Lightmap - Conversations with video game creators

Clinton McCleary wasn't working in games before he started Caustic Reality and his debut game Infliction. In fact it was a redundancy at work that prompted him to start working on his game over 3 years, which lead to award nominations, PAX Australia indie showcase selection and a story that really resonates with people. Infliction is a horror first person narrative exploration game that draws on Clinton's own life experiences to make something both horrifying and deeply relatable. Infliction is available now on Steam.

An Australian Senate standing committee which carried out an inquiry into loot boxes, has just handed down it's report into "Gaming micro-transactions for chance-based items". It looks like loot boxes might soon need stricter guidelines if they are to be allowed in video games in Australia, but the story isn't over yet. There are a bunch of recommendations and information in the report which you can read in full here, but let us break it all down for you so you can spend less time reading a 90 page document and more time grinding for those inevitable sprays and icons, urgh.

Pixel Sift is produced by Scott Quigg, Sarah Ireland, Fiona Bartholomaeus & Mitch Loh. Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Salty Dog Sounds for some of our promo music this week.

SPONSOR: Thank you to Murdoch University School of Arts for their support over every single episode of Pixel Sift. We couldn't have done it without you. If you want to bolster your skills in media, journalism or game development, check out the Murdoch University School of Arts website for more information!

You can find us on social media, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift"

Support the show: https://sifter.store

Greg Louden is the Chief Convict at Convict Games and our guest this episode. This remote studio have put together STONE a love letter to noir, stoner flicks with a strong Australian aesthetic and a surreal anthropomorphic animal universe. Greg shared with us what it was like to work on this game, and how he collaborated with musicians from across the world as well as roping in as many friends and family as possible. STONE is available now on Steam.

This week Microsoft announced at their X018 event that they had acquired inXile Entertainment and Obsidian Entertainment makers of Wasteland 2 and Pillars of Eternity II respectively, as it bolsters its ever growing stable of first party studios and console exclusives, with some fearing a return to the studio absorption and destruction of the early 2000s. Will this mean less of the cross platform play we're coming to expect from major titles, as exclusivity and acquisitions take hold?

Pixel Sift is produced by Scott Quigg, Sarah Ireland, Fiona Bartholomaeus & Mitch Loh. Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Salty Dog Sounds for some of our promo music this week.

SPONSOR: Thank you to Murdoch University School of Arts for their support over every single episode of Pixel Sift. We couldn't have done it without you. If you want to bolster your skills in media, journalism or game development, check out the Murdoch University School of Arts website for more information!

You can find us on social media, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift"

Support the show: https://sifter.store

Fresh from the showfloor of PAX Australia 2018 is PARTY SIFT the great collaborative podcast we share with our friends at Party Loaded. This year Matt and Luke stepped up to the Mic at the Audio Technica podcast booth on the show floor and we recapped some of our favourite parts of the show.

If you like Party Loaded why not give them a listen! They're out every single week.

Pixel Sift is produced by Scott Quigg, Sarah Ireland, Fiona Bartholomaeus & Mitch Loh. Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Salty Dog Sounds for some of our promo music this week.

SPONSOR: Thank you to Murdoch University School of Arts for their support over every single episode of Pixel Sift. We couldn't have done it without you. If you want to bolster your skills in media, journalism or game development, check out the Murdoch University School of Arts website for more information!

You can find us on social media, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift"

Support the show: https://sifter.store

Zamfir Dumitru, the Founder & CEO of MonsterScope Studios joined us this episode to Share his team's latest project Dawnblade the modern hack 'n' slash dungeon crawler and Action RPG for mobile devices. Zamfir talked about the challenges of taking his work to Gamescom in Germany and at the Tokyo Game Show and why exhibiting it at PAXAUS seems like a walk in the park in comparison and what it is like to be so close to the end of a long development journey.

The launch cycle of the hotly anticipated Red Dead Redemption 2 is in full swing and with it are the standard pre-release interviews happen with key creatives. Dan Houser, Rockstar Games Co-founder and writer caused some controversy this week when hesaid in an interview with Vulture that "The polishing, rewrites, and reedits Rockstar does are immense. 'We were working 100-hour weeks' several times in 2018" before quickly clarifying. Over the last few years we've seen a lot of push back against crunch culture in games development, and the era of high intensity work expectations isn't as readily accepted as it once was.

Pixel Sift is produced by Scott Quigg, Sarah Ireland, Fiona Bartholomaeus & Mitch Loh. Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Salty Dog Sounds for some of our promo music this week.

SPONSOR: Thank you to Murdoch University School of Arts for their support over every single episode of Pixel Sift. We couldn't have done it without you. If you want to bolster your skills in media, journalism or game development, check out the Murdoch University School of Arts website for more information!

You can find us on social media, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift"

Support the show: https://sifter.store

The infamous John Robertson, the mastermind behind the YouTube series turned popular stage show turned video game The Dark Room is our guest this episode. John has come back to his roots, working with Perth's own Stirfire Studios which brings the whole thing full circle. One of the first "games" on YouTube and based heavily on the 1980s style text adventures, John shared what it was like working with a team he'd known since he was 15 to make the Dark Room game.

We also speak about participatory culture, which is a fancy way of saying fandom and audience involvement in media, and John shared his experience with the cosplay and gaming communities and how they have shaped his work. With years of experience as a cosplay contenst MC we learn how the small stories he saw play out on stage inspired his work, and how that works for his collaborative stage show.

Pixel Sift is produced by Scott Quigg, Sarah Ireland, Fiona Bartholomaeus & Mitch Loh. Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Salty Dog Sounds for some of our promo music this week.

SPONSOR: Thank you to Murdoch University School of Arts for their support over every single episode of Pixel Sift. We couldn't have done it without you. If you want to bolster your skills in media, journalism or game development, check out the Murdoch University School of Arts website for more information!

You can find us on social media, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift"

Support the show: https://sifter.store

Locky Betts and Jeff Hayes of Fitzroy's Grease Monkey Games take us on a journey with their game Torque Drift. It's a competitve drift racing game made by drift enthusiasts. We learn about how they've translated the feeling of weight shifting in a car around a corner into a game you can take with you on your phone, and challenge your friends. For the hoon at heart, Torque Drift will be out in October.

We also learn a little bit about how real products end up in games, and when a brand decides they don't want to play anymore. From car manufacturers to embracing the world of gaming, to them driving off into the sunset, with some input from Locky & Jeff who tell us what it's like to bring real cars into a game you're making.

Pixel Sift is produced by Scott Quigg, Sarah Ireland, Fiona Bartholomaeus & Mitch Loh. Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Salty Dog Sounds for some of our promo music this week.

SPONSOR: Thank you to Murdoch University School of Arts for their support over every single episode of Pixel Sift. We couldn't have done it without you. If you want to bolster your skills in media, journalism or game development, check out the Murdoch University School of Arts website for more information!

You can find us on social media, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift"

Support the show: https://sifter.store

Two of the developers from Melbourne based studio Pixel Engineers, James Koehne and Daniel Spiteri join us this week, they're the creators of Hunt 'n Sneak the asymetric multiplayer game where light is both your friend and foe. We learn exactly what it took to make this game that's still in development and the challenges of making a balanced game where each player has different goals.

We also take a look at drastic measures some Fortnite players are taking to get their hands on a limited adition skin. Some are visiting retailers to covertly access the content on display devices. Even close friends of the Pixel Sift staff are getting in on the action with varying degress of success. 

Pixel Sift is produced by Scott Quigg, Sarah Ireland, Fiona Bartholomaeus & Mitch Loh. Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Salty Dog Sounds for some of our promo music this week.

SPONSOR:Thank you to Murdoch University School of Arts for their support over every single episode of Pixel Sift. We couldn't have done it without you. If you want to bolster your skills in media, journalism or game development, check out the Murdoch University School of Arts website for more information!

You can find us on social media, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift"

Support the show: https://sifter.store

Aladar Apponyi joins us from Melbourne to talk about his game Eatvolve, the "eat em up" platformer that has players take charge of a base level lifeform climbing its way up the food chain by consuming different animals and stealing their abilities. We learn what its like moving to solo development after working at Team Bondi and the future of the game.

Patrick Klepek at Waypoint wrote an interesting article this week on how playing games for an audience makes challenging and stressful games more enjoyable. From the arcade, to the couch, to streams with large heaps of watchers, they performative aspect of gaming isn't new, but it's definitely an ever increasing trend.

Pixel Sift is produced by Scott Quigg, Sarah Ireland, Fiona Bartholomaeus & Mitch Loh. Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Salty Dog Sounds for some of our promo music this week.

SPONSOR: Thank you to Murdoch University School of Arts for their support over every single episode of Pixel Sift. We couldn't have done it without you. If you want to bolster your skills in media, journalism or game development, check out the Murdoch University School of Arts website for more information!

You can find us on social media, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift"

Support the show: https://sifter.store

Sean Simon AKA Those Six Faces joins us this week to talk about his game Snake Time. Developed by Sean alone Snake Time takes the traditional Snake gameplay and turns it into a move by move puzzle game. Sean spoke to us about building out his first released game, and what success looks like to him.

We also take a closer look at the trend of games choosing to move away from traditional online marketplaces such as Steam and Google Play and create their own launcher and store for their games. The latest publishers to go it alone  are Epic Games and Bethesda. However there are concerns device security and user experience could be affected by this move. Is it a cash grab, will it allow for a more tailored game experience and is it actually be better for the players?

Pixel Sift is produced by Scott Quigg, Sarah Ireland, Fiona Bartholomaeus & Mitch Loh. Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Salty Dog Sounds for some of our promo music this week.

SPONSOR: Thank you to Murdoch University School of Arts for their support over every single episode of Pixel Sift. We couldn't have done it without you. If you want to bolster your skills in media, journalism or game development, check out the Murdoch University School of Arts website for more information! 

You can find us on social media, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift"

Support the show: https://sifter.store

David Lloyd from Melbourne based studio Powerhoof joins us this week to share his new game Regular Human Basketball, where you take control of a giant mech to score dunks and three pointers in the normal sport of basketball. Following on from Crawl, another local multiplayer asyncronous couch game, Dave shared what inspired the game and what they learnt along the way. Regular Human Basketball is available on PC from 1 August 2018, and you can check out our PAXAUS first look here.

A court in Germany has just made it illegal for game retailer to take preorders for games that do not have a definitive release date. This could really shake up the way publishers do business. With preorders a big component of early AAA marketing, and a revenue source for retailers, we took a look at how this compares to Australian consumer law, and whether or not a ban like this might come into force here.

Pixel Sift is produced by Scott Quigg, Sarah Ireland, Fiona Bartholomaeus & Mitch Loh. Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Salty Dog Sounds for some of our promo music this week.

SPONSOR: Thank you to Murdoch University School of Arts for their support over every single episode of Pixel Sift. We couldn't have done it without you. If you want to bolster your skills in media, journalism or game development, check out the Murdoch University School of Arts website for more information! 

You can find us on social media, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift"

Support the show: https://sifter.store