Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

"Nice Plays" are video episodes where your nice hosts play and talk about a game, and after 17 minutes, our egg timer goes off and we give our final thoughts. In this episode, Mark plays the recent indie game Boor, and your nice hosts all find a lot to like about it!Game: Boor (http://www.dazlog.com/boor/)Developer: DazlogStudioPublisher: Badland GamesPlatform: Windows, Mac, LinuxRelease date: February 14th, 2017Genre: 2D Puzzle-PlatformerSummary: "Eden is a human colony far from Earth. To develop a better society, settlers made an artificial intelligence, BOOR, to help them, but this machine turned against them. When a little girl accidentally lands on the planet of Eden, she discovers BOOR has taken over and there are only a few survivors left. With her special ability to multiply herself, she'll help them destroy BOOR and reclaim the world."Martha and Mark worked on a game for the 2017 Global Game Jam about eyeballs!Boor was made by a single developer, a topic we discuss in a previous episode.Solo DevelopmentVideo

"Nice Plays" are video episodes where your nice hosts play and talk about a game, and after 17 minutes, our egg timer goes off and we give our final thoughts. In this episode, Stephen plays the NES port of the classic arcade game Solomon's Key!Game: Solomon's KeyDeveloper: TecmoPublisher: TecmoPlatform: NESRelease date: July 1987 (US)Genre: 2D Puzzle-PlatformerSummary: "You and Dana, the wizard of Lyrac, must unlock Solomon’s scroll of secrets to restore peace in the constellations. With Dana’s magic, fire, and mystical powers, you will help release the imprisoned Princess of the Fairies and harness the evil forces within the constellations. But first, you need the key!"30 years on, people are still arguing over how to pronounce NES - Hugh Langley, TechRadarSolomon’s Key was indeed part of the very first batch of games for the Wii Virt… - WikipediaSolomon’s Key cheat codesVideo

It'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.0:05:54Video Game ImmersionOur pal and VR innovator Andrew Fladeboe.Representation and Embodiment in Virtual RealityJorge AlborPopMattersWould You Kindly Read This Article on Gaming’s Greatest Plot Twist?Mike DiverViceOur recent episode of Nice Plays: OneShotNice Games ClubYouTubeEnhancing VR Immersion with the CPU in Star Trek: Bridge CrewCristiano FIntel DevelopersCognitive Flow: The Psychology of Great Game DesignSean BaronGame DeveloperWhy Sonic the Hedgehog is awful, and always has beenRyan BrownMIrrorRequiem, a “roleplaying” mod for The Elder Scrolls: SkyrimMark is up to 118 shrines in Breath of the Wild. Stephen is not happy.0:39:27Main Menus and First ImpressionsWhy do console games require a button press before showing the main menu?StackExchangeGame Design: Splash ScreenJesse FreemanMediumThe Ten Commandments Of Video Game MenusKirk HamiltonKotakuWe didn’t get a chance to talk about it in the episode, but here is a cool brea…Mike FaheyKotaku

This week, your nice hosts are still relaxing in Mark's dining room for an episode that has it all: a disagreement about Bluetooth, some good ClawTalk™, and the shortest conversation ever had on the subject of tabs vs. spaces. All this, plus a slightly higher than usual number of wild digressions.Discuss this episode on Reddit in this thread on r/gamedev!0:01:29Input Methods and ControlsStephen’s controller of choice, Power A FUSION.New Windows 10 Xbox wireless controller adapter delayed into 2018Gabe GurwinDigital TrendsMetro Nexus’ tutorial in actionMark LaCroixTwitterBehold, the unintuitive enjoyment of Claw Breaker.Martha MegarryYouTube“How to Claw Effectively”Ture VangaurdYouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY-o0zYxjyEGame Maker's ToolkitYouTube“You say jump, I say how high?” Martin FasterholdtMartha’s favorite Fingeance fighter, Sparky.This goofy game turns your entire keyboard into the controllerAndrew WebsterThe VergeAlternative controls game Butt Sniffin Pugs, shown at Ctrl.Alt.GDC.Rocksmith Vs. Rock Band 3 – The Pro Guitar ShowdownJeff AtwoodFake Plastic RockGuy beats Dark Souls with DK BongosJordan DevoreDestructoidGameplay of racing game Kirby Air RideMutch GamesYouTubeWe mentioned this previous episode"We joke here."we also mentioned this one"Will you be the best with me?"0:36:49Coding SylesWhat is your preferred Indent Style?Whatever you do, don’t code like this.@HisCursednessTwitterDon’t be a Stephen: Comment your code!Martha uses a cool HTML template engine called Pug.Getting started with Pug template engineAntónio RegadasMediumRussian nesting dolls are called matryoshka.WikipediaCamelCase or snake_case?DarkBASIC, which Stephen used when he was young, went open-source in 2016!the Game CreatorsHistory around Pascal Casing and Camel CasingBrad AbramsMIcrosoft“Namespacing” in Objective-CMattname spacing hipsterJetBrains IDE’s: Webstorm for JavaScript and Rider for C#.Visual Studio Code is a lightweight Visual Studio that Mark really likes.1:13:45Splatoon 2, ur, I mean ShootersApparently, Splatoon devs didn’t realize the comparison to Super Mario Sunshine…Sean AyresNintendo EnthusiastDesigning FPS Multiplayer MapsDodgerOn Game DesignDesign Patterns in FPS LevelsKenneth Hullett & Jim WhiteheadUniversity of California - Santa CruzLost PlanetSomeCallMeVidalYouTubeLost Planet's only sequelWoophoroYouTubeWe also referenced our episode on Violence in Games

This week, the clubhouse is being occupied by Glitch's Summer 2017 Immersion Program cohort, so your nice hosts relocate to Mark's kitchen and talk over tea with the astoundingly insightful and utterly charming Holly Harrison, professional social media and community manager, to talk about building and engaging with an audience online.Community ManagmentMarketingTide tries and fails to act cool in response to Mr. Clean... - @tide, Twitter...while Sonic the Hedgehog succeeds. - @sonic_hedgehog, TwitterArby’s does some cool video game things on Twitter. - @arbys, TwitterThe true owner of @Velveeta - @Velveeta, TwitterYou Know An Internet Joke Is Kinda Over Once Nintendo's Had A Turn - EThan Gach, KotakuBuilding audience early with visuals-first development in Ooblets - Chris Priestman, Game DeveloperConsumers Aren’t Looking to Buy From Brands That Are ‘Cool’ on Social - SproutSocialThe Simple Facebook Posting Strategy That Helped us 3x Our Reach and Engagement - Brian Peters, BufferFollow the MNgamedev Bot on Twitter - @MNgamedev_bot, TwitterMN Game Dev Slack - mngamedevbot, SlackWhat We Know About The Instagram Shadowban, And How To Discover If You’ve Been … - PLANNPaper Darts, Literary Arts MagazineComcast and Verizon’s Sneaky Push to Kill Net Neutrality Is Just Embarrassing - Libby Watson, GizmodoBioware "Kissing Day" tweet. - @Bioware, TwitterInnes McKendrick tweets about egg cups. - Innes McKendrick, TwitterCheck your Twitter analytics - Twitter

It's Nice Games' Club take on the Let's Play! Introducing "Nice Plays," where the Nice Games Club gamedevs play nice games. Our first Nice Play features the recent indie (re-)release "OneShot." We talk about the game's unique design choices as we fumble around to figure out the controls.But, like for every Nice Play, after 17 minutes of gameplay our egg timer goes off, which means it's time to end the show.Game: OneShot (website)Developer: Little Cat FeetPublisher: DegicaRelease date: June 30th, 2014 (original), December 6, 2016 (remake, Steam)Genre: Adventure, PuzzleSummary: "OneShot is a surreal top down Puzzle/Adventure game with unique gameplay capabilities. You are to guide a child through a mysterious world on a mission to restore its long-dead sun. The world knows you exist."Video

This week, Martha stops short of detailing the DNS protocol, Mark describes a completely different Star Trek VR thing which he made for the Minnesota Orchestra Hall, and Stephen explains how to lose like a real champ.Plus, like the classic 1985 film Clue, this episode has multiple endings!Discuss this episode on Reddit using this thread in r/gamedev!Stephen's headphone audio testing suiteWhite Land -  F-Zero Arranged, YouTubeThe Sea - Magic Pengel, YouTubeDo It  - Tuxedo, YouTubeStephen updated the feedback form! Let us have it!0:08:13Your Game’s WebsiteStand Still, Stay Silent, a webcomicCity of Hunger development blogMidwest Game Developers Facebook grouppresskitDomain Name SystemWikipediaThe Difference Between Shared Hosting, VPS, and Dedicated Hosting99robotsHTML5 Up (free, simple site templates)EverendOoblets0:36:31Game Exhibits and InstallationsMark’s “Holodeck” VR installation at Minnesota Orchestra Hall Installation, Gameplay, Photo, Animation, Props, People, More people!An Ode to the OkudagramWill NguyenTreknewsVR Snowball ShootersA Maze BerlinVR Pigeons at A Maze Berlin 2017spuniorYouTubePeter Molydeux, a parody Twitter accountTwitterThe world of weird video games at Alt.Ctrl.GDCJessica CondittEngadgetHands-on with Line Wobbler: a 16 foot tall, one-dimensional dungeon crawlerNick RobinsonPolygon1:06:40LosingDota 2 Tournament Holds Rage-Quit Competition For FansEric Van AllenKotakuBayonetta Pro Upsets Smash's Best To Win Evo ChampionshipEric Van AllenKotakuVVVVVV No Death ModemicrodicePeercastYouTubeSuper Mario Odyssey Won't Have Game Over ScreensHope CorriganIGN

The clubhouse A/C broke, and it got so hot during the recording of this episode that your nice hosts started to get a little delirious.But before they completely melted down, Mark talked about how Enemy AI can be a great tool for both level design and narrative design, Stephen collaborated on a discussion about co-op games, and Martha shared her excitement about the recently held Summer Games Done Quick speedrunning event.Discuss this episode on Reddit using this thread at r/gamedev!Stephen is on Twitter @leonyx03Some highlights from Mark's VR night!highlight 1highlight 2highlight 30:03:00Enemy AIDesign Club - Super Mario Bros: Level 1-1 - How Super Mario Mastered Level Desi…Extra CreditsYouTubeNobody dies on the first goombaSephzillaDestructoid2007 AiGameDev.com Awards: Technical Innovation in Game AIEnemy design and enemy AI for melee combat systemsBart VossenGame DeveloperAnalysing Mario to Master Super Mario MakerGame Maker's ToolkitYouTubeChip’s Challenge:1AZabrush CimahiYouTubeSaltybetTwitchseebotschatTwitchThe Perfect Organism | The AI of Alien: IsolationTommy ThompsonAI and GamesA Thousand Tiny Details: Emergent Storytelling in Slime RancherSteven LumpkinTwitterPeople Have Discovered The Perfect Way To Mess With Your CatRachael KrishnaBuzzfeedMeet the Artist Using Ritual Magic to Trap Self-Driving CarsBeckett MufsonVice0:29:40Co-op GamesMartha asked Mark to cut a part out of this section, but Stephen edited this episode, so...Overcooked: How To Make Co-op Cookery FunPhilippa WarrRock Paper ShotgunMiyamoto talks Super Mario Galaxy co-opAlexander SliwinskiEngadget0:47:42SpeedrunningAwesome Games Done QuickSpeedDemosArchiveOcarina of Time - Skip 99% of Traveling Across the FieldSwordless LinkYouTubeThe Man Who Does The Impossible in Super Mario 64Patricia HernandezKotakuSpeedrunning RulesBlindfolded speedrun raceNoko OnlineYouTubeI can't believe this actually happened (glitch discovered during blindfolded sp…TokyoboiYouTubeKotaku’s speedrun articlesKotakuIntelligent Qube by caneofpacciGames Done QuickYouTubeTASBot plays Brain Age by micro500, xy2_ in 20:06 - Games Done QuickYouTubeWorld Record Progression: Super Mario WorldSummoning SaltYouTube0:00 / 29:59 I Am Bread by Blood_Thunder in 20:50Games Done QuickYouTube0:00 / 1:06:01 The Talos Principle by Azorae in 58:16 Games Done QuickYouTubeTomb Raider: Underworld hard modeJarekSpeed Demos ArchiveYes, you can speedrun in FingeanceNew Trick Has Ocarina of Time Speedrunners Debating What A Glitch Actually IsHeather AlexandraKotaku

In a previous episode, we mentioned that Mark's game, Metro Nexus, recently underwent a usability study, so for this episode, we brought in the Games User Researcher who conducted it, Hannah Murphy!Hannah talks about her work, explains the value of UX research for indie developers, and discusses the study she did for Metro Nexus.Discuss this episode on Reddit using this thread in r/gamedev!Games User Research and AnalyticsUI / UXMetro Nexus User ResearchMetro Nexus Usability Report - Hannah MurphyMetro Nexus gameplay trailer video.Metro Nexus tutorial screen gif - TwitterLinkst for User ResearchIGDA Games User Research Special Interest GroupUX & QA Testing: What's the Difference? - Lindsay Lauters Miller, Game DeveloperMIT’s Game Lab’s list of recommended courses includes a few which are focused o…How to break into Games User Research - Steve BromleyList of UX degrees offered by universitiesBest Colleges with Human Computer Interaction Degrees in the US - Universities.com#GamesUR on Twitter - TwitterHow to Conduct a Heuristic Evaluation - Jakob Nielsen, Nielsen Norman GroupGroupthink - Groupthink - WikipediaOn Indie Game Pricing - Dan Adelman, Game DeveloperIn the outro, we joke about our recent Live Episode! Listen to it!LIVE from GlitchCon 2017

Martha brags about her computer, Mark finds yet another excuse to talk about Star Trek, and Stephen is still holding out hope for a Smash Bros. announcement.Discuss this week’s episode on Reddit using this thread in r/gamedev!Glitch Community Events CalendarWe talked about Mark’s VR Night as if it happened already, but after we recorde…Ice Cold Games0:05:08Building a PCProject Scorpio Xbox Development KitXboxYouTubeOne Xbox One X BoxJess Brohard TwitterHTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows Mixed Reality system requirementsCale HuntVR HeadsMartha picks her PC parts on PCPartPicker!The Big Form Factor Guide – ATX10stripeUgly gaming PCs are our own faultVlad SavovThe VergeProject Scorpio rocks high-end vapor chamber coolerDerek StricklandTweakTownIf you’re in the Twin Cities, Techdump is a great resource for recycled PC com…Want help? Check out r/buildapcformeWhat You Need To Know About OverclockingAlex WalkerKotaku Australia0:37:18Pen and Paper GamesNew Ships and Crews Take Off with Star Trek AdventuresJeff McArthurGeek & SundryHurdy-GurdyWikipediaMark created a bot that tweets Star Trek technobabble 8 times a dayTech the Tech @techthetechTwitter200 Word RPG ChallengeD&D 4th Edition – What Went Wrong?Grey LotusGrey LotusThe DwarvenautJosh BishopDocumentry FilmEmergent Gameplay: Letting the Players Create Their Own Fun”David DawPCWorldAnalysis: Story And The Trouble With 'Emergent' Narratives Tom CrossGame Developer