Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Latest Episodes:

Code Comment: "Claw Breaker" Apr 25, 2018

Show notes

This week, your nice hosts have put together a new video format for the show, called Code Comment, where we take apart a game from our gamedev community, looking at the project, code, assets, and design to see how it's made.

For this first edition, we chose Claw Breaker, a game jam game turned upcoming commercial release made by a team that included Martha and Stephen. It's how they met!

Video

"This is why I subscribe." Nostalgia; PC Games Market Apr 17, 2018

Show notes

This week, Mark returns from San Fransisco, your nice hosts get the math wrong, and everyone agrees that Claw Breaker is worth real money.

We’re launching our new video format (now called “Code Comment”) next week! In the first edition, we dig into Claw Breaker! Look forward to it!
And if you haven’t already, check our our Nice Plays videos.

0:06:43

Nostalgia

The old PlayStation Spyro games are being re-released as a trilogy, to some mixed reception.

Firmament is a VR game being made by the developers of Myst.Speaking of Myst nostalgia, Cyan just announced a 25th Anniversary re-release.Mark recently read a few of the Boss Fight Books: books about past games with i…We talked about our game influences in a previous episode: “Schrödinger’s Anima…0:34:23

PC Games Market

Steam Spy announces it’s shutting down, blames Valve’s new privacy settingsSam MachkovechArs TechnicaLet's Be Realistic: A Deep Dive into How Games Are Selling on SteamMike RoseGDCJane Ng, lead artist at Campo Santo, started a great thread on Twitter about lo…Mark mentioned the user testing he commissioned for Metro Nexus, which we talked about with Hannah Murphy in the episode “Games User Research, Redux! (with Hannah Murphy).”

"A thousand monies." "Bad" Game Design; Character Design Apr 10, 2018

Show notes

Mark is still in San Fransisco, so his lovely wife Dale (she of Evil Games Club) fills in and talks with Martha and Stephen about bad game design and good character design.

0:02:48

"Bad" Game Design

We put Martha though the worst Mario game ever in an episode of Nice Plays.Nice Plays: Super Mario Bros. 2 [Japan] (1986)Want some rye?The Tetris EffectWikipediaUbisoft Aware of Tetris Ultimate IssuesJason DunningPlayStationLifeStyleE.T.: Walkthrough and Easter EggsTrillingWonderYouTubeA videogame for #blacklivesmatterZach BudgorKill Screen0:32:52

Character Design

Choosing Your Pirate In Sea Of Thieves Is HardMike FaheyKotakuHow to Convey Character’s Personality Through Shape, Variance and SizeBilyanaGraphic MamaMaking ComicsScott McCloudWikipediaCrumpets and Badonkadonks: Creating Tiny TinaAshly and Anthony BurchYouTube

GDC 2018 Special Apr 03, 2018

Show notes

This week Dale from Evil Games Club joins us as we call in to Mark on location in San Francisco for the Game Developers Conference!

0:02:17

GDC 2018 Highlights

Sony VR with Joshua Bell Budget Cuts Gorogoa postmortem Classic postmortem on Sonic the Hedgehog Game Dev Union / Games Workers Unite The Other Party GameJolt’s Bring Your Own Indie Party, where Mark showed his game for three hou…

Participants in Glitch’s Power Leveling program got to tour Double Fine’s studio, among other adventures!

Katie’s twitter thread of all the awesome Minnesotans at GDC!

Nice Plays: "Everything" (2017) Mar 26, 2018

Show notes

This week on Nice Plays, the show where the Nice Games Club gamedevs play nice games, we continue a conversation from last week’s roundtable, and preview a topic from an upcoming episode.

Your nice hosts talk about gamedev philosophy while Martha plays the zen-inspired game Everything, and talk about character design as Stephen wanders into Martha's ranch and makes a big ‘ol mess in the super-adorable farming game Slime Rancher.

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Nice Plays: "Slime Rancher" (2017) Mar 26, 2018

Show notes

This week on Nice Plays, the show where the Nice Games Club gamedevs play nice games, we continue a conversation from last week’s roundtable, and preview a topic from an upcoming episode.

Video

"That gets real meta, real fast." Research for Games; Gamedev Philosophies Mar 20, 2018

Show notes

This week, your nice hosts get a bit personal as they talk about the research that has gone into their games and the philosophies behind them, as well what exactly a Nice Game is. Also in the episode: Stephen has confusing feelings about MAR10 Day, Mark finds more reasons to reference Star Trek and Martha discusses her previously undisclosed acting talents.

0:10:35

Research for Games

Here are the 30 maps Mark spent a few weeks researching for.How ‘Never Alone’ turns cultural heritage into video game historyMatt KamenWiredHow Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice deals with psychosisJames LloydScience FocusUniverse Sandbox Elite Dangerous Mark mentions this game 30 for 30 episode titled Madden’s Game.30 for 30ESPN0:45:26

Gamedev Philosophies

The Manifesto Jam has many fascinating statements about approaching game development. Here are the ones we mention on the show:

I was trying to make a game but my dog got in the way…Secret languages Money-festo Rules for not losing myself Manifesto for gentle games Games are weird tiny things that teach us Notecard minifestos

"Smart lazy." Game Programming; Work Spaces Mar 15, 2018

Show notes

This week Stephen made it to the clubhouse despite the Minnesota snow, Mark shares his knowledge of object oriented programming and Martha yells at the Unity docs.

Photo is of Glitch HQ and is from Glitch.mn

0:09:13

Game Programming

Godot is a game engine similar to Unity, but with object-oriented programming a…We’ve talked about coding styles in our episode titled "Proper ones and twos."Martha went to the coding boot camp Prime Digital Academy.Learning FluencySara SimonMediumMark mentioned the book Game Programming Pattern, a resource also available for…Robert Nystrom0:52:06

Work Spaces

If you use part of your home for business, you may be able to get a tax reducti…

Learning Through Games (with Ellen Burns-Johnson) Mar 06, 2018

Show notes

Your nice hosts welcome instructional designer Ellen Burns-Johnson to the clubhouse, as we discuss the many ways to approach teaching using interactive games. Along the way, we talk about bugs (of the many leg variety), snow falling from buildings, and traumatizing but educational game experiences.

Learning Through Games

Game Design UI / UX Ellen references THOTH, a twin-stick shooter made by Carlsen Games.Much of Ellen’s work is based off of the CCAF framework.Learn about how to make fake news from the educator backed Bad News.Custom eLearning Vs. Off-The-Shelf eLearning: Which Is Right For You? - Ayesha Habeeb Omer, Ph.D, eLearning Industry Cathy Moore talks about training design ideas on her blog Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Virtual Reality game The Hard Way - YouTube Assassin’s Creed Origins’ new educational mode is a violence-free tour through … - Andrew Webster, The Verge Ellen played SimAnt as a kid!

Nice Plays: "Verdant Skies" (2018) Feb 27, 2018

Show notes

This week on Nice Plays, the show where the Nice Games Club gamedevs play nice games, we played two just-released local indie games.

Martha played the life-simulation game Verdant Skies, and Stephen played the non-violent 3D platformer Newt One. We had a lot to say about both, which we loved, and not just because the developers are friends of the show.

You can watch both episodes on YouTube by using the links below, or by visiting this episode's page on https://nicegames.club