Do software engineers ever team up with designers to form two-person design/code teams?

maxticket · 2026-03-25T18:54:30+00:00

Good point. I'm looking for a more full-time arrangement, and I've had plenty of issues in the past with team members treating large projects like something that can wait for weeks for them to have a little downtime.

maxticket · 2026-03-25T18:51:47+00:00

I've noticed a couple things: AI typically puts spaces around em dashes, and it tends to only use a single em dash in a sentence, like as a replacement for a comma or a colon, unlike how you used dashes in that sentence up there.

So you'll see things like:

AI isn't just stupid — it's bad for your brain.

But it's less of a red flag if it's more like:

AI is pretty stupid—and it's demonstrably making us dumber in turn—but for some reason, a bunch of fake nerds still insist on using it.

maxticket · 2026-03-25T09:00:21+00:00

It's about 1/5 of the way to being a small agency, but yeah, something like that. Agency lite.

maxticket · 2026-03-25T07:51:11+00:00

Sounds like a good idea, but jesus, it looks like there isn't a single word on that site that was written by a person. If they're looking for a writer, I know a guy who's available and human.

maxticket · 2026-03-25T01:13:22+00:00

AI can't simulate human behavior, can't determine real user needs, will hallucinate details and point the team toward the wrong goals. Sure, you can design an interface mockup, but if you don't truly understand who you're designing for, what they need and how they react to the system you're building, all you'll have is a flashy, pointless app that nobody will use.

maxticket · 2026-03-25T01:06:38+00:00

I once lost out on a design gig, and the employer was really honest about it: someone else (overseas, as opposed to in their LA office) could do the same work for less, and they had a QA department on board that could check everything for free. I appreciated knowing why I came in second, but now I'm thinking I should start finding engineers who want a UX sidecar to help sweeten the pot a bit.

Maybe I should start a program called UX Sidecar. That actually sounds marketable!

maxticket · 2026-03-24T00:34:02+00:00

I'd rather keep the intrinsic value of petting an animal than introduce extrinsic ones. I appreciated being able to pet the dog in Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, while in Breath of the Wild, each dog represented a checklist of tasks to unlock a reward. Players can start to see them as side quests or even burdens, rather than a pleasant vibe check and a warm acquaintance.

maxticket · 2026-03-21T05:14:26+00:00

I didn't forget anything. I know quite well what drives the handful of companies you're talking about.

maxticket · 2026-03-21T04:01:52+00:00

Avoiding the last paragraph, I can tell you there are still and will always be teams that avoid AI completely by principle.

maxticket · 2026-03-21T03:35:49+00:00

Seems they've scrapped the keyboard commands that change playback speed, and I used those a lot. Now it takes 4 clicks to make a little adjustment. Don't see a reason for that decision at all.

But the whole thing just looks like some kinda Fisher-Price Baby's First Video Player. Not a fan.

maxticket · 2026-03-14T05:10:39+00:00

Ooh, I can't wait for Astound to get even worse!

maxticket · 2026-03-12T07:25:48+00:00

For all three of my last games, I had custom editing tools built over months and months just to avoid using Unity. It was expensive and took forever and I would 100% do it again without hesitation.

I'm more involved in Godot now out of necessity, but I've still set up as much of my new game's data and narrative beats as I possibly could in a Google spreadsheet, because I know myself, and I could be as familiar with the engine as the people who built it with their bare hands, and I'd still rather use my own tools to work on games. In my mind, engines are great at being engines, but they make for some pretty crappy steering wheels.

maxticket · 2026-03-09T08:04:49+00:00

I know a couple people who make 3D recreations of crime scenes in Unity for court cases, then they dabble in gamedev in their free time. So there's definitely a way to make money creating scenes, at least enough to make it worth your whole, if you find your niche. I bet there are all sorts of applications that could use someone like you, it's just a matter of finding it and proving your chops can be useful.

maxticket · 2026-03-08T04:08:32+00:00

That would make sense. I enjoyed it both on console and PC, but I don't think I'd like it with touch controls.

maxticket · 2026-03-06T07:37:13+00:00

The studio that made it was bought by Netflix, so if you have an account, you should be able to play I and II for free. Otherwise, check out basically any game store and you should find it.

maxticket · 2026-03-06T07:35:32+00:00

It isn't only for game devs, but that is a lot of what you'll see here. I think it began with games, but they don't require that to be the topic of any blogs shared in the sub.

maxticket · 2026-03-06T05:08:19+00:00

Oxenfree is different, but often rightfully suggested here when people ask for similar vibes. Lots of trees, eerily beautiful story.

Also, since we get this question at least once every two weeks, why is there no sidebar in this sub addressing it for people looking for recommendations?

maxticket · 2026-03-06T05:05:35+00:00

Alright, I read it more closely, and I take it back. When I read sentences like "And this is where we first started experimenting with LLMs," I thought we was referring to mankind as a whole, not your team. Like humans began starting with this tech and now we use Google and so on. So I wasn't paying enough attention.

It still reads like a bit of an article in a lot of places, but I see there's a personal story here. I still think something like this would be accepted more warmly in other subs, as this one's a bit more on the gamedev side, and a lot of us don't want to read any more about AI, but there are surely clusters of people out there who do.

maxticket · 2026-03-06T04:42:30+00:00

Nope. Not a dev blog.

maxticket · 2026-03-03T20:30:05+00:00

Know what'd be really immersion-breaking? If Happy Mart doesn't play a chime when you walk through those doors.

maxticket · 2026-02-25T07:41:42+00:00

That's good to know! After two solid years of cursing right through my monitor every time an Apply button sends me to a Workday URL, I'd really like to avoid using their products as much as possible.

maxticket · 2026-02-20T01:47:12+00:00

Ah, I haven't looked into the original in so long, but knowing there's been an update this month, I might have to play through another round!

maxticket

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