OG indie dev | indie before it was a thing | gamer | geek | science & sci-fi aficionado | writer | 🎮
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Oct 13, 2023 • 47 tweets • 14 min read
I am back to writing aggregated blogs again because I have found a new worthy cause that's filled with intrigue, corruption, abuse, racism, and plundering of a Web3 DAO that went from a $1b cap to $300M in less than 1yr amid a cratered token.
Once again, I have the receipts.
As with the Star Citizen (that's still not a finished game btw - 11 yrs + $600M later) blog series that hit all the headlines and which sparked a media frenzy, including from Forbes and others, my series on @apecoin DAO will take the same periodic format.
Days ago, the Special Council decided to - against procedures and in a blatant conflict of interest, decided to create an interdependent set of AIPS involving the creation of ApeChain via Polygon.
1/
The Special Council is never allowed to do this. Ever. Instead, not only did they author a bidzdev AIP to fund the Polygon AIP, but they're literally pretending that they aren't connected - despite irrefutable evidence.
Jun 15, 2023 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
Always amuses me that, almost 30 yrs since my first game, Battlecruiser 3000AD (aka BC3K), was released by Take Two, that it's still the go-to comparison for any team making an all-encompassing massive scope space game. Graphics aside, they ALL hit the same wall that I did.
When you build a massive space game, your #2 problem (with #1 being the tech to power it) is going to be how to populate it; and not just because you can, but because of what the game requires. And content repetition is the primary problem.
Oct 10, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Well don't look now, but SQ42 no longer has a release date. Wait till you see Chris's response in an AMA on the game's 8th (it's actually 9, but whose counting?) anniversary.
So there's a new Star Citizen controversy brewing and which various parties are diving into. I haven't done much digging, so I will just provide some of my own thoughts.
First of all, I want to make this clear - again...
Star Citizen devolved into an absolute scam years ago. The basis for the scam is that the creators and primaries were busy focused on unjust enrichment by taking money out of the project, rather than putting money into it. This has gone on for years now.
Sep 29, 2020 • 46 tweets • 10 min read
For context, you'd have to do some catching up on my tweets since this fiasco started. To be clear, as a veteran game dev for 30+ yrs, as I see it, this battle was a long-time in the making, and needed to be waged.
Though some of my peers & colleagues in the biz are hesitant to publicly opine given the parties involved, my view is that with all the confusion as to the merits of the matter and what it means to gamers and game devs, this discussion is worth having cuz feelz aren't relevant.
Sep 25, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
This is a very big deal indeed.
Amazon’s Luna game streaming service is powered by Windows and Nvidia GPUs theverge.com/2020/9/25/2145…
When Google decided to do Stadia, maybe they thought that because most of the leading game engines supported Linux - and thus Vulcan api for graphics - that devs would rush on board.
Sep 21, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
If you thought Chris couldn't be any more, what's the word - dismissive? Well, he told the community that he's so busy that he can't answer their [important] questions. However, he will answer a SINGLE question. I swear I'm not making this up:
Epic Games lawsuit is just a publicity stunt, says Apple 9to5mac.com/2020/09/16/epi… via @benlovejoy
lmao! I doubt that very much. Despite my misgivings about how Epic went about this lawsuit and which was only revealed via Apple's filings (emails), Epic could have more publicity impact by putting money for these legal bills into worthy causes - or even marketing.
Sep 15, 2020 • 14 tweets • 4 min read
His latest missive is no different from similar ones which he penned back in the day when he was - again - facing a backer backlash. If you want a refresher on that, @nichegamer just did one.
nichegamer.com/2020/09/14/sta…
It's not odd that he showed up - out of the Blue - even as backer posts asking where he was kept being deleted and backers banned for daring to ask where the grifter they gave $300M+ disappeared to. And it wasn't to explain wtf is going on with the project or the money.
Sep 15, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
The last Star Citizen blog I wrote was in Summer 2019. I had stopped writing them because quite honestly it became far too depressing - even for lols. Plus I still have friends & peers who are (some gone now) still feverishly working on Chris's pipe dream, and I just felt bad.
As an OG backer of the project, and it's most famous critic (they started it!), I have always had to draw the line between being a critic while deriding someone else's project that they're slaving over. Thing is, Chris is a liar, grifter, cheat - and a complete fraud.
Sep 14, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
ICYMI:
Fortnite Fight: CEO Explains Why He Launched War Against Apple, Google npr.org/2020/09/10/911…
My opinion on this remains the same.
Because of how (intentional breach of a ToS) they did this - and which we only found out via Apple's filing (the emails) - Epic doesn't stand a snowball in hell chance of prevailing in any way, shape or form.
It didn't have to be this way.
Sep 14, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Chris Roberts: Star Citizen gameplay 'is not a pipe dream' pcgamer.com/chris-roberts-…
That article is based on a salty post update apparently by Chris Roberts. But they totally missed the juicy parts. Read for yourself. It’s the usual bs, but here’s what most people have missed. He said:
Since this appeared I have been hesitant to post it simply because there is ZERO evidence to suggest that Chris wrote this. Why? Because time and time again we've busted CIG attributing posts to him.
robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/commu…
The debate is still raging as to whether or not this in fact him. Thus far I ZERO reason to believe that it's him and not someone else.
For one thing, amid ALL the outcry about the game, schedule, money - his *disappearance* etc, he chose to show up now.
Sep 9, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Frontier, devs of @EliteDangerous have filed their **AUDITED** yearly financials. As usual, it's very impressive.
He blocked me back when I was telling them they were promoting a scam; so click on his Tweet to see it.
This is the guy who proposed to his bride at a CitizenCon event. The same guy who - literally - cried on a stream because SC was shit, and says tanked his streaming "career".
Sep 3, 2020 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Well, it's now confirmed that SQ42 has been moved into 2021.
Funny story. I knew this back in May 2017 when my sources told me that Chris and co were blatantly lying about the game coming out in 208.
dereksmart.com/forums/reply/5…
They did it again in Dec 2018 when they got the $46M investor bailout, then swore up and down that the Alpha was coming in Q1/20. Then again in Q2/20. We're now in Q3/20, and the latest newsletter all but confirms recent sources that it was never - ever - coming out in 2020.
Aug 31, 2020 • 24 tweets • 7 min read
I had to look up from my debugger to bring some breaking Star Citizen news.
First, the talent exodus continues as even more big names make their exit.
One of them, Ben Parry, is a name you probably recognize because he blatantly LIED about the 2016 Lumberyard engine switch.
In 2016, merely months after I had reported that they were doing an engine switch, Ben and I got into a heated exchange after I challenged him that no such switch had taken place because I had reverse engineered that Star Citizen build in question and was able to prove it.
Aug 29, 2020 • 26 tweets • 5 min read
There will be no peace in these lands.
Apple officially unplugs Epic from the App Store | Engadget engadget.com/apple-epic-app…
And just like that, aside from the Unreal engine which is a different license account, making good on its threat, Apple pulls all Epic games from its store.
Aug 27, 2020 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
Yes, in this instance it was retaliatory; and it's great that the judge agreed. But the fact is that any corp violating (especially intentionally like Epic did) a ToS usually gets ALL their products pulled. Microsoft, Sony, Valve et al do it because it's standard practice.
Apple's mistake was that they didn't pull ALL Epic's products right off the bat; and for good reason. Instead, they threatened to pull other products only after the lawsuit was filed; hence it came off as being retaliatory even if it was justified in terms of standard practice.
Aug 25, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Yup - I said the SAME thing days ago in my thread.
"The current predicament appears of its own making,” Rogers wrote, arguing that Epic “strategically chose to breach its agreements with Apple”
Epic judge will protect Unreal Engine — but not Fortnite - theverge.com/2020/8/25/2140…
The fact that Epic intentionally violated the ToS is how this erupted into a crisis of their own making. And the judge agreed. Saw this coming a mile away.
