The Review Pipeline That Shipped Nine Errors
Four implementers and four reviewers passed nine false glossary entries in The Lien, each doing its job correctly. Then the fix repeated the mistake.
Solo, Not Alone
Using AI tools to build games, alone
What the tools got right, what they got wrong, and what a solo developer has to catch because there is no one else who will.
The Asset Loads Is Not the Same as the Player Hears It
The build log said three music tracks loaded, so the agent reported the music as working. Outside the boss fight, nothing ever played it. The main menu and every ordinary level were silent until I played the build and asked where the music was.
The Shotgun That Fired One Pellet
Earfh's shotgun spec called for a 25 degree cone. The build fired a 100 degree one, and the tests agreed with it, because the tests were written from the same misreading. It passed two reviews before anyone went back to the spec text.
Barrelhouse and Cairn, or Saying No to Generated Art Twice
One game dropped a generated portrait route the same afternoon its own pilot disproved it. The other never let a diffusion model near it. Same tools on the shelf, two different calls, and the reasoning behind each.
Two Clean Looks at a Bug That Was There
A bug report said the hand in The Lien looked ragged. I checked twice and saw nothing wrong. Both looks were accurate, and both were useless, because the tool I checked with could not show the bug.
The Page That Almost Lied About Its Own Game
The Lien's mechanics board promises its numbers are read off the repository, not remembered. On one night it came within a merge of shipping a stale count anyway, under a date that was not true.