In this episode, we delve into the world of collectors’ editions in the games industry and discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly, how we would design our own collector’s editions, and much, much more!

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Chapters

00:00 Episode Intro
00:33 Episode Starts
05:34 Rune’s Experience and Dreams of Collector’s Editions
12:52 Collector’s Editions Gone Wrong
13:36 Grand Theft Auto IV: Collector’s Edition
14:43 Fallout 4 & Fallout 76
30:38 Are Preorders Harmful to the Games Industry?
50:18 Sunset Moon and Prototyping
55:47 Episode Outro

Your Hosts and Their Games

Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-70-collectors-edition-60b312ba60b8

Tune in as Mireneye and Ulfgang tell us all about Dynasthir, a game over a decade in the making with all its ups and downs while Otto and Rune talk about their impressions from playing it first-hand!

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message

Chapters

00:00 Episode Intro
00:31 Episode Starts
01:22 Ulfgang Introduction
02:15 Mireneye Introduction
03:59 The History of Dynasthir
06:53 How Ulfgang Got Involved
09:19 What Is Dynasthir?
12:46 Dynasthir Review Starts
01:09:21 Episode Outro

Your Hosts and Guests, and Their Games

Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-title-69-dynasthir-review-5b77a7e19954

This week on the Rune Show, we showcase the progress of "Sunset Moon," highlighting how to piece a game together as it reaches its final development phase. Although it's just a demo, demos often represent a small part of the final product. Rune will demonstrate dialogue trees, in-game functions, and bug fixes on the fly.

In this episode, we venture into the jungle of monetization that is the gaming industry. Starting with the traditional games-as-products model reminiscent of the ’90s, we trace the evolution to expansions, downloadable content (DLC), and the controversial realm of microtransactions and loot boxes.

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message

Chapters

00:00 Episode Intro
00:30 Episode Starts
01:00 Introducing the Theme for the Episode; Monetization
04:41 Issues With Modern-Day Monetization
17:15 The Legitimate Side of Game Monetization and Its Future
34:28 Loot Boxes
38:37 Parallels to RuneScape — The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
46:34 The Ethical Dilemma of Microtransactions
01:01:23 Episode Outro

Your Hosts and Their Games

Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-67-monetization-bd166b5b2099

Welcome back to House of Games! In this episode, we try to answer the big questions; What is a game? Why do people make walking simulators? And lastly, What Remains of Elon Musk?

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message

Chapters

00:00 Episode Intro
00:29 Introducing the Theme; What Is a Game?
04:51 What Is a Game?
58:14 Reading a Comment
59:13 Episode Outro

Your Hosts and Their Games

Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-66-what-is-a-game-7065e9f9d6ee

Welcome back to House of Games! This week we talk about updates to our games, what’s going on with Sunset Moon, what it takes to finalize a demo and a special reveal, don’t miss it!

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message

Chapters

00:00 Episode Intro
00:23 Update on Sunset Moon
36:17 Midnight Nano Reveal
42:18 Midnight Nano Gameplay
52:05 Episode Outro

Your Hosts and Guest, and Their Games

Games

Other Links

Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-65-sunset-moon-update-midnight-nano-reveal-b3e181fd110e

This week on House of Games we talk about testing, types of tests, and what (not) to do to find bugs, tune in!

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message

Chapters

00:00 Episode Intro
01:01 How Rune Tests His Games
07:49 Otto’s Experience as a Tester
17:59 Unit Test
26:48 Smoke Test
33:22 Regression Test
37:49 Why Don’t Programmers Find All the Bugs Themselves?
42:59 Stress Test
45:47 Structured Testing vs. Unstructured Testing
52:36 Real-World Applications of Testing Skills
56:34 Reading Comments
58:58 Episode Outro

Your Hosts and Their Games

Other Links

Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-64-testing-testing-92928a472492

I hope you are ready for a different type of game developer education; Ida Fontaine tells us all about “The Military School of Game Development”, a.k.a The Game Assembly! Put on your best camouflage and shine those boots as we dive into the newest episode of House of Games!

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message

Chapters

00:00 Episode Intro
01:14 Ida Fontaine Introduces Herself
01:41 What Is the Game Assembly?
03:16 What Does Ida Do at The Game Assembly?
04:34 What Is Procedural Art?
08:10 What Is Technical Art?
08:54 A Day in the Life of a Student at The Game Assembly
10:26 What Is Agile?
13:55 What the Industry Think of The Game Assembly Method
14:50 A Day in the Life… Continued
24:08 The Application and Admission Process at The Game Assembly
31:04 Exploring the Reasons for Joining the School
34:35 Future Plans and the Vision for the Game Assembly
38:47 The Game Assembly’s In-House Game Engine
40:06 Does the Game Assembly Create Artistic Freedom or Conformity?
47:52 Episode Outro

Your Hosts and Guest, and Their Games

Tools for Making Games

Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-63-tga-the-military-school-of-game-development-3103940c832e

Join us for a high-tech emotional rollercoaster as we are visited all the way from Germany to hear all about StickyStoneStudio's latest project; M.O.O.D.S! If you like sci-fi, robots, action, and explosions, click play and listen as our wonderful Guest Luca Lorenz guides us through this post-apocalyptic masterpiece!

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message

Chapters

00:00 Episode Intro
02:05 Getting to Know the Guest: Luzca from StickyStoneStudio
02:39 Discussing StickyStoneStudio's Journey and Projects
04:52 M.O.O.D.S: The Game Concept and Development
12:38 M.O.O.D.S Review
43:44 What Does a Day in Luca’s Work Life Look Like?
48:15 Tips on Speaking to Publishers
50:58 Episode Outro

Your Hosts and Guest, and Their Games

Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-62-m-o-o-d-s-ed3b6f66632d

Load ’em up and aim down below as we discuss the concept of “Shooting Yourself in the Foot”, or ruining the fun in games. Listen in as we talk about stories where we ruined our own fun and how you can stop players from doing the same in your game!

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message

Chapters

00:00 Episode Intro
00:55 Introducing the Theme for the Episode: Shooting Yourself in the Foot
03:02 Open-World Games and Collectibles
13:41 How Developers Are Shooting Themselves in the Foot
14:28 Open-World Games (in Space) Are Overhyped and Over-Promised
17:32 Sunset Moon Update
19:48 Shooting Yourself in the Foot With Trophies
25:29 Achievements in KnifeBoy
29:45 The Antidote
42:33 Why Open World Space Games Are Boring, Continued
47:53 Points of No Return in Games
52:23 Problems and Solutions for Card Games Inside Video Games
58:00 How Developing Games Replaces Playing Games
01:03:15 Episode Outro

Your Hosts and Their Games

Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-61-shooting-yourself-in-the-foot-6d38587bc684