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In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game designer Tanya Short, co-founder of Kitfox Games and best known for her work on Moon Hunters and Boyfriend Dungeon. They discuss why her parents had to get a second phone like, how she accidentally made a roguelike, and whether Moon Hunters should have combat. This episode was recorded on March 23, 2023.
We invited Tanya Short back to the podcast to unpack how the Dwarf Fortress release actually fared. If you didn't catch episode 6 please give that a listen first to get insights into Kitfox's strategy heading into one of indie gaming's biggest releases.
Alan chats with Tanya Short, director and chief executive of independent game studio, Kitfox Games, about Microsoft's mega-deal and what implications that has for smaller video game makers.
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where we are in the middle of our three-episode series on Silent Hill 2. We spend a lot of time talking about the section in the hospital and the potential meaning or personification of Pyramid Head. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up until the Labyrinth Podcast breakdown: 0:34 Single segment this week! Issues covered: Tim's Halloween costume, picking favorite moments, Pyramid Head first interactive encounter, his reputation, character design, ninja/tabi boots, wading right off into the water, following Pyramid Head, water as a theme, the drowned people under the lake, possible subtext, anthology rather than series, New England horror vibe, "something's up with that kid," differences between Maria and Mary, madonna/whore complex, James's reactions, the uncanny valley of character motivations, an "adult game," having different versions of Laura Palmer, influence of David Lynch's films, companion AI, game over if you kill Maria accidentally, running into Eddie in the bowling alley, seductively posing Maria in various locations, turning companion AI into strengths, a place more terrifying than the apartments, "ugh, the nurses," discomfort with sexuality, being uncomfortable in a hospital with his dead wife, is it all in your mind?, the doctor's note and the "other side," Pyramid Head as a personification of an idea rather than a character, map mechanics though they could be better, lack of distinction between rooms you must have to visit and those you don't, what's the use of an empty chest or a mimic in RPGs, Maria lying down and the breathing in the other side, the rooftop weirdness, does Pyramid Head trigger the radio, silly keys, best key in a video game: hair and bent needle, James turns his head at items of interest, green goop, RE training you to follow the science, Laura knows Mary from the hospital, maintaining the pieces that fits and dropping the clues that don't, the creature design of the Flesh Lips, tilting camera, how Brett measures space, map reset, production value foul, question of when Maria comes to the other side, Tim kills Maria, losing Maria to Pyramid Head, unnecessary combat working against horror, descending down down down, do you want to jump down the hole?, the weird hotel game show, humor in Asian horror, fidelity in horror games, lethality and vulnerability, embracing style, a handful of scary lo-fi games, less is more. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Winona Ryder, Stranger Things, Final Fantasy (series), Silent Hill: Homecoming, The Collective, Cloverfield (anthology series), Resident Evil (series), Richard Bachman, Stephen King, The Secret World, Hitman, Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Halloween (film), David Lynch, John Carpenter, Halo 6, Uncharted (series), Day of the Tentacle, Ron Gilbert, Lord of the Rings (obliquely), Bjorn Johansson, Inception, George Romero, John Romero, Dungeons & Dragons, Lost, Freddy Krueger, Amnesia, Alien: Isolation, Metal Gear Solid, The Host, Shakespeare, Michael Ficus, Cthulhu, The Shrouded Isle, Tanya Short, KitFox Games, Alone in the Dark, Splatterhouse, Friday the 13th, Minecraft, Infocom, The Lurking Horror, Cameron Kunzelman, Epanalepsis, Kitty Horrorshow, David Pittman, Minor Key Games, Eldritch, Slayer Shock, Frictional Games, Soma, Penumbra, Dark Corners of the Earth, H. P. Lovecraft. BrettYK: 1 TimYK: 50 Next time: Finish Silent Hill 2! @brett_douville, @timlongojr, and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com
Tanya is the director of Kitfox Games which made Moon Hunter, Shrouded Isle, and Shattered Planted. She handles the design, production, business development, and marketing. She is also the co-director of a non-profit organization called Pixelles that is devoted to increasing the number of women making games.There are times to disagree with someone, and then there are times where we must keep things to ourselves. Tanya tells us a story of how her disagreement didn't sit well with the executives. Sponsor Giveaway: I am doing a giveaway sponsored by Game Dev Underground, a marketing and connection platform for indie developers that helps you build, finish and launch better games. The winner gets a 1-hour long indie game marketing consultation with the founder, Tim Ruswick. This is over $1,000 in value, and it can be yours! All you have to do is go to gamedevloadout.com and sign up for the email list. That's it!
Interview with Tanya Short, game designer for Kitfox Games, developer of 'The Shrouded Isle'. With musical interlude by Francois-Xavier Bilodeau, composer for 'The Shrouded Isle'.
Interview with Tanya Short, game designer for Kitfox Games, developer of 'The Shrouded Isle'. With musical interlude by Francois-Xavier Bilodeau, composer for 'The Shrouded Isle'.
http://d20crit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/geekordie42.mp3 This week the lads are joined by Tanya Short of Kitfox Games! Kitfox Games is launching their brand new game Moon Hunters on Thursday March 10th!! Make sure to pick it up on Steam, GoG, or Itch.io! This weeks topics include, but are certainly not limited to, Scary Freaking Snakes and the way venom works on a person, JK Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, Harry Potter audio books by Jim Dale, and an indie game - Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes! Enjoy!
We're all about ARGs and procedural generation on this week's discussion with Tanya (designer on Age of Conan, Dungeons of Fayte, The Secret World, Shattered Planet and Moon Hunters) and Rob (writer on ALFA-ARKIV, Gears of War: Judgment, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Playmation, and Battlefield Hardline). Our sprawling conversation includes chatbots, transmedia narratives, creating mythologies, binary morality systems, pacing in a procedurally generated game, why haven't we moved past cutscenes in games, how procedural and systemic gameplay affects development and writing, and games based on information retrieval. Our Guests on the Internet Tanya's Website and Twitter Rob's Twitter Stuff We Talked About Moon Hunters on Steam ALFA-ARKIV app itch.io Chatscript Versu The Fake 'Terrorist' Conspiracy Game That Fooled People For Years by Patricia Hernandez GDC Talk: AI-driven Dynamic Dialog through Fuzzy Pattern Matching by Elan Ruskin Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.
This is episode 104 of Roguelike Radio, where we discuss Procedural Narrative Design with Darren Grey, Mark Johnson, Tanya Short and David Dunham.Read more »
This is episode 94 of Roguelike Radio, where we talk about the upcoming ProcJam. Talking on the ep are the organiser and keynote speakers from the jam: Michael Cook, Tanya Short, Mark Johnson, Tom Coxon, Gillian Smith and Darren Grey. Read more »
Jack Of All Nerds interviews Tanya Short from Kitfox Games to talk about their new game, Shattered Planet. We also welcome comedian, Matt Avila, back to the studio to talk about our favorite cartoon shows.