iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 30/09/2026

Still, I was able to make a good chunk of the loading much faster by caching the generated scaled/transformed puzzle piece shapes. So, even with the more dynamic shape now, it's loading faster than the simple square one in the prior release 😎

Screenshot showing off the puzzle piece gizmos, with two variants - full connected vs an unconnected edge

000

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 30/09/2026

But... while the "add_mesh" allows passing in a transform, the actual collision mesh doesn't, so they end up being misaligned. So, interface still has to do some live mesh transform, which adds some editor delay on loading the scene as it prepares the roads to be selectable.

Screenshot of docs showing add_mesh on a gizmo supports an input Transform3D

In contrast, another screenshot shows add_collision_triangles does not support an input Transform3D, so the mesh has to be transformed directly. using the surface tool, that adds a bit of overhead that scales O(n) for all segments in the scene, vs being able to use meshes directly.

100

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 30/09/2026

Maybe I should always take a plane flight before releasing updates - being stuck in one place working offline, I managed to find and fix several bugs and simultaneously drop scene loading time from possibly seconds down to, like, instant? #godot

screenshot of the github stack of fixes done while on a plane

160

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 28/09/2026

idk who isn't already using source control for their #gamedev work but here's another compelling case for you: fixing bugs (regressions, in particular) #godot though really applies to any software/coding project

1172

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 27/09/2026

Alright, I think that's a wrap - modal scene placement working super well now for the #godot road generator #addon. Best of all, feature will be reusable for prop/decoration placements in the next release to! Release coming soon

091

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 21/09/2026

Dynamic placement is working pretty well! Video shows off placement, snapping, undo, and bridging all working together. Can't believe I even got the modal operation it continue working while orbiting and panning around without side effects. #godot Will see if I can sneak in shift-multi placement 👀

151

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 20/09/2026

Also that hot wheels game is seriously underrated, has one of the best 4-player split screen battle game modes of it's time imo, mario kart could never

120

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 20/09/2026

Never did it before now. It's 9 games that "shaped me", does not mean these are all positive reviews - the last one was a real source of trauma for ME

The 9 Games That Shaped Who I Am
1. Zelda a link to the past
2. Need for speed underground
3. Super mario sunshine
4. Final fantasy III
5. Pokemon Sapphire
6. Tony Hawk's pro skater 3
7. Zelda Twilight Princess
8. Hot wheels velocity x
9. Trauma center: second opinion

352

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 20/09/2026

Making good progress! Fixed the offset, have an idea how to get snapping to work.. though, maybe I should tell the plugin to calm down a bit on the snapping bit #godot #plugin #road #generation

161

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 17/09/2026

Some progress on a placement tool - cursor offset aside, it's already a nice improvement over the "spawn at the scene origin" way it was before. After the cursor offset, then to get the snapping system to work... aka fighting the undo/redo system ☠️ #godot #roads #addon

1274

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 06/09/2026

(For context of the "before", it was just a simple box)

before state, where RoadPoint gizmo was just a box shape

021

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 06/09/2026

While the #godot road generator's RoadPoint is meant to be directionally agnostic, it does help for troubleshooting to know which was is "forward". Finally got around to implementing this little puzzle-piece motif in the gizmo itself to visually help with that - work in progress

1334

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 12/08/2026

How it started vs how it's going sketchfab.com/blogs/commun...

Sketchfab blog page with header "FAB". Epic acquired sketchfab in part to integrate it into FAB, as is evident on the sketchfab homepage back in Oct'2024

Sketchfab blog post with the more muted header "Sketchfab A KitBash Company" posted August 2026, announcing they were sold by Epic

010

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 02/08/2026

Also finally had a good excuse to do that thing where you make your itch io embed game perfectly match up with the surrounding page, took some finagling but nice to have that figured out

Paper maker gamejam entry blending with page design on itch.io

072

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 19/07/2026

Also fun fact we grow the crazy water intensive crop alfalfa just because farmers are incentivized to maximize [Colorado river] water usage to not lose quota, and then ship it basically for free in the otherwise empty-returning Chinese tankers to sell for nothing, after feeding all our cows with it.

Total California water usage, showing alfalfa/straw/hay (excluding animal feed) is twice that of almonds

Report showing the United states isn't by far the largest exporter of alfalfa to china

Breakdown of US revenue of crop exports to china. Higher up in report, alfalfa is bundled in with sorghum and corn, but in the overall picture it must be limped into other, showing how little revenue despite export volume

010

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 19/07/2026

Whenever I hear "almond milk uses so much water" as something to hold someone back from switching from cows milk, I think of this chart (aka put on a blindfold and pick a plant milk, it'll at *least* half water use) (but also yeah, oat ftw)

Dairy vs other types of milk, showing almond milk takes half as much water by comparison. Source: inline, but several different researchers have come up with roughly similar ratios

120

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 09/07/2026

Can't stop, won't stop (hmm.. maybe because I haven't implemented traffic lights/stop signs?)

Demo showing that intersections work properly at different scales, though the RoadLane visual scale is still static

Demo showing a 6-point intersection working well, with variable numbers of incoming and outgoing lanes

081

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 09/07/2026

Just merged: traffic lanes for procedural intersection, yet another community edition! Really love it when contributors come along and are so open to feedback and going through the iterations to make something just work great like this. #godot #plugin

3928

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 04/07/2026

On a binge to try every #godot vehicle/car physics template/addon, to compare them + my own prior attempts. Anyone have any favorites? Made your own car controller? Just using stock Vehiclebody 3D? (GEVP pictured here, one I've liked more so far, placed into Road Generator demo scenes)

4111

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 04/07/2026

Definitely my favorite from this year's vintage car show

A miniature roadster car that looks like it was made from a tricycle build.

011

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 29/06/2026

I mean dang, that *interface* is from 397,000 years ago

Screenshot from my original pull request description, showing off the different ways of including dynamic counters with text

110

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 27/06/2026

The "Simple intersection lanes, in and out. 20 minute adventure" is actually coming along quite nicely! 105% credit goes to tmesser, I'm just the one making the nitpicks 😎 Won't cover 100% of intersection setups, but should work nicely for most cases + users can hand add additional lanes #godot

080

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 24/06/2026

Very happy someone is taking on the challenge of procedural intersection lane connections. My brain is now not so happy after spending all this time thinking through the simplest yet robust approach to give 🤪 let's see if this still makes sense to me tomorrow morning github.com/TheDuckCow/g...

Draw over a first pass of procedural lanes for proposed corrections

Algorithm idea for how default "next lanes" are determined for the whole edge of lanes of an intersection at a time, using an angle reference

2151

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 22/06/2026

Blender 2.8 go vrooooom while Blender 2.71 like slim, sleek, vibing.

Metal USB for Blender 2.71 with a lot of the text partially scratched off

020

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 22/06/2026

Oh neat, I just now realized there are badges on the #Blender project/source control site, I've even collected a few over the years. Throwback to the Blender rocket ship, I've actually still got mine!

Screenshot of badges, including "Blender Studio Subscriber", "Donated towards the Blender 2.8 Code Quest" which is currently show this hover tooltip, "Supported the open movie Charge", and "Supported the open movie "Sprite Fright"

1121

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 20/06/2026

Testing for the next road generator patch, doing some quick spot checking with the Terrain3D integration in #Godot 4.7 - looking smooth!

Screenshot of the road generator and terrain3D integration, with an intersection about to create another branch

2282

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 20/06/2026

aint_much_but_honest_work.gif Improving the UX of working with intersections one paper cut at a time. Here, you can now connect points between different RoadContainers and maintain their proper "connected" states. #godot #addon More here: github.com/TheDuckCow/g...

0173

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 14/06/2026

The above option makes it easy to visualize the intersection ahead of time, whereas the current functionality of taking your selected node and making it become the middle is not really intuitive. Here's a counter example where it inserts new points if original branching points are too spread out.

020

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 14/06/2026

Added a mockup for the circle idea where the points are already close together, it inserts a new intersection point in the middle based on visualizing a circle. I'm also realizing, could be rather nice to just disable other gizmos while the connection tool is active, just gets in the way.

131

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 14/06/2026

Trying to improve intersections QoL. Briefly thought it'd be nice to auto-insert a mid-point intersection node on conversion (ie first try on the left side, where I simulate adding a point in the middle), but makes less sense on right side despite being the same node layout just rotated slightly 🤔

1162

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 03/06/2026

Ok the "prefab intersection" demo is kinda fun to just roam around now. This also shows off the RoadLane path connection debug HUD top left, should have thought of that ages ago. It reveals when you have neighbor left/right lanes to swap between. #godot #addon

1101

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 31/05/2026

Hmm, the roundabouts are making the T-junction lanes look bad now, dang. Time to roll my sleeve up for those too I guess #godot Also just noticed some t-junction UV shading leakage

261

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 31/05/2026

Lanes now look messier in the UI, because instead of having one path in each section connecting to multiple other ones within parts of the intersection, each allowed path *through* the whole roundabout is a single path. So, cars going through don't have to jump to multiple "lanes" just to exit.

new method showing how from the bottom entrance, there are only 3 relevant paths. For all entrances, these are multiplied by 4.

Old method shows that there are multiple paths that are composted together, but without overlapping start/end points. While 7 are involved here, with the overall intersection it would only be 12, so the same count as the other option technically

110

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 31/05/2026

This... took way more than I anticipated, but roundabout lane connections now work! Had to jostle the code to work with both procedural and crafted RoadLane placements + totally redoing the actual manual lane setups for realistic paths through the round. #godot Now to update the 2x2 one 😭

110

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 29/05/2026

Roundabouts now have proper road lanes - defining their corresponding next/prior/side lane connections. Unfortunately... this had to be done manually, and tedious it was. Hopefully I never need to do this again and the procedural version comes easily 😆 #godot #addon

Screenshots of a road with two sizes of roundabouts connected together, with dotted path lines showing where car lanes are configured.

191

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 28/05/2026

Feature now in PR, here's a fuller demo - UI name still pending, may go with "Make RoadLanes Editable" github.com/TheDuckCow/g... #godot #addon

131

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 27/05/2026

Next feature: Bake RoadLanes! The addon's generated Path3D lanes are usually invisible in the editor to prevent you from messing with exact alignments, but sometimes you need to override them (aka me rn with roundabouts). Now you can! It even lets you have a mix of overridden/auto lanes. (No PR yet)

Dropdown showing the Bake RoadLanes button resulting in RoadLanes now visible in the scene - in this case, I had after the after the fact re-enabled the generate lanes feature and only kept these three to remain overridden.

141

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 27/05/2026

Also, why does the addon create it's on path direction visual when Godot has it's own (since 4.0)? Well, you tell me if you can squint and see those directional lines by comparison.

Godot native path direction lines at the bottom, Road Generator chevrons at the top.

120

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 27/05/2026

Incoming: a small 🧵 of #godot Road Generators improvements inbound! First up - a much improved RoadLane visual for car-following paths (comes with a notable performance boost bonus, too). Merged to dev: github.com/TheDuckCow/g...

Left: vertical fins are more spaced out and hard to see at top-down angles.
Right: 3D triangles are more densely spaced and easy to see from all angles, with clearer start/end colors

2182

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 22/05/2026

bsky.app/profile/godo...

120

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 19/05/2026

Look at them roundabouts - same meshes, with the material override in the editor. Way easier to work with no, no need to "fork" the assets.

PBR shaded view of an exchange of road intersections

020

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 19/05/2026

Made this feature after sitting in the back of my head for awhile. If you've setup a reusable *custom* mesh for a road segment/intersection, you can now set its material by specifying the meshes to influence. Makes it easy to reuse prefabs for different settings.

1232

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 17/05/2026

Working on another Road Generator demo scene - physics vehicle lane following (aka NPC car)! It's hard to find a balance of "make demo look good" but also having the code simple enough to be *just* a demo, I'm used to adding all sorts of extra mechanisms just to make driving look... okish

1131

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 11/05/2026

Made some good progress - changes not uploaded yet, but will be soon. Added the 2x2 roundabout and fixed up the UV layouts for pretty much all prefabs so they work better with PBR materials (the toon shader one was too forgiving, didn't see some of the UV demons)

Perspective view of a roundabout road prefab with some subtle PBR shading in place

Top-down view of multiple road intersection types

041

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 10/05/2026

Round things are happening. Adding new hand modeled presets, will eventually guide how to make the procedural ones. All set up with AI lanes and everything! #godot #road #procgen

Model of a roundabout in Godot, with indicators for the lane paths

4162

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 04/04/2026

Just merged this demo scene to help validate the performance of various decoration types. Here, showing off multi-scene-instancing not being not very performant during frame refreshes. #godot #addon github.com/TheDuckCow/g... AKA I'm getting back into the swing here... lots to still sort out.

0122

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 04/04/2026

Me, returning to a WIP change from weeks ago and seeing this is where things left off (aka me using git stash and apply to go back and forth to test changes)

Visual representation of a git commit history with several temporary changes, which are "stashes", in a row unmerged

060

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 30/03/2026

Though no really my genre, of course had to play Slay the Spire II as a #godot supporter. I feel privileged to see the non-ai-placeholder artwork while I still could 😁

Screenshot from Slay the Spire II, showing "Chapter 2 - Devastation, The Ironclad" being unlocked, with an MS-paint level placeholder artwork drawing.

061

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 25/03/2026

Added a "wrap around" tick box to the RoadActor demo vehicle, super satisfying seeing the vehicles just loop around like this. Will be turning this into a broader decoration demo scene over time for the #godot road generator.

1153

TheDuckCow @theduckcow.com · 22/03/2026

Happy birthday to @thekindkitten.bsky.social, co-lead on @wheelstealgame.com - hope you had a wonderful day!

A wheel steal character styled after TheKindKitten

281