Jeremy Albert

Hello friends. Last month, I was looking for more work and finally secured some on Reddit from a guy who needed help with preproduction on his Tabletop RPG / Card Battler. After a meeting with him, he showed me what he had and it was quite impressive. He had a prototype of a card-battler using a tabletop RPG battle system, but he had little to no documentation or planning—he's been chiseling away at his game for a few months in his spare time after work. I suggested that before I dive into art, we flesh out the game design and the rest of the game up to around an 80% mark and let the last 20% be changes, additions, and that sort. As your game evolves, it'll come into it's own and you'll find things that need changed or added, this accounts for that. He agreed and I asked if I could work on all this since I did that with my game Alligori and lead the team from start to finish with our vertical slice, and I know tabletop RPGs very well. He agreed and we did the whole song and dance with paperwork, and he sent over a retainer and I began work the following Monday. Three weeks go by and we're working great together. I'm fleshing out his game, adding some meat to the backbone of his prototype with classes, abilities, etc. My goal was to write out as much as possible and then trim content to fit it into a 1-year development cycle. So I flesh a bulk of his game out, and then categorize it more into a game design document that clearly conveys concepts, ideas, and mechanics. Catching up, last week was the final week of my first month and payment was due. He just up and disappears like a fart in the wind, I have no idea if he's alive, incarcerated, on vacation, or what. He didn't remove me on Discord, so I don't entirely suspect malicious intent, but he gave no notice. That's the risk you run with working 1-on-1 with a client remotely, one day they can just up and disappear. I do have paperwork, so I may pursue legal action. If he doesn't log on by Friday, I'm going to publicly release all my documentation and the GDD I wrote on here.

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How to accelerate your career in game development? Think "one level higher." 🔹 If you're a junior or mid-level:  -- Consider how your task affects the team's work. 🔹 If you're a lead or senior:  -- Focus on how your team's work impacts the entire project. 🔹 If you're a producer, director, or PM:  -- Think about how your project fits into the company's strategy. 🔹 If you're a CEO or executive:  -- Ensure the company's results align with stakeholder interests. 🔹 If you're a stakeholder:  -- Align your assets with market interests. Always try to understand the bigger picture.

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I was in a 1:1 today where I mentioned that I wanted to do away with our weekly defect status reports. Why? Because no one likes a wall of text that has a bunch of risks and call outs. Folks get blind to the things that really matter and they become bogged down by repeated pings in the same spots. Our solution: Use the triage sessions to delegate status. Ping only the most important action items in the big channel. Make sure ownership is felt and not just seen.

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The software testing community here on LinkedIn is appearing like the rest of social media lately. It has mostly binary opinions, and lacks empathy and respect for the context - with many saying one way is the only way. It's a shame more people are not open to being challenged across all areas of work and life. I remember a time when students were open to listen to talks that directly challenged their beliefs, now many won't accept it, so colleges and universities shy away from it. Free speech is important, as long as it doesn't violate someone else's rights (free speech doesn't allow for inciting hatred for example). Back to testing...I'm not suggesting people stop with their opinions on testing, yet it would be more effective if their binary argueing stopped, and an open conversation with various views were shared. Then we can all learn and make informed decisions. Just saying... It would be nice across all areas of life I think. Sadly social media appears to make people feel safe to do otherwise. I hope you're open to different opinions and are able to debate instead of force an argument based on a binary belief you have. #softwaretesting #softwaredevelopment #technology #whatinspiresme

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TAROF - The Amazing Ring of Fire - Dev Blog 4 Over the past week or so I have been reverting to an older build (back to one with the skylight before experimental materials removal broke it) and going through code and content clean up so not as much progress as expected. I have been learning a lot though and spending the time needed to implement certain things. A lot more experimenting. Here's what's changed this week: FIXES/IMPLEMENTATION - Reverted back to a previous build (before disabling experimental materials broke my skybox). - Want to get game in a clean stable state so this is a build I can always revert back to as a main checkpoint. - Code & content clean up. - Cleaned up blueprints to make them more readable. - Collapsed key functionality into functions. - Added comments. - Deleted unused code snippets. - Deleted unused content in content browser. - Moved everything into appropriate folders. - Deleted all card textures below 1024 pixels. Don't need higher. - Rearranged card blueprints to order them to my liking. - Added 2 Niagara effects for specific cards. - Waterfall - For the Ace card with the rule 'Waterfall'. A lot of playing around with this over the past week. Got it to a point I am happy with for now. Can return later if needs be. - Created a sprite sheet and added both the red and blue pixelate card to it so both can be used as a particle. - Question Marks - For the Queen card with the rule 'Questions'. Simple but effective. - Hooked up functionality for the niagara FX to play / stop when needed and also hooked these up to the appropriate cards. - Card Info/Rules section - Added descriptions for each rank that shows when the card is selected. - Changed size of description text. - Changed colour to yellow. Same as title. - Removed handles from text box by turning alpha all the way down. - Stopped user from interacting with the text box. - Added a secondary 'Next Turn' button at the top center. - This allows for different placements depending on games needs. For example, when the waterfall FX is played, it covers the lower half of the ring and also the next turn button so the button can be set to the top instead, making it accessible. - Added a placeholder settings menu - Includes new icons. - Settings Icons Spins on mouse hover and once selected shows an X to close menu. - Currently has debug and VFX options KNOWN ISSUES - Card Z order on used cards not working properly TO DO - Add card spawn lerp - Add spawn point to deck creator BP - Add ring of fire effect - Background music - Add SFX - Add VFX - Add Main menu IDEAS - Add multipliers / punishments - For example when a suit (Diamond / Club / Heat / Spade) or rank (A - K) is completed. - Implement 'Imposter Cards' - The small suits on the card change on the fly and if a player selects 'End Turn' without realising then they will be punished.

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If you are in a leadership role on a software project and you demand changes without any regard for the impact those changes have on scope or timelines or resourcing, you are not a leader. You are a difficult client. You are actively detrimental to the success of the product. Know the costs. Get involved. Don’t make your whims everyone else’s problem to straighten out.

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I think one of the things that's so frustrating about Xbox's recent studio closures is that it is stark contrast to the things they *say*. They say they want original, interesting games, but then they shutter Tango. They say they want to take big swings at live service stuff, but then release Redfall in a disastrous state and don't have the bottle to fix it before shuttering the studio. They say they want interesting, original content, but then close studios working on original content to bolster Call of Duty. Xbox needs platform-defining exclusives. But they've also shown they don't have the understanding to ship stuff that can legitimately compete with what Sony's doing with Playstation's first parties. What happened to Starfield? Redfall flopped. Halo Infinite's SP "infiniteness" faceplanted. Halo Infinite's multiplayer took years to sort out a fatally awful progression system, and it still mostly sucks, but who cares because no one's playing it. Forza Motorsport bombed. Where is Gears? Where is the next thing from id? From MachineGames? When it's one studio flailing around, maybe it's the studio. When it's ***everything*** under the Xbox Game Studios banner, it's a different situation entirely. What the hell are they doing over there? But the point is, when you see closures of studios when the platform is totally failing to deliver anything of meaningful, differentiating value to players... it's time to call it. Phil Spencer's driven the Xbox into irrelevance. How you could spend hundreds of millions of dollars to achieve *so little* is genuinely shocking to me.

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"What does a Game Producer do?" I've seen various definitions going into the realm of a project manager all the way to what some consider a game director to be, others have no clue what a game producer does, how they differ from a project manager, or why they're on the team / exist in the first place. I'm curious, what is your go-to answer to "What is a game producer?" 🤔 #videogames #gamesindustry #gameproducer #producer #games

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In line with yesterday's post about good ideas, once you'd identified a "good idea", what do you do with it? I was thinking about a quote I've heard attributed variously to Rodin or Michelangelo. There is a probably apocryphal story that Michelangelo was asked how he would carve an elephant. He replied that he would take a large block of stone and carve away everything that was not an elephant. There is another relevant quote by one of my favorite historical figures, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." There's also Gall's Law: "A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over, beginning with a working simple system." Keep It Simple, Stupid. My natural instinct is to make systems as I envision them, because until the system exists there is nothing. I tend to make too many parts to a system initially, but I've learned to document all those parts as possibilities for the future and to isolate the core, simplest expression of the system. I find this prioritization crucial for rapid iteration success. I usually use a very simple of prioritization for early concept, design, and prototyping: must have, important to have, and nice to have. Seems pretty clear right? Must have is obvious, the feature just won't work without this. What about important to have? Well, the feature will work, but it will be lacking quality in some aspect if this isn't included. Maybe it's an innovation; maybe it's a level of UX polish; but these kinds of things are important for increased odds of success. Nice to have? Well, that seems pretty clear too - it's something you'd like to have, but you're pretty sure there's no time to do all of these things, so you might get a couple if you're lucky. If I've solved for the design space correctly, the simplest core expression of a successful feature is found in the "must have" category and we have more than enough time to accomplish the prototype and evaluate it.

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A lot of people have written about the devastating closures of Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and Alpha Dog. I don't want to repeat that stuff. It's a terrible situation. As a developer, it's heartbreaking. As a player, it's even worse. I just want to say something personal about Arkane Austin, and the kinds of games they make/made, and in particular, Harvey Smith, who heads up (headed up) the studio, after Raphael Colantonio moved on to new things. The first game I really fell in love with was Half-Life. HL showed me the way forward for games, particularly first-person ones, as an expression of deep and interesting -- often claustrophobic -- exploration, combat, and puzzle solving, excellent balance, and the power of first-person interactive narrative to create super immersive worlds for players. The second game I really fell in love with was Deus Ex (Ion Storm). DX showed me the way forward for extremely systems-centric experiences. The power of player choice, experimentation, and improvisation. The promise of a more mature, sophisticated narrative than you mostly found in games of the day. The joy of a game that was responsive and adapted to your choices as a player. The freedom to contrive your own solutions to problems. These games, together, rewired my brain. DX followed the work done before it by games like Thief (Looking Glass), System Shock (also Looking Glass), and later Arx Fatalis (Arkane's first game), but really locked in on the idea of the "immersive sim" that, later on, BioShock (made by ex-Looking Glass people) would replicate. Then Dishonored (Arkane). Then the 2017 Prey (also by Arkane Austin). Other games have riffed on the formula, even when taking it in different directions. There's some DX in Far Cry. There’s some DX in Fallout. There's some DX in Stalker. There's even some DX in The Long Dark. Player freedom. Experimentation. Thoughtful narratives. World dynamism and responsiveness. Affordance of player improvisation. These are core tenets of Immersive Sims that make all games better. They've never set the market on fire. But just like there are movies for movie-makers, these are games for game makers. These are games, we as developers who recognize the alchemy and miracle behind them, stare at in awe, wondering how the creators were able to harness this black magic. That's what we lost in Arkane Austin yesterday. Harvey Smith was the lead designer on DX, and his work has always inspired me. The team there was dedicated to making these sorts of complex, wonderful experiences that we need more of. These are important games, important ideas, important ideals, and it will once again fall to independent developers to keep them alive. So be it.

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[10/09 - edited for flow] Very few things have annoyed me as much as "bad data comparisons". Just the other day, I saw an image where someone broke down [the most used retention mechanics]*, and in it, they had grouped "limited time rewards" alongside things like "treasure hunt" and "puzzles" (and others) in separate categories.** Now, I don't know if this was some attempt to rile up people like me so that they'd end up buying the report or sharing the post, but I certainly had questions - Were there no puzzle-based time-limited events found in their research/survey? Alternatively, if a game mechanic featured both, did they count them twice or err to the side that had lower representation? This may seem like an argument in semantics, but when looking at data, being unable to tell when you're comparing apples to oranges is the gateway to bad conclusions. The report neglects to differentiate between a "content distribution system" and an actual "mechanics"; while the differences may seem small, the conclusions you can derive from them are very different. Worth mentioning as well, the post neglects to acknowledge the effort needed to develop/produce each of those mechanics, or the suitability of those mechanics as tools for engagement for the games' target markets; as an example, would a daily login system that provided tickets to access a time-limited puzzle game work to help engagement/retention for an FPS like CounterStrike? Without being able to identify the contributors to the data, it makes the posts' conclusions little more than a nifty bit of industry trivia at best, and discussing it as anything but is painfully counter-educational. Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! *The data was sourced from a paid report, so I don't have access to it. Can't seem to retrace my steps to find it again either. :( **Paraphrased.

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Capcom has released a less-than-positive annual report. There's nothing critical in it; all the declines are tied to a pause in releases. Capcom certainly has a vast catalog of successful franchises for upcoming releases. Resident Evil (RE) stands out distinctly. While Capcom didn't start with RE, it played a crucial role in their history and has had a significant impact on the gaming industry as a whole. Today, RE comprises 32 releases across 33 platforms. These are incredible numbers and a testament to success. Moreover, judging by Metacritic scores, Capcom manages to maintain a high standard of quality. I gathered a timeline of all RE releases on one website (link in the comments). I thoroughly enjoyed watching videos, reading books, reminiscing about my own experiences playing the games, and playing with friends and colleagues. Here are a few interesting facts about RE and Capcom: - Resident Evil 4 was released on 14 platforms. - The first RE took 3 years to develop, instead of the usual 3-6 months for Capcom in 1996. Consultants hired from the U.S. advised shutting down the project when it was almost complete, predicting its failure. - Devil May Cry and Dino Crisis were born while searching for fresh gameplay for RE. - Capcom was one of the first companies to start paying revenue shares to developers, which is particularly noteworthy for Japanese companies. - Toy Story I and RE I were released around the same time. - For a while, music for RE was composed by a well-known Japanese composer who was said to be deaf. It later turned out that he wasn't actually deaf and didn't compose the music himself. PS. In 2026, the series will celebrate its 30th anniversary, and there will likely be a special release or edition. Or perhaps they'll simply release a version with full DualSense support.

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Nostalgia has a funny way of creeping up on us, especially when we think about the classic PC games we played as kids. Remember those shareware titles? The thrill of discovering a hidden gem that someone passed along? It’s amazing how many of those experiences feel lost to time, yet they played such a significant role in shaping our love for gaming. In today’s fast-paced world, preserving those nostalgic moments is more important than ever. I’ve developed a real appreciation for efforts to back up old games and keep that nostalgia alive. It’s not just about playing; it’s about remembering the joy and creativity that sparked our imaginations. When it comes to remasters, I think they serve a crucial purpose. For many, they provide a chance to experience beloved classics that they may have missed or never had access to. Remasters breathe new life into these games, allowing a new generation to enjoy them while giving longtime fans a way to relive cherished memories with improved graphics and gameplay. What are your thoughts on this? Do you have any favorite classic games that you wish would get a remaster? Let’s celebrate the past while looking forward to the future of gaming.

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🔴 Hot take: Technical debt isn’t the enemy—letting it loose is! Instead of wasting time on “perfect” code, we should focus on manageable debt that drives useful progress. 💡 New Blog post: https://lnkd.in/dSg6xTSU #gameDevelopment #TechDebt #StartupTips #DevLife #Programming #EngineeringLeadership #SoftwareDevelopment

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Bit late talking about this one but huge news coming from 343 Industries, both a re-brand to Halo Studios and confirmation that they are switching development to Unreal. 🗞️ This comes off the back of 343's struggles with development of Halo: Infinite. We've seen many other studios move away from their own engines to Unreal, notably CD Projekt Red! Are proprietary engines going out fashion? 🤔 For those who have worked on both proprietary engines and Unreal, what have you found to be the key advantages of working with Unreal? #gamedev #unreal #halo

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MOBAs are hard for a number of reasons, but I think the biggest reason is the massive knowledge barrier players have to overcome in order to get to the "fun part" of the game. Not only do they need to learn how to play (how do I control my character, what are the goals, how do I win, etc) but they also have to learn about the dozens of items, characters, builds, the strategy, the lane formation, and so on. It's a never ending series of new things to learn and master. I've spent several thousand hours playing MOBAs myself and I don't think I ever approached what would be considered "good" by many players. A few years ago I decided to try to make the simplest version of a MOBA that I could that still allowed players to make meaningful and interesting decisions, without overloading them with complicated characters and mechanics. NOBA is the result of that experiment. I removed almost all player inputs except movement, and reduced the complexity of a given character to a single ability. This resulted in a game about positioning, mind games, and out maneuvering your opponent, which allows most players to start engaging with the fun part of the game immediately. You can read the full details, and play it below. https://lnkd.in/gm9TRS7F

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Game Devs have you ever wanted to join a Game Jam before but couldn't? Well now is your chance, join Jason Hall's Pirate Software's Game Jam upcoming January 17th 2025 which had over 15k participants last year alone Jason AKA Thor Hall has been blowing up lately all over Social Media through his generous tips and advice as an indie developer and the son of the famous World of Warcraft Southpark character and meme If you been following me for a while, you will notice I always preach for people to signup for Game Jams whether you are a Software Developer or QA Tester or Artist, anyone can join that want's to participate in a ground zero development of a video game It's incredibly helpful for those looking to break into the industry or for those who wish to keep up their resume gaps or just want to learn and improve overall, judge-free zone and there are tons of people willing to help guide you through the process, plus its FREE Here are more reasons why if still not sold: ✔️ Skill Growth: Practice coding, art, and design in a fast-paced, real-world setting while learning rapid prototyping and problem-solving ✔️ Portfolio Boost: Showcase completed games to demonstrate your initiative, creativity, and ability to finish projects ✔️ Networking: Collaborate with peers, connect with industry pros, and build a supportive community ✔️ Resume Value: Game jams highlight passion, teamwork, and hands-on experience to potential employers ✔️ Creative Freedom: Experiment with bold ideas and unique concepts without financial risks ✔️ Motivation: Deadlines drive productivity, while finishing projects builds confidence ✔️ Learning: Explore new tools, roles, and feedback to broaden your expertise ✔️ Career Opportunities: Get noticed by recruiters, land freelance gigs, or start indie collaborations Other popular game jams to explore: Ludum Dare, Global Game Jam and Games For Love (check'em out!) 🔗 in comments Never stop leveling up 💪 #GameDevs #Developers #SoftwareEngineers

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What do Lethal Company, Skyrim, Helldivers 2 all have in common? They are designed to be broken. Dig into what this even means in my recent video, which you can find on my channel here: https://lnkd.in/gDPk_8E6

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