Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Freya Holmér, co-founder of Neat Corporation (makers of VR stealth game Budget Cuts) and creator of Shader Forge, joins the clubhouse remotely from Sweden, while your nice hosts join Freya on her regular gamedev Twitch stream.Freya outlines her theory of gamedev self-education, touching on themes from her Glitchcon 2018 keynote presentation, but wait, there's more! It's an episode that ends half-way though its running time but keeps going anyway, as we branch off into a wide range of topics,  including (but not limited to): the social habits of American vs. Swedish game developers, the difference between "duck" and "crouch," accidentally building a LGBT community, and the evolutionary advantage of believing in ghosts.Self-education, et al.IRLMisc.You can also find the livestream of the podcast on Freya’s Twitch here!

On this week’s episode, your nice hosts talk with local artist/developer and VR Creative at Pixel Farm, Krista McCullough, about VR workflows and a lot more!VR WorkflowsProductionVR / AR / XRPixel Farm VRJoyce Minions on Twitter - @minionsart, TwitterSculptris (free 3D sculpting software)Mike Blackney's exploration of spline-based modelling - Twitter

This week your Nice Hosts turn the Club House into a time machine to discuss 90s consoles and listen to some wicked video game soundtracks. Mark teaches us about LaserDisc, Martha is an 8-bit jukebox and Stephen ignores sick burns on jazz. Radical!90s Slang - Bustle0:06:3590s ConsolesSolving the Zelda Timeline in 15 MinutesPolygonYouTubeBBC Domesday projectWikipedia0:38:30Video Game SoundtracksKingdom Hearts InsiderPortal (jump pad song) VideoYouTubeLouie Zhong’s BandcampPolygon Sims jazz piano videoClayton AshleyPolygon

This week’s episode is another edition of Code Comment, where your nice hosts look at the project, code, assets, and design of an indie game to see how it’s made.This week we are joined by Farzan Fatemi of Sleepy Macaw to show us behind the scenes of his abstract puzzle game Adjacency, which is available now on Steam and Itch! Martha steals Mark's line, Stephen and Mark discuss the idiosyncrasies of Unity and at the end of the episode Farzan reveals some surprising opinions about puzzle games.Buy Adjacency now on Steam and Itch!Video

This week, Stephen promises he can stop whenever he wants, Martha gets there eventually, and Mark earns 100%.If you like The Good Place, check out The Good Place: The Podcast! - Podcast0:06:18Space Exploration games"Elite: the game that changed the world" Adam LusherThe Telegraph"BBC releases computer history archive" BBChttps://www.polygon.com/2017/12/25/16817700/elite-dangerous-fuel-rats-rescue-cm…Owen S. GoodPolygon"New Book Chronicles The Continuing History Of EVE Online" Lee YancyKotaku"Warring EVE Online Factions Declare Peace, For Money" Lee YancyKotaku"Star Citizen’s $27,000 bundle raises eyebrows" Charlie HallPolygon0:46:05Gaming HabitsThe Surrounding Game, a recent documentary about American players of Go."Develop 2015 Highlights Rami Ismail, Indie Keynote"Develop Conference and Rami IsmailYouTube

This 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!

This week on the program, Mark starts playing Spider-Man, Stephen ignores your narrative, and Martha is very smart.The 'Spider-Man' Puddle Controversy Is One Of Gaming's Dumbest - Dave Thier, Forbes0:09:09Hub Worlds and Safe HousesDestiny 2 Will Let You Play 'Fully Scored Soccer'Alex WalkerKotakuGearbox and Claptrap honor late Borderlands fan with eulogy, NPC in sequel Jessica CondittEngadgetSea of Thieves is fun until you meet other piratesFraser BrownRock Paper Shotgun0:38:20Environmental StorytellingAn image of some of the narrative-assisting collectables in Widget SatchelMark talks about the subtext of Metro Nexus' overworld maps in our episode topic on research for games."That gets real meta, real fast."

This week on Nice Games Club your nice hosts talk all about Modding and Self-Publishing Must-Haves. Stephen explains different viewpoints on mod-ownership, Martha goes fishing on easier mode and Mark makes too many gifs.0:05:00Modding"Who owns the mods?"Yonnie Ming Kow and Bonnie NardiFirst MondayThe Requiem mod team tells its community about the delays to their update here.RedditNexus Mods is a great place to find community created mods.Wrye Musings is a blog from a famous Elder Scrolls modder who writes about vari…0:44:30Self-publishing Must-havesYou can find good examples of gifs on the Widget Satchel Steam page.SteamLearn more about how to make a good website on our Website topic in our episode"Ugly and hard to use."“How we Used Discord to build a dream community for our game Descenders”Mike Rose DiscordWe have had friend of the pod/media relations wiz Holly Harrison on the show to talk about Community Management and Media Relations in our interview episodeCommunity Managment

This week, we look at Verdant Skies, the sci-fi life-simluation game from Howling Moon Software, available now on Steam, Itch, and Humble Bundle!We're joined by two of the game's developers, Andy and Beth Korth, as well as their little one, Gabe. All three are making their second appearances in the clubhouse, as they were the program's very first guests back in our second episode (exactly 100 episodes ago)! We've already booked them for episode 202!Video

This week, Mark doesn’t respect your secrets (but will keep them), Martha tells us where D&D really comes from, and Stephen reveals that he will play a Kirby RPG if someone makes one for him.0:05:11Pitching to ConsolesPlayStationInformation is on the PlayStation Partners site. Your first step is to fill out their company registration page.XboxInformation is on the ID@Xbox site. Before submitting your game, your first step will be to apply to the program with basic information about your company.NintendoFor Wii U and 3DS development, registration is open to all developers on their developer portal.For Switch development, just send them an email! ThirdPartyPublisher@noa.nintendo.com.General Business stuffWe talked about starting a business for your game studio in a previous episode."I trolled myself."“Not-for-profit game developer faces major obstacles” Colin CampbellPolygon0:52:15Turn-Based RPGs“How to choose the least annoying Octopath Traveler”Brian GilbertPolygon“The Dungeons and Dragons Session That Became a Real-Life Phenomenon” Lewis PackwoodKotakuRPG Maker