DGC Ep 485: Persona 3 (part one)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new series on Persona 3. We start off with a big announcement, then we get into setting the game in its time and with the general property of Shin Megami Tensei before turning to the game's opening few hours. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
To first fight (T), most of Tartarus 1 (B)

Issues covered: the end, our focus on genre and the difficulty of saying something new, picking the time to end, knowing when to quit, the next few months, picking the final game, Discord Game Club, Tim continuing to stream, the basis of this spin-off series and the hosts' history, common elements, a little discussion of the suicidal imagery, updates to the remake, "similar to Metal Gear for me," loving the modern setting games, the weird mixture of other JRPGs, groundedness, having entry into a game developed in another region, starting with a big mystery, the modern setting cutting both ways, a good player parallel, following your heart when you play, punk rock and its problems, signing your name on a contract, understanding the archetypes, setting up characters/characterization in advance, Apathy Syndrome as a metaphor, a game with voice.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: June, The Odd Couple, System Shock 2, Dwarf Fortress, Dead Rising, PlayStation, Wii, GameCube, The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Kingdom Hearts 2, Hitman: Blood Money, Final Fantasy XII, LoZ: Twilight Princess, New Super Mario Bros., Tomb Raider: Legend, Onimusha, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Brain Age!, Nintendo DS, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Okami, Bully, Gears of War, Metal Gear Solid (series), Reed Knight, Andrew Kirmse, Shin Megami Tensei, Devil Devil Summoner, Final Fantasy (series), Atlus, Phoenix Wright (series), Ghost Trick, Resident Evil, Grasshopper Interactive, Suda 51, No More Heroes, Square, Ultima (series), Wild Arms (series), The World Ends with You, Yakuza (series), Hideo Kojima, Snoop Dogg, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 


Next time:
More Persona 3!

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

DGC Ep 484: Soul Reaver Bonus Inteview with Riley Cooper

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we revisit our 2017 series on 1999's Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. We're interviewing Riley Cooper, a former colleague of Tim's who had a long career at Crystal Dynamics and worked on the title in level design and combat design roles. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Podcast breakdown:
1:01 Interview
1:07:10 Break
1:07:40 Outro

Issues covered: the Universe coming together, getting in, making terrain layers in Photoshop, moving to the next thing, working on the combat, the parts that had to be there, incorporating lateral movement for combat, applying fighting game discipline, not inventing from whole cloth, rebuilding a camera system, design as open source, defensive patents, jamming so much into levels, spectral morphing and lack of follow-ups, blind ambition coming from Amy Hennig, being two weeks from ship for one to two years, time to market vs time to quality, people simply not knowing, jumping between genres, the victory of European labor laws, knowing how to build what you're building, a vacuum of upper management, being able to just make the game, the tension between business and creation, wanting to design without interference, execs who want to play with the toys, "problems down solutions up," wanting appropriate ownership at every level, getting the same letter at the end of two different projects, the feeling at the start vs the feeling in the middle, thoughtful refactoring, starting from the right constraints, locking yourself in a room with a design problem to find the solution, gameplay goes at the speed of thumbs, a sports game that's a video game first, good places to be from.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Lord of the Rings, LucasArts, Solar Eclipse, Legacy of Kain (series), Tomb Raider (series), EA, Need for Speed (series), Sony, Atari 2600, Dave Morse, 3D0, Saturn, Noah Hughes, Amy Hennig, Silicon Knights, Denis Dyack, Seth Carus, Street Fighter 2, Super Mario 64, Jim Conrad, Andrew Hynek, Roberta Williams, Daniel Chayer-Bison, Pete Lake, Microsoft, X-COM, Fallout, Populous, Sean Vesce, Richard Lemarchand, Naughty Dog, Uncharted, Hitman, Hakan Almer, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
TBA!

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

DGC Ep 483: Peggle/Casual Games (part three)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on two entries from the casual space by PopCap. We discuss Peggle before turning to takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
All mainline levels (B), about half (T)

Issues covered: crossing over from casual to hardcore, awards contention, describing Peggle and pachinko, the Peggle masters, talking about removal games and Match-3, how someone engages with one of these games typically, a bunch of animals, the manipulation and the presentation, accentuating moments and playing with physics, shorter vs longer games, PopCap in other games, refining and polishing a genre, removing the biomechanical hurdle, tone and identity for design, accentuating moments especially with audio, trailblazing, don't overthink it, really exploring the space, taking out the real Slim Shady.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Bejeweled, Alchemy, Zuma, Arkanoid, BioShock, Portal, Halo 3, Super Mario Galaxy, God of War II, Mass Effect, Metroid Prime III, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, CoD4: Modern Warfare, Crysis, Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, The Witcher, Rock Band, Buddy, Candy Crush, Ridiculous Fishing, Vlambeer, Zach Gage, Spelltower, Spider, Randy Smith, World of Warcraft, Gears of War, Drop 7, Blizzard, Breakout, Atari 2600, Into the Breach, Advance Wars, Psychonauts, Double Fine, Pixar, Supercell, Hitman, Hakan Almer, Martin Ansdal, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
??

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

DGC Ep 482: Plants vs Zombies/Casual Games (part two)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on casual games with our continuing discussion of Plants vs Zombies. We talk about the mechanics some more, a bit about the economy, and our favorite elements. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Thru 5-4 (T) or 5-8ish (B)

Issues covered: thanks on the Discord Game Club, new plants and shaking up strategy, classic RTS arcs and introducing new units, the lack of a difficulty spike, games to replay, being in the zone with your strategy, lack of wall missions, play rhythms, how this is a full RTS, removing a step from processes, cutting out biomechanical or memory things, hybridization and making the same decisions to allow other hardcore issues, playerbase ceilings, the mechanics of the coin economy, a grindy mechanic, where we go after the roof, adding mechanics for the roof and an angle, paying for the coffee bean, some favorite zombies and plants, good uses of minigames, some good tower defense games, meaning and invested time and digital loss, theater and ephemera, letting things go.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Blizzard, WarCraft (series), StarCraft (series), Diablo, Homeworld, Bejeweled 3, Unreal Tournament, Road Warrior/Mad Max, Ratchet & Clank (series), John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever, Peggle, Project Octavia, Hakan Almer, IO Interactive, Hitman, Ryan, Bloons td6, They Are Billions, Orcs Must Die! (series), Kingdom Rush, Dungeon Defenders, Threes, mysterydip, Minecraft, PT, Fortnite, Roblox, Valheim, World of Warcraft, Kongregate, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
Peggle

Errata:
I of course meant Saturday Night Fever. 


Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

Discord Game Club Ep. 18

It's summertime and that means scheduling challenges. Therefore, this week we are reaching into the Discord Game Club interview archive. This time around, fan Discord members Artimage and Mors chat Chrono Trigger with Nick T, of The Race Against Time. We expect to return next week.

Links:
The Race Against Time - August 15th & 16th, 11AM - 1PM EDT
http://raceagainsttime.io
http://raceagainsttime.io/donate
https://translifeline.org/
http://Twitch.tv/nt3rp

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp 
Discord 
DevGameClub@gmail.com

DGC Ep 481: Plants vs Zombies/Casual Games (part one)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a short mini-series on casual games, beginning with PopCap's Plants vs Zombies. We spend a lot of time setting these lower-challenge games both in their time and against other genres before talking a bit about the game itself. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Through 2-1

Issues covered: setting the game in 2009, PopCap's fortunes, repackaging a genre, puzzly games in Java, appealing to core games and casual, being good at rewards, walled gardens, starting on desktops and moving to phones, phone fragmentation, A/B design testing, hidden objects, translating well to mobile, the history of EA's acquisitions, the early tower defense games, coining the term, automated elements, the stress of the RTS, MOBAs, removing the dev hurdles from a genre, modders doing something they could do, autochess, recognizing it, a simple concept that reads quickly, the impenetrable defense, turtling: the video game, the way zombie movies build, design ideas can come from anywhere, easily visualizing new things, archetypes, easily reading how much health is left, having a moment of joy in a reveal, seeing the zombie affordances, locking into strategies.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Uncharted 2, Demons's Souls, Ratchet & Clank, Brutal Legend, Assassin's Creed II/series, Borderlands, Infamous, Dragon Age: Origins, Left 4 Dead 2, New Super Mario Bros Wii, Bayonetta, PS3/Xbox 360/Wii, EA, Peggle (series), Bejewelled, Blizzard, Zuma, Alchemy, Drop 7, Threes, Diner Dash, Resident Evil 4, Fortnite, Facebook, Farmville, Zynga, Kongregate, Ultima, Westwood, Bioware, Mass Effect, Crystal Dynamics, Morgan Gray, Desktop Defense, Atari, Rampart, Defense of the Agents, Warcraft III, Starcraft, League of Legends, Riot, Valve, George Fan, Diablo, PixelJunk Monsters, Orcs Must Die!!, Vermintide, Tower of Goo, The Birds, Tippi Hedren, Portal, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
More PvZ

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

DGC Ep 480: Psychonauts (part four)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we conclude our series on Psychonauts. We talk about how the game gates certain things on the basis of what seems optional and Brett monologues a bit about some later levels before we talk takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Finished (B) or to Gloria (T)

Issues covered: a theater level, getting and using door codes, having to remember what abilities a player might have, player types and what's critical path, trophies and missable content, different ways to push the player,  playtesting to balance, what personas you support, the luxury of late full fresh-eyes playtesting, the non-linear nature of Gloria's level, brute forcing your way through the logic of the puzzle, speed-running describing the end of the game, a difficult platformer plus escort mission, talking about the musical identity, being able to do anything, giving narrative and theming to allow anything, cohesive justifications for everything, when the skill elements get in the way, meaning behind the platformer, indies to follow, science. 

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Final Fantasy VI, Hitman, The Witcher III, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Clint Hocking, Splinter Cell, Tim Schafer, Dave Grossman, Erik Wolpaw, Drew Barrymore/Firestarter, Ratchet & Clank, Xbox 360/PS3, Dark Souls, Microsoft, Halo, TRON, Armin Shimerman, LucasArts, Peter McConnell, Clint Bajakian, Jesse Harlin, Grim Fandango, Brutal Legend, Friendster, Lord of the Rings, Velvet Underground, mysterydip, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

TTDS:
21:20

Next time:
??!

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

DGC Ep 479: Splinter Cell CT Bonus Interview with Clint Hocking

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we revisit our Splinter Cell conversation with a return interview with Clint Hocking. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Podcast breakdown:
1:08 Interview
1:04:47 Break
1:05:11 Outro

Issues covered: who is responsible for the MDA framework, moving to Montreal and working with New Yorkers, world-relative cameras, figuring out console cameras, the struggles with camera and controls, a game that had all the elements, neoconservative fantasy to save the world from future threats, having a team form around the ashes of disagreement, doing three jobs, clarity in the goals, design sins, having invited moments vs supporting being better than the designer, establishing a systemic language, the most complicated doors in video games, being bottom-up, negotiating all the types of doors, everyone being on board with the approach, intrinically motivated engagement, motivating the desired experience, real-world examples of what it means to get 100%, the one job, being remote vs being in the job, level design and script writing between entwined, the state of the industry.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: UbiSoft, LucasArts, Valve, Amazon, Build Machine Games, Far Cry 2, Robin Hunicke, Mark LeBlanc, Robert Zubek, Doug Church, Red Storm Entertainment, Hitman, Halo, Xbox, Bounty Hunter, Jedi Knight, Metal Gear Solid (series), Resident Evil (series), The Fifth Element, James Bond, J. T. Petty, Rainbow Six, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, EA, GoldenEye, Bloodborne, Sekiro, FromSoft, Dark Souls, mysterydip, Watch Dogs, Warren Spector, Psychonauts, Tim Schafer, Full Throttle, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Next time:
Finish Psychonauts! (-ish)

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

Discord Game Club Ep. 17

It's summertime and that means scheduling challenges. Therefore, this week we are reaching into the Discord Game Club interview archive. This time around, BioStats and Calamity Nolan interview David Mauro of DIE SOFT Games, talking about the development of Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland. We expect to return next week.

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp 
Discord 
DevGameClub@gmail.com

DGC Ep 478: Psychonauts (part three)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Psychonauts. We dive into (ha) the lungfish levels and the Milkman Conspiracy and talk about the tension between systems and individually scripted experiences, before turning to user questions. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
To Milkman

Issues covered: a special announcement, turkeys everywhere, long digression into weird Spelunky, setting up the Lungfish, hunting down all the collectibles, an underwater bubble and moving around, consistency in levels, coming in with different player options, involving the empathy of the player, the limits of other genres in engaging empathy mechanically, the difficulty of reading the environment, the unfortunate PS4 port from the PS2, avoiding oysters, a direct lineage of creativity, becoming Godzilla, reuse of abilities when you return, every level being a genre, leading the way creatively, parallel to indie film, re-entering the levels and the tongue-in-cheek, going every direction and the costs, relearning rules each level, the cost of testing boundaries due to other mechanics, jumping between gravity spaces, describing the Milkman level, conspiracy mad-libs, being in an environment where you will fail again and again, memorable levels here and elsewhere, zingers of stingers, lines in movies vs lines in games, reinforcing them, a typical day in the life for a game designer, iterating to solve problems, getting people on board and carrying vision, people who show what's going on with the project, building consensus. 

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Spelunky, Andy Nealen, mysterydip, Beyond Good & Evil, Crash Bandicoot, King's Quest, Costume Quest, Headlander, Keeper, Stacking, Trenched/Iron Brigade, Tim Schafer, Daron Stinnett, LucasArts, Community, Velvet Underground, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Psychodyssey, Nintendo, Majora's Mask, Microsoft, Shadow of the Colossus, Ico, Outer Wilds, Portal, Duke Nuke'em, John Carpenter, Them, Roddy Rowdy Piper, Sasha/scarytiger, Jonno, Starfighter, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Next time:
Finish the game?

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

DGC Ep 477: Psychonauts (part two)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Psychonauts. We unravel more about what this game even *is*, while at the same time looking at things like level design, abilities and powers, and other topics, before turning to listener mail. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Past Milla Vodello

Issues covered: wait what is this?, inefficiencies in development, constant learning, a full brain, modifying your loadout, using abilities in the scavenger hunt, fitting everything in, multiple economies, the problems of a radial wheel, making a new genre from blending and having to rethink, a tradition of crunch, edge cases everywhere, making something realistic feel good, the multi-step process of sucking up a mental cobweb, iterating through multiple games, teaching you about the inventory, niche games that are bespoke, having troubles with certain aspects, level design, the cohesion of the level select screen, themes that games don't often address, iteration internally and externally, unrelated systems and synchronicity, the zaniness messing with you, the ranking system and optional things, a sum of parts, TV adaptations, adaptating to the world, having to amp up and bring in more stuff, expanding emotional beats, finding a side story, going the hero route. 

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Ratchet and Clank (series), Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Dark Souls, Super Monkey Ball, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Beyond Good & Evil, Tim Schafer, Starfighter, Devin Kelly-Sneed, Tomb Raider, The Sims, Assassin's Creed (series), Half-Life, Clint Hocking, Inside Out, Pixar, Halo, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Get Smart, Bethesda Game Studios, Fallout, James, Mortal Kombat 2, Karl Urban, Nick Offerman, Parks & Rec, Exit 8, Resident Evil, Zach Creggars, Weapons, Barbarian, The Witcher, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

TTDS: 14:10

Links:
Behind the Code: On the Move! 

Next time:
... More Psychonauts but also maybe something else?

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

DGC Ep 476: Psychonauts (part one)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we start a new series on 2005's Psychonauts. We stay in the same year as our last game, and dive into a little of the prehistory of the game before diving into the game proper. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Coach Oleander's Brain

Issues covered: making something for someone else to own, spinning off from LucasArts, staying true to their persona, being a more open studio, documentaries about the studio, the possibility of the studio closing, how the game starts, a super stylistic game, clear identity, bringing individuality to each character, asymmetry, offending the efficient developer, hand-crafting everything, impeccable writing and voice acting, themes coming through later, trailblazing, an indie scene in San Francisco, changing guards at publishers, drawing on psychology for its setting, a cohesive and pure game, exploring two tutorial areas, customizing buckets of figments of imagination, building engine game and studio together, crunch-tastic development, a variety of action and platforming primitives, an underimplemented feel and polish, fighting the camera, systemic cameras that have trouble covering everything, a big swing, asymmetric multiplayer modes, mutators, an internal mail alias, voice over IP, what do you need to support an MP game post-launch, inventory tetris, risk to return to get a loot item, a vestigial element of games, forcing hard choices or loops, re-examining genre "defaults," informing our own work, Octavia's gadget system, giving more agency to the player, a shifting meta, a wide tunnel of known options. 

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Tim Schafer, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, LucasArts, Microsoft, Ed Fries, Majesco, 2015, Metal of Honor: Allied Assault, Infinity Ward, Call of Duty, Jason West, Vince Zapella, Nihilistic, Infinite Machine, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Phantom Menace, Dean Sharpe, Kalani Streicher, Broken Age, Unreal Engine, Kiln, Two Player Productions, Scott Campbell, Disney, Warner Bros, Studio Ghibli, Peter Chan, Day of the Tentacle, SW: Republic Commando, Beyond Good & Evil, Monkey Island (series), Spyro, Super Mario (series), Illumination, Braid, Celeste, Choice Provisions/Gaijin Games, Super Meat Boy, Team Meat, World of Goo, Crystal Dynamics, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Ocarina of Time, Ashton Herrmann, Unreal Tournament, Quake, Duke Nuke'em, Hunt: Showdown, Repo, Peak, Matthew, Outlaws, Aliens vs Predator, Starcraft, Matthew, Diablo, Animal Crossing, Resident Evil (series), Harley Baldwin, Halo, DOOM (1993), Maas, Project: Octavia, Troy Mashburn, Thief (series), Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
more Psychonauts!

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

DGC Ep 475: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (part four)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. We talk about some of the late levels before turning to our takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Through Battery (B) and Seoul (T)

Issues covered: whether Tim is North Korea, Steam Deck support, the intimate level design of Hokkaido, nightingale floors and ninja, ninja kids, level design that wraps around, changing up the levels, timed sections, cool ideas for the space, connectivity, different types of cameras, a frustrating metric challenge, directing the player, contextual movement and tagging, telegraphing metrics, negative design metrics, finding additional story, the set-up for Seoul, contrast against Battery, escalating the dynamic objectives, the "reversal," upping the ante, getting 100%, the whistle, finding a body as a negative stat, deducing player intent, unconscious witnesses, combining states, layering tools and immersive sims, wanting more guidance to the systems and verbs the player has access to, building tutorial stuff last, executing on the tone, dynamic changes to the plan, leaning into the tech appropriately, communicating enemy AI state clearly without UI, the limited reach of this genre. 

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: BioStats, CalamityNolan, OI Interactive, RealmSoft, Clockwork Ambrosia, Michael Patton, Nathan Hiemenz, Ian Clark, Lian Hearn, Across the Nightingale Floor, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Team Ninja, Vanquish, Platinum Games, Metal Gear Revengeance, Clover Studios, Fallout 3, Skyrim, Jedi Knight, LucasArts, Kevin Kauffman, Matt Tateishi, Jake Stevens, Knute Rockne, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Mysteries of the Sith, White Men Can't Jump, Woody Harrelson, Star Wars: Rogue One, Hal Barwood, Hitman: World of Assassination, Nintendo, Majora's Mask, SW: Republic Commando, Mission: Impossible, Project: Octavia, DOOM (1993), Alien: Isolation, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Ever, Mark Garcia. 

Next time:
Psychonauts!

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp 
Discord 
DevGameClub@gmail.com

DGC Ep 474: Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (part three)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. We talk about the game's tone, the depth of mechanics and their uses, the spaces, and the use of fidelity. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Up through Displace

Issues covered: a wry tone, avoiding technobabble, countering drama with comedy, who various characters are talking to, layering in narrative, setting games in real places, consumer cultures, global customer bases, stepping over a line, getting some Sam time, delivering a variety of types of experience through a game mechanic, detecting player stories, guards becoming keys, different ways to tackle bank lasers, infinitely recursive stacks and punch cards, talking to the old guy, the many uses of a sticky camera, using quick save as a gadget, fire and alt-fire, load-outs, multiplayer asymmetry, pacing of play, whether every role was equally fun to play, office buildings, nuanced level design, a long way around to a briefcase (aka a not-so-brief-case), a high quality bar, cloth sims, high fidelity shadows, integrating new technical features into gameplay, physically-based rendering, making artistic and design choices that support the design.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Metal Gear Solid (series), Hitman (series), Thief (series), Ghost Recon (series), James Franco, Jonah Hill, The Interview, Jack-Ax (series), Sony, Bourne (series), Grand Theft Auto (series), Far Cry (series), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Assassin's Creed (series), America's Army, Evolve, Dead by Daylight, Interstate '76, Xbox, PlayStation, Unreal, Clint Hocking, Harley Baldwin, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 
 
Next time:
Finish the game?

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

DGC Ep 473: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (part two)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. We cover lots of topics, delving into stealth and AI systems, objectives and their communication, and other thoughts. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Another mission

Issues covered: whether it was designed for a controller, graphic fidelity holding up, the fixed function shading pipeline, the crossover between audio and visual meters, what's going on with the light meter, ambient noise affecting how quickly you can move, adjusting eyesight, layering mechanics into a mini-game, sprinklers everywhere, hose extraction, trip lasers, using a body as a laser avoider, a key that isn't a key, interrogation mechanics, consequences for not interrogating, multiple paths to information, forgetting the vision modes, the marketing targets for particular consoles, dynamic mission objectives, motivating spaces through pattern language, having to mark up the world to tell you what's important, a digression into climbing anywhere, "what map?," not wasting space, clockwork levels, a globetrotting set of ops vs single-location games, Brett has a good point, contrasting flavors, just jumping in and having the briefings paper over travel, the attract mode, benefitting pacing.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: XBOX, Pulp Fiction (obliquely), PlayStation 3, Clint Hocking, NOLF 2, Max Payne, Metal Gear (series), Three Men and a Baby, Poltergeist, Eternal Darkness, Mission: Impossible (series), Entrapment, Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Dishonored, Prey, Hitman, Die Hard, Assassin's Creed, Crazy Climber, Cairn, Jusant, Hideo Kojima, Reacher (series), The Gray Man (series), The Hunt for Red October, Quiller (series), Shadowlord-72, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
More TCSCCT!

Errata:
Apparently there were in fact multiple shader units on the original Xbox, and supported Pixel/Vertex 1.1 shaders. We regret the error. (Fixed function was still a thing, though, I'm just not remembering the details correctly.)

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

DGC Ep 472: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (part one)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we start a new series on 2005's Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. We set it in its time, talk about the Clancy of it all, and then get into the play and presentation. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
The first level or two

Issues covered: missing a week, games from 2005 and UbiSoft, stealth games and how we feel about them, what it borrows from its forebears, Tim's history and love of military themes, grounding the series in real places, hard milspec, the spectrum of more or less video-gamey, Brett's history with Clancy, offputting tone and writing, the weird nationalistic lens, the military melodrama, when you can mess up the formula, black and white and the icks, systems thinking in the game vs not the narrative, finding ways to maintain the black and white, the tutorial videos, seeing the mechanics against the real missions, controlling Sam's movement speed, other interface choices, alt-fire modes, shooting everyone in the head, having multiple kill moves, having mission objectives that get canceled, whether there's an alternate version, a number associated with your performance, the weirdness of speaking to your handler directly behind a target, your advisors, informing the choice of loadout, how different games reinforce the loadout, a review, Tim's Twitch drop.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Star Wars (series), God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, Resident Evil 4, Psychonauts, Guild Wars, Civ IV, FEAR, The Undying, AC: Wild World, Guitar Hero, Mercenaries, Battlefront II, KotOR II, Lego Star Wars, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Peter Molyneux, Clint Hocking, Far Cry 2, Thief, Metal Gear Solid (series), Looking Glass, Dishonored (series), Hideo Kojima, The Division (series), Rainbow Six (novel), No One Lives Forever, Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin, Sean Connery, Doubleday (book publisher), Day of the Jackal, Tolkien, Project: Hail Mary, Ghost Recon (series), Rainbow Six (series), John Krasinski, Ben Affleck, Jack Reacher (series), Lee Child, Tom Cruise, Mark Greaney, The Gray Man, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rambo (series), Jon Bernthal, Call of Duty (series), Hitman (series), Shadowlord-72, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Next time:
more TC's SC:CT!

Errata:
It was The Cardinal of the Kremlin. We regret the error. 

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

DGC Ep 471: Dungeon Keeper (part four)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on Dungeon Keeper. We talk about the various strategies we used to overcome some levels, possession, and units as resources of different kinds before turning to our takeaways. Also: Happy Birthday, Peter Molyneux! Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
To level 11 (B) or 10 (T)

Issues covered: a Happy Birthday message, favorite moments in his games, a punishing campaign of distinct levels, feeling the puzzle, the dungeon crawl aspect of the game, trying many different strategies, playing against what the AI will do, disrupting the enemy, exploratory sacrifice for fun and profit, possessing the Horned Reaper and taking out the heart, strategies for moving around quickly, a diversion into the scavenger room, strategy guides and marketing, first-person mode, all the information about creatures, mood changes, exploiting FPS strategies, cheating and fairness for the AI, creatures as resources for tech trees or for combat, disposable units vs conserving units, playing and failing at various strategies, a non-normal catalog, merging genres, potential, supporting the villian theme, do most players finish Bullfrog games, audio design.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Peter Molyneux, Theme Park, Populous, Glenn Corpes, Mark Healey, Masters of Albion, Lionhead, Tomb Raider, The Descent, World of Warcraft, MysteryDip, Soren Johnson, Black and White, Starcraft, Homeworld, Fable, Majora's Mask, Evil Genius, Hitman (obliquely), Spelunky, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Next time:
Not sure!

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

DGC Ep 470: Dungeon Keeper (part three)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Dungeon Keeper. We talk about the weird mix of genres this game presents, and the unique problems that presents to level design and for the player. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
To level 8 (B) and 10 (T)

Issues covered: the genre mix, complexity, narrative genre and setting, Murphy's Law (vs Moore's Law), pulling from their own conventions, balancing difficulty, not knowing if it's scripted, requirements for creatures, needing to read the manual, not knowing what the rules are, explaining things to the player and getting over the hump, what some of the rooms do, knowing when to go, using level design for flow, having a clever level with four wizards, grim places the game visits, dungeon crawling, the impact of audio design on RTSes, a little discursion into dynamic music, musical choices, hearing what your units are getting done, understanding game state from audio, favorite codes from back in the day, implementing cheat code systems, giving players options.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Overlord, Civilization (series), Evil Genius, Chris Corry, StarCraft, WarCraft, Populous, Republic Commando, Dungeons & Dragons, Blizzard, Homeworld, John Carpenter, Russell Shaw, X-COM, mysterydip, Konami, Gradius, Contra, Starfighter (series), Belmont, Penny Arcade, Daron Stinnett, Jedi Knight, Outlaws, id Software, Troy Mashburn, Adventure, Kaeon, Hitman, Bruce Lee, Majora's Mask, Nintendo, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
Play more!

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com 

DGC Ep 469: Dungeon Keeper (part two)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 1997's Dungeon Keeper. We talk about its tone again, and delve into a number of design topics including interface choices, verbs, and level design. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Three more levels-ish

Issues covered: tonal neutrality vs tonal specificity, constructing a fantasy world, having a clear identity, villainous UI choices, white standing out, a subtle tiling system, feeling like increasing a hoard, increasing the verb space through direct interaction, picking and dropping things to direct them, units you're not meant to care about, camera choices, shortcuts to get around, preferring the zoom level as it was, the magical moment of possessing a creature, more RTS than expected, the early RTS curve repeating itself, not wanting to lose the builder choices, having to research all the rooms again, needing canvas space to paint, not knowing when units change over to you, finding idols and small rooms, economic victory, pincer moves, having the multiplayer options with the meta, power-up timing loops, starting with multiplayer first, how we have time for all this, trading off time with other games or hobbies, Tim the baby designer. 

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Civilization, Sid Meier, SimCity, Will Wright, Firaxis, Maxis, Populous, Lionhead, The Movies, Peter Molyneux, Black and White, StarCraft, Homeworld, Blizzard, Dragon Quest Builders, Minecraft, Thomas Pynchon, id Software, Doom 2, Quake (series), Halo, Unreal Tournament, Ben, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Saros, Hollow Knight, Valheim, Diablo (series), Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Next time:
More Dungeon Keeper!

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com