GameDev Loadout | A Game Developer Podcast

Visit GameDevLoadout.com for the show notes of every Podcast episode.

Benjamin is a civic media scholar and game designer at American University. Previously, he co-founded Games for Change, the movement hub for advancing social change with games. He was also the program officer at MacArthur Foundation which launched a learning initiative to help determine how digital technologies are changing the way young people act. Games have become a great way to socialize. It can be used to meet new people, break the ice, and in the case with Pokemon Go, go out and find Pokemon together as a community. Benjamin explains how games can be great for civic life.

Sponsored Giveaway:

I am doing a giveaway sponsored by Game Dev Underground, a marketing and connection platform for indie developers that helps you build, finish and launch better games. The winner gets a 1-hour long indie game marketing consultation with the founder, Tim Ruswick. This is over $1,000 in value, and it can be yours! All you have to do is send proof that you rated and reviewed the podcast. Click here to enter the giveaway.

Visit GameDevLoadout.com for the show notes of every Podcast episode.

Eduardo is a freelance game audio designer and has been working in games since 2011. He's worked on titles such as The Stanley Parable, Apotheon, Neverending Nightmares, and the latest game Everything. Audio has the power to greatly enhance the gaming experience. Whether it's a tiny sound that hints a player towards something or a music that makes a scene intense, this is something you do not wait til the end to work on. Eduardo makes it clear that audio should be a main part of the production.

Sponsored Giveaway:

I am doing a giveaway sponsored by Game Dev Underground, a marketing and connection platform for indie developers that helps you build, finish and launch better games. The winner gets a 1-hour long indie game marketing consultation with the founder, Tim Ruswick. This is over $1,000 in value, and it can be yours! All you have to do is send proof that you rated and reviewed the podcast. Click here to enter the giveaway.

Visit GameDevLoadout.com for the show notes of every Podcast episode.

Andy has been in the game industry for nearly 20 years and now currently works at his company called Gaintsdance Game Design. His goal is to help you make better games based on your ideas and intellectual properties. Each task a player do should have a meaning behind it so that it's doesn't feel pointless. The reward at the end of the task must make sense and worthwhile if possible. Andy nail downs why communication is so important within the game and outside of it as well.

Sponsored Giveaway:

I am doing a giveaway sponsored by Game Dev Underground, a marketing and connection platform for indie developers that helps you build, finish and launch better games. The winner gets a 1-hour long indie game marketing consultation with the founder, Tim Ruswick. This is over $1,000 in value, and it can be yours! All you have to do is send proof that you rated and reviewed the podcast.  Click here to enter the giveaway.

Brandon Smith is the CEO and lead programmer for DarkShot Studios. They recently released a 2D platformer called ROTii. We talk about how frustrating it can be when someone is not committed to the project. Just having one person leave the team can have adverse effects on the development of the game. That's why it's so important to invest in your team, to build meaningful relationships, learn each other strengths and weaknesses, and follow the same vision.

Cortney Harding is a professor, author, and the founder of Friends With Holograms, an agency that helps brands, advertisers, and entertainment companies understand VR and other emerging technologies. Harding teaches a series of seminars that explain best practices for using VR, creating content, and staying up-to-date on the latest technical developments in the space. She also offers consulting for brands and agencies who want to make the leap into VR, using her deep network of connections to put them together with the best partners to make their visions a reality.

Although VR is still fairly new and early, it has the potential to be the most interactive and immersive experience ever especially in gaming. The idea of how touch, sense, sound, and movement in a virtual world brings endless possibilities. You can tell from our voices how excited we are about VR.

Om Tandon is the director of the user experience at Digit games studio. He has 12+ years of experience in building massively entertaining and monetizing experiences for 80 million+ engaged players in franchises like Disney, 20th Century Fox, and Marvel. Prior to Digit he has worked in Gameloft, and also started up a gaming studio called June Software.

We like to assume what players want but then when they test out our games, they have a completely different reaction. That constant loop with the players to get their feedback will create a game aimed at that target market. Om Tandon explains why to build a game along with the player, not for them.

He started from TimeGate Studios and now is the Co-Founder at Orb Interactive. He has over 15 years of experience in the game industry and recently released his latest game Gods of Olympus. Working on a game involves time, money, and quality. Always strive for the highest quality. Also be around people that are smarter than you. This allows for continuous improvement. Most importantly, just start building a portfolio today!

He has written, designed, produced over 45 games, with over six million units sold. He has written the book Game Design: The Art of Business of Creating Games, IGDA honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010, and he was the Chief Creative Officer at Zynga. Now he works as an independent consultant.

Player Empathy - put yourself in the player shoes and figure out what you need to tell them to play your game. It's so important to play from the user perspective. We also talk about going through hard moments, investing in yourself, and tracking your time. Time management helps to set priorities. #gamedev #podcast

He is an associate professor of Game Development and Design at Dakota State University, where he specializes in horror and occult themes and mechanics in games. He is the author of Game Magic: A Game Designer's Guide to Constructing Magic System and Quests: Design, Theory, and History in Games and Narratives. He is also the creator of Howard's Law of Occult Game Design. Yes yes, we all know communication is important but how often do we encourage it and do it ourselves. Everyone needs to have a clear understanding of the vision and their responsibilities. Asking questions should be a daily thing to find answers.

He is a writer and designer at Grundislav Games focused primarily on adventure games. He worked on games such as "A Golden Wake" and "Shardlight." He is also involved as an instructor with Playcrafting NYC, teaching courses on topics such as adventure game design theory and writing interactive dialogue. I had a blast talking with Fransisco about how he got started in the game industry. He wanted to be at a job that he loves and so he took the risk of going to another city and started creating games. The important thing here is that he stayed dedicated to his dream and won.