GameDev Loadout | A Game Developer Podcast

Latest Episodes:

89: Change Your Life with an Aeron Chair, Cliff Harris from Positech Games Apr 11, 2018

Show notes

On the Game Dev Loadout podcast, join Cliff Harris from Positech Games as we discuss AI programming, interpersonal skills, buying a great chair for comfort, and much more. He is an indie game developer from the UK, behind strategy and sim games such as Democracy and Gratuitous Space Battles. His company also published games such as Big Pharma and Political Animals. Cliff is a big blogger writing about game development and his thoughts on the game industry.

Items Mentioned:

Cliff WebsitePositech Games WebsiteCliff TwitterCliff YoutubeGame Production Line Aeron Chair C++ books

88: Join a Great Community for Inspiration with Jason Canam from Household Games Apr 04, 2018

Show notes

On the Game Dev Loadout podcast, join Jason Canam from Household Games Incorporation as we discuss making games accessible, taking timeline seriously, benefits of being in a community, and much more. He found his company in 2016 which is focused on creating high-quality and stylized original IP content for consoles and PC. He used to be the game designer for DrinkBox Studios working on Guacamelee! Championship Edition and now his current game The Way of the Passive Fist is out now.

87: Going Indie with Jake Birkett of Grey Alien Games Mar 28, 2018

Show notes

Jake Birkett has been an indie developer since 2005 for his company Grey Alien Games. HIs work includes Shadowhand and Regency Solitaire. He also writes blogs about his experience. Join us as we discuss making games faster, how he took the huge risk of going indie, and much more.

86: Game Development is a Process, Identity, and Marketing Term with Nick Culbertson of Moby Pixel Mar 21, 2018

Show notes

On the Game Dev Loadout podcast, join Nick Culbertson of Moby Pixel as we discuss the importance of updating your game as technology advances, turning negative experiences into positive, the meaning of game dev, and much more. He is the host of a new game developer podcast called Game Dev Deconstructed where he explores the process of game development providing you with an in-depth, tactical blueprint for navigating the game industry. He is also an indie developer and the founder of Moby Pixel that specializes in making music apps and rythmes games.

Items Mentioned:

Podcast WebsiteNick Email gamedevdeconstructed@gmail.comCompany WebsiteMoby Pixel Twitter Dallas Meetup Group NERDbody Pico-8

85: The Benefits of Having a Game Consultant with Tommy Roekkum of Trym Studios Mar 14, 2018

Show notes

We discuss the benefits of having a game consultant, his experience of hiring a freelancer, how he got a publisher, and much more. Tommy is the Project lead and CEO of Trym Studios, hailing out of Norway, currently working on their first game, a 17th century trade sim! Tommy, coming from the oil industry made a big transition from a safe and well paid job over to creating his own game studio and going for a very ambitions game, getting a publisher at the start of development and funds to create a demo.

Items Mentioned:

Tommy TwitterCompany TwitterGame The Whaler TwitterGame The Whaler Website IndieDB Gamedev.net Tigsource Game Dev on Udemy

84: What Makes People Buy Games with Dan Schoenbaum of Cooladata Mar 07, 2018

Show notes

We discuss the importance of gathering data on your audience, High LTV customers, CAC, and much more. Dan Schoenbaum is the CEO of Cooladata which specializes in helping clients understand their customer's journey from discovery and conversion to retention and growth. Essentially they analyze customer behavior analytics to help you figure out what your audience is doing with your game and how you can optimize it.

Items Mentioned:

Dan Website https://www.cooladata.com/Dan Email dan@cooladata.comArticle The 19 Metrics Every Mobile Game Needs to TrackArticle Keep them hooked: 3 Steps to Increasing Player Retention In Online GamingArticle The Anatomy of the Perfect SaaS Analytics DashboardArticle How to Find Your Perfect SAAS CustomerArticle Online Gaming Google Analytics

83: Toolsmith, Rendering Gods, and Revision Control System with Blair Leggett of One More Story Games Feb 28, 2018

Show notes

"So too how a mountaineer has their safety line, a game team has their revision control system. If codes get messed up or something goes fubar, you have a RCS like a GitHub or Perforce that will help you recover NOT IF accidents happen but when IT happens especially as you start to scale up in development."

Blair Leggett leads a small indie studio with his wife called One More Story Games. With over 20 plus years in the game industry, they have built their own game engine specifically for authors to create narrative games and published 7 games in the last 3 years while building the engine. Their work includes Danielle's Inferno, Skycarver, and the upcoming Shakespeare's Landlord.

Connect:

Website https://onemorestorygames.com/Game Engine Website http://storystylus.com/Game Shakespeare's Landlord http://www.lilybard.com/Twitter @1MoreStoryGamesYoutube https://www.youtube.com/user/OneMoreStoryGamesResources:

UNSUNG HEROES OF THE GAMES INDUSTRY: TOOLS PROGRAMMERS GitHubPerforce https://www.perforce.com/Subscribe to the podcast:

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82: Information Distribution, Cooperative Communication Mechanics, and HCI with Zachary Toups of New Mexico State University Feb 21, 2018

Show notes

"One of the key measures for when teams are communicating well is that their proactive in sharing information with each other. They don't waste too much time asking each other questions. They proactively tell people what they need to know when they need to know it."

Zachary O. Toups is an assistant professor in the Computer Science Department at New Mexico State University in the areas of game design and human-computer interaction. His research develops gameplay through which participants practice real-life skills, with an emphasis on disaster-response contexts and team coordination. His work incorporates ethnographic approaches to understanding existing practice; zero-fidelity simulations that capture abstract, human-centered aspects of practice; mixed reality computing that engages players in human-human, human-environment, and human-computer interaction; and mobile, collaborative technologies that support sensemaking in disaster.

Connect:

Pixl website: https://pixl.nmsu.edu/Twitter: @toupszEmail: z@cs.nmsu.eduResources:

The Design of Everyday Things by Donald NormanSubscribe to the podcast:

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81: Follow the Three P's Principle When Choosing a Job with Richard Ludlow of Hexany Audio Feb 14, 2018

Show notes

Three P's Principle "You can take a project if it has any one of these three P's. Great Project if you think it's really neat and you love the work. Great People if you are working with awesome people and building great relationships. Great Payment if it pays well. It's amazing if you get two of the three."

Join Richard Ludlow of Hexany Audio as we discuss the importance of not writing overbearing scripts, learning to say "NO," following the three 'P's when choosing a project to work on, and much more. Richard Ludlow is the audio director at Hexany Audio, a Los Angeles-based sound and music studio specializing in audio for games and VR. Richard oversees both the creative and business aspects and has worked on projects for Disney, Activision, Ubisoft, Ford, Chevrolet, and many more. He regularly speaks about game music and sound at GDC, PAX, and more.

Connect:

Email: rludlow@hexanyaudio.comWebsite: https://hexanyaudio.com/Resources:

Do internshipsSubscribe to the podcast:

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80: Art Materials, Megascan, and Workflow with Teddy Bergsman of Quixel Feb 07, 2018

Show notes

Teddy Bergsman - "I never seen a single person being fired over a tool helping them out or making their work faster. Not a single time and I work with gaming companies and filming companies in the world. And that just doesn't happen and I think that's what scares people to shy away from revolutionary type of tools. Embrace it, adopt it early as you can, get ahead of the curve."

Join Teddy Bergsman as he discusses how megascans work and why it's important, his obsession to help me the game industry workflow faster and efficient, how hiring the right person was key to his company, and much more. Teddy Bergsman is the CEO of Quixel which is the world's largest scan library. These scans include vegetation, debris to nature environments all across the globe.

Connect:

Facebook Quixel where you can send Teddy a message Website: Quixel Resources:

Marmoset Toolbag 3 Artstation Unreal Engine 4Subscribe to the podcast:

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