Game Maker's Notebook

Adam Orth chats with Jean Nguyen, the creator behind the viral hit Dinoblade. Together they discuss his early work in games through animation; the story of his viral animation featuring a Spinosaurus with a sword; deciding to expand on the concept and make it a full game; learning game development through self-study thanks to online sources like YouTube; and how to create a believable sword-wielding dinosaurs. This episode is sponsored by: Xsolla iam8bit Episode Host: Adam Orth Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with actor Judy Alice Lee. Together they discuss how she began her career as a recording engineer before finding herself inside the acting booth; how game accents differ from real life; her fears on overexposure; landing the role of Melinoë in Hades II and its 12,000+ lines of dialogue; and her tips as a remote actor for the perfect home recording studio. This episode is supported by Xsolla iam8bit Episode Host: Alexa Ray Corriea Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Trent Kusters chats with Hakan Abrak, CEO & Co-Owner of IO Interactive. Hakan is also the Game Director on IOI's take on the Bond legacy with 007 First Light. Together they discuss how IOI met with MGM and the Ian Fleming estate to first pitch the project; the responsibilities they felt to stay true to the Bond IP; balancing dialogue and humor and how that differs from film to games; the casting process of finding a new Bond; and what they learned from the Hitman series that informed the design of a 007 experience. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Trent Kusters Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Trent Kusters chats with AP Thomson, creator of the surreal strategy-puzzle game, Titanium Court. Together they discuss his path into games and meeting his long time collaborator Jenny Jiao Hsia; working together on the award winning Consume Me; the development of Titanium Court including creating modular systems for faster development; creating the narrative and his advice on becoming a better writer; winning back to back Seumas McNally Grand Prizes; and subverting player expectations to create engaging experiences. *Editors Note - 40:30: The book AP references here is 'Game Feel' by Steve Swink (he was mistaken about Katherine Isbister co-authoring it, although she is in the acknowledgements). This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Trent Kusters Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Trent Kusters chats with Jake Birkett of Grey Alien Games. Together they discuss how he worked together with Night Signal Entertainment on their card-slashing "horror" collaboration, Forbidden Solitaire; the importance of managing scope with small teams; how to properly understand Steam user engagement; and his GDC talk How to Survive in Gamedev for Eleven Years Without a Hit through the scope of the current development landscape. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Trent Kusters Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with Jason WIshnov, CEO of Iridium Studios, about their newest title, People of Note. Together they discuss where the initial design concepts originated from; the difficulty of finding a publisher before landing with Annapurna; friction between narrative and game design; writing from personal experience and balancing that with whimsy; and how they integrated music into the battle system. This episode is supported by Xsolla iam8bit Episode Host: Alexa Ray Corriea Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Trent Kusters chats with Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel, creators of the hit cat-army tactical roguelite, Mewgenics. Together they discuss their history creating games during the boom of the flash and Xbox Live era including titles such as Aether, The Binding of Isaac, and The End is Nigh; writing from personal experiences; lessons learned from self-publishing; and the development of their newest collaboration in Mewgenics. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Trent Kusters Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Adam Orth chats with musician and game developer Johnny Galvatron. Together they discuss his newly released coming of age story told through music, Mixtape including the origins of the idea; how they selected the music first and built the story around the soundtrack; building a "horizontal slice" rather than a "vertical slice"; how they selected each track and their significance to the narrative; and creating the cast of characters and their unique mechanics. This episode is sponsored by: Xsolla iam8bit Episode Host: Adam Orth Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

We're on a release break for new episodes, so here's one our past great chats from May 16, 2022! Corey May speaks with the Oliver Lewin and Graham Parkes, two of the developers behind Before Your Eyes. Together they discuss how they created the blinking mechanic in game jams; the process of "learning by doing and learning by failing"; the technical and narrative challenges that arose from the game's central mechanic; and their experience releasing their first title to wide acclaim including winning a BAFTA. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Corey May Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Austin Wintory chats with Bence Pajor, the Audio Director behind Embark Studios' smash hit extraction shooter, Arc Raiders. Together they discuss his early career in music and how he transitioned to audio design; his work at DICE on the Battlefield series; the moral implications when designing realistic audio experiences for combat simulations; balancing music to not break player immersion; and creating modern synth music with retro aesthetics. This episode is supported by Xsolla iam8bit Episode Host: Austin Wintory Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Adam Orth chats with Virgil Watkins, the design director behind Embark Studios' smash hit extraction shooter, Arc Raiders. Together they discuss his early passion in modding and how it led to him joining Embark Studios as a Technical Designer on the initial PVE version of Arc Raiders; how internal testing shaped the system design and core experience of the PvPvE version; the ways they're seeking to improve the game post-launch; and how they balance handcrafted experiences with randomness in the deadly Arc encounters. This episode is sponsored by: Xsolla iam8bit Accelbyte Episode Host: Adam Orth Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Adam Orth chats with Battlefield 6 Creative Director, Thomas Andersson. Together they discuss his path in games from level design to direction; what it takes to lead a team the size it takes to create a Battlefield title; the pillars and core features that drove the mission in the newest entry; how the kinetic movement and destruction work together to create unique and epic moments; and the technical and design challenges present when emphasizing player freedom. This episode is sponsored by: Xsolla Accelbyte Episode Host: Adam Orth Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

Adam Orth chats with Eyes Out co-founders Cory Davis (Spec Ops: the Line) and Robin Finck (Nine Inch Nails) about their studio's debut game, SLEEP AWAKE. Together they discuss their distinct paths from traditional games and music and how they found themselves collaborating together; the unique audio-first approach they took with SLEEP AWAKE; the psychedelic dreamlike horror themes present throughout the experience; and the contrasts and parallels they discovered with creating music and games. This episode is sponsored by: Xsolla Episode Host: Adam Orth Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation