Jeremy Miranda

Game Industry Lesson #2: If managers are not forthcoming with their managers, Execs, CEO, etc, then the project is probably going to fail. Game schedules and budgets don’t account for broken communication nor will anyone in the office correct it. Think of “Toxic Positivity” like placing a band-aid on a wound that requires surgery. It just makes things worse. Lesson #1: https://lnkd.in/eJsNZM2j

12

At UX is Fine, we grow our UX and UX our growth. This didn’t happen by accident. It’s how we’ve always evolved: by listening closely to our clients and delivering what they actually need. We started with UX, then expanded into UI, art, motion graphics, implementation and engineering, tech art, and full-stack development. Lately, we’ve added several services to help our clients navigate smaller budgets, shorter timelines, and the need to balance innovation with lower risk tolerance. Small playable prototypes help teams evaluate fun before moving into full production. They’re a natural extension of our approach to intuitive UX, immersive UI, and real, in-engine implementation. Audits, including competitive research and reviews of design docs, concepts, prototypes, and vertical slices, surface risk early, clarify direction, and avoid expensive wrong turns. Content pipelines and tools focus on systems that are easy to integrate and maintain, designed to unlock content creators and reduce long-term production cost. Oh, and don't worry… This is in addition to the great UX, UI, and Implementation work that you already know us for. Let's talk at DICE! Calendly and contact info are in the thread. #DICE2026 #prototyping #audit #contentpipeline #intuitive #immersive #inyourengine

11

1 Comment

I got Doom running through a bindings layer I wrote for both SDL2 and Doom using Quadrate, my stack-based programming language. This isn’t a major technical breakthrough or anything, just a fun way to show that Quadrate can now interoperate with native C libraries. To be clear: Doom itself isn’t rewritten in Quadrate (though that would’ve been cool for a stack-based language). But getting it to run through the bindings is a neat demonstration that Quadrate can meaningfully interact with existing C code, and by extension, any language that exposes a C ABI, like Rust, Zig, C++, or Go to mention a few. That opens up a lot of possibilities for combining Quadrate with existing tools and ecosystems. If you're curious: https://lnkd.in/diyHb3SB #programminglanguages #doom #systemsprogramming

28

2 Comments

A couple days ago I gave Claude Code the ability to debug GPUs with RenderDoc. Now I taught it Apple's Metal ecosystem.                                                I built a second skill — metal-ai-skill — that connects Claude Code to Apple's GPU toolchain: xctrace, Metal validation layers, shader compilation, .gputrace frame capture, and screenshot-based visual  inspection. When I describe a rendering bug on macOS, Claude can:  - Screenshot the app and actually see what's wrong (multimodal vision)  - Capture a .gputrace frame and inventory every buffer, texture, and shader  - Compile shaders with -Weverything to catch static issues  - Read source code to trace data flow from CPU to GPU  - Fix bugs and re-screenshot to verify — in a loop until it's correct  The interesting challenge: Metal's CLI tooling doesn't give you buffer data from programmatic captures (unlike RenderDoc's rdc-cli which gives you everything). So I built an autonomous debugging workflow  — Claude gathers signal from multiple sources in parallel, checks what data is actually available, and falls back to source code analysis when GPU data isn't there. Every path leads to a diagnosis.  In the demo, I give Claude a Metal cube renderer with 4 intentional bugs: collapsed geometry, flipped Y axis, swapped color channels, and zeroed alpha. Claude screenshots the broken output, reads the  shaders and Swift code, diagnoses all 4 bugs, fixes them, rebuilds, and verifies the output — all autonomously.  The RenderDoc skill taught me the pattern. The Metal skill taught me the fallbacks. The real insight: when you can't inspect GPU state directly, combine enough indirect sources and you still get there.  Open source (MIT).  GitHub: https://lnkd.in/g8n8qb6J  Video: https://lnkd.in/gryAY4YR  #ClaudeCode #GPU #Metal #Apple #GraphicsProgramming #AI #GameDev #OpenSource

114

11 Comments

85% of game studios have dropped degree requirements. So why is it still so hard to find the right talent? 🧐 The truth is, removing a barrier is only half the battle. When you open the floodgates, you get more applicants, but not necessarily more *qualified* candidates. Without a degree as a filter, the burden falls on recruitment to identify "Maker DNA": the innate ability to solve problems and ship products. AI tools are flooding the market with generic resumes, making the search even harder. This is why "Surgical Recruitment" is no longer optional. You need a partner who knows how to spot a closer, with or without the diploma. Is your screening process overwhelmed? Let’s find the signal in the noise. #GameRecruiter #Hiring #GameDevelopment #RecruitmentLife #TechTalent

8

4 Comments

I want to demystify how ASGC tracks games industry job cuts so you understand what goes into the numbers The way we track industry reductions is far more rigorous than most people realize. I occasionally see comments wondering if we only use public announcements, WARN notices, or that we miss contractors, co dev teams, and non traditional roles. I understand why people might assume that, but that is not how our system works. Collecting jobs data is the most resource intensive process in our community because it shapes our support too. Step one is public information. We monitor news reports, company statements, WARN filings, and government notices. That is just the starting point. Step two is direct community reporting at scale. Every year I receive 5-10K+ messages, just related to job cuts, across LinkedIn, Discord, and email from people sharing what happened to them, their teammates, or their organizations. Much of this never appears in the press. It includes contractors, co dev partners, support studios, and indirect roles, not just FTEs at major publishers. Step three is individual signal tracking. I regularly review posts from professionals who are suddenly open to work or referencing team changes. These signals confirm patterns or reveal cuts that were not announced. All of this flows into a large internal tracking system that helps me understand not just how many roles were affected, but who was impacted, where, and when. That context allows our community to reach out and design support that matches reality rather than headlines. Is it perfect? No. I am still working to improve visibility in regions where transparency is lower. But I can say sincerely this process goes far beyond public records and is more comprehensive than any single external source. You may notice that, for a few years, I no longer publicly name organizations when cuts happen unless they request a Games Org support post. That is intentional. My goal is to avoid errors and avoid shaming, because I recognize that not every reduction comes from bad intent. Sometimes funding ends, contracts fall through, or projects conclude despite leaders trying to do right by their teams. Also, my approach is to build bridges and encourage quiet, meaningful accountability. I regularly hear that organizations know ASGC tracks layoff decisions and understand their actions will reach me, even with smaller or less visible cuts. That awareness, even without public callouts, can influence how situations are handled. Most importantly, workers know their experience is not invisible. Individual data is never shared publicly. People trust me with personal information, and I take that seriously. What I share are patterns, totals, and insights that help us mobilize support. So when we talk about industry cuts, please know this is not casual scorekeeping. It is the result of thousands of conversations and careful tracking to make sure every affected games person counts.

29

3 Comments

Today, I’m excited to share Virtual Inspector, a project I’ve been working on at Strix Corporation over the past 6 months. It’s now available on the Unity Asset Store! 🎉 Launch offer: 30% off for the first two weeks! 👉 https://u3d.as/3NaR The project is built around a simple yet powerful idea: being able to inspect and modify parameters and objects from a Unity build remotely, in real time. What we’re showing here is the first version, and we’re planning to add more debugging features and beyond, to help improve development time and workflow efficiency in specific areas. Version 1.0 includes: - Local remote connection (via IP or automatic device detection) - Hierarchy management (Create, Duplicate, Remove, and more) - Inspector panel (GameObject and Component parameters) - Field support (Int, Float, Vector3, Array, List, Enum, Struct/Class, Unity Object…) - Add components at runtime - View runtime memory assets (Materials, ScriptableObjects) Feel free to follow the official Strix Corporation page, we’ll be sharing more posts about our roadmap and upcoming updates soon. Thanks to everyone who supported this journey 😀 #Unity #Unity3D #GameDevelopment #IndieDev #GameDevTools #Debugging #MobileDevelopment #ConsoleDevelopment

12

2 Comments

So You Want to Be a Game Producer? 🏊 Will you sink or will you swim? Breaking into Game Production isn’t easy, but when you're in, there's no time for training. Everyone's too busy to mentor you, so the most common route of learning is the age-old sink-or-swim method. Most people in the industry don’t even know what Producers actually do, and it's different on every team at every studio. There’s no single pathway into the role and no clear requirements across the industry—so how do you prepare? ➡️ Some Producers start in QA, managing groups of testers on projects, proving they can see the bigger picture and keep things moving forward. This is how I got my initial break into Production! ➡️ Others network in, building trust with developers, team leads, and studio heads until someone says, “You should be a Producer.” ➡️ A few make the jump from adjacent industries like tech, film, or program management. ➡️ Indie developers? They become “accidental Producers” most of the time. As their teams grow from 1–2 people to 10 or more, they find they need process and production and lead on instinct. ➡️ Students at game colleges rarely have a Game Production track with instructors who’ve actually shipped games. Curriculums focus on Game Design, Engineering, and Art, with little thought to how it's all pulled together. No matter how you get there, the fundamentals of Production are the edge you need. And here’s the kicker: nobody teaches this stuff. Why? Because Production isn’t about flashy design skills or cinematic trailers. It’s about everything that happens behind the scenes—the glue that holds projects together. It’s knowing how to translate leadership’s vision into realistic roadmaps, how to prioritize when ten problems hit at once, and how to project calm when the team is burning out. But what if there was a better way? This is why I built my 4.9⭐ rated Game Production course on Maven. It's a program designed to teach what no one else will. Not theory. Not fluff. The practical fundamentals of being a great Producer in LIVE lessons so you can actually ask questions. And here’s where it goes further: this isn’t JUST about Game Production. Every cohort joins the network accelerator—a community of nearly 150 course alumni. The people you meet here will be new friends, and maybe even your future references, colleagues, or co-founders. So, if you’ve ever thought about becoming a Producer, or you’re already in the trenches and want to level up, don’t wait. Join the Fall cohort starting on 09/30/25. 👉 Learn the fundamentals. Be the Producer everyone wants on their team. ✨ Enroll today: https://lnkd.in/gec77gcq #gamedevelopment #learning #gameproducers

42

9 Comments

This week the GDC Festival of Gaming announced the first wave of scheduled programming. Panels, roundtables, summits, lectures—all taught by an incredible cohort of developers. Having given talks at the Project Management Institute's conference, Game Devs of Color Expo, Student Game Developers' Alliance Summit I figured I'd share a few tips for anyone interested in finding ways to present their knowledge of the craft. First: identify your audience. Look at social media, take into consideration the demographics that attend these events. Second: focus on a topic that only you can talk about. It can be something specific about your trajectory in games, maybe knowledge from a different industry helps you in your day-to-day. In my particular case, I focus on creating talks about game design, narrative, production and occasionally Latinidad. For events that focus on post-mortems, retrospectives and production I prepare content that is more high-level and focused around processes rather than showcasing how I developed a specific character. Other events that are attended by early graduates, I enjoy presenting about Small Loan Studio. How were we able to create games as a group for years? What trainings and skills did participants in these games learned that assisted them in landing jobs in companies such as Electronic Arts (EA), Cave Bear Games, Schell Games among others? The third step is running the idea through a trusted colleague. I encourage receiving feedback from friends who have a different perspective/experience, to see what angles the subject matter can cover. Lastly, pitch the talk! The wonderful thing about the online world is that there are a ton of brilliant events with hybrid and remote modalities. Some of the events I recommend pitching to are NarraScope, Gamedevs of Color Expo and the SGDA Festival due to their accessibility and accommodations. But, if you have the means to attend PAX East, Future Fest Connect or Game Your Future and Games for Change consider bringing your knowledge to these events and support the growth of the East Coast. 👀 If you're looking for a keynote speaker in your next event, I'm available in 2026! #GameDevelopment #PublicSpeaking #GDC #Panel #Roundtable #Summits #KnowledgeSharing

92

3 Comments