Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

It's Nice Games Bulletin time! We bring you all the news from the video game world leaving no stone unturned. We’ve got news in all varieties- Nice News, Medium News, Bad News and Dad News! So much news! Join your Nice Hosts as we sort it all out. Photo credit: Foam Sword Games- Knights and Bikes promo screenshot Bulletin topic (Recent releases) Games: Knights and Bikes Man of Median Control Remnant: From the Ashes Astral Chain Telling Lies Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey Monster Hunter World Iceborne NBA 2K20 Gears of War 5 Anodyne 2 Local game! Listen to our interview with Marina Kittika here to learn all about how she created the game’s lo-fi aesthetic Bulletin topic (News) Timecode 0:16:10 PAX stuff is happening/has happened! Friend of the show Beth Korth was on a panel at PAX DEV about diversity consulting but since there doesn’t seem to be a way to watch it yet check out our interview with her about Narrative Design! Bulletin topic (News) Not Nice News :(  Timecode 0:17:29 Not Nice News :(  Game Informer layoffs People you should totally hire because they are amazing: Matt Bertz  Elise Favis  Javy Gwaltny Kyle Hilliard  Imran Khan Jeff Marchiafava Suriel Vazquez Content Warning: sexual assault and abuse- if you don’t want to hear discussion about these topics please skip from [19:59] to [23:50] New allegations of sexual assault surface against established game devs - Kris Graft, Game Developer Content Warning: transphobia, homophobia, sexism - if you don’t want to hear discussion about these topics skip from [23:50] to [28:41] Ion Fury Developer Backtracks, Says It Won’t Remove Gay Joke Because Of ‘Censor… - Nathan Grayson, Kotaku Bulletin topic (News) Medium News :/ Medium News :/ “Two People Who Didn’t Work At Telltale Games Say They’re Bringing Back Telltal… - Jason Schreier, Kotaku Bulletin topic (News) Nice News Now :) Timecode 0:30:01 Nice News Now :) “A Remaster Of Disney’s Classic Lion King and Aladdin Games Is Coming In Fall” - Mike Fahey, Kotaku “Dungeons & Deceptions: The First D&D Players Push Back On The Legend Of Gary G… - Cecilia D’Anastasio, Kotaku “Hey, remember When Star Trek Did Galaxy’s Edge, 20 Years Before Star Wars?” - James Whitbrook, IO9 GDC Summit talk submissions are open August 29-September 30, 2019. Submit your … “Play retro 8-bit sports in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020” - Samit Sarkar, Polygon

This week your nice hosts are joined in the clubhouse by visual artist and games UI designer Jajeev Nithiananda. He talks the good and bad of game UI, working with demanding clients and argumentative co-workers, and explains how function and form must work together to create a good experience for the player. Our Nice Guest: Jajeev Nithiananda! Jajeev on ArtStation Jajeev on Instagram PGA TOUR Golf Shootout on Google Play and iOS App Store. Links: UI Breakdown: Metroid Prime - SYH, Medium The Long, Desperate Search To Understand Poise In 'Dark Souls 3' - Patrick Klepek, VICE Lessons Learned Creating UI for The Division - Christian Savoie, GDC 2018

This week your nice hosts are joined in the clubhouse by visual artist and games UI designer Jajeev Nithiananda. He talks the good and bad of game UI, working with demanding clients and argumentative co-workers, and explains how function and form must work together to create a good experience for the player. User Interfaces Art UI / UX PGA TOUR Golf Shootout on Google Play and iOS App Store. UI Breakdown: Metroid Prime - SYH, Medium The Long, Desperate Search To Understand Poise In 'Dark Souls 3 - Patrick Klepek, Vice Lessons Learned Creating UI for The Division - Christian Savoie, GDC Jajeev Nithiananda Guest Jajeev is a UI Designer for PIXELakes, previously a UI Designer for Concrete Software. External link ArtStation Instagram

This week your Nice Hosts break open Power Fantasies and Indie Game Trailers and analyze what makes them work! Can boredom be a game mechanic? Is the age old storytelling rule "show don't tell" actually bad advice for indie game trailers? Can a power fantasy game really ever have too many explosions?? If you have a trailer for your game and want to get some feedback on it send us a link on Twitter to see if it gets the "Stephen Would Actually Watch This" Seal of Approval! Content Warning: We briefly discuss Not Nice News about gun violence in the meta section- if you don't want to hear that please skip from 16:20 to 18:08! Picture credit Gearbox Software Meta Game Devs of Color Expo Talks Friends of the show gave talks! Aubrey Scott talks at 49:57 and Evva Kraikul is on a panel at 4:07:54. Swimsanity (If your team includes two brothers it has to be sea themed) Worker Bee is publishing Widget Satchel in Japan! The Ooblets team is amazing and you should plan on buying the game on the Epic Store when it comes out! (Ooblets was going to be published by Double Fine until Double Fine was bought out by Microsoft) [0:18:08] Power Fantasies Monster Den was a game store/event space in Minneapolis where Martha first played Halo- there is a different game store there now called Dreamers Vault Games [0:43:27] Game Trailers Widget Satchel Trailer If you have a trailer for your game and want to get some feedback on it send us a link on Twitter to see if it gets the "Stephen Would Actually Watch This" Seal of Approval!  

This week your Nice Hosts break open Power Fantasies and Indie Game Trailers and analyze what makes them work! Can boredom be a game mechanic? Is the age old storytelling rule "show don't tell" actually bad advice for indie game trailers? Can a power fantasy game really ever have too many explosions?? Picture credit Gearbox Software If you have a trailer for your game and want to get some feedback on it send us a link on Twitter to see if it gets the "Stephen Would Actually Watch This" Seal of Approval! Game Devs of Color Expo Talks Friends of the show gave talks! Aubrey Scott talks at 49:57 and Evva Kraikul is on a panel at 4:07:54. Swimsanity (If your team includes two brothers it has to be sea themed) Worker Bee is publishing Widget Satchel in Japan! The Ooblets team is amazing and you should plan on buying the game on the Epic … (Ooblets was going to be published by Double Fine until Double Fine was bought … Power Fantasies 0:18:08 Stephen McGregor Game Design Gaming Monster Den was a game store/event space in Minneapolis where Martha first played Halo- there is a different game store there now called Dreamers Vault Games Game Trailers 0:43:27 Mark LaCroix Marketing Widget Satchel Trailer

This week in the clubhouse, Stephen is still away in New York, so Ellen is back to help out with a Nice Games Jam! Our prompt: create a JRPG-inspired game in under an hour. But like any good JRPG, it took twice as long to complete as expected... Ellen's handwritten notes are worth a look! (PDF) And here's the Wikipedia page for Weevil, which Ellen wanted you to see. Rules for "Ants of Destiny: Morsels of the Queen" A two-person pen-and-paper RPG. One player portrays the party of ants, and the other player controls all enemies and narrates the story as the GM. The Story Your queen is dying, and for unknown reasons (foreshadowing!) your colony is running out of resources. You, a young worker ant, and your party of misfits must set out from your home to collect the extra food and supplies needed to save your colony, battling foes and overcoming challenges along the way! The Party Worker Ant (Player protagonist) Bite (attack): 2 Carry (inventory): 5 Exo (armor): +0 Ability: "Defend" - Once per encounter, secretly choose (and write down) a party member. The next attack against that character will automatically fail. This remains in effect until an enemy attacks the selected player, or the player uses their ability. Soldier Ant Bite (attack): 3 Carry (inventory): 4 Exo (armor): +2 Ability: "Command" - Once per encounter, use this ability to grant an automatic success on a party member's next attack. Flying Ant Bite (attack): 1 Carry (inventory): 3 Exo (armor): -1 Ability: "Fly" - Once per encounter, choose an attack target, then exit play for this round. This character cannot be attacked by a non-flying enemy until they return at the start of the next round, when the attack is executed (as long as the target is currently in play). Weevil (in disguise) Bite (attack): 1 Carry (inventory): 4 Exo (armor): +4 Ability: "Push" - Once per encounter, you can select an enemy to remove from play until the end of the round. This enemy cannot attack or be attacked. All party members have 10 hit points (HP). Party stats Move: 4 Overworld The GM prepares a map on a 20x20 grid, with multiple paths, each ending with a resource. This map is kept hidden the player. The player has their own map, which starts out blank. The GM draws new information on this map as the player uncovers it. Each path on the map has the following information/stats: Sense threshold (the number the player must roll above to detect its existence) The shape and length of the path on the map. The "peril value" representing the number added to random encounter checks (1-3). The type of resource at the end of the path (food, item, etc. During our playthough, we only used food). The amount/value of the resource at the end of the path (food: 1-3) Paths don't all have to start from the origin point of the party. Some can begin in the middle of another paths, but the party can only discover a path if they are within sensing range of the beginning (how near is that? Um, we didn't figure that out). Overworld turn sequence Sense check: Player rolls 1d10. This value is compared against the "sense threshold" of each path which is within sensing range of the party. All paths whose sense threshold is equal to or below the value of the roll is "discovered" by the player. For each path whose sensing threshold is below the value of the roll, the player rolls another 1d10. The higher the roll result, the more information is revealed about it (1-3 no info, 4-7 some info, 9-10 all info). The exact information revealed is up to the GMs discretion.

Ellen is back to help out with a Nice Games Jam! Our prompt: create a JRPG-inspired game in under an hour. But like any good JRPG, it took twice as long to complete as expected... Ellen's handwritten notes are worth a look! (PDF) And here's the Wikipedia page for Weevil, which Ellen wanted you to see. Prompt What would the Nice Games Club take on a JRPG be? Do that Game type Paper prototype Player count 2 Setup A two-person pen-and-paper RPG. One player portrays the party of ants, and the other player controls all enemies and narrates the story as the GM. The Story Your queen is dying, and for unknown reasons (foreshadowing!) your colony is running out of resources. You, a young worker ant, and your party of misfits must set out from your home to collect the extra food and supplies needed to save your colony, battling foes and overcoming challenges along the way! Rules The Party Worker Ant (Player protagonist) Bite (attack): 2 Carry (inventory): 5 Exo (armor): +0 Ability: "Defend" - Once per encounter, secretly choose (and write down) a party member. The next attack against that character will automatically fail. This remains in effect until an enemy attacks the selected player, or the player uses their ability. Soldier Ant Bite (attack): 3 Carry (inventory): 4 Exo (armor): +2 Ability: "Command" - Once per encounter, use this ability to grant an automatic success on a party member's next attack. Flying Ant Bite (attack): 1 Carry (inventory): 3 Exo (armor): -1 Ability: "Fly" - Once per encounter, choose an attack target, then exit play for this round. This character cannot be attacked by a non-flying enemy until they return at the start of the next round, when the attack is executed (as long as the target is currently in play). Weevil (in disguise) Bite (attack): 1 Carry (inventory): 4 Exo (armor): +4 Ability: "Push" - Once per encounter, you can select an enemy to remove from play until the end of the round. This enemy cannot attack or be attacked. All party members have 10 hit points (HP). Party stats Move: 4 Overworld The GM prepares a map on a 20x20 grid, with multiple paths, each ending with a resource. This map is kept hidden the player. The player has their own map, which starts out blank. The GM draws new information on this map as the player uncovers it. Each path on the map has the following information/stats: Sense threshold (the number the player must roll above to detect its existence) The shape and length of the path on the map. The "peril value" representing the number added to random encounter checks (1-3). The type of resource at the end of the path (food, item, etc. During our playthough, we only used food). The amount/value of the resource at the end of the path (food: 1-3) Paths don't all have to start from the origin point of the party. Some can begin in the middle of another paths, but the party can only discover a path if they are within sensing range of the beginning (how near is that? Um, we didn't figure that out). Overworld turn sequence Sense check: Player rolls 1d10. This value is compared against the "sense threshold" of each path which is within sensing range of the party. All paths whose sense threshold is equal to or below the value of the roll is "discovered" by the player. For each path whose sensing threshold is below the value of the roll, the player rolls another 1d10. The higher the roll result, the more information is revealed about it (1-3 no info, 4-7 some info, 9-10 all info). The exact information revealed is up to the GMs discretion. Paths which are revealed as a result of the initial roll being equal to the sensing threshold are discovered but no extra roll is made and no information is revealed. Move: Player chooses a path and advances along it equal to the number of spaces of the party's "move" stat. Random encounter check: The GM rolls 1d10. The "peril value" of the current path is added to the roll. The value is checked against an encounter table. This table (which, oops, we didn't create) would have more dangerous encounters the larger the number is, while the low range of numbers (say 1-4) would have no encounter at all. Sense points During the episode, we discussed letting the player "bank" sense points. For example, a player rolls a 9 on a sense check, but only chooses to use 6 and save the other 3. The GM then treats it as if the player rolled of 6, and the player now has 3 points to add as a modifier to future rolls. Enemy Encounters At the start of each round of battle, the player and the GM roll 1d10 for initiative. The higher roll goes first. Each character has one action per round. Initiative passes between the player and the GM and the round is over when all characters and enemies have taken an action. Actions Attack: This is an opposed roll. The attacking character rolls 1d10. The defending character rolls 1d10, plus its Exo modifier. In the case of a successful attack, the defending character loses HP equal to attacker's attack stat. If the roll (including modifiers) is a tie, both players roll again with no modifiers to determine the result. Ability: The character may use their ability instead of attacking. After the player's party defeats certain opponents, its body can be converted into resources, which use up the "carry" stats of various party members, distributed as the player sees fit. Obtaining resources Once the party reaches the end of a path, the GM rolls 1d10 (in secret) to determine the state of the resources in this area. We develop a table for this during the episode, but it might go something like: 1 - 2: All resources are immediately available to collect. 3 - 5: Resources are trapped, players must attack or dismantle a barrier of some kind. The Exo value of the barrier is equal to this roll and the barrier's HP value is equal to a second 1d10 roll by the GM. 6 - 9: Resources are hidden, with this value being the threshold value the player must roll above in order to discover them one by one. 10: Resources are completely inaccessible. If resources are trapped or hidden, the player can roll 1d10 to find them or attack the barrier to release them. After each attempt, an encounter check is made, so players will have to make calculated risks. Once the player collects all resources, or declines further attempts to collect them, the party returns to the home colony, unloads thier resources, heals all their HP, and starts again on a new path. Once the player brings 30 pieces of food (or some other metric of resources) back to the colony, the colony is saved! ...OR SO IT SEEMS!! The Big Twist! This is a JRPG-inspired game, so now it's time to turn the tables, expand the world to a preposterous scale, and raise the stakes as high (or higher) than makes any sense. What the story twist is will be determined using a die roll from the GM. 1 - 3: An Evil Weevil Infiltration It turns out the weevil in your party isn't the only "ant imposter" in your colony! Via a tearful confession, your weevil friend reveals that they have had a change of heart and must tell you the truth... your queen, and much of the high guard who protects the colony, have been replaced by EVIL WEEVILS in disguise! No wonder resources have been limited: The weevils have been stealing them! It's now up to you and your party to stop the them and win back your homeland! 4 - 6: Nearby Colony Has Incredibly Advanced Technology A huge rumble shakes the ground. Suddenly, a fleet of dragonflies descends at the edge of the colony, dispensing super-soldier ants from a neighboring colony, who have somehow obtained unimaginably powerful technology. No wonder resources have been limited: the neighboring colony has developed... industry, evaporating water reserves and contaminating local food supplies! It's now up to you and your party to shut down their terrible war machine and bring peace back to the colony! 7 - 9: The Truman Show Ending Wait, what's that? A violent shake disrupts the ground below, the walls around, and the ceilings above you! It's as if the entire colony has been knocked around and then dropped from a great height. Well, that's exactly what happened! It turns out, you've all been living in a large, artificial ant farm! No wonder resources have been limited: the human who is supposed to feed and take take of you has neglected their duties. It's now up to you and your party to rescue the members of your colony from this disaster, and find a way to break free of the plastic shell that represents your entire reality! 10: Roll again!

While Stephen is away at the Game Devs of Color Expo in New York, Ellen Burns-Johnson joins in the club house to discuss organizing your game library and what to do when you actually know nothing about marketing. Martha throws it in the 'eh' pile, Mark delegates, and Ellen has it all under control. Meta Game Devs of Color Expo 2019 Depression and the Solace of 'Grinding' in Online Games - Julie Muncy, Wired [0:02:49] Game Libraries How to deal with your Steam backlog - Michael McWhertor, Polygon Adobe Flash Debug Downloads - The "Flash Player Projector" can open SWF files from your desktop or from a URL. It is a portable application that doesn't need to be installed. 2064: Read Only Memories - Turing Collector's Plush (SOLD OUT, to Martha's lament) When your nice hosts went to Seattle for PodCon this year, they visited the Living Computer Museum. Mark has been watching a lot of "old tech" content on YouTube lately: Technology Connections The 8-Bit Guy [0:28:08] Marketing 001 How, why, when and how much to pay for indie game marketing? - Tavrox, Medium Best PR, Marketing & Community Talks / GDC 2019 - Thomas Reisenegger, Medium

While Stephen is away at the Game Devs of Color Expo in New York, Ellen Burns-Johnson joins in the club house to discuss organizing your game library and what to do when you actually know nothing about marketing. Martha throws it in the 'eh' pile, Mark delegates, and Ellen has it all under control. Game Devs of Color Expo 2019 Depression and the Solace of 'Grinding' in Online Games - Julie Muncy, Wired Game Libraries 0:02:49 Martha Megarry Gaming How to deal with your Steam backlog - Michael McWhertor, Polygon Adobe Flash Debug Downloads - The "Flash Player Projector" can open SWF files from your desktop or from a URL. It is a portable application that doesn't need to be installed. 2064: Read Only Memories - Turing Collector's Plush (SOLD OUT, to Martha's lame… When your nice hosts went to Seattle for PodCon this year, they visited the Liv… Mark has been watching a lot of "old tech" content on YouTube lately Technology Connections - YouTube The 8-Bit Guy - YouTube Marketing 001 0:28:08 Ellen Burns-Johnson Marketing How, why, when and how much to pay for indie game marketing? - Tavrox, Medium Best PR, Marketing & Community Talks / GDC 2019 - Thomas Reisenegger, Medium

This week, your nice hosts are joined by Marina Kittaka, artist and co-developer on the upcoming Anodyne 2: Return to Dust. Marina made the 30-foot journey from her desk to the clubhouse in order to discuss Anodyne's theme of nostalgia, the "personal" authenticity of the game's lo-fi PS1-era aesthetics, jumping in to her first 3D project, leveraging your limitations, and more! Wishlist/purchase Anodyne 2: Return to Dust on: Steam | Itch.io | Kartridge | GoG Our Nice Guest! Marina on Twitter: @even_kei Sean Han Tani (@sean_HTCH) is Marina's development partner. His solo game All Our Asias was a inspiration for their current collaboration. Analgesic Productions' previous titles: Anodyne Even the Ocean

This week, your nice hosts are joined by Marina Kittaka, artist and co-developer on the upcoming Anodyne 2: Return to Dust. Marina made the 30-foot journey from her desk to the clubhouse in order to discuss Anodyne's theme of nostalgia, the "personal" authenticity of the game's lo-fi PS1-era aesthetics, jumping in to her first 3D project, leveraging your limitations, and more! Nostalgia and the Lo-fi Aesthetic Art Wishlist/purchase Anodyne 2: Return to Dust on: Steam | Itch.io | Kartridge | GoG Sean Han Tani (@sean_HTCH) is Marina's development partner. His solo game All Our Asias was a inspiration for their current collaboration. Analgesic Productions' previous titles: Anodyne Even the Ocean Marina Kittaka Guest Marina Kittaka is co-developer of Anodyne and upcomign Anodyne 2: Return to Dust. As well as games such as Even the Ocean, how do you Do It, and Secrets Agent. She works in illustration and comics. External link marinakittaka.com Marina on twitter @even_kei

This week your Nice Hosts appear out of nowhere to discuss Stealth Games and Motion Controls! Mark shoots lasers, Stephen time travels and Martha joins a geriatric gang. Dishonored 2 cover art copyright Bethesda. [0:01:30] Stealth Games "Banana Bread" (Griffin & Justin of Polygon play SpyParty) Giant Bomb Plays Hitman Let's Plays "Why Fashion in (Most) Games Sucks, and Why You Should Care" -Victoria Tran, GDC Vault Our Interview with Freya Holmér of Neat Corporation maker of Budget Cuts Spider-Man is (Definitely Not) Murdering People -Brian David Gilbert, Polygon Video Level Design Workshop: A Narrative Approach to Level Design -Jolie Menzel, GDC Vault (Or, why Die Hard games should have been stealth puzzle games not shooters) [0:28:52] Motion Controls Sega Activator Sega Pods Microsoft announces an Azure-powered Kinect camera for enterprise -Brian Heater, Techcrunch Rhythm Game Accessories on Wikipedia (including the Rock Band pro controller)

This week your Nice Hosts appear out of nowhere to discuss Stealth Games and Motion Controls! Mark shoots lasers, Stephen time travels and Martha joins a geriatric gang. Dishonored 2 cover art copyright Bethesda. Stealth Games 0:01:30 Martha Megarry Game Design Banana Bread (Griffin & Justin of Polygon play SpyParty) - Polygon, YouTube Giant Bomb Plays Hitman Let's Plays - Fly On The Wall, YouTube Why Fashion in (Most) Games Sucks, and Why You Should Care - Victoria Tran, GDC Our Interview with Freya Holmér of Neat Corporation maker of Budget Cuts Self-education, et al. Spider-Man is (Definitely Not) Murdering People - Brian David Gilbert, Polygon, YouTube Level Design Workshop: A Narrative Approach to Level Design (Or, why Die Hard g… - Jolie Menzel, GDC Motion Controls 0:28:52 Mark LaCroix Hardware Programming Sega Activator Sega's Forgotton Motion Game - Rerez, YouTube Microsoft "Microsoft announces an Azure-powered Kinect camera for enterprise" - Brian Heater, TechCrunch Rhythm Game Accessories on Wikipedia (including the Rock Band pro controller) - Wikipedia

This week, your nice hosts talk about a pair of game genres that none of them are that wild about, and Mortho returns to brighten the proceedings! Meta Our previous episode on "unloved" topics: “Try it once!” You Never Realized Fonts Could Be This Exciting - Mike Fahey, Kotaku Donut County is the Anti-Katamari - Marcus Estrada, Hardcore Gamer Slay the Spire is my favorite game to lose - Jeff Ramos, Polygon [0:16:46] Designing Horror Games Download Stephen's horror game Infectious! How the Resident Evil 2 remake's Mr. X actually works - Wesley Yin-Poole, Eurogamer The Difference Between Horror Movies And Horror Games - Heather Alexandra, Kotaku [0:44:37] Designing Sports Games Mark couldn't find anything about the Minnesota professional basketball teams discussed in the episode, but he did find "Who wins a fight to the death, Lynx vs Wolf?" on Quora. Why Is Tennis Scored So Weirdly? - Merrill Fabry, Time Michael Chabon Will Showrun Star Trek: Picard - James Whitbrook, io9 Anti-loot box bill poses a real threat to sports video games - Owen S. Good

This week, your nice hosts talk about a pair of game genres that none of them are that wild about, and Mortho returns to brighten the proceedings! Our previous episode on "unloved" topics: “Try it once!” "Try it once." You Never Realized Fonts Could Be This Exciting - Mike Fahey, Kotaku Donut County is the Anti-Katamari - Marcus Estrada, Hardcore Gamer Slay the Spire is my favorite game to lose  - Jeff Ramos, Polygon Designing Horror Games 0:16:46 Stephen McGregor Game Design Download Stephen's horror game Infectious! How the Resident Evil 2 remake's Mr. X actually works - Wesley Yin-Poole, Eurogamer The Difference Between Horror Movies And Horror Games - Heather Alexandra, Kotaku Designing Sports Games 0:44:37 Martha Megarry Mark couldn't find anything about the Minnesota professional basketball teams discussed in the episode, but he did find "Who wins a fight to the death, Lynx vs Wolf?" on Quora. Why Is Tennis Scored So Weirdly? - Merrill Fabry, Time Michael Chabon Will Showrun Star Trek: Picard - James Whitbrook, IO9 Anti-loot box bill poses a real threat to sports video games - Owen S. Good, Polygon