The Debug Log

Another walk down gamedev memory lane with Ryan and the gang!

This week on the show we discuss the evolution of networking in games. We cover the growth of the play spaces for multiplayer games such as university networks, linked computers, and the grand Internet. We also talk about the networking models that bring these games to life, such as peer to peer and client/server. Game networking has provided a much richer experience by allowing us to play together, so let's get started!

Check out *The Debug Lounge* and feel free to suggest an episode topic that you'd like to hear more about.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Send any questions about performance and optimization to: [email protected]

Double the flavor, double the fun!

We've got a pair of Sprocketeers, in Dan Moran and Lisa Hicks, joining us today to talk about methodologies, tools, and techniques used to help optimize games for performance. We take a fairly high-level view of optimization techniques, which makes the discussions in this episode easily applicable to wherever you are in your game development journey.

This episode is a product of a Debug Lounge (our Facebook group) thread about episode suggestions. So, a special shout out to Scott for suggesting that we talk about optimization, performance, and profiling! Check out The Debug Lounge and feel free to suggest an episode topic that you'd like to hear more about.

We all know making games is hard, but what do you when a project lingers on forever unfinished? Are you working on your grand masterpiece? Will you look back one day and feel proud that every doubt you had, every project delay, every catastrophe was all part of the journey that eventually led to your success? Or, are you trapped in a fool's errand, destined to end up in the scrap pile of game industry history? Spoiler alert, only you can determine that. There are countless examples of successful games that took forever to develop, while there are just as many, if not more that languished in development hell for years only to fail or go unfinished. On today's episode, we discuss the variety of ways a project can go astray, the methods you can you use to self-assess your own games, and what to do when you find your answer. All that and more on this episode of The Debug Log.

It’s Interview Time! (to be read in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers voice)

In this week’s episode we sit down with industry vet, Geoffrey Nahashon to talk about his experience as a Lead Artist and his approach to building game worlds. He offers up a lot of solid advice and is a wealth of knowledge as it relates to creating the mood and atmosphere for your game. He also speaks on the struggles and growth he’s had as an artist and explains the mentality he has had to adopt for industry success as an artist.

Oh. My. God. Becky.

First. It's Zack's Birthday. Second. Unity 2018 Beta is out and ready for all you eager developers out there to get your hands on it! In this week's episode Obinna and Ryan cozy-up and discuss Unity Technologies' latest beta release of Unity 2018, which is jam-packed with new features and fixes. So, if you've been curious to see what Unity has been working on for the past year, this is the episode for you!

"Patience is a virtue. "

So, that quote has nothing to do with this topic, but it seems like a cool thing to start the episode summary with! That said, in this week's episode Zack, Ryan, Andrew (Happy Birthday), and Obinna sit down to discuss "The Next Big Thing." Specifically, they talk/argue about what makes a game, genre, and even a platform the next big thing. The gents outline their criteria for "the next big thing" and then try to measure that against some of the top games in the industry right now. There is a lot of great discussion in this episode as well as the triumphant return of Game of the Week!

Happy New Year! It's time to kick off 2018 with a feast of an episode. We start with a very fun conversation about all the interesting tricks game devs employ to improve the player experience of their games. We have to admit some of the tricks seem to be just clever ways to hide technical issues, but, the vast majority are really creative user experience hacks that will change the way you think about some of your favorite games. We round out the episode with our wrap-up of 2017 in the game industry. We discuss our favorite stories and games of the past year, plus out most anticipated games for 2018. All that and more on this episode of The Debug Log.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Send any questions about this episode, to: [email protected]

OMG, we're back again! Brothers, sisters, everybody read! It's time for another edition of "Rapid-Fire Roundup". This week we discuss the intense fallout caused by the inclusion of things like Loot Boxes in newer PC and console titles, Ryan airs his many grievances in spectacular fashion, EA shakeups, and the release of the new Xbox One X. All that and more on this episode of The Debug Log.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any stories you want to hear us cover in the next "Rapid-Fire Roundup", to: [email protected]

There has always been an air of mystery surrounding the game development process. In the past, this was mainly due to the archaic processes involved and the massive amounts of specialized knowledge required to dip a toe into that world. Fast-forward to now, what has changed? Well, the tools are a whole lot better, the entire process has become much more open to people of all talents, and the basic concepts of game development are pretty much common knowledge, even to the casual gamer. But, as games got easier to make they grew exponentially in their complexity and the concept of AAA development entered the fold. In the past, where only a handful of developers were required to churn out a blockbuster, now hundreds of developers spend several years creating these things. Granted, we do have our fair share of indie darlings that rise to the top, but those are almost exceptions to the rule when you compare their market share to the incredible amount of money going in and out at the AAA level.

For a myriad of reasons, as games got more and more complex, it became harder for gamers and aspiring devs to get a behind-the-scenes look at the process. This lack of transparency has become something of a polarizing issue in the industry. On today's episode, we break down the recent discussions involving developer transparency. What are the benefits of it? Is it worth the risk? Why don't bigger developers share more? We cover all these questions and more.

It seems like every year, one game comes along and dominates the conversation, whether for its excellent execution, superb gameplay, or its originality of ideas. For awhile we thought that game for 2017 would be the triumphant return of the Zelda franchise in Breath of the Wild, but a well-known modder, going by the name Playerunknown, had a different idea. Building off his experience building a very popular Arma 2 mod named DayZ: Battle Royale, Playerunknown aka Brendan Greene, teamed up with Korean developer Bluehole and created a standalone game based on the mod. In March of 2017, PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS was released in Early Access on Steam. Since then the game has garnered over 8 million units sold, record breaking player engagement, and big name investment from companies like Microsoft.

This week on the show we try out a new format and analyze why PUBG has enjoyed so much success. If you've never played the game, don't worry, we breakdown the entire player experience and highlight all of the subtle, and not so subtle, design decisions that make the game so intriguing. While this type of game or genre might not be related to anything you are building, there are still many great lessons to be learned in taking a look at all of PUBG's systems and how they interact for a player. Hopefully, you'll find a few nuggets you can apply in your own designs.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Contact us at: [email protected]