Dev Game Club

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 c

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, constrain

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 b

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we discuss Far Cry 2 with none other than Creative Director Clint Hocking. We talk about his early career before getting into the game proper. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Podcast breakdown: 0:43 Interview with Clint Hocking 1:07:12 Break 1:07:37 Outro Issues covered: starting out in writing, taking a terrible pay cut, good fortune, taking on many jobs, tough development cycles, making a perfect version of the first game, making the game in the last six months, reacquiring a brand, finding something fresh in the prototypes, open worlds and RPGs, taking new ground, fertile ground, "of course there's a game here," what you do when you don't have a corridor, playing on a harder difficulty, a world that's hostile wherever you go, forward pressure, enjoying playing your own game, making the better movie in the game than what's in your head, surfing the wave, the anecdote factory, playing at c

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on Far Cry 2. Brett describes to Tim some of the buddy system stuff he missed, and then the hosts look at later installments before turning to takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Far Cries 3, 5, and 6 Issues covered: a cry too far, buddies dying and having to choose how, variants on missions and why you might not do one, being able to replace some buddies, punishing moments and impact vs lack of control, a false sense of agency, making a safe area dangerous, wanting to get to the Jackal, your buddies turning on you at the end, how much the weapons and enemies update, always having a fresh gun, real things in the world as progression items, the fork in the road, quality of life and usability and the loss of the commitment to useful player friction, becoming the "list game," automated gaming, caring more about why you're doing what you're doing,

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 g

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Far Cry 2. We talk about the extreme friction of the game, landmarking and open world layout, and touch a little bit on the buddies. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Several more hours Issues covered: variations on the same song, high degree of friction, a simulation of a place, allowing for authorship within the simulation, clashing of systems, not mattering which side you choose, making your choices matter, not spending your time doing what you want to be doing, running into natural boundaries, playing jazz or the jam band, having to switch up weapons, not having to switch weapons, not quite getting the recipe right/seeing the proof of concept, the noodling before the chord changes, time of information spread in this vs deeper stealth games, not having the clarity of information, leaning more into the power fantasy, running out of resources in the

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Far Cry 2. We talk about the tutorial some more, the perils and pleasures of an open world game, and avoiding being a map game despite having a map. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Issues covered: casual colonialism, doling out tutorial bits at the right pace, feeling equipped with skills for the game and for the open world, remembering the location, being a game with a map that doesn't feel like a map game, driving feeling dangerous, lack of radar, forcing level design to accommodate lack of map, tangent: how to get money into your PS wallet, having a moment of either terror or excitement over the open world, we've taught you everything you know, having hooks, not knowing what the next story mission, balancing the power level for later, escalating power levels, not knowing how to pursue particular goals, missions equaling upgrades of different types, being able t

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, disclaim

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on SimCity 2000. We talk disasters and scenarios and of course, our takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: A new beginning and a scenario Issues covered: looking at the scenarios, recovering from disasters, plane crash disaster, choosing what disasters you would use, flooding in particular, kicking down the sandcastle, what it models and what it doesn't, wanting to have a conversation about it with your child if they played it, street-level view of community, a fun-house mirror on urban development, various areas of study referenced in the simulation, the books referenced for further study, sicknesses in the modern sim, needing an influx of cash to keep your villages going, looking at the scenarios, reflecting on Flint Michigan, choosing to reflect a real place, eminent domain, being curious about why that was included, finding compromise, focusin

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on SimCity 2000. We talk about the lore of SimCity and what Brett and Tim appreciate or don't about sim games these days. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Speed-playing to modern day and beyond Issues covered: unsung hero CPAs, playing on cheetah speed, taxing different areas at different rates, digging into a hole, being in a deficit spending, the tech tree, the money cliff, what preconceived notions the game requires, what's cheating, experimenting through multiple cities, not caring about what the buildings are, seeing the numbers and ignoring the lore, having to grow the city to survive, changing tastes as you get older, a city in flux, the ant farm (and not the ants), contrasting with Civ, modernizing your city, losing humanity, feeling joy playing it as a younger person, the melancholy of small towns, philosophy, disruption, cities and where you

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on SimCity 2000. We end up spending a lot of time talking about the political choices that inform the game, as well as other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: More hours? Issues covered: being the opposite of what rangers or druids do, the San Francisco method, finding natural borders, responding to the water crisis, getting clued by the newspaper, planning ahead for subways, district sizes and ratios, trying to make your city look a certain way, needing that transportation budget, how Europe approaches traffic accidents vs the US, politics in games, procedural argument, where you put your coal plant, cars put in the parking lot, when subways should be built, keeping your commentary out of your marketing, how you make an argument, what appears in the newspaper and its lack of correlation to the history, broadsheets vs tabloids, how do you genera

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 We

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on MegaMan 2 and X. We talk difficulty for sure, before turning to our usual takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: More of MegaMan X Issues covered: the big story turn inside the boss, the tedium of taking out enemies again and again to get drops, minimal loot tables, seeing more of an enemy, the limitations of trial and error and difficulty, playtime and quarters, designing around lives, fighting games, a bad port, the social experience of arcades, shifting marketing, a different design mentality, hot-swapping weapons, other usability additions, reusing a formula, mini-bosses and learning things, simpler patterns, the dash on a button, good boss character design, doing the hard thing, Ornstein and Smough, game structure around bosses and experimentation, having to account for the Buster, getting things from the bosses, variety of environments, t

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Megaman games, turning to Megaman X. We very briefly set it in its time, discuss the new feel that the SNES gets you, as well as other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Three bosses Issues covered: the SNES Classic deal with using the reset, setting difficulty on the emulated game, sequels and console generations, "the new standard in entertainment," additional frames and transitional animation lending character in 16bit, depth of music and audio, designing new movement into the level design, iconic silhouettes and the expression of the concept art, heads and heroism, a different Megaman, Brett dives into the lore, hair as a poor robot lifestyle choice, distinct biomes, the ronin robot end of MegaMan 2 and its final battle, the earnestness of a SVP letter, leaning into robots, animal-named robots and Metal Gear, boss order, flying robots that

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Capcom's MegaMan series, looking at the latter half of the game, exploring its difficulty and how it presents a final exam, among other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Finished the Game! (Hmm...) Issues covered: multiple forms of mastery, leaning on rewind, playing "au naturale," analogues in the podcast hosts, being confused about item 1, how the powers match up against various bosses, Brett's tornado, choosing the right weapon for the job, wondering whether you learn from earlier enemies for the final exam, plotting out your path, the final areas of the castle and challenge, divergent paths in game design, multiple ways of using the same ingredients, being frustrated by the type of game, having the gratifying sense of overcoming a boss, gaining knowledge, being surprised by a mid-game cutscene and map, puzzle rooms and weird rooms, the fi

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we start a new series on MegaMan 2/X, looking at them as different platformers from the time. We set it in context a bit. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Three enemies Issues covered: Dog Game Club, playing a couple games instead of one, fighting mens for their weapons, playing second iterations, bringing in past favorites, setting the game in its time, mascot games, structure and wanting to choose your order of attack, using the boss for its weapons, technical limitations and difficulty, learning a level, generosity with powerups, run-based play, grinding for drops, some things that feel unfair the first time you fight them, getting the gist, having wall stages, annual release schedule, Mega Man 10 or X, tic-tac-toe enemy board, dabbling in some enemies, not knowing what order to progress, using passwords, possible orders of enemies, damage types and using the right tools

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on Dark Souls, and so we turn to our takeaways and discuss our final hours with the game. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Brett finished Issues covered: the podcast mirrors the game, feeling like you have godlike powers in New Game+, spending hours on farming different resources, putting the pieces together, enjoying mysteries and putting the clues together, what you take from Dark Souls as an imitator, examining a space and trying to figure out where you can go, senses of accomplishment and discovery as opposed to the checklist, where the studio goes from here, attribute changes in the sequel, miracles and their mechanics, the flexibility of having options, seeking out the things I hadn't found, poor Solaire, feeling of coming full circle, memorable fights and world connections, "butt exposion!", smaller memorable moments, the snoring of Frampt, the

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Dark Souls. The big story is about how Brett is a monster, but we also dig into setting goals for yourself. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Brett 154h, Level 160 Tim 39.5h, Level low 50s Issues covered: squeezing the Dark Orb, Drunk Souls, having more options as you level, having multiple hammers, the fire centipede, liking feeling really nimble, fighting death skullops, entering the painted world and going back to the Asylum, the curiosity killing the cat, Gwynever and Gwyndolin, Timmy bringing twilight to Anor Londo, murdering a fire keeper, wanting to uncover the mysteries, usability in exposing ethical choices in other games, signposting choices, digging into the Catacombs, Patches the cleric-hater, not knowing if you should go places yet, having things you want to do, using simple systems to recontextualize sections or skills, dealing with cur

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Dark Souls. We catch you up a little bit on where we are before trying to catch up with the mail bag! Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Brett 115hrs, lvl 114 Tim 33hrs, lvl 50 Issues covered: getting and placing the Lordvessel, Frampt and the second bell, Anor Londo and the two bosses, farming rats for humanity, getting invaded and hiding, the mystery of Gwynevere and leaving Anor Londo and also what's with Gwyndolin, meeting Reah (sp?) again and again, being ambushed by paladins, grinding to upgrade, Tim defeats the Ceaseless Discharge, having sorcerors that revivify the skeletons, powering up your spells, the fire keeper's soul, kindling more, fast traveling, a level design joke, twinkling sounds and occasional marks, being invaded and the costs of banishing, parallel play, recordings of other players, asynchronous multiplayer, fellow-feeling, a Me