Not Your Typical Dev

Hey there! I'm Thomas and Not Your Typical Dev is my online persona | Co-Founder of Mission Control Studios | Senior Level & Game designer at @RuniverseGame

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

7/ Judge Big Walk for the game it is. It has so much soul and is clearly crafted by passionate people.

If ten lines of borrowed debugging can cost one of this year's most inventive games its votes, the award is measuring the wrong thing.

What do you think?

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

One of the best games of the year is being punished for ten lines of AI code, and I'm furious about it.

Here's what actually happened with Big Walk.

🧵👇

#gamedev #indiedev #ai #indiegames

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

6/ The only studios it catches are the ones honest enough to disclose. And every studio watching has learned that staying quiet is safer right now.

House House apologized. I don't think it owed anyone one.

[Di Huang @dihuang111]

Some of my friends think AI will make it possible to build AAA games in just a couple of months. I think that seriously underestimates how complex game development is.

I often point them to game designer Liz England’s “The Door Problem.” It’s a great example of how much thought goes into game design. Making a good game still takes hard work and experience.

#gamedev #game

[Santa Monica Studio – God of War Laufey @SonySantaMonica]

An update regarding God of War Laufey's release date.

[itch.io @itchio]

Just deleted a couple terabytes of ai slop 😌

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

More context if this is your first time seeing the news. 👇

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

How are #IndieDevs supposed to compete with AI clones!?

Even promoting your game is risking your ideas getting stolen from a couple of screenshots or a simple clip.

I don't actually know what to propose to this, but these news and what happened on next fest is discouraging...

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

Valve has finally spoken on Steam's AIclone problem, after a month of devs asking where the gatekeeping actually is

Their advice? Keep shipping updates so clones can't keep pace

Reasonable if you have a team and runway. Not much use if you shipped a single clever mechanic alone

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

They also said extortion over AI clones is a job for law enforcement, not the storefront

Which reads like a platform that still sees this as someone else's problem

"Keep improving forever" isn't a moat. It's a tax only the well funded can pay

#gamedev #indiedev #Steam

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

This is sad...

[Del @TheCartelDel]

Indie game devs are told to build communities before launch, but doing so risks exposing their games to AI clones. Even after release, they risk being copied before they can profit. We were told Ai will help the small guy... Instead it's hurting them too.

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

How are #IndieDevs supposed to compete with AI clones!?

Even promoting your game is risking your ideas getting stolen from a couple of screenshots or a simple clip.

I don't actually know what to propose to this, but these news and what happened on next fest is discouraging...

[IGN @IGN]

The creator of a viral indie game where players must literally find a needle in a haystack is tired of his project getting cloned. So, he made a new game mode, where players must find the real game in a pile of fakes. https://t.co/8pxcsCIQmA

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

1/6 "You can't find a job in games? Then go and do something else!"

I've heard this advice more times than I can count. It's usually well meant. But before giving it, please consider a few things.

🧵

#gamedev #gamingindustry #gamejobs #gamesindustry

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

https://t.co/mxP26OM2ID

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

1/6 "You can't find a job in games? Then go and do something else!"

I've heard this advice more times than I can count. It's usually well meant. But before giving it, please consider a few things.

🧵

#gamedev #gamingindustry #gamejobs #gamesindustry

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

It's #WishlistWednesday! 🎮 #Indiedevs, drop your game below. 👇

Tell us what it is and why we should be excited. Scrolling through? Find one game that catches your eye and wishlist it. One click from a whole community makes a difference. 📷

#indiegame #gamedev #Unity #eu5

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

6/ None of this means people shouldn't be pragmatic in a difficult market.

But please don't pretend it's easy. And please don't reduce it to "just pull yourself together and do something else".

The people hearing that advice deserve better than that. #gamedev #gamingindustry

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

1/6 "You can't find a job in games? Then go and do something else!"

I've heard this advice more times than I can count. It's usually well meant. But before giving it, please consider a few things.

🧵

#gamedev #gamingindustry #gamejobs #gamesindustry

[Not Your Typical Dev @NYTypicalDev]

5/ And for many people in games, it's not just a job.

Most of us didn't end up here by accident. We followed a passion and worked hard to get here. For many, working in games is part of their identity. Losing that isn't a minor inconvenience.