Dev Game Club

Brett Douville and Tim Longo
  • 4.9 (228)
  • VIDEO GAMES
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Join hosts and industry veterans Brett Douville and Tim Longo as they discuss older titles and the impact they had on the games industry, as well as any lessons that could be taken away even today. Play along!

  1. DGC Ep 467: LoZ: Majora's Mask (part five)

    1D AGO

    DGC Ep 467: LoZ: Majora's Mask (part five)

    Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. We talk about the demoralizing effect of a crash, hear about the notebook and time manipulation, and also turn to our takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: To Zora Boss (T), through Goron Dungeon (B) Issues covered: the giants sequence, dealing with a crash or its demoralizing effects, tools stability, puzzling out what your systems can do, convoluted dungeon designs, learning a lot from building the game, having clues to aid the player who has to come back, a vague map, a design getting away from you, having too many tools for the interface, having more time to smooth it out, constraints on a team, not knowing if the rewards would be worth the effort of doing things, having a loop as a player, feeling protected in save systems, people slowing down when you slow down time, memorable vs unmemorable NPCs, the amount of dialog you have increasing depth and motivation, making one location really deep, having NPCs come back to help the player, enriching Clock Town, the alien defense and its reward, the Pied Piper of Romani Ranch, the chick magnet and a great pay-off, having theories, getting stuck on a boss but being able to move on, being more than the sum of its parts, swinging for the fences, layering onto the world, being able to independently develop things into the game, a man's reach should exceed his grasp, usability not quite getting there, getting that audio mix right, remaking Ocarina and this game. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: SW: Starfighter, Jesse Moore, Dark Souls, Unreal, Outer Wilds, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, Groundhog Day, CalamityNolan, Baldur's Gate III, The Matrix, Spider-Man 2, Hollow Knight, Blizzard Studios, Metroid/Castlevania, Robert Browning, Dwarf Fortress, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. TTDS: 9:00 Next time: ?? Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp YouTube Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

    1h 21m
  2. DGC Ep 466: LoZ Majora's Mask (part four)

    APR 1

    DGC Ep 466: LoZ Majora's Mask (part four)

    Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Majora's Mask. Though it might come off as fairly negative, due to some of the hang-ups we've had while playing, we still love the swing of this game. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Roughly Zoras/Gorons Issues covered: crunching and putting in developer commentary, the tone of dialog, spending another week, getting the notebook, hoping for an alien mask, layering things on the world, maximizing their opportunities, opening up spaces, changing your identity, adding special abilities via wearables, keys that aren't keys, shifting your player mentality to get the non-resetting items, feeling like you wasted time, not playing Zelda "the right way," not knowing what the rewards for side content will be, going against the formula, being yanked around over a scarce resource, wanting you to go in the hole, crutching on Tatl and being in the right spot, the time pressure and proposing a solution, a laost generation of games, changing play style, de-3DS-ifying, investing in fan theories and creating new ideas and works, using suspended/quick saves, hardware and game motivations, quality of life. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Eyes Wide Shut, Metroid (series), Ultima, CalamityNolan, MatPat, BenDROWNED, Inscryption, Daniel Mullins, Mark Garcia, Mario Golf, Golden Sun, Final Fantasy (series), Fire Emblem (series), PSP, Game Boy, SquareSoft, Dwarf Fortress, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers. Next time: More MM and Takeaways Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp YouTube Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

    1h 17m
  3. DGC Ep 465: LoZ Majora's Mask (part three)

    MAR 25

    DGC Ep 465: LoZ Majora's Mask (part three)

    Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Majora's Mask. We finally get into a dungeon and also talk more about tone, weirdnesses in the save system, and other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Past the Swamp Dungeon Issues covered: the horror of becoming a deku, the Lynchian lens, production realities and narrative, liminal spaces, archetypes, Nordic or Tolkienesque influences, turning down the audio, thinking about other Zeldas, being exposed to something edgy as a youngster, parenting influences, being unclear about how one beat a boss, not teaching the player, feeling punished, overindexing on character, trying not to blame the player, feeling the time pressure, layering gameplay on the world, the strange ways the faeries are hidden, discussing what persists, the notebook and the perfect day, being weird that you can leave and not knowing the rules, having to make a 60 hour game, revisiting the save owls, fast traveling (and a little diversion into game history). Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: American Werewolf in London, Twin Peaks/David Lynch, Drew, Jim Henson, Dr. Seuss, God of War: Ragnarok, Lord of the Rings, Stephen King, CalamityNolan, Outer Wilds, Groundhog Day, Death Loop, Deadly Premonition, Ultima (series), Dragon Quest (series), Hitman, Dwarf Fortress, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: More Majora's Mask! Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp YouTube Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

    1h 6m
  4. DGC Ep 464: LoZ: Majora's Mask (part two)

    MAR 18

    DGC Ep 464: LoZ: Majora's Mask (part two)

    Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Majora's Mask. We talk a bit about getting stuck, the structure, and do some extended catch-up on email. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up to Swamp Dungeon Issues covered: making it feel different, long-winded save mechanics, interrupting your play, expecting it to be okay to let the world end, the threatening moon, how games hold up, the usual strategy for reuse: more of the same, making the main mechanic out of a minor Ocarina mechanic, recontextualizing models and similar locations, the groom mask and the new interactions, constraining locations you can reach, the audio mix, being able to control for when certain events happen or not, being unclear on whether the water is poison, searching high and low for a bottle, a non-Nintendo moment, implying that the player could have been prepared, looking forward to more masks, reusing your engine, platform architecture converging, changing goals requiring changing programs, a podcast guidebook, Tim's annotated notes, finally having a list, recency bias, convergence of mechanics in AAA games, a story of a dev inspired by events and the podcast, asset flips, Majora's Mask inspiration.  Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: CalamityNolan, Outer Wilds, Melancholia, Stranger Things, Wind Waker, Ultima, Hitman, GameCube, Oddberry Games, Vitor, Eye of the Beholder (series), Doom (series), Fallout (series), Monkey Island (series), Warren Spector, Origin Systems, Apple ][, PlayStation, Xbox, Unreal, Republic Commando, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Mystery Dip, Carlos, Dark Souls, Deadly Premonition, Hollow Knight, Ubisoft, Anthony Vaccaro, Synersteel Studios, Eric Heimberg, Sandra Powers, Nicholas Vaccaro, Maria Vaccaro, Valley of Shadow, What Remains of Edith Finch, The Witness, The Talos Principle, Raymond, Drew, David Lynch, Takashi Tezuka, Twin Peaks, Link's Awakening, Dwarf Fortress, Mors, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: More Majora's Mask Links: Valley of Shadow via Steam  Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp YouTube Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com mailto://devgameclub@gmail.com

    1h 30m
  5. DGC Ep 463: LoZ: Majora's Mask (part one)

    MAR 11

    DGC Ep 463: LoZ: Majora's Mask (part one)

    Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new series on The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. We of course set the game first in its time and at Nintendo before turning to the opening and the feel of the game. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Through the first Clock Tower entry Issues covered: our ten-year anniversary, 2000 in games, a little timeline of Zelda, making a sequel on a short development cycle, reusing engines and making a better version of your game, reusing technology, switching from cartridges to optical media, asset reuse for characters, pricing changes and getting your money's worth, falling into the warm bath, consumptive conservatism, the strange opening and some title cards, us not remembering things about Navi, choosing the legend based on the hardware or the design idea, fitting the legends together, a continuation of Ocarina, film analogues, wanting to be in the room where it happened, presenting a known quest fabric to present you with not knowing very much, getting your ocarina back to reuse a mechanic, Skull Kid as marionette, getting new masks and therefore new powers, a diversion into a film, an unsettling feel to conversations, talking about RPGs and feeling the pressure of the main plot (or not), a lower-priority feature, thinking about your audience and what types of players you have, writing quality to support your main quest, admitting you're a video game, a debatable priority, building it into your character, how we play games heroically or not, where's the wish fulfillment.   Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: PlayStation 2, The Sims, Deus Ex, Final Fantasy IX, Diablo II, Baldur's Gate II, RE: Code Veronica, Chrono Cross, Pokemon Yellow, Thief II, SEGA DreamCast, Spyro: Year of the Dragon, Vagrant Story, SSX, Skies of Arcadia, Rayman 2: The Great Escape, Paper Mario, No One Lives Forever, Donkey Kong Country (GBC), Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur, Jet Set Radio, Star Wars: Starfighter (series), Smuggler's Run, Eiji Aonuma, Shigeru Miyamoto, Uncharted 2, Mass Effect 2, Ultima (series), Warren Spector, Richard Garriott, Ultima Underworld, Jedi Knight, Outlaws, Full Throttle 2, RTX Red Rock, Gladius, SquareSoft, Nintendo 64/GameCube, Twilight Princess, Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft, LEGO, Capcom, Groundhog's Day, Outer Wilds, Rogue, Run Lola Run, A Trip to the Moon, Georges Méliès, Breath of the Wild, King of Masks, ColonelKovalyo, Morrowind/TES (series), Fallout (series), Metal Gear Solid, Republic Commando, Halo: Infinite, Paul Crocker, Troy Mashburn, Justin Dinges, Richard Lemarchand, Clint Hocking, Naughty Dog, Crystal Dynamics, Insomniac, Spider-Man (series), Sucker Punch, Ghosts of Tsushima (series), Sasha, Symphony of the Night, Lani Lum, Hitman (series), Dwarf Fortress, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: More Majora's Mask! Notes: The word Brett was searching for was "optical" media. We regret the brain fog and blame the cold medicine. Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp  YouTube  Discord  DevGameClub@gmail.com

    1h 24m
  6. DGC Ep 462: Looking Back on a Decade

    FEB 26

    DGC Ep 462: Looking Back on a Decade

    Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we comment on ten years of doing this podcast. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Note: we recorded our first podcast on Feb 26th, 2016. This episode reflects that date. At the time, we actually banked a few episodes, and decided to hold off a week to do that. We never banked an episode again :)   Issues covered: ten years of podcasting, counting series and games, what kind of gamer are you?, balance in all things, the types of games Brett went deep on, games that exemplify Tim's games, first-person shooters and third-person action adventure, earliest games we played, latest game we played, surprise moments, the butter knife returns, knucklehead stealth, crazy world-altering moments, singing reviews, our longest series, how many interviews, the backstory of Daedalus, cultural sensibility, a grotty fish stew, staying under the radar, cramming features in at the end, pitching vs shipping, how many community episodes we've had, having a community game server, the charity event, getting to understand streaming, praying at the shrine of humility, more than 500 hours of podcasts, keys that aren't keys, the team makes the game, tell them less so they can discover more, the importance of constraints, mortality, letting the player choose, how long are we going to keep this up, knowing when to end, a little thanks each way, fueling us.  Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: June, Infinite Backlog, The Evil Within, Resident Evil, Trespasser, Ultima (series), Souls-likes, Bloodborne, MYST (series), Obduction, Cyan, Eye of the Beholder, Might and Magic (series), Kaeon, Kingdom Hearts, Arkham Asylum (series), Halo (series), Shadow of the Colossus, Legend of Zelda (series), Portal, Deus Ex, Thief, Dishonored, Prey, Colossal Cave Adventure, Adventure, Rogue, Fez, Dwarf Fortress, Plundered Hearts, Final Fantasy Tactics, Apocalypse Now, Shenmue, Deadly Premonition, Morrowind, Hitman (series), Clint Hocking, Splinter Cell, Spelunky, Fez, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Metal Gear Solid, Calamity Nolan, Final Fantasy (series), Sebastian Deken, Lani Lum, SW: Republic Commando, Tim Schafer, Dave Grossman, Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky, Randy Smith, Greg LoPiccolo,  Sean Vesce, Zack Norman, Janos Flosser, Sam Lake, Ken Levine, Borut Pfifer, Julian Gollop, Fallout, X-COM: Enemy Unknown, Star Wars: Starfighter, Andrew Kirmse, Daron Stinnett, Darren Johnson, Reed Knight, Kim Swift, BioStats, Minecraft, LostLake, Mors, mysterydip, Defeating Games for Charity, Video Game History Foundation, Eternal Darkness, Shigeru Miyamoto, Brad Furminger, Marcus Aurelius, "Jenny," Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  TTDS: 11:15 Next time: TBA! Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp YouTube  Discord  DevGameClub@gmail.com

    1h 53m
  7. DGC Ep 461: Ultima IV (part four)

    FEB 18

    DGC Ep 461: Ultima IV (part four)

    Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on 1985's Ultima IV. We delve into dungeons, pilot ships all over, explore the later-game evolutions of the quest, and share some stories before turning to our takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Many hours more Issues covered: the literary help on the game, requiring 64K, having a consistent voice, how long a game it is, losing a ship, the Gate spell, needing to go back to every town, talking about towns and understanding the shrine quests, locking in elevations, getting later-game quest info, influencing the Triforce, keys without keys, naming dungeons to be the antithesis of the virtues, being unable to take risks like these, rich and dense theming and intricate reinforcing design, dungeons being near the virtues they oppose, requiring a ship to get to many dungeons, using the sextant to get latitude and longitude, mapping the dungeons, dungeon features, first-person hall crawl vs battle rooms, being penalized for fleeing combat, what preconceived notions do we enter with, feeling really dungeon crawly, elaborate battle map usage, The Crypt, getting stuck in a dungeon, describing an A bug, the uselessness of winds, a cove full of pirate ships, ship to ship fighting, finding the town Cove via whirlpool travel, filling in the blanks yourself, a consistent and elegant pattern, symmetry everywhere, design by programmer, leveraging your programming constraints in your narrative, the meta, what we're not, having a point of view about ethics, a procedural rhetoric, committing to the bit, breaking the traditional structure, all the mysteries you need to pay attention to, trusting the player, accessible mysteries, an extremely packed game with layers and meaning, an impactful and relevant game, not wasting your time, a Swiss clock, potential other connections. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Dungeons & Dragons, Ultima Underworld, Legend of Zelda (series), Diablo IV, Baldur's Gate III, Minecraft, Eye of the Beholder, Final Fantasy (series), Halo, LostLake, Calamity Nolan, Richard Garriott, BioShock, Mass Effect, BioWare, J. R. R. Tolkien, Karla Zimonja, Dark Souls, A Fool's Errand, Hitman, Dwarf Fortress, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. TTDS: 1:10:55 Next time: Commemoration Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp YouTube  Discord  DevGameClub@gmail.com

    1h 29m
  8. DGC Ep 460: Ultima IV (part three)

    FEB 11

    DGC Ep 460: Ultima IV (part three)

    Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Ultima IV. We talk about the boat, we talk about dungeons (a tiny bit), we deep dive into NPCs and consequences, we talk about the quests and how everything is in the world, and answer some listener email. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: More of Ultima IV (Much more, in B's case) Issues covered: revisiting locations and finding new things, a game that does a lot with a little, everything existing in the world, getting to know the world, NPCs sharing sprites and being hard to remember, getting a ship and fighting your way on, broadside combat, dying to a waterspout, wanting to search the oceans, badly simulating tacking, riding a horse, being interrupted in any location, trying to replicate the tabletop experience, feeling like a "yes" game, whether what you do matters, can you be a thief, watering down a morality system, having a limited palette of options at any one time, layering frosting, taking out the friction and icky feeling, the niche audience of some RPGs, taking elements from older games and bringing them into modern games, asking questions of the player who is also the character, avoiding the uncanny valley, an aside into adventure mode, the horseshoe effect on NPCs, reaching the limits of what the human brain can contemplate, an aside into Dunbar's number, facing the same challenges, chunking chapters, feeling the anxiety of there being too much, coalescing your notes from time to time, the telescope moment and seeing the map, the lack of loot, preparing to do things, validating your assumptions, having to revisit everywhere, the friction of Pikmin, getting good controllers, handheld mode, the Wavebird, bouncing off character creation, character creation we've liked, wanting a story to wrap around a more specific character, the generic hero, having fun with a character creator, a freeing character creator. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Final Fantasy (series), Gold Box (series), Eye of the Beholder, Outer Wilds, The Witcher (series), Beowulf, Dungeons & Dragons, Wizardry (series), BioWare, Mass Effect, BioShock, Dishonored, CD Project Red, Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur's Gate III, Thief, Robin Hood, VtM Bloodlines, Undertale, Dark Souls, Land of the Lost, Dwarf Fortress, Planescape: Torment, Metroid / Castlevania, Richard Garriott, Sasha, Pikmin, Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto, Switch, PlayStation, Analog Pocket, Ashton Herrmann, Monkey Island, Wing Commander, Morrowind, Fallout 3, Dragon Age: Origins, Bethesda Game Studios, Blizzard, World of Warcraft, Diablo (series), Metal Gear Solid V, Hideo Kojima, Saint's Row IV, Call of Cthulhu, Asher, Cuphead, KyleAndError, Hitman, FFSZilla, MGS: VR Missions, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Note: Because Ultima IV has very little music to speak of, I will be substituting music from later in the series in the openings to these episodes TTDS: 38:30 Links: Majuular Ultima IV video recommended by Chris  Next time: Finish Ultima IV Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp YouTube Discord  DevGameClub@gmail.com

    1h 27m
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4.9
out of 5
228 Ratings

About

Join hosts and industry veterans Brett Douville and Tim Longo as they discuss older titles and the impact they had on the games industry, as well as any lessons that could be taken away even today. Play along!

Information

  • Creator
    Brett Douville and Tim Longo
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    486
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Dev Game Club

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