Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Latest Episodes:

Solo Development (with Will Tice) Feb 20, 2017

Show notes

Developer, pixel artist, and YouTube vlogger Will Tice joins the club to talk about building his own game engine, and what it's like to go solo.

Solo Development

IRL Libgdx "It's official: XNA is dead" - IndieGames.com unTied Games devlog unTied Games - Speed Sprinting video

"Can I tweet about this?" Glitch’s Immersion Program; Work/Life Balance; Tools of the Trade Feb 13, 2017

Show notes

It's an episode packed to the gills, hosted by two manatees and an otter!

Your hosts each talk about their time with Glitch's Immersion program, and Mark shares what he learned about its most recent cohort, which he filmed for an upcoming documentary.

We then bum ourselves out talking about how we never have enough time to work on our projects, but things pick up for the final segment as we gab about some of our our favorite gamedev tools, including a bunch of suggestions from listeners. Be sure to browse the links below to learn more about them!

0:04:00

Glitch’s Immersion Program

0:18:22

Work/Life Balance

0:32:33

Tools of the Trade

Version Control

SourceTree Gitkraken Unimerge

Unity Assets

Unity Assets Store Super Fast Soft ShadowsUnityRewired

Graphics Software

MagicaVoxel Blender 3D Studio Max Adobe Create Cloud Adobe Animate Pyxel Edit

User Forums

Stack Overflow Unity Forum

Game Engines

Unity Construct Superpowers Citrus Engine Ink /Inkle Ren'Py

Sound and Music

BFXR Reason Garage Band Reaper

Project Managment

Trello Visual Understanding Environment Visual Studio Code CodecksCodecks did not exsist at the time of this episode, but later became a episode sponsor

Code Editors / IDEs

Sublime Text Visual Studio MonoDevelop Jet Brains Flash Builder FDT Flash Develop

Notetaking

Google Keep Evernote OneNote

Other Resources

Humble Indie Dev Bundles MIdwest Game Jam Resources

Extracurricular Activities (with Ryan Foss) Feb 06, 2017

Show notes

Once a month, the Twin Cities chapter of the International Game Developers Association holds a public meetup, where all are welcome to view presentations, plug their projects, and network with others.

As chair of the IGDA-TC, Ryan Foss coordinates and hosts the meetup, and his example helps foster a welcoming and supportive environment for Twin Cities gamedevs. In this episode, we talk to Ryan about what it takes to maintain an "extracurricular activity."

Extracurricular Activities

Events IRL International Game Developers Association, Twin Cities Minnesota Virtual Reality and Human-Computer Interaction Group IGDA-TC podcast

"Try it once." Watching Games; Narrative in Games; Board Games Jan 30, 2017

Show notes

Our 10th(!!!) episode has your nice hosts teetering on the edge of not-so-niceness as they each describe something they just don't get (or don't quite like) in gaming, and hope the other two can bring them around.

0:01:28

Watching Games

EVO Fighting Game Tournament The Controversial Dichotomy Between Sports and eSportsJesse AaronHuffington PostAchievement HunterRooster TeethThe Best of Modern Warfare MythbustersDefend teh HouseYouTubeContradiction: Spot the Liar!Giant BombHer Story "On Let's Plays"That Dragon, Cancer0:13:00

Narrative in Games

Ludonarrative Dissonance in BioshockClick NothingHow many times can you enter the cell? - Batman: Arkham KnightYouTubePortal 2 - funniest quotesultrasoftcoreYouTubeThe Stanley Parable Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons - Ending - EpilogueYouTube0:29:27

Board Games

Dungeon! (created by Martha's dad, David Megarry)Animal Town Games: Save the Whales, Dam Builders, Nectar Collector Evolution Star Trek: Ascendancy Puerto Rico Pandemic Flashpoint

"Will you be the best with me?" Gaming Mastery; Strategy Guides and Wikis; Designing Party Games Jan 23, 2017

Show notes

Some firsts in this episode: Our first iTunes review (thanks, Abdiwak!), our first episode of interconnected topics, and our first big ideological disagreement (ooo, drama!).

0:01:33

Gaming Mastery

Gamer Motivation Profile quizQuantic Foundry0:20:45

Strategy Guides and Wikis

(Martha) Pokemon Crystal guideNintendo Power(Stephen) Donkey Kong Country 2 guide Nintendo Power's Dragon Warrior giveawayPress the Buttons0:38:30

Designing Party Games

Ultimate Chicken Horse We Didn’t Playtest This At All!Spaceteam Jackbox Party Pack Save the Whales Sushi Go!Overcooked

Music for Indie Games (with Troy Strand) Jan 16, 2017

Show notes

Musician and educator Troy Strand joins the club to talk about writing music for indie games and working with indie devs, and your nice hosts do a lot of learning. Troy also shares details about his new crowdfunding platform Raisable.

Music for Indie Games

Audio Verdant Skies Venture Academy Raisable

A picture of Martha holding a blanket that looks like the original Legend of Zelda cartridge. — **Nicest of 2016** Jan 09, 2017
Show notes

In this special episode, your nice hosts say some nice things about a few games they played and loved in 2016, and talk a little about what they're looking forward to in gaming for 2017.
Martha got new insulation material for our ice-cold clubhouse.
Doing it right.
Martha's Nicest (2016)
Overcooked Overwatch
Mark's Nicest (2016)
Paper Mario: Color Splash Star Trek: Ascendancy
Stephen's Nicest (2016)
Concept Divinity: Original Sin
Consensus Pick (2016)
Beach Ball Valley

A picture of Martha covering herself with a blanket. — **Nicest of 2016** Jan 09, 2017
Show notes

In this special episode, your nice hosts say some nice things about a few games they played and loved in 2016, and talk a little about what they're looking forward to in gaming for 2017.
Martha got new insulation material for our ice-cold clubhouse.
Doing it right.
Martha's Nicest (2016)
Overcooked Overwatch
Mark's Nicest (2016)
Paper Mario: Color Splash Star Trek: Ascendancy
Stephen's Nicest (2016)
Concept Divinity: Original Sin
Consensus Pick (2016)
Beach Ball Valley

Co-op Recap: Interactive Fiction (with Adia Alderson) Jan 02, 2017

Show notes

Our first Co-Op Recap episode features writer and developer Adia Alderson to discuss all things Interactive Fiction!

Interactive Fiction - Wikipedia

Interactive Fiction

Narrative

[Tools]

Ink Scripting Language ChoiceScript Twine Inform

[Discussion]

Writing Ages in Myst - Wikia The Lost Pig Strong Bad - Thy Dungeonman Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy game - BBC Hitchhiker's Guide To Douglas Adams' Secret Gaming Passion - Game Informer Podcast Interactive Fiction Database GDC Talk "Ink: The Narrative Scripting Language" - Joseph Humfrey , GDC

[Outro]

Glitch Event: Story Forge Adia Alderson on Twitter - @Adia_Ald

"Bananas, from here to eternity." Bugs!; Game Jams!; Developer Art! Dec 26, 2016

Show notes

Our post-Xmas episode features "happiness, all over the place," multiple instances of the word "chill," and is covered with Mark's since-Thanksgiving sniffles.

SUPERHOT VR Review - Ben Lang, Road to VR

0:02:36

Bugs!

Street Fighter II designer opens up about the cancelling 'bug'Game DeveloperIndie Game Project Management with TrelloMichael CannBethesda. Bethesda Never Changes...Regression testingWikipediaGoat Simulator Hits Xbox One With "Millions of Bugs"Eddie MakuchGameSpot0:20:55

Game Jams!

Global Game Jam (January 20 - 22 , 2017)Gamecraft.mn (Minnesota GGJ site)Midwest Game Jam 2016 games How to Get the Most Out of a Game JamChrister Kaitilatuts+Ludum Dare0:42:08

Developer Art!

Better Programmer Artgamedev.netWhite Boxing Your GameGame DeveloperBehind Borderlands' 11th-hour style changeGameSpotThe Legend of Zelda at Spaceworld 2000

Resources for Game Makers (with Evva Kraikul) Dec 19, 2016

Show notes

Without Glitch, there would be no Nice Games Club, so we were very happy to welcome the Executive Director and co-founder of GLITCH, Evva Kraikul, to share with us what it takes to build a community of game makers, how to get involved, and the "small moments that define a community.”