Devs Talk Games

This is a message that we are shutting down the Devs Talk Games podcast. This feed will disappear in a few months. If you would like to save the episodes as MP3s, find them here. By Jeff Lake (@jeff_lake) and Seth Shain. Comments, questions, feedback? hello@devstalkgames.com Intro music: Intro For A Nonexisting Video Game by Captive Portal, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 Outro music: Final Sacrifice by Visager, licensed under CC BY 4.0

  Now here's an immersive with a very different take from the ones we usually talk about: Hitman! Specifically the most recent downloadable Hitman, confusingly named just "Hitman". It's great! They adapted the genre to episodic delivery and it works like gangbusters. We talk about how they solved the same problems we have from a different perspective (literally in the case of the camera). By Jeff Lake (@jeff_lake) and Seth Shain. Reward us on Patreon! Comments, questions, feedback? hello@devstalkgames.com Intro music: Intro For A Nonexisting Video Game by Captive Portal, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 Outro music: Final Sacrifice by Visager, licensed under CC BY 4.0

The grandsire of all stealth games: Thief. The original First Person Sneaker. For many of us, this is the game that got us into the industry in the first place. It's systemic gameplay, enthralling world, and unique focus on stealth made it a classic. We talk about it from our perspective these many years later, having made stealth games in its shadow. Is it possible to make a Thief today? Hosts: Jeff Lake (@jeff_lake) and Seth Shain (@sethlouis). Comments, questions, feedback? hello@devstalkgames.com Intro music: Intro For A Nonexisting Video Game by Captive Portal, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 Outro music: Final Sacrifice by Visager, licensed under CC BY 4.0

  We talk about something games have been trying to do (with greater and lesser success) for years: capture the greatness of cinema. Movies have mastered the art of visual storytelling. The intersection of games and storytelling is fraught, but some games have always tried to borrow from movies, from Wing Commander actually filming actors in movie style to Uncharted capturing a type of adventure filmmaking that Hollywood doesn't even do any more. We talk about it all. Well, OK, 75% we talk about that, 25% we argue over whether MGS5 is intentional parody or not. Hint: ignore Seth, Jeff is right. Warning: the audio quality is pretty bad this episode too. The person responsible has been sacked again, and we are looking for alternate solutions. Hosts: Jeff Lake (@jeff_lake) and Seth Shain (@sethlouis). Comments, questions, feedback? hello@devstalkgames.com Intro music: Intro For A Nonexisting Video Game by Captive Portal, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 Outro music: Final Sacrifice&

We accidentally jumped into a topic that has been in the news lately: microtransactions! Boon to developers' budgets, bane to gamers' wallets. A couple weeks ago Star Wars Battlefront II made a lot of people angry with its mtx/loot box structure. We take a nuanced view: they screwed it up a bit, but there's nothing inherently wrong with microtransactions. Warning: the audio quality is worse than normal in this episode. The person responsible has been sacked. Hosts: Jeff Lake (@jeff_lake) and Seth Shain (@sethlouis). Comments, questions, feedback? hello@devstalkgames.com Intro music: Intro For A Nonexisting Video Game by Captive Portal, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 Outro music: Final Sacrifice by Visager, licensed under CC BY 4.0

  Helldivers is, like, the best game ever. In this episode we talk about the cooperative gameplay of that and several other games, and the different challenges involved in making them. Developing a good co-op mode is more different from developing single or versus modes than many people realize. But mostly we just talk about how much we like Helldivers. Warning: the audio quality is worse than normal in this episode. The person responsible has been sacked. Hosts: Jeff Lake (@jeff_lake) and Seth Shain (@sethlouis). Comments, questions, feedback? hello@devstalkgames.com Intro music: Intro For A Nonexisting Video Game by Captive Portal, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 Outro music: Final Sacrifice by Visager, licensed under CC BY 4.0

Overwatch and Destiny are great, but whither the story-heavy single-player campaigns of yesteryear? Why is it so hard to make a single-player game successful lately? There have been several high-quality games, both original and from formerly sure-fire franchises, that have seen disappointing sales. We talk about what we think is going on in the market, and what we can do to keep up with the changes. Hosts: Jeff Lake (@jeff_lake) and Seth Shain (@sethlouis). Comments, questions, feedback? hello@devstalkgames.com Intro music: Intro For A Nonexisting Video Game by Captive Portal, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 Outro music: Final Sacrifice by Visager, licensed under CC BY 4.0

We talk about every developer's favorite game: Dark Souls! Seth uses this as a springboard for a master class in the concept of psychological proximity as it applies in games, a great way to understand how games "work" on the player. We also drive by Assassin's Creed, Thief, and many more. Hosts: Jeff Lake (@jeff_lake) and Seth Shain (@sethlouis). Comments, questions, feedback? hello@devstalkgames.com Intro music: Intro For A Nonexisting Video Game by Captive Portal, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 Outro music: Final Sacrifice by Visager, licensed under CC BY 4.0

We finish our wide-ranging discussion about BioShock and player agency. We talk almost as much about other games, including Dishonored, the game we both worked on. Enjoy! This is the second of a two-part conversation. Comments, questions, feedback? hello@devstalkgames.com Intro music: Intro For A Nonexisting Video Game by Captive Portal, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 Outro music: Final Sacrifice by Visager, licensed under CC BY 4.0

Bonus episode! Seth and Jeff talk briefly about Dishonored and its take on morality. In this rare case, we know what the devs were thinking, because we were there!  Comments, questions, feedback? hello@devstalkgames.com Intro music: Intro For A Nonexisting Video Game by Captive Portal, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 Outro music: Final Sacrifice by Visager, licensed under CC BY 4.0

Jeff and Seth talk about the most popular immersive sim series of all time, BioShock! Specifically, BioShock 1 and 3 (infinite). Of course, you can't talk about BioShock without talking about player agency in games so there's plenty of that. In the process, we talk quite a bit about our personal experiences developing Dishonored, our own contribution to immersive sim history. This is the first of a two-part conversation. Comments, questions, feedback? hello@devstalkgames.com Intro music: Intro For A Nonexisting Video Game by Captive Portal, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 Outro music: Final Sacrifice by Visager, licensed under CC BY 4.0

In this episode of Devs Talk Games, we finish our discussion of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon: Zero Dawn. We talked about what we as developers might have done differently with these two games, and we talk about these games' different approach to game systems and story. This is the second of a two-part conversation about these games. Comments, questions, feedback? hello@devstalkgames.com Intro music: Intro For A Nonexisting Video Game by Captive Portal, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 Outro music: Final Sacrifice by Visager, licensed under CC BY 4.0

In this inaugural episode of Devs Talk Games, we discuss two excellent open-world games released in 2017, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon: Zero Dawn. We talked about the different approaches each of these games takes to the same subject matter, leading to two games that seem the same on paper but are very different in practice. This is the first of a two-part conversation about these games. Comments, questions, feedback? hello@devstalkgames.com Intro music: Intro For A Nonexisting Video Game by Captive Portal, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 Outro music: Final Sacrifice by Visager, licensed under CC BY 4.0