Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

#298"One size bigger and red."Roundtable2023.04.13Dale learned a lot while editing this episode.She learned the board game ‘Spirit Island’ is about spirits that protect an island, and she is pretty sure that this is the same premise as hit TV show ‘LOST’.She learns that CSS is not a programming language or a mark-up languageAnd she learns that CSS stands for Cascading Style SheetsShe learns that AAA games are easy (not sure why she struggles with them)That there are either wrong choices in skill trees OR it never really matteredAnd that Stephen wants to fight everyone on DiscordGood luck anyone who isn’t a McGregor!Stephen is playing Spirit Island - Board Game GeekRa Ra Boom Trailer (from Max who schedules our interviewsTwin Cities Playtest is the 3rd Wednesday of the Month - EventbriteTwin Cities Playtest is also on YouTube - IGDA Twin Cities, YouTubeCSS9:47Mark LaCroixProgrammingIn this discussion Ellen mentioned accessibility standards for web contentWCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) - WikipediaMark asked if there is an ISO Standard for this, and there is! ISO 40500:2012There is also one for UI: ISO 30071-1Mark mentions that you should look up the 'Blink' tag, but Dale already did it for you, here.Unity Style Sheet (USS) - UnityThere is a USS Unity in Star TrekAnd Stephen mentions the Div-Div Crow, based on this webcomic.Skill Trees46:38Stephen McGregorGame Design

#284"Shiny rocks get me every time."Roundtable2022.10.28It's spooky season! Stephen is SO over it, but he can't escape all the scary stuff happening in this week's episode. We start with a lesson on the necromantic arts of branding and iconography, guided by Mark, a master of these dark magics. After the break, Ellen raises a past topic from the dead in order to explore the ethics of manipulating players' brainnnsssss. Also mentioned: candy corn, houseplants, and—you guessed it—Star Trek.Star Trek: AscendancyBranding & Iconography0:10:10Mark LaCroixMarketingSmash TV - WikipediaThomas Was Alone - Bithell GamesThe Ethics of Engagement0:36:22Ellen Burns-JohnsonGame DesignEgg, Inc. - Auxbrain, Inc.Idle Acorns - Aleros LLCBeReal social mediaA little learning is a dangerous thingDrink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.This is a line from Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism (1711). The Pierian spring is a fountain in Pieria, a district round Mount Olympus and the native country of the Muses. You can read the full text for free here on Project Gutenberg.

#321Cat TimeNice Games Jam2023.09.07It's been a while but your nice hosts come up with a game in roughly an hour, this one for the cat owners out there! After a fairly long meta, we get into the mind of a cat and design a competitive game for them to play.Toronto International Film FestivalRenew an adult passport - USA.govBloor–Yonge station - WikipediaPromptCreate a game my mother can (and wants to) play with her cats, with the supply list below. Bonus points if this can be played a single cat or multiple cats at the same time, for optimum usefulness in listener households with single catsGame typeDesign documentPlayer count2MaterialsAt least two catsA cat toy shaped like a die with a treat insideList of activities the die points toSetupPick an end date for when the game stops (can be arbitrary).RulesGive the cats the cat toy shaped like a die, they will roll the die and leave it eventually, and this determines the next activity for the human to set up. Once the die decides what the next activity is, the human sets it up based on a chart. Once the task is completed and cats are awarded points, repeat the die roll and do the next activity until the end date (since remember, you're on Cat Time so the amount of activities you do depends on your cats). The winner is the cat with the most points by the end!Examples of tasks (there would be at least 20):Cat task: One cat at a time for this challenge. Put something on top of the cat’s head and start the stopwatch. Whichever cat keeps the object on their head the longest gets X points.Cat task: Make a loud meowing sound. Whichever cat looks at you first gets X points.Human task: Award the cat who has been the best sport X points.Cat task: Hold both cats in your hands. Whichever cat jumps off first LOSES. Winner gets X points.Cat task: Place a ring of non-breakable objects (probably cat toys) around the edge of a table so that the tabletop is fully circled by objects. Place both cats, the task ends when both cats are off the table. Each cat gets a number of points equal to a multiplier of the number of objects that were knocked off the table.Cat task: Put the same number of treats in each hand. Call both cats over for them to snack from your hands. Whichever cat finishes their treats first is the winner and gets X points.Human task: Pick the cat that you feel the most sorry for and award them X points.Human task: Pick the cat that currently looks the sleepiest and sit them out for the next challenge.

#324Much Ado About Unity (with Freya Holmér)Special2023.09.22Earlier today, Unity issued an update to their controversial "runtime fee" policy introduced last week. What changed? What didn't? How could this have even happened? What does it mean going forward? Can we ever trust Unity again?We get into all of it, from the original announcement on September 12th, to the "open letter" update and "fireside chat" on September 22nd. Your nice hosts are joined by special guest and "Unity Insider" Freya Holmér, who offers some additional context and much-needed clarity about the events of the last 10 days.Unity Runtime Fee and Subsequent Policy CorrectionMark LaCroixStephen McGregorEllen Burns-JohnsonFreya HolmérIRLToolsThe original policy: "Unity plan pricing and packaging updates" - UnityThe current policy: "An open letter to our community" - UnityUnity's Marc Whitten - Answers Unity Price Policy -  Jason Weimann, YouTube'Flappy Bird' Guy Gets $12 Million Bill From Unity - Mark Roebuck, Hard Drive

#282"Today’s the day that I screw things up."Roundtable2022.10.13Your nice hosts start off strong with an excellently performed intro, and it just gets better from there! The Game Agency - The Game AgencyPre-production0:06:24Stephen McGregorProductionIdle Games0:31:45Mark LaCroixGame DesignGamingStar Trek Lower Decks: The Badgey Directive Review: The Final Fun-tier? - Steven Shaw, Droid GamersHow to make an idle game: Everything you need to know about incremental mobile … - David Hartery, AdjustIdle Games: The Mechanics and Monetization of Self-Playing Games - Anthony Pecorella, YouTube“It Started as a Joke”: On the Design of Idle Games - Katta Spiel, Sultan A. Alharthi, Andrew Jian-Lan Cen, Jessica Hammer, Lennart E. Nacke, Z O. Toups and Tess Tanenbaum, CHI PLAY

#293The Logistics of Moving OnInterview2023.02.22Your nice hosts invite Zachtronics founder Zach Barth to discuss the closing of the studio and the logistics of moving on from that. In this episode, you'll also hear about ruminations on what success means as a game dev, a theory about how great walking is and exclusive news about Zach's future plans.The Logistics of Moving OnIRLProductionZachtronics websiteLast Call BBSWhy Zachtronics is shutting down for good this time - Alex Calvin, gameindustry.bizLegal Systems Very Different From Ours - David Friedman, Peter Leeson, David SkarbekWhy Walking Helps Us Think - Ferris Jabr, The New YorkerCoincidence

This year, Ellen thought a lot about cheating in games. So your nice hosts kept doing episodes about it. Three in total over this last summer. So, to kick off this year's run of Nice Replays, we’ve stitched all three topics together into one SUPER MEGA NICE NEW YEAR’S OMNIBUS EPISODE!Cheating (omnibus edition)Part 1:"What's a little grand larceny?"Part 2:Cheating, Part 2Part 3:"Sad or fascinating?"

Donna Noble, a popular companion in Doctor Who, joins Ellen and Dale in discussing their favorite games and game development accomplishments of 2023. They also delve into the clever narrative decisions in Doctor Who, the comparison between different Mario games, and their anticipation for Hellblade II and upcoming indie games. The speakers share personal anecdotes, such as Ellen's snake-filled basement and Dale's reliance on their spouse for motivation and support in their work projects.

Will went to school for illustration. After many plot twists—including a bike accident, leading a team of animators, and climbing mountains in Alaska—he ended up working in games. Now, he's a design director and creative consultant, working on games that aim to make the world a better place. This week, Will joins us in the clubhouse to discuss how he's made decisions about his creative career and where those decisions have taken him. New gamedevs and creative folks, you might find inspiration in Will's story. Experienced gamedevs, you might be reminded to think about where you've been and where to find meaning in the next chapter of your career.Creative Career PathsArtGame DesignIRLMisc.Kablam! - IMDBHeadkicker II - Arcade HistoryU.B. Funkeys - WikipediaMicrosoft Solitaire turns 30 years old today and still has 35 million monthly p… - The VergeNYT Connections Game - The New York TimesTraveling While Black - Felix and PaulEverFiBuild Your Stax (game)

This week, the clubhouse becomes the birdhouse; we're talking pigeons! Dale created a prompt inspired by Ellen's activities as a child and she bombards your nice hosts with a TON of pigeon facts! We somehow designed a game out of it!As a note, Ellen's was still recording remotely but the first 5 minutes she was recording on the wrong mic! We corrected it after those 5 minutes. Breeds of Pigeons across the Globe. - Layne Gardner, The American Pigeon Museum and LibraryRacing Pigeon Training 25 mile - Hoosier Outdoors, YouTubeRacing Pigeons VS. Falcon (Pt.1) - "One Wing" - @Pigeonmaniacom, YouTubeAmazing video of a hawk chasing a homing pigeon -  Their own world, YouTubeA Rare Appreciation of the New York Pigeon - Alexandra Wolfe, The Wall Street JournalEllen's pictures of pigeons she posted in the Miro boardPromptCreate a game where you breed and raise pigeonsGame typeDesign documentSetupNone yet! It's a game design doc.RulesControl a group of pigeonsReal time strategy racing gameManage each bird by going to each bird, checking statuses and causing communication so pigeons can help each other get to the goalPlayers can give stats bonuses to each individual birdYou as the player don’t know where the pigeons are going, you have to figure out where the pigeons’ goal isCan be multiplayerSwapping between each pigeon gives you information about that pigeons’ statusPlayers have a very vague idea of where to go at the startWhen a predator appears, the player needs to outsmart the predator to escape and keep racingThen the player is off course and needs to find their way backSome races can be longer, where you need to find a place to rest for the night and have enough foodGame loopYou get a random selection of pigeonsCompete in a raceStart in a random place on the mapPigeons know where they need to go but the player does notPlayers need to deduce where the pigeons are going and make sure to lead all of them in the right directionPlayers control each pigeon individually, moving a pigeon will influence the other pigeons but will not move fully in that direction. Players need to guide each pigeon to their goal as a group, but control them individually.Control of pigeons is in third-person perspective, players need to jump between pigeons to see the whole view of the flockThere are areas on the map that the player will know about that can have more risk involved (like areas where predators will often be)There can be some collectables around that the player can pick up with birds to get bonuses (more points? movespeed?)When you complete the race, you can remove a pigeon from the racing group and add a new pigeon from a set of 3 randomly generated pigeons