Dev Game Club

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Dead Rising. Brett finally slays a killer clown a decade after his first failure, and we talk more about weapons, location, and "the run." Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played: More hours!

Issues covered: defeating killer clown, saving all the survivors, capturing Kent's photo, additional player agency, changing tactics over time, picking up the jewelry store mother, systems coming together, having no way to communicate trajectory, "simple" tweaks to a formula, learning Adam's patterns, throwing cash registers, getting battle axes to take out Adam but not losing the tourists, controller and gun, Carlito's guns, a distillation of the game, getting quick transit between, learning the survivor loops, the big effects of stat changes, survivor uniqueness, personifying mechanics or measures, "the truth has vanished into darkness," story threading into open world, putting a premium on story, juxtaposing location with horror, the beginning of the zombie outbreak, series rather than anthology, displayed stats, matchmaking, ugly matchmaking patents, more on achievements, qte escapes.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Ico, Dark Souls, kyleanderror, Morrowind, Arkham: Knight, Legend of Zelda (series), Far Cry 2, GTA (series), Mad Libs, Fallout (series), George Romero, Resident Evil, 28 Days Later, Fear the Walking Dead, The Last of Us, The Girl with All the Gifts, Mr. E. Dip, Bubble Bobble, Starfighter, Skyrim, Josh Menke, 343 Industries, Call of Duty, League of Legends, StarCraft II, Republic Commando, Jeffool, King Kong, Final Fantasy VI, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Next time: Finish (?) Dead Rising

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 2006's Dead Rising, a Capcom game. We talk about the evolving intro, strategies for play, saving those left behind, and other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played: A few more hours

Issues covered: the evolving intro, grinding, the man with the paint can, mastering the level, misreading the map, varying weapon types, the evolving introduction, "I have to restart the game because I want my hair back," bucking the trend of zombie games, a gradually more porous map, keys that are keys, building up the run, skill and level checking the player, finicky quest logic, keys that aren't keys, putting timers on quests, randomly spawning zombies, needing to fail for the game to work, losing survivors, the fantasy fulfillment of the zombie, NPCs unable to traverse like Frank, the game fighting me on pathing, the story going places, being one-shot by a clown, what you get from killing psychopaths, "it's just MegaMan!," revisiting creators, the hero archetype, cleaning up Frank West, achievements that unlock gameplay things, achievement philosophy. 

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Dark Souls, Keiji Inafune, MegaMan, Rogue, Castlevania, XBLA, Blue Thunder, Resident Evil (series), The Walking Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Shinji Mikami, Evil Dead 2/Army of Darkness (obliquely), Raph Colantonio, Arx Fatalis, Arkane, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Deathloop, Kurt Russell, Big Trouble in Little China, Brendan Fraser, The Mummy, Indiana Jones, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Final Fantasy XV, Ratchet & Clank, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Next time: More Dead Rising!

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we start a new series on 2006's Dead Rising, from Capcom. We situate the game a bit in its time and with Capcom and this generation of hardware before turning to the structure and feel of the game. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played: A few hours

Issues covered: the early 360 era, throwing lots of enemies on the screen, console wars, an entry into console for PC developers, achievements and GamerScore, coming into a time-limited game, the deluxe remaster, carrying over Prestige Points, limited time quests, production benefits, a controversial structure, pushing your luck, going to the mall, horde management, Tim shows he actually knows more about football than claimed, camp, inventory management, learning the space, the feeling of losing a person right at the end, saving people, Onigokko!, Artimage's charity.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Xbox, Gears of War, Republic Commando, Crystal Dynamics, Tomb Raider: Legend, PlayStation, Capcom, Keiji Inafune, MegaMan, Onimusha, Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami, Dwarf Fortress, LoZ: Twilight Princess, Okami, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Final Fantasy XII, Guitar Hero 2, Rainbow Six: Vegas, New Super Mario Bros, Wii, Elite Beat Agents, Nintendo DS, Burnout: Revenge, Brain Age!, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Tomb Raider: Legend, Heroes of Might and Magic V, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Arkane, Prey, Dishonored, Nintendo Switch, ElectroPlankton, Groundhog Day, Dark Souls, Rogue, Dawn of the Dead, Chopping Mall, Night of the Living Dead, George Romero, Day of the Dead, Tim Ramsay, Harley Baldwin, Deathloop, Tony Rowe, Artimage, Minecraft, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Next time: More Dead Rising!

Links: Artimage's email is [email protected]

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on Fatal Frame. We talk about a couple of rough things about the game, some things we loved, 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: Into Night 3 (Brett), End of Night 2 (Tim)

Issues covered: ritual - oof, haunted house effects, effective randomness, character reactions, a consistent atmosphere, excellent cinematic control, mask themes and usage, integration of masks into multiple avenues of design, audio and music design, Foley work for footsteps, level reuse and recontextualization, increasing house connectivity, motivating the space, feeling empowered by learning, replanning routes, map visual language, lack of signaling about difficulty, four difficult ghosts, the possibility for grinding, unlocking nightmare mode, extending the life of survival horror games, power ups for the camera, combat is still combat, a high skill floor, the difficulty, economical and disciplined design, audio as the gateway to the limbic system, excellent lighting, projected shadows, a culturally driven story, grounding survival horror, a really great haunted house. 

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Eternal Darkness, PlayStation 2, Nintendo, N64, GameCube, Resident Evil (series), dagur danielsson, Silent Hill 2, Tecmo, Luigi's Mansion, Ninja Gaiden, Ju-On: The Grudge, The Ring, Final Fantasy VI, Biostats, LostLake, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time: TBA!

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 2001's Fatal Frame. We talk about retreading, camera upgrade strategies, how ghosts move and how that impacts level design, and various other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played: A few more hours

Issues covered: the strangling places, replaying the beginning of the game, knowing where to go or not, variety of uses for talismans, blocked off paths, pieces and doors and showing locks before you can find the keys, intentional design with controls, creating tension with controller choices, series evolutions, having less fun, feeling frustrating, not unifying movement around one stick, zombies vs ghosts, building levels around your enemies, the outdoor areas and fear, forests and atavistic fears, things not being fully representational and adding layers of fear, the Abyss, lots of lenses to view the same events, the meta of visiting this haunted place to make a game, ammo and bonus functions, upgrading the camera strategies, feeling skittish about the bonus functions, how many nights, the use of stone mirrors, looking forward to the future, pressing your luck, how many shots do you have left, wanting to take pictures with a camera, worrying about film amounts, dragon and mime hunting.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Resident Evil (series), Halo, GameCube, Nathan Martz, Dead Rising, Keiji Inafune, Dark Souls, Pharaijin, Dagur Danielsson, Final Fantasy VI, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Next time: Finish the game?

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 2001's Fatal Frame. We talk about the economy of the design, some sticky puzzles and usability thoughts, and mechanical considerations. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played: A few more hours

Issues covered: economy and discipline, the warbling space that signifies a ghost, a possible positive reinforcement loop and the score economy, making every ghost matter, high stakes camera use, unsettling your comfort, the disorienting movement and camera shifts popping out of combat, melodramatic and zany, the different movie eras these series connect to, the Mothman, Japanese making Western horrors, Buddhism vs Shintoism, playing croquet with the Old Ones, brute forcing a puzzle, "well there's a note," head-look, wanting a little more from the map, usability issues, the gap in the wall, mechanical inconsistency, seeing patterns that aren't there, the adventure game of it all, exponential vs linear, the talisman photos in your inventory, RTFM, various reminiscences of Father Beast on HOMM, discovery in HOMM.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Resident Evil (series), Clue, Capcom, Dead Rising, Unsolved Mysteries, Jen Longo, Silent Hill, Don't Look Now, Eternal Darkness, Day of the Tentacle, Father Beast, Heroes of Might and Magic, King's Bounty, Master of Magic, Archon, X-COM, Final Fantasy VI, Dave Wolinsky, Pippin Barr, Beyond Good and Evil, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time: More Fatal Frame

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin our annual spooky series, this time on 2001's Fatal Frame. We briefly talk about the year it came out, its developer/publisher, and why we picked it before turning to other introductory topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played: An hour-ish

Issues covered: Discord-only going forward, why this game?, photo mode games, changing culture of photography, re-elevating photography, Sony shenanigans, best years of all time, the ubergame, years where genres were introduced or forks were in the road, being able to fit more games in, risk aversion and uniqueness, indie games, too big to feel?, a bit about Tecmo, Japanese horror, based on a true story?, the cover and the possible origins of the game, the correlations screen, connecting up details, following the ghosts, pushing characters in the directions of the horror, using ghosts in interesting ways, pixel hunting with the characters, interaction prompts on key items, controls, meticulous camera placement and movement, entering a piece of furniture, not overthinking it, the straining of fixed cameras, distinguishing between cameras, something refreshing, feeling extremely different, the visual aesthetic, relying on tropes but using it to enrich, less is more, audio and horror, games that feel like save states due to repetition, accessibility options, give players options and opportunities and not getting in the way of that, accessibility as a frontier, save anywhere, games that get sanded down, more game boxes. 

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Heroes of Might and Magic, Resident Evil (series), Pokemon Snap, Umurangi Generation, Toem, Beyond Good & Evil, Deadly Premonition, Minecraft, Halo, Animal Crossing, GTA III, Devil May Cry, Civ III, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Ico, Silent Hill 2, Final Fantasy X, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, MSG 2: Sons of Liberty, Myst III: Exile, SSX Tricky, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Advance Wars, Burnout, Gothic, Black & White, Ghost Recon, Jak and Daxter, Max Payne, Onimusha: Warlords, Koei, Pikmin, Red Faction, Serious Sam, GameCube, Xbox, GameBoy Advance, Spider-Man 2, Horizon, Ubisoft, Valheim, Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Tecmo Bowl, Pac-Man, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Hideki Itegaki, Makoto Shibata, Ringu, Criterion Channel, Ju-On: The Grudge, Audition, Amityville Horror, The Entity, Until Dark, Skyrim, Alone in the Dark, Sam, MegaMan, Hitman, Tunic, Castlevania IV, Alien: Isolation, P. T., Dead Rising, Celeste, Far Cry 2, Ben Abraham, Ben Zaugg, Grim Fandango, Father Beast, Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast, Dave K, Half-Life 2, Starfighter/Jedi Starfighter, Raven Software, World of Warcraft, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time: More of Fatal Frame!

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we conclude our series on Heroes of Might and Magic. We confess that we should have learned more about this game before we tried it, and then turn to takeaways and email. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:  Some... more?

Issues covered: games we've fallen down on, the commitment, why we don't play certain genres, falling short, the possibility of finding guest hosts, game selection moving forward, having a tech tree in the manual but things we missed, board games and picking up strategy, hot seat multiplayer, modernizing the series, the limits of the audience, adding narrative, the heroes off the battlefield, June alert, whether you should do something, thinking about the computer audience, clarity and taste, how you present the information to the player in the manual, ramping up the campaign, "board games can be fun," creating your own space, learning design from board games, enjoying the tactical map, coming up with the names for things, not overthinking it, deepening and alienating people, machinima, stories from The Sims, boxes from the past.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Waypoint, Austin Walker, Patrick Klepek, Danielle Riendeau, MegaMan, GTA III, Final Fantasy Tactics, Kaeon, Dwarf Fortress, Artimage, The Sims, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Smash Brothers, NES/SNES, Apple ][, Lode Runner, Wizardry, Final Fantasy VI, Ubisoft, Jurassic Park, Jeff Goldblum, Slay the Spire, Civilization, X-COM, Warhammer, Andrew Kirmse, mysterydip, Bethesda Game Studios/Zenimax, Notch, Halo, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Battlefront, Battlezone, Jeffool, Red vs Blue, Quake, Tacoma, PUBG, LucasArts, Father Beast, Margot Robbie, Barbie, Ashton Herrmann, Lords of Magic, Lords of the Realm, Stonekeep, Interplay, Day of the Tentacle, Burn: Cycle, Phantasmagoria, Tony Rowe, Trespasser, Bill Roper, Warcraft, Diablo, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Next time: TBA!

Note: I think the person Tim was thinking of is Natalie Watson. We regret our lack of memory. Also note: Philip Johnson is the architect Brett was thinking of, with his "Glass House" in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we start a new series on Heroes of Might and Magic. We talk about the boardgame of it all and where the vibes are with this one, among other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played: Some standard, some campaign

Issues covered: hearing the journey and thoughts of our listeners, deep regrets about Megaman, games that scare us, learning the patterns, hearing about the Final Fantasy thoughts, learning about FF15 at two different publishers, a game you can't pick up and play for an hour, seeking out a full game experience, dialing down the map challenge, a more dense map, lots of map options, seeing a new map, considering whether the maps are generated algorithmically, playing a little too disposably, how this game might be played, lack of boardgame clarity, extreme depth, depth of the tactical mode, opacity and complexity, the aesthetics of the time, dormant franchises vs active ones, lacking iteration and interaction on the design and with the players, possible outcomes from opacity, balance in defending the castles, how slowly should I move on the map, getting over the hump, getting services in The Sims, kind words about the 'cast.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed:  Kaeon, Biostats, CalamityNolan, Megaman, Day of the Tentacle/Maniac Mansion, Contra, Cuphead, Andrew Kirmse, Full Throttle, Dark Souls, Belmont, Final Fantasy (series), Jason Schreier, Mark Garcia, LostLake, Metal Gear Solid V, Crystal Dynamics, Tomb Raider (2013), Square Enix, Eidos, Halo Infinite, 343 Industries, The Sims, X-COM, Soren Johnson, Civilization, Jurassic Park, Wizardry, Ubisoft, New World Computing, Infogrammes, Dwarf Fortress, Avalon Hill, Universal Paperclips, Frank Lantz, G, Tristan, Stone Librande, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers. 

Next time: More of HOMM!

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]

Friends from the Discord discussing their recent parallel play of Final Fantasy XV! We return to Heroes of Might and Magic next week.

Next time: Another Discord Game Club

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]