Podcast appearances and mentions of richard lemarchand

Dirk is joined by returning guest host Soren Johnson in today's episode in the Design Talk series. Dirk and Soren speak with Richard Lemarchand, distinguished game designer and now-professor most well-known for his work on the Uncharted series. Richard details his journey through his game design career, and the skills and processes he learned along the way. Special consideration is given to control design, and the importance of them on game feel and playability.

Take your seat everyone, class is about to start! This episode I am joined by Richard Lemarchand, professor in the USC Games program at the University of Southern California to discuss his recently released book called A Playful Production Process! We discussed the making of his book, what it was like to work with industry legends, how a new generation of video game makers are tackling game design and much more. Furthermore, we discuss the hero's journey, how Richard felt watching the Uncharted movie and I get to ask about the essential snacks he is missing out on since he moved to the US.  Time – Topic Discussed: 0:00 - Intro 02:29 - Guest topic: The books by Octavia Butler 08:52 - a playful design process  19:49 - Guest topic: The making of the book  21:52  - How did the design approach of students change over time? 21:56  - How has the perception of game development education changed? 24:48 - Seeing his students find successes on their own  29:00 - The change in perception in video game education 32:50  - The Meadow VR 36:20 - Seeing Uncharted sequels and the Uncharted movie 41:44 - Questioning the Hero's Journey 47:14 - Quiet moments vs. big showpiece scenes 52:30 - Providing feedback without demoralizing the receiver 56:12 - Snacks Richard can't get anymore 57:20 - Lessons learned 01:06:58 - Outro   Things mentioned on the show: Kindred by Octavia Butler Parable of the Sower by Ocativa Butler Parable of the Talents by Ocatvia Butler Xenogenesis Series by Octavia Butler Scary Mary Trailer On Writing by Steven King Game Feel by Steve Swink Heirloom by Abby Sherlock and Kathryn Yu The Meadow VR  The Klaxo Radio Hour Martzi's Homepage The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler loudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies   Social Media: Richard Lemarchand Richard Lemarchand on Twitter (@rich_lem) Richard Lemarchand on Instagram (rich_lem) The homepage of A Playful Production Process   YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Twitter (@youmeindustry) Dorian on Twitter (@DorianChou) YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Instagram (@youmeindustry) Dorian on Instagram (@dorian.chou) YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Facebook (youmeindustry) Intro/Outro by FreshMcZone Artwork by Thomas Martin (Instagram: @thomas.martin.martin)

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 2002's Morrowind. We talk about our own weird experiences some more, since we are essentially playing different games, and how we are feeling the intersection of different quest lines. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Another handful of hours Issues covered: down and out in Vivec City, getting around in an oddly constructed city, weather effects, lava in dwarven ruins and by the side of the road, whether there are arenas in every game, feeling like you found something secret, the way the writing tricks you about being special, assassination writs, getting map markers vs directions, chaining silt strider vs boats to locations, the most Bethesda hour and a half, finding a way out of Suran, walking your dad all the way through the world in Fallout 3, QAing while you play, bursting at the seams, you never forget your first assassination, a little short for a stormtrooper, Tim enters cheese mode, using the door trick, paying your way through quests, having to kill a whole family, the various reactions to assassination, returning to the dwarven ruin, is this my life now?, high sense of discovery, choosing what you want to spend your time on, modern games and the externalized question mark vs Morrowind and the internalized question mark, activating quests, decoupling race in D&D, buying your way into NPC's hearts, a mushy game, paying your crimes off or sitting in jail, being mechanically mushy to compensate for lack of DM, everything having a purpose, being approached by the Dunmer hare krishna, "have you heard the good word about Dagoth Ur?," dreaming and prophecy, simple quests with rich text, overlapping every location with multiple quest lines, keyword unlocking, "always be sneaking," "we don't care if they finish the story," having your own story, some feedback about technical terms. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Knights of the Old Republic, Assassin's Creed (series), The Walking Dead, Choose Your Own Adventure (series), Trevanian, Breath of the Wild, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Fallout 3, Star Wars (obliquely), Hitman (obliquely), Darren Johnson, TIE Fighter, Miller's Crossing, Resident Evil (series), Witcher III, Fallout (isometric series), Dungeons & Dragons, Le samourai, Dragon Quest Builders, Richard Lemarchand, Crystal Dynamics, Amy Henning, Soul Reaver, Naughty Dog, _cpjk, Resident Evil Village, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: Even More-owind Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

I welcome Richard Lemarchand from the USC Games program tonight. We begin by discussing his Associate Professor role in the USC School of Cinematic Arts and the recent release of his book, A Playful Production Process, for Game Designers (and Everyone). Hear about how he got his first job at MicroProse, the importance of psychology in game design, along with wishing he'd known how to manage projects better when starting. We discuss the effects of crunch, the importance of managing projects, and how his book is a textbook of his class covering intermediate level design and production.  We then share stories of outdated GDDs, Mark Cerny's Game Design Macro format, and moving over to Crystal Dynamics in the mid-90s to work on the Gex and Soul Reaver series. Hear about going over to Naughty Dog to work on Jax, the critically acclaimed Uncharted series, and how the game industry is really more like a dozen industries. Learn Rich's advice for game designers to understand psychology, systems dynamics, along with having T-shaped skills. Hear how soft skills were taught back at Crystal Dynamics, cultivating empathy, and treating others with respect. We then discuss Uncharted 2, his favorite game to work on, how well the team worked together, and the quality of the storytelling and the cast.  Hear about his interests in VR, immersive design, narrative design, and storytelling that doesn't involve violence as a core mechanic. We then discuss how crunch is the biggest threat to the industry, how it's getting better, and studios moving to the 4-day work week. Towards the end we get into a great story about promoting Uncharted 3, trivia about Jake's journal, and his recommended games - Subnautica, Boyfriend Dungeon, Beast Breaker, Jett, and Ring Fit Adventure. At the end we discuss music, the band XTC, the importance of audio, his book, how to get in contact with him, along with his parting advice.  Bio: Richard Lemarchand is an Associate Professor in the USC Games program at the University of Southern California, where he teaches game design, development, and production, and is working on a series of experimental virtual reality game design research projects as part of the USC Game Innovation Lab. Previously he was a lead game designer at Naughty Dog and led the design of all three PlayStation 3 games in the Uncharted series, including Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, winner of ten AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards, five Game Developers Choice Awards, four BAFTAs, and over 200 Game of the Year awards. He also worked on Jak 3 and Jak X: Combat Racing for Naughty Dog, and helped to create the game series Gex, Pandemonium, and Soul Reaver at Crystal Dynamics. He is also the author of a new book, A Playful Production Process, for Game Designers (and Everyone), published by the MIT Press in October 2021. Show Links: * A Playful Production Process, for Game Designers (and Everyone) MIT Press * USC Games program website * Jason VandenBerghe's 2013 GDC Talk YouTube  *Soul Reaver 2 wikipedia * Game Design Workshop Amazon * Mark Cerny wikipedia * Naughty Dog website * Jax X: Combat Racing wikipedia * Uncharted wikipedia * Thinking in Systems Amazon * T-Shaped Skills wikipedia * Young Horses website * The Well-Played Game Amazon * Subnautica website * Boyfriend Dungeon website * Beast Breaker Nintendo * Jett: The Far Shore website * Ring Fit Adventure Nintendo * XTC Spotify Connect Links: * Richard Lemarchand Twitter * Richard Lemarchand email * Richard Lemarchand website * Richard Lemarchand LinkedIn Game Dev Advice Links:  * New: Game Dev Advice Patreon - help support the show if you find it entertaining or useful * Game Dev Advice Twitter * Game Dev Advice email (info@gamedevadvice.com) * Game Dev Advice website * Level Ex website - we're hiring * Game Dev Advice Hotline: (224) 484-7733, give a call! * Subscribe and go to the website full show notes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In one of the best and most random episodes we're ever recorded, Chris and Ari are joined by game dev consultant Joe Quadara! After reading a bit about Joe's history in the video game industry, Chris reached out to see if he wanted to talk to a few bird trainers about building high-functioning teams and successfully sharing critical feedback with others. We talk about how healthy competition can breed camaraderie, the importance of replacing "no, and here's why..." with "yes, if...", and benefit of not being afraid to "kill your babies." Who knew that the video game and professional animal care industries had so many things in common??? To read a sample from Jason Schreier's book Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry, click here. For more information about Richard Lemarchand's new book A Playful Production Process, click here.  Got a question or an idea for a future episode of the show? Drop us at email at podcast@naturalencounters.com!

In this episode, we speak with Richard Lemarchand. Richard is an accomplished video game designer and an Associate Professor in the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He was a lead game designer at Naughty Dog, where he helped to create the Uncharted series. He also created the game series Gex and Soul Reaver at Crystal Dynamics. Richard was instrumental in the creation of the IndieCade Games Festival and has a new book entitled A Playful Production Process: For Game Designers and Everyone.

And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer. SPIKES FOOTBALL That's right! We made it to FIFTY episodes, and to help celebrate such a monumental achievement in podcasting, we snuck a couple of past guests in through the back door for a victory lap. Which guests, you ask? How about takes a somewhat deep breath, Carrie Patel, Tyler J. Hutchison, Laura Michet, Richard Lemarchand, Sarah Elmaleh, Jon Paquette, Brendon Chung, Cat Manning, Kate Dollarhyde, Eric Stirpe, Janina Gavankar, Ben Esposito, Claire Hummel, Graham Reznick, Ryan Benno, AND Molly Maloney? So what, you say? Well, what if I told you we talked with them about the main things students should know about interactive storytelling, how it's OK to be silly, storytelling confessions, extreme programming, whether game stories can be apolitical, what the differences between a good collaborator and a great one are (and how to work with a bad one), favorite underappreciated bits in games, anything they'd do differently with their past work, things you might not need to worry about with your storytelling, major influences, the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen, auteurism in games, the greatness of Yakuza 0, stuff they've worked on that they wish people appreciated more, and so! Much! More! I mean, do you see how long this episode is?! ROUND ONE Our guests on the Internet Laura's Twitter and Website, and you should check out Pathologic 2 Carrie's Twitter, and you should check out The Outer Worlds Tyler's Twitter Richard's Twitter and Website Stuff We Talked About Ep 45: Molly Maloney & Eric Stirpe Mass Effect 2 Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton The Doves Type® Revival Doom (2016) Mario is Missing! The Trust Equation ROUND TWO (begins at 49:35) Our guests on the Internet Sarah's Twitter, and you should check out Afterparty and GamDev.World Jon's Twitter Brendon's Twitter, Website, and you should check out Skin Deep Cat's Twitter, Website, and you should check out Pathologic 2 Stuff We Talked About The Sims 2 Alien: Isolation The Curse of Monkey Island Oxenfree Super Mario Odyssey Civilization VI Ico The menu from Medal of Honor (1999) Honeysuckle by Cat Manning Collaborative Approaches to Getting Great VO Performances (if you have GDC vault access, you can find it there!) Where the Water Tastes Like Wine ROUND THREE (begins at 1:42:12) Our guests on the Internet Eric's Twitter Janina's Twitter, and you should check out Stucco Kate's Twitter Ben's Twitter, Website, and you should check out Donut County Stuff We Talked About Joanna Newsom mewithoutYou Samuel R. Delany Jeff VanderMeer The Secret of Monkey Island Van Cliburn Portal 2 The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen ROUND FOUR (begins at 2:36:27) Our guests on the Internet Ryan's Twitter, and you should check out The Environment Art Podcast Claire's Twitter, Website, and you should check out In the Valley of the Gods Molly's Twitter, and you should check out Yakuza 0 and Return of the Obra Dinn Graham's Twitter, and you should check out Deadwax and Visitations with Elijah Wood and Daniel Noah Stuff We Talked About Red Dead Redemption 2 Yakuza 0 Undertale Firewatch Mother 3 The Walking Dead Season 1 Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series Until Dawn Westworld VR Experience Our theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue discussing Blizzard Entertainment's 1996 classic Diablo. We talk a bit about macro pacing issues and how other systems tie into that, changes in enemies as you go deeper, and some tight spot anecdotes. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Through the Caves Issues covered: going after the Lord of Terror with the Horadrim, cutscenes tying together two games (end of one to beginning of next), Brett gives a Kingdom Hearts update, the side games of KH, getting Mickey and Donald and Goofy as you play, limited inventory slots, emotional peaks and valleys in the dungeons, tranquility of the town and resetting your emotional baseline, the loop of magical drops and identify, reducing anxiety, music reinforcing the emotional state of the area, limited resources and resource sinks, how inventory stacks and filling it with gold or potions or what-have-you, encumbrance systems and negative reinforcement, balancing the loot loop with resource sinks, monster reskinning and reuse, converting sculpture into 3D models, using 3D models to make 2D images, having a different walk cycle in town, your weapon palette changing when your armor does, transmogrification and aesthetics in WoW, mixing and matching enemy stats, enemy types and managing mana use, recharging staves, immunity and bosses, how to generate a monster, getting cornered and having to manage your potions closely, continuing to play when UI tabs are up, multiplayer requirement, the best implementation winning history, moving to controller use on the PC, playing widely, inspiring designers from games off the beaten path, drawing inspirations from unexpected places, playing our failures, Diablo on Good Old Games, pacing vs action in town visits, approachability and the need for breaks, Diablo II's ongoing community, being a dad with Pokémon, separating character from save, profile character vs save character, next time. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Kingdom Hearts: Re: Chain of Memories (et al), Dominion, Magic: the Gathering, Metal Gear Solid (series), Game Boy Advance, Resident Evil, Jill Murray, Kirk Hamilton/Strong Songs, Dungeons & Dragons, Skyrim, Fallout, DOOM, Dark Forces, World of Warcraft, Dark Souls, Dan Smith, an opinion haver, TurboGrafx/PC-Engine, Dungeon Explorer, N64, Operation Winback, Ultima 8, LoZ: Ocarina of Time, Gauntlet, Gears of War, Trespasser, Clint Hocking, Far Cry 2, Richard Lemarchand, Uncharted 2, Dear Esther, LucasArts, Henry David Thoreau, Hearthstone, Andrew Henninger, Jamie Zucek, Pokémon, Warren Linam-Church, Plato. Next time: Finish the game! https://twitch.tv/brettdouville, @timlongojr, and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Today's guest is Richard Lemarchand. A game designer with an enviable CV including Jak X, Soul Reaver and the Uncharted series, Richard is now an associate professor at the University of Southern California where he lectures on the videogame programme. We talk about that transition from AAA development to teaching, how his mum was responsible for getting him his start, the similarities between magic and design, and how sometimes being bad at games can help you be a better designer. Along the way we cover Sonic the Hedgehog, F15 Strike Eagle, Electroplankton, Hurt Me Plenty, Syndicate and Portal. This is a triumph.

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where we in this episode we are lucky enough to enjoy an interview with Lulu LaMer, who started out her career at Looking Glass as QA on Thief, and went on to be a producer, including on some of the Tomb Raider games at Crystal Dynamics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Podcast breakdown: 0:00:39 Interview 1:10:24 Break 1:10:48 Next time Issues covered: a quick list of the uses of a degree in French, quitting your job and bleaching your hair and tossing your business casual, early introduction to games, getting away from games and coming back, QA as an engineering discipline and player advocacy, buying into the development philosophy, becoming QA, level designer differences and tester differences, pairing designers and testers, moving to full play-throughs with specific builds, being a sympathetic tester/regulatory capture, naming a play style for forum users, too much intimacy with forum users, influencing the game's economy, the benefits of Looking Glass on a résumé, the help of data-driven design, inheritance and object model, a lot of territory to cover, trying to get outside the level, Randy's voice acting, ignoring a player who's being a dick, transitioning to associate producer, lack of communication at LG, going on press tour, having unsympathetic press, going to the pub, having a company abruptly close, the role of a producer, having a core of people to work on Thief: Deadly Shadows, taking an engine and trying to make it work for their sort of game, using Unreal to make levels, lacking shared understandings, needing to create a culture, lacking direction and mentorship, the abstraction of being a producer, avoiding micromanagement, quitting to become a midwife, "you don't deliver the baby, the mom delivers the baby!", coming back into the fold better prepared for the job, feeling you had been terrible at the job, the last game she played as a Tomb Raider, the sense of being in a place, additive vs subtractive rendering and tools, moving from a story game to a more systemic game, having trouble communicating the ideas, Uncharted taking a big leap forward, distilling down Tomb Raider's essence, remaking vs remastering, preferring the updated levels, a schedule all of out of whack, playing through the levels and streamlining, distillation of memory and emotion, building to alpha and then moving to agile, triage, ranking what needs to be fixed, compromise and choices, ending pressure, guidance for players, Daydream the "product area," augmented reality project, Immersive Arts, augmented reality, spaces and games and reading and space. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Looking Glass Studios, Thief (series), System Shock 2, Flight Unlimited, ION Storm, Crystal Dynamics, Tomb Raider: Legend, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, 2K Games, Spec Ops: The Line, Borderlands, Bioshock: Infinite, Borderlands 2, Funomena, Robin Hunicke, Daydream Studios, Google, Randy Smith, Pong, Vic 20, NES, Bethesda Studios, Dorian Hart, LucasArts, Greg LoPiccolo, Marc (Mahk) LeBlanc, Harmonix, PC Gamer, Kieron Gillen, Eidos, Telltale Games, Jon Chey, Irrational Australia, Warren Spector, Emil Pagliarulo, Terri Brosius, Doug Church, Freedom Force, Chris Carollo, Tom Leonard, Deus Ex, Unreal, Tim Sweeney, Epic, Game Developer's Conference, Tomb Raider, Soul Reaver, Uncharted, Richard LeMarchand, Naughty Dog, Jason Botta, Ratchet and Clank, Project Snowblind, Nate Wells, Nate Schaumberg, Kyle Mannerberg, Google Pixel, Playground, Iron Man, Kindle, GTA III, GTA Vice City, Resident Evil VII, Thief (2014). Next time: GTA III, the first several missions @brett_douville, @timlongojr, and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Naughty Dog Month is completed by my interview with Richard Lemarchand! One of the sweetest, most thoughtful and supportive folks I know in game development, Richard charts... ;) his course from jolly olde England to the sunny shores of Santa Monica, California, going from a kid growing up on ZX Spectrum and arcade games, to helping create one of modern gaming's most iconic series.

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where we are beginning a series of episodes about 1994's X-COM: UFO Defense. This week, we set the game in its historical context and discuss the beginning of the game. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up through first ground mission Podcast breakdown: 0:38       X-Com Segment 1:06:28  Break 1:06:51  Feedback segment Issues covered: business model of early Wizardry, DOS Box, perils of the back catalog, 1994 in games, turn-based games history, war gaming, X-Com as shorthand and a genre definer, tutorial in the manual, pure sim, "Suit up son, you're going to Mars," tracking your first UFO, placing your first base, destroying your base and losing the money, simulation depth, usability issues, getting outrun by UFOs, don't shoot it down over water, placing your base in Australia, air combat, time units as primary resource, line of sight, random number generation and probability, managing player expectations, switching from math to psychology, how we've used probability over time in design, nailbiting moments when the RNG goes your way, end of month ratings, Tim loses, high skill and exploration. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Wizardry, The Witcher (series), Mass Effect, Ultima, Bard's Tale, Night Dive Studios, Meridian 59, No One Loves Forever, Julian Gollop, Super Metroid, TIE Fighter, Warcraft, Final Fantasy VI, Doom ][, Earthbound, Earthworm Jim, System Shock, Heretic, Megaman X2, Jazz Jackrabbit, Master of Magic, Beneath a Steel Sky, Burn Cycle, Richard LeMarchand, Fallout, D&D, Avalon Hill, Axis & Allies, Chris Crawford, Eastern Front, TankTics, Koei, SSI, Panzer Strike, Laser Squad, Mario vs Rabbids, Firaxis Games, Jake Solomon, Klei, Invisible Inc, Oxygen Not Required, LucasArts, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, Chess, Nintendo, Famicom Wars, Gameboy Wars, Advance Wars, Jagged Alliance, Panzer Generals, Final Fantasy Tactics, Castlevania, Chainmail, Gary Gygax, Star Trek, Morgan Gray, Ron Gilbert, Ken Shoemake, Civ II, Dunkirk, Sid Meier, Oblivion, Skyrim, Ross Hadden, Super Mario (series: World/Sunshine/64/Galaxy), Ben Zaugg, Jason Schreier, SNES Classic, Redwunder, Idle Thumbs, Important If True, ChrisLaBs, scootermm, Micus_Ficus, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Ausy19, Kotaku Splitscreen, Spirit Tracks, Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds. BrettYK: 5 TimYK: 60 Next time: A few hours more Correction: I believe the "Suit up, son, you're going to Mars" quote actually came from a Mark LeBlanc talk. DGC regrets the error. @brett_douville, @timlongojr, and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to the third episode in our series exploring SNES classic The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. We discuss what storytelling there is, several of the bosses we fought, the analog nature of combat and also the difficulty curve before turning to some player questions. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up through the Ice Palace Podcast breakdown: 0:33 Segment 1: LttP discussion 25:50 "Aw, jeez" 45:44 Break 46:10 Segment 2: Feedback/email discussion Issues covered: overview of the bosses we fought, story-telling as reward, intrinsic vs extrinsic awards, storytelling in other games at the time, entering the Dark World and mechanical differences, navigating the environment, visual tells, making notes, dungeon variety, Skull Woods integration of the overworld and the dungeon, using the map as spatial awareness, the place where you get stuck and put a Zelda game down, preferring the overworld, ancillary mechanics that support overworld exploration, multiplying options for interacting with the world, elemental stuff, resource usage and magic, magic measurement vs hearts, recharging magic mechanic in later game, fast travel, combat and player affordances, z-targeting as a good advance and iteration on the mechanic, Brett's circuit from fairy fountain to shop to fountain to dungeon, gearing up for a run, the water effects in the swamp dungeon, the Hyrule Historia and the LoZ timeline, creativity in the AAA space, making art direction choices, risk tolerance in games and Hollywood, indie games on the margins, the cost of change, delaying making decisions, shining a light on what works, making tradeoffs for innovation, speedrunning Link to the Past. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy series, Super Metroid, Breath of the Wild, Link Between Worlds, Halo, Joust, Dungeons and Dragons, Dark Souls, Jonathan DeLuca, Nick Tapalansky, System Shock 2, Michael Keane, Horizon: New Dawn, Minecraft, Uncharted 2, Proteus, Dear Esther, Richard Lemarchand, Bethesda Game Studios, Todd Howard, Skyrim, Ubisoft, irreverentQ, Phil Rosehill, Beyond Good and Evil, Michel Ancel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Pickled Stick, Final Fantasy IX. Next time: Finish the Game! Links: This week's Remix of the Dark World Dungeon theme is by Pokerus, check out his work on OCRemix.org Jonathan DeLuca's podcast, "Play and Listen"  100% Speedrun 4-way any% race (no major glitches), featuring the 2nd fastest time ever recorded Reverse Boss Order any% race @brett_douville, @timlongojr, and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to the first episode in our series exploring PS1 and PC 3rd person action-adventure game Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. We situate the game in time a bit and then turn to its storytelling style, its early game, and its primary mechanics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up until the first boss Podcast breakdown: 0:37 Segment 1: Intro to Soul Reaver 55:45 Break 56:07 Segment 2: Feedback and next time Issues covered: horror influences and origins, historical context, light touch of the storytelling, IP ownership, character motivations, additional powers as rewards rather than as keys or enablers, worldbuilding of Nosgoth as a feature, Kain as twisted god and reflecting Paradise Lost, moving past tank controls and grids, differentiating the two realms visually, reaving souls, two ways to view the world/environment, mechanical consonance of reaving with walking between the realms, revenge and propulsion/being driven, relating character motivations to mechanics, an era of increasing production values but risk-taking, material world interactions and losing them in the spectral realm, combat depth, using the environment to grapple and dispose of enemies, camera difficulties, warp gates as fast travel, warp gates as save mechanic and persistent objects/replenished enemies, Brett explains what 'oracular' means, Tim gets lost through the warp gates, building a level that works with your camera, camera development, PC configuration, expecting the camera to help you, using landmarks to navigate the world, camera confusion in boss battle, blaming the camera for usability, going to first-person camera mode, mantling and character collision, Foley support, figuring out influences of a modern game, keeping current, being careful of being too critical of peers. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: HP Lovecraft, Amy Hennig, Crystal Dynamics, Tomb Raider (series), Marvel, Naughty Dog, Evan Wells, Richard Lemarchand, Uncharted, Silicon Knights, Eternal Darkness, Dennis Dyack, Eidos Interactive, Max Payne, George Broussard, 3DRealms, Cthulhu, Legend of Zelda, Super Metroid, Siri, Darksiders, Vigil Entertainment, THQ, Kill Bill, Diablo, Paradise Lost, PlayStation, Dreamcast, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, Metroid Prime series, John Wick, Fumito Ueda, Shadow of the Colossus, Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, Republic Commando, Mario series, Metal Gear Solid, MediEvil series, Nick Tapalansky, The Last Guardian, Evil Within, Oxenfree, Bethesda Game Studios, Luke Thériault, Final Fantasy IX. Links: Ico novel in English Next time: Up until the boss "Zephod" @brett_douville, @timlongojr, and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

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

Richard Lemarchand was a lead designer at Naughty Dog, where he worked on the Uncharted series and other games. Now, he's a visiting associate professor of the interactive media division at the University of Southern California's school of cinematic arts.

Emails.What We're Playing.Interview with Richard Lemarchand from Naughty Dog.News.New on the Store.New Releases.Blu Ray New Releases.Theme Contest.