The Unofficial PopCap PopCast

Former PopCap writer/designer Steve Notley plays some PopCap Games he worked on over the years, narratin' all the while.

First up: Peggle, one of the great games of all time. OF ALL TIME. Thrill along with Steve as he plays through the first two sections of Peggle's Adventure mode, introducing us to Headmaster Bjorn Unicorn and the irrepressible Jimmy Lightning. 

It's white-hot Peggle action with loads of commentary, chit-chat, and inaudible mumbling. Hooray!

Isaac and Steve continue their conversation with Monte Michaelis, Art Director on Plants vs. Zombies 2. 

Monte shares his unique perspective on the complex processes that led to the followup to the classic original PvZ, discussing ups, downs, frustrations, triumphs, plus all sorts of stuff in between and besides. Revel in the reveals, PvZ fans!

CHAPTERS

00:00  The Unofficial PopCap PopCast
00:19  Hello Greetings Bonjour
01:13  Previously on...
01:52  Planet vs. Zombies
04:02  Flash Facebook PvZ
11:26  Everything Around Us Is Shifting
13:28  Desirability, Viability, Feasibility
17:03  Vague Target, Vague Solution
19:39  Lionizing Suffering
20:34  Worthwhile Experiences
22:04  Surviving as a Creative
30:51  It's About Time
37:13  Premium to Freemium
42:32  PvZ2 Is Trying To Do a Really Difficult Thing
44:02  Still Dealing With the Consequences
45:29  The Winchester House
47:41  Peak Joy and Rough Trenches
50:19  Spintop
52:33  I Remember My Emotions
54:21  The Best Version of Myself
58:45  Just Keep Moving
1:00:09  Where Is My Happiness In This?

LINKS

badpennygoods.com
https://www.badpennygoods.com/
(real physical goods)

ADPList
https://adplist.org/mentors/montye-michaelis
(mentoring)

thisismonte.com
https://www.thisismonte.com/
(Monte stuff!)

LinkedIn Monte Michaelis
https://www.linkedin.com/in/montemichaelis/
(Monte has been extremely busy since his PopCap days. So many talents and experiences!)

Isaac and Steve get into it with Monte Michaelis, Art Director on Plants vs. Zombies 2. 

Being one of the few people who worked through much of PvZ2's early development, Monte has a unique perspective on the forces that shaped the follow-up to the classic original. 

Game Jams, unicycles, cat cutouts and the all-important art of distiguishing between what's clever and what's clear are just a tiny fraction of the mysteries these three old-school PopCappers discuss. Chow down, PopCap and PvZ fans!

CHAPTERS

00:00  The Unofficial PopCap PopCast
00:19  Hello Greetings Bonjour
00:58  Welcoming Monte Michaelis
02:53  Biggs Darklighter
03:13  Semi-rural Alaska
04:18  Animation
11:22  First Introduction to PopCap
12:44  "Where's My Art?"
16:40  Working on Blitz
18:17  Commercial Value of Attention
22:50  Game Jams
23:20  Michael Jackson Unicycle Daredevil
27:37  Disco Zombie
31:48  Being Clever vs. Being Clear
34:03  Snackers
35:05  Moving Into Plants vs Zombies 2
38:49  Vector Rather Than Pixel
42:06  Plant Food
43:47  Farmageddon
46:32  "PvZ2 is cancell bed."
46:59  Higher Fidelity
49:49  New Peashooter & Sunflower Animations
58:32  PvZ2 Design: Mohan Rajagopalan
59:28  Exponentially Better
1:00:35  And On That...

LINKS

badpennygoods.com
https://www.badpennygoods.com/
(real physical goods)

ADPList
https://adplist.org/mentors/montye-michaelis
(mentoring)

thisismonte.com
https://www.thisismonte.com/
(Monte stuff!)

LinkedIn Monte Michaelis
https://www.linkedin.com/in/montemichaelis/
(Monte has been extremely busy since his PopCap days. So many talents and experiences!)

Isaac and Steve continue the conversation with hyper early PopCap hires Jeff Weinstein (code) and Tysen Henderson (art/design). This time around worms are booked, wishes are made, star police are allied, and indy game studios are quit from after they're bought by titantic multinational billion-dollar corporations. So much stuff!

CHAPTERS

00:00  The Unofficial PopCap PopCast
00:19  Hello Greetings Bonjour
01:20  Previously on...
05:40  Original Bookworm
08:09  DJ Qbert's Wave Twisters
10:07  Let's Follow Up Bookworm
15:13  An Overarching Bad Guy
16:42  Comical Dialogue
18:27  Writing in Games
23:11  The Couch
25:26  The AAA of Casual Games
26:43  Bookworm Adventures 2
29:11  Robo Dojo
36:03  Allied Star Police
39:47  Too Loud
40:53  Bookworm Heroes
45:31  End Up in the Ditch
46:13  Time to Split
50:42  Shortcut to Riot
52:38  A Lot of Nothing
53:16  Chrono Dojo
54:00  The Last 15 Years
55:08  Space Otter Charlie
56:03  PopCap Replay System
1:00:44  One Good Brian Story
1:03:00  Takeaway
1:05:12  I Miss Playing Foosball With You
1:06:36  And On That...

LINKS
DJ Q-Bert - Wave Twisters - Animated Film - 2001
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQVRTdRnQiQ

Isaac and Steve talk to two of the earliest PopCap hires, artist/designer Tysen Henderson and programmer Jeff Weinstein, both of whom were at PopCap years before either of our gracious hosts arrived. Insane aquariums, anti-shark typing and flying pigs erupted soon after, along with one of PopCap's first fully polished action games, Astropop. Come, join us in the weeds with these two PopCap legends!

CHAPTERS

00:00  The Unofficial PopCap PopCast
00:19  Hello Greetings Bonjour
01:02  Realest and Earliest
02:14  Quest For Glory
05:39  Free Stars
07:00  How I Learned How to Program
10:49  Insaniquarium
12:49  Doing Digital Art
17:47  Dinosaur Smut Porn
18:45  GDC & George Fan
24:46  Terrible Demo Disc
27:57  What AMD Stands For
29:53  When Pigs Fly
35:18  The Only Team in the Office
39:23  Typer Shark
43:06  Vulgarity Filter
47:35  Astropop
52:27  Such a Crucial Part of Any Game
58:34  Expermiental Stuff
1:01:19  And On That...

Isaac and Steve continue their deep dive with programming/game design whiz Eric Tams. Topics include a ton of stuff about Peggle, working nights on homebrew projects, moving on when the time is right, accounting for failure as well as success, and a whole spew of other fascinating stuff. 

LINKS
Star Control: The Ur-Quan Masters
https://sc2.sourceforge.net/downloads.php

Isaac and Steve chat with former PopCap, now Valve programmer Eric Tams. Discussion touches on chess, growing up in Utah, figuring out where games go wrong, and the unreleased gem, Prince of Toys! Check it out... if you dare!

Isaac and Steve pop in to briefly explain that while there won't be a full episode this week, listeners and fans should rest assured more PopCast is well on the way!

CHAPTERS

00:00  The Unofficial PopCap PopCast
00:19  Hello Greetings Bonjour
01:06  ...annnnnd we're out!

Steve and Isaac continue to converse with the omnitalented Ed Allard about PopCap Games and beyond.

Ed co-founded Escape Factory & Sprout Games, founded Wayward Distractions, audio designed for TIVO, and directed games worldwide for PopCap... all before breakfast! We keep chatting about all of it in this second half of our conversation. Check it out!

CHAPTERS

00:00  The Unofficial PopCap PopCast
00:19  Hello and Welcome
01:22  118 Direct Reports
04:29  Platform Stuff
05:06  Pvz2 Development
07:10  The Siloing Effect
10:36  Pig Up & New IP
31:01  Wayward Distractions
34:09  Space Otter Charlie
41:04  Game Dev Triangle of Labor
46:16  The Prairies of Possibility
50:09  Prototyping on Robotics
50:58  Time With AI
55:12  Experience Organic Life
56:17  Wrapping Up

Steve and Isaac welcome the multitalented Ed Allard for conversation about his tenure at PopCap during the golden age. 

Co-founder of Escape Factory and Sprout Games, founder of Wayward Distractions, audio designer for the TIVO, and Director of Games Worldwide for PopCap Games around the time of the buyout. Ed has a very storied career and we get the privilege of talking with him about all of it. Join us!