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Dev Game Club

Brett Douville and Tim Longo

Join hosts and industry veterans Brett Douville and Tim Longo as they discuss older titles and the impact they had on the games industry, as well as any lessons that could be taken away even today. Play along!

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  • 24 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 1 hr 17 min
  • English
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • April 8 · 1 hr 21 min

    DGC Ep 467: LoZ: Majora's Mask (part five)

    Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. We talk about the demoralizing effect of a crash, hear about the notebook and time manipulation, and also turn to our takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: To Zora Boss (T), through Goron Dungeon (B) Issues covered: the giants sequence, dealing with a crash or its demoralizing effects, tools stability, puzzling out what your systems can do, convoluted dungeon designs, learning a lot from building the game, having clues to aid the player who has to come back, a vague map, a design getting away from you, having too many tools for the interface, having more time to smooth it out, constraints on a team, not knowing if the rewards would be worth the effort of doing things, having a loop as a player, feeling protected in save systems, people slowing down when you slow down time, memorable vs unmemorable NPCs, the amount of dialog you have increasing depth and motivation, making one location really deep, having NPCs come back to help the player, enriching Clock Town, the alien defense and its reward, the Pied Piper of Romani Ranch, the chick magnet and a great pay-off, having theories, getting stuck on a boss but being able to move on, being more than the sum of its parts, swinging for the fences, layering onto the world, being able to independently develop things into the game, a man's reach should exceed his grasp, usability not quite getting there, getting that audio mix right, remaking Ocarina and this game. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: SW: Starfighter, Jesse Moore, Dark Souls, Unreal, Outer Wilds, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, Groundhog Day, CalamityNolan, Baldur's Gate III, The Matrix, Spider-Man 2, Hollow Knight, Blizzard Studios, Metroid/Castlevania, Robert Browning, Dwarf Fortress, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. TTDS: 9:00 Next time: ?? Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp YouTube Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

  • April 1 · 1 hr 17 min

    DGC Ep 466: LoZ Majora's Mask (part four)

    Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Majora's Mask. Though it might come off as fairly negative, due to some of the hang-ups we've had while playing, we still love the swing of this game. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Roughly Zoras/Gorons Issues covered: crunching and putting in developer commentary, the tone of dialog, spending another week, getting the notebook, hoping for an alien mask, layering things on the world, maximizing their opportunities, opening up spaces, changing your identity, adding special abilities via wearables, keys that aren't keys, shifting your player mentality to get the non-resetting items, feeling like you wasted time, not playing Zelda "the right way," not knowing what the rewards for side content will be, going against the formula, being yanked around over a scarce resource, wanting you to go in the hole, crutching on Tatl and being in the right spot, the time pressure and proposing a solution, a laost generation of games, changing play style, de-3DS-ifying, investing in fan theories and creating new ideas and works, using suspended/quick saves, hardware and game motivations, quality of life. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Eyes Wide Shut, Metroid (series), Ultima, CalamityNolan, MatPat, BenDROWNED, Inscryption, Daniel Mullins, Mark Garcia, Mario Golf, Golden Sun, Final Fantasy (series), Fire Emblem (series), PSP, Game Boy, SquareSoft, Dwarf Fortress, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers. Next time: More MM and Takeaways Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp YouTube Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

  • March 25 · 1 hr 5 min

    DGC Ep 465: LoZ Majora's Mask (part three)

    Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Majora's Mask. We finally get into a dungeon and also talk more about tone, weirdnesses in the save system, and other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Past the Swamp Dungeon Issues covered: the horror of becoming a deku, the Lynchian lens, production realities and narrative, liminal spaces, archetypes, Nordic or Tolkienesque influences, turning down the audio, thinking about other Zeldas, being exposed to something edgy as a youngster, parenting influences, being unclear about how one beat a boss, not teaching the player, feeling punished, overindexing on character, trying not to blame the player, feeling the time pressure, layering gameplay on the world, the strange ways the faeries are hidden, discussing what persists, the notebook and the perfect day, being weird that you can leave and not knowing the rules, having to make a 60 hour game, revisiting the save owls, fast traveling (and a little diversion into game history). Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: American Werewolf in London, Twin Peaks/David Lynch, Drew, Jim Henson, Dr. Seuss, God of War: Ragnarok, Lord of the Rings, Stephen King, CalamityNolan, Outer Wilds, Groundhog Day, Death Loop, Deadly Premonition, Ultima (series), Dragon Quest (series), Hitman, Dwarf Fortress, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: More Majora's Mask! Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp YouTube Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com

  • March 18 · 1 hr 30 min

    DGC Ep 464: LoZ: Majora's Mask (part two)

    Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Majora's Mask. We talk a bit about getting stuck, the structure, and do some extended catch-up on email. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up to Swamp Dungeon Issues covered: making it feel different, long-winded save mechanics, interrupting your play, expecting it to be okay to let the world end, the threatening moon, how games hold up, the usual strategy for reuse: more of the same, making the main mechanic out of a minor Ocarina mechanic, recontextualizing models and similar locations, the groom mask and the new interactions, constraining locations you can reach, the audio mix, being able to control for when certain events happen or not, being unclear on whether the water is poison, searching high and low for a bottle, a non-Nintendo moment, implying that the player could have been prepared, looking forward to more masks, reusing your engine, platform architecture converging, changing goals requiring changing programs, a podcast guidebook, Tim's annotated notes, finally having a list, recency bias, convergence of mechanics in AAA games, a story of a dev inspired by events and the podcast, asset flips, Majora's Mask inspiration. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: CalamityNolan, Outer Wilds, Melancholia, Stranger Things, Wind Waker, Ultima, Hitman, GameCube, Oddberry Games, Vitor, Eye of the Beholder (series), Doom (series), Fallout (series), Monkey Island (series), Warren Spector, Origin Systems, Apple ][, PlayStation, Xbox, Unreal, Republic Commando, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Mystery Dip, Carlos, Dark Souls, Deadly Premonition, Hollow Knight, Ubisoft, Anthony Vaccaro, Synersteel Studios, Eric Heimberg, Sandra Powers, Nicholas Vaccaro, Maria Vaccaro, Valley of Shadow, What Remains of Edith Finch, The Witness, The Talos Principle, Raymond, Drew, David Lynch, Takashi Tezuka, Twin Peaks, Link's Awakening, Dwarf Fortress, Mors, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: More Majora's Mask Links: Valley of Shadow via Steam Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp YouTube Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com mailto://devgameclub@gmail.com

Showing 21–24 of 24 episodes