Nice Games Club - A Gamedev Podcast! podcast

#Video Games #Lifestyle #Arts #Graphic Design #Ellen, Stephen, and Mark #Fine Arts #Games and Gambling #Game Jam

1:15:36

In this episode, we welcome back David French, columnist for The New York Times , former constitutional attorney, and author of Divided We Fall . We discuss the current state of American democracy, the challenges of political division, and how we can engage in civil discourse despite deep ideological differences. David also shares a personal update on his family and reflects on the profound trials and growth that come with adversity. 📌 What We Discuss: ✔️ How David and his family navigated the challenges of a serious health crisis. ✔️ The rise of political polarization and the factors driving it. ✔️ Why distinguishing between “unwise, unethical, and unlawful” is crucial in analyzing political actions. ✔️ How consuming different perspectives (even opposing ones) helps in understanding political dynamics. ✔️ The role of Christian values in politics and how they are being redefined. ⏳ Episode Highlights 📍 [00:01:00] – David French’s background and his journey from litigation to journalism. 📍 [00:02:30] – Personal update: David shares his wife Nancy’s battle with cancer and their journey as a family. 📍 [00:06:00] – How to navigate personal trials while maintaining faith and resilience. 📍 [00:10:00] – The danger of political paranoia and the pitfalls of extreme polarization. 📍 [00:18:00] – The "friend-enemy" paradigm in American politics and its influence in Christian fundamentalism. 📍 [00:24:00] – Revisiting Divided We Fall : How America’s divisions have devolved since 2020. 📍 [00:40:00] – The categories and differences of unwise, unethical, and unlawful political actions. 📍 [00:55:00] – The balance between justice, kindness, and humility in political engagement. 📍 [01:00:00] – The After Party initiative: A Christian approach to politics focused on values rather than policy. 💬 Featured Quotes 🔹 "You don't know who you truly are until your values are tested." – David French 🔹 "If we focus on the relational, we can have better conversations even across deep differences." – Corey Nathan 🔹 "Justice, kindness, and humility—if you're missing one, you're doing it wrong." – David French 🔹 "The United States has a history of shifting without repenting. We just move on." – David French 📚 Resources Mentioned David French’s Writing: New York Times David’s Book: Divided We Fall The After Party Initiative – More Info Advisory Opinions Podcast (with Sarah Isgur & David French) – Listen Here 📣 Call to Action If you found this conversation insightful, please: ✅ Subscribe to Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other on your favorite podcast platform. ✅ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen: ratethispodcast.com/goodfaithpolitics ✅ Support the show on Patreon: patreon.com/politicsandreligion ✅ Watch the full conversation and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion 🔗 Connect With Us on Social Media @coreysnathan: Bluesky LinkedIn Instagram Threads Facebook Substack David French: 🔗 Twitter | BlueSky | New York Times Our Sponsors Meza Wealth Management: www.mezawealth.com Prolux Autogroup: www.proluxautogroup.com or www.granadahillsairporttransportation.com Let’s keep talking politics and religion—with gentleness and respect. 🎙️💡…

Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

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The podcast where nice gamedevs talk gaming and game development. Nice!

446 episoade

Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

23 subscribers

updated acum 2 zile

Distribuie

Pagina seriei•Feed

The podcast where nice gamedevs talk gaming and game development. Nice!

446 episoade

#Video Games #Lifestyle #Arts #Graphic Design #Ellen, Stephen, and Mark #Fine Arts #Games and Gambling #Game Jam

Toate episoadele

1
Nice Thinking: "Nice Games Alliance Workshops"

acum 2 zile

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Beth Korth, board member of Nice Games Alliance, enters the clubhouse to talk about the purpose of the NGA and how to best fulfill that mission. They discuss how workshops, talks, and conferences fit into their plans. And how they can provide unique experiences and services that the gamedev community can't get elsewhere. They also emphasize the importance of lunch. Nice Games Alliance Workshops…

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"A Paragraph Signing" Incremental Learning ; Making Science Fiction Worlds

acum 9 zile

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Lydia joins the clubhouse for her first regular episode as a host (it's calendar math)! The clubhouse discusses the release of Civilization VII and how it is taking up all of Stephen's time. Lydia brings to the table the question of how she can learn more games, and how tutorials don't work for her. Stephen regrets not being able to fully develop the world which is the setting for his five-minute student film. Civ VII Civilization VII Switch 2 Switch 2 mouse control - Kyle Orland , Ars Technica 0:15:01 Incremental Learning Lydia talks about her success learning knitting, and her rectangle projections The club talks about differences between recipes and game development tutorials Tasks xkcd 0:54:10 Making Science Fiction Worlds This topic was inspired by Stephen's science fiction student film. You can watch that here: "All Good Things" Stephen McGregor YouTube "For All Mankind" Wikipedia Widget Satchel Widget Satchel is a game that Mark, Stephen, and Ellen worked on. Mark developed a lot of background story, including this: "I do not wish that the troubles of the past be carried into the stars. I imagined better for us and expected better also. But we do not realise our whole future in sequence, small futures each after the other. We must go anyway, blind and smiling, emissaries of wonder, explorers. On this day, at this place, together, we launch an expedition for which we are unprepared. Yet we are now even, a collected peoples concerned of justice looking in order to see our whole future, ahead of us. Widget Satchel is on Itch and other platforms Also check out this episode from when we released Widget Satchel "Space ferrets lift off!" Widget Satchel Special…

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Nice Games Jam: "Dinosaurs of North Dakota"

acum 16 zile

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The clubhouse gets Cretaceous this week; your nice hosts have been challenged to create a game about dinosaurs and their feeding habits. Prompt Make a game about the feeding habits of dinosaurs or of paleontologists, bonus points if all the dinosaurs are from the same era. Game type Design document Player count 1 Rules Cretaceous period Flowering plants evolved here Early mammals here too Velociraptors too! Different sized dinosaurs Name: Dinosaurs of North Dakota Play as big (T-rex), small (dog-sized) and medium (triceratops) Survive a day as each of these creatures Order of play Medium first (herbivore) Big next (T-rex) Small last (scavenger) Then Paleontologist discovers (eats chicken with a PLASTIC fork) Where you die determines how preserved the bones are during the paleontology phase If you want more preserved bones you have to choose to not live as long (due to how the preservation works) Gameplay Play as the different creatures, the player chooses when that phase of the game ends Can also end after a certain time played Then you swap to a new creature and play as them, choosing when to end When you get back to a creature, time has passed and things are different in the world (partly due to player influence from other creatures) Player knocking down trees might be knocked down in future scenes, eating a lot of plants may make the area sparse in the future Keep playing as the different creature until enough time has passed Afterwards, play as a paleontologist and rediscover what you’ve done Record what you’ve done with the knowledge the paleontologist has (and not the player), so it won’t actually be accurate to the player’s playthrough Based on what the player’s done, it can affect what things the paleontologist will be able to say about the state of things after…

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"More Ellen in the future." What We Did On Our Winter Break (2024-25)

acum 23 zile

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NEWS! New episodes now come out a week early on Patreon!! Sign up to listen to next week's episode now! We talk about why, and the silly reason why now , in this episode, along with another, much bigger piece of NEWS . And of course, your nice hosts continue the show's annual tradition of recounting what they did during hiatus. SO. MUCH. NEWS. Nice Games Club on Patreon What We Did On Our Winter Break (2024-25) Twin Cities Gamedev community Join the IGDATC server Discord Donate to Nice Games Alliance ("no" relation) IGDATC 2025 games Global Game Jam Stephen UFO 50 Civilization VII Lydia Play Lydia's team's GGJ game, Meowlogue Mittens Meowlogue Mittens - Main Theme Edison Boerke SoundCloud Lydia's team invited everyone at the event to vote on the name of thier game's main character. Mark Play Mark's team's GGJ game, Gachamari Ellen Mars First Logistics Steam Martian Chess Loony Labs RoboCo Steam…

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Puzzle Systems (with Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari) [Nice Replay]

acum 4 weeks

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#373 Puzzle Systems Interview 2024.11.15 Releasing 2019's "Baba is You" after more than a decade of making puzzle games was a milestone for this week's guest, but it was also just the beginning of his design journey. Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari talks to your nice hosts about the balance between giving players freedom and constraining their expression, the pacing and sequencing of individual puzzles, what happens when a "cool" design annoys players, and more. Arvi's cats make a spirited apperance in the back half of the episode. Here they are basking in the Finnish sun. Puzzle Systems Game Design Tools Multimedia Fusion 2 - Clickteam Clickteam Fusion 2.5 - Clickteam Construct - Scirra Ltd MP2 MP2 Chowdren Engine Bring the ice cube to the goal without exposing it to heat. - Increpare PuzzleScript - Increpare Covechrome - Hempuli , itch.io You nice hosts previously discussed what happens to players who become developers in: "Numbers go up." Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari Guest External link Hempuli - social media links Hempuli on Itch.io…

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“That’s way too many pawns.” Communicating Difficulty; Remixed Play Modes [Nice Replay]

acum 5 weeks

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#368 “That’s way too many pawns.” Roundtable 2024.10.11 This week, Ellen kicks things off with a chat about how games tell players, “This might be tough!” and how to make that fun and fair. Stephen and Mark jump in with their takes on what makes difficulty settings shine. Then, Mark thinks about the practice taking familiar game mechanics and twisting them into something fresh. Think pacifist runs or limited equipment modes. Why limit yourself to one way to play when you can remix the whole game? As always, there are some goofs in here, too. Unity 6 Preview is now available - Nancy Larue , Unity Unity is canceling the Runtime Fee - Matt Bromberg , Unity Unite Conference - Unity Hasbro Game Night (for Switch) We Were Here Series - Total Mayhem Games , Steam Loopy: a tool for thinking in systems - Nicky Case Machinations: Create digital twins for your systems, processes or economies Communicating Difficulty 0:21:44 Ellen Burns-Johnson Game Design Really Bad Chess Puzzmo - Orta Therox & Zach Gage Aggro Crab Studio "Why Quitting Is Usually Worth It" - David Duchovny & Stephen Dubner , Freakonomics Radio Network Remixed Play Modes 0:40:35 Mark LaCroix Game Design Metro Nexus - Noble Robot 10 Most Unique Multiplayer Modes In Video Games - James Kennedy , The Gamer Extra game modes - Universal Videogame List PARKS Board Game - 59 Parks…

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Optimization (with Jarryd Huntley) [Nice Replay]

acum 6 weeks

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#366 Optimization Interview 2024.09.26 Entering the clubhouse this week is our the third Owl (employee of Owlchemy Labs) and first Peabody Award winner (as lead developer for We Are OFK ), to talk about the "dos," "don'ts," and "good enoughs" of optimization. Cleveland video game designer Jarryd Huntley wins Peabody Award for ‘We Are OFK’ - Joey Morona , cleveland.com We are OFK - Peabody Awards Cleveland Game Developers - Linktree Optimization Hardware Production Programming Is Using LINQ in C# Bad for Performance? - James Vickers , The Startup For Vs Foreach In C# - Sagar Gavand , C# Corner Jarryd Huntley Guest…

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Nice Thinking: "Dialogue Through Goals" [Nice Replay]

acum 7 weeks

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#349 Dialogue Through Goals Nice Thinking 2024.05.29 Stephen brings a half-baked thought into the clubhouse for this Nice Thinking episode: how can we improve dialogue systems? He's got some opinions, which Mark and Ellen immediately debunk, but it leads to some engaging conversation. Dialogue Through Goals Stephen McGregor Game Design Narrative…

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"The lensing effect of the window." Theming vs. Aesthetics; Parries [Nice Replay]

acum 8 weeks

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#361 "The lensing effect of the window." Roundtable 2024.08.22 It’s hot in the clubhouse and hot in Ellen’s greenhouse this week, so your hosts are eager to crunch through some discussion. Ellen introduces the concept of the MDA framework, and the differences between Theming and Aesthetics, and Stephen comes to a major conclusion about parrying. Theming vs. Aesthetics 0:06:40 Ellen Burns-Johnson Game Design The MDA Framework - Wikipedia Ellen promised Dictionary.com definitions, so here you go: Aesthetics - Dictionary.com Theme - Dictionary.com We talked about theming and aesthetics for a GameJam Game from a previous episode The Bike Boom Alien Isolation Themes explored n : Demystifying the Terror of Alien Isolation - Andy Robertson , Wired Parries 0:28:56 Stephen McGregor Game Design Stephen's list of why parries are so popular: 1) A way to reward mastery or paying attention 2) Rewards participation 3) An appreciable way to consider mastering the game The different variations of Parrying 1) Just Dodges 2) Traditional Parrying (miss = block) 3) Dynamic Parrying release parrying 4) Alternate button (paper mario parrying) EVO Moment 37 - Wikipedia…

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Tutorialization with Puzzles (with Luke Spierewka) [Nice Replay]

acum 9 weeks

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#371 Tutorialization with Puzzles Interview 2024.11.01 "Tutorials shouldn’t feel like tutorials!" Like most aspects of game design, it's an easy concept to summarize but a difficult one to pull off. Luke Spierewka and the team at Afterburn Games have mastered it, using their charming approach in successful titles like Golf Peaks and Railbound. Come learn the arcane secrets of the puzzle game tutorial! Also featuring some great room sound . Afterburn Games (studio) Tutorialization with Puzzles Game Design On crafting Railbound, a cozy track-bending puzzle game - Evgeny Obedkov , Game World Observer Dynablaster (game) - Wikipedia Luke Spierewka Guest Luke is a game designer, programmer, and jack of all trades. He makes games, organizes events, gives talks (and interviews) and does "lots of other stuff." He's worked on many titles, including Railbound, Golf Peaks, Gwent, and SUPERHOT . Learn more about Luke at http://spierek.net/…

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"A slow meat computer" King Making; Thinky Bits (Off-Screen Gameplay) [Nice Replay]

acum 10 weeks

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#347 "A slow meat computer" Roundtable 2024.05.16 In the episode, Mark, Ellen, and Stephen talk local events, including (don’t worry everyone’s fine) a fire in the clubhouse’s building, construction, and the games they are playing, so if you are just here for the topics, go ahead and skip to minute 23. Ellen learns about King Making, Stephen humble brags about being good at Smash Brothers, and Dale plays kingmaker in naming the second topic! News Masu Fire - Paul Walsh , Star Tribune Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) - Jared Brey , Governing What We are Playing Dragon's Dogma 2 - Wikipedia Princess Peach Showtime NPR Review - Rakiesha Chase-Jackson , NPR King Making 0:23:00 Stephen McGregor Game Design Stephen has been QA testing Harvest Kingdom - Ben Hunder , Discord The YouTube video that Stephen references - Distraction Makers , YouTube Kingmaking in Root (Leder Games) video - Cole Wehrle , GDC Smallworld - Board Game Geek Thinky Bits (Off-Screen Gameplay) 0:49:17 Ellen Burns-Johnson Game Design Games discussed Return of the Obra Din Spirit Island - Board Game Geek Death Drives a Bus - itch.io…

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Nice Games Jam: "Eddies" [Nice Replay]

acum 11 weeks

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#338 Eddies Nice Games Jam 2024.03.11 The clubhouse is caffeinated and ready to jam, game jam that is. The clubhouse is giving a prompt where air movement is the main mechanism of action and they create a physical game for a tabletop (in the style of 'Hungry Hungry Hippos'). The notoriously unpredictable 'Eddies' of air movement gives this game it's name. The main challenge for the team - a more sanitary air blower mechanism than drinking straws: a tiny bellows, small whoopie cushions, slide whistles, or party noisemakers? Prompt "Create a game where the main mechanics are fans and or leaf blowers." Game type Tabletop game Player count 2 - 8 Materials Blowing mechanisms - one per player (drinking straw in playtest) A bunch of small peices of junk A container for the small peices of junk Playing feild (box, 8 sided) Rule Card Deck Setup This is a game about some young teenagers who find some leaf blowers in their (octagonal) cul-du-sac and make a game with them. Each player will select a side of the playing field (the box) as their home territory. The goal of the game is to have the least amount of junk (points-wise) fall off of your side of the field. Rule Cards: Separate the Rule cards into the three categories: Puff Variants, Point Variants, and Zone Variants. Shuffle the cards from each category, and pull three of each category to start each of the three rounds.Cards rule examples Puff: Each player has 3 puffs per turn Point: Each black item is worth +1 point, all other items are worth -1 point Zone: The windy end of your blowing mechanism may not be placed within zones 1+2 of the playing field Shuffle the remaining rules cards from three categories together. From the combined deck, deal 4 cards to each player. The player may look at their hand of cards Place Junk (perform at the start of each round): Gather some junk and place it in a container. Typically dice and pieces from other games will make up the majority of the junk, but this may also be dodads from your junk drawer like golf pencils, nails and screws, magnets etc. At the beginning of each round a different player will grab a handful of junk from the container and place it in the center of the 8-sided playing area.The junk placer may not arrange the junk when placing it down. Any junk that falls off of the playing field will be returned to the container of junk. Rules After the junk is placed the rule for each category is revealed, by flipping over the top rule card from each of the three piles: Puff, Point, and Zone. The displayed rules are now in effect. The player who placed the junk will go first. Each player turn has three phases: 1. The play may put a rule card from their hand into play by stacking it on top of the exsisting rule for the category which it belongs to (puff, point, or zone). That rule is now in effect and the rule that was covered up is no longer in effect. 2. The player uses their "leaf blower" to puff the objects in on the playing field the number of times indicated by the Puff rule. They must follow any Zone rules in effect. 3. The player's turn is scored according to the rule cards in effect. The player draws back up to 4 cards in their hand. The round ends when each player has had 5 turns. New junk is placed in the center of the playing field, new rule cards are revealed and the next round starts. The object of the game is to have the least scoring junk blown off your edge of the playing field. Highest scoring player (usually player closest to 0 wins), as most junk is worth negative points.…

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The Intersection of Puzzle and Story (with Ron Gilbert) [Nice Replay]

acum 12 weeks

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#354 The Intersection of Puzzle and Story Interview 2024.07.05 Narrative designer and pal of the program Beth Korth fills in for Ellen as guest host this week and next! Your nice hosts welcome famed designer Ron Gilbert (Monkey Island, Thimbleweed Park) into the clubhouse to discuss the virtues of inexperience, friction for its own sake, how it's all about story, and it's puzzles all the way down. The Intersection of Puzzle and Story Game Design Narrative Production Return to Monkey Island will have a hint system because the internet exists now - Joshua Rivera , Polygon Verdant Skies - Steam Classic Game Postmortem: Maniac Mansion - GDC , YouTube The phrase "confederacy of dunces" derives from a Jonathan Swift quote . Examples of movies that feature a poorly-received genre twist include Serenity (2019) , Remember Me (2010) , and Safe Haven (2013) . Ron Gilbert Guest Owner of Terrible Toybox, the designer/creator of Monkey Island, The Cave, Pajama Sam and the designer/co-creator of Maniac Mansion, DeathSpank and Thimbleweed Park. Co-designer of Return to Monkey Island. External link Mastodon - @grumpygamer@mastodon.gamedev.place Blog - Grumpy Gamer Studio - Terrible Toybox…

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"The super-powerful beam or whatever." Code Libraries; Game Overs [Nice Replay]

acum 13 weeks

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#353 "The super-powerful beam or whatever." Roundtable 2024.06.27 This week, your nice hosts talk about code that isn't yours and ask about the natural conclusion of the narrative. Mark is handy, Ellen kinda wants to add a note, and Stephen is grounded. It looked so easy in the brochure, but the brochure lied - Antony Ingram , Hagerty Code Libraries 0:07:41 Mark LaCroix Production Programming Tools Best practices for writing code comments - Ellen Spertus , Stack Overflow Blog Declare namespaces to organize types - Microsoft Learn Your nice hosts discussed licensing in a previous episode: "What's a little grand larceny?" Game Overs Stephen McGregor Game Design Narrative Alternatives to the Game Over screen - Game Developer We didn't mention it in the episode for some reason, but our "Metroidvania-lite" game Widget Satchel had no deaths, game overs, or failure states.…

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Nicest of 2024

acum 14 weeks