Dev Game Club

• DGC Ep 439: The Stanley Parable Bonus Interview with William Pugh

  Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on indie games with an interview with William Pugh of Crows Crows Crows, one of the principal developers of The Stanley Parable. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Podcast breakdown: 1:06 Interview 1:04:15 Break 1:04:49 Outro Issues covered: his way in, modding for Mario and fan games, blaming our parents, planning to work for Valve, seeing a format for drama and small teams, turning "we'll see" into "whoopie!", being young when you start, early success and having to learn, being your own boss in indie, watching others, therapy, the crush in the industry, market share and Steam, misguided and unsustainable investment, hoping you can ride your past success after gaps in release, mansion success vs terrace house success, remote development living at home, using... nontraditional game development tools, production: the hardest part, a negative learning experience, killing yourselves for the game, "indie developers are certifiably nuts," intelligence and humor, working for the flowchart of it all, going from a console port to adding more and more content and expanding out to be a multi-platform release, a check that's difficult to cash, finding ways to subvert and surprise, a great trailer and setting a trend, day to day iteration on an anthology, not locking things behind meta gates but changing that up in the sequel, bringing in the bucket, maintaining the original and lovingly adding using the parts you have, having confidence, drawing the line when co-creators are happy, validating your own feelings through playtest, trusting in your own taste, team dynamics and having team members get a say, building and having to throw away, the pressure of the first 15 minutes, grabbing attention and compelling to play more... across the game, subverting the mental map, the impact on future work, edging into new areas, having to overdeliver on expectations and at a high level, needing to hit by the time it arrives, reverse-engineering the game development career, getting good advice, spending the time for the quality, seeing the player, not knowing how you'd extend it, really knowing their parameters, interpreting player feelings, the uselessness of focus-testing, overdoing it on the risk aversion. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Team Fortress 2, Portal, Davey Wreden, Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and the Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist, Accounting/Accounting+, Valve, Left 4 Dead, Mario (series), Nintendo, Macromedia Director, Garry's Mod, Narbacular Drop, DigiPen, The Lord of the Rings, Microsoft, Sonic the Hedgehog, Fez, Spelunky, Skype, Dropbox, MSPaint, Google Docs, Chet Faliszek, Indie Game: The Movie, Mark Rein, PlayStation 4, Karla Zimonja, LucasArts, Outer Wilds, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: ... TBA! Twitch: timlongojr  Discord  [email protected] 

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• DGC Ep 438: Gone Home Bonus Interview with Karla Zimonja

  Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we revisit our series on Gone Home and walking simulators with an interview with Karla Zimonja. We talk about Karla's early career before transitioning to talking about Minerva's Den and get a lot of great gems from the development of Gone Home. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Podcast breakdown: 01:02 Interview 1:21:00 Break 1:21:30 Outro Issues covered: early life and education, stop motion animation and puppetry, Squigglevision, no usual paths into games, transitioning to 3D animation, getting on the content mill, getting in, repetition and burnout, doing tons of research and visual design, picking the soundtrack and working on voice, a small team covering a lot of stuff, putting together clipped out letters, covering all the bases for graphic design/props/and more, digital hoarding, moving to Portland, having a great production, making the bros cry, getting onto Steam, critical acclaim getting you to market, taking out the combat, removing rather than replacing, environmental storytelling, setting the game in the 90s, being aware of the world and having no cellphones, setting yourself up for rigor, pacing, tying together time and space, knowing where the player will go, going to the second floor vs the first floor, putting chunks together, a mind map, callbacks between props, forgetting you're in a video game, the story doesn't exist without the player putting things together, the IKEA effect, situating the journal in Sam's perspective, audio logs, Katie knowing what her sister's voice would be like, not being a little game designer, avoiding artifice, avoiding goofiness, three parter audio logs, cutting out logs you didn't need, not holding the player's hand, dumbing down too far vs letting people be uncomfortable, finding the voice via research, being able to generalize from the highly detailed specifics, getting handwriting, magic and Unicorn Cloud 7, being just as easy to put in the supernatural story but resisting that, wanting the fantasy, how to think about game structure, "the team makes the game," putting story in the ephemera, constraints and applying them to generate the tension, award-winning, the indie space and the blogs, indies banding together, thinking about a game when you're not playing it. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Asheron's Call 2, Zoo Tycoon 2, 2K Marin, Bioshock 2, Minerva's Den, Fullbright, Tacoma, Open Roads, Wanderstop, Sonderlust Studios, Generation Exile, EA, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, Olive Jar Animation, MTV, The Critic, Nightmare Before Christmas, Tom Snyder, Soup to Nuts, Dr. Katz, Home Movies, Mitch Hedberg, Trainspotting, Animator Pro, Turbine Games, Lightwave, The Last of Us, Something Awful, Fallout (series), Bob Hope, Maya, Johnnemann Nordhagen, Karina Veronica Riesgo, Inkscape, Steve Gaynor, Rachel Gaynor, Steam Greenlight, Independent Games Festival/IGF, Dear Esther, Call of Cthulhu, Street Fighter, NES/SNES, IKEA, William Goldman, Alien: Isolation, Kate Craig, Final Fantasy VII, Horse Master, Oddity Roadshow, Carl Lumbly, Alias, John Wick, Lance Reddick, Outer Wilds, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia, Bratmobile. Next time: TBA! Twitch: timlongojr  Discord  [email protected] 

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• DGC Ep 437: Spelunky (part three)

  Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on 2D indie platformer-ish things with our final episode on Spelunky. Tim talks a little bit about Derek Yu's book, the rigor and how the game just plays different, as well as Brett dipping into spoiler territory for Tim's benefit, before we turn to takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: To Ice Mines (Tim) Podcast breakdown: 00:00:47 Game discussion 59:05 Break 59:45 Takeaways Issues covered: the opening song, music in later levels and its fitness, applying movement mechanics to different challenges, procedural metrics, fall distances, hanging vs standing in one state, getting into the mental state of what your equipment is, not panicking, playing with a heart monitor, living in present vs future, the specialness of the daily challenge, reps and exercise, fighting games and muscle memory, consistency of the rules, using ropes to drop from your height, always be carrying, getting right up to the edge and dropping your carry, getting into the book, making all objects consistent, sacrifice spoiler talk, golden path spoiler talk, turkeys, going beyond your genre, what's a roguelike/lite, personality coming through, unleashing creativity, pursuing consistency throughout, games that say yes/and or yes/but, embracing a roguelite's purity, trusting the game and not minding failure, getting to depth, choosing the right run length, the risk of dilution. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Nintendo, Indiana Jones, Prince of Persia, Final Fantasy (series), Dark Souls (series), Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven, KyleAndError, Hollow Knight, Calamity Nolan, Quake, Artimage, Boss Fight Books, Nick Suttner, Shadow of the Colossus, Sebastian Deken, Aquaria, Dwarf Fortress, The Evil Dead, PlayStation Vita, Fez, Cave Story, Daisuke Amaya, Earthbound, Pokemon, Derek Yu, mossmouth, Super Mario Bros, Outer Wilds, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: TBA Twitch: timlongojr  Discord  [email protected] 

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• DGC Ep 436: Spelunky (part two)

  Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Spelunky, part of a larger series on independent games. Tim uses the B word about the game, and we talk about the rigor with which one approaches the game, as well as some best practices for play, among other topics and listener mail. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played:  Into the Jungle (Tim) Issues covered: relative lack of text but narrative, blending between levels, the Tunnel Man, the gold key and the chest, triggering the golden path, bouncing off the game originally, practice and rigor, in the learning/knowledge phase, a platformer Tim would play, embracing the process, how you spend the time and how to learn, learning from deathly mistakes, Always Be Carrying, looking down, the brilliance of breaking the platformer mold, "this could be the run," the patterns of Spelunky, learning to play Chess, remembering in chunks, slipping into flow and staying, dying to the shopkeeper in a new way, stepping back with the analytical brain, how to use ropes, everything's physical, building up the things you can do, the Polaroid simulating after you die, similarities to Outer Wilds, sacrificing on the altar, the safe space of a coffin, making a choice, running vs not running, the exception that proves the rule, how the random seed works, animating a sprite on a curve, the first commercial game, frying a video card. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Rogue, Rogue Legacy (series), Dark Souls (series), Mario (series), Andy Nealen, Outer Wilds, Hollow Knight, Remnant II, Chess, LostLake86, Legend of Zelda, Cave Story, Sasha/scarytiger, Daisuke Amaya, Wii, Nintendo Switch, Luke Theriault, Derek Yu, Aquaria, Alec Holowka, Bit Blot, World of Goo, Gish, Edmund McMillen, Lugaru HD, Wolfire Games, Humble Bundle, Penumbra, Frictional Games, Amnesia, Ori and the Blind Forest, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: More Spelunky! Errata: The eye is in fact called the Udjat Eye. And yes, it is in fact Edmund McMillen. Twitch: timlongojr  Discord  [email protected]

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• DGC Ep 435: Spelunky (part one)

  Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our major series on various indie games, now looking at some 2D action games with Spelunky. We talk very briefly about its director and then Tim marvels over a dynamic level design that nonetheless feels just right. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Into the Jungle (Tim) Issues covered: walking over the sands, a little history of the game, a legendary game, precise platforming, procedural and dynamic, how the level generation works, rules-based generation, eschewing precise level design, not being able to know the level, having many verbs, having to learn the skills, the wind-up of the whip, a game where you have to be focused, not seeing an obstacle due to focusing, focus meditation, the Spelunky daily challenge, similarities to theater, taking a risk with design, not knowing what other players will do, opponents dictating skill ceilings, matchmaking as the balancing feature, consistency of behaviors, not rushing, gaining knowledge in games, the ghost and fear, practicing via the tunnel man, whether it's helpful to skip ahead, the speed-run achievement, spending time on each level, getting abilities in the stores vs equippables, the eggplant and the ball-and-chain, Derek's book, learning by death.  Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Tiny Subversions/Darius Kazemi, Fez, Derek Yu/mossmouth, Andy Hall, UFO 50, PS Vita, World of Warcraft, Cave Story, Diablo, Dead Cells, Minecraft, Kaeon, MegaMan, Contra, Super Mario Bros., Hunt: Showdown, Overwatch, Fortnite, Halo (series), Dark Souls, Andy Nealen, Zelda (series), Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Olmecorox, Half-Life 2, TIGSource, Demons's Souls, Dark Souls 2, Outer Wilds, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.    Next time: More Spelunky! Twitch: timlongojr  Discord [email protected] 

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