Dan Johnson (hire me)
@coil.bsky.social
Schipperke owner @PNW
Game Systems Designer, dangerously unsupervised (prev Big Blue Sky Games, Blizzard, Bungie, Irrational, etc)
Hire me!
#GameDev
he/him
Game Systems Designer, dangerously unsupervised (prev Big Blue Sky Games, Blizzard, Bungie, Irrational, etc)
Hire me!
#GameDev
he/him
Pinned
Dan Johnson (hire me)
@coil.bsky.social
· Nov 14
Hello newskies! I'm Dan, a game designer currently hailing from the Seattle area. I have lots of schipperkes, ADHD, and many (mostly crafty) hobbies in varying states of hyperfocus or neglect.
Favorite game: Journey
Color: Aqua
Album: Paul Simon - Graceland
Cocktail: Red Hook
Dinosaur: Amargasaurus
Favorite game: Journey
Color: Aqua
Album: Paul Simon - Graceland
Cocktail: Red Hook
Dinosaur: Amargasaurus
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
I'd like to add that like in all industries, when we stop understanding how our tools work, we become entirely dependent on the corporate entities that own the mold. We are trading the ability to build and repair for the convenience of being permanent tenants in someone else's infrastructure/subs.
Vibe coding is working as expected: it'll kill the open-source, secure, and ideologically maintained alternatives to make sure you have to pay the oligarchs to do anything at all, and they can control what you're allowed to make.
www.404media.co/vibe-coding-...
www.404media.co/vibe-coding-...
Vibe Coding Is Killing Open Source Software, Researchers Argue
‘If the maintainers of small projects give up, who will produce the next Linux?’
www.404media.co
February 5, 2026 at 5:29 PM
I'd like to add that like in all industries, when we stop understanding how our tools work, we become entirely dependent on the corporate entities that own the mold. We are trading the ability to build and repair for the convenience of being permanent tenants in someone else's infrastructure/subs.
You got Fortnite in my Nightreign in my Monster Hunter in my Horizon
WHAAAAAT
I AM HOLLERING, I AM HOOTING, YES, YEEESSSSSSSSS
HORIZON CO-OP MONSTER HUNTER FUCKING YESSSSSSSSS
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jubg...
I AM HOLLERING, I AM HOOTING, YES, YEEESSSSSSSSS
HORIZON CO-OP MONSTER HUNTER FUCKING YESSSSSSSSS
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jubg...
Horizon Hunters Gathering - Announcement Trailer | PS5 Games
YouTube video by PlayStation
www.youtube.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:11 PM
You got Fortnite in my Nightreign in my Monster Hunter in my Horizon
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
WHAAAAAT
I AM HOLLERING, I AM HOOTING, YES, YEEESSSSSSSSS
HORIZON CO-OP MONSTER HUNTER FUCKING YESSSSSSSSS
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jubg...
I AM HOLLERING, I AM HOOTING, YES, YEEESSSSSSSSS
HORIZON CO-OP MONSTER HUNTER FUCKING YESSSSSSSSS
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jubg...
Horizon Hunters Gathering - Announcement Trailer | PS5 Games
YouTube video by PlayStation
www.youtube.com
February 5, 2026 at 3:41 PM
WHAAAAAT
I AM HOLLERING, I AM HOOTING, YES, YEEESSSSSSSSS
HORIZON CO-OP MONSTER HUNTER FUCKING YESSSSSSSSS
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jubg...
I AM HOLLERING, I AM HOOTING, YES, YEEESSSSSSSSS
HORIZON CO-OP MONSTER HUNTER FUCKING YESSSSSSSSS
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jubg...
Hey, everyone saying "this collection of essays on game writing includes dozens of amazing writers and narrative designers and also me!"
Stop talking about my extremely talented and capable friend/colleague/acquaintance/mutual like that. You kick ass or you wouldn't be in there.
Stop talking about my extremely talented and capable friend/colleague/acquaintance/mutual like that. You kick ass or you wouldn't be in there.
❄️ Update: The GAME NARRATIVE KALEIDOSCOPE ❄️ will be published soon - we just sent a proof to the authors.
400 pages - 100k+ words - 118 authors - including the writers from several well-beloved games and major franchises.
If you want to be notified when it releases, you can add your name below!
400 pages - 100k+ words - 118 authors - including the writers from several well-beloved games and major franchises.
If you want to be notified when it releases, you can add your name below!
Sign up for news about the Game Writing Kaleidoscope
In early 2026 we’ll be publishing The Game Narrative Kaleidoscope, a collection of over 100 short essays by game writers about writing.
Featuring some very famous names, some highly experienced free...
forms.gle
February 5, 2026 at 4:52 AM
Hey, everyone saying "this collection of essays on game writing includes dozens of amazing writers and narrative designers and also me!"
Stop talking about my extremely talented and capable friend/colleague/acquaintance/mutual like that. You kick ass or you wouldn't be in there.
Stop talking about my extremely talented and capable friend/colleague/acquaintance/mutual like that. You kick ass or you wouldn't be in there.
Oh no, the ads are just going to be wall to wall genAI (and online gambling).
"The high-profile ads signal a departure from the industry’s previous marketing tone, which largely focused on soothing public anxiety about AI’s potential negative effects on jobs and human connection." www.wsj.com/business/med...
Exclusive | Anthropic Takes Aim at OpenAI’s ChatGPT in Super Bowl Ad Debut
Chatbot wars are heating up, with Anthropic’s Claude highlighting the potential frustration of ads in ChatGPT.
www.wsj.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:40 AM
Oh no, the ads are just going to be wall to wall genAI (and online gambling).
These two could negotiate themselves out of a free lunch.
"except in extraordinary and unusual circumstances" is a big enough loophole for a family of elephants to walk through. www.huffpost.com/entry/democr...
Democrats Ease Up On 1 Of Their Biggest ICE Demands
Masks might still be OK in "extraordinary and unusual circumstances," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
www.huffpost.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:15 AM
These two could negotiate themselves out of a free lunch.
Tariffs? I'm betting tariffs.
Sure is screwing up the sofa we bought/ordered in November.
Sure is screwing up the sofa we bought/ordered in November.
February 5, 2026 at 3:35 AM
Tariffs? I'm betting tariffs.
Sure is screwing up the sofa we bought/ordered in November.
Sure is screwing up the sofa we bought/ordered in November.
Overwatch needs to start up a gene-hacking post-humanist faction pushing back against the android/robot advance.
Yeah that's right: Overwatch should go full furry.
Yeah that's right: Overwatch should go full furry.
February 4, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Overwatch needs to start up a gene-hacking post-humanist faction pushing back against the android/robot advance.
Yeah that's right: Overwatch should go full furry.
Yeah that's right: Overwatch should go full furry.
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
blog post about how using ai shit makes you a scab
February 4, 2026 at 9:42 PM
blog post about how using ai shit makes you a scab
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
Read it and weep
WE TOLD YOU
ATODASO! I Fucking ATODASO!
WE TOLD YOU
ATODASO! I Fucking ATODASO!
"We find that AI use impairs conceptual understanding, code reading, and debugging abilities, without delivering significant efficiency gains on average"
arxiv.org/abs/2601.20245
arxiv.org/abs/2601.20245
How AI Impacts Skill Formation
AI assistance produces significant productivity gains across professional domains, particularly for novice workers. Yet how this assistance affects the development of skills required to effectively su...
arxiv.org
February 4, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Read it and weep
WE TOLD YOU
ATODASO! I Fucking ATODASO!
WE TOLD YOU
ATODASO! I Fucking ATODASO!
The best to ever do it.
After a lengthy appeals process and productive discussion with the Blue Sky safety team I will no loinger be sending George Thorogood lyrics to beautiful women on here via DM. Thank you all
February 4, 2026 at 7:49 PM
The best to ever do it.
We regret to inform you the juice has been banned
February 4, 2026 at 6:39 PM
We regret to inform you the juice has been banned
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
what society has lost is basic decency and, importantly, holding each other to expectations of it
people who make decisions like this should be shunned, no matter their class, wealth, network. people need to grow backbones.
people who make decisions like this should be shunned, no matter their class, wealth, network. people need to grow backbones.
February 4, 2026 at 5:14 PM
what society has lost is basic decency and, importantly, holding each other to expectations of it
people who make decisions like this should be shunned, no matter their class, wealth, network. people need to grow backbones.
people who make decisions like this should be shunned, no matter their class, wealth, network. people need to grow backbones.
Wowwwww
Update: their PR manager wrote me back and said that my position on AI was wrong and called me unprofessional for commenting on the game development credentials (or lack thereof) of their board and CEO
February 4, 2026 at 5:19 PM
Wowwwww
Y'all I FROZE.
Then I fell off.
Then I fell off.
February 4, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Y'all I FROZE.
Then I fell off.
Then I fell off.
Imagine if a third of the US economy was being propped up by a paradigm that XKCD took to the cleaners TWENTY YEARS AGO.
xkcd.com/327/
Infosec has been segregating execution and data for decades, and genAI just looked at all that progress like Garfield looking at a "No Garfields" sign.
xkcd.com/327/
Infosec has been segregating execution and data for decades, and genAI just looked at all that progress like Garfield looking at a "No Garfields" sign.
February 4, 2026 at 7:18 AM
Imagine if a third of the US economy was being propped up by a paradigm that XKCD took to the cleaners TWENTY YEARS AGO.
xkcd.com/327/
Infosec has been segregating execution and data for decades, and genAI just looked at all that progress like Garfield looking at a "No Garfields" sign.
xkcd.com/327/
Infosec has been segregating execution and data for decades, and genAI just looked at all that progress like Garfield looking at a "No Garfields" sign.
An orthopedic podiatrist/physical therapist called Maslow's Higher Arches And Knees
A store to purchase Seed & Feed called Maslow's Hierarchy of Sneed's (formerly Chuck's)
A store for once-ler garments called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Thneeds
February 4, 2026 at 6:51 AM
An orthopedic podiatrist/physical therapist called Maslow's Higher Arches And Knees
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
Ubisoft failures, Adobe Animate stupidity, Unity killing its market, and the list goes on. This'll all continue with so many workers getting hurt until the rules and compensation for execs no longer give easy golden parachutes. People need to fail in a way that's meaningful.
February 4, 2026 at 2:09 AM
Ubisoft failures, Adobe Animate stupidity, Unity killing its market, and the list goes on. This'll all continue with so many workers getting hurt until the rules and compensation for execs no longer give easy golden parachutes. People need to fail in a way that's meaningful.
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
UPDATE: Following user backlash Adobe has changed plans, saying that while active development on Animate will cease, it will remain available for download.
Adobe Is Ruthlessly Killing Off Software That Animators Around The World Are Using Every Day [Update]
'The entire toolshed is being demolished'
aftermath.site
February 4, 2026 at 12:16 AM
UPDATE: Following user backlash Adobe has changed plans, saying that while active development on Animate will cease, it will remain available for download.
I do appreciate the studios that bother to decline my applications instead of just leaving them unanswered, hanging in the ether.
Still sucks.
Still sucks.
February 3, 2026 at 11:23 PM
I do appreciate the studios that bother to decline my applications instead of just leaving them unanswered, hanging in the ether.
Still sucks.
Still sucks.
Honestly the best thing Florida has ever done.
February 3, 2026 at 9:58 PM
Honestly the best thing Florida has ever done.
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
Thinking about this again and realizing that we as an industry need to accept that this is real and that Seventy Bucks is a Hundred Bucks.
February 3, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Thinking about this again and realizing that we as an industry need to accept that this is real and that Seventy Bucks is a Hundred Bucks.
Hire an award-winning* level designer today!
*probably, I didn't check. Award-deserving at least. Are there level design awards?
*probably, I didn't check. Award-deserving at least. Are there level design awards?
February 3, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Hire an award-winning* level designer today!
*probably, I didn't check. Award-deserving at least. Are there level design awards?
*probably, I didn't check. Award-deserving at least. Are there level design awards?
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
Thread
White supremacists and transphobes will choose to remain in a social circle brimming with pedophiles as long as there are no black and trans people in them. Youtubers chose this. Network anchors chose this. Presidents chose this. Happily. Willingly. Are STILL choosing it.
Hi I hate it here thanks.
February 3, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Thread
Tremendous.
Some terrifically titled papers from a discovered collection of NASA research documents found in a skip
(with thanks to @juliarez.placid.horse)
(with thanks to @juliarez.placid.horse)
February 3, 2026 at 7:14 PM
Tremendous.