Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast! – Details, episodes & analysis

#354The Intersection of Puzzle and StoryInterview2024.07.05

Narrative designer and pal of the program Beth Korth fills in for Ellen as guest host this week and next!

Your nice hosts welcome famed designer Ron Gilbert (Monkey Island, Thimbleweed Park) into the clubhouse to discuss the virtues of inexperience, friction for its own sake, how it's all about story, and it's puzzles all the way down.

The Intersection of Puzzle and StoryGame DesignNarrativeProductionReturn to Monkey Island will have a hint system because the internet exists now - Joshua Rivera, PolygonVerdant Skies - SteamClassic Game Postmortem: Maniac Mansion - GDC, YouTube

The phrase "confederacy of dunces" derives from a Jonathan Swift quote.

Examples of movies that feature a poorly-received genre twist include Serenity (2019), Remember Me (2010), and Safe Haven (2013).

#353"The super-powerful beam or whatever."Roundtable2024.06.27

This week, your nice hosts talk about code that isn't yours and ask about the natural conclusion of the narrative. Mark is handy, Ellen kinda wants to add a note, and Stephen is grounded.

It looked so easy in the brochure, but the brochure lied - Antony Ingram, HagertyCode Libraries0:07:41Mark LaCroixProductionProgrammingToolsBest practices for writing code comments - Ellen Spertus, Stack Overflow BlogDeclare namespaces to organize types - Microsoft LearnYour nice hosts discussed licensing in a previous episode:"What's a little grand larceny?"Game OversStephen McGregorGame DesignNarrativeAlternatives to the Game Over screen - Game Developer

We didn't mention it in the episode for some reason, but our "Metroidvania-lite" game Widget Satchel had no deaths, game overs, or failure states.

This week, your nice hosts talk a little bit about our civic duty before getting into two very on-brand topics. Make a plan to vote on (or before!) November 5th. Information at https://vote.org/

• Everything You Need to Vote - Vote.org
• What States Allow Same Day Voter Registration and When? - Rock the Vote
• The Only Patriotic Choice for President - The New York Times
• These are the Republicans endorsing Harris over Trump - Niha Masih, The Washington Post
• Donald Trump Is Unfit to Lead - The New York Times
• Donald Trump’s First Term Is a Warning - New York Times Opinion, The New York Times

Runtime Asset ManagementPhaserSimplify your content management with AddressablesUnityWADDoom WikiDouble Jump vs. DashGames Are Better With Double JumpsHeather AlexandraKotakuWhy Celeste's dash feels great Alex WiltshireRock Paper ShotgunKaizoWikipedia

#278"Insert interesting car here."Roundtable2022.09.14

Your nice hosts' pronunciation is on point this week as they say a really hard word a large number of times! In this episode, Mark and Ellen BOTH introduce even more complicated words to the other hosts, and Stephen admits to losing an argument (which he'd done on the show before but still don't tell his brother).

Noble Robot OfficeVerisimilitude0:05:23Ellen Burns-JohnsonArtGame DesignVerisimilitude Definition - Dictionary.comVeracity Definition - Dictionary.comThe Quest For Verisimilitude: Realism, Illusion, and Consistency In Video Games - Erik Kain, ForbesHow to build verisimilitude in your games? - Thunderdices, RedditOne comment of note in the thread: “Your point about making things simple is extremely important. Lots of things in real life are simple and it’s the combination of items interacting that it becomes complicated. When a DM makes the simple complicated there’s a danger of the world becoming too complex and breaking verisimilitude from the other side.”Thrive - Adam's Apple GamesBrobdingnagian Definition - Dictionary.comThomas Was Alone - Bithell Games, SteamIndie Game CreditsMark LaCroixProductionMobyGames - MobyGamesFilm Credits: Everything You Need To Know - Nashville Film Institute

#271Neurodiversity in Gamedev (with Adam Clewes-Boyne)Nice Thinking2022.07.28

This week, we invite our first guest for Nice Thinking! Adam Clewes-Boyne is putting together an initiative for neurodiversity advocacy and education in the games industry, specifically focused on ADHD. It started as a meetup at a conference, and Adam wants to see where it can go next.

Neurodiversity in GamedevEventsIRLAdam joined us, after a fashion, in a previous episode:Game Dev London does Nice Games JamCoffee with Butterscotch podcast - Butterscotch ShenanigansHow the Gender Gap Leaves Girls and Women Undertreated for ADHD - CHADDStrategic Planning for Nonprofits - National Council of Nonprofits

#244"Maximum Whooo!"Roundtable2021.11.25

As the podcast approaches its fifth anniversary, your hosts get a little (more) frivolous. Mark shares some industry news about hardware releases. Ellen prompts everyone to share their experiences of learning development tools and examine their process of learning through the lens of Maximum Whooo. Stephen explores the difference between cooperative and collaborative gameplay, and invents something called a Feedborm. Dang!

Steamworks Virtual Conference: Steam Deck - SteamSteam Deck launch delayed by two months - Jay Peters, The VergeIndie handheld Playdate delayed to 2022 - Michael McWhertor, PolygonHow Long to Beat: Metroid Dread - HowLongToBeatLearning to Use Tools14:05Ellen Burns-JohnsonMisc.ToolsArticulate Storyline 360, an e-learning development toolGodot, an open-source 2D & 3D game engineGodot: Getting Started >> Step by step - Juan Linietsky, Ariel Manzur and the Godot community, GodotTuckman's stages of group development - WikipediaCoDecks: Playful PlanningSonder (a story) - Ludum DareProactive and Retroactive Interference (re: learning interference) - Dr. Saul McLeod, Simply PsychologyCo-Op Games53:10.0Stephen McGregorGame DesignOvercooked Co-Op Review: Five-star co-op gaming - Jason Love, Co-OptimusThere’s a Difference Between Cooperation and Collaboration - Ron Ashkenas, Harvard Business Review

#273The State of VR in 2022Interview2022.08.11

Your nice hosts talk to Andrew Eiche, COO at Owlchemy Labs (Job Simulator, Vacation Simulator, Cosmonious High) about the state of VR in 2022, and where VR and VR development tools may be going in the coming years.

Andrew talks about how industrial design should influence VR design, why you shouldn't take inspiration from movies, and how ergonomics are important. Also, Ellen takes a hard stand on the right way to use a dial.

VR in 2022 and its FutureVR / AR / XROwlchemy LabsThe Design of Everyday Things - Don Norman, book

Headsets

Pico VR HeadsetPlaystation VR2

VR Engines

VRTK (Virtual Reality Tool Kit)TButt - Turbo Button

Cosmonious High

Cosmonius High on Tik Tok - Tik TokCosmonius High on TwitterCosmonius High on Steam

#281StorySlide (with Osama Dorias)Nice Games Jam2022.10.06

Game designer Osama Dorias returns to the clubhouse to help design a game that can be played remotely, and provides some (much needed?) structure to the Nice Games Jam process. Stephen is obsessed with Bananas, Ellen contemplates her mystery banana gift, and Mark realizes some of these concepts might be too complicated for small children.

Osama previously joined us for episode 211:Building Blocks of DesignThis isn't the first time we'd had a guest join us for a Nice Games Jam:Blame the Cat! (with Monica Fan)Osama on TwitterOsama's podcast is "The Habibis"

Playtest Materials

The slides we created for this episode's playtest.The Noun ProjectPrompt"Design a game that can be played remotely with (Osama's) children (and ideally is still fun for adults)"Game typeTabletop gamePlayer count3-6Materials

Electronic system for sharing slides (such as Google Slides)

A voice connection with remote players

A set of slides or icons/drawings/clipart to create the set of slides

A system for privately messaging players

Setup

• Create a set of slides (12) with icons, drawings, photos, or clip-art, if not using a pre-made slide deck. Each slide should contain 3 items. Pick a Game Master (usually one of the adults playing the game).
• The Game Master comes up with one group objective with two parts:
  • A protagonist/hero.
  • A conflict for the protagonist.
• The Game Master comes up with one secret objective for each player:
  • Each secret objective should start with the phrase “The hero should...”
  • Ideally these will be randomly assigned.

Rules

• Player order goes to the left and does not change
• The game ends when you run out of slides
• Each slide should be a simple phrase or sentence

Gameplay

• Play starts with the Game Master describing the first slide, starting with the phrase “Once upon a time..”
• Play continues to the player on the Game Master’s left and the slide progresses.
• This player chooses one of the three pictures on the slide to incorporate into the story with a phrase or sentence.
• Play continues to the left with a new slide. And continues around the circle, with each player getting a new slide (the Game Master may now sit out of the storytelling), until there are no more slides left.
• The Game Master may provide an epilogue (and explain what an epilogue is to the children playing the game) as desired.
  • Note: Defining 'Epilogue' will not be out of character for this game, as in this episode's run-through Mark would have had to explain to kids: headbanging, Ska, life in 1998, mosh-pits, micro-cassettes, and a reference to 'Spaceballs.'
• At the end of the story, players try to guess each others individual objectives.

#252Visual CodingInterview2022.03.17

This week we're joined by Alina Matson, developer of Fitment—a microworkout app designed with cozy gamers in mind. Alina talks about how she has used the popular Unity plugin Playmaker to kick-start her transition from a career in mechanical engineering to gamedev. Positive vibes abound. Plus, surprise singing!

Visual CodingProgrammingToolsPlaymaker - Hutong Games, Unity Asset StoreBolt - Unity, Unity Asset StoreBlueprint Visual Scripting - Unreal EngineProcessingScratch - MIT10 Most Nostalgic Flash Games From The Early 2000s - Samuel Williams, CBRStephen J. Guy, Director, Applied Motion Lab - University of MinnesotaZebraZappsWe mentioned a previous interview episode with Freya Holmer,Self-education, et al.

#247Designing like a Dungeon MasterInterview2021.12.10

Your nice hosts (Ellen, mainly) conduct a double-interview, with a consummate professional and a committed amateur, on the subject of game design though the lens of tabletop game mastering. Subjects include the dynamic between system design and session design, the balance between planning and improvisation, and how players can be encouraged to participate in the process.

Designing like a Dungeon MasterGame DesignNarrativeTabletopAlternity - Sasquatch Game StudioMDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research - Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, Robert Zubek, Northwestern UniversityDread, a game of horror and suspense - The Impossible DreamThousand Year Old Vampire - Tim HutchingsRobin's Laws of Good Game Mastering - Robin D. LawsUnpossible Game LabsCon of the NorthKatrina imagined a future with "Westworld as a video game," which coincidentally was a topic in one of our first episodes:"It's against the law to stop."