Radiance

Connecting with our previous episode where we explored literal game design about the Bible, this week we talk about allegory with Tim Cleary worldbuilder of The Aetherlight: Chronicles of the Resistance.

Its a fascinating discussion on game design, story, witness, and having your theatrics match your theology.

In the quest to design a game based on the Bible, you can alienate both non-Christians and Christians.

Is there an example of a biblicaly themed game that meshes them and mechanics perfectly, avoiding the dreaded "Ludonarrative Dissonance"? We think so. And that game is the board/video game Kings of Israel.

Join us as we dive into an insightful game design discussion with Lance Hill, creator of Kings of Israel.

"The key to community is just showing up."

How can we be salt and light within our local game dev communities? What should our attitude be? What will it cost us? How do you handle gossip?

Join us for an insightful conversation with Nic Biondi of Hard Lander as we discuss game dev community.

Oh, and also how this Weird Al song You Make Me got Nic into game development.

Christ-likeness. The goal of any Jesus follower. But how can this be applied to a game's main character?

Join us for an insightful talk with Dropsy creator Jay Tholen as we discuss his spiritual transformation which led to Dropsy's transformation.

Plus he also sings a few lines from Mr. Rogers. So there's that. :-)

"I just didn't want to fail"

What does success mean to the indie developer? Is it # of views on youtube, just finishing, is it sales, or something else?

Evan Todd of Lemma, the Immersive first-person parkour game, shares his struggle with releasing and exploring his worth in game development.

If you are a married indie game dev, you share major life decisions. Deciding as a couple to forgo gainful employment and pursue the dream is hard enough. What if that game is about the illness and eventual loss of your son?

Join us for a fascinating discussion with Ryan and Amy Green of That Dragon, Cancer on the highs and lows of game development: as a couple.

We are back with an all new Season 2! Yeah!

In this opening episode we tackle the topic of Indie games becoming long multi-year projects. How do you handle "the long build?" What changes occur over the long development time and how does one stay motivated?

We dive into this topic with Justin Fox of ReElise, a mature Christian JRPG Hip Hop game, he has been making for almost 4 years.

Games like Grand Theft Auto explore the evil side of life. How do we decide what to and not to include when create authentic satisfying emotional experiences? Join us for a special episode where we deep dive the issue of content and context in our games. Joining us is professor and author of "Of Games and God" Kevin Schut.

Extensive show notes, references, and background material available at http://radiancegamedev.com/index.php/s1e06-does-it-matter-what-we-put-in-a-game-kevin-schut-and-grand-theft-auto/

What does it mean when God starts and stops your career in games? From several features in the app store, to working with Phil Visher (creator of Veggitales), to having game downloads in the millions, to suddenly moving towns and working as a house painter. This is the story of Brock Henderson, dreams, idols, and a God who is Good.

In this episode Brock bares his soul about his intertwined game career and faith journey. From his start in college in 3d design, to building a web design studio, to making flash web games, to then seeing his chance with the launch of the iPhone. Like Abraham and the binding of Isaac, this is a personal story about dreams and sacrifices. How willing are you to follow the Lord?

From studying architecture and making educational games, to creating Defender's Quest, a strategy tower defense RPG which has sold over 250,000 copies, this is the personal story of Lars Doucet and James Cavin who met at church and decided to make video games.

In this episode we cover what is systemically wrong with educational and "Christian" games, how to handle negative reviews, the challenge of following up success, testing and how to know when the game is ready to ship, and how James prepared to write for video games.