Game Dev Podcast | Coffee with Butterscotch

Latest Episodes:

[Ep271] Fizzy Pickles Aug 12, 2020

Show notes

Hello, Shenanites! In this episode, we discuss dev nostalgia, spinning hats, and planning chaos. You might go about your day with absurdist gleeful abandon, but the world is all chaos and moths. Sometimes 18 characters are all that stands between you and success.

Questions answered (abbreviated):

TimConceivable: Could you share with us some of the inspiration behind the designs of the various enemies and things in LevelHead?
DigitalWizrd: Seth in your 2018 GDC talk you say plans are bad and you shouldn't do them. I find planning keeps happening without me thinking about it. How do you keep chaos plentiful to combat the planning? What do you do to sprinkle chaos in your day?
cprice: What’s the process for contracting voice actors for your games?

To stay up to date with all of our buttery goodness subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcasts (apple.co/1LxNEnk) or wherever you get your audio goodness. If you want to get more involved in the Butterscotch community, hop into our DISCORD server at discord.gg/bscotch and say hello! Submit questions at https://www.bscotch.net/podcast, disclose all of your secrets to podcast@bscotch.net, and send letters, gifts, and tasty treats to https://bit.ly/bscotchmailbox. Finally, if you’d like to support the show and buy some coffee FOR Butterscotch, head over to https://moneygrab.bscotch.net.

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[Ep270] Hypercondensed Slapstick Aug 05, 2020

Show notes

Hi, Shenanites! This week, we talk about elaborate trap construction, tech curmudgeons, and the business equivalent of peanut butter shorts. The problems you needed to solve yesterday aren’t always the same as the problems you need to solve today. You’re definitely going to do it wrong, but there are ways to do it less wrong. Step one, get an endless supply of tiny spoons.

Questions answered (abbreviated):

Beekie Boppaboop: Would any of you do voice work for another studio’s game?
Fraser_: If you were to give advice to some brothers who have just released their first hit and want to start a studio, what would you tell them?

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[Ep269] Laser Sausage Jul 29, 2020

Show notes

Hey there, Shenanites! In this episode, we discuss kitten onesies, the transubstantiation of noises, and how there’s nothing to watch. You can get away with being dumb if you’re clever enough. And just because something is free doesn’t mean there aren’t hidden costs. Which is to say, WE DON’T WANT YOUR BALLOON.

Questions answered (abbreviated):

tofos: Have you ever considered publishing games made by others?
Cabonga Nookrag: How many episodes of the podcast do you record in advance?
Beekie Boppaboop: Jason Schreier recently said “Video games are too long.” Do you agree?
Ps7cho: What's one food you couldn't bear to live without?

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[Ep268] Sconegate Jul 22, 2020

Show notes

Hello, Shenanites! This week, we talk about muscley butterflies, small batch cat introductions, and a fractal universe. The most important part of a biased random walk is the bias. As long as you know vaguely where you’re going, a wildly circuitous route can still get you there. Just don’t look too deep -- those triangle muffins will look right back.

Questions answered (abbreviated):

tofos: How is LevelHead doing compared to Crashlands?
Captain Wiggly: What strategies have you found to be the least effective for promoting your games?
Bukkarow Vimtangle: Can you talk more about the head-space for taking game development seriously? I'm having trouble seeing the path from "Make Games" to ?

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[Ep267] Spectrum of Commitment Jul 15, 2020

Show notes

Hi, Shenanites! This week, we discuss evolving PCs, load obfuscation, and daily acceleration. Why do we have so many hard drives? Are woodchucking and swoopadooping results mostly based on willpower? If we can’t make a good fake strawberry taste, how can electricity? Better read the whole paper to find out.

Questions answered (abbreviated):

Beekie Boppaboop: How much Swoop would a Swoopadoop Doop if a Swoopadoop could Swoop Doop? 7?
drhayes: How does Rumpus generate such great names?
Butterscotch Atheist: How does your iterative design philosophy hold up when making a sequel to a well-defined game?

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[Ep266] Techdebt Burndown Rodeo Circus Jul 08, 2020

Show notes

Hey there, Shenanites! In this episode, we talk about the three body problem of cats, aggressive obfuscation, and the problem with a byte. We’ve got so much life advice packed into this one episode, you don’t even know! Literally. Because there are five minutes that are lost to time, and those were the most important five minutes of all. Oh well. Here’s a nugget anyway: Be kind to your future self, because you are your greatest collaborator.

Questions answered (abbreviated):

QuantumAnomaly: Any chance we get a "behind the soundtrack" interview with the marvelous bards sometime?
Happyyerblee: What advice would you have to people wanting to transition into full time indie dev?
RetrophileTV: Blopfush -- good or evil? Where do you stand and why?
xXHYBRIDXx: My girlfriend just broke up with me. What do I do now?

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[Ep265] Cookie Bandolier Jul 01, 2020

Show notes

Hello, Shenanites! This week, we discuss real human experiences, the tyranny of social contracts, and, yet again, how economists are wrong. That’s just a well that never runs dry. It is possible to be both cynical about humanity and also awed by human ingenuity and creativity. What can we say? It’s complicated. But hey, at least there aren’t any murderhornets. ...right?

Questions answered (abbreviated):

challosis: How do you avoid becoming cynical? Or have you accepted being cynical?
thefreakyZ: When you eat a chocolate sandwich cookie, what is your process of eating it?

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[Ep264] Technical Caveman Jun 24, 2020

Show notes

Hiya, Shenanites! In this episode, we talk about postmortems, focused jamming, and the entubening. Diversifying your experience at the start lets you go faster later on. A body in motion stays in motion. A body stuck in one position for twelve hours a day probably atrophies. Or something. Physics, ya know?

Questions answered (abbreviated):

challosis: What game would you make if you had a $100 million budget?
Puffslappa Hoplongie: What kind of process you use for animation? Do you have any tips for breaking into animation?
Beekie Boppaboop: So, it looks like there won’t be a Shenanijam nor a Shenanicon this year. So what will fill the void of events starting with “shenani”?

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[Ep263] Personal Snack Tax Jun 17, 2020

Show notes

Hi there, Shenanites! This week, we discuss one star reviews, risky business, and the cost of maintenance. Activity isn’t the same thing as progress. Sometimes you have to take the time to spin up your hedgehog ball before you can hit the ground running. Then, follow the discovery cascade -- It’ll lead you somewhere life-changing.

Questions answered (abbreviated):

challosis: What are some pie-in-the-sky feature ideas from early on in Levelhead development that never made it in?
Gearwip Toppybeep: Would you ever, under any circumstance, accept a buy-out or merger with a larger game studio?

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[Ep262] Black Lives Matter Jun 10, 2020

Show notes

Hello, Shenanites. This week’s podcast is different than our usual shenanigans. Staying silent in the face of injustice is an endorsement of the status quo, so in this episode we’re going to talk about implicit bias, working towards being antiracist, and what you can do to help. If you’re into the games we make, have enjoyed our previous podcast episodes, or think you like us as people, stay here with us. Listen to this whole episode.

Book recommendations: