Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Nov 21 2024 427 ep. 662

Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast! artwork

The podcast where nice gamedevs talk gaming and game development. Nice!

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Nice Thinking: "Iterative Game Jam"

Your nice hosts chew over a concept Stephen brings into the clubhouse: a series of "game jams" where participants iterate on one specific idea in each session.Playdate Update - Fall 2024 - Panic, YouTubeNoble Engine - Noble RobotIGDATC Events - igdatc0:04:30Iterative Game JamMeditations

Puzzle Systems (with Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari)

Releasing 2019's "Baba is You" after more than a decade of making puzzle games was a milestone for this week's guest, but it was also just the beginning of his design journey. Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari talks to your nice hosts about the balance between giving players freedom and constraining their expression, the pacing and sequencing of individual puzzles, what happens when a "c

Nice Games Jam: "Soapbox Derby OF TIME"

In this episode Ellen usurps the normal process for a nice game jam prompt to explore her own idea on tabletop mechanics. Who would have thought the scoring system for this game would be 'Points for the Future War'?Stephen's One-Minute Movie - Stephen McGregor's Group, YouTubeDiscussion during developmentSubbuteoSoapboxderby.orgBullet Bill Soapbox Derby Car

Tutorialization with Puzzles (with Luke Spierewka)

"Tutorials shouldn’t feel like tutorials!" Like most aspects of game design, it's an easy concept to summarize but a difficult one to pull off. Luke Spierewka and the team at Afterburn Games have mastered it, using their charming approach in successful titles like Golf Peaks and Railbound. Come learn the arcane secrets of the puzzle game tutorial! Also fe

"Please go vote." Runtime Asset Management; Double Jump vs. Dash

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.orgWhat States Allow Same Day Voter Registration and When? - Rock the VoteThe Only Patriotic Choice for President - The New Y

Combat Design (with Timothy Staton-Davis)

We welcome Timothy Staton-Davis into the clubhouse to talk both the broad strokes and the nitty-gritty of combat design.Melanated Game Kitchen - itch.ioCombat DesignArtGame DesignWe talked about "juice" in game design way back! You can find links related to the topic here as well."I am a Juice Journeyman!"Pacing - Robert Yang, Andrew Yoder, The Le

“That’s way too many pawns.” Communicating Difficulty; Remixed Play Modes

This week, Ellen kicks things off with a chat about how games tell players, “This might be tough!” and how to make that fun and fair. Stephen and Mark jump in with their takes on what makes difficulty settings shine. Then, Mark thinks about the practice taking familiar game mechanics and twisting them into something fresh. Think pacifist runs or limited equipment modes. Why lim

"Numbers go up." Scoring 101; Turning off the Gamedev Brain

This week, learn about what Ellen was like as a student. Stephen wonders if he’s made a huge mistake, Ellen does some work research, and Mark insists that there is no such thing as magic.Stephen started a new class: Film making Ellen forced her parents to play another game! Parks Board GameMark saw the Badger Badger Mushroom song for the first time and was underwhelmed. Cons

Optimization (with Jarryd Huntley)

Entering the clubhouse this week is our the third Owl (employee of Owlchemy Labs) and first Peabody Award winner (as lead developer for We Are OFK), to talk about the "dos," "don'ts," and "good enoughs" of optimization.Cleveland video game designer Jarryd Huntley wins Peabody Award for ‘We Are OFK’ - Joey Morona, cleveland.comWe are OFK - Peabody Awards

"It's hard how my mind works." Audio Middleware; Psychic Distance

There are now episodes of Nice Games Club for each new day of the year! When you get to the last day of that year, you'll hear about Audio Middleware and Psychic Distance from us in the clubhouse.About the Fair - Minnesota State Fair0:17:06Audio MiddlewareAn example of audio tech conversations we've had in the past.Game Audio Tools and WorkflowsWwiseAudiokineticFMODFMOD0: