As Tim takes a few weeks out to heal his brain and the podcast winds towards its end, we are reaching into the Discord Game Club interview archive. This time around, BioStats and Calamity Nolan interview Kendrama94, talking about streaming but also quite a bit about pedagogy. We expect to return next week.

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 1992's Infogrames classic, Alone in the Dark. We talk a bit about its structure again, and also discuss the tension between the adventure game and the use of combat, among other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
More of the house?

Issues covered: translating Greek and Latin, trial and error, the overwhelm of options, the tension between verbs and adventure game, usability problems, telegraphing the wrong information, tunnel vision in development, a great QA department, the value of a new tester, trying to do many things, taking too few notes, thinking too systemically, a 2D space for saving, holding to play an animation, going a different direction from RPG-derived 3D games, combat states and action choices, stun locking, animation timing for combat, analog aiming for ranged combat, how to get hints in 1992, an unkillable suit of armor, feeling disempowered, the save slots, misreading a long death animation, a reward for failure, revealing that something is going on elsewhere in the house, being wrong about Louisiana, bringing in New England, many rooms and many possibilities, having the pixel hunt, showing you're done with a room in later games, getting stuck and letting your brain chew, Tim the maker of an amazing game, it takes a team, getting out of the way.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Emily Wilson, LucasArts, Day of the Tentacle, Dark Forces, Beyond Good and Evil, King's Quest, Space Quest, Dave Grossman, Tim Schafer, Ultima Underworld, Ultima (series), Wizardry (series), Prince of Persia, Out of This World, Pirates, Resident Evil, Little Shop of Horrors, Sierra, Dragon's Lair, Eternal Darkness, Jonas, Star Wars Republic Commando, Warren Spector, Deus Ex, Adam Piper, Sir Ian Livingstone, Eidos, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
More AitD

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new, final spooky series on 1992's Alone in the Dark. We set it in its time and then get into the survival horror of it all. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
About an hour and a half

Issues covered: the end, 1992 in games, focusing on world 3D vs characters, 3D in games at this time, the 2D/3D mix, pushing the boundaries of film, the origins of survival horror, seeing itself as an adventure game, 3D rendered backgrounds, theories of how it was made, film and game overlap, not having to navigate the stairs, having a character choice, the horror that drives you mad, finding , finding additive ways to use space on a CD-ROM, the introduction to the house, playing with frogs, a high degree of difficulty, looking forward to this gem, empathy and understanding games development.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Ultima Underworld, Wolfenstein 3D, Flashback, Out of this World/Another World, Shin Megami Tensei, Persona 3, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Dragon Quest V, King's Quest VI, Star Control II, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Sonic 2, Super Mario Kart, Hudson Hawk, Infogrames, X-Wing, Lightwave, Frederick Raynal, Chaosium, HP Lovecraft, GoldenEye, Christian Slater, Stephen Dorff, Uwe Boll, The Room, Tommy Wiseau, Tara Reid, Sweet Home, Resident Evil (series), Grim Fandango, Return to Monkey Island, MYST, Ron Gilbert, Thimbleweed Park, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, Lumiere Bros, Fatal Frame, Eternal Darkness, Bioshock, SW: Starfighter, John Keats, Logan, Shadow of the Colossus, Portal 2, VtM: Bloodlines, Matthew, Dark Souls 3, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.

Next time:
More AitD!

Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp
YouTube
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com