Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Ellen, Stephen, and Mark
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Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast! Podcast

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

  1. 18 HR AGO

    "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 Fair 0:17:06 Audio Middleware An example of audio tech conversations we've had in the past. Game Audio Tools and Workflows Wwise Audiokinetic FMOD FMOD 0:51:32 Psychic Distance Psychic Distance: what it is and how to use it Emma Darwin This Itch of Writing

  2. 12 SEPT

    Nice Thinking: "Player Personas"

    In this episode the boys are back in Minneapolis, but they are still thinking about their time with Ellen in Duluth, or Roboluth ;) s So they are using this episode to talk about instructions, again, but this time though the lens of the different types of "user personas" who will be reading it. Instructions What is Roboston? Roboston is a tabletop game that the the Nice Games Club came up with during an podcast Game Jam Episode. For anyone new to the podcast, we recommend starting two episodes back (at 362), for some background on the game. For those of you who wish for a full memory restoration, here is the full episode list: The original Nice Game Jam where Roboston was concieved Roboston! (Live at 2D Con 2020) A follow up episode 197 continues the devlopment because they were so excited about Roboston Roboston! (part 2) The club worked on the game over winter break in 2020-21, episode 207 summarizes what they worked on. "It’s March tomorrow." We again visited Roboston over our 2023-24 winter break, and talk about in in episode 337 "The Roboston Sessions" Mark and Steven visit Ellen in Duluth where they play a bunch of Roboston "Apply your context, thusly." Rulebook is More than a script for “the teach” Verbal and visual (and, increasingly, multimedia) Define your Players Steve Bromley Game User Research Define your Players User persona is the UX term, Player persona is used in games Things to add to the FAQs Does the value affected by the repeater also get multiplied if you’re adding a part? Does the value for a new part always have to come from the torso? Can you send the robot without having arms/legs/heads? How many dice should I try to go for in this check? Player Personas 1. Roboston new players Box inventory list Anatomical diagram of a robot Game setup diagram (game as a whole, what’s in your hand) Reference cards (player actions, game phases, etc.) 2. Roboston experienced players Table of contents Stats for nerds Index (?) FAQ section 3. Inexperienced tabletop game players Invitation to play, sense of fun Build trust with the player as the rulebook progresses 4. Experienced tabletop game players Resource, reference Allow them to get right to the core, fast

  3. 6 SEPT

    The Duluth Basement Session

    Once again from hilly Duluth, Minnesota! On Day 2 of a game design weekend retreat, your nice hosts tackled rules—writing rules, rewriting rules, and playtesting them. It was a long day, culminating with a family playtest of Roboston, featuring a newly written rulebook. How did it go? Well, there's more work to be done, but we learned a lot. Your hosts discuss this and more in today's episode, recorded on Day 3 of Mark's and Stephen's trip to Duluth.  Minnesotan Phrases  -  Wanderlust In Real Life Dante is the adorable troublemaker who barked MULTIPLE TIMES during the recording session. Resources for Rules-Writing Top Six Rules for Writing Rulebooks Meeple Mountain How to Teach Games The Giant Brain

  4. 29 AUG

    "Apply your context, thusly." Instructions; Cynicism

    It's a nice sleepover as this (and next) week's episode is recorded from Ellen's basement in Duluth. Mark has an angle, Ellen shares her topic, and Stephen manages. The view from the rotating resturant that Mark took Stephen to  -  Ragnar Eythorsson ,  YouTube Karen Puzzles  -  Karen Kavett ,  YouTube 178 (TNG) + 176 (DS9) + 7 (TOS movies, including "Generations" because Kirk was in it) = 361 episodesNice Games Club = 362 episodes One Piece aired it's 362nd episode 16 years ago. As of press time, it's up to 1116. Our next target is My Three Sons, which has 380 episodes. We will reach that milestone at the end of 2024. 0:07:31 Instructions 0:33:35 Cynicism

  5. 22 AUG

    "The lensing effect of the window." Theming vs. Aesthetics; Parries

    It’s hot in the clubhouse and hot in Ellen’s greenhouse this week, so your hosts are eager to crunch through some discussion. Ellen introduces the concept of the MDA framework, and the differences between Theming and Aesthetics, and Stephen comes to a major conclusion about parrying. 0:06:40 Theming vs. Aesthetics The MDA Framework Wikipedia Ellen promised Dictionary.com definitions, so here you go: Aesthetics Dictionary.com Theme Dictionary.com We talked about theming and aesthetics for a GameJam Game from a previous episode The Bike Boom Alien Isolation Themes explored n : Demystifying the Terror of Alien Isolation Andy Robertson Wired 0:28:56 Parries Stephen's list of why parries are so popular: 1) A way to reward mastery or paying attention 2) Rewards participation 3) An appreciable way to consider mastering the game The different variations of Parrying 1) Just Dodges 2) Traditional Parrying (miss = block) 3) Dynamic Parrying release parrying 4) Alternate button (paper mario parrying) EVO Moment 37 Wikipedia

  6. 15 AUG

    Accessibility (with Dave McKee)

    We invite music producer and sound designer Dave McKee into the clubhouse to talk about accessibility in games this week. Accessibility Accessibility Game Design Control Accessibility Report  -  "Vivek Gohil, Ben Kendall" ,  Family Gaming Database Inclusive Gaming: How Game Developers Can Make Video Games More Inclusive And A…  -  Accessibility.com Visual impairment accessibility musts:High ContrastUser-set color schemesBig Icons! (more important even than large text, which is also important)Leverage Haptics (HD Rumble) paired with visual cuesToning the music down (Dave recommends, regretfully)Accessibility options should come up at a game’s first-launch The next Forza will help blind players race by listening to ‘beeps and boops’  -  Tom Warren ,  The Verge Ray Tracer  -  Wayverb How Next-Gen Audio Improvements in Snowdrop Could Mean Real-Time ‘Ray-Tracing A…  -  Youssef Maguid ,  Ubisoft Tekken 8 Accessibility Features Are Causing Controversy  -  Trumann Tu ,  GameRant The Importance of Audio Described Cutscenes  -  Dom Parker ,  LinkedIn Self-Voicing  -  Ren'Py Additional Resources not talked about on the show Xbox Accessibility Guidelines V3.2  -  MIcrosoft Can I Play That?  -  Can I Play That? XR Access  -  XR Access Dave McKee Guest An electronic and orchestral music producer and sound designer going by the name ViRiX. External link Linktree

  7. 9 AUG

    "Imagine it's running on a potato." Targeting Multiple Platforms; Spirit Island Spirits

    We face complexity head-on this episode with two topics that will get your neurons firing. Mark walks through considerations involved with publishing a game to multiple platforms. It's not easy, but it's a lot easier if you plan for it from the start! If you've listened to recent episodes, you'll know that Stephen has been obsessed with the tabletop game Spirit Island. Today, he shares some of the work he's done in creating a new, customized spirit for the game. Also, Mark experiences glitches, and the hosts plan a visit. Twin Cities Playtest from IGDA-TC  -  Eventbrite 0:06:56 Targeting Multiple Platforms We talked about porting games in Episode 175. "Kapow?" Git fork vs branch Greg Foster Graphite Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer Fandom Allow controls to be remapped, reconfigured Game Accessibility Guidelines A Brief History of the Playstation’s Confirm And Cancel Buttons The Wired Fish Network Blog A Brief History of A & B Matthew Gallant The Quixotic Engineer Blog 0:46:49 Spirit Island Spirits Spirit of Creation channel Discord Spirit Design Deep Dive emilintle Google Docs Spirit Island Greater Than Games How to Play: Spirit Island Greater Than Games YouTube

  8. 1 AUG

    Physics 101 (with Scott Lembcke)

    "Pillar of the community" and creator of Chipmunk2D Scott Lembcke visits the clubhouse to talk velocity, constraints, and rigidbodies. Ellen gets the music in her head, Stephen didn’t learn the opposite lesson, and Mark makes a pretty good joke about friction. Physics 101 Programming Chipmunk2D  -  Scott Lembcke ,  GitHub Gopher (protocol) Building Excalibur.js  -  Erik Onarheim ,  YouTube I'm pretty sure this was the song stuck in Ellen's head. What is an AABB?  -  Michael Rubloff ,  Radiance Fields Veridian Expanse  -  Howling Moon Software ,  Steam Is pool actually just mathematics?  -  Stand-up Maths ,  YouTube What is up with the spherical cow?  -  Rhett Allain ,  Wired Advanced Character Physics  -  Thomas Jakobsen ,  Carnegie Mellon University Arc length of an ellipse  -  Ed Sandifer ,  The Euler Archive Box2D version 3.0 beta test has launched!  -  Erin Catto ,  Mastodon Ten Minute Physics  -  YouTube Scott Lembcke Guest

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

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