and thought-provoking piece. I’d like to, for the moment,…
A Miner Shift
Decades ago, a friend told me a logic problem that had a big impact on how I see the world. Two workers emerge from the coal mines after a long day of work: One’s face is covered in soot, the…
Letting Go
I have a hard time letting go. Sometimes one gets haunted by the past not because it’s haunting but merely because it is past. Memories cling, like getting a song stuck in your head except it’s just a moment, a…
EverEnding DevBlog, July 2020: Hues
Well, for once something I thought would take a week actually took a week! The intro came together pretty quickly since I had it all planned out, and I had most of the timeline together within a day or two.…
Vessels of Absence
I used to want to be fearless. This made sense as an aspiration at the time – I reasoned that many people avoid doing things out of fear, and to move beyond fear was to be freer, more able…