The Game Design Round Table

Jon and Dirk are joined by David Dunham, the creator of the classic PC and new iOS game ‘King of Dragon Pass’. The panel discusses the game’s unique focus on player-driven narrative, reviving an old-school title on new platforms, and the challenges of indie development. And Jon gets excited, simply because he finally found another game that takes barbarians seriously!Contact InformationJon Shafer - @JonShaferDesign, www.JonShaferOnDesign.comDirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.comDavid Dunham - @KingDragonPass, www.A-Sharp.comEpisode Outline0:00:54 - King of Dragon Pass0:02:47 - The origins of KoDP0:07:00 - KoDP’s story0:16:24 - The development of KoDP0:25:32 - Sales and target audience0:28:50 - Why go indie?0:37:38 - A Sharp: David’s company0:39:13 - David’s design process0:49:07 - David’s interests0:54:20 - Advice for aspiring designers

Jon and Dirk cover a wide variety of topics this week, notably: the problems with automation and user interface in Paradox titles like Hearts of Iron 3 and Europa Universalis 4, the psychological appeal and the (possibly too-important) role of money in poker, and the challenges of meshing tech and design in At the Gates’ AI.Jon Shafer@JonShaferDesign (Twitter)www.JonShaferOnDesign.comDirk Knemeyer @DKnemeyer (Twitter)www.artana.comEpisode Outline0:01:15 - Europa Universalis 4 and Hearts of Iron 30:07:30 - The problem with automation0:14:29 - UI in Paradox games0:27:50 - Poker0:42:05 - The problems with poker0:52:22 - Poker and money0:58:41 - At the Gates - Map Objects1:05:45 - At the Gates - AI1:13:36 - Dirk’s brief project update

Jon, Dirk and David delve into the topic of multiplayer design: How is it different from single player design? What are the strengths and weaknesses different types of multiplayer? What separates e-sports from traditional multiplayer games? And what approach can be taken towards cheating?Jon Shafer - @JonShaferDesign, www.JonShaferOnDesign.comDirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.comDavid Heron - @DavidVHeron0:01:27 - Why talk about multiplayer?0:03:43 - Multiplayer design vs single player design0:09:08 - Different multiplayer modes0:21:10 - Asynchronous multiplayer0:27:42 - Multiplayer-only games0:40:53 - E-Sports0:43:32 - Cheating0:54:43 - The value of multiplayer

Jon and Dirk sit down with Chris Park of Arcen Games to discuss his latest game, Skyward Collapse, the development and business challenges of developing indie strategy games, and the important role AI can play in asymmetric games.

Jon and Dirk discuss several games at length this week, namely: Monaco, the new Walking Dead chapter, Super Crate Box for the Ouya and Civ 5: Brave New World. Topics covered include how penalties can improve a game, the importance of polish, and why diplomacy in 4X games always seems to be bad.

Jon, Dirk and David discuss the role of failure in games and how it ties in with how people learn how to play. What does punishment add, and where can it go wrong? How do you effectively teach players strategy games? What do PLAYERS get out of failure? And how the heck do you learn a tabletop game without tooltips?

Dirk sits down with game designer Vic Davis of Cryptic Comet games to talk about life as an indie designer, Vic’s dark game design decisions, and his new game 'Occult Chronicles'.

Jon and Dirk cover a variety of games they’ve played lately, including the new ‘Walking Dead’ expansion, ‘Ascension’ and ‘1775’. The discussion gets serious when ‘Hotline Miami’ comes up, and the crew debates the role of ethics in game design. They wrap up on a lighter note, describing the challenge of integrating mechanics and UI in a tabletop game, and how to instill life into fictional characters.

Soren Johnson returns to the show to discuss progression systems with Jon and Dirk, with a special focus on technology trees. What are the advantages and disadvantages of abstraction? How do Diablo 2 and 3 and Civilization 4 and 5 differ? What is At the Gates doing with Romanization Perks? And hell, what makes for a good progression system anyways? All of these questions - and more - are answered within!

Jon and Dirk are joined by Tomislav Uzelac, designer of the amazing WW2 strategy game ‘Unity of Command’ and studio lead for 2x2 Games. They dig into the title’s superb AI, its innovative supply system, building a streamlined strategic experience and the challenges of running a game studio from Croatia.

Jon and Dirk discuss a few games they’ve played lately which make good first impressions but ultimately fall short: ‘Don’t Starve’, ‘Shogun’ and ‘Wiz-War’. They then transition over to talking about what they’ve been working on, including AI character personality and AI design in ‘At the Gates’, getting into the meat of development with ‘Futbol Strategy’ and switching developers for ‘War Stories’.

Jon, Dirk and David discuss tactics in a more general sense. What is a tactical game? What problems does the genre have? Why does Jon hate basically all of them? And is it the players’ fault if their tactical choices aren’t as interesting as they could be?

Jon and Dirk are joined by David Sirlin, designer of tabletop titles Puzzle Strike, Yomi and Flash Duel. The group discusses his past games, future plans, building a tabletop company, David’s interesting journey from the Street Fighter community into design, and the vital importance of balance and asymmetry.

Jon and Dirk finally get around to discussing ‘Solium Infernum’, a tabletop-digital “hybrid” strategy title where you aim to become the lord of hell. They wheel around and talk about the light worker placement game ‘Stone Age’ and why it might be a great entry point for casual fans. After our hosts wrap up what they’ve played with a brief revisiting of ‘Command and Colors’, Dirk reveals his newest tabletop project, ‘Futbol Strategy’, and Jon provides an update on ‘At the Gates’ and his plans to revisit the game’s victory conditions and strategic trade-offs.

The usual three-man crew discusses - debates, even - the ways in which we win games. The first half of the show is dominated by dissecting the pluses and minuses of victory points, whether they’re inherently arbitrary, and if they might even be a sign of lazy design. In the second half our hosts talk specifics, analyzing how victory does (and could) work in ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘At the Gates.’

Dirk (the solo host for this week) sits down with acclaimed game designer Martin Wallace of Tree Frog Games. Martin’s star-studded resume includes Railroad Tycoon, A Few Acres of Snow, Waterloo, and the Discworld licensed games.

A lengthy episode where Jon and Dirk cover a variety of topics. First, they discuss the superb ‘Puzzle Strike’, basically “‘Dominion’ done right.” The conversation shifts to ‘Magic’ and the pluses and minuses of an immense learning curve. Our hosts then provide updates on their ongoing projects, and wrap up the episode with a realistic (some might say sobering) look at what it’s like becoming - and being - a game designer.

David Heron, Jon and Dirk noodle over the role of information and obfuscation in game design. Why does ‘Persona 4’ work when the BioWare games do not? And when can hiding info be GOOD for a game?

Trademark specialist and actual lawyer-type Dave Fitzgerald joins the show to discuss legal issues relating to games development. Topics covered include the difference between patents, trademarks and copyrights, what you need to set up a company and common mistakes made by developers.

Dirk shares his first ‘Magic’ drafting experience, and why the game and format now has its hooks into him. He and Jon then step back and evaluate the drafting mechanic and ponder whether the reason why it works is BECAUSE of a steep learning curve. They then go on to discuss the recent re-release of ‘Age of Empires 2’ and ‘War of the Roses’ before providing brief updates as to what’s new with ‘At the Gates’ and ‘Tomorrow’.