Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 8hPL2050, a moderate conservative party, is fairly active in my neighbourhood. They have a local councilman who does some (questionable) activism, and tomorrow there's a local meetup with a member of parliament who specialises in housing co-ops. I would go, but politics still make me want to puke. 120
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 21hSouth of Midnight is so far a bit disappointing in terms of gameplay (very generic mechanics, poor m&k controls) and mood (not sure how to call it, but kind of... superficial?). It does seem to improve as it progresses, though. Crouton seems like he's going to be fun to hang around with. 000
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Apparently, reality agrees subtext is for cowards. 000
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Game started with a scene where a mother and a daughter are having a classic "ungrateful child" argument, with the mother's estranged mother-in-law looming in the context. Deep breath, Jacek, you can do this, your family drama is 20 years in the past. (not game's fault, anything can be a trigger) 000
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 04/10/2026At first I had a laugh, but then I realised: this is what the BDSM community[1] keeps talking about. Kinky sex is an extreme sport, so it needs to be safety-first. [1] Not a member, but I used to be in a relationship with a very kinky girlfriend who liked some of the less safe stuff. 100
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 03/10/2026A custom tool like this can speed up a designer's work by an order of magnitude. Most teams I've worked with were reluctant to invest in tools, but I'm giving them priority, because I'm broke. Also wanted to learn new Unreal tricks. Can't wait to build an actual level now (hopefully soon). 110
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Who would have thought that a (not so) simple interactive toy (laudatory) could do so much to undermine stupid gender stereotypes (in this case: the strict separation of the supposedly masculine and the supposedly feminine). 033
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 03/10/2026There's this little game called "Dome Keeper". It's good. I play it to self-regulate, and Steam says I've done 466 hours of self-regulating with it (this is going to come up in a second). Core gameplay is dig a mine, but keep going back to base to fight off critters. 230
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 02/10/2026I've discovered posting contrarian[1] takes on LinkedIn can be a guilty pleasure. I try not to indulge myself too much, but since there are no jobs anyway, once in a while feels fine. [1] That is: contrarian to the consensus on LinkedIn, e.g. anti-AI. 131
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 01/10/2026This is genuinely a superb idea. GOP is basically an Eastern European version of the Rust Belt, except it's very densely populated, saw both world wars and a series of ethnic uprisings, was the scene of a horrible mass murder (in Auschwitz), was under communist rule, you name it. 110
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 01/10/2026More game developers should challenge themselves to set their spooky urban survival horrors in completely random places that don't spring to mind as "iconic". If I were to set a horror story in Warsaw, I would have three choices that you won't see in other games: 260
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 30/09/2026It's past midnight, I'm trying to fall asleep. Neighbours are watching TV, and this building conducts sound like wires do electricity. I can hear the TV clearly, but the voices are muffled. It sounds exactly like the Board in Control. I'll let you know if my cats start levitating and/or chanting. 020
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 30/09/2026I can't find this info in the walkthrough, so pls tell me if you know the stats for this magic item. 030
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 30/09/2026The best thing about my current job is they had the guts to take a risk and hire me for a role I was technically not a good fit for, because I had never had a programming job before. I kind of wish this happened again, but this time for a narrative design role - but it won't. Not in this economy. 100
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Recently I've been thinking about my grandmother, who was born in 1926, survived WW2, then the entirety of the Communist regime in Poland, then the economic shocks of the 90s, then the 2008 crisis, and died peacefully in 2012, i.e. before the authoritarians got into power again. 100
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Batman could never do systemic reforms of any kind, because systemic reforms require systems, and Batman is a lone vigilante. If you want a story about systemic reforms[1], you need to start with an ensemble cast. [1] You can hire me to help write one. I have relevant real-life experience. 021
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Re last repost: Poland's top political villain (according to people who don't vote the far-right) is exactly the same height as me, and people have been making fun of it for 20 years now. Imagine how it feels when people keep telling you they will never treat you seriously because of your height. 020
Reposted by Jacek WesołowskiSally Beaumont | BAFTA Breakthrough | Voice Actor & Writer @sallybeaumont.bsky.social · 29/09/2026For the umpteenth time: do not attack people for having an unusually shaped body, comment on the objectively evil things they do and say. This isn't hard! Being shitty about bodies/appearance while disabled people are vilified for being seen in public feeds into ableist rhetoric. 215538
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I just added a debug message "check filenames on disk" and realised my PC doesn't even have a "disk", because SDDs have replaced them. It sometimes amazes me how transient modern tech is. When I was a kid, we still used tape. Uncle had a floppy disk drive and it seemed so high-tech. 120
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Re: extrapolating finished game from its unfinished state, you absolutely can do that, but each person is going to extrapolate a different game. This is why creative direction is a job. There needs to be a way to provide the one extrapolation that the team is supposed to pursue. 210
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 28/09/2026The best thing about this unpaid leave is I worked on Saturday and Sunday because I felt like it, then I visited my veterinarian today because my cat needed it (nothing serious, and he's actually improving), and now I don't feel like doing anything so I'm just going to declare a mini-weekend. 100
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Honourable mentions in no particular order: Half-Life, Heroes of Might & Magic 3, Starcraft, Darklands, Civilisation, Alone in the Dark, Another World. I'm very much a PC kid and it shows xD 110
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 27/09/2026I swear these guys took every single thing my generation[1] has been rallying against for the last 20 years, and decided to crank it up to 11, and I'm not even sure what for. [1] I'm 45. 150
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Things not to bring to a job interview when I'm the interviewer: - infectious diseases - guns - fascist symbols - Harry Potter fan merch - genAI Things you absolutely should bring to said interview: - some basic clothing (preferably on your body) 121
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Remember kids: if something's called "canvas", it means draw calls on it are cumulative and you need to reset it manually; by convention the function for that is called Clear() or something similar. (did I just make a silly mistake? no, not at all, I'm flawless, just like my cats) 000
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 27/09/2026This thread explains the most common complaint I've heard about Control Resonant so far, and it's the same that nearly ruined the original Control for me. :-( 000
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Obscure fun fact of the day: if you render a Material Instance to a Render Target in Unreal, and then try to read a pixel value from it, its Alpha channel is inverted. Oh well, I've seen worse. Maybe there's a technical reason. 010
Reposted by Jacek WesołowskiRobert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 25/09/2026DoorDash spent $1.4M trying to stop Zohran Mamdani from becoming mayor. This week's historic $131.5M enforcement action against DoorDash for underpaying NYC delivery workers shows why. Yet another reminder that the only thing that can beat organized money is organized people.theintercept.comDoorDash Spent $1.4 Million Trying to Stop Mamdani From Becoming Mayor. Now We Know Why.In a wage-theft settlement, DoorDash now has to pay its workers around 100 times what it spent trying to beat Zohran Mam 6584020811821
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 25/09/2026It gets darker when you begin to simply abandon your children and they're collected as garbage. 130
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 25/09/2026One of big problems with bsky, twitter, mastodon etc. is the mismatch between what some people write as a way to relate to another person, and what their recipients read as basically the opposite of that. It makes sites like these very bad places to make new friends. 010
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Re: making smaller games with worse graphics etc. these guys understood the assignment: therat.zone (also they made "Creature Kitchen", which is exactly that, and also a brilliant short-form experience)therat.zoneTHE RAT ZONE 000
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Big success today. My pet project uses an old-school dungeon crawler presentation style that emulates 3D graphics with sprites. Problem is, the further away you let the player see, the more sprites you need. Old dungeon crawlers typically had a view depths of only 3 tiles. 120
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 23/09/2026This little guy has no idea how lucky he is. His first "owner" failed to secure their balcony and the cat fell out from the third floor. Didn't get hurt! Then the second "owner" abandoned him. I didn't even want to have a cat, but there was no one left to take him. 010
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Lost a big chunk of data today that I had to set up manually but haven't yet implemented a way to back it up (I was still testing it!). Going to have a "fun" five hours tomorrow setting it up again. Solo dev often feels like three steps forward, two steps back. 000
Reposted by Jacek WesołowskiNotes from Poland @notesfrompoland.bsky.social · 21/09/2026We've been telling Poland's story for over a decade to a growing global audience. But, as a small non-profit media outlet, we can only do this with the support of our readers. Please donate to the Notes from Poland foundation to help us continue our work: notesfrompoland.com/donations/su... 0188
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 20/09/202690% of projects I've been in had this problem, and in literally all cases the person disrespecting the "because we said" was the studio owner. I fucking hate capitalism. 040
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 19/09/2026In case this becomes relevant in the coming months (and it might if Russia escalates attacks against the EU as is currently expected), please keep in mind that in Poland the prime minister, and not the president, is the de facto head of government. 120
Reposted by Jacek Wesołowskigamera obscura october edition @ohrobin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026incredibly well-done resident evil teaser from a movie theater 80169385731
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Since computer games often deal in fantasies of violence, you might want to pay attention to this trend. The (near) future is not expensive Boston Dynamics machines that seem alive, but bulky things that look like they were made in the garage of your local car mechanic. 010
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 17/09/2026A friend mentioned "Welcome to Elderfield" a few times, and I got curious. It works surprisingly well. Progression is slow compared to e.g. Stardew Valley, but it doesn't feel grindy. Cartoon graphics + pastiche story makes it feel less gross. It's more "ooh, scaaary xD" than actually scary. 110
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Give this thread a read if you're not afraid of vicarious embarrassment and want to see that this kind of thing happens to everyone and you're not the messed-up one out. (cw: some of these stories triggered my deep fear of being the annoying person who unwittingly provokes angry responses) 010
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 14/09/2026I've been feeling burnt out lately so I'm currently on unpaid leave, but last time I checked I still had a job to come back to when I feel better. This is starting to give me a bit of a survivor's guilt. 020
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 14/09/2026"The Incident at Galley House" - a modest experience, but in a good way. I like this kind of spooky mystery story where everything just fits together. Also, must have had a tiny budget, which makes me feel a bit envious. 000
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 14/09/2026You've heard of elf on the shelf, now get ready for 040
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 12/09/2026It used to be that 80% of spam in my inbox was breast surgeries and viagra[1]. Now it's just random office supplies, marketing materials, legal services, and an occasional scam attempt. Spammers are no fun these days. [1] Old time spammers never assumed anything about my gender. Where's that now? 120
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Once upon a time I worked on a prototype for a "dieselpunk" space opera game about two stellar empires at war, locked in a stalemate. In my version of this story, the player was the captain of a medical ship, tasked with rescuing survivors from battles. (employer's internal politics killed it) 100
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Watching Encanto, I identify with every single woman in this movie at the same time, and also with Bruno. The world could use a few more Mirabels right now. (but also, I forgot that Disney movies were that simple! not a criticism, there's place for everything, but boy are they simple) 010
Reposted by Jacek WesołowskiMegan Fox @glassbottommeg.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Yeah, this tracks: terrytao.wordpress.com/2026/09/11/a... The point of a mathematical proof isn't pooping out a yes/no, it's about understanding the process by which you came to the solution and what it means for work you do on top of it.terrytao.wordpress.comA Severe Misalignment of AI in MathematicsI am proud to be among the list of 25 initial signatories — all Fields Medallists — to the declaration below, which grew out of discussions between ourselves over the last week. We have… 27616
Jacek Wesołowski @jzwesolowski.bsky.social · 11/09/2026We live in the stupid timeline, part over 9000: some random store that seems legit but I don't even recall buying from them, sent me best wishes (and a sales offer) on the occasion of my name-day. My name-day is in February. 111