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Christiaan Moleman

@ninjadodo.bsky.social
791 followers 468 following 506 posts

I make games and animation. www.ninjadodo.net Also on Mastodon: mastodon.gamedev.place/@ninjadodo

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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Yes, Achievements kill the intrinsic fun of games by making them all about empty extrinsic rewards, interrupting the experience and destroying immersion with ugly pop-ups to give you a virtual pat on the head for meaningless incremental progress, instead of letting you enjoy play for its own sake.
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Reposted by Christiaan Moleman
Kayin @kayin.moe · 08/08/2026
kayin.moe/retroachieve... Today is not the day for nuance, or a well articulated Kay post. I'm on my hater shit and just had to get this out. 💬 Replies will appear as Comments and all that~
kayin.moe
Kayinworks - I Irrationally Hate RetroAchievements
I like having nice, well balanced takes on things, sometimes getting lost in nuance in ways that muddle my point. But anyone who follows me knows that some days I just to give in. I just have to be a ...
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Reposted by Christiaan Moleman
Brandon Sheffield @brandon.insertcredit.com · 01/10/2026
Several weeks ago, Phil Tippett's legendary animation studio in Berkeley, CA closed. An anonymous hero noticed a folder of CDs. This turned out to be hundreds of unseen hi-res images and videos from Star Wars, Robocop, Jurassic Park, etc. ~90 isos for you to browse: archive.org/details/tipp...
A casual Star Wars alien fella at the cantina, in a sun faded, reddish photo. Someone will be mad at me for not knowing who this is. Phil, a balding Caucasian man, poses a model of the garthok, an antagonist from the Coneheads movie.Phil, a balding caucasian man, points at some CG on a CRT computer monitor, as a younger man looks on. The screen shows a model of a dinosaur attacking a jeep, while there's an actual physical model of that event in the foreground for reference.an isolated shot of a star wars vehicle. Sorry, I don't know star wars lol
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I wrote an article about this one time: www.gamedeveloper.com/design/why-d...
gamedeveloper.com
Why designers should learn animation
Exploring why it is useful for designers to understand character animation, and where to start.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
That kind of stuff is effective when it's exposed to the player through either just stating the sub-text or thought (audio/text barks) or visual storytelling (body language, expressions).
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Big reason why designers should all learn about visual storytelling (animation principles, composition) because it's so often treated as just fancy graphics wallpaper, but is actually half of how you communicate with the player, a direct line into the player's brain (also sound).
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Reposted by Christiaan Moleman
Leigh Alexander @leighalexander.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
these teams have long running institutional knowledge of the franchises they work on and don’t make every new installment with a team of underpaid juniors being bossed around by clueless suits
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Reposted by Christiaan Moleman
404 Media @404media.co · 17/09/2026
"Millions of people around the world will soon consider large models ‘hoovering up’ all their work to be an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions."
404media.co
‘Doom Loop’: OpenAI and Microsoft Admits LLMs Are Destroying the Web and Built on Theft
"Millions of people around the world will soon consider large models ‘hoovering up’ all their work to be an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions."
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Reposted by Christiaan Moleman
Matt Bors @mattbors.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
It was exactly ten years ago today, on my 33rd birthday, that I posted this comic online.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Eastshade has a nice bicycle. Not very complex or realistic, but it's a neat addition late in the game. Really charming underrated indie gem, basically mini-Morrowind sans combat.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
An inherent problem for games is you have to do that for ALL the characters with consistent quality, whereas film only need to do it once or twice for like a de-aged actor, twins interacting, or some crazy stunt that is not safe for a human. A game can't just point a camera at a real human for free.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I think people are reaching the limits how realistic you can make a human in a videogame and you either go back to something more stylized, invest waaay more effort and performance into fewer human characters (a la top film VFX), or get stuck in this 'meta' space.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
If you don't want any players to get stuck on puzzles in your action game, just DON'T HAVE PUZZLES! It's allowed! You can just focus on the part you're interested in instead of having this half-baked performative 'puzzle-solving' where the player is never actually asked to think or solve anything.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
An exploration adventure game should let you explore (and allow you to get lost occasionally), a puzzle game should have puzzles that you have to think about (not tell you the solution before you've even noticed there is a puzzle!), an action game should have challenging combat or traversal etc.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Games as a medium are for everyone, but an individual game should be for people who LIKE that sort of game and should not be afraid to have elements that might put off or be confusing to those who want a different kind of game. If you remove all the things that make it interesting, who is it for?
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Same thing that happens with streaming catering to people only half-watching, explaining the plot every other second. Should a player who isn't interested in the mechanics of a game and not paying any attention be able to complete a game? Probably not. If it takes no effort at all, where is the fun?
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Games were playtested to death, overshooting accessibility and landing on zero friction ever. Somewhere along the way we forget it's okay for players to get stuck sometimes or for some players to not get it. What do we lose in sanding off all edges? A game for everyone is a game for no one.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
It looks very stop-motiony to me. I'm not particularly invested (never grew up with Zelda) but I suspect people will warm to this style just like they did with Windwaker (which has visually aged the best of all the Zeldas imo).
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I think there are some options for changing regions too, but that can be messy.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
There are also videos that show the process but they tend to be out of date so the advice is always stick to the text guide. I've tried with two separate 3DS-es and it's pretty easy and fool proof as long as you carefully follow all the steps.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The solution to this is hacking your 3DS with this handy guide, then you can install whatever you want: 3ds.hacks.guide
3ds.hacks.guide
3DS Hacks Guide
A complete guide to 3DS custom firmware
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I feel like a lot of the more prominent indies (eg Supergiant, Sandfall and the like) learned their craft working in bigger studios. So the history of those projects is largely an account of exactly that transition, maybe worth digging into that.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Maybe solar energy companies missed a trick not making all their products Egyptian-themed. Bask in the glory of Ra! Or the Aten, if you're feeling monotheistic. Egyptian solar punk would be a vibe.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Oh people care... they just haven't realized it's happening. When they do go back to play, watch, or use a thing they bought earlier and it doesn't work - 404 service unavailable - they will be pissed. You've even got Gen Z to A rediscovering CDs & DVDs now cause they're so fed up with streaming BS.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Like I said, if they're not stupid.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
My point is that it's not even about benevolence or greed. It is in their interest to maintain trust with their customers, because without it their digital sales business is doomed. So even if a finance bro took over Steam, if they're not stupid they wouldn't do anything like this.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
My point is it doesn't matter what a court says if nobody wants to buy their digital products anymore because they cannot be trusted to hold up their side of a purchase. Break that mutual trust and it's the end of digital sales altogether.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Sony making some wild assumptions about what people will consider acceptable or fair when they're about to ask them to pay insane prices for a new game box that does much the same thing as the last one in a couple years, and asking people to trust them with digital only sales.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Course with console it's always been a grey area because people do somehow tolerate having to re-buy the same games over and over again for multiple Nintendo platforms etc, whereas on Steam or GOG (barring occasional compatibility issues) you can still play all the games you ever bought on there.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Last I checked you could still download previously purchased games on PS3, but obviously if an entire store closes down that's it. I'm talking about individual products being removed while a store continues to operate, like those movies they removed.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I have never heard of anything like this happening with Steam so you're gonna have to provide some sources for this claim (other than online multiplayer games ending support and closing official servers, which is not the same thing).
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
At these prices (still going up) Sony is going to have to make a VERY compelling case for their console if they want to sell any future digital-only PS5 or 6... and whatever this is, it ain't it.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Not a good example since that was a freebie that was added to people's libraries without their consent (which many did not want in the first place), not something they purchased, and you had to manually request its removal. So really a completely different thing. Also many do not trust Apple.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Not really, a publisher is free to withdraw their product from sale at any time, but they cannot undo previous purchases. Any platform that does not adhere to this basic agreement has no future.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
You can delist something (making it unavailable on the store) without removing existing purchases from libraries. A publisher should not have the right to withdraw existing purchases without issuing a refund.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
If Steam suddenly started just removing stuff you have bought from your library (because they feel like it, or a license expired, whatever) people would instantly stop buying things from Steam and never come back, but because Valve understand this they don't do that... yet here we are.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The entire basis of the transition to digital distribution is that people can be sure that they will have permanent access to the things they have purchased. Publishers challenge this implicit agreement at their peril. If people stop trusting you will honor their purchases the whole model collapses.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
What Sony doesn't seem to understand is that while that may be technically true in a legal sense, in a real sense the social contract with digital sales is that whatever fine print may say you DO own a digital game. If you break that contract expect no one to buy digital products from you anymore.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Philosophically IRL it's debatable but in gamedev terms a closed door is clearly ON. A gate is active when it is closed. Think of a laser grid acting as a gate; when the lasers are ON you cannot pass, when they are OFF the gate is open. Same with a door.
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Reposted by Christiaan Moleman
Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 28/08/2026
Saying it for maybe the 50th time: Do not accuse someone of using AI unless you have ABSOLUTELY AIRTIGHT proof, because if not, you're just adding to the paranoia and causing stress for hard-working artists. And yes, going onto social media and going 'Hrrm, I've no proof, but...' is an accusation.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I wish the stealth detection in this game was more generous (esp in the singleplayer story missions) but when it works it really works. Great setting too, lovingly recreated, tho the story is nonsense and trying really hard to not say anything 'political' in the MOST political time & place.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
One of Disney's most underrated films.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Made a small update to my flour sack rig, fixing some issues: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYp3... #b3d
youtube.com
Flour sack animation rig update 1.2
YouTube video by ninjadodo
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
The Microsoft boycott isn't about layoffs. Afaik Sony is not doing anything like this: www.rockpapershotgun.com/microsoft-co...
rockpapershotgun.com
Microsoft confirm they've supplied AI tech to the Israeli military for use in Gaza, following BDS Xbox boycott
Microsoft have finally spoken out about reports that they have supplied tech for the Israeli military's attack on Gaza, after calls for a boycott of Xbox games.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Nah, jailbreaking is a mitigating factor which allows you to buy games and support developers (which used games do not, as devs get nothing there) but you still keep control of what you can do with your console, backup your games, download delisted games after official store goes down etc.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Consoles are already a monopoly though? One company controls the whole system and what you can do with it. If you want something other than that your option is switching to PC.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Course that's mostly because PC games aren't a closed system controlled by one company. Only way PS6 games are going to be cheaper is if no one buys a PS6 and they lower prices or make the platform DRM-free in a panic to get people to come back.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Well Steam PC games are definitely cheaper (at discount) than console games so that did kinda happen and used games don't really count because that's a whole separate thing where zero money goes to developers.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I've seen built-in AI ruin mobile photos with fake sharpening that sort of just melts everything at full zoom, but completely changing the subject is new.
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Christiaan Moleman @ninjadodo.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Sympathies to developers who are really into Baroque.
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