iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sam Shields

@smshieldsy.bsky.social

83 followers 97 following 107 posts

Game Design Research Lead @ IDEO. PhD in procedural game design. Hoping one day to be the frontman of a ska-punk band.

Posts Replies Media

Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

My new favorite whiteboard doodle, in which a player thinks too hard about their role in The Sims

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Robe of Philosophy: +2 INT +2 WIS -2 DEX Wearer takes 1 fire damage every turn spent in direct sunlight

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Hello my name is Sam I sometimes draw hands

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Now that I have it officially submitted/accepted, I can share my favorite page of my dissertation - the last one.

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Forget Altman, dump Bankman-Fried. Sam Raimi is the true Sam that all young, impressionable Sams need to model their Samness after. Truly the best Sam to have ever Sammed

Sam Raimi, completely casual and authentic, in a grass backyard.

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Seriously considering a career making MtG tokens

Badly drawn magic the gathering tokens. Who is the rebel rebelling against?! We may never know.

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

(Daydreaming) Nick Cave's Soundsuits as inspiration for homemade adversarial attacks against recognition and surveillance systems. Like, Scramble suits, but for non-authority folks that emphasizes expressiveness/history/culture. People would trade them to stay anonymous and share their creativity.

Nick Cave's Soundsuits, vibrant and figure-obscuring suits that make sound with movement. Made mostly from otherwise disposable and/or unique materials.

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

*sprays water bottle* BAD GOOGLE, BAD *sprays again*

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Hello my name is Sam I sometimes paint hands

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Oh also: cute bunnies attended too (5/5)

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Most important of all, I got to spend a great deal of time chatting, getting coffee, and playing games with these excellent folks. Tuesday night we had a super fun game night, @emilyhalina.bsky.social organized an awesome mixer, and I even squeezed in some extra magic here and there. (3/5)

The AIIDE community playing games at The Hexagon Cafe

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

I presented 3 works (proceedings up!) on AI Directors, Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment, and Expressive Range (which would have been impossible without @owithington.bsky.social). I got feedback from my idols and inspirations in the research community, and saw so many potential collaborations. (2/5)

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

I started having wrist pain, so I built a new firmware for my Preonic Rev3 keyboard so that I have full mouse controls in my home row, removing the need for me to switch to a mouse/trackpad/trackball, reducing wrist stress. It's on GitHub if you want to check it out! github.com/smshields/qm...

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Wait what how

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

I stared into the abyss and like 300 of these little assholes stared back at me

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Good climbs last weekend.

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

A brief history of self-approved PRs

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Gameboy Camera filters have quickly become my favorite lens for the world.

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

I have this sinking feeling that interacting with LLM-driven NPCs will drive the same emotional response in me as accidentally asking this silly owl to repeat himself for the fourth time

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Working on graduating to the trackball dactyl elite

A picture of a 3D print of an ergonomic keyboard with trackball compatibility

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Sam Shields @smshieldsy.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

I refuse to pay the "Sol Ring Tax" whenever I build a new commander deck

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