Podcasts about republic commando

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we start a new game in our series on independent games with 2004's Cave Story. We briefly set the game in its time, talk a little about its developer, and then talk about the game proper. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: A couple of hours Issues covered: freeware vs democratized indie dev and publishing, Japanese independent development, an indie darling, likely antecedents, 2004 in review, the end of a cycle, standing out in a stacked year, sticking it out, breaking through onto Nintendo platforms, early independent success on the Switch platform, influences and what's in the mix, weapon leveling, more story than expected, characters and dialog, more adventure, having a mess of villagers, setting up mysteries, merging lots of elements into their story and interactions, a spike at the end, adding puzzle-y elements, keys and keys that are not keys, threads of characters and relationships, something that is more than a MetroidVania, a skill-based game, "you're a really good person," forgetting a console came out, having the opportunity to play off-the-beaten path games, not needing a map, the dangers of categorization, how the platforming feels, fear of skill-based need, becoming one with the controller, an emotional response, empathetic response, catharsis, building the dam and breaking it, graceful building, manipulation in art, can a movie version work vs the interactivity, shock in literary fiction. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Nintendo Switch, Fez, Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya, Cara Ellison, Downwell, Wii, Crystal Dynamics, Super Meatboy, Metroid, Nifflas, Knytt, n/n+/n++, Pixeljunk (series), Q-Games, Dylan Cuthbert, World of Warcraft, Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines, Halo 2, Half-Life 2, The Sims 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, Doom 3, Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal, Silent Hill 4: The Room, GTA: San Andreas, Far Cry, Metroid: Zero Mission, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Knights of the Old Republic 2, Star Wars: Battlefront, Pikmin 2, Sly 2: Band of Thieves, Jak 3, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Katamari Damacy, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Republic Commando, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, WiiWare/DSi, PS Vita, Net Yaroze, Nicalis, Castlevania, MegaMan, CapCom, Bionic Commando, Sega, Sonic (series), Square Enix, Zelda (series), Final Fantasy IX, Dark Souls (series), The Seven Samurai, Firewatch, Animal Well, Spelunky (series), Hollow Knight, Gone Home, Ashton Herrmann, Last of Us, Shadow of the Colossus, Shakespeare, Outer Wilds, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: Finish Cave Story Twitch Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we sadly conclude our series on Interstate '76. Poor Tim could not really play the game at all, so we're going to have to let this one go, but we'll still talk about a few things. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up to Mission 10 (B) Issues covered: Tim being unable to get the game running, other cultural objects disappearing, physics implementation details from an implementer!, PC compatibility testing, running down bugs even today, flight stick vs controller, acceleration and turning, independent throttle, analog triggers on modern controllers, easy difficulty, getting a lot out of a few cars, making cars seem smarter, lack of uncanny valley, feeling a whole story in a mission, level design vs mission design, repetitive missions in other games, rewarding you with movies, impersonating a President, committing to a stylistic identity, standing out from the crowd, leveraging an IP shift, moving around between teams, the other game made with the same fiction, working remotely in the games industry, fear and trust. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Nosferatu, Moby Dick, Typee, Omoo, Emily Dickinson, Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit, Phil Salvatore, Carlos, Julio Jerez, Daniel Stanfield, Starfighter (series), Quake, Tomb Raider, Ultima Underworld, Trespasser, TIE Fighter, Wing Commander (series), George H. W. Bush, FASA, Duke Nukem, Blood, Shadow Warrior, Gladius, Final Fantasy Tactics, Red Rock, Sam and Max, Republic Commando, Rebel Assault, Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion, Wes, Twisted Metal, Luxoflux, Vigilante 8, Star Wars: Demolition, SNES, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Super Star Wars, Big Sky Trooper, Activision, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Dave K, Grand Designs, Bethesda Game Studios, Microsoft, Kingdoms of Amalur, .38 Studios, LostLake, Mors_d, Minecraft, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: TBA Twitch Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on 1999's Outcast. We talk a bit about the end of the game, the challenge of plate-spinning, gadgets we missed out on for much of the game, and other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Finished (Brett)... some more (Tim) Podcast breakdown: 00:47 Discussion 54:07 Break 54:36 Takeaways/Mailbag Issues covered: getting captured and losing your stuff, getting some ammo from your subquests, some of the other weapons, the silenced sniper tranquilizer, not fulfilling stealth, a difficult puzzle in the tree world, the deep sound puzzle of the forest world, getting one key from a complicated puzzle and then a physics puzzle, doing what you think is right for your goals, modest budgets vs today's indie and AAA, the lower development cost and the challenge of readability, making big hard decisions to collapse away a problem, market size, the delusion of ship when it's ready vs making what you can by the deadline, the podcast exposing us to some really great games, plate-spinning and tendrils spreading out, imagining the flowcharts, getting to the end of the Motazaar gauntlet, "your key is in another castle," the F-Link gadget and speeding play, the other gadgets, quest system being per-zone, story bits that cover the length of the game, "rules are meant to guide people, not contain them," narrative niceties, memorable and understandable NPCs, the two fishermen, NPC depth, greater empathy vs snark in Cutter Slade, describing the time shifty stuff, running through the story at the end of the game, a bold world structure, motivating and leveraging the connectivity, the voxel terrain, dynamic systems in play, the depth of the narrative space, legacies.    Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Indiana Jones, Beyond Good and Evil, Anachronox, Unreal, Nintendo Switch, Breath of the Wild, Shadow of the Colossus, Assassin's Creed (series), Tomb Raider (series), Uncharted (series), Team Ico, Fbrccn, Infogrames, Appeal, Blizzard, Warcraft (series), Dwarf Fortress, The Last Express, The Crying Game, John Carter/A Princess of Mars, Delta Force, Anthony Gallegos, Rebel FM, mysterydip, Pong, Belmont, Mark Garcia, Jedi Starfighter, Republic Commando, Castlevania, Dark Souls 2, BioStats, CalamityNolan, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers.  Next time: TBA! Links: The Ghost Racing Article Twitch: timlongojr Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

Join the hosts of Star Wars Generations for the 2025 kick off of the Book Club, the special member episodes that come out every month, exploring different books and how they tie into the Star Wars Universe. From political intrigue to intimate character studies, Matthew, Erin, and Alex explore how novels expand and enrich the Star Wars Universe beyond what we see on screen. While normally these episodes are members only, we're making this one available to all, to show you the kind of great content you get as a member. We discuss how books like Karen Traviss' Republic Commando series transformed our understanding of clone troopers, showing the humanity and complexity behind the helmets. We explore how getting inside characters' heads provides insights impossible to convey through film alone.What makes certain Star Wars books particularly impactful? We highlight standouts like Lost Stars by Claudia Gray, which offers a fascinating look at why ordinary citizens might support the Empire, and the Queen's Shadow series, which adds rich depth to Padmé Amidala's character.Looking ahead to 2025's most anticipated Star Wars books, we talk about upcoming releases including The Bad Batch: Sanctuary and The Mask of Fear trilogy. We explore how these new books might tie into and expand upon upcoming shows like Andor Season 2.Other topics covered:How audiobooks have become the preferred way for many fans to consume Star Wars literatureThe importance of Senate politics and "behind the scenes" storylines that books can exploreWhy the Thrawn book series has had such a lasting impact on Star Wars canonDiscussion of how books bridge gaps between different Star Wars erasExcitement for upcoming Acolyte tie-in novels that will expand on the show's charactersThe unique value of novelizations of Star Wars filmsThe hosts' varying experiences with Star Wars comicsBooks we mentioned that you can buy through our sponsors:Republic CommandosQueen's ShadowDarth PlagueisLost Stars**************************************************************************This episode is a production of Star Wars Generations, a The Ethical Panda Podcast and part of the TruStory FM Entertainment Podcast Network. Check our our website to find out more about this and our sister podcast Superhero Ethics.We want to hear from you! You can keep up with our latest news, and send us feedback, questions, or comments via social media or email.Email: Matthew@TheEthicalPanda.comFacebook: TheEthicalPandaInstagram: TheEthicalPandaPodcastsTwitter: EthicalPanda77Or you can join jump into the Star Wars Generations and Superhero Ethics channels on the TruStory FM Discord.To learn more about co-host Erin and her incredible cosplay check out her Instagram, LadyTanoCreates.Want to get access to even more content while supporting the podcast? Become a member! For $5 a month, or $55 a year you get access to bonus episodes and bonus content at the end of most episodes. Sign up on the podcast's main page you can even give membership as a gift!You can also support our podcasts through our sponsors:Purchase a lightsaber from Level Up Sabers run by friend of the podcast Neighborhood Master AlanUse Audible for audiobooks. Sign up for a one year membership or gift one through this link.Purchase any media discussed this week through our sponsored links.

Text us and say hello!In episode 33 of Backwards Compatible, Lou and I dive deep into Star Wars: Republic Commando for the original Xbox. Released in 2005, this game bridged the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, serving as a perfect tie-in to the Star Wars saga during a time when fans were eagerly anticipating the final chapter of the prequel trilogy. It also came on the heels of the Clone Wars animated series, making it an exciting addition to the Star Wars canon.We break down what makes Republic Commando a standout title—especially on the original Xbox. Often hailed as a hidden gem (or simply a masterpiece if you're a Star Wars fan), this game blends tight controls with an immersive atmosphere that feels quintessentially Star Wars. The squad mechanics were ahead of their time, and the witty banter from your clone trooper squadmates added both personality and levity to the intense missions.From its immersive environments to its perfectly balanced mix of action and strategy, Republic Commando nails what it means to be part of the Star Wars universe. So grab your blaster, prep your squad, and buckle up for a deep dive into one of the best Star Wars games ever made!Support the showWe've got merch!Check out the site for some awesome Gen 'S' swag :)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we conclude our series on 2006's Dead Rising. We visit the end of the game a bit and then turn to our takeaways, before tackling a reader question. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Finished the game! Issues covered: the enemy mix, just being a journalist, being interrupted by Otis, the arrival of the army, captured by cultists, constant use of the chainsaw, adding an enemy and its impact, greater XP rewards, state changes and controlling the state change, an ongoing narrative, how games end, overtime mode, the helicopter arrival, how new game+ or post-game works these days, frustration with unplugging the bombs, vehicle troubles, reach exceeding grasp, having the wrong feelings, the wall mission, early replay to skills gather, the bomb cyclone, the open world structure and its rogue-like nature, picking the good inspiration, weapon variety and payoff, finding new things to do on your run, conducive to achievements, systems over mechanics, different kinds of mastery, getting little bang for buck from first person or special moves, zombies as level design, tuning and balancing, item progression, humans as the real enemies, psychopaths, little survivor stories, balancing silliness and poignancy, when you've changed your mind, individuating the clones, adding humor, using more and less of the language, moving to systems over mechanics, moving away from design documentation, iteration over inspiration, defensiveness, solving for growing team size with documentation. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Dark Souls, MegaMan, Fallout, Bethesda Game Studios, Morrowind, The Witcher 3, Grand Theft Auto, Lost Planet, Monster Hunter, Dragon's Dogma, Resident Evil (series), Dawn of the Dead, Gears of War, Vampire Survivor, Robotron 2084, Fatal Frame, mystery dip, Republic Commando, George Lucas, The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch, Robin Williams, William Shakespeare, Harley Baldwin, Starfighter (series), Soren Johnson, Sid Meier, LucasArts, Halo, Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy VI, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: ??? TBA ??? Errata: You do not in fact have to carry all the queens at once. Brett may not have advanced Isabela's conversation enough. Twitch: timlongojr Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Dead Rising. Brett finally slays a killer clown a decade after his first failure, and we talk more about weapons, location, and "the run." Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: More hours! Issues covered: defeating killer clown, saving all the survivors, capturing Kent's photo, additional player agency, changing tactics over time, picking up the jewelry store mother, systems coming together, having no way to communicate trajectory, "simple" tweaks to a formula, learning Adam's patterns, throwing cash registers, getting battle axes to take out Adam but not losing the tourists, controller and gun, Carlito's guns, a distillation of the game, getting quick transit between, learning the survivor loops, the big effects of stat changes, survivor uniqueness, personifying mechanics or measures, "the truth has vanished into darkness," story threading into open world, putting a premium on story, juxtaposing location with horror, the beginning of the zombie outbreak, series rather than anthology, displayed stats, matchmaking, ugly matchmaking patents, more on achievements, qte escapes. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Ico, Dark Souls, kyleanderror, Morrowind, Arkham: Knight, Legend of Zelda (series), Far Cry 2, GTA (series), Mad Libs, Fallout (series), George Romero, Resident Evil, 28 Days Later, Fear the Walking Dead, The Last of Us, The Girl with All the Gifts, Mr. E. Dip, Bubble Bobble, Starfighter, Skyrim, Josh Menke, 343 Industries, Call of Duty, League of Legends, StarCraft II, Republic Commando, Jeffool, King Kong, Final Fantasy VI, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: Finish (?) Dead Rising Twitch: timlongojr Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we start a new series on 2006's Dead Rising, from Capcom. We situate the game a bit in its time and with Capcom and this generation of hardware before turning to the structure and feel of the game. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: A few hours Issues covered: the early 360 era, throwing lots of enemies on the screen, console wars, an entry into console for PC developers, achievements and GamerScore, coming into a time-limited game, the deluxe remaster, carrying over Prestige Points, limited time quests, production benefits, a controversial structure, pushing your luck, going to the mall, horde management, Tim shows he actually knows more about football than claimed, camp, inventory management, learning the space, the feeling of losing a person right at the end, saving people, Onigokko!, Artimage's charity. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Xbox, Gears of War, Republic Commando, Crystal Dynamics, Tomb Raider: Legend, PlayStation, Capcom, Keiji Inafune, MegaMan, Onimusha, Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami, Dwarf Fortress, LoZ: Twilight Princess, Okami, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Final Fantasy XII, Guitar Hero 2, Rainbow Six: Vegas, New Super Mario Bros, Wii, Elite Beat Agents, Nintendo DS, Burnout: Revenge, Brain Age!, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Tomb Raider: Legend, Heroes of Might and Magic V, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Arkane, Prey, Dishonored, Nintendo Switch, ElectroPlankton, Groundhog Day, Dark Souls, Rogue, Dawn of the Dead, Chopping Mall, Night of the Living Dead, George Romero, Day of the Dead, Tim Ramsay, Harley Baldwin, Deathloop, Tony Rowe, Artimage, Minecraft, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: More Dead Rising! Links: Artimage's email is artimage84@gmail.com Twitch: timlongojr Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

It’s just Bobby and Christian this week, so we’re making this a Star Wars themed episode in honor of the release of Star Wars Outlaws. Join us as we recount our favorite Star Wars games that we’ve played at different stages in our lives.TOPICSReturn of the Jedi, Star Wars, Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight, Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, STAR WARS™ Rebellion, Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, Republic Commando, Star Wars BattlefrontFor more content, check out dlgaming.net!

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we're both unavailable, but we catch you up on the mailbag! Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Issues covered: a review prompting discussion of Majora's Mask, some discussion of time loop games, a very difficult to find character, hard to find stuff in older games, Easter Eggs in games we've put in or in games we knew, the Jar-Jar model, the hidden command-line, keeping the love alive, teaching a bit of a design course, should have gone into film, starting our own company, being inspired by GDC, being reminded of the passion, getting the gang back together, green Tahoma, bringing in marketing, comparative marketing, tapping into the lizard brain, a title having to be many things, legal search for copyright/trademark, why is it called Europa, whether or not it's possible not to grind, the mental state required, the time pressure of the podcast, a place to play for elite players, the relative ease of critical paths in later games, completionist vs main-line content, the requirement to broaden games' appeal, how many people finish games as a percentage, making 30% of the end of the game, the Deep Dungeon of Final Fantasy Tactics, rescuing the dragon, fighting the high end critters, Cloud Strife and his headache, diving into the Deep Dungeon, lighting and the dark dungeon, how to unlock the calculator, the strategy for finding the dungeon exits, Brett's theory about Cloud, connections with Viet Nam, localization issue?, deciding on a post-credits sequence. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: _Iceboy_, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Groundhog's Day, Super Time Force Ultra, PlayStation, Housemarque, Returnal, Deathloop, Outer Wilds, Ashton Herrmann, Pokemon Red/Blue, Street Fighter 2, DB Weiss, Lucky Wander Boy, Jamie Fristrom, Adventure, Mortal Kombat, Republic Commando, Force Unleashed, Greg Knight, Greg Land, Harley Baldwin, Star Wars: Starfighter, Dave K, Diablo, Far Cry 2, Thief, Bethesda Game Studios, Brainy Gamer/Michael Abbott, This War of Mine, Call of Duty, Ian Milham, Tim-mento, Trespasser, Baldur's Gate 3, Dungeons & Dragons, Michael #1, Hero of the Circinus Galaxy, Tacoma, John Feil, Halo (series), Disney Infinity, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Robert Heinlein, 2010, Tomb Raider, Michael #2, Tactics Ogre/Ogre Battle, Space Quest/King's Quest, Plundered Hearts, Larian Studios, BioWare, The Witcher III,  Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy VII, Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, Apocalypse Now, Ladyhawke, The Doors. Errata: Lucky Wander Boy was written by D. B. Weiss (which admittedly, is German for white). We regret the error. Next time:  TBA Twitch: timlongojr, Twitter/Threads/Insta: @devgameclub Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

Episode Summary: In this special Father's Day episode of Geek Freaks, host Frank Lourence is joined by Kevin and Squeaks to dive into the latest in pop culture. They discuss their Father's Day experiences and gifts before delving into the world of classic video games that deserve a modern remake. The trio also explores updates on popular shows like The Boys and House of the Dragon. Later, Frank interviews Jordan Morris about his new book, "Youth Group," and his experiences writing for various media. Don't miss the in-depth discussions, memorable quotes, and exciting updates! Timestamps and Topics: 00:00 - 00:17: Introduction and Father's Day celebrations 00:18 - 01:21: Classic video games that deserve a modern remake 01:22 - 05:56: Network updates and upcoming episodes 06:00 - 15:00: Discussion on Adventure Time spin-offs and Cartoon Network updates 15:01 - 20:00: Until Dawn series adaptation discussion 20:01 - 25:30: Blue Beetle animated series news and DC updates 25:31 - 30:30: Blade movie issues and potential Jordan Peele involvement 30:31 - 35:54: AI integration in phones and tech updates 35:55 - 41:16: Review of Star Trek: Discovery final season 41:17 - 45:00: Premiere review of The Boys season 4 45:01 - 53:07: House of the Dragon review and wrap-up 53:40 - 1:22:15: Interview with Jordan Morris about "Youth Group" 1:22:20 - Close: Rapid Fire Reviews Key Takeaways: Father's Day Celebrations: Kevin received a custom hat and Squeaks got a Groot Lego set and Mario movie figures. Classic Games Remake Wishlist: Eternal Darkness, Dino Crisis, and Republic Commando among favorites. Jordan Morris Interview: Insight into his new book "Youth Group" and his diverse writing career. Adventure Time Spin-offs: New series including "Adventure Time: Side Quest" and "Heyo BMO" discussed. Until Dawn Series: Anticipation for the series adaptation and its potential direction. Blue Beetle Animated Series: Excitement for the upcoming series and its impact on the DC universe. Blade Movie Issues: Discussion on the potential involvement of Jordan Peele and the future of the Blade movie. AI in Phones: Concerns and potential benefits of AI integration in smartphones. Star Trek: Discovery Review: Analysis of the final season and its impact on the Star Trek franchise. The Boys Season 4 Premiere: Mixed reactions to the new season's direction and key character developments. Memorable Quotes: "Storytelling is storytelling, and a good story translates to all sorts of mediums." - Jordan Morris. "Blue Beetle is your DC Spider-Man." - Squeaks on the character's appeal. "If you play the character in live-action or animation, you are that character no matter what." - Frank on James Gunn's cohesive DCU strategy. Guest Bio: Jordan Morris is a prolific writer known for his work on various shows, including "Good Mythical Morning." His new book "Youth Group" explores unique and engaging themes, showcasing his versatility and creativity in storytelling. Full Interview Coming to Geek Freaks Interviews on Friday! Jordan's 'Youth Group' Jordan's Instagram Call to Action: Enjoyed the episode? Don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it on social media using the hashtag #GeekFreaksPodcast. Your support helps us bring more exciting content to you! Related Episodes: Frank Martin on Comics and Family Holly Swinyard on Fandom History Links and Resources: Jordan Morris's Book "Youth Group": Amazon Link News Sources: GFPods.com Follow Us: Twitter Instagram Threads Patreon Listener Questions: Have questions or topics you'd like us to cover? Send them our way at contact@geekfreakspodcast.com. We'd love to hear from you!

Is Dillon The Acolyte? This week, the fourth member of our crew returns to share a life update, then the two gush over their Star Wars video game experience focusing on KOTOR, The Force Unleashed, and Republic Commando. You'll hear Dillon describe how he uses an emulator to play classic games today before sharing the experience of his father coming home with an Xbox/KOTOR bundle that changed Dillon's fandom experience forever. Finally, a love for all things Sam Witwer wraps up the episode before Dillon teases a potential fan-led effort to remaster 2005's Republic Commando.

Directly in competition with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. This week, we take a look at, among other Star Wars-related topics, many of the Star Wars video games over the years. From Battlefront, to Republic Commando, and even Episode I Racer on the GameBoy Color, we weave through the endless history of Star Wars in the gaming space. We've also got Shiny Pokemon, a Donkey Kong Country 2 replay completed, and a new development with Helldivers 2 on PC that we just don't get. Check us out on X and BlueSky @MarkersOnTheMap.

Skirata and the clones prepare to desert, but Order 66 looms on the horizon. Will our heroes escape or will their plans go down in flames?

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we return to our series on Homeworld with an interview with special guest Alex Garden, who co-founded Relic and directed the title. We talk about the inception of the idea to the implementation difficulties and much more. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Podcast breakdown: 0:52    Interview 1:03:49 Break 1:04:24 Outro Comments Issues covered: the history of our guest, distributing pirated games, the cold intro, testing games, dropping out of high school, selling the company and working for some years, fixing someone else's bugs, the crystal sphere, "Spaghetti Ball," the lightning bolt, focusing on the loss, pulling together the team, a 50000-line demo, starting with multiplayer to demo, demoing for gods, "this has changed how I'll make games," not knowing how to tell stories in space, creating a reference for the ships, believing you can overcome the difficulties, finding your home and knowing you were in the right, the gravity of the situation and losing people, every life being precious, you are not the target audience, making the story and the gameplay the same, lack of dynamic range, one revolution multiple evolution, changing the licensor, ships with fantastic shapes and colors, the main ship and why it has that design, ship scale on LODs, a frequency domain audio engine, doing a lot procedurally, clock radios, joining the rebellion, what sticks with you today, trusting your vision, expectations smashed, the new game gods, trying to make designers rock stars, knowing your collaborators. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Madden (franchise), Triple Play, The Divide, PlayStation, Impossible Creatures, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War, Company of Heroes, Nexon, Xbox Live, Zune, Zynga, US Robotics, Distinctive Software, Chris Taylor, Don Mattrick, Omar Sharif On Bridge, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, Sega Genesis, Beavis and Butthead, Conceptual Interface Devices, Luke Moloney, Radical Entertainment, Electronic Arts, NASA/JPL, Ptolemy, Battlestar Galactica, Jon Mavor, Greg McMartin, Scott Lynch, Sierra, Valve, Erin Daly, Rob Cunningham, Aaron Kambeitz, Jane Jensen, Rob Lowe, Roberta and Ken Williams, Peter Molyneux, Black & White, Wing Commander, Chris Roberts, Star Citizen, The Breakfast Club, Blizzard, Starcraft, Republic Commando, Games Workshop, Blur Entertainment, Chris Foss, Peter Elson, Monkey Island, Shane Alfreds, Deus Ex, Warren Spector, Harvey Smith, Tim Cain, Fallout, Ion Storm, Ken Levine, Cliff Bleszinski, Killcreek (Stevie Case), John Romero, Hal Barwood, Wil Wright, Tim Schafer, Larry Holland, Gabe Newell, American McGee, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: ??? Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @devgameclub Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

While Skirata searches for a missing Kaminoan scientist, Omega Squad uncovers a secret that may shake the G.A.R. to its core.

Omega and Delta squads join forces to root out a terrorist cell on Coruscant. Can the clones stop the Separatists before they set off an explosion in Galactic City?

Ryan Kaufman is an award-winning writer that came up working at Lucas Arts on games such as Revenge Of The Sith & Republic Commando before moving onto Telltale where he was one of the main writers. #telltalegames #thewalkingdead #starwars SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER - @M1sterFox LINKTREE - https://linktr.ee/w.ryan.kaufmanTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:47 - Ryan's Dream Game To Make Would Be About Titanic03:10 - What Should Come First Narrative Or Design04:30 - Revisions Of A Script/Writers Room06:00 - Constraints Of Game Of Thrones & Star Wars06:59 - Being In Charge Of The Expanded Universe Of Star Wars For Lucas Arts08:50 - Stigma At Lucas Arts For Star Wars Fanboys10:10 - The Republic Commando Lay-Offs Made Ryan Leave Lucas Arts12:08 - Not Being Too Attached To An Idea/Game Design13:20 - The Hardest Part Of Writing/Stressing Over Writing15:20 - Ryan Doesn't Like To Play Narrative Based Games/Shadow Of The Colossus16:35 - Story Vs Gameplay/What Is Story/DOOM18:55 - Environmental Storytelling19:50 - Ryan Finds Himself Critiquing Games/Film & Television Narratives All The Time21:10 - The Good & Bad About Chat GPT24:40 - Film Narratives Are Terrible These Days/Ryan Critiques Himself All The Time26:20 - Telltale James Bond Pitch For James Bond To Be Pakistani29:25 - The Experience Of Working At Telltale30:50 - Telltale Game Development Had An Intense Schedule/Directing Voice Actors35:40 - Ryan's Strengths & Weaknesses As A Writer38:30 - Reading A Dictionary & Thesaurus/Novel Writing Vs Game Writing39:36 - Kiwi Reminds Ryan Of His Own Advice Regarding First Person/Third Person Writing41:30 - Ryan Uses A Whiteboard For Story Beats/Pixar Storybeats45:00 - Ryan Wanted To Make A Hellboy Telltale Game/Cost Of Redoing Narrative/Voice After Its Already Implemented48:10 - Lip Syncing/Localisation Troubles With Dialogue51:20 - Japanese Games Having Terrible English Dialogue/Translations53:40 - Ryan Would Love To Work On A Rockstar Game54:40 - Where To Buy Ryan's Novel “Gawain A Year To Live56:23 - Where To Follow Ryan

Omega Squad has its first mission: to stop the creation of a deadly virus. Will the commandoes and a reluctant padawan succeed, or will the Separatists unleash a plague on the Republic?

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 1999's Homeworld, the innovative RTS from Relic Entertainment. We talk about interacting with the game and its presentation, and discuss some of the ways in which it creates and eliminates friction in that genre. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up to M8 Issues covered: a separate manual for the lore, the mysterious science fiction/fantasy, a circle?, meeting the traders for the first time, a matter-of-fact aesthetic, feeling the stakes, grounded vs exaggerated, how each of us interact with the game, setting up the attitude of the ships, Tim's strategies to steal things and get ahead, opening up the side of the mother ship, a leap forward in some ways, limiting the resource type down to one, comparing to 2D tech trees, simplified building queues, dealing with the small fast drones, taking out an enemy fleet, the weird feeling of building at the end, having the feeling of a base attack with a capital ship attack, the quick dock vs the slow drawn out wait, a diversion to explain Battlestar Galactica, setting up archetypes and breaking them, thinking about what our mistakes have been, sending the wrong ships against the capital ships, no one sets out to make a bad game, an anecdote about Skyrim, closing out the game and pushing it out and taking cover, artificial idiocy, whether the movie people ruined Trespasser, the interaction of movies and games, Defeating Games for Charity. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Halo, Planet of the Apes, Charlton Heston, Dune, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Warcraft, Starcraft, Star Trek, Ultima Underworld, Eye of the Beholder, Chris Corry, The Simpsons, God of War, Mikael, Matt Groening, Cory Barlog, Skyrim, Istvan Pely, Fallout (series), Republic Commando, Jedi Starfighter, EGM, Trespasser, Will Crosbie, Jim Gee, Alex Seropian, Noah Falstein, Dreamworks Interactive, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Tom Bissell, Nolan Filter/CalamityNolan, Dark Souls, Rogue, Final Fantasy IX, Mega Man, Kaeon, Devil May Cry, X-COM, Metroid, Belmont, Bvron, Kyle, Error, Lostlake, BioStats, Mark Garcia, D&D, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers.  Next time: Up to M12? Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @devgameclub Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

Liam gives you a tour of his Star Wars bookshelves in this 2024 update. First, he breaks down the methodology of how he collects Star Wars books, and then he dives into the collection itself. He starts first looking at the Star Wars Legends (or Star Wars Expanded Universe) books in his collection including hardcovers, SFBC hardcovers, paperbacks, TPBs, hardcover comics, and omnibus. Finally, he moves on to the Canon novels, showcasing the hardcovers, paperbacks, TPBs, and omnibus in his collection. Some of the awesome books in this collection include: The High Republic, The Thrawn Trilogy (Heir to the Empire), Darth Bane Trilogy, Darth Plagueis, Revan, Outbound Flight, Dawn of the Jedi, Shatterpoint, The Clone Wars, Republic Commando, Revenge of the Sith, Kenobi, The Force Unleashed, Death Troopers, Shadows of the Empire, The Courtship of Princess Leia, Jedi Academy, Hand of Thrawn Duology, Survivor's Quest, New Jedi Order, Legacy of the Force, Fate of the Jedi, X-Wing, Young Jedi Knights, Jedi Apprentice, Jedi Quest, Galaxy of Fear, Lost Stars, Thrawn, Thrawn Ascendancy, Dark Disciple, Master & Apprentice, Tarkin, Jedi: Battle Scars, Brotherhood, Aftermath Trilogy, Alphabet Squadron Trilogy, Bloodline, Shadow of the Sith, Tales of the Jedi, Star Wars Marvel Comics, Darth Vader comics, Doctor Aphra, Bounty Hunters, Knights of the Old Republic, Dark Empire, and more! You won't want to miss it! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/starwarslads/support

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we recap 2023 through our interviews. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Issues covered: good interviews with non-designers, lots of gems, Statue Park, keeping 60 and visor modes, limiting scripting, building spaces and Lincoln logging gameplay, talking to a marketing person, putting the name in the symbol for a new logo, challenging norms, challenging rinse and repeat and generating trust. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Artimage, Grant Kirkhope, GoldenEye: 007, N64, Neil Harrison, Rare, John Barry, Monty Norman, Jack Mathews, Metroid Prime, GameCube, Switch, Lincoln Logs(TM), Legend of Zelda (series), Retro, Karl Stewart, Arkham Asylum, DC, Warner Bros, Star Wars, Republic Commando, LucasArts, Chris Williams, Greg Knight, Tomb Raider, Eidos, Rocksteady, Crystal Dynamics, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: Our first game of 2024! (Wonder what it'll be?) Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @devgameclub Discord  DevGameClub@gmail.com

That's RIGHT! This episode is THREEEE levels deep on the title. Anyway, welcome to the new series and the last full series before Phil goes off to be a daddy for a bit. Republic Commando is written by Karen Traviss and is a heck of a good book so far! We have opened up our Patreon so if you are interested in supporting us financially you can do so at patreon.com/pixellitpod. Additionally if you would like to join the community but don't have any coin to spare you can still hop into our Discord! Socials Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/pixellitpod.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/pixellitpod    

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Alan Wake, which we're playing via a remaster. We talk especially about the combat, amongst other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up to Ch 3 or 4 Issues covered: Night Springs episode, word salad, feeling the need to have it wrapped up, PNW locations, not quite hitting right, representing the setting, Remedy touchpoints, primal fears, collectibles and types, the three Cs, the cohesion of the lights, making you feel like a putz, pulling the camera away, lack of situational awareness, a difficulty diversion, wanting to almost die, inanimate objects, finding the right tension, spawned Taken?, weapon progressions, getting a better flashlight, the excellence of the 5.1 mix, annoying difficulty bugs, the RROD, what do you do when source material conflicts with good game principles, adaptation, where are all the women?, lack of promotion, game choice, demographics and the birth of the industry, our negative reviews. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Control, Twin Peaks, Northern Exposure, Grand Theft Auto, Stephen King, Max Payne, Resident Evil (series), Silent Hill 2, Capcom, Trespasser, C. Ross, Psycho Mantis/Metal Gear Solid, Eternal Darkness, Lego Movie Game, Mystery Dip, Starfighter (series), Republic Commando, Tomb Raider (series), Halo (series), Barbie, Oppenheimer, Branden, Rockstar, Epic, Maas, Kotaku, Jason Schreier, Nintendo, Atari, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: Finishing the main game Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we add an interview to our series on Batman: Arkham Asylum. Karl Stewart, Director of Marketing for Eidos at the time joins us to talk about the importance of the role and how it contributes to a product's success. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Podcast breakdown: 0:54 Interview 1:03:18 Break 1:03:51 Outro Issues covered: a full year, the early history of Karl, drawing anatomy, getting the fundamentals of brand and retail, listening to the team and developing the language and brand, breaking the assembly line, blurring the line between team and publisher, differentiating different types of creative director, developing trust, the usual separation of the two, how the marketing tells a story, translation without the input of creators, avoiding games that were moved too quickly, bringing confidence to the team, showing the publisher what they've got, creating a bond with the studio, publisher working with studio more closely, the superhero stigma, seeing the playable demo, the game influencing the brand, changing how people think about superhero games, maybe giving it back and arguing against, getting two covers, canning a Dark Knight game, discussing and selecting a logo, wondering about an opportunity, moving floors, controlling social from the studio, building a studio-centric model, working in the same world, handing your teenager over, having a push as a team for marketing, working to create the brand identity, going down the rabbit hole, taking a big expense, an Asylum ARG, challenging what we do, going different with the logo, a press event on Alcatraz, a ghost story, being immortalized, stuck in a cell, struggling to get marketing on board, bombing out Washington DC, everything is intentional, making a character relevant again, collaborating with other people and mentioning them by name. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Merchant Retail Group, Signature Brand Inc, Eidos, Square Enix, Crystal Dynamics, Petrel Marketing, Pure Imagination Studios, BAFTA, Thunder Child, 124, IGN, Tomb Raider (series), Lara Croft (Guardian of Light), ZX Spectrum, John Lasseter, James Song, Bob Lindsey, IO Interactive, LEGO, Bionicle, Ford, Age of Conan, Jamie Walker, Sefton Hill, Urban Chaos, Unreal, Phil Rogers, Andrew Reiner, Andy McNamara, Warner Bros, Rob Dyer, Loony Tunes, 300, Lee Singleton, Mini Ninjas, Battle Station Pacific, Jurgen Goeldner, Nathan Burlow, Matt Geyer, Remi Sklar, Carlos D'anda, Insomniac, Darell Gallagher, Rockstar, GTA, Tim Miller, Blur, Noah Hughes, Meagan Marie, Lars Winkler, Janet Swallow, LucasArts, Todd Howard, Phil Rogers, Yoichi Wada, Rich Briggs, Halo, I Love Bees, Lee Singleton, Trevor Burrows, Sarah Hoeksma, Philip Ser, Geoff Keighley, Spike TV, Star Wars, Republic Commando, Chris Williams, Bethesda Game Studios, Pete Hines, Fallout, Dr Dre Beats, Batman Begins, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Note: Apologies if I misattributed any names cited in this episode. There were many of them, often only with a firs tname, and tracking them down was quite a project. (Even so, I know I missed a couple.) Next time: Spooky Season Game Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub Discord  DevGameClub@gmail.com

Well, what we thought was gonna be a 30 minute episode became just a little under 2 hours. But that's how me and Al do things around here.

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Rocksteady's breakout hit, Batman: Arkham Asylum. We freeflow our way through a bunch of combat, put on the visor, and even hit a couple of the villains (and I'm not talking about our emails). Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: More of the game (Brett to Poison Ivy, Tim to first Scarecrow) Issues covered: Tim's many times dressing up as the Joker, Joker owning the island, having a Batcave on the island, being prepared as Batman, Bioshock vibes, layers of Arkham, layering activities over level areas, seeing things before you can get through them, a Metroidvania for the collectibles, not needing to do challenges for XP, Joker teeth as breadcrumbs to what you should do next, an approachable game for the license, Detective Mode as a little alienating from Batman, seeing how the world is put together, a bit of a cheat for Batman, character vs player focus, predecessor experiences, being mashable and less punishing, having a dozen enemies and being able to lower fidelity, everything working together, dramatic and telling finishing blows, a bunch of knockouts all at once, wanting it to feel like Batman is outnumbered and overcoming it, reinforcing goals and caring about the right things, being able to modularize the combat and change the feel, battle loss taunts, finding ways to show the highest LOD models, the Scarecrow introduction, horror movie scary stuff, the surreal space of the Scarecrow, asking the controls to be more generous, having Scarecrow be over the top and weird, wanting the fear to come from the A/V experience, Daredevil and Batman, centering the Rogues Gallery, pathetic and horrific Bane, a small universe, the Justice League vs the Vengeance League, feeling the impact of freeflow combat immediately, audience and alignment of all the goals, seeing the problem-solving in action, putting all the pieces together, "The Witcher is Just Fantasy Batman," when you don't feel connected to the character, fighting Deathstroke, embracing the multiverses,  Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Bioshock, Mark Hamill, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, Joaquin Phoenix, Metroid, Tomb Raider, Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark of Kri, God of War, Tim Ramsay, Republic Commando, Eternal Darkness, Dead Space, Nightmare on Elm Street, Alien: Isolation, Christopher Nolan, Star Wars, The Boys, Watchmen, Bvron Music, Assassin's Creed, Half-Life, Halo, GoldenEye: 007, Jarkko Sivula, Tim Burton, Eye of the Beholder, The Witcher, Call of Duty, Control, Deus Ex (reboot), Jack Kirby, Pokemon, Calamity Nolan, Mark Garcia, Artimage, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers.  Next time: Even more of the game! Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub Discord  DevGameClub@gmail.com

Jeffrey Kung is a game developer with over 27 years experience. He is best known for his tenure at Lucas Arts working on games such as Mysteries Of The Sith, Rogue Squadron and Republic Commando. He studied Psychology before dropping it to pursue game development. #starwars #lucasarts #republiccommando SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE - https://www.jeffreykung.com/ INSTAGRAM - @pinecone.jeffTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:33 - Why Jeffrey Stopped Studying Psychology To Make Video Games04:30 - Early Days In Video Games/Lucas Arts06:15 - Level Design Test At Lucas Arts/Level Design On Mysteries Of The Sith09:00 - Designing Search For Nonnah In Rogue Squadron11:40 - Rogue Squadron Crunch/Bonding With His Team13:30 - Incorporating Psychology Into Leadership/1 On 1 With His Team16:30 - How To Stop Bickering In A Meeting18:30 - Being A Star Wars Fan/Multiplayer Level In Mysteries Of The Sith20:50 - The Fundamentals Of Level Design22:35 - Live Ops Games Are Great For Level Design/Tuning A Game24:20 - Where To Still Play Jeffrey's DOOM Levels/Designing DOOM Levels/Breaking A Level32:30 - Terrible Crunch Story/EA's Crunch Drama Helped The Industry/Why Crunch Is Bad36:30 - Why Mobile Development Doesn't Have As Intense Crunch38:40 - Industry Is Starting To Learn About Crunch/Productivity Loss40:50 - Experience Of Developing Republic Commando/Visor Wipe44:48 - Fine Tuning The System Design In Republic Commando/Xbox Controller & Halo Influences47:10 - Switch Port Of Republic Commando Is Bad/Joy-Cons Are Terrible For FPS48:50 - Being Laid Off After Republic Commando/Constant Lay Offs51:26 - Working Remotely Vs Working In The Office/Perks Of Discord56:18 - How Jeffrey Learned To Be Extroverted/Teaching Game Design At College59:20 - Imposter Syndrome/Kevin Schmitt1:01:20 - Where To Follow Jeffrey Kung/Carnivores Plants

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on Eye of the Beholder. We talk more about D&D adaptation, spend some time with a sequel, and get to our takeaways before emptying the mailbag. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Issues covered: which levels count in the sequel, killing lots of beholders, whether you could have killed Xanathar in the original, striation of hit point values, scaling for sense of power, paying off on the quests, finding all the beholders, beholder physiology, having more fun with beholders as designers, bulettes and basilisks, "just keep going," being trained for level navigation, designing towards the player understanding, wanting coordinates, using simple concepts well, modular repeatable and combinable concepts, leaning into the limitations, an onion layer level, "mapping matters," loving drawing maps, sanding off of friction (various ways of telling the player how to get there), being more embodied in the dungeon, the more you take out the less the experience becomes, allowing for abstraction and having to draw you in other ways, translating D&D, why simulate the math, a bad game to simulate, "what is a saving throw?," using video games to inform the evolution of your tabletop game, emphasizing the human, a more elegant system, dice variance, a useless party experience, usability issues, bad games that were influential on us, remembering movie moments but not the gameplay, even bad actors are better than what we could do at the time, digging into all the RPGs, not knowing what to do in SimCity, DOS vs Mac music and early audio, a craftman's respect for audio, warm analog music, hearing multiple versions of the same soundtrack, not playing a lot of real-world games, physics in games and pitting against fun, wanting to get to specific rides vs how you build a park, Tim gets turned off on the CRPG book, building on foundations and the legacies they carry, business concerns, shipping code passing cert, climbing uphill to make changes, maintaining the feel. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Eye of the Beholder II, Winnie the Pooh, The Dungeon Run, Metal Gear Solid (obliquely), Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM (1993), Gary Gygax, PS5, Xbox Series X, Dark Souls, Temple of Elemental Evil, Indiana Jones (series), Far Cry 2, Starfighter, Jurassic Park, Ultima Underworld, God of War, Baldur's Gate (series), World of Warcraft, William Shatner, Vampire: the Masquerade, Call of Cthulhu, Mechwarrior, Mechassault, Warhammer, Morrowind, Fallout, Diablo, Westwood, Ashton Herrmann, Kyrandia (series), Lands of Lore, Trespasser, Clint Hocking, Assassin's Creed (series), Darkstone, Neverwinter Nights, Kingdom Hearts, Twisted Metal Black, Warcraft II, Quake, MYST, Grim Fandango, The 7th Guest, NextGen, Sam Thomas, The CRPG Book, Skyrim, The Bard's Tale, Disco Elysium, Rogue, Betrayal at Krondor, Cobra Mission: Panic in Cobra City, Andrew, SimCity 2000, GameBoy, MegaMan, NES/SNES/N64, Grant Kirkhope, GoldenEye 007, Metroid (series), Half-Life (series), Rollercoaster Tycoon, The Matrix, Disneyworld, Great Adventure, Canobie Lake Park, Dungeon Master, Chris, Populous (series), Dungeon Master, Fallout 3, mysterydip, Commander Keen, Dwarf Fortress, Metroid Prime, Bethesda Game Studios, Halo (series), Bungie Studios, Tomb Raider, Galleon, Toby Gard, Redguard, Reed Knight, Todd Howard, Starfighter, Grand Theft Auto (series), Starfield, Unreal (series), Gears of War, Republic Commando, Jack Mathews, Mark Haigh-Hutchinson, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: Our next game? Links: The CRPG Book Dungeon Master Encyclopedia and video Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub Discord  DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 1991's Eye of the Beholder. We talk quite a bit about adaptation and the things that are not entirely.... fun... about D&D. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up to level 10 or 11 Issues covered: Discord Game Club, finding the dwarves, the injured dwarf, information as a reward, inconsistent locks, messages you can only read if you have a dwarf, using up keys and not knowing when you should use them, communities below ground, "Xanathar: he's kind of a big deal," history in the built environment, the sewer map, "feelies," wishing the computer would do the rules for us... or not?, translation of D&D, the problems of adaptation, diving into the movie, respawning hellhounds and imagining hell, what's a xorn?, puzzle opacity, good puzzles, holdover concepts that stick around, level connectivity, the pleasures of linking up segments of map, removing useful friction, games where there's not a lot of high hights nor low lows, podcast games, having to learn the world and feeling the mastery, great connections in Dark Souls, landmarking and not wanting a map. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: D&D, Discord Game Club, Artimage, Mark Garcia, BioStats, Final Fantasy IX, Kotaku, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Temple of Elemental Evil, Infocom, Zork (series), Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, Republic Commando, Baldur's Gate (series), Diablo, Chris Pine, Ultima Underworld, Richard Garriott, System Shock, King's Quest, Assassin's Creed, World of Warcraft, Dark Souls, Ico, Dragon/Dungeon magazines, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers.  Next time: Finish the game! Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @devgameclub Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

Kevin Schmitt has been working in the video game industry for over 25 years and currently works for Epic Games, he previously worked at 343 on the Halo Series and Lucas Arts where we worked on many Star Wars properties such as Rogue Squadron, Republic Commando, Obi-Wan and Mysteries Of The Sith #starwars #roguesquadron #lucasarts TWITTER- @kevindschmittTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:50 - Kevin's Time In The Industry Has Flown By03:00 - Biggest Changes In The Industry/Kevin's Early Years07:25 - AAA Games Size08:24 - Stories Of The Design For Star Wars Rogue Squadron11:50 - Mark Haigh Hutchinson Was A Great Leader15:40 - Importance Of Good Leadership/Making Multiple Projects At Once At LucasArts20:50 - How Designs Were Originally Mapped Out At LucasArts24:10 - Metroid Prime's HUD influenced Republic Commando's25:30 - How You Approach Design For Different Genres/FPS's Are Kevin's Bread & Butter27:00 - Frustration Of Creative Constraints With Star Wars IP/Ideas Being Shot Down32:30 - LucasArts Vault With Sacred Phantom Menace Info/ Team Seeing A Rough Cut Of Phantom Menace36:00 - The Process Of Pitching Games37:20 - Kevin Shows Off LucasArts Game Design Folders/Archiving39:30 - Phantom Menace Game Idea That Didnt Pan Out41:50 - Approach To Halo Campaign Vs Multiplayer44:15 - How Kevin Became A Writer48:20 - Kevin's Thoughts On ChatGPT51:40 - Vetting Leaders In The Game Industry/The Industry Doesn't Allow Discussions Of Failures55:00 - Post Mortem At The End Of A Game Project58:20 - Leaders Recognising Their Own Faults/Mark Recognising His Strengths & Weaknesses1:00:15 - Being Confrontation When You Aren't A Confrontational Person1:01:25 - A Cohesive Team Is The Most Important Factor On A Project/Communication Differences1:04:30 - Republic Commando Team Being Told Their Being Laid Off When The Project Finishes1:06:40 - Where To Follow Kevin Schmitt

A new challenger approaches! Introducing the overrated and underappreciated Alex, aka Kurunir. Can he cook with the big dogs or will he have to get out of the kitchen? The notorious piano man shows up to play his somber tune, which you do NOT want to miss. Can Matt pronounce anything from Star Wars right? Grab your life saver and deflect this blaster bolt of a podcast into your ears!Support the showhttps://linktr.ee/thefirsthourpodcast

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new series on 1991's Eye of the Beholder, from Westwood Studios and published by Strategic Simulations Inc. We set the game in its time before exploring its primary mechanics and the feel of being in this world. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: First level or two Issues covered: knowing who the evil is, tactical top down Gold Box, the opening cutscene, being amazed at how much they get into the Game Boy version of a Metroid game, lots of movie tie-ins, a wide variety of machines, lack of automap, being everything one wanted for a Forgotten Realms nerd, one of the ten games, semi real-time, living inside the depths of Waterdeep, a style of play which continues today, having to rest immediately, gaining information through audio, uncovering the whole map vs racing towards the goal, tournament play, losing is fun, the only way out is through, annotating a later map, interacting with the play space, accessibility and the mouse, contextualization and abstraction in game design, having to throw weapons in the world, how cool the audio is, using items to locate yourself, creating a party, crunchy spells, shout-outs to upcoming work, difficulty in the bosses in Metroid games then and now, games influencing games, getting the green light, justifying the game via the sweet spot of trends, why not just make this a Star Wars game, how green lighting changes with bigger franchises, games that changed our perspectives. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Gold Box games, Westwood Studios, Dune 2, A Link to the Past, Super Castlevania IV, SNES, Mega Man 4, Final Fantasy IV, Metroid II: Return of Samus (and Metroid series), Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega Genesis, Battletoads, Rare, Stamper Bros, Civilization, Another World, Space Quest IV, Monkey Island 2, Wing Commander 2, Hudson Hawk, Terminator 2, American Gladiators, Hunt for Red October, The Godfather, Amiga, PC-98, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Apple ][, Spectrum ZX, Amstrad, Questron, Disney, Legend of Kyrandia, Command and Conquer (series), Electronic Arts, Earth and Beyond, Louis Castle, Brett Sperry, Strategic Simulations Incorporated, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Pool of Radiance, The Ruins of Myth Drannor, Ultima (series), Wizardry (series), A Bard's Tale (series), Ultima Underworld, Dungeon Master, Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest (series), Diablo, Wasteland, Temple of Elemental Evil, Legend of Grimrock, Etrian Odyssey (series), The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, The Tomb of Horrors, Infocom, Ocarina of Time, Rogue, Deluxe Paint, Baldur's Gate, Jarkko Sivula, Single Malt Apocalypse, Sierra, LucasArts, Wierd Tales, Amazing Stories, Tintin, Pippin Barr, David Wolinsky, Game Thing, The Stuff Games Are Made Of, Walker, Dark Souls, Nintendo, Skyrim, Breath of the Wild, Johnny Pockets, Mad Max, Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, Republic Commando, Sam and Max: Freelance Police, Bounty Hunter, RTX Red Rock, Gladius, PlayStation, Tomb Raider (series), Halo: Infinite, Quake, MYST, Lode Runner, Sabotage, Robotron 2084, Joust, Dark Forces, WoW Classic, Everquest, MUD, Ultima Online, Meridian 59, Adventure, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: more Eye of the Beholder! Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub Discord  DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we add a bonus to our series on Metroid Prime by looking into Metroid Fusion, before turning to the mail bag. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Almost all of it Issues covered: the space jump boots, connectivity with the GBA, Metroid nostalgia, a hardcore game, GBA architecture, moving goalposts, kinship between Metroid and Legend of Zelda, snacking on Dread, an A bug in a final room, code save states, a limited control set and linear upgrades, having keycards/security access, Samus's lack of agency, changing what you think about the character, enjoying the setting, not knowing where to go, not thinking about space in a particular way, host origin stories, roles we've had, leaving for opportunities, burning out, a book club for games, keeping up with technology, learning languages, not being able to share what we're doing yet, how we keep going, hitting versions of writer's block, context shifting, being good with just a small amount of work, project doldrums, mental thinking, sometimes you just need idle time, gaining perspective via sharing, asking why questions, shifting between productivity approaches, disguised linearity, games where the level design pulls you along, trusting the developers and trusting your players, player empowerment, games we didn't get, not enjoying the controller for FPSes but changing later, getting revved up by programming and needing cooldowns. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Blarg42, TheSecondQuest, Game Boy Advance, Pokemon Stadium, Zelda: Four Sword, Crystal Chronicle, PacMan, Splinter Cell, Tingle Tuner, Legend of Zelda, Mercury Steam, Dead Space, Event Horizon, Team Ninja, Tomonobu Itagaki, Kyleanderror13, Republic Commando, Star Wars: Starfighter, LucasArts, Tomb Raider, Jonathan Williams, Bethesda Game Studios, Fallout 3, Mario (series), Rebel FM, Naughty Dog, Looking Glass, System Shock 2, Irrational Games, Soren Johnson, Civ 3, GamaSutra/Game Developer, Sixty Second Shooter Prime, Jamie Fristrom, PlayStation Vita, Commander Keen, Luke, RPG Maker, Bvron, Fumito Ueda, Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian, Ocarina of Time, Link to the Past, Arcane Studios, Dishonored, Prey, Death Loop, Planescape: Torment, Castlevania, Dead Cells, Hollow Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest, Dark Souls, Jarkko Sivula, GoldenEye, Demon's Souls, Resident Evil, Nathan Martz, Final Fantasy (series), Dungeons & Dragons, Trespasser, Skyrim, Minecraft, Dragon Quest Builders, Valheim, Dwarf Fortress, Joel Burgess, Capy Games, Ubisoft, Watch Dogs, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: TBA! Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on Metroid Prime. We discuss the visor modes, the pleasing arc of the end game, and other topics before we turn to our takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Finished the game! Issues covered: the face of the Metroid Prime core, reflecting the art of Samus in the environment or creatures, seventeen films in five and a half days, vision modes in games, using vision modes for boss fights and other uses, what is that sound you're hearing?, scanning to get the riddles, using this as a blueprint to figure out other things to do, using the Chozo descriptions to find the artifacts, having the sense of empowerment returning to the areas, not needing to move the goalposts, the toppled tower and other setpieces, a game about seeing, scanning the totems as an unlock, the prophecy of the chosen/Chozo one, where these games connect together, Omega Pirate adding visors to combat, love/hate and the Ridley battle, those Switch joy-cons, learning the pattern recognition, not being sure where your collision ends, finding depth in the movement system, having a final boss that's a little easier, Tim totally misses me saying "that's how we roll" in our Metroid series, translating into a new genre and going their own way, excellent art direction, making the 3D work, the importance of craftmanship, the controller matters, making a business model choice. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Mark Haigh-Hutchison, Marvel (film series), Star Wars, Republic Commando, Mortal Kombat (series), Arkham (series), Assassin's Creed (series), Dr. Who, Morrowind, Halo, Eternal Darkness, Brad Furminger, Everybody Switch, Nintendo Labo, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: Bonus content! Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

The Bad Batch episode 14 finally put us back on track with the story and revealed to us Gregor's arc. We got to see the start of the stormtroopers as well as Scorch from Republic Commando! Let's dive into this breakdown and discuss all easter eggs and every detail I can find. What a great episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we take a short break from our series on Metroid Prime to catch up on the mail bag. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Issues covered: GoldenEye, Republic Commando influences, tracking data in games, informing your decisions, figuring out what to do with your data, Arecibo radio telescope, feeling like we're in the game, a favorite multiplayer mode, socially playing GoldenEye, choosing weapons for Dead Space, keeping your enemies closer in Dead Space for tension, what's with all the remakes, why you might do a remake, not enjoying older media, training your new generation of creators, likening GoldenEye 007 to a heist, quicktime events, systemic approaches to spectacle, players knowing they are playing a boring game, feedback through animation, "breaking the game," acceptable frame rates, not feeling the 60Hz, picking a goal and sticking with it, taking a village to fix frame rate, finding the frame rate that makes sense for your game, new funding models, GamePass and 150 million monthly active users, hidden objectives in games, the fun of discovering an objective, cost accessibility and game sales. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: GoldenEye 007, gonsalet, DOOM (1993), Quake, MDK, Outlaws, Nintendo 64, Nintendo Switch, Republic Commando, Halo, Rainbox Six: Rogue Spear, SWAT 4, Irrational Games, Ken Levine, Freedom Fighters, IO Interactive, Star Wars, Unreal, Alex Epton, Deus Ex, The Walking Dead, The Art of Live Ops, Maple Story, World of Warcraft, Steve Meretzky, Infocom, Sam Bates, Sean Bean, Contact, Assassin's Creed, Brett Baptist, Blarg42, Dead Space, Capcom, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, System Shock, Callisto Protocol, Ian Milham, Shadow of the Colossus, Medi-evil, Link's Awakening, Call of Duty, Daron Stinnett, Electronic Arts, Michael, Arkham Asylum, God of War, Dark Souls, From Russia With Love, Hidetaka Miyazaki, Warzone, Fortnite, Rare Studios, Grant Kirkhope, mysterydip, Tears of the Kingdom, Skyrim, Eric Johnston, Starfighter, Breath of the Wild, Microsoft, Activision/Blizzard, Bobby Kotick, Artimage, Jedi Starfighter, TimeSplitters 2, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: Back to Metroid Prime Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub Discord  DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we start a new series on Metroid Prime, which we are playing via the Nintendo Switch remaster. We set the game in its time, talk a little bit about Retro, and then wall jump into the action of the tutorial area. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Until you arrive on Tallon IV Issues covered: Tim's purging, Western developers making FPSes for Japanese publishers, basing things on the lock-on, a game set apart by art direction, a ban on 2002, Brett's bookend years, the Capcom 5, the games for GameCube, being in the helmet, attach rate, top sales, reminiscing about a former colleague, the transition to 3D and Mark HH to support, seeing the potential for the game beneath the engine, ripping away ownership of the FPS, returning to the 2D formula, doling out their lesser selling properties a bit at a time, starting with all the gadgets, taking notes when you play a Metroid game, adding accessibility via the lock-on, locking on without a target, scanning as the second thing, good world building and boss teasing, teaching you how to fight with a simple boss, the amazing music and audio design, getting to look through the helmet, augmenting the sense of embodiment, finding community in an MMO, design for addictiveness, having an engaging game and then making something punishing, taking a game too far, the golden mean, ethical free-to-play, game metrics, key performance indicators, costs of people who play a game too much, designing to encourage people to step away from time to time, the humble origins of the James Bond theme,  Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: GoldenEye 007, Splatoon, Capcom, Lost Planet, Retro Studios, Halo, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Eternal Darkness, Ratchet & Clank, Morrowind, Animal Crossing, Kingdom Hearts, Timesplitters 2, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, 2015 Games, Infinity Ward, Jedi Knight 2, NOLF 2, BF1942, GameCube, Wind Waker, Resident Evil, Super Mario Sunshine, James Bond 007: Nightfire, Metroid Fusion, Dark Cloud 2, Sly Cooper & Thievious Raccoonus, Splinter Cell, Warcraft III, Neverwinter Nights, Jedi Starfighter, LucasArts, Resident Evil 4, Republic Commando, Metroid Dread, Nintendo Switch, LoZ: Tears of the Kingdom, Geist, Shadows of the Empire, Mark Haigh-Hutchinson, Jon Knowles, Shigeru Miyamoto, MegaForce, Super Mario 64, LoZ: Ocarina of Time, Wired magazine, DOOM (1993), Metroid: Samus Returns, Bandai/Namco, Metroid: Other M, Mario Kart 8, Breath of the Wild, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Arkham Asylum, Unreal, Colin "The Shots," World of Warcraft, Everquest, Marvel Snap, 343 Industries, June, Aristotle, Super Mario Galaxy, Sony, Star Wars: Galaxies, Raph Koster, Ultima Online, Calamity Nolan, James Bond, Guy Morgan, Monty Norman, Bad Sign/Good Sign, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr. Biswas, John Barry, Grant Kirkhope, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: Check the Discord! Links: The James Bond origin track Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub Discord: https://t.co/h7jnG9J9lz DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on GoldenEye 007. We talk about the shelf-level event, running towards the end, and some wonky controller stuff. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Finished the SP game! Issues covered: Moneypenny presentation, illness, leveraging the Switch N64 save states, the scene on the train, using the laser watch, not how trains work, lack of lock-on, camera assist, twenty brackets, getting a head start on the puzzle, the feel of the train, designing for your strengths rather than throwing in something new, the pains of playing retro games, the maximum throw vs the minimum throw, overcorrection due to overacceleration, autoleveling, tuning the sticks before hitting the emulator level, the three Cs -- character/camera/controls, typical Nintendo re-releases vs emulation, leaning into the fantasy fulfillment of being Bond, the diagetic interface of the watch, the health/shields in full-screen and reflecting the watch, being in your face about critical information, levels becoming more linear at the very end, affordances for the game, a survey of the last few levels, trying to reflect the movie, secret agent levels you want to be in, the final setting and a good pay-off, the real dish, scaling the difficulty with objectives, relying on QA, the fantasy satisfaction of relentlessly heading towards the end, not crediting the face scans, evolving crediting standards, playing multiplayer, Tim the spirit animal, the Big Wheel, trying to focus on the thing that's new, taking my retirement in stages, Tim and his dang bandit knife, earning every mile, asymmetrical multiplayer, difficulty and objectives, mutators and other means of changing difficulty, multiplayer customization, arcade transition. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Daniel Craig, Naomie Harris (apologies to Thandiwe Newton and Ms Harris), Uncharted, Dead Space, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Okami, Dwarf Fortress, LucasArts, Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, GameCube, Half-Life, Valve, Deus Ex (series), Halo, Republic Commando, Jedi Knight, Fallout 3, Matt Tateishi, Adventure, Colin "The Shots" Tougas, Shenmue, Dreamcast, Indiana Jones, UbiSoft, Dark Cloud 2, Travis McGee, Dark Souls, Death Stranding, Bounty Hunter, Outlaws, Jeffrey Sondin-King (Pinecone), Troy, Crystal Dynamics, Celeste, System Shock 2, Silent Scope, Dino Crisis, Kingdom Hearts, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: GoldenEye MP  Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub Discord invite DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new series on 1997's Rare classic, GoldenEye 007. We set the game in its time before getting down to brass tacks, including comparing the experience to the film. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: First full mission (three levels) Issues covered: the license, a bit about the film and the film series, 1997 in games, the flourishing of the first person shooter, late in a console cycle, disparity between PC FPSes and console FPSes, Rare with a lot of games and a lot of further game studios, missing the original controller, remapping shenanigans, threading the needle on a film adaptation, filling in gaps in the license, choosing your exciting set piece, wide level design, the triple cut, Hong Kong cinema, cinematic choices, contrasting with later cinematic games, how many mechanics will you incorporate, chasing this game, choosing different presentation, showing death the character death, an era of accessibility needs recognition, at last listening to our hate mail. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Nintendo, Fatal Frame, PlayStation, Pierce Brosnan, Nintendo 64, Sean Bean, Famke Janssen, Alan Cumming, Judi Dench, Desmond Llewelyn, Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Craig, Skyfall, Diablo, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Fallout, Quake, SW: Jedi Knight: DF2, Blood, Outlaws, Turok, Shadow Warrior, Hexen II, Raven Software, 3D Realms, GT Interactive, Duke Nuke'em, Postal, Curse of Monkey Island, Age of Empires, The Last Express, Final Fantasy VII, Colony Wars, Wing Commander: Prophecy, Riven, MYST, XvT, Interstate '76, Mario Kart 64, OddWorld, Grand Theft Auto, Gran Turismo, Diddy Kong Racing, The Stamp brothers, NES, Slalom, Wizards and Warriors, Battletoads, Killer Instinct, Perfect Dark, Microsoft, Viva Pinata, Banjo Kazooie (series), Donkey Kong Country, Silicon Graphics, Timesplitters, Free Radical, John Romero, Majora's Mask, Minish Cap, Metroid Fusion, The Fugitive, Harrison Ford, Mission: Impossible, John Woo, Hard Target, Broken Arrow, Face Off, Metal Gear Solid, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Alpha Protocol, Telltale Games, IO Interactive, Machine Games, Colin "The Shots," Devil May Cry, Dark Souls, Celeste, Luke Harris, Tetris 64, Starfighter/JSF, 343 Industries, Kingdom Hearts (series), Republic Commando, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: More GoldenEye 007 Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we elaborate our series on Rogue by looking at one that continues its legacy, that is, Rogue Legacy 2. It's right there in the name! Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: A few hours (well, about a dozen for Brett) Issues covered: Rogue-likes and Rogue-lites, comparing it a bit with Spelunky, the journal in Spelunky, games like it Tim has played, getting something out of runs, unlocking character types, bespoke levels vs tiled spaces and level generation, kitchen sink design, the clarity of the legacy, the punishment of starting over from scratch, not feeling like I got any further, quality of life improvements, the many ways you can make choices, terrific music, seeing your life flash before your eyes, humorous traits, saying yes to everything, sequel polish, the verb mix, grinding here vs JRPGs, improving skills, wrapping Rogue elements, multiple currencies, maintaining the Rogue with taking the gold, psychology of gold, removing a pillar and losing some enjoyment, knowing someone who beat Rogue, beating Darth Vader, an emergent property of Rogue, making a game you could play yourself, the cleverness and wondering how deep it can go, the punishment of Dark Souls and the progression layer, preferring an endpoint, long-term commitment, other Rogues to check out, a discussion of kit-bashing, kit-bashing and the art department, model kits and the origin of the term, kit-bashing in film, learning to parry. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Spelunky, Clue (obliquely), Colin Northway (obliquely), Dead Cells, Castlevania, Darius Kazemi, Oliver Uv, Cellar Door, PlayStation Vita, Dark Souls, Hades, Humphrey Bogart, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Darren Johnson, TIE Fighter, Derek Yu, Boss Fight Books, Sebastian Deken, Final Fantasy VI, Civilization, Paul Pierce, Haden Blackman, Diablo, njallain, Roguelike Celebration, International Roguelike Convention, Brogue, Caves of Qud, Gamma World, Cogmind, Michael Brough, 868-HACK, mysterydip, Maas Neotek Prototype, Ian Milham, Dead Space, Bethesda Game Studios, Fallout (series), Skyrim, Republic Commando, Star Wars, Industrial Light & Magic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Bloodborne, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: TBA! Links: Darius Kazemi on Generating Spelunky Caves of Qud and Wave Function Collapse Brogue's Mechanisms Michael Brough on Roguelikes Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub Discord: https://t.co/YVZOe7ZygI DevGameClub@gmail.com

Here's a Recap of The Bad Batch Season 1  The Bad Batch episode 14 finally put us back on track with the story and revealed to us Gregor's arc. We got to see the start of the stormtroopers as well as Scorch from Republic Commando! Let's dive into this breakdown and discuss all easter eggs and every detail I can find. What a great episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 2008's space survival horror game Dead Space. We talk about the fantasy of competence and the grounded elements of the tasks, and contrast that a little bit with the spells. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: A few more chapters Issues covered: a weird D&D one-shot, the player insert character, rebooting Space Quest, being in the right place at the right time, hitting all the tropes, set dressing to make a space feel lived-in, Tim makes an unintentional pun, diagetics around the map, committing to the level load, audio design, a sense of game development craft in earlier survival horror vs a more polished modern game, set pieces with slight difficulty spikes, learning the hard way that goop slows you down, a natural way to put timers in, perfect feedback, in space no one can hear you scream, everything coming together in one section, hearing the centrifuge in the outer hallway, the player recognizing his changes, paralleling the original mystery and narrative design, the hallway with the banging, changing the light levels as you pass into an area, delivering the space walk under constraints, teaching you that you can only go short distances, being deflating, landmarks and their lack, getting disoriented and having a moment of not knowing where to go, power nodes as keys to rooms, only soothing my OCD brain, designers liking the psychology of giving up a thing, unnecessary and manipulative friction, spells/Jedi powers, motivating the science fiction, "I slow the enemies down to make it easier to cut their limbs off," getting better at the player skills, a remote worker butcher, maybe breaking the game, echoing the monsters in the static of video communication, Drunk Souls. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Extra Life, Dungeons & Dragons, Child's Play, Half-Life (series), Star Wars, Liam Neeson, Space Quest, Alien (series), BioShock, Event Horizon, Mass Effect, Alien Isolation, Resident Evil, Republic Commando, Star Trek (obliquely), Lance Henriksen, Ian Holm, Nintendo Wii, Patrick Redding, Prey, Skyrim, God of War, Pipe Dream, Artimage, Dark Souls, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: A week off, then more chapters! Links: Artimage's Twitch and Extra Life challenge Karrokay on the Heath One-Shot Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new series on 2008's EA space horror game Dead Space. We position it in a change in Electronic Arts at the time (having just done another game from 2008) and then get into the spookiness of it all. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Chapter 1 Issues covered: Halloween Longo shenanigans, doubling down on 2008, the limits of the podcast, Electronic Arts at the time, shifting to new IP and building creative teams, conservatism as a publisher, building the IP and then owning it, starting with the horror, being direct vs being baroque, overly antagonistic actors, setting up the story by using existing tropes, the janitor, another version of diagetics, excellent character design, a third-person character who doesn't speak, cohesive character, picking science fiction influences from places, rough spots on the onboarding, being cohesive with character and setting, constraints driving their design and resources, a single location story, fish out of water but using the tools you have, building survival horror into the bones, holographic UI, technical benefits, who was the innovator, stealing like an artist, committing to the bit, a short but sweet review, hearing your language in a game, permadeath and Far Cry 2, Extra Life. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Jean-Luc Picard, Aw Jeez, Dark Souls, Lord of the Rings, EA Spouse, Star Wars, Bioware, John Riccitello, Mirror's Edge, Dante's Inferno, Harry Potter, Warner Bros, George Lucas, Resident Evil (series), Bill Paxton (RIP), Far Cry 2, BioShock, Visceral Entertainment, God of War, The Evil Within 2, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Callisto Protocol, Alien, Sunshine, Event Horizon, Glen Schofield, Ian Milham, Prey, System Shock 2, Republic Commando, Gears of War, Kill Zone, Kill Switch, Max42357, Raymond, SimCity 2000, Masuhiro Sakurai, Jeffool, Clint Hocking, Manveer Heir, Ben Abraham, Extra Life, Artimage, Lani Lum, Ocarina of Time, Monolith, Dungeons & Dragons, Joel Gifford, Troy Mashburn, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: Chapter 2-5 Links: Masuhiro Sakurai's YT English link Destructoid on Far Cry 2 and permadeath Ben Abraham's FC2 Permadeath Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we turn to a second bonus interview with Patrick Redding, credited as Story Designer on Far Cry 2, though we would tend to call that a Narrative Designer today. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Podcast breakdown: 0:45 Interview 1:16:50 Break 1:17:20 Outro Issues covered: happening to start listening at the right time, a background in physics, avoiding computer programming, applying problem-solving skills, hearing about new media, exploring story and design through tabletop, thinking about how to incorporate story into existing games, coming on to an existing team, getting thrown into the deep end, why you'd drop the PS2, string of pearls, wanting to reinvent the wheel, tearing apart the macro structure of the game and piecing it back together, moving from camera designer to narrative designer as a field promotion, shipping another retail game while joining a second, not designing the story but tightening the linkage between authored content and player-driven play, waterfall vs iterative and maintaining consistency, making a shooter and not an rpg, systemically reflecting the choices of PCs and growing out that modularity to the whole game, hitting thresholds and dealing with levels of chaos to expose the Jackal, freedom being required in time *and* space, anteing up your buddies, counterpressure and infamy, analog parameters becoming indistinguishable from random, the main wager of putting your buddy in play, a real deal-breaker for the PC, carrying through everything to achieve a pressure dynamic, having far more underlying variables to affect, the simulation of sensibility, offloading computation to the player brain for narrative meaning, creating a narrative from a sports team, the difficulty of getting parseable human interactions in games, thinking about the approach and where the tension is coming from, pie-slice approach and shells of interaction, the emotional whiplash of going from closing mode and tempo to passivity, the big switch, enjoying the camaraderie, narrative design vs writing, the emergence of narrative design in the industry, changing expectations when you ship. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Clint Hocking, UbiSoft, Splinter Cell (series), Gotham Knights, Apple ][e, Dungeons & Dragons, GURPS, Xbox, PS2, Greg Gobbi, Jeff Hattem, Tuque Games/Invoke Studios, Hasbro, Nic Eypert, Richard Dansky, Tom Clancy, Red Storm Entertainment, White Wolf, Republic Commando, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Black, Jean-Francois Dugas, Eidos Montreal (Onoma), Guardians of the Galaxy, Deus Ex, Heart of Darkness, Yojimbo, Red Harvest, Dashiell Hammett, Call of Duty 2, Battlefield 1942, Jonathan Morin, Watch Dogs (series), Thief, The Walking Dead, Telltale Games, Metal Gear Solid V (or V), Dead Space, The Callisto Protocol, Glen Schofield, Striking Distance, Dark Souls, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: Dead Space (2008) Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Far Cry 2. We talk about some more systems in the game as we plan to play the descended versions and present our takeaways next week. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Midpoint (Brett) and more (Tim) Issues covered: gun loot and such in the ongoing series, the elimination of friction, putting the objective marker far from the quest giver, the efficiency of taking out a checkpoint, intrinsic rewards vs other intrinsic rewards, the gun aspects, everything being diagetic, driving with the map in your lap, everything is entropic including you, consistency of vision, cars and physics, the pinging audio in a Datsun-like car, putting the systems in the game, the length of system loops, wanting degradation/negative feedback to be because of something you did, forcing dramatic moments, the distinction of player initiation, malaria mechanics, progressing the game, pressures on the player for styles of play, being trained by faction gameplay, living your best murderous life, "No Russian," feeling black and white about the Jackal, a bold commitment to a backdrop, mad libbing the missions, a game meant to be played once, endangering your experience, everything is may-mays, early dynamic storytelling, slurs about the player, being edgy and gritty, not being able to feel the impact, thinness of representation, the limit of lived experiences, the messaging around Mass Effect, feeling too derivative, sci-fi soup, lack of ideology/motivation, resonating with the structure, player insertion, lack of narrowing of options, the series of grey decisions, being able to identify a franchise from just one scene. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Ghost Recon (series), Diablo, System Shock 2, Fallout (series), Breath of the Wild, Left 4 Dead, Gears of War, Reed Knight, Tim Ramsay, Republic Commando, The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger, Call of Duty (obliquely), Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now, Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, The Witcher, Patrick Redding, Skyrim, The Walking Dead, Sean Vanaman, Jake Rodkin, The Lord of the Rings, Ian McKellen, Rocksteady, Arkham (series), Papers Please, Lucas Pope, Return of the Obra-Dinn, Dark Souls, The Honorable T. H. Isismyre Alname, Mass Effect, KotOR, Bioware, Star Wars, Star Trek, Jeff Cannata, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: Far Cry 2+ Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new series on UbiSoft's 2008 series-establishing classic, Far Cry 2. We set it in its time, and talk a bit about shifting engine wars and attendant publisher/developer drama, before briefly getting into the tutorial. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: The Tutorial Issues covered: the UbiSoft open world formula, picking your UbiSoft ur-game, engine wars, branched engine work, getting into or out of the engine game, the open world first person shooter, a brief overview of Clint Hocking's career, games of 2008, grindhouse games, commitment to the first-person aesthetic, picking your character, setting their games in fictional countries, embracing African conflict, expositional value, setting up the chaotic situation, the diagetics of the game, mercenaries coming in, malarial effects, showing the systems, fire propagation, wishing they'd lean into the politics, disclaiming the team diversity to avoid political, having your cake and eating it too, tending to avoid modern realistic settings as players, the sales of the historical era, video game tourism, presenting variables, the diagetic map, the implicit simulated world and how the games get away from that, the onboarding, performance and enemy count and music, gatekeeping around what's a game, games where the interactivity shines through or justifies the choice to make it a game, putting clues together, simple choices that personalize, accretion effects, moments of calm, taking your decisions forward, being forced to the golden path. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: SimCity, Xbox 360, UbiSoft, Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed (series), Ghost Recon (series), Watch Dogs (series), Rainbow 6 (series), Rayman, Beyond Good & Evil, Michel Ancel, CryTek, CryEngine, Dungeons & Dragons, Crysis, Dunia Engine, Hunt: Showdown, Lumberyard, id Software, Epic Games, Unreal Championship, Quake 4, Source Engine, Clint Hocking, Patrick Redding, Splinter Cell (series), Gotham Knights, Fallout 3, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Eric Lindstrom, Harley Baldwin White-Wiedow, Republic Commando, Left 4 Dead, GTA IV, MGS 4, Devil May Cry 4, Condemned 2: Bloodshot, Alien: Isolation, Rock Band 2, Fable II, Gears of War 2, Little Big Planet, Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, Braid, World of Goo, Nintendo Wii, Mario Kart Wii, Super Smash Bros: Brawl, Spore, Army of Two, Kane and Lynch, Wet, BGS/Zenimax, Prince of Persia (2008), Half-Life, The Stanley Parable, Call of Duty (series), Megaman 3, Oliver Uv, mysterydip, Castlevania IV, Final Fantasy VI, Will Wright, Ashton Hermann, The Red Strings Club, Deconstructeam, The Witcher III, Gone Home, Firewatch, The Walking Dead, Uncharted 2, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Mass Effect, June, Dark Souls, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: More Far Cry 2 Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new series on that classic sim, SimCity. We very briefly situate it in time and talk a little bit about Will Wright before talking over some of the strangeness that is this game (or toy). Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Tutorials or A Few Cities Issues covered: which version and why, establishing the SimUniverse, Wright and describing his design process, a good representative for our art form, a simulated ant farm toy, setting it in its time, licensed titles, the origins of the game in practice and in theory, a wide variety of influences, industrial design, where other designers get their influences, working in a space with other designers, picking your battles and choosing conflict, different sims being developed at the same time, legacies, a recognizable space, playing with it like a toy, setting your own goals, differences in the motivation for play, a very Western lens, making assumptions and scope, a Christian church as a statement, designing to constraints, what you're building and what you're not, meeting the citizens' concerns, zoning and pipes and infrastructure, how cities grow in reality and the intersection with history, the newspaper as a conduit for information and setting and feel, the weird content in the newspaper, advisors and the pulse of the people, being grounded, the things that are your concern, budgets and taxes and deficits, audio associated with taxes, "Read my lips: no new taxes," being careful with incentives, replaying MegaMan levels, audio budgets, the names and lore of MegaMan, listening to music when you code, generated art, humans as creators and consumers of art, art as conversation and exploration, enjoying procedurally created levels and worlds, AI assistant tools, kudos to the hosts, being humbled by how our games touch people. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Will Wright, The Sims (series), MAXIS, Spore, SimAnt, SimCopter, SimTower, SimEarth, MegaMan 2/X, Prince of Persia, Populous, Tetris, GameBoy, Castlevania (series), Star Trek: The Next Generation, Batman (1989), MYST, DOOM, Day of the Tentacle, Star Fox, Secret of Mana, The 7th Guest, Bill Gates, Link's Awakening, Raid on Bungeling Bay, John Romero, Christopher Alexander, A Pattern Language, Urban Dynamics, Star Wars, Alien, June Longo, Shigeru Miyamoto, Pikmin, Legend of Zelda (series), Civilization, Populous, Sid Meier, Black & White, Dungeon Keeper, Cities: Skylines, X-COM, Dark Souls, Mrs Reckis, mysterydip, The2ndQuest, NES, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, OCRemix, Metal Gear Solid, Valheim, Minecraft, Parham, Republic Commando, Skyrim, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: More hours? Hard to know how to schedule this one :) Links: -Mega Man 2 (Original Version) by The Minibosses (metal medley of MM2 tracks) -Mega Man 2: Tickle My Wily by Star Salzman (kind of an epic orchestral/electronica OCRemix piece) -Cataclysmic Clash by Game Over (MM3-inspired, but quotes recurring music from MM2- also has lyrics!) -Mega Man X Guitar Medley by FamilyJules Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 2011's Dark Souls. We talk about some bosses, exploration, and our quest for humanity. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Brett: 66h, level 75 Tim: 21h, level 30ish Podcast breakdown: 0:48 Dark Souls 1:01:57 Break 1:02:23 Feedback Issues covered: that dang mimic, Brett's fistful of rings, Tim the Tree and moth killer, production budget, the cost of polishing any given encounter, making specific choices about your systems and how they interact with the level design, forcing the player to think about how to use the space, farming to have equipment, the things Tim has that I don't have, running through the Firelink Shrine to get elsewhere, the game trolling you with resources, rushing and pushing too hard and dying, Tim one-shots the Butterfly trading off with a bow, the area beyond the Crest of Astorias, changing strategy mid-game, being able to self-balance, clearing a whole area and feeling powerful and accomplished, similarities to MMOs, the "no way" moment of a shortcut, encountering a sad demon, admiring the majesty of some of the bosses, understanding the impact of the game, more polish and usability choices, giving permission to return to run-based games, learning telegraphs vs being given telegraphs, Brett is old, the birthday gift for Tim, stripping down mechanics and watering down, not really hurting the bottom line, being numb to your own game, losing perspective, making games for yourself, finding the balance for a different audience, being proud of Fumitsu ratings. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Assassin's Creed, Nintendo, Prince of Persia, Elden Ring, World of Warcraft, Shadow of the Colossus, Half-Life, Studio Ghibli, Capcom, Tunic, Legend of Zelda, Hollow Knight, Jedi: Fallen Order, Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Gothic Chocobo, Pokemon, Bethesda Game Studios, Fallout 3, Morrowind, Dungeons & Dragons, Artimage, Skyrim, Republic Commando, Hidetaka Miyazaki, Bloodborne, Sekiro, CoD: Modern Warfare, Fumitsu, Starfighter (series), Metal Gear, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: More Dark Souls! Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new series on Dark Souls, the 2011 breakout from From Software. We briefly set it in its time before going on to make our characters and discuss the outset of the game. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: A few hours (Brett: 3, Tim: 6) Podcast breakdown: 0:49 Dark Souls 56:52 Break 57:25 Reviews & Feedback Issues covered: an exception, the thing we mention all the time, the look of Western fantasy tropes by Japanese developers, exaggerated architecture and the third person perspective, working on the same style of game for so long, picking female characters, pushing against normal choices, picking classes and not understanding what all the stats mean, cheesing the final boss in Demons's Souls, picking a rogue character, figuring out what the builds are, not being a transparent game, accentuating the moment to moment, punishing gratification, allowing players to customize the experience, the in-game messages that other players can leave, tutorialization messages, beautiful grotesquerie, series that don't maintain consistency, whether you can plunge on the Taurus Demon, a Singing Review, the mudcrab merchant and all the books in Skyrim, lore reasons, a listener makes his own game, lack of accessibility vs usability, vibrancy in a medium, stagnation, "I guess this is my life now, I'm Dracula," rebuilding a temple in Morrowind, being pointed in the direction of everything vs not, being grabbed by the weird friction. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Elden Ring, Portal 2, Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, L.A. Noire, Rockstar, Team Bondi, LoZ: Skyward Sword, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Bastion, Limbo, Rayman: Origins, Skyrim, Morrowind, Microsoft, Bioshock, Amy Hennig, Nintendo 3DS, Switch, Metroid Dread, From Software, Hidetaka Miyazaki, Bandai Namco, King's Field, Dragon's Dogma, Monster Hunter World, Shadow of the Colossus, Ico, Dungeons & Dragons, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Susanna Clarke, God of War, Hideo Kojima, Resident Evil Village, Tunic, Baldur's Gate, Tomb Raider (series), Death Stranding, Sekiro, Bloodborne, mysterydip, Jeffool, Brian David Gilbert, LoZ: Ocarina of Time, Halo, Republic Commando, Frank O'Connor, LucasArts, Starfighter, Rogue Squadron, Warcraft, Zimmy Fingers, A Short Hike, Darren from Cleveland, Todd Howard, Calamity Nolan, Disney, Spike & Mike's, Pixar, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Nickelodeon, Adult Swim, The Book of Kells, Hayao Miyazaki, Logan, Lord of the Rings, The Witcher 3, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy (series), Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Links: Quote from Design Works book about the dragon design Skyrim's Top 5 Books Zimmy Fingers new game Next time: More Dark Souls! Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com