In this larger than normal episode, your nice hosts bring a lot to the top of the show with a bunch of exciting news. And there's still two topics to discuss after that! Mark brings his documentation A game, Stephen describes his time at SGDQ and Ellen has complaints to bring to the table.Summer Games Done Quick 2022 - YouTubeStephen and Charles walking across SGDQ on camera - YouTubeDall-E 2 - OpenAIHere's a collection of images that Ellen has generated using Dall-E 2!DALL·E 2 Preview - Risks and Limitations - OpenAI0:21:25Maintaining an Open-Source ProjectGit SubmodulesgitLDocSteve DonovanGitHubMarkdown GuideMark ConeThe Markdown GuideTyporaTypora0:49:50Should we design for Killers?Bartle’s Player Types for Gamification comes up in this previous episode."Mindworm husbandry."Bartle’s Player Types for GamificationJanaki Mythily Kumar, Mario Herger and Rikke Friis DamInteraction Design FoundationBartle's Taxonomy of Player Types (And Why It Doesn't Apply to Everything)Kyatrictuts+MUDWikipedia

Nina Marotta (and Kelso the cat) from High Moon Studios enters the clubhouse to talk about level and interaction design. She showers your nice hosts with bits of wisdom, such as:"Games are ugly for 90% of their development.""You have to live your life in order to be a good team member and a good designer."Level and Interaction Design Game DesignNina mentions the Geam Design program at Kent StateWe previously talked to Professor Chris Totten in episode 264Teaching Gamedev to Young People, Again!Nina MarottaGuest Nina Marotta is a level and interaction designer at High Moon Studios in Cincinatti OhExternal linkMrsCheif7 on twitter

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) - Steam0:10:15CurlingAbout CurlingWorld Curling FederationWhy is this Olympic Sport called Chess on Ice?by user "Pete"Chess.comCurling might be an antidote to our troubled timesKristen GelineauThe Detroit NewsGlossary of curlingWikipediaDeflategateWikipedia0:50:00Off-RampsHow Gaming Breaks Can Make You a Better Player... and Why They're ImportantMichael HarmanMake Use Of

It's part three of our unintentional "Gamedev in..." series! Your nice hosts speak with Daniela Gamarra about making games in Peru. Daniela shares her perspective on entering the industry, making progressive games in a conservative culture, and being asked "how much do you need to make this game?"Previous "Gamedev in..." episodes:We spoke with Ryan Sumo for:Gamedev in the PhilippinesWe spoke with "Game Devs Kenya" for:Gamedev in KenyaGamedev in PeruIRLProductionHow Creative Leaders Play the Long Game for Innovation - Ideo UIGDA PeruIGDA Peru - EducationLima Game JamLEAP Game StudiosBamtang GamesDirección Audiovisual, la Fonografía y los Nuevos MediosDaniela GamarraGuestPeruvian game developer and founder of Indaga Studios.External linkon TikTokon LinkedInon InstagramIndaga StudiosIndaga Studios on Itch.io

Your nice hosts bring deep topics to the clubhouse this week! Listen in as Stephen forgets the name of the Uncharted lead character (but remembers the voice actor), Ellen brings up Mass Effect many, many times and Mark describes more interesting tidbits about Widget Satchel's development.Serious Play ConferenceLumbearJack - YouTubeSlayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer - SteamMax's award! - TwitterReed the Robotanist - SteamHere's a CableACE award.0:09:25Parasocial RelationshipsParasocial InteractionWikipedia“The Player’s Parasocial Interaction with Digital Entities” Katrine KavliIT University in Copenhagen“Is It Weird for Adults to Have Imaginary Friends?”Stephen Dubner and Angela DuckworthNo Stupid Questions“Tragic but true: how podcasters replaced our real friends”Rachel AroestiThe Guardian0:45:21Narrative Pacing"Kurt Vonnegut on the 8 'shapes' of stories"Stephen JohnsonBig Think

It's a packed episode this week, with birthdays, illnesses, and some Nice Thinking. Stephen, Mark, and Ellen discuss how the group might put on a tournament for local gamers, featuring locally-made indie games. How can one create a competition that involves many different games of widely different genres? Hopefully your nice hosts are up to the challenge. Either way, you're in for a treat! Plus, we get to finally hear Stephen's TRUE feelings about Star Trek.Prehistoric Planet on Apple TV - BBCThe Man Who Fell To Earth - ShowtimeStar Trek: Strange New Worlds - ParamountCOVID 19 Quarantine and Isolation Calculator - Centers for Disease ControlAlternate titles for this episode:"It finally got me""Lil' Baby Stephen"Episode artwork from RODNAE Productions on Pexels.0:13:12Nice ThinkingElemetals: Death Metal Death MatchWALLRIDESteamAstral GunnersSati BrosSteamHyperDotCharles McGregorSteamSummer Games Done QuickCombo Breaker TournamentEVO Tournament"Challenges and Strategies for Hosting Massive Independent eSports Events"James LampkinGDC

It's a sequel to last week's episode! This week, your nice hosts speak with Kent State University animation and game design professor Chris Totten about formal game design education. We get into the details of theory and practice, and discuss how teaching gamedev is both similar and different from other professional and artistic fields.Teaching Gamedev to Young People, Again!Game DesignIRLAn Architectural Approach to Level Design - Christopher W. TottenKudzu -  Pie for Breakfast Studios, itch.ioLa Mancha -  Pie for Breakfast Studios, Board Game GeekGDEX and Origins 2022, June 8-12Chris TottenGuestProfessor at Kent State University, author of multiple books on level design, and creative director for "Little Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends."External linkTwitterLinkedInLittle Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends

In this episode Truman Simpson joins us to talk about teaching game development to young people, through Gameheads, an organization for which Truman is a long standing volunteer. The clubhouse discusses the importance of seeing what is possible and what is achievable, and Stephen is jealous of today's youths.Teaching Gamedev to Young PeopleGame DesignIRLGameheadsTruman Simpson volunteers with Gameheads. Gameheads is an organization that teaches youth and prepares them for careers in game development. Gameheads is lead by Damon Packwood and operates out of Oakland and the Bay Area, CA, with possible expansions around the US.Gameheads WebsiteGameheads TwitterDamon Packwood's TwitterTruman Simpson's twitterTeaching and Games cross-pollinationEllen mentions that Teaching and Games is a cross-pollination that is a whole other episode, here are some Episodes on that topic from the archivesWe talked about educational institutions for game dev back in episode 16Games Education Ellen joined as a guest host way back in Episode 75Learning Through GamesWe also talked about teaching/learning durring the Redundancy topic in Episode 170"Stephen, his arms wide!" Project SuccessStephen is working with Project Success to design a learning curriculum for middle school aged youths.Project Success WebsiteStephen mentioned design pillars, as one of the learning topics in project sucess, see also episode 187"A way to farm notions."Soylent GreenSoylent Green is set in the year 2022 (that's this year!) and something we got distracted by on a tangent. Yes, soylent is a real product now.In 1973, 'Soylent Green' envisioned the world in 2022.  - George Bass, The Washington PostSoylent (the real productAnd, if the people from Soylent want to sponsor us, please reach out at contact@nicegames.clubTruman SimpsonGuestTruman Simpson is a person who lives in beautiful Oakland, CA

In this episode, Stephen, Mark, and Ellen talk about gameplay loops. Then, they talk about art direction. Then they talk about loops. And then art direction. And then, more loops. Just kidding! It’s a regular roundtable discussion about diagramming gameplay, establishing art direction, and when to take out the garbage.Habitica: Gamify Your LifeEducating Intuition - Robin M. Hogarth, University of Chicago Press0:15:20Diagramming Gameplay LoopsActionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges, and LeaderboardsYu-kai ChouOctalysis GroupHow To Perfect Your Game’s Core LoopNathan LovatoGame AnalyticsLoops and ArcsDaniel CookLost GardenHow Games Use Feedback LoopsGame Maker's ToolkitYouTubeDaniel Cook: Game Design Theory I Wish I had Known When I StartedIGDA SeattleYouTubeExpanding UX: Gameplay LoopsVitaly StarushMediumThe Gameplay Loop: a Player Activity Model for Game Design and AnalysisEmmanuel GuardiolaResearchGateKurt Vonnegut Diagrams the Shape of All Stories in a Master’s Thesis Rejected b…Josh JonesOpen Culture0:42:00Art DirectionDreamsettler Reveal TrailerNo More RobotsYouTubeBack in the day, Nice Games Club talked about color theory.“When two colors of paint really love each other…” We talked about sources of inspiration and it reminded us of episode 141.Nostalgia and the Lo-fi Aesthetic

At GDC, your nice hosts met and spoke with this week's returning guests. We were so impressed with their project "[i] doesn't exist," we wanted to have them on a full episode to talk about the unique machine learning system they built for it. Be nice and have a listen!LUAL Games on Twitter"[i] doesn't exist" demo - itch.io[I] doesn't exist - a modern text adventure - KickstarterIf you're in Sweden, Lu and Al and their game will be at Arctic Game Week next week, May 25-28, 2022.We first met Lu and Al and spoke with them for a recent episode:GDC 2022 Special (Part 2)Some meta news: Mark wrote a song for this year's Charity EP Jam, which is actually a double-length album! All proceeds go to Able Gamers.Machine LearningNarrativeProgrammingSimulated AI creatures demonstrate how mind and body evolve and succeed together - Devin Coldewey, TechCrunchWhat is GitHub Copilot? An AI Pair Programmer for Everyone - Daniel Diaz, SitepointGithub Copilot Wants to Play Chess Instead of Code - Ido Nov, DagsHub BlogChat MapperBotpressDocumentation as a gateway to open source - James Turnbull, IncrementMiddle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor Makes AI Meaningful and Menacing - Andy Brice, GamingBoltAnna-Lena PontetGuestLuzia HüttenmoserGuest