Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our discussion of 2001's Devil May Cry , discussing underwater controls, the camera, combos in combat, and other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Missions 11-17 Issues covered: the two scariest words in video games, the underwater sections, forcing emotional stress through cumbersome controls, putting the player out of her element, pulling y...
Apr 24, 2019•1 hr 6 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our discussion of 2001's Devil May Cry , discussing enemy introductions, the mission structure, grinding to find your difficulty level, and other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Missions 5-10 Podcast breakdown: 0:32 Devil May Cry part one 34:32 Unintentional break 34:56 Devil May Cry part two and feedback Issues covered: enemy introductions...
Apr 17, 2019•1 hr 26 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new series on 2001's Devil May Cry , an action beat-'em-up from Capcom. We situate the game in its time and talk about its evolution from the Resident Evil series with its action. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: First four missions Issues covered: gaming in 2001, the origins of the title as Resident Evil 4 and making it into a new franchise, leaning...
Apr 10, 2019•1 hr 9 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we look in this bonus episode at Diablo III to discuss the game's impact and systems, while also touching on a Kingdom Hearts update and getting into a ton of listener feedback. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Issues covered: Kingdom Hearts 2 side/end game stuff, the inventive choices you have to make to do side stuff in JRPGs, figuring out constraints and min/maxing against t...
Apr 03, 2019•1 hr 51 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we extend our time with 1996's Diablo with an interview with Condor/Blizzard North co-founder and Diablo lead programmer and designer David Brevik. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Podcast breakdown: 0:39 Interview 1:21:19 Break 1:21:51 Wrap-up Issues covered: falling in love with games as a young person, learning how to program, finding out you could make a living making games...
Mar 27, 2019•1 hr 36 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we finish our main discussion of Blizzard Entertainment's 1996 classic Diablo . We cover level design in a procedural world, how the tone of the game darkens further in this final segment and then turn to our takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Killed Diablo! Issues covered: quoting oft-repeated lines, last two levels as a more authored experience, stra...
Mar 20, 2019•1 hr 21 min
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 ga...
Mar 13, 2019•1 hr 23 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue discussing Blizzard Entertainment's 1996 classic Diablo . We look at tone, discuss art direction, dive a bit into procedural loot and how it has reverberated through games since, with other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Through the Catacombs Issues covered: dark and brooding tone, gothic melodrama, using the palette to your advantage, hav...
Mar 06, 2019•1 hr 12 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new game: Blizzard Entertainment's 1996 classic, Diablo . We situate the game in time and in the RPG landscape of the 90s before diving into the first quarter of the game. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Levels 1-4 Issues covered: Brett's Ph.D. falls to Diablo , playing in the various pits of LucasArts, games slipping across the industry due to Diab...
Feb 27, 2019•1 hr 11 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our discussion of Kingdom Hearts . We talk about the end of the game, a few topics we'd never got around to, and of course, our takeaways. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Finished the game! Podcast breakdown: 0:47 KH Discussion 56:50 Break 57:20 Takeaways and Feedback Issues covered: the separation between the sky and the land, Brett playing again ...
Feb 20, 2019•1 hr 27 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our discussion of Kingdom Hearts . We talk about some memorable moments, some about character design, a bit about AI... a whole hodge-podge. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up to the Hollow Bastion Issues covered: Brett playing simultaneously on PS4, televisions, being stuck on the boss, grinding and action combat, navigating in 3D, slow leveling, ...
Feb 06, 2019•1 hr 16 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our discussion of Kingdom Hearts . Tim sings a bit, Brett raps a bit, and we talk about what makes this game work or not work, as well as delving into the combat. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Through Monstro! Podcast breakdown: 0:42 Tim sings + Kingdom Hearts 44:03 Break 44:33 Feedback + Brett Raps Issues covered: birthday, the giant Kingdom Hea...
Jan 30, 2019•1 hr 29 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we start a new series about Kingdom Hearts , the 2002 Disney / Square crossover game that culminates in Kingdom Hearts III this week. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Through Wonderland! Podcast breakdown: 0:38 Kingdom Hearts 42:01 Break 42:30 Feedback & Singing Review Issues covered: series lore in non-console games, E3 2001, licensing starting to wane, pa...
Jan 23, 2019•1 hr 13 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we extend our time with Pokémon by turning to recent Nintendo release Pokémon Let's Go and tons of Pokémon-related feedback. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: First bit of Pokemon Let's Go Podcast breakdown: 0:41 Let's Go 37:02 Break 37:23 Feedback Issues covered: Blue showing up, playing with the Pokémon Ball controller and it making noises, playing handheld vs...
Jan 16, 2019•1 hr 28 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we finish our series on 1996 Game Boy classic Pokémon Red/Blue . We talk about the tension of the final battles and then of course chat about our lessons and takeaways from the game. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Finishing the Game! Podcast breakdown: 1:15 Pokémon discussion 50:04 Break 50:35 Takeaways and Feedback Issues covered: renaming your rival and Pro...
Jan 09, 2019•1 hr 18 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we return to our series on 1996 Game Boy classic Pokémon Red/Blue . We talk about how widely our strategy is varying both in terms of team make-up and approach as well as marvelling over how well the game supports both, and Brett geeks out over how the hardware of the Game Boy (and in particular the Memory Bank Controller) influenced the design of its games. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providin...
Jan 02, 2019•1 hr 23 min
Show notes are simple this year -- we talk over the games and interviews of the year and reminisce. Happy Holidays to all, and to all a Happy New Year. We'll see you in 2019 with our continuing series on Pokémon Red & Blue. -Brett and Tim
Dec 29, 2018•1 hr 19 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new series on 1996 Game Boy classic Pokémon Red/Blue . We talk quite a bit about the early game, the way it solves age-old RPG problems with random encounters, and of course, our current mix of Pokemon before turning to feedback. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up through Saffron City (in theory) Podcast breakdown: 0:45 Pokemon 55:48 Break 56:14 Fee...
Dec 19, 2018•1 hr 25 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new series on 1996 Game Boy classic Pokémon Red/Blue . We situate the game in time and spend a fair amount of time discussing the Game Boy itself as a handheld system, before turning to the game itself. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up to Pewter City's Gym Leader, Brock Podcast breakdown: 0:40 Pokémon discussion 55:02 Break 55:35 Feedback & Re...
Dec 12, 2018•1 hr 32 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our discussion about Grand Theft Auto III . We close out the game by picking a couple favorite moments, talk about some of the difficulty at the end, and of course, do our takeaways before turning to feedback, of which there was much. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Finished the game! (If you're Brett, anyway) Podcast breakdown: 0:39 GTA III discus...
Dec 05, 2018•1 hr 51 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our discussion about Grand Theft Auto III . We talk a bit about mission structure, failure states, learning through failure, and a host of other things. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: About a dozen missions into Staunton Podcast breakdown: 0:47 GTA III discussion 55:12 Break 55:45 Feedback Issues covered: homophones, the intermediate position betw...
Nov 28, 2018•1 hr 29 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our discussion about Grand Theft Auto III . We actually spend a little time talking about the counter-argument, that this game extends a middle finger to the moral scolds who wanted to cage video games, and then talk about specifics about its streaming, and talk about the dissonance between its systems and mission design, before turning to feedback. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, provi...
Nov 21, 2018•1 hr 34 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we are beginning a new series about Grand Theft Auto III . As always, we spend the first episode situating the title in its release time frame and talk a bit about the history of the studio and creators associated with it before turning to the game proper. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Through "The Fuzz Ball" Podcast breakdown: 0:37 GTA III discussion 58:48 ...
Nov 14, 2018•1 hr 26 min
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...
Nov 07, 2018•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 137
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where we in this episode we are lucky enough to enjoy an interview with Greg LoPiccolo, project lead on Thief , and Randy Smith, who was a level designer on the title. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Podcast breakdown: 0:40 Interview 1:00:08 Break 1:00:50 Feedback Issues covered: World Series, how Randy got his start, psychology and programming as substrate for game design, "Suck it down" and...
Oct 31, 2018•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 136
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where we in this episode we conclude our discussion of 1998's Thief: The Dark Project . We talk a bit about equipment and gadgets, the story and enemy shifts that happen late in the game, the commitment maybe to story over what was working, and as always, our takeaways from the game. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Through the end! Podcast breakdown: 0:45 Segment 1: Thief dis...
Oct 24, 2018•1 hr 36 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where we are in the midst of series discussing 1998's Thief: The Dark Project . We talk about map trade-offs, enemy diversity and choices, the levels we played, music and objectives, and other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Up to Undercover Issues covered: "disco is my life," longer Thief: Gold levels, DLC before DLC existed, technical issues and level design, experi...
Oct 18, 2018•53 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where we look back to Shadows of the Tomb Raider for a special bonus episode featuring Lead Writer Jill Murray. We talk about how the writing gets done -- spoilers, there's a lot more planning than writing -- as well as all sorts of topics that grow from that. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Issues covered: lacking access to technology, Jill's early career in visual arts/music/theater, stagin...
Oct 10, 2018•58 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where we are in the midst of our series about 1998's Thief ; we talk about the story development of the world, some small mechanical bits, and then dig into the level design of the four levels we played. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Through "The Sword" Issues covered: getting shot with an arrow, starting with the day in the life of a thief, establishing a baseline of a lif...
Oct 03, 2018•1 hr 29 min
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where we now begin our series about 1998's Thief ; as usual, we start by setting the game in its time before diving into a few of its systems and technology requirements. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Through Cragscleft Prison Podcast breakdown: 0:41 Thief 53:13 Break 53:45 Feedback Issues covered: reflecting on 1998, first-person shooter games of the time, having different...
Sep 26, 2018•1 hr 27 min
