Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Latest Episodes:

"Insert interesting car here." Verisimilitude; Indie Game Credits [Nice Replay] Feb 02, 2023

Show notes

#278"Insert interesting car here."Roundtable2022.09.14

Your nice hosts' pronunciation is on point this week as they say a really hard word a large number of times! In this episode, Mark and Ellen BOTH introduce even more complicated words to the other hosts, and Stephen admits to losing an argument (which he'd done on the show before but still don't tell his brother).

Noble Robot Office

Verisimilitude

0:05:23Ellen Burns-Johnson Art Game Design Verisimilitude Definition - Dictionary.com Veracity Definition - Dictionary.com The Quest For Verisimilitude: Realism, Illusion, and Consistency In Video Games - Erik Kain, Forbes How to build verisimilitude in your games? - Thunderdices, RedditOne comment of note in the thread: “Your point about making things simple is extremely important. Lots of things in real life are simple and it’s the combination of items interacting that it becomes complicated. When a DM makes the simple complicated there’s a danger of the world becoming too complex and breaking verisimilitude from the other side.”Thrive - Adam's Apple Games Brobdingnagian Definition - Dictionary.com Thomas Was Alone - Bithell Games, Steam

Indie Game Credits

Mark LaCroix Production MobyGames - MobyGames Film Credits: Everything You Need To Know - Nashville Film Institute

Nice Thinking: "Neurodiversity in Gamedev (with Adam Clewes-Boyne)" [Nice Replay] Jan 26, 2023

Show notes

#271Neurodiversity in Gamedev (with Adam Clewes-Boyne)Nice Thinking2022.07.28

This week, we invite our first guest for Nice Thinking! Adam Clewes-Boyne is putting together an initiative for neurodiversity advocacy and education in the games industry, specifically focused on ADHD. It started as a meetup at a conference, and Adam wants to see where it can go next.

Neurodiversity in Gamedev

Events IRLAdam joined us, after a fashion, in a previous episode:Game Dev London does Nice Games Jam Coffee with Butterscotch podcast - Butterscotch Shenanigans How the Gender Gap Leaves Girls and Women Undertreated for ADHD - CHADD Strategic Planning for Nonprofits - National Council of Nonprofits

"Maximum Whooo!" Learning to Use Tools; Co-Op Games [Nice Replay] Jan 19, 2023

Show notes

#244"Maximum Whooo!"Roundtable2021.11.25

As the podcast approaches its fifth anniversary, your hosts get a little (more) frivolous. Mark shares some industry news about hardware releases. Ellen prompts everyone to share their experiences of learning development tools and examine their process of learning through the lens of Maximum Whooo. Stephen explores the difference between cooperative and collaborative gameplay, and invents something called a Feedborm. Dang!

Steamworks Virtual Conference: Steam Deck - Steam Steam Deck launch delayed by two months - Jay Peters, The Verge Indie handheld Playdate delayed to 2022 - Michael McWhertor, Polygon How Long to Beat: Metroid Dread - HowLongToBeat

Learning to Use Tools

14:05Ellen Burns-Johnson Misc.Tools Articulate Storyline 360, an e-learning development tool Godot, an open-source 2D & 3D game engine Godot: Getting Started >> Step by step - Juan Linietsky, Ariel Manzur and the Godot community, Godot Tuckman's stages of group development - Wikipedia CoDecks: Playful Planning Sonder (a story) - Ludum Dare Proactive and Retroactive Interference (re: learning interference) - Dr. Saul McLeod, Simply Psychology

Co-Op Games

53:10.0Stephen McGregor Game Design Overcooked Co-Op Review: Five-star co-op gaming - Jason Love, Co-Optimus There’s a Difference Between Cooperation and Collaboration - Ron Ashkenas, Harvard Business Review

The State of VR in 2022 (with Andrew Eiche) [Nice Replay] Jan 12, 2023

Show notes

#273The State of VR in 2022 Interview2022.08.11

Your nice hosts talk to Andrew Eiche, COO at Owlchemy Labs (Job Simulator, Vacation Simulator, Cosmonious High) about the state of VR in 2022, and where VR and VR development tools may be going in the coming years.

Andrew talks about how industrial design should influence VR design, why you shouldn't take inspiration from movies, and how ergonomics are important. Also, Ellen takes a hard stand on the right way to use a dial.

VR in 2022 and its Future

VR / AR / XR Owlchemy Labs The Design of Everyday Things - Don Norman, book

Headsets

Pico VR Headset Playstation VR2

VR Engines

VRTK (Virtual Reality Tool Kit)TButt - Turbo Button

Cosmonious High

Cosmonius High on Tik Tok - Tik Tok Cosmonius High on Twitter Cosmonius High on Steam

Nice Games Jam: "StorySlide (with Osama Dorias)" [Nice Replay] Jan 05, 2023

Show notes

#281StorySlide (with Osama Dorias)Nice Games Jam2022.10.06

Game designer Osama Dorias returns to the clubhouse to help design a game that can be played remotely, and provides some (much needed?) structure to the Nice Games Jam process. Stephen is obsessed with Bananas, Ellen contemplates her mystery banana gift, and Mark realizes some of these concepts might be too complicated for small children.

Osama previously joined us for episode 211:Building Blocks of DesignThis isn't the first time we'd had a guest join us for a Nice Games Jam:Blame the Cat! (with Monica Fan)Osama on Twitter Osama's podcast is "The Habibis"

Playtest Materials

The slides we created for this episode's playtest.The Noun ProjectPrompt"Design a game that can be played remotely with (Osama's) children (and ideally is still fun for adults)"Game typeTabletop gamePlayer count3-6Materials

Electronic system for sharing slides (such as Google Slides)

A voice connection with remote players

A set of slides or icons/drawings/clipart to create the set of slides

A system for privately messaging players

Setup

Create a set of slides (12) with icons, drawings, photos, or clip-art, if not using a pre-made slide deck. Each slide should contain 3 items. Pick a Game Master (usually one of the adults playing the game).
The Game Master comes up with one group objective with two parts:
- A protagonist/hero.
- A conflict for the protagonist.
The Game Master comes up with one secret objective for each player:
- Each secret objective should start with the phrase “The hero should...”
- Ideally these will be randomly assigned.

Rules

Player order goes to the left and does not change
The game ends when you run out of slides
Each slide should be a simple phrase or sentence

Gameplay

Play starts with the Game Master describing the first slide, starting with the phrase “Once upon a time..”
Play continues to the player on the Game Master’s left and the slide progresses.
This player chooses one of the three pictures on the slide to incorporate into the story with a phrase or sentence.
Play continues to the left with a new slide. And continues around the circle, with each player getting a new slide (the Game Master may now sit out of the storytelling), until there are no more slides left.
The Game Master may provide an epilogue (and explain what an epilogue is to the children playing the game) as desired.
- Note: Defining 'Epilogue' will not be out of character for this game, as in this episode's run-through Mark would have had to explain to kids: headbanging, Ska, life in 1998, mosh-pits, micro-cassettes, and a reference to 'Spaceballs.'
At the end of the story, players try to guess each others individual objectives.

Visual Coding (with Alina Matson) [Nice Replay] Dec 29, 2022

Show notes

#252Visual Coding Interview2022.03.17

This week we're joined by Alina Matson, developer of Fitment—a microworkout app designed with cozy gamers in mind. Alina talks about how she has used the popular Unity plugin Playmaker to kick-start her transition from a career in mechanical engineering to gamedev. Positive vibes abound. Plus, surprise singing!

Visual Coding

Programming Tools Playmaker - Hutong Games, Unity Asset Store Bolt - Unity, Unity Asset Store Blueprint Visual Scripting - Unreal Engine Processing Scratch - MIT 10 Most Nostalgic Flash Games From The Early 2000s - Samuel Williams, CBR Stephen J. Guy, Director, Applied Motion Lab - University of Minnesota ZebraZappsWe mentioned a previous interview episode with Freya Holmer,Self-education, et al.

Designing like a Dungeon Master (with Katrina Ostrander and Jon Kiehne) [Nice Replay] Dec 22, 2022

Show notes

#247Designing like a Dungeon Master Interview2021.12.10

Your nice hosts (Ellen, mainly) conduct a double-interview, with a consummate professional and a committed amateur, on the subject of game design though the lens of tabletop game mastering. Subjects include the dynamic between system design and session design, the balance between planning and improvisation, and how players can be encouraged to participate in the process.

Designing like a Dungeon Master

Game Design Narrative Tabletop Alternity - Sasquatch Game Studio MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research - Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, Robert Zubek, Northwestern University Dread, a game of horror and suspense - The Impossible Dream Thousand Year Old Vampire - Tim Hutchings Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering - Robin D. Laws Unpossible Game Labs Con of the NorthKatrina imagined a future with "Westworld as a video game," which coincidentally was a topic in one of our first episodes:"It's against the law to stop."

"No referees?!" Curling; Off-Ramps [Nice Replay] Dec 15, 2022

Show notes

#268"No referees?!"Roundtable2022.07.07

How much of the culture around a game is rooted in its design? That's one of the questions that comes up as Mark takes us on a tour of curling—an Olympic sport that's described as "chess on ice." We examine its origins, the Spirit of Curling, and some specific rules that may have a big impact on how players behave towards one another. Later, Stephen considers some questions about off-ramps, the parts of a game that guide players as they end a play session. Should we as designers encourage players to take breaks?

Gato Roboto by doinksoft (from Devolver Digital) - Steam

Curling

0:10:15Mark LaCroix Game Design About Curling - World Curling Federation Why is this Olympic Sport called Chess on Ice? - by user "Pete", Chess.com Curling might be an antidote to our troubled times - Kristen Gelineau, The Detroit News Glossary of curling - Wikipedia Deflategate - Wikipedia

Off-Ramps

0:50:00Stephen McGregor Game Design Gaming How Gaming Breaks Can Make You a Better Player... and Why They're Important - Michael Harman, Make Use Of

Characterization in Pet Management Games (with Sarah Yu and Beth) Dec 08, 2022

Show notes

Sarah Yu and Beth, developers of Bugaboo Pocket, join us once again in the clubhouse after our chance meeting at GDC! Listen in as we gush about bugs a lot, but also discuss how to present personality traits of your pets in pet management games. There's also a bunch of cool videos of bugs in this episode's show notes!

Sarah and Beth were also interviewed by us during GDC in 2022.GDC 2022 Special (Part 2)

Characterization in Pet Management Games

Art Game Design Gaming Chao World - Chao Island Do Dogs Smile? What’s Really Behind That Adorable Smile? - Joelle Audette, Canine Campus Bugaboo Pocket Beta - Bugaboo Pocket

Bugs Mentioned

What is an isopod? - NOAA Ocean ExplorationVideo of Praying MantisVideo of Jerusalem Crickets (Potato Bugs)Video of Syrphid Fly (Hoverfly)

Games Mentioned

Neko Atsume - Hit-Point Co., Ltd Wobbledogs - Animal Uprising Merge Dragons - Gram Games Bugaboo Pocket - Bugaboo Pocket

"You lost all your dragons." Save Data; Interdisciplinary Communication Nov 30, 2022

Show notes

The clubhouse comes together this week to realize the danger and fear surrounding Save Data. Mark talks about the advantages of Json and xml, then immediately tells why he choose neither of them for his project. Stephen summarizes why meetings are great and why everyone is sometimes a tech artist (Make it more... Dynamic?), and the team discusses how to best communicate between people who have different skills sets.