Velocity
Company
Documents about Velocity
Mobile Dev Memo49 min
S07, E23: Building ad tech for the chatbot era (with Tal Shoham)
The emergence of AI-native applications has created an urgent need for sustainable monetization models to offset the substantial operational costs associated with high-frequency inference.
- AI-native applications face high operational costs due to inference and token usage, necessitating a shift toward ad-supported monetization models to maintain sustainable profit margins.
- The granular intent signals captured in LLM conversations provide superior targeting capabilities compared to traditional search-based advertising, leading to higher click-through rates and conversion performance.
- Velocity, which recently emerged from stealth with $27 million in seed financing, is building an ad-tech mediation platform that allows developers to manage multiple ad networks through a single tool.
Mobile Dev MemoJul 2026
Extra Credits9 min
Why Hard Games Feel Great - Extra Credits Gaming
Effective game design requires a deep understanding of velocity (V) and the change in velocity (delta V) to maintain consistent player progression.
- Game balance relies on managing both velocity (V), the current rate of player progress, and delta V, the rate of change in that progress.
- The 'jerk principle' refers to the second derivative of velocity, representing sudden, noticeable shifts in gameplay pacing that players perceive as jarring or unfair.
- Poorly planned progression curves often force designers to use 'kludge math' or disjointed equations to force balance, which frequently introduces bugs, exploits, and inconsistent player experiences.
Extra CreditsFeb 2024
Game Developers Conference25 min
Inside The New Xbox Series X|S With Microsoft's Jason Ronald - GDC Podcast
The development of the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles was driven by a developer-centric philosophy aimed at removing technical barriers to creative expression.
- Microsoft prioritized developer feedback starting in 2016 to remove technical barriers, focusing on CPU performance, IO throughput, and graphical fidelity.
- The Xbox Velocity Architecture and hardware-accelerated features like DirectX ray tracing and variable rate shading were implemented to enhance overall console performance.
- The Series X and Series S share symmetrical CPU and IO performance to allow developers to scale titles across hardware tiers without significant engine rework.
Game Developers ConferenceFeb 2021
Game Developers Conference58 min
Tuning the Muzzle Velocity of the Plasma Rifle Bolt on Legendary Difficulty in HALO
The design of the plasma rifle within the Halo franchise serves as a case study for the distinction between long-term competitive balancing and iterative tuning.
- To increase game difficulty, developers should prioritize increasing the speed of combat—such as projectile velocity and AI firing rates—rather than simply increasing global damage scales, which often results in a punishing experience rather than a challenging one.
- Tuning is distinct from balancing; while balance focuses on long-term game longevity, tuning involves the specific calibration of mechanics to ensure they feel effective and responsive to the player in real-world scenarios.
- Projectile-based weapons like the plasma rifle require a visible contrail and a velocity that is slow enough to allow for human reaction and dodging, but fast enough to avoid appearing comical or disconnected from the game's frame rate.
Game Developers ConferenceOct 2019