Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 2009's Minecraft. We talk about it birthing the survival genre, and a bit about what that means on several levels, drive into player motivation, and talk a little bit about how our play has gone. 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: announcement about servers, the importance of iteration and innovation in game development, implementing on the basis of what you need, layering with survival in play, exploratory game-making and seeing where choices take you, not knowing the opportunities for things, spatial exploration and buildable exploration, not knowing what to do with all this copper, adding things to challenge your assumptions, setting up traps, having to do a lot of stuff to get to the nether, having a hard time sustaining an open game, digging towards a mountain, finding an abandoned mine, a minimal story that doesn't quite scratch the narrative itch, spawning a genre which explores the other gameplay spaces, loving the Viking stuff, seeking efficiency and layout goals, finding things as you dig down, the many sites of Brett D, figuring out your layout, building building building digging digging digging.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: LostLake86, David Brevik, Artimage, Breath of the Wild, Annihilation, Enshrouded, Return to Moria, Lord of the Rings, Valheim, Dragon Quest Builders, The Sims, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Next time: More Minecraft!

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new series on 2009's Minecraft. We talk about the early access history of the title, the impact on the industry, and then dive into some initial thoughts on our first few hours. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played: A few hours

Issues covered: Brett kills Tim, an announcement about opening world, an announcement about Defeating Games for Charity, the Minecraft Timeline, the beginning of Early Access, starting with creative mode, adding core concepts later, viral success, cellular automata, emergence in a user-created space, free-to-play vs early access, hunger, huge success, a smart purchase, a rough start, undirected and unexplained, the key to the experience, building a game with a community, the crafting table and drawing little items, sanding edges off, crafting blocks with blocks, connecting to your humanity, how long you can go without stuff, building up a city, the survival test and launching a genre, holding everything in your hand, the sense of exploration, player types, sanding away friction, space for sequels, dealing with the Internet, the rise of the day one patch, boundaries and generations, a dangerous model, triaging bugs for day one, right-sizing the game.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: BioStats, Calamity Nolan, Phil Salvador, Video Game History Foundation, Arkham Asylum, Uncharted 2, Borderlands, Demons's Souls, Brutal Legend, League of Legends, Infamous, Assassin's Creed II, Dragon Age: Origins, Left 4 Dead 2, New Super Mario Bros Wii, Bayonetta, Plants vs Zombies, Red Faction: Guerilla, Artimage, Steam, Dwarf Fortress, MUD, Everquest, Far Cry 2, Clint Hocking, Valheim, Microsoft, Mojang, Bethesda Game Studios/Zenimax, id Software, Machine Games, Tango Gameworks, Discord, Phil Spencer, Halo, The Three Stooges, Picross, Black Hawk Down, Delta Force, Dragon Quest Builders, Spelunky, WoW Classic, Blizzard, mysterydip, Ubisoft, Sony, Horizon (series), Nintendo, Final Fantasy VI, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Next time: More Minecraft!

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]

This time around, BioStats and Calamity Nolan interview Phil Salvador, Library Director of the Video Game History Foundation. We expect to return with a new series next week.

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we conclude our series on 2006's Dead Rising. We visit the end of the game a bit and then turn to our takeaways, before tackling a reader question. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played: Finished the game!

Issues covered: the enemy mix, just being a journalist, being interrupted by Otis, the arrival of the army, captured by cultists, constant use of the chainsaw, adding an enemy and its impact, greater XP rewards, state changes and controlling the state change, an ongoing narrative, how games end, overtime mode, the helicopter arrival, how new game+ or post-game works these days, frustration with unplugging the bombs, vehicle troubles, reach exceeding grasp, having the wrong feelings, the wall mission, early replay to skills gather, the bomb cyclone, the open world structure and its rogue-like nature, picking the good inspiration, weapon variety and payoff, finding new things to do on your run, conducive to achievements, systems over mechanics, different kinds of mastery, getting little bang for buck from first person or special moves, zombies as level design, tuning and balancing, item progression, humans as the real enemies, psychopaths, little survivor stories, balancing silliness and poignancy, when you've changed your mind, individuating the clones, adding humor, using more and less of the language, moving to systems over mechanics, moving away from design documentation, iteration over inspiration, defensiveness, solving for growing team size with documentation.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Dark Souls, MegaMan, Fallout, Bethesda Game Studios, Morrowind, The Witcher 3, Grand Theft Auto, Lost Planet, Monster Hunter, Dragon's Dogma, Resident Evil (series), Dawn of the Dead, Gears of War, Vampire Survivor, Robotron 2084, Fatal Frame, mystery dip, Republic Commando, George Lucas, The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch, Robin Williams, William Shakespeare, Harley Baldwin, Starfighter (series), Soren Johnson, Sid Meier, LucasArts, Halo, Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy VI, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time: ??? TBA ???

Errata: You do not in fact have to carry all the queens at once. Brett may not have advanced Isabela's conversation enough.

Twitch: timlongojr Discord [email protected]

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]