Dev Game Club

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a short mini-series on casual games, beginning with PopCap's Plants vs Zombies. We spend a lot of time setting these lower-challenge games both in their time and against other genres before talking a bit about the game itself. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.
Sections played:
Through 2-1
Issues covered: setting the game in 2009, PopCap's fortunes, repackaging a genre, puzzly games in Java, appealing to core games and casual, being good at rewards, walled gardens, starting on desktops and moving to phones, phone fragmentation, A/B design testing, hidden objects, translating well to mobile, the history of EA's acquisitions, the early tower defense games, coining the term, automated elements, the stress of the RTS, MOBAs, removing the dev hurdles from a genre, modders doing something they could do, autochess, recognizing it, a simple concept that reads quickly, the impenetrable defense, turtling: the video game, the way zombie movies build, design ideas can come from anywhere, easily visualizing new things, archetypes, easily reading how much health is left, having a moment of joy in a reveal, seeing the zombie affordances, locking into strategies.
Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Uncharted 2, Demons's Souls, Ratchet & Clank, Brutal Legend, Assassin's Creed II/series, Borderlands, Infamous, Dragon Age: Origins, Left 4 Dead 2, New Super Mario Bros Wii, Bayonetta, PS3/Xbox 360/Wii, EA, Peggle (series), Bejewelled, Blizzard, Zuma, Alchemy, Drop 7, Threes, Diner Dash, Resident Evil 4, Fortnite, Facebook, Farmville, Zynga, Kongregate, Ultima, Westwood, Bioware, Mass Effect, Crystal Dynamics, Morgan Gray, Desktop Defense, Atari, Rampart, Defense of the Agents, Warcraft III, Starcraft, League of Legends, Riot, Valve, George Fan, Diablo, PixelJunk Monsters, Orcs Must Die!!, Vermintide, Tower of Goo, The Birds, Tippi Hedren, Portal, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.
Next time:
More PvZ
Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we conclude our series on Psychonauts. We talk about how the game gates certain things on the basis of what seems optional and Brett monologues a bit about some later levels before we talk takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.
Sections played:
Finished (B) or to Gloria (T)
Issues covered: a theater level, getting and using door codes, having to remember what abilities a player might have, player types and what's critical path, trophies and missable content, different ways to push the player,  playtesting to balance, what personas you support, the luxury of late full fresh-eyes playtesting, the non-linear nature of Gloria's level, brute forcing your way through the logic of the puzzle, speed-running describing the end of the game, a difficult platformer plus escort mission, talking about the musical identity, being able to do anything, giving narrative and theming to allow anything, cohesive justifications for everything, when the skill elements get in the way, meaning behind the platformer, indies to follow, science. 
Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Final Fantasy VI, Hitman, The Witcher III, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Clint Hocking, Splinter Cell, Tim Schafer, Dave Grossman, Erik Wolpaw, Drew Barrymore/Firestarter, Ratchet & Clank, Xbox 360/PS3, Dark Souls, Microsoft, Halo, TRON, Armin Shimerman, LucasArts, Peter McConnell, Clint Bajakian, Jesse Harlin, Grim Fandango, Brutal Legend, Friendster, Lord of the Rings, Velvet Underground, mysterydip, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.
TTDS:
21:20
Next time:
??!
Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we revisit our Splinter Cell conversation with a return interview with Clint Hocking. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.
Podcast breakdown:
1:08 Interview
1:04:47 Break
1:05:11 Outro
Issues covered: who is responsible for the MDA framework, moving to Montreal and working with New Yorkers, world-relative cameras, figuring out console cameras, the struggles with camera and controls, a game that had all the elements, neoconservative fantasy to save the world from future threats, having a team form around the ashes of disagreement, doing three jobs, clarity in the goals, design sins, having invited moments vs supporting being better than the designer, establishing a systemic language, the most complicated doors in video games, being bottom-up, negotiating all the types of doors, everyone being on board with the approach, intrinically motivated engagement, motivating the desired experience, real-world examples of what it means to get 100%, the one job, being remote vs being in the job, level design and script writing between entwined, the state of the industry.
Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: UbiSoft, LucasArts, Valve, Amazon, Build Machine Games, Far Cry 2, Robin Hunicke, Mark LeBlanc, Robert Zubek, Doug Church, Red Storm Entertainment, Hitman, Halo, Xbox, Bounty Hunter, Jedi Knight, Metal Gear Solid (series), Resident Evil (series), The Fifth Element, James Bond, J. T. Petty, Rainbow Six, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, EA, GoldenEye, Bloodborne, Sekiro, FromSoft, Dark Souls, mysterydip, Watch Dogs, Warren Spector, Psychonauts, Tim Schafer, Full Throttle, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 
Next time:
Finish Psychonauts! (-ish)
Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com

It's summertime and that means scheduling challenges. Therefore, this week we are reaching into the Discord Game Club interview archive. This time around, BioStats and Calamity Nolan interview David Mauro of DIE SOFT, talking about the development of Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland. We expect to return next week.
Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp 
Discord 
DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Psychonauts. We dive into (ha) the lungfish levels and the Milkman Conspiracy and talk about the tension between systems and individually scripted experiences, before turning to user questions. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.
Sections played:
To Milkman
Issues covered: a special announcement, turkeys everywhere, long digression into weird Spelunky, setting up the Lungfish, hunting down all the collectibles, an underwater bubble and moving around, consistency in levels, coming in with different player options, involving the empathy of the player, the limits of other genres in engaging empathy mechanically, the difficulty of reading the environment, the unfortunate PS4 port from the PS2, avoiding oysters, a direct lineage of creativity, becoming Godzilla, reuse of abilities when you return, every level being a genre, leading the way creatively, parallel to indie film, re-entering the levels and the tongue-in-cheek, going every direction and the costs, relearning rules each level, the cost of testing boundaries due to other mechanics, jumping between gravity spaces, describing the Milkman level, conspiracy mad-libs, being in an environment where you will fail again and again, memorable levels here and elsewhere, zingers of stingers, lines in movies vs lines in games, reinforcing them, a typical day in the life for a game designer, iterating to solve problems, getting people on board and carrying vision, people who show what's going on with the project, building consensus. 
Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Spelunky, Andy Nealen, mysterydip, Beyond Good & Evil, Crash Bandicoot, King's Quest, Costume Quest, Headlander, Keeper, Stacking, Trenched/Iron Brigade, Tim Schafer, Daron Stinnett, LucasArts, Community, Velvet Underground, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Psychodyssey, Nintendo, Majora's Mask, Microsoft, Shadow of the Colossus, Ico, Outer Wilds, Portal, Duke Nuke'em, John Carpenter, Them, Roddy Rowdy Piper, Sasha/scarytiger, Jonno, Starfighter, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 
Next time:
Finish the game?
Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com