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By Hannah Shaffer and Evan Rowland
5
2525 ratings
The podcast currently has 77 episodes available.
Evan and Hannah try playing their new game with a very rough draft of the rules, in a cross between a playtest and design session. New ideas and new questions abound as they explore uncharted territory.
To follow along with the design, Questlandia character sheets and reference rules can be downloaded for free here:
https://turtlebun.com/pages/downloads
Questlandia can be purchased here:
https://turtlebun.itch.io/questlandia-second-edition
https://turtlebun.com/products/questlandia
Links/Credits:
Website: turtlebun.com
Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Support Design Doc with a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/designdoc
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
instagram.com/turtleandbun
We're joined by public historian and musical improviser Alanna Shaffer to discuss real-world amusement park horror and Dippin' Dots scams at Dorney Park.
Alanna shares thoughts about story vs plot, new character drives, and everyone's personal breaking point after a day with no water. To see Alanna and Thank You, Places in person, check out their monthly improvised musical every last Thursday of the month at Tavern on Camac!
Links/Credits:
Website: turtlebun.com
Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Support Design Doc with a one-time tip: https://ko-fi.com/designdoc
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Turtlebun Discord (we chat about Design Doc here!): https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
instagram.com/turtleandbun
We continue our design of a creepy amusement park game, starting with the question, "What does bad behavior look like in an amusement park?" In this episode, we begin with a lot of questions, and end with a roadmap to a first playtest that includes character weaknesses, theme park-related goals, and an unreliable park map filled with skulls and crossbones.
To follow along with the design, Questlandia character sheets and reference rules can be downloaded for free here:
https://turtlebun.com/pages/downloads
Questlandia can be purchased here:
https://turtlebun.itch.io/questlandia-second-edition
https://turtlebun.com/products/questlandia
Links/Credits:
Website: turtlebun.com
Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Support Design Doc with a one-time tip: https://ko-fi.com/designdoc
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
instagram.com/turtleandbun
How can you use simple rules to create a complex setting? In the second part of this live design series, Hannah and Evan take a swing at world and character mechanics. To create a spooky, surreal environment, they’re forced to come up with new ways to approach worldbuilding and character design.
Links/Credits:
Website: turtlebun.com
Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun
Support Design Doc with a one-time tip: https://ko-fi.com/designdoc
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
instagram.com/turtleandbun
What makes a game hack manageable in scope and size? Hannah and Evan delve back into game design to create a creepy amusement park Questlandia hack on the fly. They begin by brainstorming moods, moments, mechanics, and materials for a spoooooky game. From doppelgangers to malevolent crowds to corn dogs, they end with a wealth of ideas for the next design session.
Links/Credits:
Website: turtlebun.com
Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
instagram.com/turtleandbun
Hannah and Evan face off in a battle of inspiration and ego to outdo each other's most founder ideas. Then, they set impostor syndrome aside and dilute those ideas down to something they'd both be willing to try.
Links/Credits:
Website: turtlebun.com
Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun
Design Doc intro/outro theme by Pat King
Jingle news by Jay_You -- https://freesound.org/s/460424/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
instagram.com/turtleandbun
twitter.com/turtleandbun
twitter.com/designdocpod
From Mood, Moments, Mechanics, Materials (MMMM) to "Be aware, be charming," our Design Doc conversations over the years have inspired some of our favorite game design ideas. We talk about the ideas that have had a lasting impact on our game design, and how we're incorporating each one into our most recent project.
Show notes:
Okay, Let's Redesign Noirlandia, for Mood, Moments, Mechanics, Materials
Scopeful Optimism, for discussion of scope
FLETs, for fiddly little end things
Imperfect Inspiration
Kudos Conundrum
Numbers Hide Everything
Founder Energy
Fish People, for "Be aware, be charming"
High Life (2018 film)
Lincoln in the Bardo (2017 George Saunders novel)
Links/Credits:
Website: turtlebun.com
Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun
Design Doc intro/outro theme by Pat King
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
instagram.com/turtleandbun
twitter.com/turtleandbun
twitter.com/designdocpod
Public radio icon Ira Glass has a famous quote describing the gap between taste and talent in trying to hone your creative work. When you start out, your tastes are always bigger than your skill. It's a frustrating gap, and one that causes a lot of people to give up.
In this episode we talk about everything that plays a part in the taste-skill gap. From personal energy and health, to money, ability, mood, and your relationship to the project as a whole. We talk about how our changing tastes have made our recent work all the more challenging.
EPISODE MENTIONS:
Ira Glass on the taste-talent gap: https://youtu.be/91FQKciKfHI?si=2PxIFIGoOwWvM7ty
Chris Ware's Building Stories: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/books/review/building-stories-by-chris-ware.html
Design Doc episode 49, Imperfect Inspiration: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/imperfect-inspiration/id1298080097?i=1000570727332
LINKS/CREDIT
Website: turtlebun.com
Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun
Design Doc intro/outro theme by Pat King
GET IN TOUCH:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Join the Turtlebun Discord! https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
Turtlebun Twitter: twitter.com/turtleandbun
Design Doc on Twitter: twitter.com/designdocpod
Hannah and Evan talk about how to transform a beloved movie, book, or show into a game, using their latest project as an example: An adaptation of a 1779 book of cosmetic chemistry, The Toilet of Flora.
EPISODE LINKS/CREDITS:
Design Doc intro/outro theme by Pat King
Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/
Toilet of Flora: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44276
OUR GAMES:
Website: turtlebun.com
Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun
GET IN TOUCH:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Join the Turtlebun Discord! https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
Turtlebun Twitter: twitter.com/turtleandbun
Design Doc on Twitter: twitter.com/designdocpod
In a perfect world, we'd make a living just making roleplaying games. But sometimes, duty calls, and you've got to work around another job. In this episode, we talk about rolling with the punches in a moment when the creative work is competing with a new and time-consuming reality—that of a day job.
FOLLOW/CREDITS:
Our games: turtlebun.com
Patreon: patreon.com/turtlebun
Join the Turtlebun Discord! https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
Get in touch! Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Design Doc intro/outro theme by Pat King
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
Turtlebun Twitter: twitter.com/turtleandbun
Design Doc on Twitter: twitter.com/designdocpod
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