Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

#51"Right the dang now."Roundtable2017.10.07Stephen will be speaking at the November IGDA Twin Cities meeting! Details will be posted at igdatc.org soon.In this episode, Stephen fights his demons, Martha likes sports now, and Mark learns a lot about both.Scope Creep0:02:41Stephen McGregorProductionMartha took a blacksmithing class! Also, her instructor told her this was a perfect forge weld.Martha brought up fighting scope creep on our GDC 2017 Special.GDC 2017 Special (Part 1)Project management is a way to combat scope creep that we’ve covered before, in the episode"We joke here."A core concept for your game can help focus ideas as well. We go over this in our Game Design Primer topic in our episode"That makes me retroactively nervous." Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making - Sam KanerOur post on the r/gamedev. Special thanks to SaxPanther, ledat, GravityGamesInt, Bwob, and DustyPixel for their stories.SaxPanther created a battle royale game out of the Unity Roll-A-Ball tutorial.ledat shared a story on how one person accidentally created banking software after attempting to streamline coffee orders.eSports0:30:53Martha MegarryEventsGamingLeague of LegendsLeague of Legends World Championship is happening RIGHT THE DANG NOW!Martha will be rooting for her favorite team, C9.Player Signings, Salaries, and More in the Overwatch League™ - Blizzard EntertainmentLeague of Legends' ratings top NBA Finals, World Series clinchers - Patrick Dorsey, ESPNAn example of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament casting. - TwitchThe Story of DOTA - Paul Dean, EurogamerThe biggest Call of Duty tournament shines light on growth of esports - Jordan Crook, TechCrunchThe Rise and Fall of StarCraft II as an eSport - Kevin Hovdestad, IGN How Intellectual Property Rights Are Hurting Esports Teams - Leonard Langenscheidt, The Esports ObserverThere is, in fact, a Civilization VI eSports scene. - Leif Johnson, Motherboard

#105Ha-Ha!Nice Games Jam2018.09.25This week on Nice Games Club we are trying out a new type of episode: Nice Games Jam! We get a topic from Martha’s boyfriend Dylan and then attempt to create a playable game by the end of the episode. We then include the rules here in the show notes for you to play at home!Let us know what you think of this episode format on the feedback from!Prompta realtime card game [for PC]Game typeCard gameMaterials52 Card deck + two jokersSix sided die (One per Player)A stuffed trophy - we used a plush Toad! but a jesther hat would be the most appropriateSetupEach player starts with seven cards.RulesThis game happens in real time. No turns!Roll for six with the dice, if so draw a card then pass it or another card in your hand to someoneIf you’re passed a card, you have to discard a card that was not passed to you.Having a joker allows you to pick up the TROPHY (Toad) on a roll of six.If you pick up the TROPHY (Toad), the game stops, you announce you have a joker and are looking for another, if someone has it they have to give it to you, the person losing a joker draws a card, the person gaining the joker discards a card.If you have two jokers, you can end the game early by saying “haha!” at any point.If you gain a joker you cannot discard it.The game ends if someone says “haha!” or as soon as the deck runs out (and all card passes are resolved.)If you have the highest poker hand, you win!

#63"I have so much feelings..."Roundtable2018.01.02This week, your nice hosts get into it. Stephen is split on everything, Mark is the bad guy, and it's all Martha's fault.Stephen and Mark talked about their Ludum Dare 40 game, Widget Satchel, which Martha played on last week’s Nice Plays episode!Loot Systems0:03:58Stephen McGregorGame DesignZelda: Breath Of The Wild Players Are Tricking Amiibos To Grind For Rare Loot - Ethan Gach , KotakuNioh's latest patch fixes its most annoying flaw -  Jeffrey Matulef, EurogamerStephen brought up our recent episode on repetition in games,"Schrödinger’s Animal Crossing."NeuroVoider Chock-Full of Rogue-Like KillBot Twin-Stick Shooting - James Cunningham, Hardcore GamerBungie says it " betrayed" Destiny 2 fans over transparency - YouTubeLoot Boxes0:29:30Martha MegarryGamingMarketingLoot boxes in video games will soon get a review flag from OpenCritic - Sam Machkovech, Ars TechnicaWhat You Need To Know About Shadow of War's Controversial Loot Boxes - Patricia Hernandez, KotakuA Guide To The Endless, Confusing Star Wars Battlefront II Controversy - Gita Jackson, KotakuGearbox boss Randy Pitchford is ‘very much against predatory monetization schem… -  Dustin Bailey, PCGamesNAn inconvenient truth: game prices have come down with time - Ben Kuchera, Ars TechnicaI Just Got A Bunch Of Overwatch Gift Cards, And I'm Terrified To Use Them - Nathan Grayson, KotakuHow Luis Von Ahn Turned Countless Hours Of Mindless Activity Into Something Val… - Alison Griswold, Business InsiderGame Designer Damion Schubert posted a thread on Twitter about how to do loot boxes ethically. Mark was not convinced.

#15"We are artists and we should be artists."Roundtable2017.03.13A day late but worth the wait! In this high signal-to-noise roundtable episode, each member of the club picks a topic that they are particularly passionate about:Stephen shares his wisdom and guidance about playtesting your work early and often, Martha helps you get your act together in a practical discussion about project management, and Mark tries to explain the obligation he feels as an artist, but picks a weird hill to die on as he wrongly insists that Portal 2 isn't really about anything.We're trying to make the show even better and we need your input! Be nice and visit our feedback form to tell us what you think!Ice Cold Games@zacharyjohnsonNIce Games Club Feedback FormDemoing and Playtesting0:03:27Stephen McGregorProductionProject Management0:33:26Martha MegarryProductionToolstrelloAgile Development - WikipediaWaterfall Development - WikipediaKanban Development - WikipediaThe Blue Yarn - 99% Invisible - The Blue Yarn, 99% InvisibleNUMMI (2015) - NUMMI, This American LifeDavid Megarry's Three Questions all project managers should ask: “Do you have all the resources you need?" "Do you have any roadblocks or impediments?" "Are you on schedule?”“A project manager (PM) is more of a problem solver than anything else. If you don’t have the resources, the PM finds them. If there are roadblocks, the PM helps to find a way to get around them. If not on schedule, the PM alters it or adds more resources or changes scope. Above all, the PM communicates with management as to the state of the project so they can make proper decisions and not be blindsided or surprised.” -David MegarryMessages and Meanings0:52:56Mark LaCroixGame DesignSummerland - Michael Chabon, NovelA Closer Look at How Three Assassin's Creed Games Have Handled Slavery - Evan Narcisse, KotakuFor Honor's accidental alt-right connection - Allegra Frank, Polygon

#42"You can see the cabbage in it."Roundtable2017.08.30It's a slightly experimental show this week, as we try to see what a two-topic episode looks like. Also, Martha defends her love of coleslaw, Stephen still doesn't really like VR, and Mark has almost completely lost his voice.Discuss this week's episode on Reddit in r/gamedev here.Video Game Immersion0:05:54Stephen McGregorGamingOur pal and VR innovator Andrew Fladeboe.Representation and Embodiment in Virtual Reality - Jorge Albor, PopMattersWould You Kindly Read This Article on Gaming’s Greatest Plot Twist? - Mike Diver, ViceOur recent episode of Nice Plays: OneShot - Nice Games Club, YouTubeEnhancing VR Immersion with the CPU in Star Trek: Bridge Crew - Cristiano F, Intel DevelopersCognitive Flow: The Psychology of Great Game Design - Sean Baron, Game DeveloperWhy Sonic the Hedgehog is awful, and always has been - Ryan Brown, MIrrorRequiem, a “roleplaying” mod for The Elder Scrolls: SkyrimMark is up to 118 shrines in Breath of the Wild. Stephen is not happy.Main Menus and First Impressions0:39:27Mark LaCroixUI / UXWhy do console games require a button press before showing the main menu? - StackExchangeGame Design: Splash Screen - Jesse Freeman, MediumThe Ten Commandments Of Video Game Menus - Kirk Hamilton, KotakuWe didn’t get a chance to talk about it in the episode, but here is a cool brea… - Mike Fahey, Kotaku

#88The Gaming PressInterview2018.05.29Stephen is away showing off his games at the Anime Central convention, so we're also joined this week by our new permanent guest host and self-proclaimed "mean old lady," Holly Harrison, who was a guest on a previous episode!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 PressGamingIRLMarketingHere 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, BuzzfeedBen 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, MediumBen mentioned the Easy Allies podcastAlan Alda's Experiment: Helping Scientists Learn To Talk To The Rest Of Us - Lulu Garcia-Navarro, NPR

#10"Try it once."Roundtable2017.01.30Our 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.Watching Games0:01:28Mark LaCroixGamingIRLEVO Fighting Game TournamentThe Controversial Dichotomy Between Sports and eSports - Jesse Aaron, Huffington PostAchievement Hunter - Rooster TeethThe Best of Modern Warfare Mythbusters - Defend teh House, YouTubeContradiction: Spot the Liar! - Giant BombHer Story"On Let's Plays" - That Dragon, CancerNarrative in Games0:13:00Stephen McGregorNarrativeLudonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock - Click NothingHow many times can you enter the cell? - Batman: Arkham Knight - YouTubePortal 2 - funniest quotes - ultrasoftcore, YouTubeThe Stanley ParableBrothers: A Tale of Two Sons - Ending - Epilogue - YouTubeBoard Games0:29:27Martha MegarryTabletopDungeon! (created by Martha's dad, David Megarry)Animal Town Games: Save the Whales, Dam Builders, Nectar CollectorEvolutionStar Trek: AscendancyPuerto RicoPandemicFlashpoint

#8"Will you be the best with me?"Roundtable2017.01.23Some firsts in this episode: Our first iTunes review (thanks, Abdiwak!), our first episode of interconnected topics, and our first big ideological disagreement (ooo, drama!).Gaming Mastery0:01:33Gamer Motivation Profile quiz - Quantic FoundryStrategy Guides and Wikis0:20:45Martha MegarryGamingTools(Martha) Pokemon Crystal guide - Nintendo Power(Stephen) Donkey Kong Country 2 guideNintendo Power's Dragon Warrior giveaway - Press the ButtonsDesigning Party Games0:38:30Mark LaCroixGame DesignUltimate Chicken HorseWe Didn’t Playtest This At All!SpaceteamJackbox Party PackSave the WhalesSushi Go!Overcooked

In this week's episode, Mark tackles optimization and Martha attempts to Catch 'em all.Widget Satchel is coming to PC and consoles!TASCAM stands for "TeacAudioSystemsCorporationAmerica."0:04:53OptimizationAvoiding Unity Update LoopsBrad KeysMark put his Timer class on GitHubGitHubUnity editor Extensions -The power of OnValidateCJF incStatic Constructors (C# Programming Guide)We talked about the Widget Satchel in a Code Comment EpisodeCode Comment: "Widget Satchel"McDonalds! McDonalds! McDonalds!@mcclure111TwitterVerdent Skies Code CommentCode Comment: "Verdant Skies"ExecuteInEditMode will run your script in edit modeThe Knights of UnityMark was able to quickly find this animated GIF in his archives. He made this 3D model of a lizard creature in the Summer of 1998 (it pre-dates Pokémon's arrival in the US!) using a Windows 95 program called Micrografx Simply 3D.Renaming Serialized FieldsLeonardo CarneiroUnityTexturePacker - Code + Web SoftwareCode and Web0:54:18PokémonPokémon dual-type charts.Pokémon Y Nuzlocke Challenge PolygonYouTubePokémon Snap was ahead of its timeJenna StoeberPolygonDr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean MachineWikipedia23 Of The Weirdest Pokémon Kyle HilliardGame Informer

This week on Nice Games Club we talk all about the labor of love that is making games for a living: how it can be great, how it can be not-so-great and how it could get better. Mark reports back from a conference, Martha gets on her soap box and Stephen realizes this podcast has been about documenting his career journey this entire time.Joggernauts by local developer Space Mace is on Steam and Switch!Joggernauts soundtrack by Robert Frost IIIAdobe MAX0:11:44Game Dev as a Day JobStephen works at Gamesmart!Glitch Jobs BoardGamasutra Jobs BoardGame Developer0:38:53UnionsTwin Cities Labor ChorusTelltale hit with class-action lawsuit for breaking labor lawsSamit SarkarPolygonInside Rockstar Games' Culture Of CrunchJason SchreierKotakuVox UnionGame Workers UniteIt's Time For Game Developers To UnionizeJason SchreierKotakuOpinion: Now is the time to unionize the game industryKatherine CrossGame DeveloperMyles Horton - 20th Century Union OrganizerWikipediaUnions Must Address RacismIan Haney LopezAFL-CIO Blog