Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

This week we're joined by Alina Matson, developer of Fitment—a microworkout app designed with cozy gamers in mind. Alina talks about how she has used the popular Unity plugin Playmaker to kick-start her transition from a career in mechanical engineering to gamedev. Positive vibes abound. Plus, surprise singing! Visual Coding ProgrammingToolsPlaymaker - Hutong Games, Unity Asset StoreBolt - Unity, Unity Asset StoreBlueprint Visual Scripting - Unreal EngineProcessingScratch - MIT10 Most Nostalgic Flash Games From The Early 2000s - Samuel Williams, CBRStephen J. Guy, Director, Applied Motion Lab - University of MinnesotaZebraZapps We mentioned a previous interview episode with Freya Holmer, Self-education, et al.Alina MatsonGuest Bio External link Alina on TwitterFitment websiteFitment Discord serverFitment on Twitter

It's a day of celebration in the clubhouse as Ellen finally starts Metroid Dread. Meanwhile, Mark delivers, and Stephen looks it up (but isn't happy about it). André 3000 on the 10th anniversary of his ‘Class of 3000’ soundtrack - David Dennis Jr., Andscape Hint, hint... - Mike Rose, Twitter Milestone Builds 0:13:18 Mark LaCroixProductionMilestone - Wikipedia Wikis and Guides 0:46:47 Ellen Burns-JohnsonGamingHow to pause Elden Ring - Jeffrey Parkin, Polygon

For our 250th episode, your nice hosts play a few rounds of a pair of games made by the folks from Game Dev London as part of their very own Nice Games Jam! Ellen makes fun sounds, Mark counts all his Jefferies Tubes, and Stephen is reliable as the morning sun. We talked about big episode numbers in: "A Spark Plug." 200th Episode Special Stephen's grumpy tweet. Game Dev London Safecracker!! 0:18:36 Game DesignTabletopNice Games Club's 1hr Game Jam Challenge - Part 1 - Game Dev London, YouTube Creating "Safecracker!!" in part 1 of Game Dev London's 2-part episode The Lockpicking Lawyer - YouTube Adventurer, Please 0:41:19 Game DesignTabletopNice Games Club's 1hr Game Jam Challenge - Part 2 - Game Dev London, YouTube Creating "Adventurer, Please" in part 2 of Game Dev London's 2-part episode Mark's Beverly Crusher t-shirt Jefferies Tube - Memory AlphaUnplugged Independents: Weave: Storytelling Redefined - Seamus Conneely,  Cannibal Halfling Gaming

This week, your Nice Hosts talk about "games you get for free" on various gaming platforms. Also, the trio explores the relationship between "fun" and "joy"—and where does "engaging" fit in? Ellen won't tell us the grade, and Stephen is told he has to yell at Mark. Amber Waves of Games "America the Beautiful" sung by Ray Charles - YouTube You made it! Thanks for another unforgettable year of Global Game Jam! Games You Get for Free 15:00 Stephen McGregorGamingXbox Game Pass Ultimate tip: How to get 3 years of access to hundreds of games … - PC WorldKo-FiThe Jolly Jawbreaker Joy vs. Fun 44:00 Ellen Burns-JohnsonGame DesignThe Giver: Language and Communication - Study guide, Shmoop

Hiatus flew by this year for your nice hosts, but they're back in the newly-renovated clubhouse with their annual recounting of what they got up to while away. Ellen keeps a promise, Stephen returns a gift, and Mark sees thru' these architects eyes. Our renovated clubhouse table. These foam acoustic panels came vacuum-sealed, so they needed to be soaked in water to inflate them. Of course, once-inflated, the water-logged panels needed to be dried out, which meant an hour in the dryer. It was pretty hard to drill these holes to mount our mic stands, and about as hard to measure them out because our clubhouse table has no straight edges or corners. Measure twice, then 100 more times. Mark mounted at set of ports for mic and headphone connections under the clubhouse table. Mark's "B+" cable management. The finished clubhouse. It's much cozier (and quieter) in here now. What We Did On Our Winter Break (2022) Mark LaCroixStephen McGregorEllen Burns-JohnsonIRLMetaThe path to unionizing has been rough for Raven Software, and it’s about to get… - Ash Parrish, The VergeGame Dev LondonSeven Billion HumansUntitled Goose Game is getting a second goose and local co-op - Nicole Carpenter, Polygon The replay aired last week, but in case you missed it: Nice Thinking: "Sledgehammer Bride" Mark talked about building localization systems in: "I definitely thought of that ahead of time."David Bowie Brilliant Adventure (1992 – 2001)Esperanza Spalding Is The 21st Century's Jazz Genius - Lara Pellegrinelli, NPR

#240 Sledgehammer BrideNice Thinking 2021.10.28 It's Stephen's turn at Nice Thinking, our new episode format where we brainstorm around a single concept someone brings into the clubhouse. Get ready for your first contact with the Sledgehammer Bride!Glom will be part of Wordplay 2021, November 13-14 - Hand Eye Society Sledgehammer Bride Stephen McGregorGame DesignNarrativeA Brief History of Beat ’em Up Video Games - Hero ConceptProspective Teachers Misperceive Black Children as Angry  - Bryan Goodman, American Psychological AssociationThe Brute Caricature - History on the NetExamining Game Pace: How Single-Player Levels Tick - Mark DaviesShank 2 - Klei Entertainment, SteamHow the Original Hyrule Warriors Broke The Mold for Musou Games Forever - Dale Bashir, IGN

#211 Building Blocks of DesignInterview 2021.04.08 It's back to basics this week as we welcome Osama Dorias, lead game designer on the upcoming Gotham Knights at WB Games Montréal, to talk about his multi-year journey of making games with his kids, and what it taught him about his craft. It might be our cutest episode yet! Osama, along with Fawzi Mesmar, and Rami Ismail, recently launched their own very nice gamedev podcast, The Habibis! Building Blocks of Design ArtGame DesignIRLTabletopToolsThe Game Crafter A selection of cards from "Ali and Mimi's Card Game" Osama's son trying to look professional while presenting "City Game I Love This." Osama's daughter beaming with pride at her creation, "05Q7654321 0." Osama's kids' first video game. Osama DoriasGuestOsama works at WB Games Montréal, where he is the lead game designer on Gotham Knights. He is a co-founder of the Montreal Independent Game Awards, a professor at Dawson College, and a co-host of The Habibis podcast.He loves hugs and poutine. External link Osama on TwitterGotham KnightsMontreal Independent Game AwardsThe Habibis

#235 The New ClubhouseNice Thinking 2021.09.16 After many months of recording over Discord (or together in Mark's and Dale's apartment), Nice Games Club is finding a new place to meet. Well, "finding" isn't really the right word. Mark and Dale are making it happen. The new clubhouse is being customized as a workspace and community hub, and this week on the show, Your Nice Hosts talk about how to start things up in the new spot. The New Clubhouse Mark LaCroixIRLMetaErgonomic stools by Herman MillerThe cover image for this episode's page is from The Treehouse, an educational game published in 1991. Ellen played this game a lot when she was a kid. Learn more here: https://www.myabandonware.com/game/the-treehouse-1ag

#224 "To whom it may concern."Roundtable 2021.07.09 Holly Harrison, aka "Best Friend of the Show," is back in the clubhouse! And we recorded this episode in person again! Can you tell? It probably comes through in the goofs...There's plenty of silliness in this week's episode, even though your Nice Hosts explore some serious topics. Holly asks us what we can do to become more ethical consumers (and developers) of games. Ellen examines the dynamics of grind. Stephen finally admits to something BIG, and Mark takes a break.Join Lobby - Video Game Culture Feed - Holly Harrison, Instagram Holly joined us for episode 40... Community Managment ...and for episode 88... The Gaming Press ...and for episode 89... "A mean secret that stays in this room." ...and for episode 201... "Not like Beauty and the Beast." ...and for episode 202! Business SpeakEllen's new laptop: Alienware M15R4Gris (a game, not a musical) - SteamNoble Engine - Mark LaCroix Here's episode 217, in which we discussed open source. Open Source SoftwarePhoto by Helmi Lutvyandi from Pexels Ethical Consumption 0:13:06 Holly HarrisonGamingMisc.Conflict minerals: Which gaming companies may have funded human rights abuses i… - Rebekah Valentine, GamesIndustry.bizIs There Really Such a Thing as “Ethical Consumerism”? - Maya Singer, VogueSummary of sexual and non-sexual allegations (megathread) - Reddit Grind 0:47:59 Ellen Burns-JohnsonGame DesignGamingr/truegaming: For those who like talking about games as much as playing them. - RedditEllen’s take on grind: “Going through the same content multiple times as a means to progress towards an in-game goal that doesn’t pertain to the player’s skill.”

#210 GlomNice Games Jam 2021.03.31 This week your nice hosts have a rowdy game jam. Dale gave us a prompt: Create a matching game with a puzzle element. The puzzle must be "what matches first" and bonus points if there's cats.The goal of every Nice Games Jam is for the team to come up with a playable game by the end of the episode. Did Stephen, Mark, and Ellen make it happen, or did they end up with a pile of nonsense? Well, maybe a bit of both.The "dot game" that Ellen referenced is called Dots & Boxes - Wikipedia A three-sided die similar to the one that Eric, Ellen's partner, owns. Here's a place you can buy your own three-sided die - Nvenom8 Designs on ShapeWays Marketplace Game type Tabletop game Player count Any Materials Paper, pencil or pen Setup Each player should have: Paper (or someplace to compose sentences) Something to write with (typing on a screen is fine) Some way of indicating points passed to other players (chips, coins, etc.) -- in the rules below, these will be referred to as "chips" The game requires three decks. As of this airing, each deck has three cards: Prompts deck "Nice to meet you." "Where is the bathroom?" "Can I pet your cat?" Constraints deck No letter Es (this is incredibly difficult) Exactly 4 words Only single-syllable words Scoring deck Most words Most letters Longest word in the sentence Rules The goal of the game is to acquire the most points out of all the players.Players acquire points by writing sentences that adhere to the Prompt, Constraint, and Scoring card drawn for each round.Setup Shuffle all three decks. Distribute chips evenly amongst all players. Starting a RoundDraw a single card from each deck. Place all three face-down on the table.Set the timer for the desired duration: 1 minute, 2 minutes (default) or 3 minutes.Flip all three cards face-up and start the timer.All players then attempt to compose a sentence that meets the criteria of all three cards (Prompt, Constraint, and Scoring) within the time limit.Share Your SentencesEach player speaks their sentence aloud. (If you're playing online, you can also enter your sentence into the text chat.) The sequence in which players share their sentences doesn't matter—just be nice about it.Round Scoring Players can’t use any of the words in the phrase on the Prompt card. There’s a penalty (-1 point) for each word used. Exception: You can use the same spelling of a word if it’s another type of word (noun vs. verb) Alternate rule for extra challenge and silliness: Remove the exception to the above rule. The player whose sentence meets the conditions on that round's Scoring card wins 3 points. Players pass one of their chips to the person who had, in the player's opinion, the coolest sentence. This is a subjective judgment and has nothing to do with the rules. Each chip received counts as 1 point for the receiving player. DisputesDuring Round Scoring, any player can raise an argument about how the rules apply to another player's sentence. If you bring an argument, you have to propose a resolution, and people will vote on the proposal. (For example, you can propose a change to someone's point total that round, or suggest a change to a person's sentence to bring it within the rules.) If the vote passes, the solution goes through.Continue Play and End the GameFor each subsequent round of play, draw a new set of cards. Play and score according to the above rules.The game ends when all Prompt cards have been used. Shuffle Constraints and Scoring cards back into their respective decks as needed.The player with the most points wins!

#220 “My face is over here.” Special In-Person SpecialSpecial 2021.06.10 Your vaccinated hosts return to the clubhouse to record their first in-person episode in over a year. This one's for us, but you might like it, too. There was a lot of hugs before the recording. Charity EP Jam (the new album drops June 11th!) - Chel WongIndie bundle for Palestinian Aid - Alanna Linayre, itch.io Mark's "Widget Satchel II" was featured in Panic's E3-style announcement video. Special In-Person Special Mark LaCroixStephen McGregorEllen Burns-JohnsonIRLMetaMisc.South Korea’s COVID Success Stems From an Earlier Infectious Disease Failure -  Jiyeon Kim and Neil Richards, Slate

This week, your nice hosts discuss Star Trek, Star Trek, and Ghostbusters. Plus, Mark talks something out of existence, and Ellen is not even gonna not disagree with Stephen. NOTE: Early in the episode we promise a picture of Dale's Halloween costume for the show notes, but we did not have one as this episode went to press. Check this episode's page on our website, and/or our Twitter in the next few days... Mutant Giant Spider Dog - SA Wardega, YouTube The Inside Story of Mass Effect 3's Endings, Finally Told - People Make Games, YouTube The suspense! Power-ups 0:23:09 Mark LaCroix Game Design Franchises 0:52:10 Ellen Burns-Johnson Gaming Marketing List of best-selling video game franchises - Wikipedia How many Super Mario games are there? - jan Misali, YouTube

This week the clubhouse is joined by our second favorite pair of game development brothers - Sami Sati and Erick Sati, developers of Astral Gunners. The Sati brothers talk about staying motivated, when to release early access, and saving some of your heart and soul for future projects. Early Access Marketing Production Cave Games - Cave Interactive Co., Ltd, Wikipedia Astral Gunners The Sati Bros. Present: Tips for Early Access Make sure you can finish your game if nobody buys it: Delaying release maybe is OK for your reputation. Cancelling a release will reflects badly on your reputation and will make it tougher to release your next game. Being open and honest with players (customers). Make sure your core game is finished, so the only things you need to add in are extras and content: levels, features, characters, etc. Centralize your player feedback forums. Think about where you would like to talk about a similar game. Sami Sati and Erick Sati Guest The Sati Bros. are game developers out of Minneapolis, and fans of shoot 'em up games. External link astralgunners.com

Mark goes over the theory and practice of debugging (in Unity, at least). Ellen gets the gist of it. Stephen considers when a game can benefit from having a silent protagonist, or at least a main character that doesn't say anything. Stay tuned after the outro music for bonus sound effects! Wordplay 2021: Celebrating Writing in Contemporary Games - Hand Eye Society Debugging 0:02:06 Mark LaCroix Programming Working in the Inspector: Toggling Debug Mode - Unity Silent Protagonists 0:43:58 Stephen McGregor Game Design Narrative Concept: Silent Protagonist - Giant Bomb Silent protagonist - Wikipedia Heroic Mime - TV Tropes

It's Stephen's turn at Nice Thinking, our new episode format where we brainstorm around a single concept someone brings into the clubhouse. Get ready for your first contact with the Sledgehammer Bride! Glom will be part of Wordplay 2021, November 13-14 - Hand Eye Society Sledgehammer Bride Stephen McGregor Game Design Narrative A Brief History of Beat ’em Up Video Games - Hero Concept Prospective Teachers Misperceive Black Children as Angry  - Bryan Goodman, American Psychological Association The Brute Caricature - History on the Net Examining Game Pace: How Single-Player Levels Tick - Mark Davies Shank 2 - Klei Entertainment, Steam How the Original Hyrule Warriors Broke The Mold for Musou Games Forever - Dale Bashir, IGN