Design Talk (dot IE)

Welcome to the Game Chats edition of Design TalkWe are delighted to welcome Robin David today.Robin is a multi-published multi-award-winning game designer, with a portfolio of games across a number of genres; narrative, interactive fiction, puzzle solving, word games, and RPGs.Robin, could first tell us a little about yourself and your path to game design?[Hugh and Allen will chip in comments questions as/when timely/appropriate]When you reflect upon your personal design process, from conception to completion, would you say you have hit upon a repeatable process?I have been impressed by your commitment to feedback, using print and play, downloadable versions and opening your designs to playtesters...Having successfully released at least 13 titles over the last six or so years, (perhaps more) and assuming you have many other ideas at various stages of completion, encompassing interactive fiction, games and game expansions. Are you now designing at an optimal pace or are you finding yourself increasing the rhythm at which you develop and publish new games?We have seen steady quiet growth in boardgames and tabletop over the last decades, in parallel, even symbiotically with the video games industry… is it co-equal coexistence; is it either-or, or yes-and; is there a shift with people preferring being together in-person…)?Some think that achieving the goals of a Kickstarter funding campaign is the end goal, but the truth is that in many ways it is just the start of the work isn’t it. Reaching your first Kickstarter goal was just the end of the first phase, the beginning of the second part of the story…What for you are the benefits/pitfalls of using a crowd funding platform to support your publishing goals?Why would a designer go the free-to-download print-and-play route?Is, having released print-and-play, a disincentive to signing a publisher later on?https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/81485/robin-davidAcknowledgementsMusic Title: Juno her Artist: Uncle MilkSource: https://bit.ly/2Ox3uMLLicense: CC BY 4.0Cover Art Title: “Reusable Type” + Algerian + Engravers MTArtist: Allen HigginsSource: GameChat_RobinDavid_InstaSQR.jpgComposite image credits: Tiffany Moon + British Library (https://flic.kr/s/aHsjP5Gnq9 as Public Domain https://bit.ly/3mr6IAO)License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Podcast license:The `Design Talk (dot IE)’ podcasts are released under the “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike version 4.0 creative commons license Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Game Chat series on Design Talk.Our guest today is Paul Conway from Spooky Doorway.Spooky Doorway is a team of Irish developers with a unique style of engaging, interactive storytelling. Their Darkside Detective series is a point-and-click puzzler with an occult-comedic feel.Paul, could tell us a little about yourself and your path to game design? How did you know you wanted to go into this industry? And What are the most challenging/rewarding parts of your job?The Eldritch House page on Steam https://steamcommunity.com/app/1395520/The elevator pitch is “Hellboy meets Agatha Christie”.“Eldritch House is a first-person narrative adventure which blends genres and is presented in a 3D comic book style. Players must investigate the strange occurrences of the remote Blake Manor. Ghosts both literal and personal haunt its denizens’ lives. Can you unearth its secrets?“Does the pitch evolve over time?Well, there is a lot we can learn from your experience and success in growing a community around the Darkside Detective, and in building the Spooky Doorway brand.And not to forget the future with the growing buzz surrounding your new game #EldritchHouse.AcknowledgementsMusic Title: Tempting FateArtist: Jason Shaw on Audionautix.comSource: https://audionautix.comLicense: CC BY 4.0Cover Art Title: Spooky Head + text in Magneto + RavieArtist: Allen HigginsSource: SpookyHead_Coverart.jpg - composite image, credit: Spooky Doorway [www.spookydoorway.com]License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0The `Design Talk (dot IE)’ podcasts are released under the “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike version 4.0 creative commons license Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shownotes “Sara’s Game Art Book Wish”Podcast 4-3-2021 – 10.00amTitle: 0083 – Sara’s Game Art Book WishSubtitle: Talking about creating art for video gamesLink:Season: 4Episode: 83Hosts: Kellie Donnelly [co-host]Allen Higgins [co-host]Guest: Sara Mena (www.doodliostudio.com)The talk was recorded on March 4th 2021.[a note about the revised title: about half-way through the chat, Kellie and Sara talk about things we'd like to see happen in the video game industry]-----OPENING -----Welcome to the Game Chat series on Design Talk.I’m Allen Higgins. In this episode Kellie Donnelly and I talk with Sara Mena, the artist behind Doodlio Studio, about creating art for games.[Kellie]Sara Mena is our guest today.Sara is a visual artist and has worked on a variety of projects from small indie board games to large mobile titles to movie festivals, (as she says) getting much-needed experience. She started Doodlio Studio and creates art and user experiences for all kinds of uses.First, Sara, could you tell us a little about yourself…-----Discussion touching on:●As an artist, can you talk about the experience of working with game designers?●Onikira is a visually stunning game and it’s mentioned you drew inspiration from Japanese Ukiyo-e style paintings. Where did you actually find the paintings that inspired you? ●What are the most challenging/rewarding parts of your job?●How did you know you wanted to go into this industry? ●Do you find it hard to work in this industry as a woman? Or do you think it’s an open-minded field to work in? ●If you had unlimited time and funds for a passion project, what would you design? ●If you could, what changes would you make within the industry? ●What is your favourite thing you have ever created, and why? ●What was the most challenging project to work on?●If you could go back and re-do a project, which one would you choose? ●The interactions between artists, designer, level designers, narrative/writing.●Comment on the flow between art, the narrative, the game, the levels, the feel?●As a one-person studio, running your own business, aside from needing to make an income do you find yourself constantly spending on software and technology to keep up with the expectations of your clients?-----CLOSING-----…So, on that note…We would like to thank you for making time in your schedule to talk to us today…And for sharing your knowledge and insights into the Art of Game Design.AcknowledgementsMusic Title: “Juntitos”Author: “Andre Jetson”Source: “https://bit.ly/2QcysGv”License: “CC BY”Cover Art Title: “The Game Chat with Sara Mena”Author: “Allen Higgins”Source: “DesignTalk_Mena_InstaSQR.jpg”License: “CC BY-NC-SA 4.0”The `Design Talk (dot IE)’ podcasts are released under the “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike version 4.0 creative commons license aka CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 This license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[Sergi] Welcome to the Game Chat series on Design Talk.Our guest today is Sean O'DonohoeSean is a Senior Level Designer at Black Shamrock - a Virtuos Studio.Among the titles he has worked on “The Outer Worlds”, an action RPG by Obsidian Studios, stands out perhaps as one of his most formative project experiences.First, Sean, does everyone want to be the designer? Sean, we’ve been asked before; What does a game designer do? I mean, isn't it obvious? Aren't they artists or coders? Don't they write and 'design'?Could you share your thoughts on the role of the game designer as distinct from coders, artists, writers?Perspectives on documentation, the game bible, the design-development pipeline, design aesthetics of dungeon/level design.Linking dungeon design with world design.Micro/macro, game narrative and the larger story.The links between a conceptual whole and the gritty detail.Do you ever find yourself thinking "this is too complicated"? How do you manage the tension between complexity and simplicity? Which is the worst part about designing a game?Talking about the placement of design assets and making the in-game play believable. Doors, kitchens, toilets... Does Liz England’s post on the Door Problem (on the Gamasutra blog) still hold? (where she illustrates the role of the game designer with Doors as the metaphor. The designer takes ownership of the holism of the game, from the very big to the very small, from excruciating detail to the whole sense of the world, that it makes sense.)Does the atmosphere of the team change in the build-up to a release?Do you usually play the games you design? Which video game will you consider a masterpiece from the point of view of a game designer?How has the image of game designers changed?The music used was “Spliff and Wesson” by AirglowFor more details see the show-notes and acknowledgements.AcknowledgementsMusic Title: Spliff and WessonArtist: AirglowSource: https://bit.ly/2uR5um8License: CC BY 4.0Cover Art #2Title: Beam me up. I saw this person just standing on a hill while our train was paused between Prague and NürnbergArtist: Joel Bedford Source: flickr - https://bit.ly/3sK4KNnLicense: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Cover Art #1Title: Triptych for the Game Chat on Design Talk (dot IE) with Sean and Sergi. (Composite image + Magneto font)Artist: Various Source: GameChat_SeanODonohoe_InstaSQR-3.png License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 for composite image from multiple sources – video + Wikipedia https://bit.ly/3zgRCBJPodcast license:The `Design Talk (dot IE)’ podcasts are released under the “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike version 4.0 creative commons license Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest: Aoife O'Friel (aoifeofriel.wixsite.com/portfolio)Hosts: Jenine Lynch [co-host]Liana Schley [co-host]Allen Higgins [co-host]-----Welcome to the Game Chat series on Design Talk.Aoife O’Friel is a writer and narrative designer, from Waterford, now based in Sweden and working for Ubisoft.We hope to cover a few areas.The role of the writer/designer, getting into the video game industry, and the demands of working on game projects.●Narrative design is crucial in game design but perhaps not widely understood. What does a day in the office look like?●You have talked about "Iteration/emergent narratives/planning for interactivity"●Can you share some thoughts on "the quest/writing collaborative approach of working with the other moving parts of game design - which tends to mean rolling with constant change!""●How does narrative feed into and from the game development dynamic, which is, these days, like most software projects, an iterative ‘agile’ process.●Q: How deep does Narrative get into and drive the game project?●Q: Is there value in developing narrative before development? Should they unfold in tandem? ●Q: What problems or opportunities arise if narrative is added towards the end of a project?●Q: When is narrative needed as opposed to decorative? Although some players might view it as incidental, narrative and backstory is offered for characters and the gameworld for many sports and combat games.●Q: Does dialogue define a narrative driven game? JRPGs for example often deliver a lot of cut-scene and dialogue.●Q: Does the game engine limit/drive narrative potential? Good examples?●Q: What is the relationship between narrative and game mechanics? ●Q: Does using the same engine for different games limit the scope of the story-telling?●Q: Can narrative create a real difference between games built on the same platform, perhaps reimagining the gameplay (would Niantic's Ingress and Pokemon Go be examples)? There might be examples of this when players make mods e.g. from Skyrim's Mods community?So, on that note…We would like to thank you for making time in your busy schedule to talk to us today.And for sharing your knowledge and insights into the art of crafting narrative for game design.AcknowledgementsMusic (CC-BY-NC-SA license) Title: King of the Universe (single version)Artist: Ape RisingSource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0jmmWXqmk8 License: CC-BY-NC-SA license Cover Art (CC-BY-NC-SA license)Title: “Game Chat ”Artist: “Liana Schley ”Source: AoifeOFriel_PodcastGuest_2021_Thumbnail Art.jpgLicense: “CC BY-NC-SA”The `Design Talk (dot IE)’ podcasts are released under the “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike version 4.0 creative commons license aka CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 This license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you are entering a verbal agreement giving permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast available from Acast and wherever people get their podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Talking about Partners Operations Governance - Podcast 30-3-2021 – 10amGuest:John Sheahan, Strategic Global Vendor Director, Microsoft Operations – Global BPOStudent Podcast Team:Angella Kizito [co-host]Jack Ridgway [team member]Karthik Ethirajulu [team member]Eunyoung Choi [team member]Huiqun Peng [team member]Notes: Prahalad & Hamel “The core competence of the corporation”, The OPBOK - ISO 37500:2014 - Guidance on outsourcing (link)Business Continuity Planning (BCP)AcknowledgementsMusic (CC-BY license), by Ivan Sipek - used with permissionCover Art created by Huiqun Peng Audio editing by Jack Ridgway Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

-----Interview with Lizzy McComish, GSDM @ Microsoft -----Welcome to the Design Talk podcast. We are interested in exploring the practical challenges of learning and growing the "know who, know where, know why, know what, know how, know about" in organisations. Particularly the kinds of practices or behaviours we will need to interact with and manage global partners, and ultimately to be a global partner.We are thrilled to be joined today by Lizzy McComish. Lizzy is a Global Service Delivery Manager at Microsoft.What does the GSDM role cover?Talk about the soft skills that are needed to succeed in this line of work?On vendor selection, what types of services are suited to outsourcing?Key factors when making an outsourcing decision?Does culture play a role? If you walked into a new client-side engagement, and you looked at the existing supply management team. Have you ever said “oh, that's great, I can see this is run well”?What are the features of a well-run team?What practices do you expect to see?You have said “If i'm not successful, they [vendor] aren’t successful” Could you talk a little more about that idea and your role as the in-between client and the vendor?When it comes to making the vendors feel as part of Microsoft, how does that actually work in practice?Managing Knowledge & Training: if on a vendor side, if a staff member was absent for an extended period and if it led to significant issues...How do you approach training when it comes to your vendors?Is shadowing a key practice? How does it work, what benefits do you find? Is the link between metrics and relationships negative or can they reinforce productively?Any tips on managing the vendor relationship, particularly transitioning between an incoming and an outgoing vendor?Closing-----------------------------------Acknowledgements, LicenseMusicTitle: “’Intro 1 Delay Classic”Artist: “Ivan Šipek”Source: personal copyLicense: “CC BY” Cover Art Title: “Cover Art”Artist: “Anastasia Kucerovska”Source: personal copy & image clip art via Canva (canva.com)License: “CC BY”The `Design Talk (dot IE)’ podcasts are released under the “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike version 4.0 creative commons license aka CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 This license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you are entering a verbal agreement giving permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast available from Acast and wherever people get their podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guests: Ciaran Treanor and Cormac Ó Foghlú Hosts: Rujuta Sandeep Kulkarni and Allen Higgins -----OPENING -----[Rujuta]Welcome to the Design Talk podcast.We are joined today by Ciaran Treanor, Sonalake’s CTOand Cormac Ó Foghlú, VP Operations at Sonalake.First, could I ask you both, to tell us a little about yourselves, before we talk about Sonalake?Some general questions we might ask if needed to keep the conversation going:1.         Can you brief us more about Sonalake?2.         Is it difficult to bring contractors into the fold?3.         What is the level of involvement you expect clients to have over the lifetime of the project?4.         So initial start versus now in the context of trust how as Sonalake and the business development approach changed?5.         There is porosity in the working from home environment. The organizations are very poros. Do you think this creates a security threat? Does this create a risk for client and data confidentiality?6.         Do you think remote working is the future especially when Ireland is looking to make “Work from home” a permanent option legally?-----CLOSING-----[Rujuta]So, on that note…Ciaran and Cormac, we would like to thank you for making time in your busy schedules to talk to us today.And for giving us an inside view of client engagement models, software development and your perspective on services as a team sport. Acknowledgements:Music by Ivan Spiek (with Permission)Cover Art created by Rujuta Kulkarni and Allen Higgins. Clipart images and design elements using Canva https://www.canva.com/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Design Talk podcast. Today's team is: Fooz Alsubaie, Aoife Cooper, Viet Ho, Ivan Spiek and Maurice FarnanOur guest for today is Henric Malm.And our theme is Sourcing Models and Decision Making - making your mind up, how vendors make decisions to help clients to outsource?Questions -How do client/vendor relationships differ across different engagements? What works, what doesn’t work?- Talking about starting a new engagement with a client. - How can vendors maintain their value proposition and differentiate themselves from competitors?-Is every client/vendor arrangement unique? Why do you think that is?-Trust and risk are major issues for a client, what is your strategy for winning their trust and easing their anxieties?-Do your solutions always go as planned? What complexities or obstacles do you regularly encounter? How do you overcome them-Does distance matter anymore?-Last question: What is the opportunity cost for the client if they don’t go for your service? Pitch it to me. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Ireland for inbound tech investment?Guest: Rory Mullen, IDAUCD Host team:Allen Higgins [host interview]Jeroen van der Hoeven [host interview]Saga BengtssonMin YangGautam VenkataramanJohn ToribioBackground music: Music by HoobeZa (no Copyright/License): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6nMNPQ4Vf0. Cover Art created by John Toribio, Copyright image clip art via Canva (https://www.canva.com/). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.