Project Tempest

Nick Jones is a narrative designer and transmedia storyteller, author of the new book “The Player and the Pentacle: Folkloric Motifs for Narrative Design”. 

Follow Nick on twitter, visit his website, and get your copy of The Player and The Pentacle.

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Outline:

Here are the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

(00:00) - Introduction

(01:10) - Recent gaming: Horizon Forbidden West, Elden Ring, Bloodborne. From Software

(12:42) - Formative experiences: PS1, PaRappa the Rapper, Crash Bandicoot, Hercules, Tomb Raider

(14:18) - Working in the gaming industry 

(15:11) - Evangelical/pentecostal christian upbringing. Sexual identity and leaving the church 

(19:39) - Church history, fantasy cultures, folklore 

(22:24) - Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, and living as an outsider 

(27:47) - The Player and the Pentacle

(31:52) - The hero's journey vs Jeff Gomez’s collective journey.  Tribalism no longer serves the greater group

(40:44) - Being the hero of your story - creative responsibility and chasing transcendence 

(46.44) - Predatory game mechanics. The magic circle of narrative desig 

(51:44) - Finishing up

Support & connect:

Find us at www.project-tempest.net/podcast, and get the acclaimed Project Tempest novella 1862 free for a limited time.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play or directly on Captivate. If you enjoy the Project Tempest podcast please consider rating it 5 stars, this really helps us out. Thanks!

Comments to [email protected]

Producer for this episode is Kearin Armstrong, production assistant is Prea Millar.

Lee Murray is New Zealand’s most awarded speculative fiction writer and editor.  Her many works include the Taine McKenna thriller series that began with Into The Mist, the Path of Ra, supernatural crime-noir that Lee co-writes with Dan Rabarts, dozens of stories, novellas, and anthologies, and recently co-editing the collection Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women, which won both the Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson awards. 

Lee’s latest release is Tortured Willows: Bent - Bowed - Unbroken, a poetry anthology featuring ​​four female Southeast Asian writers of horror. 

Follow Lee on twitter, and visit her website to explore her work. 

Subscribe: 

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Outline:

Here are the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

(00:00) - Introduction 

(00:57) - Growing up in New Zealand. Weird Tales. GenreCon. Horror writing partnership with Dan Rabarts 

(13:04) - Bravery of writing yourself. Connecting with the community creates opportunities. Work vs fun

(25:47) - Connections as a superpower. Navigating mental health and young people 

(36:14) - The Other: using mental health as an antagonist in popular culture. Isolation in New Zealand. Katherine Mansfield’s The Savage Hour

(41:17) - Tortured Willows: family, and asian female identity. Christina Sng, Angela Yuriko Smith, and Geneve Flynn. Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women 

(53:44) - Expectations on Asian women: Tiger mum, submissive and sexual. Impossible asian beauty ideals. Cultural identity and tropes

(1:02:22) - Popular culture and quality in the commercial field. Literary vs speculative fiction. Young NZ readers and writers

(1:13:57) - Funding challenges for NZ Literature and film. Creatives are essential workers 

(1:22:11) - Finishing up

Support & connect:

Find us at www.project-tempest.net/podcast, and get the acclaimed Project Tempest novella 1862 free for a limited time.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play or directly on Captivate. If you enjoy the Project Tempest podcast please consider rating it 5 stars, this really helps us out. Thanks!

Comments to [email protected]

Producer for this episode is Kearin Armstrong, production...

Fabian Nicieza is a writer of long-standing in the comic book industry. With over a thousand credits in a 30 year career, he has worked on Marvel titles such as X-Men, X-Force, New Warriors, Cable, Deadpool, and Thunderbolts, and is likely best known as the co-creator of Deadpool; his work on DC titles includes Robin, Superman and the Justice League

More recently, Fabian’s debut novel, Suburban Dicks, a mystery wrapped in a comedy, has been called an engrossing and entertaining murder mystery, and a ceaselessly funny debut novel. 

Follow Fabian on twitter, and subscribe to his author newsletter. 

Subscribe: 

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Outline:

Here are the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

(00:00) - Introduction 

(00:58) - Formative experiences: The Amazing Spider-Man #91, learning storytelling through art

(18:41) - Early career: Berkley Publishing, Marvel

(21:43) - Becoming a writer: working up the ladder, pitching ideas, developing relationships, writing stories 

(31:27) - Professional vs. amateur 

(37:08) - Suburban Dicks: understanding difference through religion, institutions, immigration. The cynical-optimist axis 

(44:01) - Human desire for belief and religious acceptance. Self-destruction via social media

(49:35) - Suburban Dicks: 25 year long process from 1995. Racial diversity, caucasian fear and demographic change 

(58:50) - The process of editing and refining work

(1:05:49) - Personal experience as an inspirational shortcut. Adapting from comics to prose writing. James Ellroy & Hunter Thompson 

(1:11:49) - Writing in a cocoon, chapter-break cliffhangers the slow reality of book publishing 

(1:23:51) - Advice for young creators

(1:27:45) - Author website, twitter, newsletter 

(1:28:26) - Finishing up

Support & connect:

Find us at www.project-tempest.net/podcast, and get the acclaimed Project Tempest novella 1862 free for a limited time.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play or directly on Captivate. If you enjoy the Project Tempest podcast please consider rating it 5 stars, this really helps us out. Thanks!

Comments to [email protected]

Producer for this podcast is Kearin Armstrong, production assistant is Prea Millar.

What is horror and how do you make it? Our second conversation with Ed McRae, kiwi horror author, narrative designer and narrative paramedic for the video games industry. Ed's been a screenwriter and story designer for over 13 years, and was lead writer on the hit online RPG Path of Exile.

Follow Ed at www.edmcrae.com.

Subscribe: 

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Outline:

Here are the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

(00:00) - Introduction

(04:44) - Education in game development, careers in startups

(13:22) - Survival horror (Dawn of the Dead) and creativity

(17:25) - Cujo by Stephen King and mental illness, Alfred Hitchcock, Writing in the Dark by Tim Waggoner

(25:56) - Devolution by Max Brooks (World War Z), Batman: Arkham Asylum, Grant Morrison, Batman’s katabasis

(34:36) - Horror in NZ: Growing up in small-town Aotearoa. Viktor Antonov and Half-Life 2, making space for influences beyond America

(39:19) - Scandinavian noir vs NZ 

(42:53) - Personal motivation in horror: a journey of self discovery. Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens and Homo Deus, art as a path forward 

(44:32) - Fitting in and feeling like an outsider. Majority vs minority. Social media creates mobs

(59:15) - Creative plans for the future. Project Tempest, Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings. Responsibilities of a narrative curator to an audience

(1:14:20) - Finishing up

Mentioned:

Cujo by Stephen King

Writing in the Dark by Tim Waggoner

Devolution by Max Brooks

Grant Morrison’s Batman run

Viktor Antonov interview

Elizabeth Knox, NZ writer

Yuval Noah Harari, Israeli historian & philosopher

Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings

***

Support & connect:

Find us at www.project-tempest.net/podcast

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

S.T. Joshi is an American writer, musician, critic and award-winning scholar whose work has covered much weird and fantastic fiction, especially H. P. Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce, Lord Dunsany, and associated writers. Incredibly prolific with over 350 books published, he has also expanded into areas such as atheism, weird poetry, race relations and political discussion. 

Follow him at stjoshi.org.

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Outline:

Here are the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

(00:00) - Introduction 

(02:54) - Origin story: H P Lovecraft, Brown and Princeton

(21:23) - Music and choral composition

(27:38) - Weird fiction: Thomas Ligotti & Caitlin Kiernan

(36:43) - ‘The Lovecrafts’ biopic

(41:11) - Atheism 

(56:02) - Happiness, health, and productivity in your work 

(1:09:04) - Lovecraft’s letters 

(1:15:34) - The cheerful pessimist

***

Mentioned:

S.T. Joshi’s homepage, biography of Lovecraft, and memoir

H.P. Lovecraft 

Ambrose Bierce 

H.L. Mencken 

Lord Dunsany 

Caitlin Kiernan 

Thomas Ligotti

Sonia Greene, H.P. Lovecraft’s wife 

‘The Last Wave’ 1970s Australian film by Peter Weir https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Wave

***

Support & connect:

Find us at www.project-tempest.net/podcast

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play or directly on Captivate. If...

Simon Pulman is a New York based lawyer and advisor focusing on tv, film, and interactive, including influencers and e-sports. Simon thinks and writes a great deal about the fast evolving landscape of entertainment and digital content - the present and future of how creators connect with audiences worldwide.

Follow Simon's writing at www.linkedin.com/in/simonpulman/

Subscribe: 

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Outline:

Here are the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

(00:00) - Introduction 

(03:38) - Simon’s origin story & how gaming has evolved

(12:49) - Early Gaming memories - Atari, Ninja Turtles, and more

(26:15) - The creative starting point

(30:13) - Realities of building IP 

(36:05) - Making and evolving beloved franchises like Resident Evil over decades 

(47:09) - The shift from storytelling to storymaking

(53:02) - Shared worldbuilding & fan-service including the Metro Universe

(59:13) - Economic responsibilities & partnered ecosystems

(63:37) - Future expectations: the reduction of traditional media

***

Mentioned:

Super Mario Bros the Movie

Street Fighter the movie

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Resident Evil: Village

Metro universe

What is an entertainment company in 2021, and why does the answer matter? - essay by venture capitalist Matthew Ball

Follow Simon's writing at www.linkedin.com/in/simonpulman/

***

Support & connect:

Find us at www.project-tempest.net/podcast

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play or directly on Captivate. If you enjoy the Project Tempest podcast please consider rating it 5 stars,

The Dark Souls book You Died is a beautiful artefact of love and obsession, raising over €120,000 on Kickstarter. Author and publisher Jason Killingsworth talks about his personal creative journey through religion, journalism, Riot Games, and building Tune & Fairweather as a home for objects of strange wonder.

Visit Tune & Fairweather at tuneandfairweather.com.

Subscribe: 

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Outline:

Here are the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

(00:00) Introduction 

(00:58) Murder among the Mormons 

(13:37) Godric by Frederick Buechner and The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

(25:51) Hardcore History - “Prophets of Doom” and written language 

(29:53) Family parallels, universal creation stories and dreamscapes 

(38:21) Doom, Paste Magazine and the core response loop of game design

(60:36) Starting Tune and Fairweather publishing with the Dark Souls book ‘You Died.” 

(81:07) Digital vs physical as items of obsession

(88:08) The artist’s love letter 

(91:19) Finishing up

Mentioned:

Murder Among The Mormons true-crime mini series about a Mormon apostate uncovering ancient documents that conflicted with canon church history.

Godric a work of historical fiction by Frederick Buechner that centers on a 12th-century religious hermit known as Godric of Finchale.

Hardcore History - Prophets of Doom murderous millennial preachers and prophets take over the German city of Munster after Martin Luther unleashes a Pandora’s Box of religious anarchy with the Protestant Reformation.

Jungian archetypes as an underlying structure of dreams and stories

Robert Eggers' film The Lighthouse, about two lighthouse keepers who descend into madness during a storm.

***

Support & connect:

Find us at www.project-tempest.net/podcast

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play or directly on Captivate. If you enjoy the Project Tempest podcast please consider rating it 5 stars, this really helps us out. Thanks!

Comments...

Sarah Beaulieu is a French writer, narrative designer, and script doctor, recently announced as Associate Narrative Director on Assassin's Creed Valhalla at Ubisoft.

Follow Sarah at sarah-beaulieu.com.

Subscribe: 

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Outline:

Here are the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

(00:00) - Introduction 

(00:56) - ‘There is no game’ & ‘The Beginner’s Guide’, two games about gamesRecent inspiring narrative experiences

(21:42) - Meta and RPG gaming

(24:56) - Young creators and funding opportunities

(35:18) - Oscar Wilde and The Portrait of Dorian Gray

(47:40) - Stephen King’s creative landscapes

(60:47) - Father-son bonding through Starflight 

(66:33) - Future creative trajectory 

(71:10) - Telling stories in different platforms

(75:50) - Creative progress through time

(81:31) - Creative control vs collaboration 

(85:55) - Finishing up

Mentioned:

There is no game & The Beginner’s Guide, two games on games

Rambalac, a youtube creator making beautiful ASMR walking videos of Japan

The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, a gothic Victorian novel about life, obsession, and self-image

Starflight, a 1986 video game about space exploration, combat, and trading 

Follow Sarah at https://sarah-beaulieu.com/

***

Support & connect:

Find us at www.project-tempest.net/podcast

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play or directly on Captivate. If you enjoy the Project Tempest podcast please consider rating it 5 stars, this really helps us out. Thanks!

Comments to [email protected]

Get the acclaimed Project Tempest novella 1862 free for a limited time at...

A wide-ranging conversation with James Everett, game designer, creative producer, co-founder of NZXR (the XR stands for Extended Reality). His Canada-New Zealand journey has included Ubisoft, Sidhe Interactive, Magic Leap/Weta Workshop, and Dr Grordbort's Invaders.

Follow James on twitter and at NZXR.dev.

Subscribe: 

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Outline:

Here are the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

(00:00) - Introduction

(00:48) - Pikpok, Ubisoft, Montreal and New Zealand

(08:17) - Starlink: Battle for Atlas, Magic Leap

(12:50) - Operating rhythm and SiSSYFiGHT 3000 workshop

(19:11) - Systemic Design: Dishonored 2’s clockwork mansion, Arkane Studios, Looking Glass, Thief 

(30:31) - Visual design and combined vision: Ubisoft, Hades

(34:55) - The Inheritance trilogy by N.K.Jemisin

(41:58) - Formative experiences: Dune by Frank Herbert, J.G.Ballard, G.I.Joe, Animaniacs

(51:22) - Connections with novels and games: Tana French, Passage, Fez

(66:26) - What goes into a project: working vs creating

(70:47) - Magic Leap: Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders. 

(92:27) - NZXR Collective: VR, Aardvark, experience accessibility, cultural change 

(104:41) - Information accessibility: Adam Greenfield, classism via information, smart cities, and moral responsibility

(120:05) - Finishing up

Mentioned:

The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin

Dishonored 2, a masterpiece of systemic game design and worldbuilding

Dune by Frank Herbert

Passage, a 5 minute game about life and death

A brief history and overview of XR (Extended Reality), the umbrella term encompassing Virtual & Augmented Reality technologies

James at the NZXR Summit talking about core principles of XR design

James at the Game Developer's Conference talking about Invaders

Support & connect:

Find us at www.project-tempest.net/podcast

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,