In this episode, we delve into the world of collectors’ editions in the games industry and discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly, how we would design our own collector’s editions, and much, much more!
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
00:33 Episode Starts
05:34 Rune’s Experience and Dreams of Collector’s Editions
12:52 Collector’s Editions Gone Wrong
13:36 Grand Theft Auto IV: Collector’s Edition
14:43 Fallout 4 & Fallout 76
30:38 Are Preorders Harmful to the Games Industry?
50:18 Sunset Moon and Prototyping
55:47 Episode Outro
Your Hosts and Their Games
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-70-collectors-edition-60b312ba60b8
Tune in as Mireneye and Ulfgang tell us all about Dynasthir, a game over a decade in the making with all its ups and downs while Otto and Rune talk about their impressions from playing it first-hand!
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
00:31 Episode Starts
01:22 Ulfgang Introduction
02:15 Mireneye Introduction
03:59 The History of Dynasthir
06:53 How Ulfgang Got Involved
09:19 What Is Dynasthir?
12:46 Dynasthir Review Starts
01:09:21 Episode Outro
Your Hosts and Guests, and Their Games
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-title-69-dynasthir-review-5b77a7e19954
This week on the Rune Show, we showcase the progress of "Sunset Moon," highlighting how to piece a game together as it reaches its final development phase. Although it's just a demo, demos often represent a small part of the final product. Rune will demonstrate dialogue trees, in-game functions, and bug fixes on the fly.
In this episode, we venture into the jungle of monetization that is the gaming industry. Starting with the traditional games-as-products model reminiscent of the ’90s, we trace the evolution to expansions, downloadable content (DLC), and the controversial realm of microtransactions and loot boxes.
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
00:30 Episode Starts
01:00 Introducing the Theme for the Episode; Monetization
04:41 Issues With Modern-Day Monetization
17:15 The Legitimate Side of Game Monetization and Its Future
34:28 Loot Boxes
38:37 Parallels to RuneScape — The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
46:34 The Ethical Dilemma of Microtransactions
01:01:23 Episode Outro
Your Hosts and Their Games
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-67-monetization-bd166b5b2099
Welcome back to House of Games! In this episode, we try to answer the big questions; What is a game? Why do people make walking simulators? And lastly, What Remains of Elon Musk?
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
00:29 Introducing the Theme; What Is a Game?
04:51 What Is a Game?
58:14 Reading a Comment
59:13 Episode Outro
Your Hosts and Their Games
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-66-what-is-a-game-7065e9f9d6ee
Welcome back to House of Games! This week we talk about updates to our games, what’s going on with Sunset Moon, what it takes to finalize a demo and a special reveal, don’t miss it!
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
00:23 Update on Sunset Moon
36:17 Midnight Nano Reveal
42:18 Midnight Nano Gameplay
52:05 Episode Outro
Your Hosts and Guest, and Their Games
Games
Other Links
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-65-sunset-moon-update-midnight-nano-reveal-b3e181fd110e
This week on House of Games we talk about testing, types of tests, and what (not) to do to find bugs, tune in!
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
01:01 How Rune Tests His Games
07:49 Otto’s Experience as a Tester
17:59 Unit Test
26:48 Smoke Test
33:22 Regression Test
37:49 Why Don’t Programmers Find All the Bugs Themselves?
42:59 Stress Test
45:47 Structured Testing vs. Unstructured Testing
52:36 Real-World Applications of Testing Skills
56:34 Reading Comments
58:58 Episode Outro
Your Hosts and Their Games
Other Links
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-64-testing-testing-92928a472492
I hope you are ready for a different type of game developer education; Ida Fontaine tells us all about “The Military School of Game Development”, a.k.a The Game Assembly! Put on your best camouflage and shine those boots as we dive into the newest episode of House of Games!
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
01:14 Ida Fontaine Introduces Herself
01:41 What Is the Game Assembly?
03:16 What Does Ida Do at The Game Assembly?
04:34 What Is Procedural Art?
08:10 What Is Technical Art?
08:54 A Day in the Life of a Student at The Game Assembly
10:26 What Is Agile?
13:55 What the Industry Think of The Game Assembly Method
14:50 A Day in the Life… Continued
24:08 The Application and Admission Process at The Game Assembly
31:04 Exploring the Reasons for Joining the School
34:35 Future Plans and the Vision for the Game Assembly
38:47 The Game Assembly’s In-House Game Engine
40:06 Does the Game Assembly Create Artistic Freedom or Conformity?
47:52 Episode Outro
Your Hosts and Guest, and Their Games
Tools for Making Games
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-63-tga-the-military-school-of-game-development-3103940c832e
Join us for a high-tech emotional rollercoaster as we are visited all the way from Germany to hear all about StickyStoneStudio's latest project; M.O.O.D.S! If you like sci-fi, robots, action, and explosions, click play and listen as our wonderful Guest Luca Lorenz guides us through this post-apocalyptic masterpiece!
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
02:05 Getting to Know the Guest: Luzca from StickyStoneStudio
02:39 Discussing StickyStoneStudio's Journey and Projects
04:52 M.O.O.D.S: The Game Concept and Development
12:38 M.O.O.D.S Review
43:44 What Does a Day in Luca’s Work Life Look Like?
48:15 Tips on Speaking to Publishers
50:58 Episode Outro
Your Hosts and Guest, and Their Games
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-62-m-o-o-d-s-ed3b6f66632d
Load ’em up and aim down below as we discuss the concept of “Shooting Yourself in the Foot”, or ruining the fun in games. Listen in as we talk about stories where we ruined our own fun and how you can stop players from doing the same in your game!
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
00:55 Introducing the Theme for the Episode: Shooting Yourself in the Foot
03:02 Open-World Games and Collectibles
13:41 How Developers Are Shooting Themselves in the Foot
14:28 Open-World Games (in Space) Are Overhyped and Over-Promised
17:32 Sunset Moon Update
19:48 Shooting Yourself in the Foot With Trophies
25:29 Achievements in KnifeBoy
29:45 The Antidote
42:33 Why Open World Space Games Are Boring, Continued
47:53 Points of No Return in Games
52:23 Problems and Solutions for Card Games Inside Video Games
58:00 How Developing Games Replaces Playing Games
01:03:15 Episode Outro
Your Hosts and Their Games
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-61-shooting-yourself-in-the-foot-6d38587bc684
In this week’s episode of House of Games, Anthon Fynn-Williams is back to guide us through the Game Analytics Mastery Framework (GAMF), discuss AI and answer questions from a simpleton (Otto)! Stay tuned for great insights!
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
00:43 Guest Introduction: Anthon Fynn-Williams
02:29 The Timeline of Working With Analytics
03:23 What Kind of Studios Does Anthon Work With?
04:33 The Five Components of Game Analytics Strategy
07:18 How Long Does the Analytics Process Take?
09:30 How Much Effort Is Involved in Working With Analytics?
10:59 Introducing the Game Analytics Mastery Framework (GAMF)
14:03 The Start-Up Stage
15:01 The Observer Stage
15:48 Does Swayven Digital Also Teach How To Work With Analytics?
17:11 Do You Have To Be a Data Scientist To Work With Analytics?
18:40 The Inquisitor Stage
20:00 At What Stage of Game Development Should You Start Working With Analytics?
21:47 Quantitive Data vs. Qualitative Data
25:40 How Much Time Do the Different GAMF Stages Take?
30:25 The Oracle Sbtage
32:04 The Pioneer Stage
34:10 What is Predictive Analysis?
38:42 What Types of Data Can Swayven Digital Analyze?
40:45 Skill, Matchmaking, and Ranking Systems
44:59 AI and Game Analytics
50:34 Assessing Your Position in the GAMF Framework
54:13 Episode Outro
Your Hosts and Guest, and Their Games
Games
Analytics Tools
Other Links
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-60-anthon-fynn-williams-mastering-the-game-analytics-framework-a6e09e106a3e
In this episode, we dive head-first into the world of quests of all variants, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and share our thoughts on how they should be designed and implemented!
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
00:27 Introducing the Theme: Quests
02:30 Rune’s Favorite Quests
07:14 Otto’s Favorite Quests
10:53 Good Quests: The Witcher 3
15:42 Card Mini-Games
19:52 Bad Side Quests: Marvel’s Spider-Man
23:28 Bad Side Quests: World of Warcraft
24:42 Good Quests: RuneScape
25:44 Designing Quests in Sunset Moon
30:08 Derailing Into Human Psychology and Numbers
34:35 How Rune Creates Quests
44:14 RuneScape Quest System Continued
52:55 Quests and Location
01:07:46 Episode Outro
Your Hosts and Their Games
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-59-quests-e40972ae4b99
🎮🎙️ From consulting to programming, design, narrative, and more, tune in as we are joined by the talented Anna Högberg Jenelius 🌟, a jack of all trades in the games industry! 🕹️👾 Hear all about how she co-founded Link In Bar, her very own game studio, Valiant Game Studio 🎲🎨, and how she is now working on not only one but two games 🎉🎮 soon to be released! 🚀🌈
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message
Your Hosts and Guest, and Their Games
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
00:56 Introducing Our Guest
01:52 How Anna Splits Her Time
03:48 Does It Feel Like Consulting Distracts From Your Own Projects?
05:01 How Did Anna Get Into the Games Industry?
06:16 How Link In Bar Started
09:52 What Is the Purpose of Link In Bar?
10:57 How Did Anna Start Her Own Business?
13:19 What Software Does Anna Use?
14:55 How Did Anna Learn Unity?
15:41 How Do You Get to the Finish Line With Your Projects?
20:04 Work-Life Balance
22:41 The Journey of Creating 'KreatureKind'
26:19 The Influence of Marketing and Budget on Game Development
31:29 Reaching Your Target Audience
35:55 How Do You Learn Marketing?
39:10 Surviving and Making It Big as an Indie Dev
41:15 Does a Game Have To Be Completely Unique To Succeed?
48:12 The Writing Process and Worldbuilding for Games
52:23 Gameplay Is King
58:29 Which Field Does Anna Like the Most in Game Development?
59:55 The Day in the Life of a Game Developer
01:02:35 Episode Outro
Credit for background video of Pendula Swing gameplay goes to WiX GaminG - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUejpSri_7U.
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-58-valiant-game-studios-link-in-bar-b626813a2400
Join us as we untangle the spaghetti mess 🍝 of terms like Remasters 🎵, Remakes 🔄, Reboots 🔁, and Ports 🚢. What do they mean? How do they differ? Find out all this and more in this week’s episode of House of Games! 🏠🎮🔍💡
Your Hosts and Their Games
Chapters
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-57-remasters-remakes-reboots-and-ports-4e3d4f685a04
In this episode of the House of Games 🏠🎮, we delve into the world of video game tutorials 📚, puzzles 🧩, and hints 💡, discussing different approaches and how they help or annoy the player. 🎮🗣️🤔
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/house-of-games/message
Your Hosts and Their Games
Chapters
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-56-tutorials-puzzles-fd4e642acdb3
Welcome to this very first episode of 2024 🎉, recorded just before the new year 🎆, we look back at the game development 🎮 we have accomplished in 2023 🚀, what lies ahead 🔮, and what we’ve learned along the way! 🛤️🤓
Your Hosts and Their Games
Chapters
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-55-2023-in-review-b51b2df7b516
In this week’s episode 🎧, we talk with Nathaniel Marshall 🌟, a.k.a SpaceCastle 🏰, a video game music composer 🎵, and ask him everything from AI 🤖 to the challenges of composing music 🎼 to his work on the recent SEGA Genesis game 🕹️, IRENA: Genesis Metal Fury ⚡.
Your Hosts and Guest, and Their Games
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
01:01 Nathaniel Introduces Himself
05:47 Composing for the SEGA Genesis
08:47 Interpreting Game Developer Intention Into Music
11:48 How Much Inspiration Should You Take From Other Sources?
19:10 Music for Cutscenes and Trailers
23:17 Nathaniel’s Aspirations
25:31 Do You Need a Budget To Hire a Composer?
29:16 Are Some Music Genres More Expensive?
31:06 When Inspiration Strikes
36:20 At What Stage Does Music Come In?
38:44 Sound Effects
40:25 Music Software and AI Music
01:00:21 Episode Outro and Where To Find Nathaniel
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-54-nathaniel-marshall-spacecastle-41c5638e40a3
In this special one-year anniversary episode of House of Games 🎉🏠🎮, we are finally switching to video for the first time 📹✨! In the episode, we talk about how this podcast started 🎙️🌟, how we did it, and what the future looks like 🚀🔮. A big thank you 🙏🎊 to all of our guests and listeners, and stay tuned for a bright and visual future 🌈👀!
Your Hosts and Guest, and Their Games
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/52-1-year-anniversary-and-switching-to-video-d150b89d37b5
In this special episode 🌟, we are proud to introduce our very first video guest 🎥; Anthon Fynn-Williams — Game Analytics Entrepreneur! 🎮💼 Join us as we dive into what game analytics are 📊, how they compare to player testing and Q&A 🕹️🔍, how to set it up 🛠️, how to leverage it to your advantage 🚀, and what the ethical implications are 🧐.
Your Hosts and Guest, and Their Games
Chapters
00:00 Episode Intro
01:09 Anthon Fynn-Williams Self Introduction
03:17 Analytics 101
09:40 What Are the Right Questions To Ask?
13:39 Setting Up Analytics Tools in Your Project
15:52 The Ethics and Implications of Data Collection
26:46 Analytics, Game Genres, and Categories
31:04 The Nitty-Gritty of Analytics
46:38 Leveraging Analytics To Pitch Your Game
50:23 Looking Towards the Future and Looking Back
56:08 What Does Anthon Like To Play?
01:00:13 Episode Outro and Where To Find Anthon
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-53-the-power-of-game-analytics-foundations-and-essentials-040681983e10
🎉 Welcome to this last episode 🎙️ before the grand 1-year anniversary 🥳 next week. This time, we discuss 🤔 everything that goes into naming your games 🎮, companies 🏢, and even islands! 🏝️ 🌟
Your Hosts and Their Games
Get all the links and the transcript for this episode right here: https://medium.com/@ottowretling/house-of-games-51-whats-in-a-name-efd170cff189
