Dan Gant (Games & Unreal VFX)
@dgant.bsky.social
Making games, VFX, and StarCraft bots
👻 PITCH BLACK: Darkness Anywhere for Unreal Engine: https://pb.dangant.com
🏆 PurpleWave: StarCraft AI 4x champion: https://pw.dangant.com
♟️ Working on Tetrafecta: 4D first-person puzzle game
👻 PITCH BLACK: Darkness Anywhere for Unreal Engine: https://pb.dangant.com
🏆 PurpleWave: StarCraft AI 4x champion: https://pw.dangant.com
♟️ Working on Tetrafecta: 4D first-person puzzle game
Pinned
CHROMIA exotic color grading for Unreal Engine is now available!
I made CHROMIA to help create bold, opinionated looks for games or cinematics. Here's what it can do for you:
I made CHROMIA to help create bold, opinionated looks for games or cinematics. Here's what it can do for you:
Reposted by Dan Gant (Games & Unreal VFX)
Crashowary, my entry for this years #Megajam is now live on itch!
Its a Crash-Like, but you are a Cassowary!
Using some of the latest #UnrealEngine tech, Nanite Foliage, Megalights etc.
Go give it a try!
dylserx.itch.io/crashowary
#GameDev #Houdini
Its a Crash-Like, but you are a Cassowary!
Using some of the latest #UnrealEngine tech, Nanite Foliage, Megalights etc.
Go give it a try!
dylserx.itch.io/crashowary
#GameDev #Houdini
October 25, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Crashowary, my entry for this years #Megajam is now live on itch!
Its a Crash-Like, but you are a Cassowary!
Using some of the latest #UnrealEngine tech, Nanite Foliage, Megalights etc.
Go give it a try!
dylserx.itch.io/crashowary
#GameDev #Houdini
Its a Crash-Like, but you are a Cassowary!
Using some of the latest #UnrealEngine tech, Nanite Foliage, Megalights etc.
Go give it a try!
dylserx.itch.io/crashowary
#GameDev #Houdini
I just released Enhanced Chromatic Aberration for Unreal Engine!
Get high quality multisampling camera lens refraction inside the engine. Achieve filmic style with smooth blending and a full spectrum of colors:
Get high quality multisampling camera lens refraction inside the engine. Achieve filmic style with smooth blending and a full spectrum of colors:
September 8, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I just released Enhanced Chromatic Aberration for Unreal Engine!
Get high quality multisampling camera lens refraction inside the engine. Achieve filmic style with smooth blending and a full spectrum of colors:
Get high quality multisampling camera lens refraction inside the engine. Achieve filmic style with smooth blending and a full spectrum of colors:
Reposted by Dan Gant (Games & Unreal VFX)
My plugin for #UnrealEngine is almost done! It lets you blend any mesh. Not just landscape, not PDO.
This magic lets you blend anything!🤯
#GameArt #UE5 #GameDev
This magic lets you blend anything!🤯
#GameArt #UE5 #GameDev
July 8, 2025 at 12:57 PM
My plugin for #UnrealEngine is almost done! It lets you blend any mesh. Not just landscape, not PDO.
This magic lets you blend anything!🤯
#GameArt #UE5 #GameDev
This magic lets you blend anything!🤯
#GameArt #UE5 #GameDev
CHROMIA exotic color grading for Unreal Engine is now available!
I made CHROMIA to help create bold, opinionated looks for games or cinematics. Here's what it can do for you:
I made CHROMIA to help create bold, opinionated looks for games or cinematics. Here's what it can do for you:
May 28, 2025 at 7:37 PM
CHROMIA exotic color grading for Unreal Engine is now available!
I made CHROMIA to help create bold, opinionated looks for games or cinematics. Here's what it can do for you:
I made CHROMIA to help create bold, opinionated looks for games or cinematics. Here's what it can do for you:
Great puzzle games have a kinky kind of dom-sub flirtation thing going on where they dangle puzzles and solutions right in your face where they know you can't see them.
The naughtiest most sexual game I've ever played is The Witness. M-rated stuff, 100% not for kids.
The naughtiest most sexual game I've ever played is The Witness. M-rated stuff, 100% not for kids.
April 25, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Great puzzle games have a kinky kind of dom-sub flirtation thing going on where they dangle puzzles and solutions right in your face where they know you can't see them.
The naughtiest most sexual game I've ever played is The Witness. M-rated stuff, 100% not for kids.
The naughtiest most sexual game I've ever played is The Witness. M-rated stuff, 100% not for kids.
Pleased to report that my skeleton and I are cohabitating much better now.
We're having a few boundary issues but at least he'll always have my back.
We're having a few boundary issues but at least he'll always have my back.
April 25, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Pleased to report that my skeleton and I are cohabitating much better now.
We're having a few boundary issues but at least he'll always have my back.
We're having a few boundary issues but at least he'll always have my back.
The thing I hate about Blue Prince is that the more I play Blue Prince the more I love Blue Prince
and yet I would love Blue Prince more if I could play Blue Prince less while trying to play Blue Prince
Blue Prince players know what I'm talking about
and yet I would love Blue Prince more if I could play Blue Prince less while trying to play Blue Prince
Blue Prince players know what I'm talking about
April 25, 2025 at 6:46 PM
The thing I hate about Blue Prince is that the more I play Blue Prince the more I love Blue Prince
and yet I would love Blue Prince more if I could play Blue Prince less while trying to play Blue Prince
Blue Prince players know what I'm talking about
and yet I would love Blue Prince more if I could play Blue Prince less while trying to play Blue Prince
Blue Prince players know what I'm talking about
SEND HELP there is a SKELETON INSIDE MY BODY
April 25, 2025 at 4:34 AM
SEND HELP there is a SKELETON INSIDE MY BODY
Here's the much-cheaper way to fade a shadow for these raymarched materials:
Dithered shadows!
They're not especially convincing but let you skip raymarching in the shadow pass entirely.
Dithered shadows!
They're not especially convincing but let you skip raymarching in the shadow pass entirely.
April 25, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Here's the much-cheaper way to fade a shadow for these raymarched materials:
Dithered shadows!
They're not especially convincing but let you skip raymarching in the shadow pass entirely.
Dithered shadows!
They're not especially convincing but let you skip raymarching in the shadow pass entirely.
Raymarching updates:
I used Inigo Quilez's blog (link below) to rewrite the raymarched material using fractal SDF noise.
Now I'm trying to make it play nicely with Unreal's lighting.
This is using shadow maps, with automatic cache invalidation enabled:
I used Inigo Quilez's blog (link below) to rewrite the raymarched material using fractal SDF noise.
Now I'm trying to make it play nicely with Unreal's lighting.
This is using shadow maps, with automatic cache invalidation enabled:
April 24, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Raymarching updates:
I used Inigo Quilez's blog (link below) to rewrite the raymarched material using fractal SDF noise.
Now I'm trying to make it play nicely with Unreal's lighting.
This is using shadow maps, with automatic cache invalidation enabled:
I used Inigo Quilez's blog (link below) to rewrite the raymarched material using fractal SDF noise.
Now I'm trying to make it play nicely with Unreal's lighting.
This is using shadow maps, with automatic cache invalidation enabled:
Who I follow on BlueSky: 100% gamedevs and creators
What BlueSky shows me: 50% politics
I click "Show less like this" on every single politics post. Hundreds of times. Algorithm just does not care.
What BlueSky shows me: 50% politics
I click "Show less like this" on every single politics post. Hundreds of times. Algorithm just does not care.
April 23, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Who I follow on BlueSky: 100% gamedevs and creators
What BlueSky shows me: 50% politics
I click "Show less like this" on every single politics post. Hundreds of times. Algorithm just does not care.
What BlueSky shows me: 50% politics
I click "Show less like this" on every single politics post. Hundreds of times. Algorithm just does not care.
Source control should be the first thing a computer science curriculum teaches.
When you can barely code, losing working code is backbreaking. Every day I see someone lose work.
Don't even start with code. Write some haikus, change them, then look at your diffs and revert.
When you can barely code, losing working code is backbreaking. Every day I see someone lose work.
Don't even start with code. Write some haikus, change them, then look at your diffs and revert.
April 21, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Source control should be the first thing a computer science curriculum teaches.
When you can barely code, losing working code is backbreaking. Every day I see someone lose work.
Don't even start with code. Write some haikus, change them, then look at your diffs and revert.
When you can barely code, losing working code is backbreaking. Every day I see someone lose work.
Don't even start with code. Write some haikus, change them, then look at your diffs and revert.
I'm still laughing about how terrible a word "octave" is.
I'm dealing with noise functions, which deal with frequency in SPACE rather than TIME, as with music.
So here we are in the space domain stuck with this nomenclature that doesn't even make sense in the time domain lol
I'm dealing with noise functions, which deal with frequency in SPACE rather than TIME, as with music.
So here we are in the space domain stuck with this nomenclature that doesn't even make sense in the time domain lol
An "octave" is a 2:1 frequency ratio, named after the 8 notes it contains after crossing 7 diatonic notes arbitrarily chosen from the 12 tone equal-tempered scale.
Worst name ever.
Worst name ever.
April 21, 2025 at 4:52 PM
I'm still laughing about how terrible a word "octave" is.
I'm dealing with noise functions, which deal with frequency in SPACE rather than TIME, as with music.
So here we are in the space domain stuck with this nomenclature that doesn't even make sense in the time domain lol
I'm dealing with noise functions, which deal with frequency in SPACE rather than TIME, as with music.
So here we are in the space domain stuck with this nomenclature that doesn't even make sense in the time domain lol
I REGRET MY CHOICE OF DEBUG COLORS
i think i'm gonna hurl
very grateful the moon is not actually made of cheese
i think i'm gonna hurl
very grateful the moon is not actually made of cheese
April 18, 2025 at 6:45 PM
I REGRET MY CHOICE OF DEBUG COLORS
i think i'm gonna hurl
very grateful the moon is not actually made of cheese
i think i'm gonna hurl
very grateful the moon is not actually made of cheese
"Bubble tea will be a nice break from thinking about raymarching signed distance fields," I thought.
The bubble tea:
The bubble tea:
April 18, 2025 at 6:23 PM
"Bubble tea will be a nice break from thinking about raymarching signed distance fields," I thought.
The bubble tea:
The bubble tea:
An "octave" is a 2:1 frequency ratio, named after the 8 notes it contains after crossing 7 diatonic notes arbitrarily chosen from the 12 tone equal-tempered scale.
Worst name ever.
Worst name ever.
April 18, 2025 at 6:22 PM
An "octave" is a 2:1 frequency ratio, named after the 8 notes it contains after crossing 7 diatonic notes arbitrarily chosen from the 12 tone equal-tempered scale.
Worst name ever.
Worst name ever.
Froze time so I could take a closer look at the raymarched material.
There's definitely a bug in my raymarching because the density changes when I pan up or down.
I also need to research if there are nice & fast distance field noise functions I can use to march in fewer steps.
There's definitely a bug in my raymarching because the density changes when I pan up or down.
I also need to research if there are nice & fast distance field noise functions I can use to march in fewer steps.
April 15, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Froze time so I could take a closer look at the raymarched material.
There's definitely a bug in my raymarching because the density changes when I pan up or down.
I also need to research if there are nice & fast distance field noise functions I can use to march in fewer steps.
There's definitely a bug in my raymarching because the density changes when I pan up or down.
I also need to research if there are nice & fast distance field noise functions I can use to march in fewer steps.
Raymarching improvements:
- Take big steps until we cross the noise threshold
- Binary search smaller steps to approach the exact threshold
- Estimate normal via finite difference
- Take big steps until we cross the noise threshold
- Binary search smaller steps to approach the exact threshold
- Estimate normal via finite difference
April 15, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Raymarching improvements:
- Take big steps until we cross the noise threshold
- Binary search smaller steps to approach the exact threshold
- Estimate normal via finite difference
- Take big steps until we cross the noise threshold
- Binary search smaller steps to approach the exact threshold
- Estimate normal via finite difference
Doing some raymarching in Unreal.
We get self-shadowed lighting by using a masked material, inferring normals, and providing a pixel depth offset.
We get self-shadowed lighting by using a masked material, inferring normals, and providing a pixel depth offset.
April 15, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Doing some raymarching in Unreal.
We get self-shadowed lighting by using a masked material, inferring normals, and providing a pixel depth offset.
We get self-shadowed lighting by using a masked material, inferring normals, and providing a pixel depth offset.
A common failure mode when people ask for programming help is not knowing what ingredients are required to solve a problem.
No description of what they were doing
Or what they expect
Or even what's happening now
And this reveals how people solve all kinds of life problems.
No description of what they were doing
Or what they expect
Or even what's happening now
And this reveals how people solve all kinds of life problems.
April 13, 2025 at 8:14 PM
A common failure mode when people ask for programming help is not knowing what ingredients are required to solve a problem.
No description of what they were doing
Or what they expect
Or even what's happening now
And this reveals how people solve all kinds of life problems.
No description of what they were doing
Or what they expect
Or even what's happening now
And this reveals how people solve all kinds of life problems.
What games have the best looking fog?
Doing some research.
Doing some research.
April 13, 2025 at 8:14 PM
What games have the best looking fog?
Doing some research.
Doing some research.
Why are most kids' shows, and books, as bad as they are?
A. They perform better than alternatives
B. They perform as well as alternatives but are cheaper
C. Good taste is rare and hard to achieve organizationally
Bluey suggests C (good shows can succeed). Paw Patrol suggests A.
A. They perform better than alternatives
B. They perform as well as alternatives but are cheaper
C. Good taste is rare and hard to achieve organizationally
Bluey suggests C (good shows can succeed). Paw Patrol suggests A.
April 13, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Why are most kids' shows, and books, as bad as they are?
A. They perform better than alternatives
B. They perform as well as alternatives but are cheaper
C. Good taste is rare and hard to achieve organizationally
Bluey suggests C (good shows can succeed). Paw Patrol suggests A.
A. They perform better than alternatives
B. They perform as well as alternatives but are cheaper
C. Good taste is rare and hard to achieve organizationally
Bluey suggests C (good shows can succeed). Paw Patrol suggests A.
Ten styles of exotic color grading:
April 13, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Ten styles of exotic color grading:
This is "Volcano Hunter" for the TRS-80, from 1984.
200 screens of platforming. Dodge or bomb the Druts, and avoid overheating, while collecting gold and fuel.
All this for $72 inflation-adjusted dollars.
200 screens of platforming. Dodge or bomb the Druts, and avoid overheating, while collecting gold and fuel.
All this for $72 inflation-adjusted dollars.
April 8, 2025 at 6:52 PM
This is "Volcano Hunter" for the TRS-80, from 1984.
200 screens of platforming. Dodge or bomb the Druts, and avoid overheating, while collecting gold and fuel.
All this for $72 inflation-adjusted dollars.
200 screens of platforming. Dodge or bomb the Druts, and avoid overheating, while collecting gold and fuel.
All this for $72 inflation-adjusted dollars.