Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Latest Episodes:

"Stephen, explain this." Grind; Emphasizing Uniqueness Sep 02, 2023

Show notes

This week, Stephen and Ellen catch up with Mark about his (and Dale's) trip to GenCon. There is a happy minor Glom update, and then it's down to business. What's grind? What purpose does it serve, and what are the mechanics of it? Your nice hosts attempt to come up with some definitions & guidelines—you decide whether they succeed. And feel free to share your opinions on Discord :)

Gen Con

06:08

Grind

A Necessary Evil: Grinding in GamesBrice MorrisonGame Developer26:32

Emphasizing Uniqueness

Getting Things Going (with Rick Stemm) Aug 24, 2023

Show notes

In this episode your nice hosts welcome Rick Stemm of PikPok to the clubhouse to talk about what happens after a game gets greenlit.

Turns out the answer involves building your team and trust.
Rick touts the idea of a sh*tty first draft - faster and worse. Coaching feedback givers for what you are looking for, and the importance of building a trust in a team. Rick spouts useful idioms and your host claim points for each time Rick says ‘cohesive’ or ‘holistic.’

Who scored the most points? Turns out Stephen declared that the points don’t matter, good thing I never bothered tabulating them.

Getting Things Going

IRL

"Sad or fascinating?" Cheating, Part 3; Putting the Real World in Games Aug 17, 2023

Show notes

We return to the topic of cheating for the third (and final, maybe?) time this week! In this episode, Ellen brings cheating to a close, Mark makes up a band he'd totally listen to, and Stephen comes up with an engaging dish washing game.

Cubistry - Match 2 LLC, Google Play Store

0:12:26

Cheating, Part 3

We first visited cheating in this episode."What's a little grand larceny?"Cheating Part II in this episode.Cheating, Part 2 Anti-cheat in video games: The A to ZReinhard BlaukovitschIrdetoMedal of dishonour: why do so many people cheat in online video games?Keith StuartThe GuardianReport: Cheating Is Becoming A Big Problem In Online GamingNelson GranadosForbes167: Randomly Generated TitleCoffee with ButterscotchButterscotch ShenanigansCS:GO - Overwatch guideEd ThornRock Paper ShotgunHOW TO GET OVERWATCH CASES IN CS:GO: CLEAN UP THE GAMEDaniel MorriseSports.net

YouTube videos

17 Video Games That ROAST CheatersT5GYouTubeTackling Cheating In GamingGDCYouTubeHow DayZ Deals With CheatersGDCYouTubeRobocalypse Now: Using Deep Learning to Combat Cheating in Counter-Strike: Glob…GDCYouTube0:50:22

Putting the Real World in Games

VenbaVisai Games

Game Jam Games

SonderA Hot Clock Productionitch.ioSmile SimulatorAnyanwuitch.io

Leadership (with Frani Esquenazi) Aug 10, 2023

Show notes

Your nice hosts get called to the boss' office to interview Frani Esquenazi, who is Stephen's actual boss at Future Club. Frani discusses servant leadership, getting your "C" legs, and not having all the answers.

Leadership

IRL Production Servant Leadership - Mind Tools Servant Leadership is NOT What You Think - John S. Todorovic, LinkedIn Women in Games - Discord

Cheating, Part 2 Aug 04, 2023

Show notes

In the second installment of your nice hosts' discussion about cheating in games, we talk about the nature of cheating in contemporary video games: what it looks like, what factors shape it, and how worried we gamedevs should be about it. Yeah, we had so much to say about cheating that we couldn't fit it into one episode. Can we fit it into two? Also, Mark skips the punctuation, Stephen is excited, and Ellen quits a game.

Gex Is Coming to Modern Consoles - Alex Stedman, IGN

0:16:58

Cheating, Part 2

"Cheating, Part 1" was in a recent roundtable episode."What's a little grand larceny?"Why Dream kept his face hidden — and why he revealed it (2022) Ana Diaz PolygonYouTube’s big Minecraft cheating scandal, explained (2020)Patricia HernandezPolygonAnti-cheat in video games: The A to ZReinhard BlaukovitschIrdetoMedal of dishonour: why do so many people cheat in online video games?Keith StuartThe GuardianReport: Cheating Is Becoming A Big Problem In Online GamingNelson GranadosForbesEpisode 167: Randomly Generated TitleCoffee with Butterscotch

YouTube videos

17 Video Games That Roast CheatersTop 5 GamingYouTubeGDC 2021 Fair Play Summit: Tackling Cheating in GamingGDCYouTubeGDC Europe 2015: How DayZ Deals with CheatersGDCYouTubeGDC 2018 Robocalypse Now: Using Deep Learning to Combat Cheating in CS:GOGDCYouTube

Writing for Games (with Anna C Webster) Jul 28, 2023

Show notes

In this episode your nice hosts chat with Anna C. Webster lead writer on The Foglands, and her cat Montezuma. Anna talks about how writing for games is different than writing for other medias, including making decisions on what options the player can make (you can never let your player do anything because scope), and writing for players that role-play as the character vs. wearing the character's costume as yourself. And the importance of frequent Narrative Reviews and getting together with other teams to talk about how new elements feel.

Stephen's journey in this episode takes him from declaring that writing is hard to being encouraged and pledging to write for the his next games jam project (Ellen will be coding in Godot).

Writing for Games

IRL Narrative Atmospheric sci-fi western roguelike The Foglands launches on PS VR2 this year - Derek O'Dell, Playstation Blog The Foglands - Steam

Tools for Game Writing

Confluence - Atlassian Scrivener Ink - Inkle Studios Twine - Twinery Articy Bitsy

"Salt, in everything?" Player Motivations; Copying Others Jul 20, 2023

Show notes

After a fairly self-indulgent meta, your nice hosts eventually get into the nitty-gritty of both Player Motivation and Copying Others. Listen after the outro to hear a plethora of fun horse names!

0:26:57

Player Motivations

Gamer Motivation ProfileQuantic FoundryBoard Game Motivation ProfileQuantic FoundryWe've talked about types of players this episode as well."Killed the flightmaster, killed the griffin..."We also took Quantic Foundry surveys in this episode."Will you be the best with me?"

Copying Others

4 ChordsThe Axis Of AwesomeYouTube

Postmortem: "An Outcry" (with Quinn K) Jul 13, 2023

Show notes

Quinn K joins the clubhouse to break down their IGF-nominated game "An Outcry." Your nice hosts learn about choosing your own limitations, the Haunted PS1 scene, and how much playtesting is still not enough playtesting.

Postmortem: "An Outcry"

An Outcry - Quinn K, itch.io RPG Maker 2003 Oulipo: freeing literature by tightening its rules - Andrew Gallix, The Guardian Dogme 95 - Movements in Film Huanted PS1 Demo Disc 2021 - itch.io The Shrike (ship) - Memory Alpha

"Ask your friends." Finding Help; Companion Characters Jul 08, 2023

Show notes

In this week's roundtable, Ellen needs help with ALL the things. Stephen and Mark offer advice on where to find people who can help, and discuss some of the hidden challenges of expanding one's team. Later, Stephen challenges everyone to think about how games can do a better job of implementing companion characters. Also, some host backstory tidbits, weird horse names, and (of course) a bit about Glom.

0:11:46

Finding Help

Hiring Game DesignersGame Developer0:46:22

Companion Characters

[The] 10 Best Companions In Gaming HistoryJom ElauriaScreenRant

The State of "Dogpile!" Jun 29, 2023

Show notes

(Some of) your nice hosts went to Origins Game Fair last week! Aside from taking in the show and learning more about the world of board games, they were there to attend the launch of their card game Glom. But before they went, they talked about the state of the next card game they're working on (and working on pitching to publishers), Dogpile!