Home on Studio Mystery

My Response to the Furidashi MGS3 Episode

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I’m going to keep this brief because my last post was way too long.

I just finished listening to the MGS3 episode of the Furidashi Podcast, and overall, I think they got it right. Their takes were pretty good, in particular the points on FPV in cutscenes, EVA and the Boss as characters, and the centrality of lore to this entry. I basically agreed with all of those points.

Life Update April 2026

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Where I’ve Been #

It has been almost a full year since my last update, and this project has almost entirely stalled-out. Sometimes I wonder why I am still trying to make this Studio Mystery thing work. I can’t work on it consistently, I’m not building a real audience or industry connections, and as my wife likes to remind me, the name and branding are terrible.

An Open Letter to Nicholas Theisen / Furidashi Podcast

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

You’re Wrong about Metal Gear Solid 2 #

Dear Nicolas:

I’m a Furidashi listener and in general, I think you and Lauren make excellent video game critiques and commentary. I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve heard so far and look forward to more of your content.

Two can Play at These Games - Perfect Co-op List for Valentines Day

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

My wife told me to write this exact blog post over a year ago, and here we are, approaching Valentines once again. So, if you’re looking for something fun to do with your special someone on V-Day, check out one of these options. And hey, they can’t be any worse than watching the movie Holmes and Watson.

Turso is Great for QA Automation

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Once upon a time at work, I was tasked with writing automated tests for a web application built on top of Salesforce. The devs used a special plugin to implement a custom UI, but the underlying UI and Backend were still Salesforce. Now, I know what you’re thinking. You shouldn’t be testing Salesforce. That’s Salesforce (the company)’s job. And you’d be right, but it’s not just SF, it’s our team’s implementation of hundreds of little customizeable widgets, features, formulas, plugins and extras that all work in part to create a CMS.

How I Stopped Scrolling on my Phone (Again)

Sat, 13 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A while back, I wrote up a post about doom-scrolling and phone addiction. Since then, my habits have changed and I wanted to make an update because I’ve made even more progress.

If you haven’t read the old post, check it out. Or just read the following summary to see what I had tried earlier:

Life Update June 2025

Sat, 14 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Where I’ve Been #

First off, let me update you on my current projects:

My scifi mech novel, SoftWar - Predator, Prey is my current focus. I’ve completely finished the first 13 chapter draft, but my wife has given me some incredibly valueable feedback (aka the main character sucks) and she’s 100% right. So I’m four chapters into the rewrite and it’s getting better. I’m excited to see this new version of Yuri survive Rocco-II and fight off the Zard hacker.

Chapter 4

Sun, 13 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

No sooner had the chamber pressurized than the door to the port cracked open, just slightly enough to allow the hiss of rushing air to echo through the space. Yuri glanced at the door and watched as it opened slowly. He felt a gentle pull as the low pressure tunnel equalized with the inside of the port.

Chapter 3

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Over the course of the last seven months in the academy, Yuri’s planet-side mech training had covered several skills to effectively navigate around a battlefield. He knew how to use grids and maps to chart friends and target locations, and he found the z axis easy enough to pick up on the fly.

Chapter 2

Sun, 23 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Chapter 2 #

Yuri caught up quickly, not wanting to be left behind. The two of them walked across the long steel platform toward the far left side of the massive industrial space. Yuri could see the engineers ahead carrying Hawthorne’s stretcher down the scaffold staircase. They were so high up, the boy felt a bit of vertigo and kept his hand on the railing.

The Deterministic AI Pipe-Dream

Sun, 09 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

So there I was… #

So there I was applying to another startup on Y-Combinator a few Mondays ago, and in my cover letter I made a joke about how difficult it is to get deterministic responses out of LLMs. Almost immediately after I sent the email, I instantly came up with a better joke I should have used instead:

Chapter 1

Sat, 01 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Chapter 1 #

A few hours later, on a dark and sandy beach, a few kilometers from the outskirts of New Miami, the young man reclined on his red and yellow beach chair. Waves rolled in slowly and quietly all around. On this lonely beach, he was isolated and free.

Chapter 0

Sat, 22 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Chapter 0 #

“Order up! #103?”

The cook’s gray apron and red polo shirt were soaked through with sweat, and his thin mustache and long black hair curled from the humidity behind him. Steam and smoke emerged from the small noodle shop’s front window like ghosts escaping the underworld. The short, stocky asian man leaned out, underneath the bright orange neon sign, Lu’s Noodles, and looked around.

Some Thoughts on Designing Morality in Games

Sat, 15 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Intro #

I’m working on a game right now that involves a lot of narrative. That’s lead me to think a lot about moral choice in games, what I like, and what I want to do in the future.

How to save your Terminal Command History

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Problem #

Maybe like me, you work on lots of remote, terminal-only servers setting up stupid stuff like Plex, Jenkins, Godot Packaging, game servers, etc.

If you do this, you probably spend hours testing terminal commands trying to find the exact commands to configure your device properly. If your server ever went down, all that work would be lost forever.

How I Stopped Scrolling on my Phone

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The most popular apps and websites are designed to hook you like a drug. I had struggled for years with internet addiction, but finally feel free.

Here’s what worked for me:

Step 1: Go to a Therapist #

This was both the most important step. Being able to talk about my addiction with someone who could hold me accountable helped me fight back in a real way. Finding the right therapist was tough, but worth it.

Fallout 3 is the Perfect Survival Horror Game

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Perfecting Survival Horror #

I think the games that have had the most consistent impact on me in the past have been survival horror games. But what makes a survival horror game perfect?

A survival horror game transcends the genre when it uses horror elements to effectively enhance its non-horror message. Here are some examples:

How to Apply Quantitative Predictions to Game Design

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I’m Doing it Wrong #

“If you’re not making quantitative predictions, you’re probably doing it wrong.” Said Gabe Newel, speaking about his company’s approach to design in this video.

Newel’s words got me thinking: What is a quantitative prediction? And how can game devs apply them to their design process? As a guy who wants to produce video games, it seems like a useful practice to employ.

What is Esmerelda: The Black Amber Covenant?

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

What is Esmerelda: The Black Amber Covenant? #

ETBAC is a game I’ve been working on (in some guise) since 2020. It’s a part-time, labor of love project, but I’m trying to take it as seriously as possible. I have big dreams for it, hopefully it gets to be as big as Stardew Valley someday.

What is Shorter.Services?

Tue, 03 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

What is Shorter Services? #

Shorter.Services is a SAAS application I dreamed up in December 2023. I wanted to make it easier to convert human-readable text from rasterized files into machine-readable data. I also wanted to make money off what I thought was a unique idea.

Why did gaming struggle in 2024?

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

2024 had some Big Problems #

This year, the gaming industry continues to face a number of challenges:

Big budget, AAA games are bombing with core audiences. (Dragon Age, Star Wars Outlaws, Golum, Call of Duty, and Starfield.)
Microtransactions continue to shatter immersion and prey on consumers.
Corporate interferance (risk avoidance) diminishes creativity.

But overall, I think these issues all stem from the same root problem. If you work in gaming, your north star should be “fun.”

Why does this blog exist?

Sun, 01 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Why Bother? #

In a synthetic age, I believe the most human thing we can do is to tell stories. Studio Mystery exists to foster and produce those stories, to keep us excited, entertained, and fulfilled. That is the mission of the company.

Home on Studio Mystery

My Response to the Furidashi MGS3 Episode

Life Update April 2026

Where I’ve Been #

An Open Letter to Nicholas Theisen / Furidashi Podcast

You’re Wrong about Metal Gear Solid 2 #

Two can Play at These Games - Perfect Co-op List for Valentines Day

Turso is Great for QA Automation

Top 10 Blog Posts of 2025

How I Stopped Scrolling on my Phone (Again)

Life Update June 2025

Where I’ve Been #

Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 #

The Deterministic AI Pipe-Dream

So there I was… #

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 #

Chapter 0

Chapter 0 #

Some Thoughts on Designing Morality in Games

Intro #

How to save your Terminal Command History

The Problem #

How I Stopped Scrolling on my Phone

Step 1: Go to a Therapist #

Fallout 3 is the Perfect Survival Horror Game

Perfecting Survival Horror #

How to Apply Quantitative Predictions to Game Design

I’m Doing it Wrong #

What is Esmerelda: The Black Amber Covenant?

What is Esmerelda: The Black Amber Covenant? #

What is Shorter.Services?

What is Shorter Services? #

Why did gaming struggle in 2024?

2024 had some Big Problems #

Why does this blog exist?

Why Bother? #