Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Latest Episodes:

"Please go vote." Runtime Asset Management; Double Jump vs. Dash Oct 24, 2024

Show notes

This week, your nice hosts talk a little bit about our civic duty before getting into two very on-brand topics. Make a plan to vote on (or before!) November 5th. Information at https://vote.org/

Runtime Asset Management

Phaser Simplify your content management with AddressablesUnityWADDoom Wiki

Double Jump vs. Dash

Games Are Better With Double JumpsHeather AlexandraKotakuWhy Celeste's dash feels great Alex WiltshireRock Paper ShotgunKaizoWikipedia

Combat Design (with Timothy Staton-Davis) Oct 17, 2024

Show notes

We welcome Timothy Staton-Davis into the clubhouse to talk both the broad strokes and the nitty-gritty of combat design.

Melanated Game Kitchen - itch.io

Combat Design

Art Game DesignWe talked about "juice" in game design way back! You can find links related to the topic here as well."I am a Juice Journeyman!"Pacing - Robert Yang, Andrew Yoder, The Level Design Book

“That’s way too many pawns.” Communicating Difficulty; Remixed Play Modes Oct 11, 2024

Show notes

This week, Ellen kicks things off with a chat about how games tell players, “This might be tough!” and how to make that fun and fair. Stephen and Mark jump in with their takes on what makes difficulty settings shine. Then, Mark thinks about the practice taking familiar game mechanics and twisting them into something fresh. Think pacifist runs or limited equipment modes. Why limit yourself to one way to play when you can remix the whole game? As always, there are some goofs in here, too.

0:21:44

Communicating Difficulty

Really Bad Chess PuzzmoOrta Therox & Zach GageAggro Crab Studio "Why Quitting Is Usually Worth It"David Duchovny & Stephen DubnerFreakonomics Radio Network0:40:35

Remixed Play Modes

Metro NexusNoble Robot10 Most Unique Multiplayer Modes In Video GamesJames KennedyThe GamerExtra game modesUniversal Videogame ListPARKS Board Game59 Parks

"Numbers go up." Scoring 101; Turning off the Gamedev Brain Oct 03, 2024

Show notes

This week, learn about what Ellen was like as a student. Stephen wonders if he’s made a huge mistake, Ellen does some work research, and Mark insists that there is no such thing as magic.

Stephen started a new class: Film making
Ellen forced her parents to play another game!
Parks Board Game
Mark saw the Badger Badger Mushroom song for the first time and was underwhelmed. Consequently, Dale was editing and then also got to see it for the first time, and found that this was the correct response. This video is over 20 years old (2003).
Badger Badger Mushroom - Weeb's Stuff, YouTube
Mark is (still) working on some User Interface Tools in Unity, called NobleTools

0:11:26

Scoring 101

The four types of scoring discussed: 1. Victory Points 2. Experience Points 3. Stats based scoring 4. Hit PointsPerplexity conversation NoodleThe Training ArcadeKurt Vonnigut The Shape of StoriesStephen JohnsonBig ThinkSumming Salt - Mario Kart DSSumming SaltYouTube0:42:39

Turning off the Gamedev Brain

Moonwalking with EinsteinWikipediaEllen has been watching the behind the scenes special feature for ' The House that Dragons Built'

Optimization (with Jarryd Huntley) Sep 26, 2024

Show notes

Entering the clubhouse this week is our the third Owl (employee of Owlchemy Labs) and first Peabody Award winner (as lead developer for We Are OFK), to talk about the "dos," "don'ts," and "good enoughs" of optimization.

Optimization

Hardware Production Programming Is Using LINQ in C# Bad for Performance? - James Vickers, The Startup For Vs Foreach In C# - Sagar Gavand, C# Corner

"It's hard how my mind works." Audio Middleware; Psychic Distance Sep 19, 2024

Show notes

There are now episodes of Nice Games Club for each new day of the year! When you get to the last day of that year, you'll hear about Audio Middleware and Psychic Distance from us in the clubhouse.

About the Fair - Minnesota State Fair

0:17:06

Audio Middleware

An example of audio tech conversations we've had in the past.Game Audio Tools and Workflows WwiseAudiokineticFMODFMOD0:51:32

Psychic Distance

Psychic Distance: what it is and how to use itEmma DarwinThis Itch of Writing

Nice Thinking: "Player Personas" Sep 12, 2024

Show notes

In this episode the boys are back in Minneapolis, but they are still thinking about their time with Ellen in Duluth, or Roboluth ;) s

So they are using this episode to talk about instructions, again, but this time though the lens of the different types of "user personas" who will be reading it.

Instructions

What is Roboston?

Roboston is a tabletop game that the the Nice Games Club came up with during an podcast Game Jam Episode. For anyone new to the podcast, we recommend starting two episodes back (at 362), for some background on the game. For those of you who wish for a full memory restoration, here is the full episode list:The original Nice Game Jam where Roboston was concievedRoboston! (Live at 2D Con 2020)A follow up episode 197 continues the devlopment because they were so excited about RobostonRoboston! (part 2)The club worked on the game over winter break in 2020-21, episode 207 summarizes what they worked on."It’s March tomorrow." What We Did On Our Winter Break (2020-21)We again visited Roboston over our 2023-24 winter break, and talk about in in episode 337"Hundreds of questions like that." What We Did On Our Winter Break (2023-24)Mark and Steven visit Ellen in Duluth where they play a bunch of Roboston"Apply your context, thusly."

Rulebook is

More than a script for “the teach”Verbal and visual (and, increasingly, multimedia)Define your PlayersSteve BromleyGame User Research

Define your Players

User persona is the UX term, Player persona is used in games

Things to add to the FAQs

Does the value affected by the repeater also get multiplied if you’re adding a part? Does the value for a new part always have to come from the torso? Can you send the robot without having arms/legs/heads? How many dice should I try to go for in this check?

Player Personas

1. Roboston new players

Box inventory list Anatomical diagram of a robot Game setup diagram (game as a whole, what’s in your hand) Reference cards (player actions, game phases, etc.)

2. Roboston experienced players

Table of contents Stats for nerds Index (?) FAQ section

3. Inexperienced tabletop game players

Invitation to play, sense of fun Build trust with the player as the rulebook progresses

4. Experienced tabletop game players

Resource, reference Allow them to get right to the core, fast

A close-up of Dante, Ellen's Australian cattle dog (blue heeler). — **The Duluth Basement Session** Sep 05, 2024
Show notes

Once again from hilly Duluth, Minnesota! On Day 2 of a game design weekend retreat, your nice hosts tackled rules—writing rules, rewriting rules, and playtesting them. It was a long day, culminating with a family playtest of *Roboston*, featuring a newly written rulebook. How did it go? Well, there's more work to be done, but we learned a lot. Your hosts discuss this and more in today's episode, recorded on Day 3 of Mark's and Stephen's trip to Duluth.
Minnesotan Phrases - Wanderlust In Real Life
Dante is the adorable troublemaker who barked MULTIPLE TIMES during the recording session.
Resources for Rules-Writing
Top Six Rules for Writing RulebooksMeeple MountainHow to Teach GamesThe Giant Brain

"Apply your context, thusly." Instructions; Cynicism Aug 29, 2024

Show notes

It's a nice sleepover as this (and next) week's episode is recorded from Ellen's basement in Duluth. Mark has an angle, Ellen shares her topic, and Stephen manages.

The view from the rotating resturant that Mark took Stephen to - Ragnar Eythorsson, YouTube
Karen Puzzles - Karen Kavett, YouTube
- 178 (TNG) + 176 (DS9) + 7 (TOS movies, including "Generations" because Kirk was in it) = 361 episodes
- Nice Games Club = 362 episodes
One Piece aired it's 362nd episode 16 years ago. As of press time, it's up to 1116.
Our next target is My Three Sons, which has 380 episodes. We will reach that milestone at the end of 2024.

0:07:31

Instructions

0:33:35

Cynicism

"The lensing effect of the window." Theming vs. Aesthetics; Parries Aug 22, 2024

Show notes

It’s hot in the clubhouse and hot in Ellen’s greenhouse this week, so your hosts are eager to crunch through some discussion. Ellen introduces the concept of the MDA framework, and the differences between Theming and Aesthetics, and Stephen comes to a major conclusion about parrying.

0:06:40

Theming vs. Aesthetics

The MDA FrameworkWikipediaEllen promised Dictionary.com definitions, so here you go:AestheticsDictionary.comThemeDictionary.comWe talked about theming and aesthetics for a GameJam Game from a previous episodeThe Bike Boom Alien Isolation Themes explored n : Demystifying the Terror of Alien IsolationAndy RobertsonWired0:28:56

Parries

Stephen's list of why parries are so popular: 1) A way to reward mastery or paying attention 2) Rewards participation 3) An appreciable way to consider mastering the game The different variations of Parrying 1) Just Dodges 2) Traditional Parrying (miss = block) 3) Dynamic Parrying release parrying 4) Alternate button (paper mario parrying) EVO Moment 37Wikipedia