Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

In this super-sized episode, your nice hosts get into the gritty details of game design with a trio of terrific topics. Martha lays out the concept for her next game, Stephen complains about Smash Bros. (!), and Mark takes a lot of notes. Plus, maybe the best topic transitions to ever come out of the clubhouse!We're still looking for feedback from our listeners! Be nice and visit our feedback form. It will only take a minute of your time and it will help us make the show better.Nice Games Club Feedback Form0:05:18PrototypingDon't skip the Game Design Workshop at GDC 2017GDCMark's Sonic the Hedgehog solitaire card gameHolographic Mark Mk I0:26:28Point and ClicksPuzzle Dependency Graph PrimerJoshua WinbergGame DeveloperThe Day of The Tentacle: Dependency Graph AnalysisThe Website is Down Dev BlogDouble Fine AdventureDoubleFineProdYouTubeHumongous EntertainmentCosmic OsmoWikipedia30-plus years of HyperCard, the missing link to the WebMatthew LasarArs Technica0:42:26User InterfacesUser interface design in video gamesAnthony StonehouseGame DeveloperThe User Interface Continuum: A Study of Player PreferenceKristine JorgensenGame DeveloperSplinter Cell: Conviction Developer DiaryIGNYouTubeMirror’s Edge – UX is not UIPapa_LampGur-uHue's color blind mode in action Color Jumpers color blind mode in actionBen BurnesYouTubeThe Division UI and Gameplay WalkthroughYouTubeGDC Breaking conventions with Zelda: Breath of the WildHidemaro FugibayashiGDC

In this interview episode, we talk with Lord President of the Game Design Club at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Rachel Peterson Reese Valentine, to talk about how to go about getting an education in games. Your nice hosts also recount their own gamedev educational origin stories, and the episode closes out with a quick run though of all the advice!Games EducationArtIRLBecause Learning Matters (129) - Extra Credits, YouTubeMinneapolis Colledge of Art and DesignPong Clone Tutorial Rachel's quick-draw artQuick-draw portrait of MarkQuick-draw portrait of StephenWhite-board self-portraitEducational LinksOne Game a MonthOn Game Schools - How to Find a Good School - Extra Credits, YouTubeGame Center - NYUUniversity of Wisconsin -StoutGame Design Workshop - bookGDC VaultUnite Conference - UnityGame Maker's Toolkit - YouTube

A 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 Form0:03:27Demoing and Playtesting0:33:26Project ManagementtrelloAgile DevelopmentWikipediaWaterfall DevelopmentWikipediaKanban DevelopmentWikipediaThe Blue Yarn - 99% InvisibleThe Blue Yarn99% InvisibleNUMMI (2015)NUMMIThis 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 Megarry0:52:56Messages and MeaningsSummerlandMichael ChabonNovelA Closer Look at How Three Assassin's Creed Games Have Handled SlaveryEvan NarcisseKotakuFor Honor's accidental alt-right connectionAllegra FrankPolygon

It's the finale of our double-sized GDC 2017 special, recorded on the final day of the Game Developers Conference.Martha and Mark were joined once again in San Fransisco by "Special Reporter" Dylan Skerbitz to talk about the back half of the conference, while Stephen joins in remotely from Glitch HQ to talk all about the Nintendo Switch!0:02:40GDC 2017 SessionsSid Meier tells Civilization’s origin story, cites children’s history booksSam MachkovechArs TechnicaMartha meets her Hero, Sid MeierDouble Fine's Digital ArchaeologyBrendan SinclairGamesIndustry.bizLadykiller in a Bind ReviewAllegra FrankPolygonDouble TapSte Curran0:19:48Nintendo Switch LaunchUnreal Engine 4.15 supports Nintendo Switch, HDR, and AFR for Nvidia SLIMark WaltonArs TechnicaYou can expect a Super Smash Bros. game for Nintendo SwitchCNET0:34:46Flash Games PostmortemHow Flash Games and Newgrounds Foretold Today’s Indie Experimentalism Kate GreyVice0:36:32Experimental Games Workshop'Multibowl' Is the First Real Video Game MixtapeZack KotzerVice0:38:22Micro-PostmortemsChristine Love's Micropostmortems summaryChristine LoveTwitter

Martha and Mark were in San Fransisco for the Game Developers Conference, and there was so much to say we had to split it into two episodes!While Stephen was holding down the fort back home, we were joined in San Fransisco by Nice Games Club's in-house "special reporter" Dylan Skerbitz.0:00:58Train JamTrain JamTrain Jam participants heading to GDC 2017 anxious about ‘Muslim ban’Charlie HallPolygon0:13:13Train Jam InterviewsArvind Raja Yadav made Zombies on Demand More from Arvind: Pyrodactyl GamesAndrew Shouldice made Uncomfortably More from Andrew: Secret LegendKate Gray made Post Birb More from Kate: https://kategray.me/Kate Compton made Travels in Od More from Kate: galaxykate.comAlex Carlson made Ultimate Train Fighter 2600 More from Alex: acwd.meCreatrix Tiara made What The $!#&@! Do They Need Now? More from Tiara: creatrixtiara.comMatt Findlater made Flashlight Flashbang More from Matt: @justattackgamesStefan Lopuszanski made Time Twins More from Stefan: stexe.com0:24:21Day of the Devs at Alamo DrafthouseDay of the Devs at GDC 2017OobletsRimeMineko's Night MarketKnights and BikesPyreTacoma0:35:06GDC 2017 Sessionskhronos.orgWeb VRTurbo Button's "TButt" FrameworkGitHubGames that should be Games againRami Ismail0:52:35Adventures in Conference Scheduling0:55:35Star Trek: Bridge Crew

Two-thirds of the Nice Games Club are in San Fransisco this week for the Game Developers Conference, and we're recording some segments for a special episode while we're here. Let Mark tell you all about it...

On this Co-Op Recap episode, we welcome developer Lane Davis and writer Felix Foster, who were the co-facilitators of the Glitch Co-Op Talk about Transmedia and Intellectual Property.Also, friend of the show Adia Alderson returns to fill in for Martha, who we all missed very dearly, but you wouldn't know it by how lively our conversation was. We really get into it!TransmediaIRLI Have No Mouth but I Must ScreamZelda CYOA books - ZeldaWiki"Why Are There No Good Video Game Movies?" - Extra Credits, YouTubeMortal Kombat chess - WikiaMortal Kombat Tetris - WikiaHitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy - WikipediaHow Transmedia Made LEGO the Most Powerful Brand in the World - Animation World NetworkOverwatch Comic - Tracer - Blizzard Entertainment

Developer, pixel artist, and YouTube vlogger Will Tice joins the club to talk about building his own game engine, and what it's like to go solo.Solo DevelopmentIRLLibgdx"It's official: XNA is dead" - IndieGames.comunTied Games devlogunTied Games - Speed Sprinting video

It's an episode packed to the gills, hosted by two manatees and an otter!Your hosts each talk about their time with Glitch's Immersion program, and Mark shares what he learned about its most recent cohort, which he filmed for an upcoming documentary.We then bum ourselves out talking about how we never have enough time to work on our projects, but things pick up for the final segment as we gab about some of our our favorite gamedev tools, including a bunch of suggestions from listeners. Be sure to browse the links below to learn more about them!0:04:00Glitch’s Immersion Program0:18:22Work/Life Balance0:32:33Tools of the TradeVersion ControlSourceTreeGitkrakenUnimergeUnity AssetsUnity Assets StoreSuper Fast Soft ShadowsUnityRewiredGraphics SoftwareMagicaVoxelBlender3D Studio MaxAdobe Create CloudAdobe AnimatePyxel EditUser ForumsStack OverflowUnity ForumGame EnginesUnityConstructSuperpowersCitrus EngineInk /InkleRen'PySound and MusicBFXRReasonGarage BandReaperProject ManagmentTrelloVisual Understanding EnvironmentVisual Studio CodeCodecksCodecks did not exsist at the time of this episode, but later became a episode sponsorCode Editors / IDEsSublime TextVisual StudioMonoDevelopJet BrainsFlash BuilderFDTFlash DevelopNotetakingGoogle KeepEvernoteOneNoteOther ResourcesHumble Indie Dev BundlesMIdwest Game Jam Resources

Once a month, the Twin Cities chapter of the International Game Developers Association holds a public meetup, where all are welcome to view presentations, plug their projects, and network with others.As chair of the IGDA-TC, Ryan Foss coordinates and hosts the meetup, and his example helps foster a welcoming and supportive environment for Twin Cities gamedevs. In this episode, we talk to Ryan about what it takes to maintain an "extracurricular activity."Extracurricular ActivitiesEventsIRLInternational Game Developers Association, Twin CitiesMinnesota Virtual Reality and Human-Computer Interaction GroupIGDA-TC podcast