Mike Cook
@mtrc
AI and creativity researcher (not that kind of AI) at King's College London. I make things that make things. I also livecode, design games and wrote they/he/any
Hahaha nooooo, I’m still so new, that’s so sweet of you though. I never did it as much as I wanted (and I’ve been on a year hiatus due to arm) but I made a few things I really like ☺️ can’t wait to get back to it! You knit right?
For @gamesdonequick.com this year I’ve submitted a collection of Pac-Man ghosts, Pac himself and a little blue cover for one of the ghosts - all hand crocheted! Here’s some extra photos I took that didn’t make it to the main site. tracker.gamesdonequick.com/tracker/ui/e...
It was really great to watch someone else use the tool live, like he was doing a lot of manual effects (like flashing the controls onto the screen to flood it with pixels) and using functions I never use! Was so cool to watch. Also lovely to see my handmade font say someone else’s things 💜
FYI I already know of one weird cursor bug but it's not major! I *strongly* advise downloading it also, not in the browser. Oh and I forgot to mention - the digital version of the little Magpie zine is also on the itch page now too. It helps you write your first three lines of code ever!
New Release: Magpie (v0.2 - Joy). Magpie is a visual livecoding tool made in Picotron! Some changes in 0.2: 🔮 Dive into past code with Code Explorer 🎨 Lots of new functions to call and play with 🙋 Improved controls and help text 📚 Documentation website! Get it here: illomens.itch.io/magpie
Revolutionary Desires by Xuanlin Tham (404 Publishing) (a book about sex scenes in movies and why they matter)
Thank you to everyone who came, or who shared it, or who helped me feel part of a creative community these past few years. Meeting people who love making stuff, and learning about how they differ from you, is so cool. We are going to keep doing it more, and forever 💜
We’ve had a lovely invited talk so far and the schedule is already packed with pitched sessions! Exciting 🙂
I also made a zine about using Magpie, aimed at total beginners, as a kind of My First Zine experiment. Was really fun to make, I mixed screenshots of Magpie with the Picotron font haha.
On our way in to set up for CUAK today in a blissfully slightly cooler and cloudier London. I have no idea what’s going to happen today - which is kind of the point! But still a bit scary. Excited to find out.
Creating a little page to list some of the functions Magpie adds (on top of Picotron's existing API). With cute little gifs for ones I can illustrate easily!
there is really only one game i want to be playing once the temps hit 35 degrees
I think Aura's take here is a much better explainer for AI discourse in games right now - climate, water, energy, rights: these things are all important and part of the discussion, but it makes people think they can explain away particular parts to justify things. It doesn't work like that.
I made a poster for July's Algorhythms, the monthly livecoding open mic night we do in London. The main art is done in Magpie (the city scene is procedural), the crows are all handdrawn by livecoders. With apologies to Hiroshi Nagai. Grab a ticket here and join us: luma.com/i79za9g8
Having the weekly moment where I think about the last four lines of this poem.
New Post: NO-ONE IS GOING TO READ MY MANIFESTO (an update) A short devlog about people buying my manifesto, about fixing mistakes, responding to comments, and plans to release some games this month. Thanks so much for reading and responding, everyone! 💜 illomens.itch.io/no-one-is-go...
Gotta be honest, I don't agree with everything in this manifesto, but it's hard to fault the vibe. fotocopiadora.itch.io/no-more-drum...
It owes a lot to this tweet, which I have always wanted to reply to someone with
was reading up on game manifestos (via www.blog.radiator.debacle.us/2017/04/a-su...) and decided to go look at the arcane kids one again, this is how it looks from the uk today
