Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Latest Episodes:

Visual Novels (with Gloria Kim and Lane Davis) Jul 03, 2018

Show notes

The clubhouse welcomes back Lane Davis and new guest Gloria Kim to discuss developing and releasing a visual novel in 2018. We talk through the process of creating their visual novel, Ruler by Default, as well as hear their insights about being successful in the genre.

Visual Novels

Game Design Marketing Narrative Take a look at "Ruler by Default'"'s funded Kickstarter campaign.Buy "Ruler by Default" on Steam now - Steam

"Who are you wearing? Nintendo." Roguelikes; Crowdfunding Jun 26, 2018

Show notes

This week, your nice hosts cover the topics of Rogue-likes and Crowdfunding while sneaking in a third topic about E3.

In this episode, Mark discusses his previous crowdfunding campaigns, Stephen discovers his new love for an old genre and Martha proposes a new E3 uniform rule.

0:29:45

Roguelikes

An article on the The Berlin Interpretation of Roguelikes from the Internationa…Game Set WatchWe covered procedural generation in a previous episode: "Mutual butt-kicking." 0:57:47

Crowdfunding

Star Citizen, I am disappointedRobert PurcheseEurogamerThe Double Fine Adventure! documentary series is available on Youtube.Fig is a newer option for game developers to get funding.Mark loved WHAT THE GOLF?, already funded through Fig!We talked about Steam Greenlight with the Korth family in their interview episode.Steam Greenlight Hatchfund has helped many artists become successfully funded as well.

Code Comment: "Widget Satchel" Jun 19, 2018

Show notes

This week’s episode is another edition of Code Comment, where your nice hosts look at the project, code, assets, and design of an indie game in development to see how it’s made.

This week, we scamper though Widget Satchel, a mascot-based platformer Mark and Stephen are working on. We took a look at the game right in our Ludum Dare Extravaganza Nice Play episode but the team has done so much more work since then! Learn all about the cool tools Mark coded to help Stephen build levels quickly, how mischief physics works, and more!

We took a look at the game right in our Ludum Dare Extravaganza Nice Play episode but the team has done so much more work since then!Nice Plays: Ludum Dare 40 games (2017)

Video

"Press A to jump." Code Libraries; Tutorials Jun 12, 2018

Show notes

This week on Nice Games Club your nice hosts discuss Code Libraries, Tutorials and all the juicy pre-E3 news that was available at the time of this recording. Stephen debates the merits of show vs. tell in tutorials, Martha complains about the WordPress theme and plug-in search and Mark doesn't fall for Pokemon propaganda.

Picture: a diagram from this Wikipedia article of the iconic World 1-1 from Super Mario Brothers which was a tutorial in disguise!

[0:05:17] Pre-E3 News
How Close is 'Assassin's Creed: Origins' Egypt to the Real Thing? - Justin Reeve, Waypoint

0:17:29

Code Libraries

Not Invented here (NIH) philosophyTechopediaUnity ratchets up its marketing to game developers - without a GDC boothDean TakahashiVentureBeat0:41:51

Tutorials

Unreleased — **"A mean secret that stays in this room." Media Relations; Star Trek Games** Jun 05, 2018
Show notes

Stephen is still in missing in Chicagoland, so we once again retained the services of guest co-host Holly Harrison for an episode featuring two topics that could not be more *completely unrelated* to each other.
First, Holly teaches us some media relations skills that gamedevs need to know (even if they don't want to), and then, because Stephen isn't around to stop us, Mark and Martha (but mostly Mark) talk about the history of Star Trek games!
0:01:25
Media Relations
Hey you, indiedev, use presskit()!Write a better press release using the Inverted PyramidTodd VersteegSignature Style
Holly recommended “trying out” Buzzsumo and Buzzstream.
Artist Statement GuidelinesGetting Your Sh*t TogetherSimilarwebWikipediaAsk Holly your PR questions on twitter: @hollharris.0:31:20
Star Trek Games
“How a Star Trek card game quietly continues, 10 years after its official end”Cyrus FarivarArs TechnicaThe unreleased sequel to the Star Trek VCR board game was called “Borg Q-Uest.”…The "Q the Referee" CCG card that features a still taken from that game's unused footage.The fictional VCR board game from Community we mentioned was called “Pile of Bu…Mark talked about the end of the 90s-era Star Trek action figure line. That sto…“Looking At The Star Trek: TNG Interactive Technical Manual From 1994”Will StapeTreknews“The inside story of Apple's forgotten project: Quicktime VR”Kif LeswingBusiness InsiderYou can actually play “Star Trek: Klingon” on YouTube!“Language App Duolingo Finally Added Klingon”David MurphyLifehacker“The best Star Trek games”Richard CobbettPC Gamer“Jeff Bezos announces Amazon is picking up 'The Expanse'”Richard LawlerEngadget“Retrohistories: Secret of Vulcan Fury: Trek's Lost Adventure”Chris ChapmanYouTube“The Game Archaeologist: Perpetual's Star Trek Online”Justin OlivettiEngadgetUbisoft teased on Twitter that DS9’s USS Defiant will appear in Bridge Crew.Mark praised Star Trek: Ascendancy on a previous episode of the program.Nicest of 2016 “Hogwarts Mystery Players Upset With Use of Microtransactions”Shabana ArifIGN

Martha dancing similarly to the crabs in the game Claw Breaker. — **The Gaming Press (with Ben Hanson)** May 29, 2018
Show notes

For an episode 18 months in the making, Ben Hanson, video producer for Game Informer and host of the excellent gaming podcast The Game Informer Show, finally enters the clubhouse for a wide-ranging discussion about which games and developers get the attention of the gaming press, developing games for modern audiences, and creative leadership in both AAA and indie teams.
The Gaming Press
Gaming IRL Marketing Here is the fabled tweet that started the long road to this episode.
Subscribe to The Game Informer Show via RSS (podcast) or on YouTube.
Get more of Ben's unimpeachable wisdom on Twitter!How A Japanese Reality TV Show About Nothing Became A Global Hit - Mia Nakaji Monnier, Buzzfeed Ben mentioned a clubhouse favorite game by a local developer, Color Jumper (on …Enjoy Martha's famous crab dance!Where the Water Tastes Like Wine Postmortem - Johnnemann Nordhagen, Medium Ben mentioned the Easy Allies podcast Alan Alda's Experiment: Helping Scientists Learn To Talk To The Rest Of Us - Lulu Garcia-Navarro, NPR

Code Comment: "HoverboardVR" May 22, 2018

Show notes

This week's episode is another edition of Code Comment, where your nice hosts look at the project, code, assets, and design of an indie game in development to see how it's made.

This week, we're looking at HoverboardVR, a movement prototype that uses a DDR Dance Pad for locomotion in VR, created by Martha and her brother Henry.

You may have heard us talk about this project on the show before, and how you get to see it in action.

Video

"Not for me I hate them." Platformers; Player Agency May 15, 2018

Show notes

This week, your nice hosts take a moment to celebrate Glitch's 8th birthday! Also: Martha doesn't like jumps, Stephen talks in a British(?) accent, and Mark calls Mega Man ugly.

0:05:55

Platformers

The 2.5D Owl game we were talking about is called Everend.We talked about how we define game genres in a previous episode."I do business." You can download an early demo of the parkour racing game Sparkour right now!The Widget Satchel team watched a lot of ferret videos.You Say Jump, I Say How High?Nordic Game Conference 2016YouTubeSuper Mario Land Is WeirdBrawl in the Family0:48:55

Player Agency

What is Player Agency and what is it good for?StackExchange RPGA new direction for David CageSamit SarkarPolygon

Workflows (with Aubrey Jane Scott) May 08, 2018

Show notes

This week we interview Aubrey Jane Scott, game developer for Monster Games, and discuss game development workflows. We go in-depth about keeping on task and making sure you're able to complete your projects.