https://claire-blackshaw.com/images/TitleBoard_Square.png https://claire-blackshaw.com/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/ Claire Blackshaw's random blog posts on gamedev, roleplaying and various bits n bobs. en-gb https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2026/02/lazy-sunday-feedback-screens-viewport-bugs-and-giving-back-to-godot/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2026/02/lazy-sunday-feedback-screens-viewport-bugs-and-giving-back-to-godot/ Sun, 15 Feb 2026 15:09:34 +0000 Lazy Sunday: Feedback Screens, Viewport Bugs, and Giving Back to Godot TLDR: After shipping Augmental Puzzles on Meta (Feb 3rd) and Steam (Feb 13th), I spent a lazy Sunday porting our XR screenshot capture code back to Godot main as a PR. The feature was born from wanting a Subnautica-style in-game feedback screen — capture the full eye view, attach it to a mood-tagged bug report, send it to https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2026/02/contingency/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2026/02/contingency/ Mon, 02 Feb 2026 12:56:11 +0000 Standards Matter: Reflections from Contingency 2026 Audio Recording this blog post is written from TLDR: Back from Contingency, a lovely residential roleplaying convention in Sunny Hunny. Played and ran a bunch of games including Brindlewood Bay, Shinobigami, For the Queen, and Liminal Horror. Had some important realisations about modern safety tools????????particularly the https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2026/01/netflix_cloud/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2026/01/netflix_cloud/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 14:38:52 +0000 Netflix, Cloud Gaming, and Low-Interaction Play TLDR: Netflix calling out cloud gaming as a 2026 priority to shareholders got me thinking about an entire design space I've been orbiting my whole career. From Buzz controllers to WebSockets to Twitch Plays Dead Nation - there's a rich history here that most people have forgotten, and it's about to become relevant again. I'm too https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/10/neo_robot/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/10/neo_robot/ Wed, 29 Oct 2025 10:22:36 +0000 Neo's Creepy Robot and the 'Solid Platinum' Data Play TLDR: I just watched the Neo trailer. It's creepy as hell, but I'm also really excited. The hardware design is smart: soft plastics, wool, and non-intimidating. It's designed to not be scary, even though it is. VR devices unlock cheap and accurate telerobotics which bridges the AI gap and gives data for building the https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/10/start_engine/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/10/start_engine/ Mon, 20 Oct 2025 14:52:38 +0100 How to Get Into Game Engine Dev? A mate pinged me recently because a student friend of theirs had a specific question: how do you actually get into game engine development? Not just games programming in general, but proper engine work. It's a brilliant question and one I don't get asked often enough, probably because most people assume you need some sort of dark magic ritual involving https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/09/standards_matter/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/09/standards_matter/ Sat, 20 Sep 2025 18:48:02 +0100 OpenXR's New Controller and Why the People in the Room Matter TLDR OpenXR now has a sensible generic controller profile Digital buttons (menu, primary, secondary) Analogue trigger & grip Joystick axes & touch Grip/Aim pose tracking This is a boring-but-huge deal: no more "laughably unusable" default controller STANDARDS WORK MATTERS and this is an small but important https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/08/fast_text/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/08/fast_text/ Fri, 29 Aug 2025 19:34:08 +0100 VR Text Was Killing Performance, So I Took a Hatchet to Godot's Label3D I hit two massive problems a few months back. First, my simple text menus were absolutely destroying performance in VR, especially when adding nodes to the scene tree. Second, the font quality looked like shite. This is the story of that rabbit hole and the custom solution, FastText, that came out of it. TL;DR: If https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/06/personal_journey/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/06/personal_journey/ Wed, 25 Jun 2025 15:20:28 +0100 A Personal Journey: Year One of Flammable Penguin Games What do studio closures, a changing funding landscape, cancer, A&E, and co-working spaces have in common? I didn't expect them to be a major part of my last year. As Flammable Penguin Games approaches the one-year mark and the announcement of our first VR title????????after cancelling one title and shelving another????????I thought it apt to https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/05/godot_rough_patch/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/05/godot_rough_patch/ Tue, 27 May 2025 12:31:43 +0100 The Godot Rough Patch TLDR: Shipping a game with Godot is hitting all the expected rough patches around polish, tech milestones, and store compliance. The engine's great but the community's mostly hobbyist, so commercial requirements often mean rolling your own solutions. Also, please stop renaming functions in the engine - some of us are trying to ship games here. I knew it was coming, https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/03/split_render/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2025/03/split_render/ Sat, 08 Mar 2025 16:37:20 +0000 Split Rendering for VR: What does it look like I've been doing a 30 day video challenge on YouTube and lately speaking a lot about VR topics. VR Standards Dilemma Messy History why PCVR is still a faff Messy History of VR Streaming and today on Split rendering And I thought it would be good to get my ideas back in blog format. Conclusion at the top to save you time Split rendering will https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/12/watchy/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/12/watchy/ Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:37:48 +0000 Building for Watchy A short article on a little hobby code project resulting in two watch faces. As long term fan of the best wearable, The Pebble Watch, my wife and I have a real soft spot for the long battery life epaper watch focused on time keeping and bits of useful functionality. The wearable market is dominated by wellness, fitness and subscription based services. The lack of a true https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/11/craft/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/11/craft/ Fri, 29 Nov 2024 12:39:54 +0000 The Craft of Game Development in Cheap Game World Industry Context Recently, I attended GodotCon and gave a talk at Develop North. GodotCon was eye-opening, and at Develop North, I discussed using Godot professionally. I shouldn't post the talk here, as it's better suited for a conference environment, but much of the information is already on my website in articles. I want to address a https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/11/godot_extend/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/11/godot_extend/ Sun, 10 Nov 2024 13:53:31 +0000 Godot Modular Design There are many reasons I think that Godot is a great technical base and has a robust future, but chiefly among them is the modular way in which things are built and designed with the assumption that parts will be ripped out, replaced and improved. This is done through an easy to approach code base, modules system and robust support for addons and extensions through https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/10/wider_game/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/10/wider_game/ Fri, 25 Oct 2024 10:17:42 +0100 Wider Games Industry Disclaimer: This is a bad news bear piece. If you're feeling rough, have a coffee and skip this one. I have spent almost 20 professional years in what I would call the premium gaming market but now almost weekly I hear of layoffs and survive till ???????25 so what does our future look like? Last week I was at GodotCon in Germany which was a great time but a moment to https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/10/not_dev/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/10/not_dev/ Thu, 10 Oct 2024 20:29:45 +0100 Setting up a Studio the not dev bits It????????s been a while since I started this little gamedev journey and I wanted to talk about all the bits that aren????????t gamedev so I can share what I????????ve been up to. This is also why I say making games as a hobby is a totally valid thing and the gap between hobbyist and professional is larger than people sometimes think. Though if you are interested in https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/10/vrbiz/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/10/vrbiz/ Fri, 04 Oct 2024 14:27:43 +0100 External Memories and VR Industry I????????ve struggled the last two weeks to make time to write about creative tools and volumes. The subject still fascinates me but as I said at the start of this series it was a brain dump before lessons learnt paged out of my brain now I????????m no longer at Adobe or thinking about Dreams. Well the brain was not fully dumped the hectic business of running a new studio https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/09/volume_vs_surface/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/09/volume_vs_surface/ Fri, 13 Sep 2024 09:50:34 +0100 Surface vs Volume Formats in Tools The long-established default in the modeling space has been the transition from pushing pixels to manipulating points in space. Originally defined with a lightpen scanning physical models or handwritten points in code into point clouds. Over time, the ambiguity of points in space led to the dominance of the triangle or surface representation. Today, we explore https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/09/godot_console/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/09/godot_console/ Wed, 04 Sep 2024 12:07:11 +0100 Godot on Console Taking a break from my tools articles to write about Godot on PS5 and PSVR2. I????????m going to lay out My disagreement with the statement given Thoughts on W4 vs Foundation lines Go over their reasons Explain my studio plans, which include freely sharing any Godot port work I am sure that there are many things which triggered the Godot foundation to put out an article https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/08/hard_handcuff/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/08/hard_handcuff/ Fri, 30 Aug 2024 12:46:27 +0100 Hardware Handcuffs At the backend of almost years of creative tooling work with Substance 3D Modeler and Dreams I am brain dumping lessons learnt and this week I want to talk about what the actual data handcuffs are. In a later article I will talk about higher level parts of this problem and solutions but today let????????s talk about the true data handcuffs or limitations: HARDWARE! Conclusion at https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/08/why_meta/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/08/why_meta/ Fri, 23 Aug 2024 10:50:00 +0100 Why Build Tools? The Metaverse Problem! As part of my brain dump series on writing creative tools off the back of Substance 3D Modeler and Dreams I want to talk about WHY I was working on creative tools. Back in 2014 when I first interviewed at PlayStation with hope of being involved in the Morpheus Project, a wire basket VR prototype I had started developing prototypes for as a 3rd party https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/08/seed_godot/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/08/seed_godot/ Fri, 16 Aug 2024 10:58:11 +0100 Godot: The Secret XR Tech Move As part of my brain dump series on writing creative tools off the back of Substance 3D Modeler and Dreams I want to talk about technical innovation and the importance of your Tech Stack for Virtual Reality productivity and creativity software. So let????????s talk about the speed of light and Godot. Conclusion at the top to save you time Speed of Light - What are https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/08/fatigue_vr/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/08/fatigue_vr/ Thu, 08 Aug 2024 23:58:41 +0100 Fatigue in VR Productivity and Creativity Applications As part of my brain dump series on writing creative tools off the back of Substance 3D Modeler and Dreams I want to talk about the state of Virtual Reality for productivity and creativity. So let????????s talk about VR fatigue. Conclusion ; TLDR Use VR, you will solve fatigue issues as you find them User will be seated, head tilted down with https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/08/leaving_adobe/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/08/leaving_adobe/ Fri, 02 Aug 2024 10:01:51 +0100 Why leave an awesome team in Adobe Substance Modeller? August 2nd was my last day on Adobe Substance 3D Modeller. There is an FREE Open Beta and you should go try it: Open Beta Why? I????????m starting an indie VR game dev studio. Could not be more excited! I can????????t talk much about that yet BUT after working on PlayStation Dreams and then Modeller I think my time working on creative tools is at an https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/05/when_c/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/05/when_c/ Sun, 26 May 2024 13:27:34 +0100 When to go C++ in Godot I'm working on a VR game in Godot 4.x and well it has been long since that I admitted I would need to hack open the engine and make changes. I am trying to keep that to a minimum I talk about that about why the last game was shelved in this video. Now as progress on the new game is going well I want to talk about -two things- when you should C++. Problem: Cut a mesh https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/05/wildsea/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2024/05/wildsea/ Sun, 19 May 2024 12:51:54 +0100 Wildsea Campaign So recently I closed off my Second Moon DnD campaign after two and half years. Which was great and honestly give me a wonderful sense of completion. That being said I'm also really excited to dig into non-DnD systems again. On the table we discussed Heart, Scum and Villany and Wildsea. Obviously by the title you know we selected Wildsea. Once again I'm using my own wiki https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2023/12/die_rolls/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2023/12/die_rolls/ Fri, 29 Dec 2023 21:46:16 +0000 Dice Rolls in Table Top I've been thinking a lot lately about dice rolls as I consider reviving my old Channels of Power ttrpg and doing a v2.0 and launching some new campaigns and modules but this got me thinking about my old friend, dice probability. The classic d20 is a flat probability curve with a BROAD range with small bonus meaning that the curves are wild. You ALWAYS have a 5% https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2023/01/contingency/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2023/01/contingency/ Mon, 23 Jan 2023 10:49:59 +0000 Roleplaying in Sunny Hunny Are you ready for an adventure? Last week, I returned to the world of roleplaying for the first time in years. I journeyed to Con-tingency, an epic event held at Searles Leisure Resort in Hunstanton from 18th to 22nd January 2023. With three slots of four hours each, I delved into a diverse variety of roleplaying games, board games, and all-around fun. This event https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2022/05/session7/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2022/05/session7/ Fri, 27 May 2022 11:15:18 +0100 Experimenting with Midjourney Loving this idea of using Midjourney to document Dungeons and Dragons sessions. There is an issue with consistency and certain fantasy races but overall it really captures the feel of the sessions and the progress. It's great to see the session laid out visually. Brigadier's New Armor Kelly rallies the camp Public Whipping Feast to https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2022/03/secondmoon/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2022/03/secondmoon/ Fri, 04 Mar 2022 00:00:15 +0000 Second Moon I've been running a DnD games again. I am enjoying it so far. It is good to be rolling dice in person again. The campaign is actually running across multiple groups. Some of which are at the London DnD Meetup. So I've decided to publish some of the notes on my webpage to make it easier for players to reference stuff and intro players. Second Moon Notes Also, I made a fun https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2021/11/pickle07/ https://claire-blackshaw.com/blog/2021/11/pickle07/ Thu, 25 Nov 2021 11:20:25 +0000 Pickle on the Nightmare Wall - Part 7 Can You Breathe The air lay heavy with anticipation, the high sun casting shadows in sharp relief on the edge of the treeline. Pickle could easily pick out the twisted shape impaled with the javelin she had shot moments before. The corpse was bubbling and fuming with acrid black smoke. Now it appeared to be melting around the shaft, sliding down slowly. The