Writing for RPGs with Narrative Designer Whitney Beltrán

Adam Orth chats with Stumbling Cat CEO and Creative Director, Renee Gittins. Together they discuss her journey to game development from starting in biotech engineering to working in VR; how work began on Potions: A Curious Tale as a side project; creating games that appeal to younger audiences rather than target them; her work with the IGDA and the important role they played during the pandemic; and the complexity of game releases.  Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review.

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with writer and narrative designer Whitney Beltrán. Together they discuss her background in environmental law and mythological studies that led to her work writing for RPGs; what it means to write inside the Dungeons & Dragons universe; focusing on what players feel after they put the controller down; the emergence of India as a leading market for players and hub for game developers; and thoughts on procedural generated narrative. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review.

Adam Orth chats with legendary game developer Mike Mika of Digital Eclipse. Together they discuss his long career developing titles across multiple console generations; finding his creative spark at a young age and developing his first game on a store kiosk Commodore 64; the profound influence Atari had on his life; and how game preservation is an opportunity to share the human stories behind the games we love.  Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review.

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with actor turned game developer Abubakar Salim. Together they discuss his career including how he got his first gig in games with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Origins; wanting to make his own game and starting his own studio; the lessons he learned from working with Ridley and Luke Scott that he applied to game development; how he wanted to tell a story of grief with his first title, Tales of Kenzera™: ZAU; and what the business side of games can learn from film.  Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review.

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with writer Evan Narcisse. Together they discuss his work across video games and comic books; how starting as an outsourcer helped him get his start in the industry; how outsourcing let him observe game development practices across many different studios; how his game Dot's Home explores historical practices that made home ownership difficult for minorities; and what the games industry needs to do to provide avenues into development for people from marginalized backgrounds. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review.

Trent Kusters chats with Ironwood Studios' Alex Dracott and Seth Rosen about their hit sci-fi first-person driving survival game, Pacific Drive. Together they discuss their journey including their work on AAA games; what led to them creating their own studio and the hurdles they had to jump through to get started; the origin of Pacific Drive and what inspired them; and how the premise of a driving survival game allowed them to implement original ideas and add new levels of immersion. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review.

Trent Kusters chats with Hunter Bridges and Dave Padilla from Evening Star. Together they discuss their studio's debut title, Penny's Big Breakaway. Additionally they discuss their journeys into development and how the openness of developers helped get them started; how working with SEGA helped them prepare for future projects; the importance of documentation and avoiding knowledge silos; how developing their own engines influenced the type of studio they built; and how playtesting with a younger audience helped their development of Penny's Big Breakaway. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review.

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with Senior Narrative Director at Insomniac Games, Jon Paquette. Together they discuss the craft of writing and working together on a writing team; how writers and designers collaborate to craft gameplay systems that fit within a game's narrative; and what it takes to create a dual protagonist story like that of Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review.

Austin Wintory chats with Composer Lennie Moore. Together they discuss his work on the original Outcast and its sequel Outcast: A New Beginning which came recently, 25 years later; the ins and outs of the business of composing music for video games including tips for young composers entering the industry; and the profound effect Lennie had on Austin's own career being one of his formative teachers at USC.  Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review.

Trent Kusters chats with multidisciplinary artist Niklas Åkerblad. Together they discuss his career leading up to his newest title, Ultros, including his early love of games and illustration; the revolutionary game development scene in Sweden; the profound impact Hotline Miami had on his career; the complexity of games as expressive and technical creations of art; and the philosophical and poetic storytelling inside Ultros. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review. The Game Maker's Notebook is sponsored by Xsolla. To learn more, go to xsolla.pro/AOIAAS.