Podcast appearances and mentions of nick folkman

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with Max and Nick Folkman. Nick is a writer at Insomniac Games and Max a writer at Riot Games who together also host the Script Lock podcast where they chat to fellow game writers. Together they discuss their ideas around writing for games; what it takes to get into the games industry; how to write for live service games versus single player games; and about their experiences interviewing fellow writers and what they've learned from them. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review.

It's the end of the year, which means it's time for us to put out a new episode and feel guilty for not releasing more this year! (We were busy, but we got lots more planned for next year!) Our guests this month are George Lockett (Senior Writer at Failbetter Games and a Narrative Consultant, Writer, and Designer at Bear Wolf Narrative. Previously the Narrative Lead on The Last Clockwinder, the Scriptwriter and Interactive Designer for BBC Earth - Micro Kingdoms: Senses, and a Contributing Writer to Where the Water Tastes Like Wine) and Mary Goodden (Senior Narrative Designer at Maze Theory currently working on Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom. Previously a Writer and Editor on Zombies, Run!, a Writer and Narrative Designer at Failbetter Games on Sunless Skies and Fallen London, a Writer on Inkle's Pendragon, and co-created Funicular Simulator 2021), and they join us to discuss how their marketing backgrounds have helped with their writing, how to make a writer's room work, advice for thinking in terms of design, what's helped maintain their writing output, what they've learned from the other writers they've worked with, giving feedback, tips for writing themselves out of problems, the best ways we can diversify the voices in the industry, how they approach working with other departments to get their needs taken care of, what their favorite narrative tools are, favorite thesauruses, what their ghosts are, and more, more, MORE!Our Guests on the InternetGeorge's Twitter, Website, and you should wishlist/check out Mask of the Rose when it comes out next yearMary's Twitter, Website, and you should wishlist/check out Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom when it comes out next yearStuff We Talked AboutZombies, Run!TwineInkjamWriting for Games by Hannah NicklinThe “Reverse of the Spielberg Gaze”: Jordan Peele, Rian Johnson, Tony Kushner and More Talk Shop on THR's Writers RoundtableMiroMicorosft OneNoteObsidian (the notes app)Webster's 1913 Power ThesaurusWordHippoOur theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.

Somehow we're over halfway through the year, but this podcast is still going! Our guests this month are Sarah Baylus (Principal Writer at Larian Studios where she's currently working on Baldur's Gate III, and previously she wrote on Divinity: Original Sin, and its sequel Divinity: Original Sin II) and Mike Laidlaw (Chief Creative Officer at Yellow Brick Games working on an unannounced title, and previously was a creative director at Ubisoft, a Senior Creative Director on the Dragon Age franchise as well as a Lead Designer, and was the Lead Writer on Jade Empire), and they join us to discuss why Dragon Age's storytelling has struck such a chord with people (especially in game development), what they look for in a creative director, what makes a good game writer, the best ways to keep teams updated on a game's ever-evolving story, favorite software for collaboration, what's one thing they wished games delved into more often, whether their definitions of good writing and narrative design have changed over time, common mistakes they see writers making these days, favorite game writing/design experiences they've had, writing/directing nightmares, localization notes, resources they go back to a lot, things they would've changed to their favorite game narratives, the most effective narrative-based techniques they like to see being used in games to immerse the audience, and more more MORE!Our Guests on the InternetSarah has an Inactive Twitter, but Larian Studios has Baldurs Gate 3 on Early Access right now, and Larian's hiring!Mike's Twitter, and Yellow Brick Games is hiring! Stuff We Talked AboutThe Dragon Age franchiseGoogle DocsMiroJam BoardCitizen SleeperThe Stillness of the WindAn Essay on Criticism by Alexander PopeJade EmpireDivinity: Original Sin 2Understanding Show, Don't Tell: And Really Getting It by Janice HardyThe ending of TransistorThe last hour of Finaly Fantasy XIV: ShadowbringersStar Control IIMoon HuntersOur theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.

It's time to get MEDIEVAL with our guests Zoe (currently an Associate Narrative Designer at Obsidian Games working on unannounced projects, and she is also the cohost of the Maniculum Podcast) and Franciska (currently the Narrative Lead on Around for Primal Game Studios, and also the Senior Narrative Designer on Ayna: Shattered Truth for Designmatic. And previously she was a Game Writer on Ori and the Will of the Wisps for Moon Studios, as well as a Narrative Designer on their unannounced ARPG)! They join us to talk about ousting J.R.R. Tolkien as the top fantasy writer of all time, untapped medieval stories that people in games should be thinking about, parallels between medievalism and game design, manuscript culture, how you balance between explaining things for players and letting them fill in the blanks themselves, would they rather tell stories with dialogue or without, are there any books or talks or resources they go back to a lot when working on a game, how to give good criticism and best piece of feedback they've gotten, how they think of the player's active role in the story when they're writing, what sort of imagery do they find most evocative in horror and medieval literature, and MORE! MUCH MORE!Our Guests on the InternetZoe has no twitter, but check out The Maniculum Podcast!Franciska's Twitch, Twitter, and check out Around!Stuff We Talked AboutThe Maniculum PodcastThe Witcher 3Franciska's Undergrad and Postgrad ThesesTáin Bó CúailngeThe Metrical CharmsThe Last of Us Part IIOuter WildsReturn of the Obra DinnHorizon: Zero DawnHorizon: Forbidden WestHadesGOBELINS Youtube Channel Like Stories of Old Youtube ChannelHow to be a Great DM Youtube ChannelGame Maker's Toolkit Youtube ChannelMiddle English CompendiumThe Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Extraordinary Literate by Eugene EhrlichMaster Lists - The Maniculum PodcastOur theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.

We're BACK! AGAIN! And we swear we're gonna post more episodes this year than we did last year! Alyssa (writer of fiction, comics, and games. Winner of the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, and the Locus Award, finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and her fiction has been shortlisted for the Hugo, Bram Stoker, and Shirley Jackson Awards. Comics credits include Marvel, DC, Star Wars, and Adventure Time, and she's also written for Overwatch, and Story and Franchise Development at Blizzard Entertainment) and Lauren (Senior Writer at Insomniac Games where she is currently working on Spider-Man 2, and was previously Lead Writer on Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. Before Insomniac she was a writer at Telltale Game where she worked on The Walking Dead: The Final Season and Batman The Enemy Within) joined us to talk about how a theater studies degree is useful in games, shipping characters, writing hours, how hot Emperor Nefarious is, interacting with actors, writing characters and situations you hate, what draws them to horror storytelling, sexy monsters, what they need to nail down first in a story, what makes a good villain, worldbuilding, types of stories they don't often see in games that they'd love to write, and a whole lot more!Our Guests on the InternetAlyssa's Twitter, and you should check out Doctor Aphra and Iron Fist!Lauren's Twitter, and you should check out Spider-Man 2 when it comes out!Stuff We Talked AboutJohn Carpenter liked Ratchet & Clank: Rift ApartParagonAlyssa's first tweet about Emperor NefariousUnpackingFears to FathomDevotionThe Walking Dead: The Final SeasonThe BoysStarboundDishonored: Death of the OutsiderDisco ElysiumDragon Age: InquisitionWhat You Left Behind by Alyssa Wong (the Overwatch short story about Baptiste) Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

How are we almost done with May already?! It's bananas, and you know what else is bananas? Our guests for today's episode! Bahiyya (game designer, writer, and filmmaker who’s currently doing her masters in film, and is most well-known for her IGF award-winning game After Hours that will be released soon) and Son (writer who's currently the studio director and co-founder of Perfect Garbage, and director and co-founder of Chimeric Animation. They’re also a narrative designer at Silver Rain Games, and will be publishing their debut graphic novel soon, Thief of the Heights) join us to talk about writing processes, where they start when they’re creating a character, how often their stories change from what they originally planned, story structure, their greatest tools for storytelling, how they figure out their beginnings, when do they let other people see their work, whether they’re ever dissuaded by feedback, storytelling moments in games that they thought were special, silent protagonists, storytelling advice, major influences, what they’re reading/watching these days that isn’t video games, and way way more!Our Guests on the InternetBahiyya’s Twitter and Itch.io pageSon Twitter and Website, and you should check out the short film Death’s Diner, Thief of the Heights (when it's published by Harper Collins in 2022), and Love ShoreStuff We Talked AboutRain White Noise GeneratorDariaButterfly Soup PossessorBloodborneLimboFran BowDishonoredGuy RitchieCain by José SaramangoThe Catcher in the Rye by J. D. SalingerOur theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Happy New Year one and all! To celebrate yet another new beginning, we've brought back old guests Greg (Creative Director of Supergiant Games, and writer of Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, and Hades) and Kate (Narrative designer on Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, all of its DLC, the Outer Worlds, and was a narrative co-lead on The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon) to chat with us about working from home during COVID, work/life balance, Early Access, the keys to writing memorable shopkeepers, the beauty of em dashes, themes that they gravitate towards, working with ensemble casts, what kept them up at night the most on the last game they worked on, murder hobos, games being adapted into film/TV, collaborating with other disciplines more closely, and more, more, more!Our Guests on the InternetGreg's TwitterKate's Twitter and InstagramStuff We Talked AboutHadesThe Outer Worlds (and its DLC: Peril on Gorgon)PyreTransistorBastionResident Evil 4 (specifically this guy)UltimaNetflix's Castlevania showAnnihilation (book and movie)InsideHouse of Leaves by Mark Z. DanielewskiElric of MelniboneBig Dead Place by Nicholas JohnsonStories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (specifically the story: The Tower of Babylon)Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang (specifically the story: The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate)Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

The gang wraps up their month, celebrating the most infamous web slinger of them all, with the release of the much anticipated Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales.Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales ReviewDeveloped by: Insomniac GamesDirected by: Brian Horton, Bryan Intihar, Marcus Smith, and Ryan SmithWritten by: Ben Arfman, Nick Folkman, Max Folkman, Mary Kenney, and Lauren MeeScore by: John PaesanoCast: Nadji Jeter as Miles Morales / Spider-manYuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker / Spider-manJacqueline Pinol as Rio MoralesGriffin Puatu as Ganke LeeJasmin Savoy Brown as Phin MasonIke Amadi as Aaron Davis / The ProwlerTroy Baker as Simon KriegerDarin De Paul as J. Jonah JamesonTodd Williams as Rick Mason Fred Tatasciore as RhinoAshley Burch as Danika HartTalking Points: Impressions of original 2018 Marvel’s Spider-Man Overall (Spoiler-Free) Opinions on Marvel’s Spider-man: Miles MoralesDifferences and updates to gameplay mechanics (Venom Powers, Camouflage, different Gadgets/side quests). Spoiler talkFinal thoughts Social Media:Email: popoholicscast@gmail.comFacebook: @PopOHolicsTwitter: @PopOHolicsInstagram: @popoholicscast

Hope you're all staying safe out there! This month's fantastic episode has Rex (co-founder and creative director of Foam Sword Ltd, which recently released its first game Knights and Bikes. He was also the creative lead of Tearaway, a production designer on LittleBigPlanet 1 and 2, and the senior graphic designer on The Movies) and Daniel (composer of such games as The Movies, LittleBigPlanet 1 & 2, Knights and Bikes, and has also composed for film & TV on titles including The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Steve Jobs, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and more) joining us to talk about running into Peter Molyneux in the toilet at a conference in Spain, Guildford being the Hollywood of the games industry, whether their collaborative process has changed over the years, how early they started working together on Knights and Bikes, what they wanted to accomplish with the music, throwing stuff away, if people undervalue the storytelling potential of music in games, memorable pieces of nonverbal storytelling, the best and worst they've ever been treated on a job, not knowing what you're doing, and a whole lot more!Our Guests on the InternetRex's Twitter, and here's the official site for Knights and BikesDaniel's TwitterStuff We Talked AboutPopulous II: Trials of the Olympian GodsI Wanna Ride My Bike (From the Videogame 'Knights And Bikes') by the Daniel Pemberton TV OrchestraWe Are the Best!Daniel Pemberton InterviewControlOnce Upon a Time in the WestSpider-Man: Into the Spider-VerseOur theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Today we've got Jo (writer of games and short stories, and has written on Star Wars: The Old Republic, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect: Andromeda, and is currently at EA working on an unannounced project) and Paula (writing lead and story editor on Neo Cab. She's also adapted Let’s Play from Webtoon into an animated series and has had her fiction and essays featured in outlets like Salon, the Austin Film Festival, and more) talking with us about masters degrees, delivering criticism, the most helpful piece of feedback they've ever received, how they like to collaborate with others, things they've appreciated in games that might go generally unnoticed, keeping track of branching stories and how to maintain consistency and pacing, when to stop writing, parody games, writing tests that best represent their skills, whether games are too focused on learning from Hollywood blockbusters, the last story that surprised them, and more!Our Guests on the InternetJo's TwitterPaula's Twitter and WebsiteStuff We Talked AboutStar Wars: The Old RepublicNeo CabDoom (2016)Portal 2TacomaThe Pomodoro TechniqueStar Wars Jedi: Fallen OrderDance Dance RevolutionPortrait of a Lady on FireThe Dark Crystal: Age of ResistanceOur theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Happy holidays everyone! To close out the year we've got Walt (writer and creative director at New Game Plus, and has worked on games such as The Darkness, Bioshock 1 and 2, Spec Ops: The Line, and Star Wars Battlefront 2, and he’s also the author of the book Significant Zero: Heroes, Villains, and the Fight for Art & Soul in Games) and Mary (currently writes at Insomniac Games, and has also written for Certain Affinity, Techland on Dying Light 2, and Telltale on the final season of The Walking Dead and Batman: The Enemy Within) joining us to talk Narrative QA, their most important collaborators, narrative band-aid experiences, storytelling that they appreciate in other games that may go unnoticed by players, making "good" and "bad" choices, emotion-oriented goals, violence-based games, not giving your characters more story than they can handle, narrative pet peeves, things they've learned by slipping up, overwriting, digital media shelf life, what game project(s) they wish they'd been a part of, how important costume design is to their writing process, writing tests, and a thing or two more that you'll just have to find out for yourself!Our Guests on the InternetWalt's Twitter, Instagram. and check out Significant Zero: Heroes, Villains, and the Fight for Art and Soul in Video GamesMary's Twitter, and check out Read Only memories #1Stuff We Talked AboutSpec Ops: The LineHellblade: Senua's SacrificeWe Are Not Heroes: Contextualizing Violence Through Narrative GDC Talk by Walt WilliamsThe Walking Dead: The Final SeasonDisco ElysiumWhen the Streaming Platform Dies, What Happens to its Shows?What Remains of Edith FinchSpider-ManNight in the WoodsStar Wars Battlefront IIAlso Max and I worked on Neo Cab and Man of Medan, two great games that came out this year, and they're totally worth checking out!Our theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Apologies to all for the slight delay, but the wait has TOTALLY been worth it because today we've got Nicole (Senior Narrative Designer at Crystal Dynamics, and before that a Creative Director on the unreleased The Wolf Among Us: Season 2, and a writer on season 2 of Minecraft: Story Mode, Guardians of the Galaxy, Batman, The Walking Dead: Michonne, Game of Thrones: Season 1, and The Wolf Among Us: Season 1) and Megan (Senior Narrative Designer Team Lead and Senior Writer on the recently-released Outer Worlds by Obsidian Entertainment, and before that she was a Senior Writer on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and Tyranny, and a Senior Game Designer and Content Zone Lead on Wildstar for Carbine Studios) joining us to talk writing/design tests, whether narrative design and game writing should be separate jobs, the hardest things to write and design, writers' rooms, rewriting processes, where they start with constructing branching narratives, what they look for in endings as creators and whether it's different than what they look for as consumers, meaningful choices, storytelling trends they'd like to see more of, NPCs, major influences, and a great deal more!Our guests on the InternetNicole's Twitter.Megan's Twitter, Website, and check out House of Ash and Brimstone (Gatewalkers Book 1)!Stuff We Talked AboutThe Wolf Among UsBioshockAnita Blake: Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. HamiltonSabriel by Garth NixUntitled Goose GameThe Walking Dead Season 1The Outer WorldsMore than Quest Givers: Why Good Characters Matter Konsoll 2019 Talk by Molly Maloney and Eric StirpePyreGod of WarTransistorBrave Fencer MusashiApex LegendsDota 2The Snow Queen by Hans Christian AndersenThe Twelve Dancing Princesses by the Brothers GrimmLuigi's Mansion 3Brothers - A Tale of Two SonsSchitt's CreekSpinning Silver by Naomi NovikOur theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Calling in from the far reaches of Los Angeles AND Toronto, Kait (currently the Team Lead Narrative Designer on Watch Dogs: Legion at Ubisoft Toronto, and formerly the Lead Writer on A Mortician’s Tale for Laundry Bear Games. She’s also written the book Ain’t No Place for a Hero: Borderlands, and is the co-director of Dames Making Games) and Sam (currently a Senior Writer at Insomniac Games, where she recently worked on the Turf Wars DLC for Marvel’s Spider-Man, and formerly an Associate Writer at Bioware on Anthem. She’s also an author of books like Girl Squads and Wonder Women, and has written for comics like Captain Marvel, Star Trek, and Jem & the Holograms) join us to talk writing tests, how to give good feedback, important soft skills to have, writing processes and "muses," staying organized, things that tap and sap their creativity, what makes a good video game opening/ending, NPCs, storytelling quagmires, diverse dev teams, whether there's anything in their work that takes forever that people wouldn't expect, work/life balances, what they're consuming that isn't video games, why writing WWE fanfiction can be helpful for your game writing, major influences, and MOREEEEE! Our Guests on the Internet Kait's Twitter and Instagram, and you should follow all of the rad Watch Dogs: Legion writers and narrative designers on twitter! Sam's Twitter, Instagram, and Website, and you should check out Captain Marvel and preorder The Unstoppable Wasp. Also you should follow all of the good folks at Insomniac Games on twitter! Stuff We Talked About ASMR Hair Treatment | Mic ON Brush | Oils & Crinkle Cap What Makes a Good Video Game Ending? by Kait Tremblay Mass Effect 2 Borderlands Portal 2 God of War Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Bioshock Hellblade Observation Dames Making Games The 18-month fence hop, the six-day chair, and why video games are so hard to make by Blake Hester Chernobyl Fleabag The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss Stargate SG-1 Cleopatra 2525 Farscape Andromeda seaquest DSV Star Trek: Voyager Our theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Awards season has ARRIVED, and to mark the occasion we've invited two writers representing two of the games nominated by the WGA this year for Best Game Writing : Jon Paquette (Lead Writer on Marvel’s Spider-Man, Sunset Overdrive, and Resistance 3, and formerly a Creative Director at EA, writer on Medal of Honor, and Medal of Honor: Airborne, and QA Lead on Jurassic Park: Trespasser) and returning guest Mel MacCoubrey (Narrative Director on Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, and formerly the Assistant Director of Narrative Design on Assassin's Creed Syndicate, scriptwriter on Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry, and scriptwriting intern on Far Cry 4)! Incredible topics discussed include Jurassic Park Trespasser, writing internships at Ubisoft and Insomniac, whether the core pillars of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey and Spider-Man stayed consistent throughout development, scoping challenges, game length, making big changes to the story once you have a playable build, preventing problems before they happen, always putting your best ideas forward, hardest part about writing for an open world, the worst professional advice they've ever gotten, maintaining a healthy work/life balance, underrated people working with game narratives, the value of voice actors, if there's anything they would change about game development, AAA games that don't have combat as main mechanic, the importance of Farming Simulator 19 as an esport, and moreeeeeeeeee. Our Guests on the Internet Jon's Twitter. Mel's Twitter. Stuff We Talked About Jurassic Park Trespasser What Remains of Edith Finch Florence Brie Code Return of the Obra Dinn Gris Inside Farming Simular 19 Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Happy holidays! We're sneaking in right before Christmas to give all of you the very special gift of Rhianna Pratchett (game writer, narrative designer, comic book writer, and former journalist. She's written on such titles as Heavenly Sword, the Overlord series, Mirror's Edge, the Mirror’s Edge comic series, the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, the sequel Rise of the Tomb Raider, and the Tomb Raider: The Beginning comic series) AND Jill Murray (Lead Writer and Narrative Designer for AAA games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Assassin's Creed Liberation, and AC Freedom Cry, winner of the WGA award for game writing in 2013, and previously published two YA novels with Random House of Canada. She is currently the Narrative Director for an unannounced indie project, as well as working on Boyfriend Dungeon with Kitfox Games, and writing an episode of Later Daters for Bloom Digital) AND Cara Ellison (former games journalist and current game writer, narrative designer, and screenwriter. She served as a narrative consultant on Dishonored 2, produced and designed the TV show Last Commanders for CBBC, and is currently a narrative designer on Media Molecule's Dreams, and Void Bastards by BlueManchu Games), who've joined us to talk prime writing hours, freelancing advice, how to network (and how NOT to), game writing agents, negotiating for yourself, being a narrative paramedic, red flags to watch out for on potential jobs, what they wish more people knew about the kind of work they do, skills to have that are unique for working in AAA, how to handle when people are constantly telling you that your work isn't good, being aware of studio politics, writing mistakes/failures that they've learned from, the state of the industry, worldbuilding, and a few other things that you'll just have to find out yourself! Our Guests on the Internet Rhianna's Twitter and Website. Jill's Twitter, Website, and Instagram. Cara's Twitter, Facebook, and Website. Stuff We Talked About Kitfox Games Writing for Videogames - Writers' Guild of Great Britain Game Workers Unite UK Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

We're taking a big ol' swan dive into character design and concept art on this week's episode, and so we're SUPER lucky to have Ashley (formerly a Concept Artist on The Last of Us: Left Behind, and since then she's worked on Uncharted 4: A Thief's End as Lead Character Concept Artist, as well as the upcoming The Last of Us Part II) and Claire (formerly an Artist and Associate Production Designer for Microsoft Studios, where she worked on a bunch of Kinect games, Fable Legends, Sunset Overdrive, Powerstar Golf, and more. She also was the Production Designer for Westworld VR, and currently works as the Art Director on In the Valley of Gods for Campo Santo/Valve) joining us to talk about the misconceptions around what a concept artist does, how they each approach character design, what they want from the writers/creative director when they're starting out with designing one, working for the project instead of yourself, how they know when they're done, the importance of taking breaks and having personal projects, how to achieve good storytelling and character work through costuming, how "real" you can push things before it becomes so novel for players that they're distracted by it, cloth sims: the final frontier of video game character design, making art for VR, major influences, how to create characters that are lifelike and not superficial, the secret to navigating creative disagreements successfully, the importance of failing and making mistakes, which game stories they've responded to recently, and MORE! Our Guests on the Internet Ashley on Twitter and Instagram. Claire on Twitter and her Website. Stuff We Talked About James Gurney In the Valley of the Gods Mary Zophres The Order: 1886 Isao Oishi Layers of Fear Hilda Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles & Ted Orland Horizon Zero Dawn Night in the Woods Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Freelancing! Blessing or curse? Today Laura (writer and editor of such games as Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, Frog Fractions 2, Swan Hill, You Got This, Brutadon!, The Brigand’s Story, and more, and is currently an editor at Riot Games.) and Cat (writer and narrative designer of video games and narrative fiction, who's worked on titles such as Invasion, Pathologic 2, What Isn't Saved (Will Be Lost), Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, and the forthcoming Leader of the Pack) join us to talk about that independent life with topics like how to find work, what to look for in contracts, rates, renegotiating, the importance of maintaining a social media presence, whether you should go to festivals, why you maybe shouldn't go to the Write Zone at GDC, and non-freelancer stuff like how to match another writer's voice, reflective choices and how to make strong ones, how to give a player the feeling that their decisions have an impact on a story (especially when the story isn't actually changing at all), writing mistakes, the importance of editing, getting feedback, and I dunno, a few more things. Our Guests on the Internet Laura's Twitter and Website Cat's Twitter and Website Stuff We Talked About The parser game scene from the Tom Hanks movie Big Slug-In-Hand Tavern Twitter Bot The Writers' Guild of Great Britain Videogames Guidelines DoContract Game Writers Facebook Group Where the Water Tastes Like Wine Successful Reflective Choices in Interactive Narrative by Cat Manning Planescape Torment With Those We Love Alive Invasion Sub-Q American Vandal Brendan Patrick Hennessy Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Going from game journalism to game writing isn't something you see too often, but today Mitch Dyer (former editor at IGN, freelance writer for Gamespot, ArsTechnica, The Escapist, Gamesrader, and more, and current writer at EA Motive where he recently finished working on Star Wars Battlefront 2) and Demian Linn (former executive producer at Ziff Davis Media, 1UP.com, and GameVideos, co-founder of BitMob Media, and current game writer at Ubisoft San Francisco, where he just finished working on South Park: the Fractured But Whole) join us to talk about their experiences doing just that, as well freelance life, assumptions they had about game writing that ended up being incorrect, aspects of games we all wish fans and/or the media understood better, the biggest storytelling mistakes they've learned from, writing tests, how to stay objective about your writing, the approval process on big IPs, writing processes, toolsets, what takes them out of games, what to do when you're struggling with a writing problem, what's inspiring them lately, why comedy in video games is so hard to pull off, what they struggle most with with writing and how they conquer it, storytelling trends over the last decade, when we're going to see a AAA studio make a game with no combat, verbs they'd like to see more, and -- wow, this sentence is just going on forever, huh. Our Guests on the Internet Mitch's Twitter. Demian's Twitter. Stuff We Talked About Trey Parker and Matt Stone: 'This happened, and then this happened, and then this happens -- that’s not a movie, that’s not a story' Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

A NEW YEAR means NEW GUESTS! Alex (former UI designer and current character concept artist at Naughty Dog, as well as a freelance children’s book author. Her credits include The Last of Us, The Last of Us: Left Behind, Uncharted 4, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and NBA Live 09) and Olly (Art Director on Firewatch, and graphic designer best known for his work w/ Mondo, Harry Potter, Star Wars, the Academy Awards, and much more) join us to talk about growing up on message boards, NBA Live 09 and the UI of sports games, whether knowledge limits your creativity, communicating a feeling through art, being critical of your own work, creating Garfields for fun, experimentation, UI in a background role, creating spaces in Firewatch that felt natural and not meticulously designed, how to lead the player without being too obtuse or explicit, creating Drake's Journal in Uncharted 4, misconceptions about work, why Breath of the Wild is great, and Tom Bombadil. Our Guests on the Internet Alex's Twitter and Website. Olly's Twitter, Garfield Repository, and Website. Stuff We Talked About Alex's Young Drake designs Olly's Harry Potter book covers Garfield Minus Garfield That millennial SNL skit Alex mentioned Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse trailer How We Made The Last of Us's Interface Work So Well by Alex Neonakis Drake's Journal by Alex Neonakis In the Valley of Gods by Campo Santo Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Samantha (narrative designer at ArenaNet, and previously a writer and narrative designer on titles such as SumoBoy, Fallout: Lonestar, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Mass Effect Andromeda) and Brooke (writer and narrative designer on The Gardens Between, Paperback and Florence) call in to talk about breaking into the industry, binging the Mass Effect trilogy, writing processes, why character should be the plot, trying to get a story across without using text or speech, creating well-rounded characters, transitioning from a literary writer to a narrative designer, writing for MMOs and the writing process working on The Old Republic, episodic and 100+ hour narratives, special difficulty modes for people who just want to experience the story in a game, NOT being able to kiss Nick Valentine in Fallout 4, different approaches to storytelling within Bioware, career advice and tips for breaking into the industry, and oh man so much more it's crazy. Our Guests on the Internet Samantha's Twitter. Brooke's Twitter and Website. Stuff We Talked About HULK PRESENTS CHARACTER TREES by Film Crit Hulk The Gardens Between The Writer Between: Thieving Literary Plot to Design Game Narrative by Brooke Maggs Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Ashly (actress, writer, and singer, who's acted in such games as Borderlands 2, Mortal Kombat X, Life is Strange, and Horizon Zero Dawn, and has written for Rocket Jump, Adventure Time, and Glitch Techs) and Kate (writer of speculative fiction, with her stories appearing in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Gamut, and Lamplight, and currently the co-Editor in Chief of the online magazine Strange Horizons as well as a narrative designer at Obsidian Entertainment working on Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire) are here to talk fan fiction, writing processes, letting your work breathe vs brute forcing it, whether games need their stories to be great or not, dealing with bad notes, voice acting and having too much or too little info to work with when you go into the booth, staying true to an IPs voice while also bringing your own, writing as a fan, ways to handle the problem of crafting stories when players might not be paying attention to/remembering key information, making players feel helpless, and much more! Our Guests on the Internet Ashly's Twitter, Website, and OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes. Kate's Twitter and Website. Stuff We Talked About The Science and Entertainment Exchange Hey Ash Whatcha Playin? Codex Writers' Group Fueling the 'Pyre' With Supergiant Games' Greg Kasavin Epistle 3 Jam (Half-Life 3 Game Jam) Epistle 3 by Marc Laidlaw Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Josh (designer on Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, writer and designer on over a dozen tabletop RPGs for White Wolf, Dream Pod 9, and Steve Jackson games, lead designer on Company of Heroes and Homeworld 2, initial creative director on Far Cry 3, game director on Diablo 3, and current design/game master in residence at Bonfire Studios) and Darby (Writer on several Game Boy Advance and DS games like Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Sims 2, but most recently has been a writer on the Assassin’s Creed series and was the lead writer on Revelations and Black Flag) call in to discuss tabletop gaming, the benefits of an english degree, being a game director at Blizzard, the business realities of game development, the relationship between narrative design and game design, the importance of the player's story, the problem with plot in video games and how to deal with it, the storytelling of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, whether games will ever be remembered for their stories, bad writing, working with established franchises, dealing with the expectations of players, and much more! Our Guests on the Internet Josh's Twitter and Bonfire Studios's website. Darby's Twitter. Stuff We Talked About Pandemic by Matt Leacock Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds The Simple Art of Murder by Raymond Chandler The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Best Detective Game Ever Made - Extra Credits Abel Gance's Napoléon Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Straight outta GDC, Aleissia (gameplay programmer on Lost: Via Domus, Behavior and AI Programmer on Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood, and lead AI and game programmer on Assassin's Creed 3, Unity, and Unnanounced Project at Ubisoft Montreal) and Rob (game writer, narrative designer, voice director, and cofounder and creative director of Playlines. Writer on The Assembly, Imago, Fallen London, and Wonderbook: Book of Spells) join us to discuss augmented and mixed reality experiences, interactive immersive theater, how to get players to not break experiences, whether AI is the future for making games accessible or not, Sleep No More (as always), should players be aware of a narrative changing around them, managing the user experience, having stories where the player isn't the hero, participation through implication as a storytelling conceit, using AI tracking and Machine Learning to help systemic games, attuning players to treat the world around them as if it's not devoid of social consequences, the player's self-importance about their own experience, advancements in systemic design, our collective excitement at the prospect of a wrestling game using the nemesis system, parallels between wrestling and storytelling, how do you make a believable NPC, and sooooo much more! Our Guests on the Internet Aleissia's Twitter and her podcast, DevJam. Rob's Twitter and Website. Stuff We Talked About Moment Factory Sleep No More Nesta Punchdrunk and Media Molecule - Where Dreams Collide Escaping the Holodeck: Storytelling and Convergence in VR/AR The Speakeasy Zombie LARP The Void Turing Tantrums: AI Devs Rant!! GCAP 2016: Systems Are Everywhere... Right, Elon Musk? - Aleissia Laidacker Life is Strange Empires of EVE: A History of the Great Wars of Eve Online by Andrew Groen Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor The Sexy, Scary Play That’s Influencing Google, Facebook, And Disney Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

We're starting 2017 off right with our guests Émilie (co-director of Burning Glass Creative, led design team on The Sims FreePlay at EA Melbourne and on Drakensang at Bigpoint Games. Was game design director at Frima Studio and taught storytelling in games at Cégep Limoilou) and Brie (previously lead programmer at Ubisoft Montreal on the Assassin's Creed franchise and Child of Light, and currently the founder of Tru Luv Media). Topics include making games with people who don't like video games, modular narratives, integrating positive psychology into game design, story emerging from systems, the storytelling challenges of being free to play, updating a game every three weeks and the challenges therein, emotional triggers that create engagement, player ownership in games, the importance of giving space to the audience, and games as a personal growth tool. Our Guests on the Internet Emilie's Twitter and Website. Brie's Twitter and Website. Stuff We Talked About Character Development and Storytelling for Games by Lee Sheldon This War of Mine iThrive Eco *Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.*

It's our last episode of the year! Emily Grace Buck (narrative designer at Telltale Games where she worked on The Walking Dead: Michonne and Batman - The Telltale Series, and previously designed and wrote educational games at Kognito) and Julie Marchiori (level designer, mission designer, and current Assistant Narrative Director at Ubisoft Montreal, and has worked on such games as the Army of Two franchise, Far Cry 3, Assassin's Creed 3, and Assassin's Creed Unity) drop in to talk about using agency to empower players to build their own stories, gameplay verbs, the narrative potential of systems, environmental storytelling, level design, the research phase, design processes, subtext in games, the importance of downtime with your characters and why it's difficult for studios, minority content, examining the choices of players, and a heck of a lot more! Our Guests on the Internet Emily's Twitter and Tumblr. Julie's Blog about going from gamer geek to gamer geek mom, and her other Blog where she talks about things like her beef with gendered games. Stuff We Talked About Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor Dragon Age: Inquisition Fallout 3 Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard Assassin's Creed: Unity Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Batman - The Telltale Series Gears of War 4 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Until Dawn Life is Strange World of Warcraft Mystic Messenger MR. ROBOT:1.51EXFILTRATI0N Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Mel (writer and Director of Narrative Design at Ubisoft Quebec, and has worked on such games as Far Cry 4, Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry, and Assassin's Creed Syndicate) and Ann (writer and narrative designer on such games as Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Mass Effect: Andromeda, and is a co-writer of the book The Game Narrative Toolbox) are here to talk about whether going to university is necessary for becoming a game writer, being a salesperson to other departments, Ubisoft internships, the length of game stories, being a narrative director, one thing they wish all departments knew about narrative to start with, dealing with players who don't care about story, how narrative is everything, the possibility of AAA studios making smaller open world games, being scientifically accurate in Mass Effect and historically accurate in Assassin's Creed, coming onto a franchise that has already started, fan fiction, how to acknowledge every possible action of the player without diluting the story you want to tell, whether we should be concerned about side content overshadowing the main narrative, the hardest and easiest characters to write, the importance of communication, and jeez, so much more! Our Guests on the Internet Mel's Twitter and Website. Ann's Twitter and Book. Stuff We Talked About Civilization VI Why Most People Don't Finish Video Games Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Ian, Kyle, Ben, and Max and Nick Folkman play an epic game of Fiasco! FOR THREE HOURS! Hold onto your butts! To skip setup go to: 00:36:35 To skip to the intermission go to: 01:57:55 @IanHinck @KyleBosman @BenMoore035 @maxfolkmax @nickfolkman MUSIC: Theme: Minor Mush by John Deley and the 41 Players Schedule: http://easyallies.com/ Support us through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/EasyAllies Merchandise: http://shop.spreadshirt.com/easyallies https://www.twitch.tv/easyallies https://twitter.com/easyallies https://www.facebook.com/easyallies https://easyallies.tumblr.com/

Thomas Grip (co-founder and Creative Director of Frictional Games, makers of the Penumbra series, the Amnesia series, and SOMA) and JT Petty (writer on such games as the first three Splinter Cell titles, Batman Begins, Outlast 1 & 2, and The Walking Dead: Season 2) join us to discuss the Four Layers of Narrative Design, mistaking plot for story, how controllers affect the narrative, goals of storytelling, VR skepticism, the relation between narrative systems and emotional impact, Silent Hill, what a lack of combat can do for you, the lessons developers can learn from horror, and much more! Our Guests on the Internet Thomas' Twitter. JT's Twitter. Stuff We Talked About Frictional Games' Blog Games Telling Stories? by Jesper Juul The Aesthetic of Play by Brian Upton To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf Writings & Lectures on Game Design by Richard Rouse III Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film by Carol J. Clover Why VR Will Not Replace Movies by David Pogue Spec Ops: The Line Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

The wait is over! Laura (writer and game designer on such projects as the escape room Spark of Resistance, Dysforgiveness, and Cuppa Quest) and Ian (writer, narrative designer, and programmer, and has worked on Soma, the Lego games, and the Little Big Planet series) join us this week to talk about moment-driven story design, designing escape rooms and narrative live action experiences, relying on people's subconscious' to do the heavy lifting, Punchdrunk's immersive theatre, environmental storytelling, breaking games, how to write for experiences where you can't control what the player will do, puzzle design, VR shorthands, and much more! Our Guests on the Internet Laura's Twitter, Website, and Escape Room. Ian's Twitter, Talespinners' Website, and Frictional Games' Website. Stuff We Talked About Puzzled Pint Echo Bazaar Narrative Structures, Part Three by Alexis Kennedy Punchdrunk The Room by Fireproof Games Bossfight Books' Spleunky by Derek Yu Sisters by Otherworld Budget Cuts by Neat Corporation The Foo Show featuring Will Smith Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Drew (Design Analyst on Star Wars: The Old Republic, Writer and Designer on The Banner Saga, and Lead Writer on The Banner Saga 2) and Greg (Creative Director of Supergiant Games and Writer of Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre) call in to talk with us about the importance of being involved with the development process when you're a writer, worldbuilding, the writing process on Banner Saga 1 & 2, subtlety in games, how Supergiant decides on which game they're gonna make, writing as the most disposable of the creative disciplines, the divide between thinking something is good and what ends up shipping, storytelling structures, revising and never being comfortable in knowing how close you are from the finish line, the phrase 'We made the game we wanna play,' dealing with branching narratives, and the storytelling potential in fighting games. Our Guests on the Internet Drew's Twitter and Stoic's Twitter. Greg's Twitter and Supergiant's Twitter. Stuff We Talked About Brandon Sanderson The Banner Saga Puzzle Quest Raid on Rise: Narrative Creation on 'Rise of The Tomb Raider' Pyre Bastion Greg Kasavin Reads the Introduction of Samurai Showdown 2 Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Ian (Design Director at E-Line Media and has worked on Gamestar Mechanic, Gamestar Mechanic Jr, and Never Alone) and Anna (Senior Gameplay Programmer at Double Fine and has worked on such games as Psychonauts, Brütal Legend, Broken Age, and Headlander, and was the lead on Dear Leader during Amnesia Fortnight 2014) join us to discuss falling into the industry, the benefits of an education that doesn't just focus on programming/computer science, the work involved with implementing dialogue, planning for localization, Never Alone's development, cultural expression in games, dialogue systems, why text to speech isn't the future (for now), the costs of voiced dynamic dialogue, authored vs simulationist vs player-centric approaches to story in games, and a couple of other rad topics! Our Guests on the Internet Ian's Twitter. Anna's Twitter. Stuff We Talked About Never Alone Amnesia Fortnight 2014 Dialogue Systems in Double Fine Games Molyjam: How Twitter Jokes Can Save Video Games Making the World of Firewatch Netrunner Crusader Kings 2 Dwarf Fortress' Creator on How He's 42% Towards Simulating Existence Practice 2015: Anna Kipnis The Novelist by Kent Hudson 7 Grand Steps Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges Viriconium by M. John Harrison The Yawhg by Emily Carroll & Damian Sommer Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Matthew (writer, composer, and game developer on titles including the Call of Duty and Halo series, Destiny, The Infinifactory, The Arboretum, The Writer Will Do Something, and TIS-100) and Carrie (narrative designer on Pillars of Eternity, writer of The Buried Life and Cities and Thrones) join us this week to talk about maintaining your writing momentum, outlining, the writing process at Obsidian, Large Teams and the Problems they Cause, creating a Total Work of Art in video games, offering decisions that lead to chokepoints, motivating players with different play styles, the negative space that defines players’ experiences, how The Writer Will Do Something came about, that part of the meeting when everybody turns to look at you, when gameplay doesn't trump story, the linearity of relationship portrayals in games today, and should creators ever be involved in the post-release discussion. Our Guests on the Internet Matthew's Twitter and Website. Carrie's Twitter and Website. Stuff We Talked About The Writer Will Do Something Gesamtkunstwerk The Expanse by James S. A. Corey My Brilliant Friend: Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante The Moth St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell Perdido Street Station by China Mieville Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

This week's coming in hot with Karla Zimonja (researcher and sound tech person on Bioshock 2, narrative and 2D art on Minerva's Den, story editor and 2D artist on Gone Home, and currently working on Tacoma) and Eric Stirpe (writer on The Walking Dead Season 2, Tales from the Borderlands, and Minecraft: Story Mode) joining us to talk about writing and editing processes, writing at Telltale and working with design, player trust, gaming literacy, the importance of Minecraft, trying to balance giving the player an experience that feels unique and tailored to them with the desire to tell a coherent story, ludonarrative dissonance, whether there's a place for cutscenes, how to handle pacing, things you can and can't do with a first person narrative, and so much more! Our Guests on the Internet Karla's Twitter and Tumblr. Eric's Twitter. Stuff We Talked About Double Fine Adventure! Darmok "Playdate" (Chris Ware's story about playing Minecraft with his daughter) VIDEO GAMES CAN NEVER BE ART by Roger Ebert The Witness Firewatch Growing up Weightless by John M. Ford Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor Seveneves: A Novel by Neil Stephenson Hail, Caesar! Frontier | Youth in Decline Learnt Until Dawn Tearaway Roommates The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling Kaptara The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

We're captivated by our guests this week, as Meg (creator of Samsara, lead writer on 80 Days, and contributor on Sunless Sea) and Richard (game designer on Gex, Pandemonium, the Soul Reaver series, lead game designer on Jak X and the first three Uncharted games, and Associate Professor in the Interactive Media and Games Division at USC) talk about the cultural influences of tabletop, LARPing and interactive theatre on games, the woes of being a freelance writer, finding work-life balance, the importance and need for editors, the propensity for systemic thinking, unfairness in games, following the rules of fiction vs the rules of games, systemizing choice, the structure of 80 Days, research giving safety to the player, whether genres are useful, the generic influences of The Velvet Underground and The Doors, games confident enough to not explode all over your face when you start them up, and taking responsibility for the stories and games we put out into the world. Our Guests on the Internet Meg's Twitter and Website. Richard's Twitter and Website. Stuff We Talked About The Art of Fiction #2: Meg Jayanth by Duncan Fyfe The Masque of the Red Death Sleep No More The Meadow EA_Spouse Henry Miller’s 11 Commandments of Writing Meg's GDC 2015 talk - Leading Players Astray : 80 Days & Unexpected Stories Dogme 95 All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace by Adam Curtis Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella H. Meadows Cybernetics: or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine by Norbert Wiener Meg's PRACTICE 2015 talk on Unfairness in Games The Year of the Crush: How the Radically Unfair Candy Crush Saga Took Over Our Lives by Tevis Thompson Donkeyspace by Frank Lantz Towards a Steampunk Without Steam by Amal El-Mohtar Wheels of Aurelia Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Social simulations and the storytelling potential of hardware-based games are the main topics in today's discussion with Mitu (Creator of Redshirt, PhD holder in Aesthetics of Interactivity in Video Games, and current Assistant Arts Professor at NYU's Game Center) and Jerry (Game designer and developer behind Robo Mama’s Cooking Kitchen, MysteryPhone, Discourse, The Choosatron, and Afterglow)! We talk about the importance of player choice, The Witness and the dialogue that happens between a creator and the player, why freedom in games isn't always a good thing, how controllers and interfaces affect the way we think about games, why Animal Crossing is an amazing social simulator, how fleshing out a game's world can influence the design, the problems with making a social simulation, what happens to our engagement with games as interfaces become more mimetic, slaying Chris Crawford's Dragon, and man, that's just the stuff that's off the top of our heads! Our Guests on the Internet Mitu's Twitter and The Tiniest Shark Jerry's Twitter and Website Stuff We Talked About Mitu's GDC Talk - Thinking About People: Designing Games for Social Simulation ELIZA and The ELIZA Effect Loved by Alexander Ocias The Immersive Fallacy (excerpted from Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals) by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman Lygia Clark Redshirt Notary Bear by Lisa Brown Chris Crawford's Dragon Speech Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

2016 has been put on notice by our guests Jill (writer on Your Shape: Fitness Evolved and the Assassin’s Creed series, including Liberation, Black Flag, and Freedom Cry) and Corey (writer on Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, The Two Thrones, Batman: Arkham Origins, and lead writer on Assassin's Creed 1, 2, and 3), who are here to talk about how everything is writing even if nobody will believe you, staying creatively refreshed, the brain’s thirst for motor activities during procrastination, how one is never done writing a game even after shipping, the insularity of the games industry vs other mediums, the treatment of making games as software instead of entertainment, why it's so hard to get rid of the cutscene/gameplay/cutscene structure, how games have a lot to learn about nonverbal storytelling from dance, the need to embrace failure, how pressure does NOT make diamonds in game development, working with a nonexistent creative vision, being forced to make decisions and live with them as early as possible, not holding out for a better idea, and more things The Good Wife can teach us about narrative design. Our Guests on the Internet Jill's Twitter, Website, Discoglobe Interactive Inc., and Moon Hunters. Corey's Twitter. Stuff We Talked About The Other Side of Paradise: A Memoir by Staceyann Chin Time Machine VR The Good Wife Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Our last episode of the year is here and it's super writing-focused! Cara Ellison (Writer, game critic, narrative designer, creator of Sacrilege, and writer on Dishonored 2) and Jack de Quidt (Writer/composer of Castles in the Sky, and writer of Veracity & Purpose and Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist) join us to talk about their writing processes, working on a narrative when it's fractured across an entire team, why fetch quests occur even though everyone HATES them, the narrative design in The Witcher and Kentucky Route Zero, why a lot of studios are afraid of trusting the player, narrative problem-solving, the verbs that happen in games, navigating breaking the fourth wall, the portrayal of relationships in games, the importance of humor, how to handle pacing, required reading for people working in the industry that isn't about making games, and much, much more. Our Guests on the Internet Cara's Twitter, Website, Dishonored 2, Sacrilege, and you can buy Embed with Games here. Jack's Twitter, Crows Crows Crows, and Friends at the Table. Stuff We Talked About On Pointlessness by Steve Gaynor Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist (it's free!) TO THE WRITERS OF THE UNIT by David Mamet On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King Clint Hocking's Blog Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino Spider and Web by Andrew Plotkin Kentucky Route Zero and the Poetics of Space by Cara Ellison Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School Jessica Jones on Netflix Fargo on Hulu Fiasco Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

LucasArts is in the house with our guests Graham (animator on Full Throttle, The Dig, The Curse of Monkey Island, and more. Former creative director at Telltale, creator of Grickle and the Puzzle Agent series, and currently at Laika) and Malena (sound dept. at LucasArts, and later joined Double Fine as a producer, including VO and localization, on pretty much every game they've released). We cover RTX Red Rock, wearing many hats as a producer and creative director, Telltale’s first year, course correcting your game, localization vs translating, how writers can make producers’ lives easier, similarities between miniature set design and game development, and the unnerving speed of technological change in games. Our Guests on the Internet Graham's Twitter, Youtube, and Vine Malena is NOWHERE, but you can donate to Psychonauts 2 here Stuff We Talked About RTX: Red Rock Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Come for the discussions about writing on an open world game with C.J. (lead writer on Homefront, scriptwriter on Rainbox 6, Your Shape, Far Cry 4, Assassin's Creed, and currently senior narrative designer on Homefront: The Revolution,) and Liz (scriptwriter on Far Cry 4, Far Cry 4: Valley of the Yetis), stay for the talks on how to write a good bark, working with localization, pickled toes, writing Far Cry 4, exposition, maintaining urgency in an open word, catching players back up with the story, the importance of asking why manhole covers are round, and GTA 5 role-playing. Our Guests on the Internet C.J.'s Twitter Liz's Website and Twitter Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Two of the happiest people in games, Khris (VO/casting director and creative consultant for such places as LucasArts, Double Fine, EA, THQ, Ubisoft, and Telltale Games) and Brad (project lead of Iron Brigade, Brazen, and MASSIVE CHALICE) talk to us about pitching games to studios, working with the story for MASSIVE CHALICE, directing voice over, working with actors, how to deal with differences of opinion, the importance of staying positive, creating stories in games when you're not a "story person", narrative and gameplay dissonance, linearity of AAA game stories, the future of performances in games, and how we've evolved for hugging. Our Guests on the Internet Khris' Twitter Brad's Twitter Stuff We Talked About Double Fine Adventure documentary Amnesia Fortnight 2014 documentary Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

We dive deep into empathy with Robin (designer on The Sims 2: Open for Business, MySims, producer on Journey, Glitch, co-founder of Funomena where she's currently working on Wattam and Luna) this week. Other topics include Robin’s pitch for a Street Angel game, games being systems that run on the software of us, what producers actually do, how to design for and instill empathy in players, fostering a genuine non-adversarial connection between players, how to reward contemplative play, games that celebrate mistakes, why aren’t we making games about being loved, the future of AI and storytelling, and how to stave off creative starvation. Our Guest on the Internet Robin's Twitter Funomena's Website and Twitter Stuff We Talked About Street Angel: The Princess of Poverty Vol 1 The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin Robin's GDC Indie Gamemaker Rant Tales of Tales’ Cathedral in the Clouds Kickstarter GDC Experimental Gameplay Workshop Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita. -Also Sleep No More is Macbeth, not Hamlet, as Robin pointed out to us after recording this-

We're all about ARGs and procedural generation on this week's discussion with Tanya (designer on Age of Conan, Dungeons of Fayte, The Secret World, Shattered Planet and Moon Hunters) and Rob (writer on ALFA-ARKIV, Gears of War: Judgment, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Playmation, and Battlefield Hardline). Our sprawling conversation includes chatbots, transmedia narratives, creating mythologies, binary morality systems, pacing in a procedurally generated game, why haven't we moved past cutscenes in games, how procedural and systemic gameplay affects development and writing, and games based on information retrieval. Our Guests on the Internet Tanya's Website and Twitter Rob's Twitter Stuff We Talked About Moon Hunters on Steam ALFA-ARKIV app itch.io Chatscript Versu The Fake 'Terrorist' Conspiracy Game That Fooled People For Years by Patricia Hernandez GDC Talk: AI-driven Dynamic Dialog through Fuzzy Pattern Matching by Elan Ruskin Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

We've brought in Brian (who has a huge reel including: animator on Boogerman, storyboard artist for Warner Bros, writer on Jade Empire and Mass Effect 2, and lead writer on Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3) and Diandra (editor formerly at Bioware, Riot, Snail Games, XSEED, and currently Carbine Studios) for discussions on Boogerman, working at Bioware, what being an editor in games is like, application processes for writers, writing born from constraint, why we haven't seen The Wire: The Game yet, and what RTS' can do with storytelling that no other genre can do. Our Guests on the Internet Brian's Website and Twitter. Diandra's Twitter. Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Brendon (creator of Barista, Gravity Bone, Flotilla, Air Forte, Atom Zombie Smasher, and Thirty Flights of Loving) and Brie (formerly of Ubisoft Montreal where she worked on the AI systems for the Assassin's Creed franchise and was lead programmer on Child of Light) join us on our very first episode to discuss narrative systems, whether or not cutscenes are evil, the systemic possibilities of a game based on The Good Wife, procedurally generated stories and level design, what an open world game without a main quest would be like, silent protagonists, if narrative is a game mechanic, and much more! Our Guests on the Internet Brendon's Website and Twitter Brie's Website and Twitter Stuff We Talked About A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction by Christopher Alexander 'Narrative is not a game mechanic' by Raph Koster Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.