DuckTapeAl (it/its)
@ducktapeal.bsky.social
Spreadsheet jockey. Eternally a decade behind on games. Systems designer on ESO, opinions are my own.
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
You'll just keep increasing scope. That's all this will lead to. Even more bloated games, filled with slop, taking the same amount of time and money to make.
December 18, 2025 at 4:52 PM
You'll just keep increasing scope. That's all this will lead to. Even more bloated games, filled with slop, taking the same amount of time and money to make.
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
sharks what i have for you today is a moderation tool that prompts men to venmo women five dollars if their attempted social media replies pass a certain threshold of obnoxiousness
December 18, 2025 at 1:40 PM
sharks what i have for you today is a moderation tool that prompts men to venmo women five dollars if their attempted social media replies pass a certain threshold of obnoxiousness
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
the Christopher Anderson story that the menswear guy posted the other day has been on my mind a lot during this. artistic practice, no matter the medium, is *practice*. it’s a way of being in the world, and as Austin says a set of skills the artist brings to bear.
Most of us did not choose to write or draw or design so that we could put products on the shelf. We chose to do it because it’s a set of skills we enjoy exercising, that give us fulfillment.
It’s like asking a pro pitcher to just let a machine pitch for them. Fuck off and give me the ball.
It’s like asking a pro pitcher to just let a machine pitch for them. Fuck off and give me the ball.
December 18, 2025 at 6:25 PM
the Christopher Anderson story that the menswear guy posted the other day has been on my mind a lot during this. artistic practice, no matter the medium, is *practice*. it’s a way of being in the world, and as Austin says a set of skills the artist brings to bear.
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
If you want to communicate your idea to an artist all you need is 30 seconds and the basic ability to grip a pen
December 18, 2025 at 5:57 PM
If you want to communicate your idea to an artist all you need is 30 seconds and the basic ability to grip a pen
Great game, especially love the part where my possibly-sentient car waves at me.
Looks like Pacific Drive is 60% off in the steam winter sale! $12 USD seems like a criminally low price for 4 yrs of my life, but our video game is pretty cool & I think you should play it, so buy it & have a weird driving time over your holiday break, ok thx
store.steampowered.com/app/1458140/...
store.steampowered.com/app/1458140/...
Save 60% on Pacific Drive on Steam
Face the supernatural dangers of the Olympic Exclusion Zone with a car as your only lifeline in this driving survival adventure! Scavenge resources, load up your trusty station wagon, and drive like h...
store.steampowered.com
December 18, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Great game, especially love the part where my possibly-sentient car waves at me.
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
if tumblr dies I need this video to make it's seasonal rotation here instead just in case, Happy holidays 🎄
December 18, 2025 at 2:05 AM
if tumblr dies I need this video to make it's seasonal rotation here instead just in case, Happy holidays 🎄
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
going to coin “substacklike” because I’m sick of worrying that if I talk about “restarting my substack” it’ll parse as “I am returning to Substack The Platform” and not “I am finally figuring out Ghost etc not that you likely know what that specific platform is nor do you need to”
December 18, 2025 at 7:00 PM
going to coin “substacklike” because I’m sick of worrying that if I talk about “restarting my substack” it’ll parse as “I am returning to Substack The Platform” and not “I am finally figuring out Ghost etc not that you likely know what that specific platform is nor do you need to”
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
even if I think labeling anyone "father of indie games" is dubious I have to admit I am amused by the contrast of saying "not jon blow, but Pixel(cavestory)" in that the former has become a raging misogynist while the latter quietly and pseudo-anonymously posts furry art on here once a month or so
December 18, 2025 at 6:23 PM
even if I think labeling anyone "father of indie games" is dubious I have to admit I am amused by the contrast of saying "not jon blow, but Pixel(cavestory)" in that the former has become a raging misogynist while the latter quietly and pseudo-anonymously posts furry art on here once a month or so
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
Get the 4 paid games this unit released this past year for just $12! Or get them individually for 25%!
Get: The Core - A Setting Guide, My Hands In The Fates Of Gods, For Steel You Are, and Crypt Of The God-Gilded Chalice!
#DericSale #DericGames #ttrpg
itch.io/s/172113/win...
Get: The Core - A Setting Guide, My Hands In The Fates Of Gods, For Steel You Are, and Crypt Of The God-Gilded Chalice!
#DericSale #DericGames #ttrpg
itch.io/s/172113/win...
Winter Sale 2025 by Deric Bindel
A bundle by Deric Bindel, $12.00 for 4 games
itch.io
December 17, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Get the 4 paid games this unit released this past year for just $12! Or get them individually for 25%!
Get: The Core - A Setting Guide, My Hands In The Fates Of Gods, For Steel You Are, and Crypt Of The God-Gilded Chalice!
#DericSale #DericGames #ttrpg
itch.io/s/172113/win...
Get: The Core - A Setting Guide, My Hands In The Fates Of Gods, For Steel You Are, and Crypt Of The God-Gilded Chalice!
#DericSale #DericGames #ttrpg
itch.io/s/172113/win...
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
I do not share the author's barely disguised fetish but their enthusiasm makes the work feel more alive
i do not share the author's barely disguised fetish but i will defend to the death their right to publish it
July 27, 2025 at 12:46 AM
I do not share the author's barely disguised fetish but their enthusiasm makes the work feel more alive
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
In a similar vein, explore old media. For every big piece of entertainment you’re looking forward to, there are at least 100 other works that have already been made in the decades prior that would appeal to you. And guaranteed to be made exclusively by humans!
Do yourself a favor, and focus on engaging more with independent, artist-owned media over giant movies and AAA games.
December 18, 2025 at 3:50 PM
In a similar vein, explore old media. For every big piece of entertainment you’re looking forward to, there are at least 100 other works that have already been made in the decades prior that would appeal to you. And guaranteed to be made exclusively by humans!
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
this is to me the same issue in terms of why I was upset about Larian: a pattern of behaving badly towards the labor that makes a game possible
NEW: For the last seven weeks, Naughty Dog has enacted mandatory overtime for staff to finish an internal demo of their next game, Intergalactic. The game won't be out until 2027, leaving some staff wondering: If they're crunching now, what will next year be like? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Naughty Dog Studio Orders Employee Overtime for ‘Intergalactic’
The Sony-owned gamemakers have been racing to hit a December deadline
www.bloomberg.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:40 PM
this is to me the same issue in terms of why I was upset about Larian: a pattern of behaving badly towards the labor that makes a game possible
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
We did something different with the credits for Demonschool. We used this format: name, title, lengthy description of what they did. Often you see credits in games where you don't know what the credited developer was actually responsible for. We wanted to give people proper, actual credit.
November 24, 2025 at 10:23 PM
We did something different with the credits for Demonschool. We used this format: name, title, lengthy description of what they did. Often you see credits in games where you don't know what the credited developer was actually responsible for. We wanted to give people proper, actual credit.
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
i'm so cooked i forgot the word "open world" and was trying to describe the kind of game i wanted to play while couch rotting and i said "you know...the kind of game where i can just wander and do side quests and ignore the main story for a while...wanderslop"
November 24, 2025 at 11:59 PM
i'm so cooked i forgot the word "open world" and was trying to describe the kind of game i wanted to play while couch rotting and i said "you know...the kind of game where i can just wander and do side quests and ignore the main story for a while...wanderslop"
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
people are going “well tech companies don’t deserve trust”. I’m not saying to trust them! fuck them! I’m saying “you need to be able to evaluate if something is even *technically possible* & most places are failing at helping you do that”. not a surprising missing of the point but doesn’t bode well.
The “google is using your email to train AI” debacle is imo most instructively seen as tracer dye for multiple failures: many people are instinctively skeptical of tech companies now; and many outlets that should have had experts able to cogently weigh in and go “wait a minute” simply don’t anymore.
November 23, 2025 at 7:26 PM
people are going “well tech companies don’t deserve trust”. I’m not saying to trust them! fuck them! I’m saying “you need to be able to evaluate if something is even *technically possible* & most places are failing at helping you do that”. not a surprising missing of the point but doesn’t bode well.
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
a world without trans people has never existed and never will
April 5, 2025 at 5:33 PM
a world without trans people has never existed and never will
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
Here’s the coming-out letter I shared with my friends and family on Facebook eight years ago. Maybe something in there will resonate for you. True story at the end there.
November 20, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Here’s the coming-out letter I shared with my friends and family on Facebook eight years ago. Maybe something in there will resonate for you. True story at the end there.
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
video game narratives come in two kinds: cold unsparing randomness, and button you press to hit yourself. Pathologic? hit-yourself. Fallen London? hit-yourself. Unfair Flips? unsparing randomness. In spite of literally giving you the option to hit yourself, Disco Elysium is unsparing randomness.
September 30, 2025 at 4:07 AM
video game narratives come in two kinds: cold unsparing randomness, and button you press to hit yourself. Pathologic? hit-yourself. Fallen London? hit-yourself. Unfair Flips? unsparing randomness. In spite of literally giving you the option to hit yourself, Disco Elysium is unsparing randomness.
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
Excited to get to share a trailer for the game I'm working on!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3pD...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3pD...
Marvel’s Wolverine - Gameplay Trailer | PS5 Games
YouTube video by PlayStation
www.youtube.com
September 24, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Excited to get to share a trailer for the game I'm working on!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3pD...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3pD...
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
she's in the hospital for a second day. she has severe anemia and needed a blood transfusion. they suspect this is being caused either by cancer or an autoimmune disorder. anything helps <3
hi my cat's really sick and i'm back at the ER with her, anything helps <3 gofund.me/36d53aa90
September 9, 2025 at 7:54 PM
she's in the hospital for a second day. she has severe anemia and needed a blood transfusion. they suspect this is being caused either by cancer or an autoimmune disorder. anything helps <3
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
There is no acceptable sacrificial lamb to appease purity culture. Whatever weird little pervert you are personally icked by should not be collateral damage in a discussion where, essentially, banks are vying to be the arbiters of morality so they can decide whose dirty evil money they get to pocket
July 24, 2025 at 2:40 PM
There is no acceptable sacrificial lamb to appease purity culture. Whatever weird little pervert you are personally icked by should not be collateral damage in a discussion where, essentially, banks are vying to be the arbiters of morality so they can decide whose dirty evil money they get to pocket
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
Create NSFW art
Porn is not evil, sex is not abhorrent, pleasure is not a crime
Even if you don't agree with all kinks doesn't mean they should be allowed to censor art
This is why we have tags and the blick button, not megacorps deciding what we can and cannot like
Always resist oppression
Porn is not evil, sex is not abhorrent, pleasure is not a crime
Even if you don't agree with all kinks doesn't mean they should be allowed to censor art
This is why we have tags and the blick button, not megacorps deciding what we can and cannot like
Always resist oppression
July 24, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Create NSFW art
Porn is not evil, sex is not abhorrent, pleasure is not a crime
Even if you don't agree with all kinks doesn't mean they should be allowed to censor art
This is why we have tags and the blick button, not megacorps deciding what we can and cannot like
Always resist oppression
Porn is not evil, sex is not abhorrent, pleasure is not a crime
Even if you don't agree with all kinks doesn't mean they should be allowed to censor art
This is why we have tags and the blick button, not megacorps deciding what we can and cannot like
Always resist oppression
Reposted by DuckTapeAl (it/its)
I get to change my title today, because I got a promotion!
June 24, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I get to change my title today, because I got a promotion!