The Dialog Box

Gwen and Chris talk about game production, pipeline iteration, audio workflows, cutscenes in games, and trailers that maybe don't have much to do with the game.

Gwen and Chris catch up on: Lab Rat's development, comedy writing, writing in games, Psychonauts 2, BioShock Infinite, and much more!

This week we chat with the Design Director of Darkest Dungeon - a brilliantly designed and wildly successful indie game. Tyler dives into his backstory and explains how he gained the experience both designing games and running companies before he co-founded Red Hook. He's the only indie developer I've met with an MBA, and he highly recommends it!

This week Tom Francis outlines the difficult decisions he has made while developing Tactical Breach Wizards, and why he made them. We also talk about what he learned designing hit indie games Gunpoint and Heat Signature. Afterwards we are joined by accomplished game writers Matt Seiji Burns and Karla Zimonja for a roundtable conversation about writing and VO in indie games.

William Chyr spent 7 years developing the hit puzzler Manifold Garden and then another 1.5 years porting it and releasing it on every known platform. Now he's reflecting on how far he's come and what comes next for him and his team.

2020 was a weird year! Gwen and Chris have a casual chat about what we played and why. ___ Follow the podcast on @DialogBoxCast Follow Gwen @diregoldfish Follow Chris @chrisslight

Gwen & Chris chat about what went wrong with Cyberpunk 2077 - the "edgy" marketing, the way it was developed, the launch issues, the rabid gaming fandom, how this is going to impact console cert for the rest of us, & more.

This week Gwen & Chris chat about game shows in 2021, the Lab Rat playtest, the value of playtests, and how Gwen is approaching marketing in 2021.

Gwen & Chris chat about Kine's Steam launch and Gwen's upcoming game, Lab Rat. They specifically discuss how her micro-studio is collaborating remotely. There is definitely room for improvement!

Three puzzle developers chat about about pacing in puzzle games, puzzle difficulty, the puzzle genre, the indie game market in general, and what we are playing right now. Guests: Alan Hazelden @draknek (A Monster's Expedition, Cosmic Express, etc ) Corey Martin @mytoboggan (Bonfire Peaks, Pipe Push Paradise) Gwendolyn Bond @diregoldfish (Kine, The Flame in The Flood)

Is it important to love the game genre for the game you are working on? That depends on the studio size and your role, right? This week we chat about passion and how important it is for marketing in particular.

Chris grills Gwen on how she finds motivation to develop games, how she plans her work, why she does it, and more.

Dr Disrespect is thrown off Twitch. Mixer shuts down. Steam adds live streaming to their store. Online game festivals are bad for indies. Gwen and Chris chat about all this and more!

Star Trek! Gwen's next game! The PlayStation 5! All of it is discussed on this episode! PSA: If you want to skip Star Chat skip to 14:28.

Gwen and Chris discuss the recently revealed Unreal Engine 5 from Epic, GTA 5 and Civ 6 going on the Epic Store for free and more.

This week Gwen & Chris have a quick chat about new console reveals, or lack thereof. We also cover the new game Gwen is working on.

Long-time veteran Mike Arkin and I talk about his his career and his wartime stories shipping games across each console generation. Topics include working with licensed ip, being the bad guy (publishing producer), his game-dev redemption arc, and his current work remastering System Shock.

Gwen and Chris discuss online multiplayer experiences and how they, along with streamers, are bringing people together and giving them something fun to do.

Gwen and Chris are back from PAX East and are joined by the creator of An Airport For Aliens Currently Run By Dogs Xalavier Nelson Jr! We discuss, exhibiting at PAX, getting satisfaction from your work and balancing that with living a comfortable life and YOTELL.

Chris & Gwen discuss the impact the Coronavirus could have on the industry at large as well as PAX East, which they have to prep for. They also touch on having a personal brand and the difficulty of figuring it out and having the time to get one. Also, 100 episodes! Yay!

Tom crafted Gunpoint, Heat Signature, and soon Tactical Breach Wizards. In this episode we chat about how he got into games, how he staffs his projects, where his game design inspiration comes from, how his new game is coming along, and more!

We talk about what Gwen is working on next, transitioning between projects, problems with multi-platform launches, porn in games, and the upcoming new consoles.

This week Gwen interviews Freya Holmer. We talk about Freya's self-started career, why she only works on things that interest her, burn out, how she funds her ventures, and her goal to craft an online mathematics book with a visual focus. Freya is fascinating! Listen in!

Chris Slight is back! He moved to America, lost everything in a layoff, and then moved back to the UK. We'll cover that, and also: How is streaming similar to indie development. What is Mixer up to? And a quick chat about next gen consoles!

This week Gwen chats with Scott Warner, game director at Ubisoft, about his 20 year career, Halo, how he got into VR, why he left VR and went to Ubisoft, what game dev is like at Ubisoft, and more!

A meandering conversation: making art for FPSs, visual language in games, why puzzle games are fun to make, the puzzle game genre, what we are excited about in game dev, and why VR is coming back!

Chris Remo has worked at studios large and small, and in teams of all sizes. This week we chat about his move from San Francisco to Seattle, why he'll never go back, and what is it like to work at Valve.

24 hours ago William Chyr launched Manifold Garden. A game 7 years in development!! 18 hours before that Gwen Frey launched Kine. A solo passion project and obsession. Fresh off the launch-time afterglow these two devs talk about what comes next.

William Chyr returns to chat about launching Manifold Garden on Apple Arcade and EGS! This game has been seven years in the making and the reality of launching it soon is finally sinking in. Gwen is on the path to shipping as well - Kine launches in two weeks!

Award winning puzzle game designer Alan Hazelden joins Gwen for a low-key chat about game design. Topics include: difficulty curves for puzzle games, puzzle overworlds/layouts, non-linear puzzle structure, ideal team size, and more.

Gwen and Jason talk about porting to different platforms, why Stadia is difficult, how localization complicates things, why the new storefronts are important, and more!

Words are hard. Today Chris gives Gwen interview tips as she prepares to talk to some press at Gamescom. Then they chat about subscription services, EGS, and the future.

Two ex-Bioshock turned indie devs have a long, cheerful chat about their lives after Irrational Games shut down. We cover Jason's love of modding and how it has driven him to Co-found an indie studio and Kickstart a highly moddable indie shooter of his own.

Nintendo is launching a handheld Switch, so Chris and Gwen chat about consoles and console development.

Now that Kine is in the last few months Gwen and Chris chat about the end of development, and what went right and what went wrong during Kine's production.

Kine is approaching content lock and we might get some promotional utilikilts.

Gwen and Chris talk about the E3 conference highlights: what was there and what wasn't.

Gwen and Chris discuss the new Death Stranding trailer, Kojima and more as we stand in the shadow the three E's.

Gwen and Chris talk about all the game and platforms launching later this year. Other topics include cloud gaming, E3, British accents, and streaming conferences.

Gwen and Chris catch up and there's a lot! GDC had loads of announcements. Also Kine is coming to the Epic storefront and is getting closer to launch!

Gwen talks to Jason Schreier, editor of Kotaku, about GDC from a journalists perspective, the recent reporting on ArenaNet job layoffs and his approach to clicks vs content.

This is peak Dialog Box, Dialog Box Classic, Kiss 1996 Reunion Dialog Box. Gwen and Chris talk store fronts, streaming, game engines, GDC and laugh a lot.

Joe Mirabello, developer of Tower of Guns and Mothergunship, discusses the controversy around 38 studios, how he started his indie studio, how he developed a game with a team spread across the planet, and what is next for him and his studio. UPDATE: Joe mentioned that Pete Paquette joined 38 two months ago, he meant to say two years ago. Pete, Joe is very sorry, please don't yell at him.

Gwen & Chris are joined yet again by developer Alan Hazelden to discuss profit sharing at indie studios.

Rami Ismail of Vlambeer joins Gwen and Chris this week to discuss his latest project, Meditations, his work, his influences and what drives him!

Gwen talks about her fears marketing an indie game in 2019 while Chris asks the question on his own ignorant lips "who is Anna?"

The Epic Store is here and Gwen and Chris see big changes coming to the PC landscape! We also discuss video game streaming services again because, well, we think it's the future!

This week we chat with Alan Hazelden: His lifestyle, his games, and his perspective on Steam's new tiered revenue split.

Gwen and Chris talk the confusing issue of who owns a dance in Fortnite, gaming entering mainstream culture and if selling games outside of a storefront is viable.

Gwen and Chris return after a long break! Find out about Gwen exhibiting her solo game, Kine, at EGX in the UK and forming a new company, Chump Squad. Chris has moved to the USA and works for Meow Wolf! Exciting times!

Gwen and Chris discuss Microsoft recently announcing a subscription bundle of an Xbox One with Game Pass and Xbox Live. Is this the future for games distribution?