David Lindsey Pittman

I think I'd only be comfortable doing podcasts with people I already know well. I've got an introvert/autist combo going on.

They asked me to be a part of this but I am extremely uncomfortable doing podcasts, and I don't know a lot about Magic. But Strick is good at all of that!

Our Design Director joined @thedivedown.bsky.social this week to dish on all things card battler. Listen in as Ken shares behind-the-scenes secrets about designing The Killing Stone.

Anyway, trans rights. 🏳️‍⚧️

(Apropos of nothing, watching "Out of Gas" in the current gamedev climate is, uh, A LOT.)

I think he might've just been a useful idiot to the 4chan mob. He doesn't usually seem to be outspoken about stuff. But he showed his true colors.

I rewatched "Out of Gas" and "Ariel" a couple nights ago, and Firefly holds up. I loved that show. It's been tainted by what I now know about Baldwin and Whedon, but I wanted to believe that it could come back without all that baggage. I'm still holding out for the Buffy revival to be good.

Gosh dang it, I was interested in whatever this new Firefly thing was, until Adam Baldwin was involved. Look, Jayne was a great foil to the other characters, and Adam's performance was good. I liked him.

But then he played a key role in instigating Gamergate and harassing my friends.

gosh dang it

My teammates ask me "David how are you so good at posting" and the trick is that I have no filter.

And if you haven't played The Killing Stone, here's some reasons why you should:
- Liam O'Brien reading Shakespearean English in a seductive gravelly voice
- Other reasons but I got distracted by the first one

Wait, I did it, I figured out the perfect definition for an immersive sim.

(clears throat)

"An immersive sim is whatever you want it to be."

The Killing Stone is now just 2 reviews away from hitting that 50 review threshold and getting that coveted "Very Positive" review score. If you've played it and haven't left a review yet, please do!

I'm reclaiming "vibe coding" to refer to writing code while listening to good music.

P.S. I've also made a whole bunch of small games for jams and competitions or just for fun. Most of them are here: dphrygian.itch.io

Ohhh, nooo, we don't get a cent beyond our salaries. Maybe a shipping bonus if the game reviews real well.

The Killing Stone on Steam Beat the Devil at his own game. The Killing Stone is a deckbuilding card battler wrapped in a 17th century occult horror narrative. Clean the sins of a cursed family by bargaining against a series of ...

And that brings us to my eleventh and latest shipped game, The Killing Stone. It's still in early access, but it's pretty big and polished for an early access game. Card battler mechanics and AI were a new challenge for me, and have been so much fun to build!

store.steampowered.com/app/2781470/...

My tenth commercial game was South Park: Snow Day! (the exclamation point is part of the title). I'd been a fan of South Park since the late 90s, and I was excited to make a South Park game. But it was a messy project, which shows in the reviews.

store.steampowered.com/app/1214650/...

The Blackout Club on Steam The Blackout Club is a first-person co-op horror game centered around a group of teenage friends investigating a monstrous secret beneath the skin of their small town. 1-4 players explore procedurally...

Then I joined up with some other ex-2KM folks at Question, and my ninth game was The Blackout Club. For people who got to experience it in its live incarnation, it was something uniquely exciting. It was also one of the most challenging projects of my career.

store.steampowered.com/app/599080/T...

Slayer Shock on Steam A role-playing shooter about hunting vampires in Nebraska. Take missions to patrol the streets, rescue captive humans, and weaken the undead threat. Assemble a team, hunt the vampires, and save your h...

My eighth game was the nadir of my career. Slayer Shock had a lot of good ideas, but it was overscoped for a solo project, and I was struggling with some personal issues. It's a shame, because I still think the core concept of "Buffy tactical imsim" is great.

store.steampowered.com/app/501860/S...

Which version? It was shown so many times in so many incarnations. I'm still amazed it wasn't canceled along the way.

NEON STRUCT on Steam You are Jillian Cleary: an ex-spy on the run, framed for treason and hunted by your former agency. You must move in secret, survive off the grid, and find a way to clear your name. Old friends and new...

With my seventh game NEON STRUCT, I challenged myself to do level design and writing, two things I didn't have a lot of experience with. It was also an obvious homage to Thief and Deus Ex. My friends' soundtrack is still a highlight of this game for me.

store.steampowered.com/app/310740/N...

Thanks! Yeah, I'm sure there are still physical copies available (and I have one of my own), I just meant it's not in production anymore, and not available to download on Steam or GOG or anything.

Eldritch on Steam Eldritch is the original imsim roguelike: a first-person action game inspired by roguelikes, immersive sims, and H. P. Lovecraft.

My sixth commercial game was the *other* big one: I went indie and made Eldritch. "Dishonored + Spelunky + Lovecraft." The timing was fortuitous; I don't think it would've been as successful even a few months later, as Steam got saturated with indie games.

store.steampowered.com/app/252630/E...

Yeah that sounds right. I can't remember I saw your name in any comments in there or anything, but it would've been whatever Boston was using, which would likely have been whatever Aus wrote.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified on Steam The year is 1962 and the Cold War has the nation gripped by fear.  A top-secret government unit called The Bureau begins investigating a series of mysterious attacks by an enemy more powerful than com...

My fifth game was the famously troubled The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. I watched so many good people depart the team during its development, before I finally also bailed a few months before it shipped. It was painful. I've never played all the way through it.

store.steampowered.com/app/65930/Th...

All of you who listed Star Control in your top 9, here's the indie team making a new one.

BioShock® 2 on Steam Set approximately 10 years after the events of the original BioShock, the halls of Rapture once again echo with sins of the past. Along the Atlantic coastline, a monster has been snatching little girl...

My fourth shipped game was the big one: BioShock 2. I learned so much from that project. Best team I've ever worked with, and I'm grateful to still be working with a handful of those folks today.

store.steampowered.com/app/8850/Bio...

Ling and the Corrupted Hollow on Steam Explore a mythical world of a lost paradise as you help Ling and the spirits cleanse the home of the Hollow Woods in our third-person puzzle platforming game. With your spirits by your side, find the ...

The latest projects from my alma mater SMU Guildhall are available on Steam now. I haven't been involved with the Guildhall since graduating in 2007, but I'm glad to see they're still producing excellent developers.

store.steampowered.com/app/3854940/...

store.steampowered.com/app/3854930/...