Alan Lawrey
@astrellon.bsky.social
Software engineer, hobby game dev and pixel artist. No AI. He/Him
https://alanlawrey.me
https://astrellon.itch.io/space-strife
#gamedev #pixelart
https://alanlawrey.me
https://astrellon.itch.io/space-strife
#gamedev #pixelart
Pinned
Alan Lawrey
@astrellon.bsky.social
· Oct 30
This is a pixel art background I made a few years ago and I’m still very happy with how it turned out. I used Blender to get the perspective correct on the spiral and the rest was done in Aseprite.
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
Cancel me all you want from the games industry, but I'm going to be very clear:
FUCK YOU, AND FUCK ANYONE WHO IS OKAY WITH THE PLAGIARISM MACHINE, ENVIRONMENTAL MENACE, DEGENERATIVE AI BEING USED FOR CODE AND QA.
"As long as it's not being used for something I care about, it's okay"
FUCK YOU 3000
FUCK YOU, AND FUCK ANYONE WHO IS OKAY WITH THE PLAGIARISM MACHINE, ENVIRONMENTAL MENACE, DEGENERATIVE AI BEING USED FOR CODE AND QA.
"As long as it's not being used for something I care about, it's okay"
FUCK YOU 3000
October 7, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Cancel me all you want from the games industry, but I'm going to be very clear:
FUCK YOU, AND FUCK ANYONE WHO IS OKAY WITH THE PLAGIARISM MACHINE, ENVIRONMENTAL MENACE, DEGENERATIVE AI BEING USED FOR CODE AND QA.
"As long as it's not being used for something I care about, it's okay"
FUCK YOU 3000
FUCK YOU, AND FUCK ANYONE WHO IS OKAY WITH THE PLAGIARISM MACHINE, ENVIRONMENTAL MENACE, DEGENERATIVE AI BEING USED FOR CODE AND QA.
"As long as it's not being used for something I care about, it's okay"
FUCK YOU 3000
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
This morning, the D&D team and Magic's Studio X informed our leadership of our intent to unionize. We love the games we make and the work we do, and unionizing is how we protect that work.
unitedwizardsofthecoast.com/news/dnd-stu...
unitedwizardsofthecoast.com/news/dnd-stu...
Dungeons & Dragons and Studio X Join United Wizards of the Coast - CWA
Today, October 6, 2026, the designers, artists, writers, producers, and workers behind Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Duel Masters, D&D Beyond, and countless other games are uniting in soli...
unitedwizardsofthecoast.com
October 6, 2026 at 4:43 PM
This morning, the D&D team and Magic's Studio X informed our leadership of our intent to unionize. We love the games we make and the work we do, and unionizing is how we protect that work.
unitedwizardsofthecoast.com/news/dnd-stu...
unitedwizardsofthecoast.com/news/dnd-stu...
My 9 anime, which was probably harder than choosing 9 games.
September 28, 2026 at 12:23 PM
My 9 anime, which was probably harder than choosing 9 games.
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
"everyone is using coding agents and anyone who claims otherwise is lying" is just the sort of statement made by someone who is either 1. trying to rile people up, 2. insecure about their own values and projecting that out 3. extremely blinkered in their perspective.
September 17, 2026 at 11:38 PM
"everyone is using coding agents and anyone who claims otherwise is lying" is just the sort of statement made by someone who is either 1. trying to rile people up, 2. insecure about their own values and projecting that out 3. extremely blinkered in their perspective.
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
You’re telling me at 34 years old I will have to borrow my Mum’s credit card to verify I’m over 18?
Nah chat this ain’t it
Nah chat this ain’t it
Steam has implemented age verification measures for Australian customers, restricting them from purchasing or even viewing titles that carry a local age rating of R18+.
Currently, the one and only method of age verification is linking a supported credit card to a Steam account.
Currently, the one and only method of age verification is linking a supported credit card to a Steam account.
Steam Implements Age Verification For R18+ Games in Australia, Credit Card Required
The move follows changes to Australia’s online safety code, and similar implementations on the PlayStation and Xbox storefronts.
thisweekinvideogames.com
September 9, 2026 at 10:48 PM
You’re telling me at 34 years old I will have to borrow my Mum’s credit card to verify I’m over 18?
Nah chat this ain’t it
Nah chat this ain’t it
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
I am sympathetic to Silicon Valley guys ascribing human-level consciousness to AI because if I had to talk to people from Silicon Valley all day I’d probably have a real low bar for sentience too
September 8, 2026 at 2:41 PM
I am sympathetic to Silicon Valley guys ascribing human-level consciousness to AI because if I had to talk to people from Silicon Valley all day I’d probably have a real low bar for sentience too
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
Made a pair of bingo cards for the upcoming Nintendos Direct!
(I'm assuming the plural grammar here works like "attorneys general")
(I'm assuming the plural grammar here works like "attorneys general")
![Zelda Direct Bingus Bongus
Row 1: Zelda Movie baffling casting decision | Zelda Movie "you know what actually I see it" casting decision | a port with no extra bells and/or whistles (whistles??) [with a skewed Spirit Tracks logo] | Dead Hand in 4K [background says "no no no" over and over] | Zelda Alarmo shaped like a Cucco
Row 2: where is Kass? is he safe? [image of Kass the accordion-playing bird man from Breath of the Wild] | Link's Crossbow Training 2 | Eiji Aonuma says the word "pants" | Malo Mart Management Sim [drawing I made of Malo from Twilight Princess and the word OBEY like the Andre the Giant Has a Posse OBEY] | Surprise! Ocarina of Time Remake has SpaceWorld 2000 graphics [image from that graphics demo in the background]
Row 3: Obligatory Mother 3 Bingo Square for some reason [with sad Lucas] | The Great Deku Tree lookin' sexy as hell | Internet is Mad (FREE SPACE) [with Triforce background] | something Link Between Worlds god please | drawing of a screaming Goron Link going "AAAAA"
Row 4: weird Zelda crossover that makes everyone go "huh" | Young Link is chopped | Adult Link is unc | they tease the next major Zelda wayyy too early [Coming 202- 8 crossed out, 9 scribbled out, 2030] | they say how many years ago OoT released and I wish they didn't
Row 5: Link says a full sentence ("well excuuuuu-") | "You thought we said Ocarina? No, we said Ooccoorina." [Link playing the Ocarina but it's been replaced with a Ooccoo Jr. head] | dampé | we all pretend we don't know who Sheik is [yellow emoji head with closed eyes saying "who is that he seems cool"] | stream is hijacked by someone yelling about how Zelda II is underrated](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ku7wb5czg5i2tq2briux4wad/bafkreiarqebdc6c3gk4nctfd2ahnotwhvszuvar5cmhufdo6w6dxxq6ksq)
![Nintendo Direct Bingus Bongus
Row 1: Luigi falls over [image of Luigi on his side] | A character with a name like "Gumbo" | Edutainment is BACK [Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Brain Age for the DS, and the muncher from Number Munchers] | something Zelda-related they forgot to add to the Zelda Direct | Switch 2 Welcome Tour price increase to help you feel more welcome
Row 2: holding hands (scandalous) | Air Riders DLC [Kirby holding an NES Zapper with "we gave him a gun"] | lizard | can we have music in the eshop again i miss it so | BY GOD IT'S SHU TAKUMI WITH A STEEL CHAIR
Row 3: Obligatory Mother 3 Bingo Square [with sad Lucas] | The Nintendo Direct voiceover guy uses his serious voice to say you can level up your stats | Internet is Mad (FREE SPACE) [with Mario star in the background] | a creature shaped like this: [silhouette of a blob with two big bulbous bits on top and a kinda blobby/wavy underside] | Nintendo sends assassins to everyone who streamed the Duskbloods network test
Row 4: me :) they put me in the Direct bc I've been good | Balloon Fight 99 [with a bunch of little Balloon Fight NES sprites and the fish that eats you and also two of them are kissing] | CHRONO TRIGGER, BABY [with a drawing of Frog from Chrono Trigger] | a new Punch-Out (preferably by Next Level) and I will never ask for anything again | the number 22
Row 5: front-facing Waluigi [with an uncomfortably close Waluigi staring into your soul] | a narrative RPG where you play as a Boo | GameCube/GBA link cable support added to NSO aka PAC-MAN VS. LET'S GO | ANIMAL CROSSING! [in the bottom really small it adds: ... Amiibo Festival 2] | Samus adopts a cat](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ku7wb5czg5i2tq2briux4wad/bafkreicisg7cp7uqeckteexswzbtrv4a74gdudlo2eexeov336vwphi6pu)
September 7, 2026 at 11:53 PM
Made a pair of bingo cards for the upcoming Nintendos Direct!
(I'm assuming the plural grammar here works like "attorneys general")
(I'm assuming the plural grammar here works like "attorneys general")
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
A few months ago I started wondering if not using LLMs for coding right now would be a detriment to me as a programmer, but I concluded that the idea is nonsensical.
I could start Not Writing My Own Code at any moment, and having stopped programming 2 years ago wouldn’t make me a better programmer.
I could start Not Writing My Own Code at any moment, and having stopped programming 2 years ago wouldn’t make me a better programmer.
September 7, 2026 at 9:54 AM
A few months ago I started wondering if not using LLMs for coding right now would be a detriment to me as a programmer, but I concluded that the idea is nonsensical.
I could start Not Writing My Own Code at any moment, and having stopped programming 2 years ago wouldn’t make me a better programmer.
I could start Not Writing My Own Code at any moment, and having stopped programming 2 years ago wouldn’t make me a better programmer.
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
The Contested Space demo is live on Steam!
It's a Coop Sci-fi roguelike deckbuilder where you build your deck mid-combat.
Act 1 is fully playable and demo saves carry into the full game.
store.steampowered.com/app/4638820/...
#indiegame #gamedev #roguelike #deckbuilder #ScreenshotSaturday
It's a Coop Sci-fi roguelike deckbuilder where you build your deck mid-combat.
Act 1 is fully playable and demo saves carry into the full game.
store.steampowered.com/app/4638820/...
#indiegame #gamedev #roguelike #deckbuilder #ScreenshotSaturday
September 4, 2026 at 6:41 PM
The Contested Space demo is live on Steam!
It's a Coop Sci-fi roguelike deckbuilder where you build your deck mid-combat.
Act 1 is fully playable and demo saves carry into the full game.
store.steampowered.com/app/4638820/...
#indiegame #gamedev #roguelike #deckbuilder #ScreenshotSaturday
It's a Coop Sci-fi roguelike deckbuilder where you build your deck mid-combat.
Act 1 is fully playable and demo saves carry into the full game.
store.steampowered.com/app/4638820/...
#indiegame #gamedev #roguelike #deckbuilder #ScreenshotSaturday
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
AI placeholders? I'm out.
AI art? I'm out.
AI graphics? I'm out.
AI written story? I'm out.
AI voices? I'm out.
It is incredibly *DISRESPECTFUL* To use GenAI for anything in video games when you could hire talented people to work on your game.
It may take time but I promise you It will be worth it.
AI art? I'm out.
AI graphics? I'm out.
AI written story? I'm out.
AI voices? I'm out.
It is incredibly *DISRESPECTFUL* To use GenAI for anything in video games when you could hire talented people to work on your game.
It may take time but I promise you It will be worth it.
August 24, 2026 at 11:45 PM
AI placeholders? I'm out.
AI art? I'm out.
AI graphics? I'm out.
AI written story? I'm out.
AI voices? I'm out.
It is incredibly *DISRESPECTFUL* To use GenAI for anything in video games when you could hire talented people to work on your game.
It may take time but I promise you It will be worth it.
AI art? I'm out.
AI graphics? I'm out.
AI written story? I'm out.
AI voices? I'm out.
It is incredibly *DISRESPECTFUL* To use GenAI for anything in video games when you could hire talented people to work on your game.
It may take time but I promise you It will be worth it.
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
Quick PSA. Looking at you, local orgs and small businesses.
August 18, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Quick PSA. Looking at you, local orgs and small businesses.
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
A certain AAA studio told employees that their internal gen AI was trained only on local data, but whenever said employees tried to generate an image of a woman holding a gun, it generated Lara Croft.
The studio was not Crystal Dynamics, and had never worked on the Tomb Raider IP in any capacity.
The studio was not Crystal Dynamics, and had never worked on the Tomb Raider IP in any capacity.
I just want to mention:
Even if your AI somehow runs locally and you think it's okay, it's still using trained data from a pre-existing dataset which is still full of stolen work.
The sheer amount of data gen AI needs is in the hundreds of thousands, you can only get that by scraping
Even if your AI somehow runs locally and you think it's okay, it's still using trained data from a pre-existing dataset which is still full of stolen work.
The sheer amount of data gen AI needs is in the hundreds of thousands, you can only get that by scraping
The gen AIs that most are familiar with were built using stolen creative work, but there are plenty of more niche gen AIs that do not use stolen work.
August 15, 2026 at 12:32 AM
A certain AAA studio told employees that their internal gen AI was trained only on local data, but whenever said employees tried to generate an image of a woman holding a gun, it generated Lara Croft.
The studio was not Crystal Dynamics, and had never worked on the Tomb Raider IP in any capacity.
The studio was not Crystal Dynamics, and had never worked on the Tomb Raider IP in any capacity.
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
The uncomfortable truth about why genAI is permeating programming communities is that they're dominated by dudes focused on end results and short term gains, with little regard for the craft, ethics, or the humanities. AI isn't better at code than prose, guys in the industry simply just care less.
August 11, 2026 at 5:43 PM
The uncomfortable truth about why genAI is permeating programming communities is that they're dominated by dudes focused on end results and short term gains, with little regard for the craft, ethics, or the humanities. AI isn't better at code than prose, guys in the industry simply just care less.
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
part of why I don't like AI is bc it's so often the antithesis of caring for the little things, the appreciation of the mundane, of seeing beauty where others haven't yet been able to, and seeking genuine fundamental understanding
all in the name of "get product faster"
I find it so disheartening
all in the name of "get product faster"
I find it so disheartening
July 27, 2026 at 3:09 AM
part of why I don't like AI is bc it's so often the antithesis of caring for the little things, the appreciation of the mundane, of seeing beauty where others haven't yet been able to, and seeking genuine fundamental understanding
all in the name of "get product faster"
I find it so disheartening
all in the name of "get product faster"
I find it so disheartening
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
"I don't understand why generative AI is so widely accepted among developers. It's so surprising!"
So, you've been hearing women and minorities denounce the toxicity and discrimination in those communities for years... decades, even, and you still thought those communities were morally acceptable?
So, you've been hearing women and minorities denounce the toxicity and discrimination in those communities for years... decades, even, and you still thought those communities were morally acceptable?
July 25, 2026 at 8:02 AM
"I don't understand why generative AI is so widely accepted among developers. It's so surprising!"
So, you've been hearing women and minorities denounce the toxicity and discrimination in those communities for years... decades, even, and you still thought those communities were morally acceptable?
So, you've been hearing women and minorities denounce the toxicity and discrimination in those communities for years... decades, even, and you still thought those communities were morally acceptable?
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
““Starlink is too congested to handle meaningful load at scale so they’re quietly hitting people with $750-$1500 ‘demand surcharges,'” Bode wrote in a recent post on Bluesky.“
apple.news/AE1hHcCEbTkq...
apple.news/AE1hHcCEbTkq...
Elon Musk Is Charging Starlink Customers Gigantic Bogus Fees Because Its Network Is Being Crushed by “High Demand” — Futurism
Good luck fighting those charges. Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Johannes Neudecker / picture alliance via Getty Images; Shutterstock SpaceX CEO Elon Musk maintains an extreme...
apple.news
July 6, 2026 at 9:44 AM
““Starlink is too congested to handle meaningful load at scale so they’re quietly hitting people with $750-$1500 ‘demand surcharges,'” Bode wrote in a recent post on Bluesky.“
apple.news/AE1hHcCEbTkq...
apple.news/AE1hHcCEbTkq...
Sometimes you just have to art.
June 27, 2026 at 3:08 AM
Sometimes you just have to art.
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
So godot does accept AI generated code and work into their engine. The only thing they say they won't allow is full automation, but as long as you review the PR manually you are free to use genAI tools as much as you please.
I'm not sure they understand the issue.
I'm not sure they understand the issue.
I see some concerns raised about Godot's policy on contributions using AI.
TL;DR: Godot isn't vibe-coded.
As a whole, the Godot foundation and maintainers are fairly critical of AI usage, and don't make nor accept vibe-coded contributions.
Godot doesn't include AI features nor intends to add any.
TL;DR: Godot isn't vibe-coded.
As a whole, the Godot foundation and maintainers are fairly critical of AI usage, and don't make nor accept vibe-coded contributions.
Godot doesn't include AI features nor intends to add any.
June 22, 2026 at 8:00 AM
So godot does accept AI generated code and work into their engine. The only thing they say they won't allow is full automation, but as long as you review the PR manually you are free to use genAI tools as much as you please.
I'm not sure they understand the issue.
I'm not sure they understand the issue.
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
If it's your first time dealing with a core value that you truly find wrong, but everyone else around you accepts it, it can be overwhelming.
Don't despair, there are others like you. Find your people, be strong, take care of yourself.
And fuck them.
Don't despair, there are others like you. Find your people, be strong, take care of yourself.
And fuck them.
June 21, 2026 at 7:23 PM
If it's your first time dealing with a core value that you truly find wrong, but everyone else around you accepts it, it can be overwhelming.
Don't despair, there are others like you. Find your people, be strong, take care of yourself.
And fuck them.
Don't despair, there are others like you. Find your people, be strong, take care of yourself.
And fuck them.
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
A promise is a promise
Idk what to even tag this as lmao
Idk what to even tag this as lmao
June 14, 2026 at 4:40 PM
A promise is a promise
Idk what to even tag this as lmao
Idk what to even tag this as lmao
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
Wonderful to be in a place now where industry peers feel comfortable posting sexist trash in professional spaces.
June 4, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Wonderful to be in a place now where industry peers feel comfortable posting sexist trash in professional spaces.
Reposted by Alan Lawrey
This is a mad story, and it won’t be the last of its kind.
We’re at a point where tech giants’ eagerness to cram the most AI into their systems is totally overriding their responsibility to their users:
https://bit.ly/3REooLe
We’re at a point where tech giants’ eagerness to cram the most AI into their systems is totally overriding their responsibility to their users:
https://bit.ly/3REooLe
Hackers Simply Asked Meta AI to Give Them Access to High-Profile Instagram Accounts. It Worked
The exploit shows the extreme risk of offloading technical support to AI.
www.404media.co
June 2, 2026 at 10:21 AM
This is a mad story, and it won’t be the last of its kind.
We’re at a point where tech giants’ eagerness to cram the most AI into their systems is totally overriding their responsibility to their users:
https://bit.ly/3REooLe
We’re at a point where tech giants’ eagerness to cram the most AI into their systems is totally overriding their responsibility to their users:
https://bit.ly/3REooLe
I don't often get to be called an artist so it's very exciting to see my art play a part in a game.
If you're interested in sci-fi roguelike deckbuilders you should check out Contested Space!
store.steampowered.com/app/4638820/...
If you're interested in sci-fi roguelike deckbuilders you should check out Contested Space!
store.steampowered.com/app/4638820/...
Contested Space on Steam
A co-op roguelike deckbuilder where you build your deck mid-fight from a rotating market, deploy stations to anchor your fleet, and lead 1 of 6 factions across contested space.
store.steampowered.com
June 2, 2026 at 5:01 AM
I don't often get to be called an artist so it's very exciting to see my art play a part in a game.
If you're interested in sci-fi roguelike deckbuilders you should check out Contested Space!
store.steampowered.com/app/4638820/...
If you're interested in sci-fi roguelike deckbuilders you should check out Contested Space!
store.steampowered.com/app/4638820/...