iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Just in case you didn't see it- the vehicles never turn right, only forward or left. This means no cars ever cross each other's path at intersections. I think this is fine for now, particularly for dumb traffic- I'm not building #GTA6 here. #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #ue5 #cityplanning 2/2

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

For this edition of #screenshotsaturday I present basic traffic AI now working with #ue5 ZoneGraph (sans Mass) complete with traffic lights at intersections. I've used a rather sneaky trick to reduce the need for complex turn logic- can you spot what it is? 1/2 #gamedev

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

This week in #gamedev: I finally got #ue5 ZoneGraph working without Mass. Given the typical lack of Epic documentation on either, I'm calling this a big win. I am aware that this currently looks like a bunch of ants looking for sugar, but fun traffic AI is now very possible! #screenshotsaturday

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Here's a bouncing rock. The rock will not be in the game. #gamedev It's bouncing because this morning I wrote a simple 'tweening' plugin for basic procedural animation in #ue5, modelled on the ones popular in the #flash / #as3 days. I'll stick it on Github when I've thought of a name- suggestions?

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Blood is applied by a set of decals, each with a texture. When a hit is detected, a circle is drawn on to that texture. Mapping the transform of the impact to the correct UV space was a bit annoying, but it does mean things accumulate properly, and the number of decals required is capped 5/5 #ue5

A screenshot showing the placement of image decals on a pylon for accurate blood accumulation from punching

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Here's that blood close up. This was a very useful guide on dynamic textures at runtime- dev.epicgames.com/community/le... - which I adapted to add alpha blending and dithering (and also remove a potential memory leak) 4/5

A man regarding his own blood on the surface of a pylon

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

...but while I was at it I added the additional bones I needed for steering and doors. Importantly, I also gave it the number plate that Inspector Morse uses. I believe this is known as environmental storytelling. 3/5 #gamedev #inspectormorse

The car above, with the skeleton visible, and the doors open

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I also needed a better model of a car, but models of right-hand drive cars (such as we have in the UK) are thin on the ground. So, I converted this one from the free Epic 'Vehicle Variety Pack' from left-hand drive to right in #Blender. This was not fun, as it's not a straightforward flip... 2/5

A 3D model of a car that has been converted from left-hand drive to right-hand drive

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

#screenshotsaturday this scene is still a testbed for developing tech for elsewhere, but it's quite fun in it's own right. Dynamic texturing allows me to accumulate blood on the pylon over time, and there's some subtle IK used to make sure the punches connect. Sound too! #ue5 #gamedev 1/5

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

It's #screenshotsaturday! Following on from last week: I present a man's futile battle with an electricity pylon, as filmed by a camera drone which I simulated using the #UE5 Gameplay Cameras plugin. Next up: hitting the pylon, blood loss, and exhaustion. #gamedev #existentialism #rochdale #pylons

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

As for the traffic itself- it's a single Niagara emitter for *all* cars using a mesh renderer, sampling from a spline and then using the particle index to determine which lane it should be in. Lanes have different speeds. A headache to work out but looks depressingly simple now I've done it 6/6

Niagara scratch module that lays cars out along a spline

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

This also allows me to mark all BSDF properties including emission, again without needing to muck around with multiple textures for each object, which is a big time save. I will need to add extra lights to get a proper night-time effect but this is a good start, and it's good to know the limits. 5/6

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

There's only one shader for all non-foliage props- cars, pylons, street furniture. Data encoded into UV maps marks which parts should change colour, and then the 'instance random' property is used to pick a colour from a (statistically accurate) texture of the most popular car colours in the UK. 3/6

Showing off colour variation on distinct models

A texture where the size of each colour bar is directly proportional to how popular that colour is as a colour for UK cars. People like to drive cars in boring colours.

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

The general layout is driven by splines and / or PCG, aided by- as usual- the wonderful PCGEx plugin by @nebukam.bsky.social . The road is a landscape spline placed manually, the fields are entirely PCG, the pylons a mix- manual spline, with PCG adding spline meshes for the power lines. 2/6

Splines and paths showing how the scene is laid out

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

#screenshotsaturday some fun stuff this week prototyping a traffic system using #UE5 Niagara- but doing so in style, by attempting to capture the feeling of the M62 motorway near Rochdale. 1/6 #gamedev #unrealengine #motorways #pylons #rochdale #flytipping

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

London tourists- be sure to get away from the main attractions while you're visiting and do some exploration, because there's beauty around every corner #Kensington #London #travel

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

Beating your shit into pineapples is the 2025 equivalent of beating swords into plowshares

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

#gamedev still on the backburner while I refill the company coffers with some "real" programming work. Office life sucks in a lot of ways, but cycling home through #London at sunset almost makes up for it... #barbican

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

Gamedev on the backburner for a bit while I do some paying work to get the company funds back to health. This means cycling to Kensington every day, a place where people love cars more than humans. There's a lot of Ferraris here, but the owner of this car is clearly rich in things other than money

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Tom Waits is currently on display at the Natural History Museum #london #tomwaits

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

#screenshotsaturday #ue5 #gamedev fixed up and extended Lump, my "Mass for Idiots" system- now you can't see where it switches away from ISM to mesh or actor. Framerate stays nice and high thanks to object pools, and only using physics where needed. Next job: use it to make cars and pedestrians.

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

Everything here is in an ISM until you get close; then it gets turned into a regular Static Mesh, or actor if specified. Get far enough away, it gets switched back, but you can specify the conditions under which that happens. Movement is controlled by a class that can be extended in C++ or BP... 2/n

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

#screenshotsaturday #ue5 #gamedev Turns out the bits of Mass I wanted to use are dependent on ZoneGraph, and ZG can't be rebuilt at run time, so I can't use it. Mass is also fully C++ and honestly a bit of a headache. So, I nicked the ideas from Mass I wanted and built something a lot simpler. 1/n

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Neuron here is watching my Pain au Chocolat like it's his ancestral birthright

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

Today in fun #gamedev bugs: the SUV Centipede, coming to a school run near you very soon.

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

#screenshotsaturday #ue5 #gamedev #london- infinite PCG road now features intersections and buildings (well, connection points for intersections and placeholder cubes). The pop-in is a bit brutal but I can fix that later. Implementing traffic comes first. And breaking the legs of pedestrians.

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

#screenshotsaturday The Last Gig is on hold for a bit while I try to find funding, so I'm now cranking out a quick one-month side project, Electric Rental Bike Simulator. Infinite procedural #ue5 road working great, now working on intersections, buildings, and detecting the breakage of traffic laws.

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

The hardest bit was making them crash without the physics exploding. The #ue5 vehicle plugin wants spherical wheels (!), so there's a bit of smoke and mirrors when you jump off... but it works very well! TBH I might just pivot to making Rental Bike Wanker Simulator. #screenshotsaturday #gamedev 2/2

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

#screenshotsaturday- needed a break from tech debt and UI so have implemented ridable Lime bikes. It uses the #ue5 vehicle system, plus control rig IK for the hands and feet. Below is an accurate demo of a typical #London Lime bike usage- note the use of proper parking technique. #gamedev 1/2

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

Yeah I do need to tune the volume a bit! Fun thing about that noise is it's generated on the fly using #ue5 #metasounds - they've got a full programmable synth just sitting there and it's pretty amazing stuff.

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

#screenshotsaturday and finally, now there's an actual fail state. For fun I added "death quotes" ala *Call of Duty*... but as theme of the game is AI, I'm using dumb pro-AI horseshit from the wankers running AI companies- Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai and so on #ue5 #gamedev #indiedev 3/3

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

#screenshotsaturday the other main focus has been on closing the loop on this being a game rather than a bunch of levels, which means UI and saving and loading... again, not exactly glam, but there's now a nicely bleak main menu scene #ue5 #gamedev #indiedev 2/3

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

Been a while since my last #screenshotsaturday post- fixing AI bugs isn't exactly a visual treat. However now it's a LOT more stable, and even uses the correct escalator when given the option. Plus it can jump if it's sufficiently annoyed. #ue5 #gamedev #indiedev 1/3

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Unintentional environmental storytelling in Alton Towers #gamedev

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

#screenshotsaturday - mostly getting rid of tech debt this week so the AI has fewer existential crises, but also some combat tweaks. Question- should robots care about which way an escalator goes? It's easier if they don't, but I can't decide if it looks "menacing" or "stupid" #ue5 #gamedev

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Spline-based escalators were a very quick win- the hardest bit was getting the handrest speed to match the steps. In the full game there will be chewing gum stuck to the sides, and perhaps to the player's boots. Wishlist 'The Last Gig' today! tinyurl.com/5t2dd6cd #ue5 #gamedev #wishlistwednesday

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

This giant chandelier thing is just straight PCG- a bunch of spheres and boxes- and the 'fountain' is just a sphere from Scythe with some glitter. Corporate art is very, very easy. I'd add physics, but I need to focus on getting the robots in, and building the supermarket 2/3 #ue5 #gamedev

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

It's #wishlistwednesday! So here's a WIP of part of the demo for The Last Gig (store.steampowered.com/app/3680580/...) Very quick to put together thanks to @kronok.bsky.social's Scythe plugin, and @nebukam.bsky.social's PCGEx to get rid of the need for boring wall / room placement #gamedev #ue5 1/3

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

So then I did what I really didn't want to do- make a chain of hard physics constraints on the fly. Bit fiddly to set up, but when everything is in the right place and forces transferred it works great. Moral of the story: stupid is fine if you can't see it. 3/3 #gamedev #screenshotsaturday #ue5

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

Today for #screenshotsaturday something that should be trivial but turned out to be a massive headache: hanging from a rope in The Last Gig (wishlist pls store.steampowered.com/app/3680580/... thx) . Simple right? Well, no- the Character Movement Component doesn't like constraints #gamedev #ue5 1/3

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

I can do #wishlistwednesday now! Here's more fun with the grapple / pogobat in a procedural Barbican Centre- making a procgen level has been really great for tuning (grapple is still way too powerful mind). Wishlist The Last Gig on Steam here! store.steampowered.com/app/3680580/... #gamedev #ue5

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

OK I think that's enough menacing #robot megastructure iterations for now, better get back to making the actual game #ue5 #gamedev #blender

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

fortune.com/article/duol... If #Duolingo are replacing people with AI, I'll be replacing Duolingo with people. Subscription cancelled, 1647 day streak ended. Take your #AI and your greed and shove it up your owl.

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

And... I went on Inside Unreal to talk about PCGEx and PCG in #ue5! www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwF7... Still amazed that I had the opportunity, and also that I found myself explaining object pivots using a 5A drumstick and Sartre's 'Existentialism & Humanism'. 3/4 #screenshotsaturday

A screenshot of the author on YouTube illustrating the difficulties of placing corners in UE5's PCG grammar system with a drumstick and a copy of Existentialism & Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre.

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

I also needed a break from coding after doing that Inside Unreal presentation, so I rebuilt the HQ of the murderbots to be more interesting than "ominous cylinder". It's over 1km high so *perhaps* a bit big- but I like the shape, and it's got drone ports I need 2/4 #screenshotsaturday #blender

A very ominous looking building that will be the headquarters of a social media company that has unleashed a murderous superintelligence on the world

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

It's #screenshotsaturday ! Think I've got the grappling hook feeling mostly right for The Last Gig ( store.steampowered.com/app/3680580/... )- there's a fun balance between "player control" and "forceful yeetage". Needs better animation and sound etc, but it's on the right track. #gamedev #ue5 1/4

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

(3/3) There's also an observation deck / chill out zone where you can have a cup of coffee and a smoke and wonder about how much the flats cost, and how to get out. Join me and @nebukam.bsky.social to find out more on the 1st! Hopefully nothing will crash #ue5 #screenshotsaturday #london #gamedev

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Jean-Paul Software @jeanpaulsoftware.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

(2/3) The nice thing about it being procedural is that if you've ever wanted 200 floors of the #London Barbican centre, you can now have it. The walkways are totally wrong but I need them for testing the grappling hook. #gamedev #screenshot

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