Kelly Mears

Concept Wiki

Knowledge

Ongoing documentation of the subjects I’m learning about and the relationships between them.

Topic of the DayPlay & Games

Game AI

Computer opponents built to be interesting to play against rather than optimal.

Knowledge Map

Knowledge graph: 559 notes, 3150 links.Each dot is a note, sized by how many links it has and colored by topic. Focus or hover a dot to isolate it and its neighbors; activate it to open the note. The graph is a single tab stop: use the arrow keys to move between notes, Home and End for the most and least linked, Enter to open the focused note, and Escape to leave the graph.Ground TruthPlausible MechanismSilent FailureDeterminismNamingRoot Cause AnalysisFalsifiabilityGoodhart's LawProvenanceAnchoring EffectTaxonomyLarge Language ModelProcedural GenerationRoguelikeAccessibilityDocumentation RotPlain LanguageEnvironmental StorytellingGame FeelTruncation BiasVacuous TruthCode ReviewGame AILive Service GameReproducible CaseTool UseObservabilityTechnical DebtCollective ActionExhaustive ClaimFermi EstimationIdempotenceMeta-ProgressionNondeterminismPrototype TheorySecret ManagementSeeded RandomnessLegibilityPerformance BudgetRace ConditionCache InvalidationGacha MonetizationPrompt EngineeringSoulslikeContainerizationContext WindowContinuous IntegrationHash FunctionModule GraphMoral PanicPath DependenceBig-O NotationProcessRegressionSensitivity and SpecificityVersion ControlBase Rate FallacyChesterton's FenceCode SigningDocument Object ModelFail FastReact Server ComponentsServer-Side RenderingUnit TestDesign SystemDesign TokenFlaky TestHallucinationHash TableInstrumentationKnowledge GraphLeast PrivilegeLinguistic RelativityLudonarrative DissonanceMotion DesignPhysical DependenceStreaming ResponseTime ZoneTokenWrite-Ahead LoggingComponent StoryConfidence TrickCore Web VitalsCoverage GateDomain Name SystemEventual ConsistencyFactory GameIslands ArchitectureNociceptionPackage ManagerProgressive EnhancementPull RequestSearch Engine OptimizationSelection BiasVirtual Private NetworkCompulsion LoopConstraint PropagationContinuous DeploymentDataminingDeprecationDiegetic InterfaceEnvironment VariableFolk EtymologyMetagameMetroidvaniaNetwork EffectOverton WindowPortalRegulatory CaptureSame-Origin PolicySchema ValidationShellSpeedrunSurvivorship BiasTerror Management TheoryToken BudgetTypographic ScaleVariable-Ratio ReinforcementWikiAssertionCaller ID AuthenticationCellular AutomatonCharacter EncodingCode CoverageColor ContrastCronFocus ManagementGuardrailImmersive SimKeyboard NavigationRecord and Replay TestingSemantic VersioningShaderSystem PromptTier ListVoxelAchievement HuntingAgentic LoopAutomation BiasAvailability CascadeBacklinkBone RemodelingCode SplittingCommons-Based Peer ProductionDaemonDark ModeDatabase MigrationEggcornEvaluation HarnessFrame DataHeadless ComponentHydrationIdle GameInertial Frame of ReferenceInformation ArchitectureLazy LoadingMalaphorMoist Wound HealingMotte and BaileyOKLCHPromptPrompt InjectionRelational DatabaseRight to RepairRoguelike DeckbuilderSemantic HTMLStacking ContextSupply Chain SecurityTest FixtureTime as ResourceTrunk-Based DevelopmentUniversal Basic IncomeAutomatic Speech RecognitionBetteridge's Law of HeadlinesBranch CoverageBranching ModelBundlerBus FactorColony SimConfirmation BiasDefensive DefaultFeature FlagFingerprintFracture FixationHanlon's RazorIntegration TestInvincibility FramesMondegreenPermadeathPoe's LawRasterizationReduced MotionResource StarvationRolling ResistanceSemantic ConflictSkill CheckStatic Site GenerationStreetlight EffectStructured OutputTerminal User InterfaceTest DoubleUI PrimitiveVisual Regression TestingWebRTCZettelkastenAdversarial ReviewAssist ModeAstroturfingBattle RoyaleClient-Server BoundaryCode CommentConstrained DecodingcontenteditableCritical Rendering PathCunningham's LawDiegesisExternalityFair-Play MysteryFracture NonunionGame PreservationJaywalkingL-SystemMarkdownMechanistic InterpretabilityMonorepoMonty Hall ProblemOpponent Process TheoryParry and RipostePeer-to-PeerPlanned ObsolescencePrincipal-Agent ProblemRegional Nerve BlockSchema DriftSubagentSymbolic LinkThree-Way MergeTragedy of the CommonsUtility-First CSSWatershed Blood SupplyWeb Font LoadingAgent MemoryARIABackronymBinary SearchCargo CultChekhov's GunContent Delivery NetworkConventional CommitsConway's LawCSS Custom PropertyDispersionDotfilesEmergent GameplayeSIMFocus TrapFrontmatterGame ModdingGit WorktreeGlobGrammatical GenderHeadless BrowserHuman in the LoopIncremental Static RegenerationKayfabeLaw of TrivialityLeast Recently Used CacheLLM-as-JudgeMarkov ChainMetasyntactic VariableMetroidbrainiaModel Context ProtocolMulti-Agent OrchestrationPascal's PrinciplePercentage PointPolarized LightPortRebaseRent-SeekingResponsive BreakpointRetronasal OlfactionRSSRubber Duck DebuggingScoped StylingSecond-System EffectSegmented SleepSnowcloneSquash MergeStructured DataTest-Driven DevelopmentTrick-Taking GameUnreachable CodeVapor-Compression RefrigerationVideo Game LocalizationVisual NovelXDG Base Directory SpecificationXenobiotic MetabolismACIDAgent SkillAtomic CommitAvailability HeuristicCAP TheoremCascadeCity BuilderCollocationCommitComputer Role-Playing GameContainer QueryDisco ElysiumEasingEmulationFan-Out and Fan-InFree-to-PlayHeadless CMSHTTP CachingHyrum's LawJSON SchemaLockfileMacGuffinMerge TrainModel RoutingModern Monetary TheoryMonadMulti-TenancyOptimistic UIPermissive LicensePure FunctionRent StrikeRhythm GameSemantic SatiationShibbolethSpecific Absorption RateSpoiler EtiquetteStacked Pull RequestsSubtitlingTree ShakingTwo-Phase CommitUncanny ValleyWebSocketYak ShavingAffordanceBroken Windows TheoryBullet HeavenChange Data CaptureCopyleftCorrelation and CausationCreature CollectorDatabase ReplicationDunning-Kruger EffectFlanderizationHeisenbugIllusory Truth EffectIPv6Kuleshov EffectLetterlockingLoad BalancingMerge ConflictOverfittingPoisePreload and PrefetchRetinoidRetrieval-Augmented GenerationRollbackSeed DataSim RacingStaggered AnimationSurvival HorrorSweet HomeTCP and UDPZero-Downtime DeploymentBlue-Green DeploymentCanary ReleaseClosureConflict-Free Replicated Data TypeConsistent HashingDifficulty CurveFine-TuningFinite State MachineHalo EffectHick's LawImmutabilityInflammationInterpreterMessage QueuePlacebo EffectRay TracingRecursionRegression to the MeanRogueliteRollback NetcodeSignaling ServerSmoke TestSocial ProofSpiral of SilenceTemperature SamplingWeb ComponentsWeb WorkerWebhookActor ModelAnycastAPI GatewayB-TreeBlameless PostmortemBrooks's LawChrootCompilerContent Security PolicyContract TestingControl GroupsCopy-on-WriteCross-Site ScriptingDark PatternDatabase ShardingEngine BuildingETagEvent LoopFeature CreepFilter BubbleFitts's LawFive WhysGarbage CollectionGestalt PrinciplesGitOpsGrand Strategy GameGrid SystemHTTP2 and HTTP3Immutable InfrastructureJSON Web TokenLatency and JitterLazy EvaluationLinux NamespacesMemoizationMinimum Viable ProductMutation TestingNew Game PlusOccam's RazorPattern MatchingSave ScummingService WorkerShadow DOMSkeuomorphismStealth MechanicsSystemdThird-Person EffectTrieType InferenceWorse Is BetterZero Trust NetworkAmortized AnalysisAnalgesic LadderAuto BattlerBackpressureBloom FilterBranching NarrativeBuoyancyChain-of-Thought PromptingCircuit BreakerCompanion AICompartment SyndromeConcurrency and ParallelismCover SystemCross-Origin Resource SharingDeckbuilderDraft and PublishedEvent SourcingFog of WarFundamental Attribution ErrorGall's LawGroupthinkHitbox and HurtboxHofstadter's LawInfrastructure as CodeInit SystemLevel of DetailMarching CubesNAT TraversalNot Invented HereOAuthOpen World DesignOptimistic LockingP-HackingParkinson's LawPeter PrinciplePity TimerPostel's LawPremature OptimizationProcedural NarrativeProgressive DisclosureQUICQuick Time EventReferred PainRolling ReleaseSandbox GameSigned Distance FieldSimpson's ParadoxSnapshot TestingSunk Cost FallacyTail Call OptimizationTarotTerminal VelocityTower DefenseVariable FontsVector DatabaseVirtual DOMWrite-Behind CacheXY Problem4X GameBoss RushBystander EffectCenter of MassCircadian RhythmConsensus AlgorithmCultural CringeCurryingDebounce and ThrottleDenormalizationDiffractionDNS over HTTPSDoomscrollingDuck TypingDynamic ProgrammingEmbeddingEscort MissionFilesystem SnapshotFrictionGolden File TestingHedonic TreadmillHigher-Order FunctionHypervisorInodeLeader ElectionLearned HelplessnessMatchmaking RatingMultiple EndingsNostalgiaParasocial RelationshipPessimistic LockingPhysically Based RenderingProperty-Based TestingPublication BiasQuantizationRate LimitingReflectionRegular ExpressionScar TissueSkill TreeTendon and LigamentThermoregulationTorqueViscosityWorker PlacementDoppler EffectKerningMulticastNocebo EffectProprioceptionStreisand EffectSurface TensionThermal ExpansionVestibular System

Drag to pan · hold /ctrl and scroll — or pinch — to zoom.

Domains

15 of them

Method

66 notes

How to know things, and how to avoid being confidently wrong.

  • Ground Truth
  • Plausible Mechanism
  • Silent Failure
  • Naming

Explore

Computation & Algorithms

33 notes

Algorithms, data structures, and what they cost.

  • Big-O Notation
  • Hash Table
  • Write-Ahead Logging
  • Binary Search

Explore

Agents & Language Models

40 notes

How systems built on language models actually work, and how they fail.

  • Large Language Model
  • Tool Use
  • Nondeterminism
  • Prompt Engineering

Explore

Web Platform

39 notes

Where code runs, what ships, and what the browser does with it.

  • Performance Budget
  • Cache Invalidation
  • Module Graph
  • Document Object Model

Explore

Design & Interface

37 notes

Visual systems, motion, and access.

  • Accessibility
  • Design System
  • Design Token
  • Motion Design

Explore

Testing & Verification

24 notes

Establishing that something works, and recognizing when you have established nothing.

  • Race Condition
  • Unit Test
  • Flaky Test
  • Instrumentation

Explore

Version Control & Delivery

33 notes

Getting changes from a working copy into the world.

  • Code Review
  • Continuous Integration
  • Version Control
  • Pull Request

Explore

Systems & Tooling

32 notes

The machine underneath.

  • Determinism
  • Idempotence
  • Secret Management
  • Containerization

Explore

Data & Content

28 notes

Modeling, storing, and publishing information.

  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Database Migration
  • Information Architecture
  • Relational Database

Explore

Graphics & Rendering

14 notes

How images and worlds get computed.

  • Procedural Generation
  • Seeded Randomness
  • Constraint Propagation
  • Cellular Automaton

Explore

Play & Games

79 notes

Games as designed experience, and the culture around them.

  • Roguelike
  • Environmental Storytelling
  • Game Feel
  • Game AI

Explore

Networks & Distribution

25 notes

Coordination without a center.

  • Streaming Response
  • Eventual Consistency
  • Virtual Private Network
  • Caller ID Authentication

Explore

Matter & Energy

17 notes

Light, force, heat, and motion.

  • Inertial Frame of Reference
  • Rolling Resistance
  • Dispersion
  • Pascal's Principle

Explore

Body & Medicine

22 notes

Physiology, injury, and repair.

  • Physical Dependence
  • Nociception
  • Bone Remodeling
  • Moist Wound Healing

Explore

Meaning & Society

70 notes

Knowledge, language, and acting together.

  • Taxonomy
  • Plain Language
  • Collective Action
  • Prototype Theory
  • Legibility
  • Moral Panic

Explore

Most connected notes