In the second installment of your nice hosts' discussion about cheating in games, we talk about the nature of cheating in contemporary video games: what it looks like, what factors shape it, and how worried we gamedevs should be about it
It's a gamedev podcast!
In this episode your nice hosts chat with Anna C. Webster lead writer on The Foglands, and her cat Montezuma.
- Player Motivations
- Copying Others
After a fairly self-indulgent meta, your nice hosts eventually get into the nitty-gritty of both Player Motivation and Copying Others. Listen after the outro to hear a plethora of fun horse names!
Quinn K joins the clubhouse to break down their IGF-nominated game "An Outcry." Your nice hosts learn about choosing your own limitations, the Haunted PS1 scene, and how much playtesting is still not enough playtesting.
- Finding Help
- Companion Characters
In this week's roundtable, Ellen needs help with ALL the things. Stephen and Mark offer advice on where to find people who can help, and discuss some of the hidden challenges of expanding one's team.
(Some of) your nice hosts went to Origins Game Fair last week! Aside from taking in the show and learning more about the world of board games, they were there to attend the launch of their card game Glom.
- Licensing
- Cheating, Part 1
Your nice hosts return to form with a roundtable recorded together for the first time in a while!
After Mark's time with COVID, the first day he was free to go outside, the area was covered with the smoke of distant wildfires. Another bout of smoke has rolled in to the Twin Cities just in time for the release of this episode.
- Lessons from Tears of the Kingdom
- Fall Damage
Your nice hosts recorded separately again this week, as Mark has been isolating at home. Stephen rants about examines fall damage mechanics in Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and other games.
Max Kunze, Nice Games Club Guest Booker, takes over for Mark while he's still sick this week on another Nice Games Jam!
On this episode, we talk with two of Ellen's coworkers and the Games Agency, Jamaal Sawyer-Dymski & Greg Borreson.
- Stephen's "Rule of Threes"
- The Psychology of Animation
In this episode, Stephen points out the number three! It’s everywhere! Also, what is it about animation that captures our minds and imaginations so effectively? Your hosts explore the topic and share some ideas.
This week, your nice hosts clop along sprawling acres of horse games and horses in games.
- Endings
- Lusory Attitude
Your nice hosts explore the finality and the lusory this week with these two topics. In the process, Stephen struggles with a simple concept, Mark gets to 82% completion and Ellen figures out a way to blow up a transition.