Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

This week on Nice Games Club your nice hosts discuss Code Libraries, Tutorials and all the juicy pre-E3 news that was available at the time of this recording. Stephen debates the merits of show vs. tell in tutorials, Martha complains about the WordPress theme and plug-in search and Mark doesn't fall for Pokemon propaganda.Picture: a diagram from this Wikipedia article of the iconic World 1-1 from Super Mario Brothers which was a tutorial in disguise![0:05:17] Pre-E3 NewsHow Close is 'Assassin's Creed: Origins' Egypt to the Real Thing? - Justin Reeve, Waypoint0:17:29Code LibrariesNot Invented here (NIH) philosophyTechopediaUnity ratchets up its marketing to game developers - without a GDC boothDean TakahashiVentureBeat0:41:51Tutorials

Stephen is still in missing in Chicagoland, so we once again retained the services of guest co-host Holly Harrison for an episode featuring two topics that could not be more completely unrelated to each other.First, Holly teaches us some media relations skills that gamedevs need to know (even if they don't want to), and then, because Stephen isn't around to stop us, Mark and Martha (but mostly Mark) talk about the history of Star Trek games!0:01:25Media RelationsHey you, indiedev, use presskit()!Write a better press release using the Inverted PyramidTodd VersteegSignature StyleHolly recommended “trying out” Buzzsumo and Buzzstream.Artist Statement GuidelinesGetting Your Sh*t TogetherSimilarwebWikipediaAsk Holly your PR questions on twitter: @hollharris.0:31:20Star Trek Games“How a Star Trek card game quietly continues, 10 years after its official end”Cyrus FarivarArs TechnicaThe unreleased sequel to the Star Trek VCR board game was called “Borg Q-Uest.”…The "Q the Referee" CCG card that features a still taken from that game's unused footage.The fictional VCR board game from Community we mentioned was called “Pile of Bu…Mark talked about the end of the 90s-era Star Trek action figure line. That sto…“Looking At The Star Trek: TNG Interactive Technical Manual From 1994”Will StapeTreknews“The inside story of Apple's forgotten project: Quicktime VR”Kif LeswingBusiness InsiderYou can actually play “Star Trek: Klingon” on YouTube!“Language App Duolingo Finally Added Klingon”David MurphyLifehacker“The best Star Trek games”Richard CobbettPC Gamer“Jeff Bezos announces Amazon is picking up 'The Expanse'”Richard LawlerEngadget“Retrohistories: Secret of Vulcan Fury: Trek's Lost Adventure”Chris ChapmanYouTube“The Game Archaeologist: Perpetual's Star Trek Online”Justin OlivettiEngadgetUbisoft teased on Twitter that DS9’s USS Defiant will appear in Bridge Crew.Mark praised Star Trek: Ascendancy on a previous episode of the program.Nicest of 2016“Hogwarts Mystery Players Upset With Use of Microtransactions”Shabana ArifIGN

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

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 in development to see how it's made.This week, we're looking at HoverboardVR, a movement prototype that uses a DDR Dance Pad for locomotion in VR, created by Martha and her brother Henry.You may have heard us talk about this project on the show before, and how you get to see it in action.Martha and Henry utilized the Virtual Reality Tool Kit for their prototype.Mark mentioned the Sega Activator, a failed peripheral for the Sega Genesis.Martha’s website has a description of Martha and Henry’s recent talk at MinneWe…Video

This week, your nice hosts take a moment to celebrate Glitch's 8th birthday! Also: Martha doesn't like jumps, Stephen talks in a British(?) accent, and Mark calls Mega Man ugly.0:05:55PlatformersThe 2.5D Owl game we were talking about is called Everend.We talked about how we define game genres in a previous episode."I do business." You can download an early demo of the parkour racing game Sparkour right now!The Widget Satchel team watched a lot of ferret videos.You Say Jump, I Say How High?Nordic Game Conference 2016YouTubeSuper Mario Land Is WeirdBrawl in the Family0:48:55Player AgencyWhat is Player Agency and what is it good for?StackExchange RPGA new direction for David CageSamit SarkarPolygon

This week we interview Aubrey Jane Scott, game developer for Monster Games, and discuss game development workflows. We go in-depth about keeping on task and making sure you're able to complete your projects.WorkflowsIRLProductionAubrey competed in the North Star Roller Derby. Her name on the team is Glitch …Mark mentioned social jet lag that he’s just recently discovered.Jesse Schell is one of Aubrey’s mentors, who wrote about the Elemental Tetrad that she references in the show.Double Fine’s documentary series, Double Fine Adventure, is a good look into th…Aubrey brings up decision mapping as a good way to brainstorm.

This week your nice hosts discuss making game demos and physical games! Martha is nostalgic, Mark eats some marshmallows and Stephen can't remember his childhood. Oh, and Mortho likes sports. But you probably already knew that.Photo credit- Neat Corporation press photo of their game Budget Cuts. Have you played the demo?GLITCH BdayOrgan Temple VR, Sara's VR gameOneirogen, Andrew’s VR gameHere is the cool print out of Mark's play-through of Oneirogen!The marshmallows Mark bought with his tax return0:12:40Making a DemoBudget Cuts demoStanley Parable demoNetstorm0:41:21Physical GamesShips across the oceanCalvinballCup stackingJohann Sebastian Joust

This week, your nice hosts have put together a new video format for the show, called Code Comment, where we take apart a game from our gamedev community, looking at the project, code, assets, and design to see how it's made.For this first edition, we chose Claw Breaker, a game jam game turned upcoming commercial release made by a team that included Martha and Stephen. It's how they met!Video

This week, Mark returns from San Fransisco, your nice hosts get the math wrong, and everyone agrees that Claw Breaker is worth real money.We’re launching our new video format (now called “Code Comment”) next week! In the first edition, we dig into Claw Breaker! Look forward to it!And if you haven’t already, check our our Nice Plays videos.0:06:43NostalgiaThe old PlayStation Spyro games are being re-released as a trilogy, to some mixed reception.Firmament is a VR game being made by the developers of Myst.Speaking of Myst nostalgia, Cyan just announced a 25th Anniversary re-release.Mark recently read a few of the Boss Fight Books: books about past games with i…We talked about our game influences in a previous episode: “Schrödinger’s Anima…0:34:23PC Games MarketSteam Spy announces it’s shutting down, blames Valve’s new privacy settingsSam MachkovechArs TechnicaLet's Be Realistic: A Deep Dive into How Games Are Selling on SteamMike RoseGDCJane Ng, lead artist at Campo Santo, started a great thread on Twitter about lo…Mark mentioned the user testing he commissioned for Metro Nexus, which we talked about with Hannah Murphy in the episode “Games User Research, Redux! (with Hannah Murphy).”

Mark is still in San Fransisco, so his lovely wife Dale (she of Evil Games Club) fills in and talks with Martha and Stephen about bad game design and good character design.0:02:48"Bad" Game DesignWe put Martha though the worst Mario game ever in an episode of Nice Plays.Nice Plays: Super Mario Bros. 2 [Japan] (1986)Want some rye?The Tetris EffectWikipediaUbisoft Aware of Tetris Ultimate IssuesJason DunningPlayStationLifeStyleE.T.: Walkthrough and Easter EggsTrillingWonderYouTubeA videogame for #blacklivesmatterZach BudgorKill Screen0:32:52Character DesignChoosing Your Pirate In Sea Of Thieves Is HardMike FaheyKotakuHow to Convey Character’s Personality Through Shape, Variance and SizeBilyanaGraphic MamaMaking ComicsScott McCloudWikipediaCrumpets and Badonkadonks: Creating Tiny TinaAshly and Anthony BurchYouTube