As Tim takes a few weeks out to heal his brain and the podcast winds towards its end, we are reaching into the Discord Game Club interview archive. This time around, BioStats and Calamity Nolan interview Kendrama94, talking about streaming but also quite a bit about pedagogy. We expect to return next week.

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 1992's Infogrames classic, Alone in the Dark. We talk a bit about its structure again, and also discuss the tension between the adventure game and the use of combat, among other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
More of the house?

Issues covered: translating Greek and Latin, trial and error, the overwhelm of options, the tension between verbs and adventure game, usability problems, telegraphing the wrong information, tunnel vision in development, a great QA department, the value of a new tester, trying to do many things, taking too few notes, thinking too systemically, a 2D space for saving, holding to play an animation, going a different direction from RPG-derived 3D games, combat states and action choices, stun locking, animation timing for combat, analog aiming for ranged combat, how to get hints in 1992, an unkillable suit of armor, feeling disempowered, the save slots, misreading a long death animation, a reward for failure, revealing that something is going on elsewhere in the house, being wrong about Louisiana, bringing in New England, many rooms and many possibilities, having the pixel hunt, showing you're done with a room in later games, getting stuck and letting your brain chew, Tim the maker of an amazing game, it takes a team, getting out of the way.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Emily Wilson, LucasArts, Day of the Tentacle, Dark Forces, Beyond Good and Evil, King's Quest, Space Quest, Dave Grossman, Tim Schafer, Ultima Underworld, Ultima (series), Wizardry (series), Prince of Persia, Out of This World, Pirates, Resident Evil, Little Shop of Horrors, Sierra, Dragon's Lair, Eternal Darkness, Jonas, Star Wars Republic Commando, Warren Spector, Deus Ex, Adam Piper, Sir Ian Livingstone, Eidos, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
More AitD

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new, final spooky series on 1992's Alone in the Dark. We set it in its time and then get into the survival horror of it all. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
About an hour and a half

Issues covered: the end, 1992 in games, focusing on world 3D vs characters, 3D in games at this time, the 2D/3D mix, pushing the boundaries of film, the origins of survival horror, seeing itself as an adventure game, 3D rendered backgrounds, theories of how it was made, film and game overlap, not having to navigate the stairs, having a character choice, the horror that drives you mad, finding , finding additive ways to use space on a CD-ROM, the introduction to the house, playing with frogs, a high degree of difficulty, looking forward to this gem, empathy and understanding games development.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Ultima Underworld, Wolfenstein 3D, Flashback, Out of this World/Another World, Shin Megami Tensei, Persona 3, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Dragon Quest V, King's Quest VI, Star Control II, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Sonic 2, Super Mario Kart, Hudson Hawk, Infogrames, X-Wing, Lightwave, Frederick Raynal, Chaosium, HP Lovecraft, GoldenEye, Christian Slater, Stephen Dorff, Uwe Boll, The Room, Tommy Wiseau, Tara Reid, Sweet Home, Resident Evil (series), Grim Fandango, Return to Monkey Island, MYST, Ron Gilbert, Thimbleweed Park, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, Lumiere Bros, Fatal Frame, Eternal Darkness, Bioshock, SW: Starfighter, John Keats, Logan, Shadow of the Colossus, Portal 2, VtM: Bloodlines, Matthew, Dark Souls 3, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
More AitD!

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on Persona 3. After talking about a game we're releasing, we talk about how this story can go mature places, modern themes, and other things. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Up through Arqa

Issues covered: finaling a 90-day game, great graphic design, the rhythms of life, school testing and the "level playing field," knowing more about what's going on but everyone talking about it anyway, looking forward to a new character, the tiles changing in the second set of Tartarus levels, just understanding everything, what you leave out, dwelling on modern problems, adding little additional mechanics, managing the tonal palette, the voice acting, the presentation, style and substance, the modern setting, how the stories and the systems tie together, well-presented menus, the excellence of the audio and music, reusing motifs for impact, "hate mail" and thanks.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: BioStats, Calamity Nolan, bookslap, From Software, Project Octavia, The Wizard's Assistants, H. R. Giger, Metal Gear (series), Final Fantasy (series), JRR Tolkien, Diablo, Elite Beat Agents, Yakuza (series), Judgment, Sega, RGG Studio, LucasArts, Like A Dragon, Spider-man (series), Yuri Lowenthal, Jennifer Hale, Peanuts, Valheim, World of Warcraft, Spelunky, Witcher III, Baldur's Gate III, LoZ: Breath of the Wild, kdw/Not Mysterydip, Matthew, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
??

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com

Tim and I are super busy this week finishing a small, short game at Twin Suns Corp. Therefore, we are reaching into the Discord Game Club interview archive. This time around, BioStats and Calamity Nolan interview bookslap, talking about streaming and his work with Inner Sloth, makers of Among Us. We expect to return next week.

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Persona 3. We talk about the boss fight, challenges in localization of content, more about the structure, and other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Through first boss

Issues covered: meeting a foreign exchange student, the calendar in the menu, seeing all of the pieces now, unlocking another level of Tartarus, an easier version of the game, enjoying the lack of grind, rebalancing the game, separating the flow of combat from other systems, the feel of the little vignettes, directing the player to new places, parallelizing development, an evolving market, respecting the rhythm of the original game, Japanese cultural differences, censorship questions, cultural undercurrents, games as entry points, various social links, the tension of spending time, how stats progress, story mode should be super-easy, choosing your social links, finding secrets via the purchased URLs, getting contacted by Elizabeth for quests.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Final Fantasy (series), Baldur's Gate, Yakuza (series), Kingdom Hearts, Fear Effect, The Ring, Ju-On: The Grudge, Tales (series), Metal Gear (series), Psychonauts, PlayStation Vita, Raymond, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
More Persona 3!

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Persona 3. We talk about the game's structure, how everything ties back to Tartarus, and the virtuous cycle around combat, among other things. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Into late April (T), early May (B)

Issues covered: how you spend your hours and days, small levels and menus, scheduling school, a same-y grindy dungeon, a well-presented simple concept, exhaustion, major arcana and social links, upping your stats and having a preview of other options, tying progression into Tartarus, stories and S-Links, advancing a social link and failure, explaining fusion and additional XP, falling down a vicious cycle, the snappy feel of combat, a virtuous cycle of simple things you do one by one, dividing options up well, turn-based that feels almost like a direct action, dividing up abilities into personas, games for casual players, protections around digital goods, letting things go, first good-bye email.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Final Fantasy (series), Chrono Trigger, Square, Metal Gear Solid, Dark Cloud (series), Mass Effect, Bioware, Baldur's Gate, Pokemon, Ashton Herrmann, Plants vs Zombies, Mario (series), Split Fiction, LoZ: Twilight Princess, Zach and Wiki, Metroid Prime 3, Skyrim, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Solitaire, Gorogoa, Matthew, Fallen London, Zuma, Raymond, Sony, Drew, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
More Persona 3!

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com