Lina Song

We've been implementing Neural Texture compression in #Assassinscreedmirage. The overall benefit results in better quality textures for less GPU memory usage (links in the first comment). If you followed the topic since our GDC2024 presentation ,this a very practical application of La Forge's mission to bridge the academic world with Ubisoft. #ubisoft #ubisoftlaforge #innovation 👇 "If you've been thinking, like I have, that we're still some way off seeing AI being used in games for more than just upscaling or frame generation, then it's time to think again" (...) "Enter stage left, neural texture compression to cut down on that memory demand. Given the state of the DRAM and SSD market right now, you can bet your last dollar that a whole heap of game developers will be looking closely at what Ubisoft has done to see if it can help out in their games, too"

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🎉 Jellyfish AI Impact now supports Windsurf, a leader in AI-powered coding solutions, offering tools like the Windsurf Editor that blend collaborative, continuous AI assistance with developers' workflows. Together, Windsurf and Jellyfish are changing how AI and humans work together.  Through our robust integration with Windsurf, Jellyfish AI Impact allows joint customers to:  🤖 Measure Windsurf’s impact on overall developer productivity: Analyze how Windsurf solutions like Windsurf Editor impact different engineering workflows and use cases – whether it's building new features, reducing technical debt, or reviewing for code quality and security improvements. 📈 Scale Windsurf adoption across the organization: Identify teams with high engagement to further accelerate development, automate testing, and streamline deployment, then replicate these best practices and implementation strategies company-wide. Learn more about what this integration means for your engineering organization here: https://lnkd.in/ghNguE47

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Chapter 7 of my book, Data-Oriented Design for Games, published by Manning Publications Co., is now available in the Manning Early Access Program (MEAP). This chapter discusses how to reduce code complexity and enhance the game development workflow by separating dynamic and static asset data. The example in this chapter is how to add a menu system to a survivor/bullet-heaven style game. You can check out the book and read the first chapter for free in the link below: https://lnkd.in/dYvM32zc

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Game art asset factories aren’t enough anymore. Pretty models mean nothing if the shaders won’t compile. True co-development requires technical art literacy. If an external team can’t debug a pipeline, they aren’t helping. They’re generating high-fidelity technical debt. At Artchop!, we build with integration in mind from day one. The real question is whether studios are looking for true integration partners or just capacity. #GDC #CoDev #TechnicalArt

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'10 years of C++ experience' doesn't mean what it used to. In a world of evolving tech stacks, the most valuable hire isn't the one who knows one engine inside out: it's the architectural mind. We're helping studios find problem solvers and system designers who can pivot as fast as the industry does. Stop hiring for history; start hiring for thinking. #TalentStrategy #GameDevLife #TechHiring #Architecture #Innovation

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This isn't the matrix, it's Steam. Every single AppID since the beginning of time. In total, 25 years worth of PC games coming in at 253,105 unique entries to date. What's even more fascinating is being able to see which were the first ever games available, at the inception point of one of gaming's biggest platforms.

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Soft skills turn solid renders into shippable work... especially in US and Canada studios where teams move fast and expect clarity, reliability, and ownership. - Communication: pitch your lighting intent in 1–2 lines so art/tech/production align before you place a single light. Why? It prevents rework. In Top 1% lighting artist program, we practice concise briefs and feedback loops live. - Collaboration: turn critique into 3 action items, then share annotated before/after frames. Why? Reviews become momentum, not friction. And we run structured peer reviews. - Problem Solving: test, document the fix. Why? You unblock yourself under deadlines. We model this method live. - Adaptability: update references, goals, and tone mapping. Why? Pipelines evolve weekly. - Time management: deliver a “good today” pass before “perfect next week” using checkpoints. Why? Milestones matter. We use weekly deliverables and checklists. Salary snapshot (ranges vary by city/seniority): - Canada: Lighting Artist average around C$64.8k; Vancouver averages near ~US$79k/yr equivalent; UE Artist rates in Ontario/Toronto ~US$59–62/hr. - United States: Game Artist averages ~US$70k nationally, with top states exceeding US$100k+; senior UE developers can reach US$150k. Build these skills alongside real UE5 lighting craft in the live 6‑week program: - Live sessions + full recordings - 1:1 mentorship and feedback - Community, challenges, and job‑focused support - Six projects + graduation piece (AAA‑ready) Physically Based Lighting workflow (EV100, tone mapping, Lumen, intentional fake lights) Leave a comment to get dates, pricing, and how to enroll.

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Look closely at the challenge in schools. Fragmented alerts, bells, and communications are not a system; they are a failure of design. Quicklert streamlines this chaos with a single, intelligent platform, replacing the complexity with unity. Your tools, devices, and applications work together, delivering incredible experiences. This is the new standard for safe, connected schools. ➡️ Learn how Quicklert replaces the chaos with clarity: https://lnkd.in/gagiKvPs #Quicklert #SchoolSafety #EdTech #UnifiedComms #Innovation #K12 #AlyssasLaw

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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

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I've created a new project for students at the School of Video Game Audio Unreal Engine 5 course to practice and demonstrate both linear and technical sound design. For this project, students will redesign a bit of gameplay capture from Hollow Knight "in engine" or "in engine" + middleware (as opposed to in a DAW), depending on what the student is practicing. The project supports UE5 Metasounds, UE5 + Wwise, and UE5 + FMOD. A side note that the placeholder SFX were all made by me using synthesis + recording stuff in my studio. More info about the School at https://lnkd.in/ei9f2EiT Hope you're all well out there!

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Building a shader language at AI speed  I've been building Lux (https://lnkd.in/g4eysjxE) — a math-first shader language where you write rendering math, not GPU boilerplate — and it's been a pure joy to iterate on ideas at this pace, thanks to Claude. What used to take weeks of careful  SPIR-V debugging now happens in hours. The AI doesn't just write code — it reasons about compiler passes, traces undefined variables through SPIR-V binary, and fixes CSE ordering bugs that would have taken me days to  isolate.  Some highlights of where Lux is at:  Gaussian Splatting as a first-class language primitive. Write splat GaussianCloud { sh_degree: 3 } and the compiler generates a complete 3-stage pipeline — compute preprocess, instanced vertex, alpha-composited fragment —  with spherical harmonics up to degree 3, all from one declaration. It fits naturally into the language's declarative paradigm alongside surface, geometry, and pipeline. Full support for the Khronos KHR_gaussian_splatting  glTF extension — all 11 official conformance test scenes pass across C++/Vulkan, Rust/ash, and Python engines.  Native OpenPBR Surface v1.1 material model. Just import openpbr; and you get the full Adobe/ASWF physically-based material system — F82-tint metal Fresnel, energy-preserving diffuse, coat darkening, fuzz, thin-film  iridescence, transmission with volume absorption. 9 composable layers, bindless uber-shader support, schedule-based quality tiers for desktop and mobile.  A CPU shader debugger with time-travel. No GPU required — set breakpoints, step through shader math, inspect every variable, detect NaN with source locations, travel backwards through execution history. It's been invaluable   for shader development and is incredibly AI-friendly: Claude can run the debugger, diagnose issues, and fix them in a single loop.  Built-in optimizer that beats hand-written GLSL. Mem2reg, AST-level inlining, CSE, constant folding — 21.7% fewer instructions than equivalent hand-tuned GLSL, verified against a real Vulkan PBR renderer with pixel-perfect  parity.  And so much more — automatic differentiation, ray tracing, mesh shaders, compute, auto-precision analysis for mobile, AI material generation from text/images, interactive scene editor, GLSL transpiler, 160+ stdlib  functions, 1383 tests passing.  Much more coming. This is just getting started.  #ShaderProgramming #GPU #Vulkan #SPIRV #3DGaussianSplatting #OpenPBR #KhronosGroup #glTF #ComputerGraphics #RealTimeRendering #GameDev #AI #Claude #LLM #AIAssistedDevelopment #RenderingEngine #OpenSource #PBR  #MaterialDesign

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