Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Editor at IGN, Alex Stedman, joins the hosts to delve into the world of cheating in contemporary video games. They discuss the nature of cheating, reasons behind cheating behavior, ethical implications, and the impact on gaming communities. Exciting updates on game releases, personal experiences, and game design analysis are also shared throughout the podcast.

In this episode your nice hosts chat with Anna C. Webster lead writer on The Foglands, and her cat Montezuma. Anna talks about how writing for games is different than writing for other medias, including making decisions on what options the player can make (you can never let your player do anything because scope), and writing for players that role-play as the character vs. wearing the character's costume as yourself. And the importance of frequent Narrative Reviews and getting together with other teams to talk about how new elements feel.Stephen's journey in this episode takes him from declaring that writing is hard to being encouraged and pledging to write for the his next games jam project (Ellen will be coding in Godot).Writing for GamesIRLNarrativeAtmospheric sci-fi western roguelike The Foglands launches on PS VR2 this year - Derek O'Dell, Playstation BlogThe Foglands - SteamTools for Game WritingConfluence - AtlassianScrivenerInk - Inkle StudiosTwine - TwineryArticyBitsyAnna C WebsterGuestAnna C Webster is a writer and narrative designer. She is lead writer on The Foglands.External linkWebsiteTwitter

Kelsey McKinney, a writer for Defector, and Quantic Foundry, a research organization analyzing gamer motivations, join the hosts to discuss player motivations and copying others in game design. They also touch on attending Origins Game Fair, frustrations with cliffhangers in TV shows, complexity in competitive sports, eating salty food, analyzing and incorporating others' work, and amusing horse names in games.

Quinn K joins the clubhouse to break down their IGF-nominated game "An Outcry." Your nice hosts learn about choosing your own limitations, the Haunted PS1 scene, and how much playtesting is still not enough playtesting.Postmortem: "An Outcry"An Outcry - Quinn K, itch.ioRPG Maker 2003Oulipo: freeing literature by tightening its rules - Andrew Gallix, The GuardianDogme 95 - Movements in FilmHuanted PS1 Demo Disc 2021 - itch.ioThe Shrike (ship) - Memory AlphaQuinn KGuestExternal linkItchTumblrPatreon

In this week's roundtable, Ellen needs help with ALL the things. Stephen and Mark offer advice on where to find people who can help, and discuss some of the hidden challenges of expanding one's team. Later, Stephen challenges everyone to think about how games can do a better job of implementing companion characters. Also, some host backstory tidbits, weird horse names, and (of course) a bit about Glom.Rival Stars: Horse Racing (the game that Ellen’s playing) - PikPok, Google Play Store“What’s your favorite commentary-friendly name?” - RedditAhead Of The Kentucky Derby, 5 Absurd Rules For Naming Racehorses (2015) - Julie Alderman, NPR0:11:46Finding HelpHiring Game DesignersGame Developer0:46:22Companion Characters[The] 10 Best Companions In Gaming HistoryJom ElauriaScreenRant

(Some of) your nice hosts went to Origins Game Fair last week! Aside from taking in the show and learning more about the world of board games, they were there to attend the launch of their card game Glom. But before they went, they talked about the state of the next card game they're working on (and working on pitching to publishers), Dogpile!The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth - Smithsonian InstitutionW. E. B. Du Bois: A Resource Guide - Angela McMillian, Library of CongressThe State of "Dogpile!"Sell sheet for "Dogpile!"Rules document for "Dogpile!"Sell Sheets for Game Designers 101Luke LaurieLeague of GamemakersCooper BlackWikipediaListen to us come up with the game in:Dogpile!We developed it further in:Dogpile! (part 2)‘Heroin for middle-class nerds’: how Warhammer conquered gamingAlex HernThe Guardian

Your nice hosts return to form with a roundtable recorded together for the first time in a while! In this episode, Stephen sneaks a mini-topic in, Ellen asks some controversial questions and Mark helps us realize when we're breaking the law.As a side note, Glom is available right now! We've talked about it plenty on the show, but for more information or purchasing info you can go to nicegames.club/glom.Summer Games Done Quick 2023 - YouTube0:10:27LicensingA complete guide to font licensing for designersGarrick WebsterCreative Bloq0:36:22Cheating, Part 1

After Mark's time with COVID, the first day he was free to go outside, the area was covered with the smoke of distant wildfires. Another bout of smoke has rolled in to the Twin Cities just in time for the release of this episode.The club spends this Nice Thinking episode talking about the making of Glom, and discussing their feelings about pitching and publishing board games. They discover that Mark and Stephen dread pitching, but Ellen thinks it can be fun (it's her superpower).This section is about Dale, who edited this episode.I did write most of the Glom cards, but that was really playing to my superpower of brainstorming lots of ideas, very quickly. The club mentioned...that I have a full time job - TRUE...that I have to deal with the club's crap - TRUE...cats - TRUE - I volunteer at a cat shelterFor 'Dogpile!' the game - I thought up 100 dog names - EASY and I have been thinking up ~20 cat names a week (my superpower right?)Finally, they share the story of how Mark no longer edits every episode, and that's how Dale got to title this episode and add a section of episode notes about cats.GLOMGlom launched on June 14th, 2023. It is available for purchase now!Our official Glom hompage.This section is about cats.It’s kitten season and the cat shelters are full - please consider adopting a cat (or other animal, but you should really consider a cat or two). The city of Minneapolis Animal Care and Control has been waving cat adoption fees on select days. Minneapolis Pet AdoptionIf you choose a cat from Feline Rescue in Saint Paul, the name might have been suggested by Dale. Don't worry, you can promptly change their name to that of your favorite video game character. Feline RescueCheck out these two: Phobos and Deimos, named after the two moons of Mars (or Mario and Luigi if you prefer), they are available at the time of publicationDeimos and Phobos, the moon brothers are available for adoption via this link0:04:40Nice Thinking about our future in Board GamesThe game GLOMEpisode 210 is the NiceGames Jam that created GlomFor the record, the third deck that was renamed goal, was originally called “Scoring System Deck.”We talked about pitching the game with Peter Yang in episode 231Pitching Tabletop GamesWe're excited about 'Dogpile!' 'Dogpile!' was a game Jam from episode 272Dogpile!And we did a followup in episode 275Dogpile! (part 2)0:46:06Nice Thinking about NiceGameJam Games with PotentialMark's List of 5 Games1. From episode 272, Dogpile!2. From episode 275,Palace of Versailles3. From episode 192, recorded live, Roboston! (parts 1 and 2)4. From episode 157,Reravel: A Backwards Storytelling GameThey also mention these GameJam Games:6. From episode 134, Rules7. From episode 143Ants of Destiny: Morsels of the QueenNice Thinking about traveling to conferencesOrigins is June 21-25 2023 in Columbus OHGenCon is August 3-6 in Indianapolis, IN

The podcast discusses fall damage mechanics in Legend of Zelda and other games, lessons learned from Tears of the Kingdom, personal experiences with COVID-19 and antiviral medication, TV shows and documentaries, analyzing the efficiency of Tears of the Kingdom, the role and importance of fall damage in video games.

This week, Ellen and Stephen learn guest Zack Gilbertson's whole deal. Afterwards, Zack walks your nice hosts though an overview of what it's like for an indie developer to work with Unreal Engine, a popular-but-slightly-less-popular-than-Unity game engine.Unreal EngineGame DesignProductionProgrammingToolsUnreal Engine - Epic GamesLighting in Unreal Engine 5 for Beginners - William Faucher, YouTubeIntroduction to Blueprints - Unreal Engine Documentation, Epic GamesAlina Matson joined us in a previous episode to talk about Visual CodingEpic Games Store now lets developers publish their own games - Justin Carter, Game DeveloperFree Epic Games Content (for Unreal Engine) - Epic GamesZack GilbertsonGuestExternal linkSquidlandPersonal website