Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

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**Nice Games Club – a gamedev podcast!**

The podcast where nice gamedevs talk gaming and game development. Nice!

Latest Episodes:

"One size bigger and red." CSS; Skill Trees Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

Dale learned a lot while editing this episode.

She learned the board game ‘Spirit Island’ is about spirits that protect an island, and she is pretty sure that this is the same premise as hit TV show ‘LOST’.
She learns that CSS is not a programming language or a mark-up language
And she learns that CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets
She learns that AAA games are easy (not sure why she struggles with them)
That there are either wrong choices in skill trees OR it never really mattered
And that Stephen wants to fight everyone on Discord

Good luck anyone who isn’t a McGregor!

9:47

CSS

In this discussion Ellen mentioned accessibility standards for web content

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)Wikipedia

Mark asked if there is an ISO Standard for this, and there is! ISO 40500:2012

There is also one for UI: ISO 30071-1

Mark mentions that you should look up the 'Blink' tag, but Dale already did it for you, here.

Unity Style Sheet (USS)UnityThere is a USS Unity in Star Trek

And Stephen mentions the Div-Div Crow, based on this webcomic.

46:38

Skill Trees

Tiny Horrors (with Rosalie Vile) Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

Ellen and Stephen get spooked discussing small and/or novel horror games and experiences with Online Simulator developer Rosalie Vile. Ellen works backwards from the punchline, Stephen doesn't know about 80%, and Mark is still in California (thanks, calendar math).

Tiny Horrors

Game Design Narrative Online Simulator - Rosalie Vile, itch.io Sunday - EZBake Games, itch.io Skinamarink A Normal Lost Phone - Dear Villagers This House Has People in It - Adult Swim, YouTube Haunted PS1 Demo Disc 2021 - The Haunted PS1, itch.io

GDC 2023 Special Apr 01, 2023

Show notes

We hear from "California Business Mark" who spent the week on-location at GDC 2023. Mark summarizes some of the best talks and events he attended at the conference, featuring Kirby, the Playdate console, secrets in Tunic, Max, and more!

(News) GDC 2023

Timecode8:54.00GDC 2023

Here are the time codes for individual topics:

10:23 Publishing agreements talk
19:32 Porting talk
20:58 Playdate developer lunch
28:24 Dinner with Max!
29:27 Games Industry Gathering (GiG)
30:50 The Many Dimensions of Kirby
47:40 Immortality talk
48:25 IGDA general meeting
51:50 Secrets in Tunic
58:45 Experimental Gameplay Games Workshop

Postmortem: "C.A.R.L." (with Andrew Kenady) Mar 22, 2023

Show notes

Your nice hosts welcome Andrew Kenady, also know as Nintendrew on YouTube, to the show this week! He brings a postmortem about his recently released action platformer C.A.R.L.

Postmortem: "C.A.R.L."

Game Design Marketing Production C.A.R.L. - Andrew Kenady and Morningstar Game Studio C.A.R.L. on Steam - Andrew Kenady and Morningstar Game Studio, Steam Nintendrew - YouTube Morningstar Game Studio Matt Bitner - Barry Carenza, Premium Edition Games The Controversy of Super Paper Mario - Nintendrew, YouTube Novy Unlimited Everything is a Remix [SPOILERS] Undertale reference in new indie game, Pony Island - PxlSqrl, Reddit

"Metroid is very serious." Secrets & Easter Eggs; Player Trust Mar 16, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, Mark makes up a reason to take a road trip, Ellen outwits everyone, and Stephen was also there.

0:24:43

Secrets & Easter Eggs

The Super Mario 64 Coin that Took 18 Years To CollectPatricia HernandezKotakuPC Cheat CodesIGN Reddit on video game SecretsRedditSecrets That Weren't Discovered in Games For YearsJordan BaranowskiSVG0:48:39

Player Trust

We touched on this idea back in our roundtable on 'The Ethics of Engagement'"Shiny rocks get me every time."

Nice Thinking: "Pizza Land" Mar 09, 2023

Show notes

Ellen's nephews have charged her with the task of making a board game about pizza. Making a clone of Hasbro's Candy Land is more difficult than it sounds, especially since these young stakeholders have requested some "creative deviations" from the design of the original board game. Stephen and Mark step in to help out. Can your nice hosts realize the wild, cheesy dream that is Pizza Land?

Nice Thinking Notes

Children's drawings

The art is here on Google Drive for you all to enjoy.

Whale, may or may not be pizza-related
T-rex sort of on fire, facing us
Brontosaurus amoeba
Cat and soulless dog
[Pizza] donut
Pizza Knight with an axe, maybe
Ice cream leaking out of the cone
Pizza t-rex
Pizza crocodile
Pizza shark
Pizza rock, since upgraded to pizza geode
Pizza pyramid
Man made of pizzas x 2

Ellen's drawings

Ellen's drawings
Sea of Sauce
Garlic Bread Grove
Pizza Dough Desert
Calzone Quarry (not pictured)
and here's a link to the spreadsheet mentioned in the episode

Game design conclusions

Players start out with a random collection of ingredients
They collect ingredients as they go through the game
Everyone’s delivering a pizza and they start with a crust
The Pizza Knight has specific interests & tastes in each game, so different ingredients are more important in each playthrough
If a monster catches you it eats a certain number of ingredients (0, 1, 2, or 3)
A grading scale for the team; the pizza knight filling out stars on the app

Movement with d6s. When players move, they can roll 2 dice and choose the result, moving forwards or backwards.

Unspoken, but maybe good ideas?

Monsters all move on the same die roll, and they only move forward.
Players have to be on the same tile to give an object to another person.

"Layers and layers of hair." Visual Composition; Minigames Mar 02, 2023

Show notes

This week, your nice hosts talk about last week and next week. Mark wants you to frame things, Stephen wants a definition, and Ellen wants you to start a fight with her on Discord.

Ellen's team made a gross game for Global Game Jam 2023!
Star Trek: Picard, Final Season Premiere (full free episode) - Paramount+, YouTube

0:17:12

Visual Composition

Composition for Noobs Flow StudioYouTubeComposition in Level DesignMateusz PiaskiewiczGame DeveloperDesign Principles: Compositional, Symmetrical And Asymmetrical BalanceSteven BradleySmashing Magazine0:39:45

Minigames

Mario Party Games That Are Just Part-Time JobsAbigail KwakThe Gamer

The Logistics of Moving On (with Zach Barth) Feb 22, 2023

Show notes

Your nice hosts invite Zachtronics founder Zach Barth to discuss the closing of the studio and the logistics of moving on from that. In this episode, you'll also hear about ruminations on what success means as a game dev, a theory about how great walking is and exclusive news about Zach's future plans.

The Logistics of Moving On

IRL Production Zachtronics website Last Call BBS Why Zachtronics is shutting down for good this time - Alex Calvin, gameindustry.biz Legal Systems Very Different From Ours - David Friedman, Peter Leeson, David Skarbek Why Walking Helps Us Think - Ferris Jabr, The New Yorker Coincidence

Nicest of 2022 Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

The year 2022 in review! Yes, it's now halfway through February, but being a few weeks late is part of the annual "Nicest Of" tradition. Your hosts (plus guest Holly Harrison) revisit their notable games and goals from 2022, and make some plans for 2023.

- Holly is here in the clubhouse for this recording!
- Things that happened in 2022:
  - We sold GLOM! It's coming out in 2023.
  - Mark announced a game (Dreamsettler) and released Noble Engine for the Playdate
  - Stephen became a co-owner of Future Club
  - Ellen got a new job as a game designer with The Game Agency
  - Holly moved into a new place—one without unwanted insects and thieving neighbors

0:04:56

Nicest of 2022

Ellen's Nicest:

Metroid: Dread
Flappy Dragon
Banner Saga 1
Endling: Extinction is Forever

Mark's Nicest:

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope
Stray
Last Call BBS

Stephen's Nicest:

Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Splatoon 3
Rumbleverse
Spirit Island

Holly's Nicest:

Ooblets
Splatoon 3
Bear and Breakfast
Cult of the Lamb
Slime Rancher II

0:49:28

Most Anticipated of 2023

Ellen's picks:

Mars First Logistics
Banner Saga II and III
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Slime Rancher II
Cyberpunk 2077

Mark's picks:

Horizon: Call of the Mountain on Playstation VR 2
Assassin's Creed: Mirage
Season: A Letter to the Future
Dreamsettler

Stephen's picks:

Dragon's Dogma II
Street Fighter 6

Holly's picks:

Mineko's Night Market
Thirsty Suitors
Hades II
Sea of Stars

Picked by everyone:

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

"Leveling out the table." What We Did On Our Winter Break (2022-23) Feb 08, 2023

Show notes

Your hosts recall what they did over their winter break this year (aka hiatus). Ellen played video games and games with her dogs, Stephen watched and reviewed some movies (please tell him what to watch next!), and Mark mostly watched Doctor Who.

Big news for the show: We now have ad-free episodes on Patreon!