Design Doc

Latest Episodes:

The Pizza or the Basket? (Amusement Park Horror w/ Alanna Shaffer) Sep 04, 2024

Show notes

We're joined by public historian and musical improviser Alanna Shaffer to discuss real-world amusement park horror and Dippin' Dots scams at Dorney Park.

Alanna shares thoughts about story vs plot, new character drives, and everyone's personal breaking point after a day with no water. To see Alanna and Thank You, Places in person, check out their monthly improvised musical every last Thursday of the month at Tavern on Camac!

Links/Credits:

Website: turtlebun.com

Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/

Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/

Support Design Doc with a one-time tip: https://ko-fi.com/designdoc

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Turtlebun Discord (we chat about Design Doc here!): https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz

instagram.com/turtleandbun

Designing a Spooky Game (Part 3): Mr. Bones' Wild Ride Aug 21, 2024

Show notes

We continue our design of a creepy amusement park game, starting with the question, "What does bad behavior look like in an amusement park?" In this episode, we begin with a lot of questions, and end with a roadmap to a first playtest that includes character weaknesses, theme park-related goals, and an unreliable park map filled with skulls and crossbones.

To follow along with the design, Questlandia character sheets and reference rules can be downloaded for free here:

https://turtlebun.com/pages/downloads

Questlandia can be purchased here:

https://turtlebun.itch.io/questlandia-second-edition

https://turtlebun.com/products/questlandia

Links/Credits:

Website: turtlebun.com

Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/

Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/

Support Design Doc with a one-time tip: https://ko-fi.com/designdoc

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz

instagram.com/turtleandbun

Designing a Spooky Game (Part 2): The Setting Aug 07, 2024

Show notes

How can you use simple rules to create a complex setting? In the second part of this live design series, Hannah and Evan take a swing at world and character mechanics. To create a spooky, surreal environment, they’re forced to come up with new ways to approach worldbuilding and character design.

Links/Credits:

Website: turtlebun.com

Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun

Support Design Doc with a one-time tip: https://ko-fi.com/designdoc

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/

Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz

instagram.com/turtleandbun

Designing a Spooky Game (Part 1): The Brainstorm Jul 25, 2024

Show notes

What makes a game hack manageable in scope and size? Hannah and Evan delve back into game design to create a creepy amusement park Questlandia hack on the fly. They begin by brainstorming moods, moments, mechanics, and materials for a spoooooky game. From doppelgangers to malevolent crowds to corn dogs, they end with a wealth of ideas for the next design session.

Links/Credits:

Website: turtlebun.com

Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/

Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz

instagram.com/turtleandbun

The Founder Olympics Jun 27, 2024

Show notes

Hannah and Evan face off in a battle of inspiration and ego to outdo each other's most founder ideas. Then, they set impostor syndrome aside and dilute those ideas down to something they'd both be willing to try.

Links/Credits:

Website: turtlebun.com

Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun

Design Doc intro/outro theme by Pat King

Jingle news by Jay_You -- https://freesound.org/s/460424/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz

instagram.com/turtleandbun

twitter.com/turtleandbun

twitter.com/designdocpod

Our Best Design Doc Ideas Jun 03, 2024

Show notes

From Mood, Moments, Mechanics, Materials (MMMM) to "Be aware, be charming," our Design Doc conversations over the years have inspired some of our favorite game design ideas. We talk about the ideas that have had a lasting impact on our game design, and how we're incorporating each one into our most recent project.

Show notes:

Okay, Let's Redesign Noirlandia, for Mood, Moments, Mechanics, Materials

Scopeful Optimism, for discussion of scope

FLETs, for fiddly little end things

Imperfect Inspiration

Kudos Conundrum

Numbers Hide Everything

Founder Energy

Fish People, for "Be aware, be charming"

High Life (2018 film)

Lincoln in the Bardo (2017 George Saunders novel)

Links/Credits:

Website: turtlebun.com

Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun

Design Doc intro/outro theme by Pat King

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz

instagram.com/turtleandbun

twitter.com/turtleandbun

twitter.com/designdocpod

The Taste Talent Gap May 03, 2024

Show notes

Public radio icon Ira Glass has a famous quote describing the gap between taste and talent in trying to hone your creative work. When you start out, your tastes are always bigger than your skill. It's a frustrating gap, and one that causes a lot of people to give up.

In this episode we talk about everything that plays a part in the taste-skill gap. From personal energy and health, to money, ability, mood, and your relationship to the project as a whole. We talk about how our changing tastes have made our recent work all the more challenging.

EPISODE MENTIONS:

Ira Glass on the taste-talent gap: https://youtu.be/91FQKciKfHI?si=2PxIFIGoOwWvM7ty

Chris Ware's Building Stories: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/books/review/building-stories-by-chris-ware.html

Design Doc episode 49, Imperfect Inspiration: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/imperfect-inspiration/id1298080097?i=1000570727332

LINKS/CREDIT

Website: turtlebun.com

Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun

Design Doc intro/outro theme by Pat King

GET IN TOUCH:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Join the Turtlebun Discord! https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz

Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun

Turtlebun Twitter: twitter.com/turtleandbun

Design Doc on Twitter: twitter.com/designdocpod

Adapting a Text Apr 11, 2024

Show notes

Hannah and Evan talk about how to transform a beloved movie, book, or show into a game, using their latest project as an example: An adaptation of a 1779 book of cosmetic chemistry, The Toilet of Flora.

EPISODE LINKS/CREDITS:

Design Doc intro/outro theme by Pat King

Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/

Toilet of Flora: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44276

OUR GAMES:

Website: turtlebun.com

Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun

GET IN TOUCH:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Join the Turtlebun Discord! https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz

Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun

Turtlebun Twitter: twitter.com/turtleandbun

Design Doc on Twitter: twitter.com/designdocpod

Working around a Job Mar 20, 2024

Show notes

In a perfect world, we'd make a living just making roleplaying games. But sometimes, duty calls, and you've got to work around another job. In this episode, we talk about rolling with the punches in a moment when the creative work is competing with a new and time-consuming reality—that of a day job.

FOLLOW/CREDITS:

Our games: turtlebun.com

Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun

Join the Turtlebun Discord! https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz

Get in touch! Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Design Doc intro/outro theme by Pat King

Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun

Turtlebun Twitter: twitter.com/turtleandbun

Design Doc on Twitter: twitter.com/designdocpod

Obsessions Feb 21, 2024

Show notes

What’s the difference between a “theme” and an “obsession?” Inspired by a classic writing book from the ‘80s, we share our respective obsessions and talk about how they show up in our work, intentionally or otherwise.

EPISODE MENTIONS:

Learn how to play Go: https://online-go.com/learn-to-play-go

Learn how to smell things (Introduction to Perfumery Kit or Perfumery Notes Kit from Perfumer’s Apprentice): https://shop.perfumersapprentice.com/c-58-educational-kits.aspx

Writing Down the Bones (book by Natalie Goldberg)

Synecdoche, New York (film)

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity (book by Graeber and Wengrow)

A Pattern Language (architecture and urban design book by Alexander, Ishikawa, Silverstein)

Eating Raoul (film)

The Clock Crew (Newgrounds wiki link)

FOLLOW/CREDITS:

Our games: turtlebun.com

Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun

Join the Turtlebun Discord! https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz

Get in touch! Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Design Doc intro/outro theme by Pat King