Idle Thumbs

Nice island you got here, shame if it wasn't fully industrialized! Fortunately Jon, Troy, and Rob are here to strip mine, clear-cut, and redevelop the hell out everything in sight. Troy puts this latest entry in the broader context of both the series and city builders in generals, Jon has made some mistakes, and Rob is both dazzled by the game's beauty but wishes it more fully captured the impact of heavy industry on nature. Also he is convinced somehow he can make a sensible grid layout out of a game built to confound them.

Starting a new trailer from breaking down a film or game, searching for music, and coming up with ideas is this week's topic! We also talk about recent Golden Trailer Award winners John Wick 3, A Star is Born, and the latest trailer for the Hideo Kojima game Death Stranding.

Trailers Discussed: John Wick 3, A Star is Born, Death Stranding, The Davinci Code, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Scooby Doo, American Sniper, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Annabelle Creation, Ford vs Ferrari, The Muppets.

If you have questions or comments please send them to [email protected].

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In this episode, Soren and Leyla Johnson interview independent game developer Rami Ismail of Vlambeer, best known for his work on Super Crate Box, Ridiculous Fishing, Luftrausers, and Nuclear Throne. They discuss why he started a company with someone he couldn’t stand, how to make games in a place without electricity, and why the world “inclusivity” can still be exclusionary.

Games discussed: StarCraft, Urban Assault, Final Fantasy XV, Nier: Automata, Star Wraith, Evochron, Super Crate Box, Serious Sam: The Random Encounter, Ridiculous Fishing, Luftrausers, Nuclear Throne

This week's show is the alternate universe version of our 2013 episode on Total War: Rome II. It was two hours of non-stop slamming that poor game - a real massacre. But here we find ourselves in 2019 with Total War: Three Kingdoms in front of us, and things are different. It's good. It's very good. The load times are short. The AI seems competent. The vibrant Three Kingdoms setting is brought to life with both a story mode and a gloriously ahistorical mode that lets the characters shine. Rob, Fraser, T.J., Rowan, and special guest Jenny Wu explore this new entry that bridges the gap between the historical Total War games their offshoot fantasy cousin.

Movie trailer trends like the Inception Braaaam, percussive sound design and playing out longer scenes are definitely a thing in the industry. If you've noticed a trend in trailer editing, we've got you covered. We also dive into the creation of the trailers for It: Chapter 2 and everyone's favorite anthropomorphic hedgehog, Sonic.

Rob, TJ, and Jon are not quite sure what to make of Imperator: Rome, the latest historical grand strategy game from Paradox Development Studio. Should a Hellenistic warlord have such fine control over demographics? Is there much to do beyond empire-building? On the other hand, when the eagles are marching, does there need to be?

Why do trailer editors "spoil the movies"? In this episode we talk about the difficult balance of teasing in trailers, when to hold back and when to show more - and the importance of storytelling.

The Cutdown is a podcast all about the art of trailer editing! The show is hosted by movie trailer editor Ric Thomas and indie game trailer editor Derek Lieu.

We talk about why we started the show, our plans for future episodes, the history of our interest in trailers, how we became trailer editors, why we love doing it, and some of our favorites. Whether you want to learn about the industry, you're an amateur or professional editor, or you just like watching them, we hope you enjoy learning all about the art of making movie and game trailers!

Trailers Discussed: Bee Movie, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Comedian, The Birds, The Caveman's Valentine, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.

If you have questions or comments please send them to [email protected]

The gang has been playing the Steel Division 2 beta and wow, things are different on the Eastern Front. That leads to a discussion of how familiar series and systems take on new life, or fail to, when adapted to new settings.

Rowan, TJ, and Rob and joined by Jon Bolding to talk about how the difficulty discussion and "designer intent" maps to strategy games... or doesn't. We discuss games that go out of their way to highlight a specific "way it's meant to be played" and whether that actually holds up in reality. We also talk about customization options and, when all else fails, the glorious tradition of house rules and outright cheating to find the way to play that "just right" for you.