Podcast appearances and mentions of Nels Anderson

Har du hørt om EGA Trek? Dette DOS-eksklusive spillet har sine røtter fra et Star Trek-spill fra 1971 for stormaskiner, men her altså i en PC-versjon. Les om episoden hos spillhistorie.no Støtt oss gjerne på Patreon. Følg oss gjerne på Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, og Podchaser. (00:00) Intro (00:48) Velkommen til cd SPILL (02:19) Kommentarer fra forrige episode (08:43) Dagens spill: EGA Trek: The Mongol Invasion (11:06) Briefing (14:52) Hva går spillet ut på? (24:20) Tech Specs (27:46) Litt om hvordan man spiller (39:34) Hvem er Nels Anderson (42:45) Musikken (43:17) Kommentarer fra sosiale medier (45:48) Har det holdt seg? (47:02) Finnes det noe tilsvarende idag? (49:36) Et tips fra Mamen (51:39) Neste episode Chapters, images & show notes powered by vizzy.fm.

What if the in-world fire prevention mascot from Firewatch had his own licensed platformer back in the late '80s or early '90s? And what if in making that concept game, developer Nels Anderson and artist Christina-Antoinette Neofotistou actually re-skinned an older Japanese game—that had _already_ been half re-skinned as a game about fire prevention!—that Nels had found on some random internet ROM forum? It's the story of Forrest Byrnes: Up In Smoke!

“Nels Anderson and his wife, Anna Anderson, came to their deaths as the result of wounds inflicted in their heads by an ax, said ax being in the hands of some person unknown…” --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theaxemurderdiaries/support

Hello, Playdate Community! This week, Nick, Ryan and Don are back to talk big indie releases, and Season One Week 11 games.  Thanks for listening! Join us here each week as we examine all of the Season Pass games, as well as discussing news and indie finds from the Playdate community. News/Links: HPD Indie Game of the Week Collection on itch.io Season One Spreadsheet by FectoFactor13 ART7 on itch.io Playtime Weird Clocks on itch.io Playtime Weird Clocks on Destination Playdate Tochi II: Senshi Update Intro/Outro Music - Made with Boogie Loops on Playdate Indie Games of the Week: Shuv-It by The Infinite Star (09:04) NecroCrisis by thestrangest.io (14:08) AVAVA by rantdom (19:48) Featured Season One Games: Forrest Byrnes: Up in Smoke by Nels Anderson (26:04) Battleship Godios by TMPCO Soft (42:55) Contact: Hello Playdate on Discord Hello Playdate on Instagram Hello Playdate on Twitter Playdatepodcast.com Indie Game of the Week Collection on itch.io Helloplaydatepodcast (at) gmail dot com Voice Mail - 1-(724)-BINGOS-1  (1-724-246-4671) Our Previous Podcast, Gaming On Ten For Amusement Only Podcast, Nick's EM Bingo and Pinball Podcast Game and Cast, Ryan's Handheld Gaming Podcast Series Tags: video games, gaming, handheld, handhelds, panic, playdate, play, date, yellow, crank, gameboy, ds, pocket, videogames, nintendo, sega, xbox, playstation, sony, vita, psp, ngage, itch.io, Keita Takahashi, katamari

I'm joined by Nels Anderson, who has worked on the likes of Firewatch and Mark of the Ninja to talk about designing the radio for Firewatch and a bunch of other stuff. You can find the radio video based off this interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCG0SKnxXhE MORE GETOBJECT: https://www.getobject.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/getObject_ email: getobjectpod@gmail.com Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/getobject

“The Heart of Flight Simulation for 25 Years” For anyone involved in Flight Simulation for the last two decades, Flightsim.com has been a well-known destination for add-on content, news and community discussions. This week, it’s founder, Nels Anderson, talks with Willy about the early days of Flightsim.com and it’s evolution throughout the last 25 years. Bearing witness to countless developments in simulation, Flightsim.com first supported MSFS 95 and has offered content for every version up to the present MSFS2020 as well as multiple version of X-Plane and Prepar3d. Set to an aviation theme of great music, Willy’s journey with Nels down memory lane will be sure to trigger fond memories of the wonderful years of the Flight Simulation community.

SUMMARY Josephine Ensign shares her own story in Catching Homelessness: A Nurse’s Story of Falling Through the Safety Net. Even though she’s a nurse trained to keep an emotional distance from her patients “to prevent being so overwhelmed that it cripples the provision of proper health care,” Ensign works tirelessly to treat and keep track of the homeless in the South during the beginning of the homelessness epidemic in the 1980s. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to even her close friends, the well-educated Christian wife and nurse Ensign becomes homeless herself, living on the edge under the noses of the privileged. Now, decades later, Ensign writes this medical memoir “to provide a framework for the empathy necessary to create positive change for people pushed to the margins.” KEY POINTS We need to learn to ask ourselves why people are homeless; most don’t choose that lifestyle. Many homeless keep pets (mostly dogs, sometimes cats; some even keep rats snakes, or even crickets) to provide protection and company. Foot problems almost universal among the homeless since they often have to walk places. Coupled with unsanitary conditions and inclement weather, socks and shoes wear out quickly and feet contract infections and get frostbite. Identifying and dealing with childhood trauma can help prevent mental illness and subsequent homelessness that can often follow. “Voluntary poverty” – choosing to live in spartan conditions similar to those of the homeless in an effort to better understand that demographic. QUOTES FROM ENSIGN “Homelessness is exhausting and soul-sucking…[It] is a type of deep illness, a term coined by sociologist Arthur Frank for an illness that leaves you feeling dislocated, an illness that casts a shadow over your life. That shadow never completely goes away.” “The business of nursing brings us into the messy swampland of human suffering, illness, and death.” “People do not want to have to depend on handouts, on the kindness of strangers.” “Sometimes I felt that I was literally and figuratively putting Band-Aids on the problem of homelessness, patching people up, and sending them back out into a life that was breaking them again. I was frustrated that I couldn’t do more to address the bigger issues that were causing homelessness.” “Charity care further fragments and separates us as members of society—sorts us into haves and have-nots, into worthy and unworthy citizens. Charity care perpetuates poverty.” “Our country’s healthcare safety net is built on the principles of poverty medicine.” How to help the homeless: “Respond with a smile and a kind word—even if it is ‘No—sorry’ when you are asked for a handout…There’s nothing worse than for a person to be ignored.” BUY Catching Homelessness: A Nurse's Story of Falling Through the Safety Net RECOMMENDATION Check out the first seminal book about homelessness written by Nels Anderson who, as a boy, was taken in by a family. BUY The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man Connect with us! Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube Website Special thanks… Music Credit Sound Editing Credit

In the inhospitable lands of the Utah Territory, during the winter of 1888, thirty-seven-year-old Deborah Tyler waits for her husband, Samuel, to return home from his travels as a wheelwright. It is now the depths of winter, Samuel is weeks overdue, and Deborah is getting worried. Deborah lives in Junction, a tiny town of seven Mormon families scattered along the floor of a canyon, and she earns her living by tending orchards and making work gloves. Isolated by the red-rock cliffs that surround the town, she and her neighbors live apart from the outside world, regarded with suspicion by the Mormon faithful who question the depth of their belief. When a desperate stranger who is pursued by a Federal Marshal shows up on her doorstep seeking refuge, it sets in motion a chain of events that will turn her life upside down. But all is not what it seems, and when the Marshal is critically injured, Deborah and her husband’s best friend, Nels Anderson, are faced with life and death decisions that question their faith, humanity, and both of their futures. Ann is the author of three historical novels. Her third novel, The Glovemaker, published in February 2019, is set in Utah’s deep canyon country during the winter of 1888. Ann’s second novel, The Promise, takes place in 1900 on Galveston Island at the time of America’s worst natural disaster. It was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, was the finalist for the Spur Award for Best Western Historical Fiction, and was a finalist for the Ohioana Book Award for Fiction. Her first novel, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, is set in the South Dakota Badlands in 1917. It was nominated for England’s 2009 Orange Prize and for the 2009 Orange Award for New Writers. In the United States, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree won the Stephen Turner Award for New Fiction and the Langum Prize for American Historical Fiction. It was shortlisted for the Ohioana Book Award for Fiction and was a Barnes and Noble Discover New Writer. Ann was born and raised in Kettering, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. She graduated from Wright State University in Dayton with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and earned a Master of Arts in Sociology from the University of Houston. She has been a social worker in psychiatric and nursing home facilities and taught sociology at Wharton County Junior College in Texas. She was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters. In addition to Ohio and Texas, Ann has lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Des Moines, Iowa. She currently lives in Galveston, Texas. She and her husband, Rob, are fans of America’s national parks and visit at least one park a year. Ann is also an Astros baseball fan and keeps score when she attends games. For more information on Ann, visit annweisgarber.com. Follow Pamela Fagan Hutchins, Author and Wine Women & Writing Radio for more real women, kicking ass and writing books, or visit pamelafaganhutchins.com and pick up a copy of her women's fiction mysteries. This is a copyrighted podcast solely owned by the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network. authorsontheair.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wine-women-writing/support

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we are beginning a new series about Grand Theft Auto III. As always, we spend the first episode situating the title in its release time frame and talk a bit about the history of the studio and creators associated with it before turning to the game proper. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Through "The Fuzz Ball" Podcast breakdown: 0:37 GTA III discussion 58:48 Break 59:16 Feedback Issues covered: perspectives from Lulu about production, games of 2001, bringing the mafia back into popular entertainment, grabbing the zeitgeist, how to deal with the anti-hero, commercial plays with the gritty follow-up, freshening up a franchise by going dark, not being sold on playing this game, mature with a capital M, still being under the shadow, starting and abandoning GTA IV and skipping GTA V altogether, DMA Design founders, programming-centric company, the top-down camera view, introduction of the Houser brothers, British gangster cinema, writing style and tone changes, film-style credit sequence, iconic characterization and key art, having a gritty New York of the 70s and 80s genre films, blaxploitation, the New Hollywood, leaning into character archetypes, impressive voice cast, using Hollywood-level talent, not needing to use them, unsung high-quality voice talent, cinematic representation of the credits, ambition vs genius, going big and not apologizing, putting the developers forward rather than the actors, making their own myth, a voiceless main character (Claude), voiceless being better in first-person, empty vessel to fill, limited representation, defining characters more as time goes on, the risk of changing the character out from under the player, undirected game, tension between genre and character and story, playing a low-level thug in The Godfather, playing your own sort of character, do players care about the tension, do you have to like the character, the chaos engine and the strong cinematic style, player exploration of the possibility space, separating the chaos and the nihilistic stories, dehumanizing women, punching every which way vs punching down, Brett messes up his punching directions, creative decisions, choosing the ones you put in and don't, presenting a boundary that is itself commentary, choices players can't make due to lack of systems, prostitution in multiple media, the crassest flattest two-dimensional representation of sex work, being a target in the industry, disposable human beings, hope for humanity, craftmanship and talent and lack of responsibility, representing themselves, pushing the player to a nihilistic viewpoint, pushing the player to psychopathic driving, spawning cars to gum up the works, diametrically opposing success and responsible citizenship, not overcrediting them with thinking it through, tongue-in-cheek or not, what if it were visually amazing but everything else was the same, how you get the talent, Brett and Tim the ASMR guys, first-person camera, console-centric development, head bobbing, couch vs monitor, motion sickness and movement and FOV, more complicated than you think, stick movement and aim assist, what's the walkin' around like, frame-dependency, noticing something and being able to describe it, reticle, GTA III memories, returning to GTA III, corrupting the youth, killing jaywalking pedestrians, unexamined biases, kitsch, the first draft and tropes, editing a story due to current events. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Lulu LaMer, Thief, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, System Shock 2, Ico, Silent Hill 2, Anachronox, PlayStation 2, Metal Gear Solid 2, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3, SSX Tricky, GameCube, Super Smash Bros, Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy X, Max Payne, Black & White, Diablo 2, Xbox, Halo, Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Rare, Jak & Daxter, Game Boy Advance, Castlevania, Oni, Bungie, The Sopranos, Scorcese, Coppola, Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, Prince of Persia, Jedi Starfighter, Republic Commando, Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA V, Rockstar North/DMA Design, Acme Software, David Jones, Russell Kay, Steve Hammond, Mike Dailly, Crackdown, Lemmings, Take Two, PS1 Classic, Reagent Games, Cloudgine, Epic, the Houser brothers, The Krays, Bob Hoskins, Ian McQue, GTA: Vice City, Robert Loggia, Frank Vincent, Joe Pantoliano, Michael Rapaport, True Romance, Debi Mazar, Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Nolan North, Leslie Benzies, The Godfather: The Game, GTA Online, Eve Online, South Park, Klute, Jane Fonda, Michel Faber, The Crimson Petal and the White, Jean-Paul Sartre, Dungeon Keeper, Jigsaw/Saw, Michael Madsen, Lars from Hamburg, Hitman, Giant Beastcast, Tacoma, Steve Gaynor, The Stanley Parable, Nels Anderson, The Witness, David "Heavens To" Murgatroyd, Fallout, Ray Liotta, Brian Moriarty. Next time: Through "Last Requests" @brett_douville, @timlongojr, and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

In San Francisco (still) for the Game Developers Conference, Jason and Kirk met with Caledonia creative director Nels Anderson and art director Lyndsey Gallant to talk about how they started working together, Nels' terrific stealth game Mark of the Ninja, how art design works, and what people get wrong about UI. 

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where we are discussing 1992's immersive sim classic Ultima Underworld. We discuss the specifics of levels two and three a bit, but also tackle inventory, encumbrance, taking notes on paper, and the delightful map and how those have changed over the years. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Levels 2 and 3 Podcast breakdown: 0:43    UU Discussion 48:46  Break 49:12  Feedback Issues covered: Brett learns some Lizardman, chatting with goblins and the many civilizations, relationships between factions, killing a she-spider, being fully engaged, the mystery of Sir Cabirus, Tim falls down a hole, leveling up quickly, Brett loses some chain mail, taking paper notes as you play, making lists of details like clues and mantras, physical keys vs logical keys and design trade-offs, imagining player stories, keeping track of key rules, attributing influences to this game vs prior games, annotating the map, drawing a dungeon as you went, automapping and writing on the map, writing a legend, player agency on the map, some map games, the shadow of the map pin, handling inventory, bags within bags, putting inventory responsibility on the player, respecting the player's intelligence, anxiety from previous play-throughs of losing objects, having help from viewers, needing encumbrance space and dropping objects to make room, asking a lot from the player, return of older styles of gameplay to support usability, jankiness of erasing, adapting map to a controller, rules that you discover along the way: leeches and spiking doors, using player tools in Bethesda games, game developer view on objects that you have, dwarf section: beginning middle and end, sense of place, the gazer shooting a beam at you, looking for Shak, repair skills, potential for overspecialization, level cap of 16, the eight virtues and corresponding classes, Joy to the Underworld, playing music on stream, being a completionist and hoarding everything in the hoard room, fixing the audio, podcasts/interviews, level design as a discipline, level design for stealth gameplay, onboarding stealth mechanics and their combination, avoiding overwhelming player (and designer), fantasy fulfillment in Thief, a little goes a long way, designing from moments and working backwards, having vignettes to implement towards, client-facing programming, merging geometry and systems and mechanics, tension in Thief II. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Dungeons and Dragons, Eye of the Beholder, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, UbiSoft, The Witcher, Far Cry 2, Miasmata, Joe and Bob Johnson, LOST, Etrian Odyssey, Nintendo, Brian Taylor, Mark Eldridge, Dark Souls, Looking Glass Studios, Fallout 3, Skyrim, Ultima Underworld 2, System Shock 2, Ultima series and classes, Final Fantasy (series), JohnCaboose/Bjorn, Makendi, MaasNeotekProto, Tom Francis, Heat Signature, Floating Point, Gunpoint, PCGamer podcast, Crate and Crowbar, Aaron Evers, Thief, Paul Neurath, Mark Allen Garcia, Metal Gear Solid, Chris Mead, GAMBIT/MIT, Irrational Games, Bioshock, Phillip Staffetius, Final Fantasy IX, Kotaku, MSXII, Gamemaker, Game Developers Conference, Metal Gear Solid 4, John LeCarre, Mark of the Ninja, Star Wars: Republic Commando, Nels Anderson, Thief II, Alien: Isolation. Links: Tom Francis on emergent narrative GOG forum link for audio care of Mark Eldridge Paul Neurath on Thief  c/o Aaron Evers GAMBIT/MIT on Looking Glass c/o Chris Mead Next time: Levels 4, 5, and 6 @brett_douville, @timlongojr, and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where we are midway through our series on 1998's Japanese stealth classic Metal Gear Solid. We talk about frustration, the various bosses, and a bit about one-offs. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up through the torture scene Podcast breakdown: 0:40      MGS 1:03:10 Break 1:03:45 Feedback Issues covered: the history of "snake style," sources of frustration, Brett's psychological makeup, frustration in boss battles, the point of no return, finding the mine detector, using the cardboard box, getting through the lasers, using first person, smoking to reveal beams, gadget use in espionage movies, suddenly encountering a tank, stealth mechanics and the tank, tropes and cultural appropriation, 80s movies, elevating a bad B movie into a good B movie, committing to your melodrama, geopolitical themes and the military-industrial complex, subtext about game development, difficulty and frustration with Cyber Ninja, wall boss, human-sized bosses, grounding the game even in its strangeness, bosses can be characters, breaking the fourth wall with Psycho Mantis, reading the memory card, psychological warfare, cutscene leading up to his face reveal, ridiculous backtracking for the sniper rifle, beating Sniper Wolf and getting captured anyway, limited control in the cinematic, Revolver taunting you, focusing on scenes, voice acting video (link in the notes), briefing cutscene, taking joy in our lives despite their problematic elements, assuaging our guilt, carpal tunnel issues, posture issues. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: LucasArts, Star Wars: Starfighter, Chris McGee, Andrew Kirmse, Matty Alan Estock, Portal, Day of the Tentacle, Dave Grossman, Tim Schafer, Samus Returns, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, The Wrong Trousers, Nick Park, Metal Gear (NES), Hideo Kojima, James Bond, Roger Moore, Sean Connery, Batman, Escape from New York, The Great Santini, Brawl in Cell Block 99, S. Craig Zahler, Bone Tomahawk, Kurt Russell, Death Stranding, Eternal Darkness, Magneto, Hellboy, Darth Vader, The Incredibles, GoldenEye, Mark Garcia, Ben Hanson, Game Informer, Uncharted, The Last of Us, Drew/Tim Homan, Jeremy Blaustein, Silent Hill 2/3, Anachronox, Björn Johansson, Peacewalker, William Rance, Bleemcast/Dreamcast, Aaron Giles, Revengeance, John Yorke, Pro Evolution Soccer, Phil Yorke, Zone of the Enders, Derek Achoy, Super Mario Odyssey, Nels Anderson, Lyndsey Gallant, Tacoma, Mass Effect 2 & 3, Xbox, COBOL, Thief. Links: GI The Inside Story of Recording Metal Gear Solid MGS Briefing Call Me Snake Errata: Brett was confusing Matt Zoller Seitz with S. Craig Zahler. We regret the error. Aaron Giles was in fact involved with the Connectix software Virtual Game Station. Next time: Finish the game! @brett_douville, @timlongojr, and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Happy New Year everybody, and welcome to the first Art & Craft episode of 2018! On this week's episode, we sit down with Nels Anderson, the lead designer on critically acclaimed Mark of the Ninja, and designer on the narrative hit Firewatch. Together we discuss designing with rules instead of exceptions, the excitement of setting players loose in game worlds that truly listen, and the lessons we wish we'd taught ourselves earlier. 

Designer Nels Anderson stops by to talk to Dirk and Harrison about his work on 2016’s hit Firewatch. Nels worked with a small team at Campo Santo studios to create a unique storytelling adventure that was a critically acclaimed success. Nels describes the pros and cons of working with a small team of core developers and the lessons he learned from working on a team that was birthing their first game together.---------------------Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, dirk@artana.com Harrison Pink - harrisonpink@gmail.com, harrisonpink.com Nels Anderson - @nelsormench, above49.ca---------------------Episode Outline 0:00:58 - Firewatch 0:08:00 - Getting started 0:11:53 - Narrative and level design 0:15:14 - Working with a small team 0:18:42 - Firewatch as a first game 0:23:14 - Current projects 0:26:13 - Design lessons learned

Matt and Quinns return with SEASON 2 of Daft Souls. Listen that's just what you say when you stop doing something for ages, OK? We talk a bunch about Shadow Tactics, Quinns talks a little about Gravity Rush 2, Nels Anderson answers our 5 questions, and then the boys revisit PSO.

The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion share their thoughts on stealth games and discuss their impressions of recent high-profile releases ‘Dishonored 2’ (3:25) and ‘Watch Dogs 2’ (16:40). Then, they bring on ‘Firewatch’ and ‘Mark of the Ninja’ designer Nels Anderson to explain ‘Dishonored’ from a developer’s perspective and reveal how his games avoid the potential pitfalls of stealth and narrative exploration games (21:33).

The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion share their thoughts on stealth games and discuss their impressions of recent high-profile releases ‘Dishonored 2’ (3:25) and ‘Watch Dogs 2’ (16:40). Then, they bring on ‘Firewatch’ and ‘Mark of the Ninja’ designer Nels Anderson to explain ‘Dishonored’ from a developer’s perspective and reveal how his games avoid the potential pitfalls of stealth and narrative exploration games (21:33).

Nels Anderson, Designer and Programmer for Campo Santo, talks with Jenesee about the game Firewatch. E-mail: jeneseegrey@yahoo.com Twitter: @TheGreyArea Web: https://greyareapodcast.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greyareapodcast

Campo Santo’s Nels Anderson joins us to discuss making narrative games, and in particular, Campo Santo’s new hit game Firewatch. Waving the spoilers flag high, we dig in to what makes Firewatch tick, the crazy world of branching narrative, tricky aspects of making the game, flapjacks, and the horrors of first-person character models. Afterward, we talk about weird bugs, The Witness, and 1988. Let Me Pick Three Colors, UpUp #41 with Jane Ng Firewatch! IGN interview with Campo Santo The hilarious consequences of modeling a first person character Crysis’ model in disturbing third person Nels’ and Campo Santo’s tweets The Witness The Firewatch Soundtrack

Vic sits down with special guest Nels Anderson, designer and programmer of the upcoming first-person adventure game Firewatch! Firewatch will launch Tuesday, February 9 on Steam and the PS4.

In this episode, Soren interviews Nels Anderson, who was the lead designer of the critically acclaimed Mark of the Ninja and is currently a designer/programmer at Campo Santo working on the upcoming game Firewatch. They discuss how he almost went into law enforcement, whether Mark of the Ninja actually has AI, and why designers should be able to write code.

In this episode our heroes are joined by the exuberant members of Terminal 7, Nels Anderson and Jesse Turner. We all hop in the way back when machine to discuss the year of Netrunning just gone. What fond memories do we have of the last year; how has the game progressed and what cards did everyone go crazy for when announced but are now nowhere to be seen? Strap in! (Also the audio on RLC’s end got messed up and it sounds a bit like we are down a well. Very sorry about that and it will be improved for next time.)

Nels Anderson joins Dirk and David to talk about the concept of “Push and Pull” style games and how it relates to game styles and gamer choice.--------Contact Information Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.com David Heron - @DavidVHeron Nels Anderson - @Nelsarmensch, www.above49.ca, https://www.idlethumbs.net/terminal7, firewatchgame.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Episode Outline 0:00:30 - Push vs Pull 0:14:40 - Push/Pull and player choice 0:29:07 - Tabletop games 0:32:30 - Game responsiveness 0:40:35 - The illusion of choice 0:50:13 - Firewatch

Fresh from a research trip to Yosemite, we're joined by special guest Nels Anderson to finally get into Dark Souls II, talk about the incredible upcoming month of game releases, and eat a lot of candy. This episode is about neither Peter Molyneux nor Shigeru Miyamoto.

Nick Breckon was juiced. The hook sunk into his gills. He felt the itch. He decoded the shit. He failed to appear on this podcast. He's no man's guy. In his stead: Nels Anderson and Olly Moss. They are not the enemy. You are the enemy.

Things all started so well. We're joined by Mark of the Ninja's Nels Anderson and the Internet's Olly Moss for a lovely vacation that is sure to be ruined.

Nels Anderson, Lead Designer at Klei Entertainment is my guest this week. We cover life in Wyoming, life in Canada, and life before designing video games. More specifically, we discuss Nels' journey to video game development, why his career in the industry nearly ended before it truly began, at his work at Hothead Games on DeathSpank. Finally, Nels shares his feelings about all the positive reaction and recognition for Mark of the Ninja, and the upcoming release of the Special Edition of the game (which you can read about here). Enjoy. Follow Nels on Twitter at @Nelsormensch and keep up with the latest Mark of the Ninja news at markoftheninja.com/. Run Time - 1:05:30 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Lead designer Nels Anderson explains Klei's decision to pull the trigger on Mark of the Ninja: Special Edition, and what it means for fans of ninjas 'n stabbing.

Holmes talks with Nels Anderson, lead designer of the critically-acclaimed Mark of the Ninja

Kyle Minton and Jonathan Miley get the chance to interview Chris Dahlen and Nels Anderson, the lead writer and lead designer on the stealth-action game, Mark of the Ninja. This is an archived episode of DarkCast Interviews that originally appeared on Darkstation.com

This week we have the pleasure of welcoming Nels Anderson back the podcast. You may know him from one of his many appearances on the podcast...but it's much more likely you know him as the lead designer of this year's breakout hit, Mark of the Ninja! Design philosophy, player choices, and teleportation: we cover a huge array of topics and have a great time doing so. We hope you enjoy it and, as always, thanks for listening! To listen to the podcast: - Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed. - Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format. - Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right. Show notes: - Runtime: 01 hr 03 min 34 sec - Official website for Mark of the Ninja - Nels Anderson's website - "The Long Road From Ninja to Mark of the Ninja," by Patrick Klepek, via Giant Bomb - "The Stealth Letters," via Rock Paper Shotgun - Music provided by Brad Sucks

Klei's Nels Anderson and Firaxis' Scott Lewis join Rob and Troy to talk about fog of war and hidden information in game design. They talk about Mark of the Ninja and how information-gathering becomes a key game phase, and how games like Civilization use fog of war as a way to keep the player focused on a small, manageable area at the start of the game. The group discuss other ways to represent information-gathering, touching on games like Wargame, XCOM, Panzer Corps, and even 2006's Chromehounds. Apologies for any audio issues. We lost Scott Lewis's audio track to a software glitch.

Vic and Scott celebrate their unabashed love of the new XBLA game Mark of the Ninja by inviting the game’s lead designer, Nels Anderson, down to their underground bunker. Nels shares some candid, behind-the-scenes stories about the game’s development. Nels also reveals several things that didn’t make it into the final game. Also: the guys … Continue reading "Episode 11: The Mark of the Ninja Episode"

Here's another 76 special - With our special guest, Nels Anderson from Klei Entertainment. He stopped by to talk about "Mark Of The Ninja" and other news of the week.

This week on the EXP IndieCast, Scott and I are joined once again by game designer Nels Anderson, who's recent Montreal International Game Summit talk sparked a lively conversation about systems literacy, 2D indie-darlings, old television shows, player expectations, and so much more. Give this elongated episode and listen and let us know your thoughts by leaving your comments below. As always, you can find bonus material in the show notes below. To listen to the podcast: - Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed. - Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format. - Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right. Show notes: - Run time: 33 min 11 sec- "MIGS Slides and Talk Text," via Above49 by Nels Anderson - Everything Bad is Good for You by Steven Johnson- Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows- House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski - Music provided by Brad Sucks

The summer gaming dry spell is upon us, yet Scott and I both have our gaming dockets full. After a long month of work for the both us, we have returned to our backlog with a ravenous appetite. This week on the Experience Points podcast, Scott and I discuss what we have been playing, from Zelda sequels to isometric shooters, and a few things in between. Let us know what you have been enjoying lately in the comments section below, and be sure to chime in with your thoughts on the games we've discussed in the show. To listen to the podcast: - Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed. - Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format. - Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right. Show notes: - Run time: 32 min 18 sec - "Cold As Ice," by Nels Anderson via Above49 - Music provided by Brad Sucks

Scott and have once again ventured into the frigid north - Canada. This time we return with Chris Lepine of The Artful Gamer, who brings with him some marvelous insight into "mastery" as an aspect of fun. Continuing last week's discussion about the "fun factor," we delve deeper into one particular notion of enjoyment. Along the way we chat about poetic play, the dangerous of neurotic mastery, multiplayer mastery, and the joys of griefing. If we stir up your thoughts along the way, we encourage you to share them in the comments section below. You can also find a link to Chris's original article and more of his work in the show notes.Show notes:- Run time: 63 min 23 sec- "The Neurotic Joy of Gaming," by Chris Lepine of The Artful Gamer - "Mad Skills," by Nels Anderson of Above49- Music provided by Brad Sucks

Every year E3 is all about surprises. Some take the art of the surprise very seriously. At this year's event, Designer David Jaffe shocked fans when he announced the new Twisted Metal. Why were some so taken aback? Because Jaffe explicitly denied the existence of such a title. Without a shred of doubt, he completely lied to journalists and readers. Branching off a post from Kyle Orland on the subject, and two pieces by Nels Anderson, Scott and I discuss the value of surprises, games journalism, film industry norms, and the cultural of secrets. You can find the original articles in the show notes and we encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments section below.Some discussion starters:- Is secrecy in the games industry valuable in anyway?- Should we be alright with this much secrecy? How about Jaffe's behavior?- Is the industry incapable of becoming more transparent or is the a cultural trait that can be changed?To listen to the podcast:- Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed.- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking the title. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format.- Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right.Show notes:- Run time: 24 min 27 sec- "David Jaffe is a liar. Do we care?" by Kyle Orland, via The Game Beat- "It's All Cloack & Dagger" by Nels Anderson, via Above49- "Sometimes, The Spy Games are Too Much" by Nels Anderson, via Above49- Music provided by Brad Sucks

Part 2 of my Favorites of '09 series of podcasts features Leigh Alexander, news director at Gamasutra; Corvus Elrod from Zakelro Studio; and Nels Anderson from Hothead Games and his blog Above 49. Segments 3 and 4 will arrive in the coming days. I hope you enjoy!

The innards of the videogame industry are dark, mysterious, and just a little bit icky. According to a recent article by Leigh Alexander, not all is merry for our game developers this holiday season. Some people who have put in a lot of work are being ignored, by publishers and gamers alike. Maybe, as Joshua Lin describes, we need more videogame celebrities as advocates and developer representatives. Join Scott and I while we discuss labor disputes, the Joss Whedon appeal, developer secrecy, and the hidden ailments of the games industry..Show notes:- Run time: 29 min 4933 sec- They worked on the game you played but didn't get credit, by Leigh Alexander via Kotaku- We Need "Celebrities", by Joshua Lin via Gamasutra- Sometimes, the Spy Games are Too Much, by Nels Anderson via Above49- Music provided by Brad Sucks

Last month, previous EXP podcast guest Nels Anderson made an interesting claim: videogames have far more in common with television than film. Truly the Citizen Kane of comparisons. Scott and I watch a lot of television, but we're no experts. So this week we thought it appropriate to discuss these two mediums with another guest. Joining us this week is JustinKeverne of Groping The Elephant. We are honored to have such an intelligent blogger and designer in our midst. Justin provides plenty of insight to go around and one of those charming British accents to serenade our listeners.Join us while we discuss format breaks, self-created narratives, short attention spans, and television adaptations. Our hosting triad and the broad subject matter has made this podcast a little longer than normal. Don't worry, it is time well spent. You'll findNels's original article in the show notes, along with supplemental articles we mention in the show and links to Justin's own work. As always, we'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

This edition of the podcast features a conversation with guests Steve Gaynor from 2K Marin (Bioshock 2), Nels Anderson from Hothead Games (DeathSpank), and Wes Erdelack (aka Iroquois Pliskin) from the Versus CluClu Land blog. We discuss the year in games to this point and the issues, people and games that have made the biggest impact on us. Keep your eye on this space, as I'll be releasing 4 more Confabs with a gaggle of terrific guests over the next week. I hope you enjoy them. Listen to any episode of the podcast directly from this page by clicking the yellow "Listen Now" button on the right. Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here.Subscribe to the podcast feed here. Download the podcast directly here. Show links: Fullbright - Steve Gaynor's blogVersus CluClu Land - Wes Erdelack's blogAbove 49 - Nels Anderson's blog

Last month, outspoken game designers Clint Hocking and Manveer Heir held a little cross-blog discussion regarding the design and implementation of ethical choices in video games. We are accustomed to making decisions about weapons, strategies, and the color of our Sim hairstyles, but meaningful choices with moral weight are relatively rare. Even when faced with potentially tough moral dilemmas, the current nature of video games may dilute the effect. Heir suggests in-game permanence (which has created various interesting experiments), while Hocking eschews authorial influence in favor of ludic solutions. It is tough topic, so we decided to we decided to call for backup. This week, we have are honored to welcome Nels Anderson, author of the excellent Above49 blog and gameplay programmer for Hot Head Games. Join us while we discuss permanence, harvesting children, Choose-Your-Own-Adventures, readability, and the future of moral choices in games. With three of us at the table, we made this podcast slightly longer than normal, but extra time is well spent on a very complicated and contentious subject. We encourage you to read the Hocking's and Heir's original articles in the show notes, along with supplementary pieces we discuss in the show. As always, feel free to weigh in with your thoughts in the comments. Some discussion starters: - Have you ever faced a difficult in-game discussion that stemmed from moral concerns? If so, did you translate this into simply mechanical outcomes? Did you approach is role-playing as the protagonist?- If your in-game decisions were permanent, would they be more meaningful? What techniques add add weight to a decision?- To what extent is in-game decision making impacted by real-world experiences?  Do you carry your personal set of ethics into a game? To listen to the podcast: - Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed. - Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking the title. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format. - Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right. Show notes: - Run time: 41 min 13 sec - "Ethical Decision Making," by Clint Hocking, via Click Nothing - "Designing Ethical Dillemas," by Manveer Heir via Design Rampage - "Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock," by Clint Hocking - Rescuing vs. Harvesting Little Sisters Graph, via Escapist Magazine - Music provided by Brad Sucks

As we all learned from Uncle Ben, "With great power, comes great responsibility."  When Paragon Studios gave players the tools to create their own quests in City of Heroes, it soon became a case study of what happens when people discover a new-found power.  Upon gaining the power to design quests, some players began to exploit the system for maximum experience points with the minimum amount of work.  This kicked up a storm amongst the City of Heroes players, as well as in the larger video game community.  This week, we use Nels Anderson's post on the subject as focal point for discussing the role and regulation of player-created content.  As always, we're interested to hear your experiences, so feel free to create some "reader-generated" content in the comments.Some discussion starters:- How should player generated content be regulated?  Should it?  By whom?- Are games with player-created content fated to be dominated by an elite class of creators?  Is democratization necessary or ideal?- Why do players exploit games?  Where is the line between optimization and exploitation drawn?To listen to the podcast: - Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed. - Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking the title. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format. - Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right.Show notes:- Run time: 26 min 56 sec - Nels Anderson's post, via Above49.ca: "About that Player-Generated Content..."- Nate Ralph's post, via Wired: "Handed Keys to Kingdom, Gamers Race to Bottom"- Music provided by Brad Sucks

Volume 2 of the Brainy Gamer Podcast post-GDC '09 edition. Join me and my guests as we discuss what we learned at this year's Game Developer's Conference.Segment 1: Leigh Alexander, news director at Gamasutra and author of Sexy Videogameland; Nels Anderson, gameplay programmer at Hothead Games and author of Above 49; and David Carlton of Malvasia Bianca. Segment 2: Ben Fritz of The Cut Scene; Wes Erdelack (aka Iroquois Pliskin) of Versus Clu Clu Land; and Duncan Fyfe of Hit Self-Destruct.