The Game Design Dojo Podcast

Get more done in less time for lone wolf developers, hobbyists, large teams, and everything in between. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #026

In this expansive episode Brian and Ike discuss the dream, tech, design, best practices, and market strategies of virtual reality for game developers. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #025

In this first Metroidvania discussion Brian and Ike define the popular gameplay style, discuss its history, cite game examples, and explore player motivations. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #024

How to use the "Lean Startup" method for game development. A discussion and exploration of how and when to use it for your projects. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #023

An exploration on using physics as the core mechanic as opposed to just a supporting simulation system. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #022

Brian and Ike dive deep into different ways to monitize your games, and how to tie your monitization strategy with your brand. Listen now to Game Design Dojo Episode #021

In this episode, Brian and Ike dive into puzzles and how to implement them in your game design. They compare games using puzzles as their main gameplay or as a feature thrown into the gameplay. They'll also discuss how they go about using puzzles in their own games. So, enjoy! Today's Developer Diary Brian has starting using Notepad ++ instead of MonoDevelop and Unity Visual Studio because it's so light and fast. It's a totally free, tiny little program that he changed all the colors to look like Unity and trained it to get all the key words in there. It's just fantastic! Ike has taken the opportunity to step back and put a couple of patches on the three games he has in the store after taking some of the feedback he's gotten. He also has a fourth and fifth game in the works! Brian explains that even though Fenix Fire hasn't released any games this year, they have a lot that is being incubated so they've had a really busy year and it's been the work for hire that's been able to keep them going. Brian and Ike also discuss the totally different approaches their companies have to releasing games and the importance of having your game featured in the initial launch. Puzzle Design As a starting point, puzzles should include a couple of key traits: It should be very clear what the puzzle is  - For example - With a jigsaw puzzle you know exactly what you're supposed to do, fit all the pieces together It should show progress as you're solving the puzzles - Jigsaw example - As you join more pieces together, not only are you building a larger cluster but you're also filling in this picture which is satisfying There should be some sort of a pay off when the puzzle is solved - Jigsaw example - The joy of seeing the picture all together gives a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of completeness Puzzles in Level Design The puzzle should be obvious with clearly defined rules. In games like Metroid and Zelda, the camera takes over and points the player to where they need to go. This gives the player a call to the puzzle and also shows the player the ingredients of the puzzle. The most common are a torch, a totem, a door, or a lock and key. You can be innovative as much as possible when designing your game because you have the amazing opportunity to design a brand new game and can do whatever you really want in it so why resort to something that has been done a million times before? But, be careful since it's very easy to lose the player the more you innovate. You'll still need to have a lot of conventional game design elements because if the game is too weird or out there then people won't be able to understand it.  Puzzle Games - Match 3 In a puzzle game, the call to the puzzle is the game itself and it's just a matter of learning what the mechanics of the puzzle are. Candy Crush example. Familiarity in games -  some players want something new but in a way that they understand it immediately Feedback Loop - the faster a path to failure is identified, the better it is Having clear, constant feedback is good - like a jigsaw puzzle trying to match pieces Sounds are very important - having satisfying sounds when making progress Effects are very important - Puzzle and Dragons example Having a tiny bit of input gives you tons of positive feedback - makes you feel great Prime demographic of match 3 games is women over 40 -  coincides with slot machine games Every Game is a Puzzle Anything that requires strategy, which is almost every game, the puzzle is defined by the fact that you have to make choices. Starcraft - The puzzle is how to win the war.  You have all these tools at your disposal and there's a constant change in strategy. Clash of Clans - The puzzle is when you go to attack a village which of your pieces do you put down and where. Gears of War - The puzzle is being in a large open space and shoot all kind of enemies. The AI is a puzzle and the level layout,

Brian and Ike discuss the practicalities of how to get a company off the ground and rolling. If you're looking for work-for-hire, then this episode provides some useful ways to obtain client work and how to build up your business development. Today's Developer Diary Ike is back! He is fresh after working at iD Tech Summer Camp where he taught high school students game design. It was fun to show them how to make games and by the time they left the camp in two weeks they had their own prototype working on their own phones. Ike also rang his "game release" bell! Puzzlin' Pieces: USA is now available on iTunes, Android and Amazon. His daughter helped develop this new game about learning about US geography. If there's any Windows 8 Microsoft people listening, please reach out to Ike. He wants to release the game for Windows, but keeps on hitting road blocks. So, if anyone can help please reach out to Ike! Brian just got back from Seattle! After doing his very first talk at Unite 2014 -  High End Mobile Development - highlighting his game Gates of Osiris. During the talk he spilled some tips and tricks on how they're going about the art of the game, a lot of the effects and how they're building the terrain. Was what really awesome was during his introduction when he mentioned he was a co-host of the Game Design Dojo, people clapped! And people also clapped when he mentioned their responsible for the Tuscany World Demo for Oculus VR. Our listener Vinny came up and talked with Brian. Thanks Vinny so much for coming out to the talk! Contact Work/Work For Hire The secret to Fenix Fire's longevity has been balancing work-for-hire with their own IP. Brian has been an indie for the past eight years and was in AAA for the previous six years. So, he's actually been an indie longer than he's been in the friendly confines of being an employee. He owes this primarily to work-for-hire by getting good contracts and doing good business development. General Thoughts About Work For Hire: It's a balancing act - you don't have control over your clients needs and timetables and you'll have to work around their deadlines as opposed to yours Repeat business - is the most efficient way to get get more contract work Making your own games - can yield a lot of opportunities Have at least one game shipped - really important and brings credibility Where do you begin to try to get Work For Hire? For the purposes of this episode, Brian and Ike use the scenario of a start-up company either with a team of 2-3 or a lone wolf who has all the skills needed to make a game. So, how would you go out and start landing a steady stream of clients for full service game development? Approach #1 - Try doing pro-bono work Go to a bigger company and offer to make a game for them for free. You'll make the game for them, they'll share their IP and you'll market it. If you have the ability to pull this off: You'll be getting a game on the shelf to then go and show other people When you go to those other people, you're showing the work you did for a big company You might actually get numbers because that big company is going to be able to do a lot of marketing This is something that's recommended to do for your first project, you shouldn't do it more than once. But it's a great way to get your name out there and to build some credibility. Approach #2 - Make your own IP Coming up with your own IP and putting it out there does yield opportunities. Brian has had experience of this first hand when he released his game Roboto. Approach #3 - Target a category of companies Once you've targeted a category of companies that you're interested in, come up with a prototype or a demo that they can play on the device that you ultimately want to launch it on and show it to them using their brand. When they see it playing in the device, it will make it a much easier sell for them. Make sure it's something that you can expand upon yours...

Brian and Ike talk about death in video games where the character dies or vehicle explodes at the end of the game loop. They discuss what death brings to a video game and why it may be important to include it your game. So, get ready for some great insight! Today's Developer Diary Brian is extremely excited to announce his own Twitch TV channel! Here is the link to check it out: Fenix Fire Twitch TV and if you haven't caught wind of it yet, now would definitely be a good time. It's become a tool in the indie game dev by using it to broadcast the making of your game while making the game. It's a pretty awesome way to connect with fans! Brian's mind is blown by just experimenting with it. He says the good thing about Twitch is just how raw it is and that production value is considered a bad thing. People who watch want to be a fly on the wall and want to see what makes the game tick, what makes the designer tick and all the decisions that are being made. There's no post production and really no pre-production. It's just a matter of hitting play and performing. Ike is heading to downtown Denver to teach some young budding high school kids how to make video games. He's really looking forward to it. While he's away, we plan on having some guest hosts on the podcast so stay tuned for that! Death in Video Games Death doesn't have to be a morbid topic, in the case of death in video games it's a really interesting topic. Death in a video game is the ultimate point of feedback in your feedback loop. You have to have a carrot and a stick to get the full range of emotions out of a player. But as a player, it feels awful when you die. So why have death in your game? Well, if you take death out: It remove conflict or friction in the game The mastery element gets thrown out the window There's no desire for the player to learn a new skill Rewind the Clock Back to the Arcade The one good thing about mobile games is they have heart again and some skill going on all of a sudden which is great to see. Reminds us of where video games began....in the arcade. The entire coin-op industry throughout the 80's were all about mastery. Atarti made a bunch of coin-op games about mastery like: Pong, Pac Man, Missile Command, Pitfall, Space Invaders, etc. All these games were hard and they were quick. It was a bite sized game. In order for it to be a game, you had to die and that was part of the business plan to throw in more quarters and play again. Before internet and Twitch TV, you would go to the arcade and just watch someone play since it was a skill based game and be amazed by his abilities. Not only did you have to know the game, but you had to know your specific arcade since all the machines were different. Mastery is a huge part of all of this that started the video game craze. It's a feeling that males as opposed to females really strive for which is why it became a male dominated sport. It was high technology and at the same time brutally difficult. All of this stuff was really hard core and that's where video games were born from. It's important to acknowledge that. Death in Video Games - The Discussion Brian and Ike go through many different scenarios and ideas of what death can bring to a game as well as some good insight into this interesting and important topic. The dreaded loading screen: Mostly found in Console and PC games After you died, the game had to re-load and that was a penalty in and of itself Death was painful not because you had to put another quarter in but you had to wait An example of a game without death was the game Planescape: Torment  where you're this immortal character and you didn't "die" you would re-load in your spawn point. The whole game was built on the concept that you don't die and there was no loading.  The need for conflict:  In a game, there almost needs to be a back and forth Like the old saying goes, "Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

We received an inquiry from a fan and it inspired us to discuss how to use music and sounds in video games. Brian and Ike tackle this topic with great detail using some of their personal experiences. So, enjoy! Today's Developer Diary Ike's watching movies and Brian talks about his experience at E3. This was much different than PAX which was all consumers, so you're audience and players and you can see that they really are interested in what you're doing. But the main difference at E3 is it's more of everyone sizing each other up, more of a competition. It's basically media and industry professionals at E3. The fact that the game is made by just a two person team is getting some attention. The One Room Schoolhouse had been busy and getting pretty close to launching another education game this year and doing some contract work as well. He does contract work during the day and at night works on his own stuff just to have enough fuel to get through the day. Game development involves a lot of momentum. We just want to thank you because we've received a bunch of great reviews on iTunes! "Keep on killing it guys! It's like Christmas opening up my podcast app and seeing a new episode." Thanks so much! It means a lot that we're resonating and hope to live up to your praise. Sound and Music In Video Games Many of you may not know this, but music is Brian's first love. Before he was an artist, programmer and video game developer he played the guitar and music is in his blood. He's currently playing in a band too!  Brian's love of music certainly shows in his games and trailers as he uses it as a centerpiece. In the film industry they say score, but in the video game industry it can be broken up into two sides: Sound Effects:  Put onto a jump, a bullet shooting, button sounds in your UI - those are usually a one off, you just play this and it plays a sound file and of coarse there's some tricks to the trade Soundtrack: You can do a lot with it like have different soundtracks for different levels like classic Super Mario Bros. or blend from one soundtrack to another like Journey did and make it very composed. Music and Soundtracks in the Mobile Market When people play games on their mobile devices, there is more of a tendency to play covertly and the player might not want a ton of sound and music. So how much effort do you put into your sound on a mobile game if a lot people are playing it silently? Keep in mind people can play with headphones on and there is something to the sound. It would be a huge mistake to not give your sound the attention it deserves. Obviously you wouldn't give it as much attention as art because that's visual and how you get your foot in the door. So, you'll want to get your art style down first and then make sure your sound can support it. Ike remembered the game EverQuest and how the game had a sound when you leveled up that was the most satisfying sound on the planet. Never forget how impactful sound can be. It can do so much for your production and if you put the effort into it, it will just pay off ten fold.  Putting Sound in Your Game It's really part of the basic core feedback to the player. If you think about a game mechanic, there's three things to think about as far as your core gameplay mechanics: A visual of the gameplay - show the actual mechanic There's a sound to go with it - put a sound to it A visual component in the UI - somehow draw attention to it in the UI as well Brian shares his experience when he worked at High Voltage Software with the lead audio guy. He said after the game was prototyped and they're ready to start putting sound in, he would look for anything that looks like it would add some sort of a sound like if something moves would be the first thing he would look for. If it moves, does it make a sound, then let's get a sound in there for it. So, if in doubt put a sound in there for it.