The Debug Log

Episode 116: Game Industry Downturn?

thedebuglog@gmail.com (The Debug Log) — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 14:30:49 +0000

The boys are back! In this week's episode, the gang reunites and catches up on what everybody has been up to over the past couple of years. We also address the ongoing layoff crisis in the game industry. What does it mean for the future of AAA and indie game development. We hope you enjoy the show!

Episode 112: Getting Started with Game Dev in 2021

thedebuglog@gmail.com (The Debug Log) — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 19:56:21 +0000

We all have to start somewhere. If you are interested in game development and hope to get started soon, you've come to the right place. On today's episode, the guys begin with a discussion of their origin stories and how they each got into game development. From there, they discuss how different the landscape is today and what things they would do if they were just getting started in 2021.

Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments about the latest news at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 111: Roblox IPO, NFTs, and Cyberpunk Drama

thedebuglog@gmail.com (The Debug Log) — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 14:35:12 +0000

This week we have a classic game industry news round-up. Ryan and Obinna explain Roblox to Andrew while the whole gang tries to understand the weird new world of NFTs. We've been off the news beat for awhile so we touch on a variety of other topics before finally wrapping up with a deep dive into the Cyberpunk drama that has played out over the past few months.

Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments about the latest news at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 110: Best Practices in Remote Game Development

thedebuglog@gmail.com (Obinna Oparah, Ryan Killgore, Andrew Currie) — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 00:08:28 +0000

So after a long, hard talk with a couple of GenZ-ers, we decided to move from only-audio podcasts to both audio and video podcast recordings! This episode marks the first video edit of The Debug Log. Our goal is to post both the audio and visual versions of each episode on our various streaming services (i.e. Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and now YouTube).

We look forward to diving deep into this new medium and hope you all bear with us as we evolve and refine our video podcast format.

In this week's episode, we are talking about the challenges and best practices we've picked up while working remotely in game development. Ryan, Andrew, and Obinna explore some of their key learnings in remote game development in their first video show. We hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments about working remotely while developing games: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 109: The Rise of Live Games

thedebuglog@gmail.com (The Debug Log) — Tue, 9 Feb 2021 15:05:51 +0000

From patches and updates to seasonal content and daily challenges, the ubiquity of live games has grown exponentially in the internet age. What started as an easy way to fix a released game, has grown into 50GB day-one patches and years of expanded content. While the promise of an ever-changing game can be enticing, not all live games are created equal. On today's show, we discuss the evolution of technology, commerce and art that have allowed live games to rise in dominance over the past decade. We also wax nostalgic over a simpler time when the game you bought was all the game you were ever gonna get.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 108: Epic vs. Apple

thedebuglog@gmail.com (andrew currie, obinna oparah, ryan killgore) — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 07:00:02 +0000

Clash of the Titans! Not only is it an objectively great 80's movie, it is also what you could call the current climate between Apple and Epic. Platforms are a tricky business. You need developers making software for your platform to make money, but you also need the developers to be happy with the platform and make money. So, what happens when one side messes with the other side's money? You get litigation! A lot of legal punches have been thrown between these technology giants and this week on The Debug Log we are going to attempt to give you a blow by blow and our analysis of the situation.
Articles mentioned in the show:
https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/13/21366438/apple-fortnite-ios-app-store-violations-epic-payments https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/24/apple-epic-court-battle-august-28-removal/ https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/28/apple-terminates-epic-games-developer-account/amp/ https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/6/21357771/apple-cloud-gaming-microsoft-xcloud-google-stadia-ios-app-store-guidelines-violations https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/5/21356274/microsoft-xcloud-ios-apple-iphone-ipad-testing-ends-apple-app-store-policies

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 107: Black Lives Matter

thedebuglog@gmail.com (Ryan Killgore, Andrew Currie, Obinna Oparah) — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 05:00:18 +0000

Pandemics go beyond just disease and viruses. They have the capacity to sneak into the core of our being, society, and yes -- our game industry. The pandemic of racial inequality is at the forefront of the discussion today, which comes at the heels of the latest surge of the Black Lives Matter movement. We would be doing our Debug Log community a disservice if we did not talk about the current political and cultural stage as it relates (and has influenced) the game industry.

In this episode we check-in we each other and discuss the various ways this pandemic of racial inequality and protests have affected the game industry at large. Stay safe out there.

Thanks for sitting in with us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 106: Under Quarantine

thedebuglog@gmail.com (The Debug Log) — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 04:00:09 +0000

It's not very often that one is aware they are living through history as it happens. 2020 will always remembered as the year we all went into quarantine. Covid-19 has swept across and countries and cultures, changing our lives in ways we could not have imagined just a few months ago.

In this episode we check-in we each other and discuss the various ways this pandemic has affected the game industry at large. This episode was recorded relatively early in this process and it will be interesting to see how the things we discussed evolve over the next few months. Stay safe out there.

Thanks for sitting in with us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 105: Let's Talk Tech Art

thedebuglog@gmail.com (Andrea Bobick, Razvan Luta) — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 05:35:55 +0000

Like the complexities of for loops, switch statements, and allocating memory? Or, do you fancy getting the pixels to look just right on screen? Can't choose?! Well, lucky you, this episode and interview with Technical Artists Andrea Bobick and Razvan Luta is tailor made for you!

In this episode we break down what technical art is, what Technical Artist do in their day-to-day, and how the role has evolved in the industry over the years.

Thanks for sitting in with us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments about technical art: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 104: Designing for VR & AR Games

thedebuglog@gmail.com (The Debug Log) — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 05:00:10 +0000

In this week's episode, we talk to Mira Marquez and Kenneth Woodruff about designing for VR and AR applications! Our guests join Ryan and Obinna to talk design for this new medium. The group jumps into discussions that dive into the challenges associated with designing for VR/AR as well as offer some insights into the future of design as it relates to mix reality applications.

Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments about designing for VR/AR applications: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 103: Gaming Horizons

thedebuglog@gmail.com (The Debug Log) — Tue, 4 Feb 2020 05:00:03 +0000

New year, next gen! In this week’s episode Obinna, Andrew, and Ryan discuss the future of gaming in the next year. As some of you may already know there are some big changes coming for the industry next year. The big players have their next generation hardware ready to go for the holidays and streaming cloud services is on everyone’s agenda. We discuss all this as well as some other interesting developments in the industry. This is going to be an interesting year and we can’t wait for you to hear about it!

Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments about what you think this year will bring to the game industry at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 102: Developing Games for the Cloud

thedebuglog@gmail.com (The Debug Log) — Wed, 6 Nov 2019 05:00:19 +0000

Everyone has been talking about the cloud… so, we figured we should too!

In this week’s episode, we bring in another former Sprocketeer and backend server engineer, Tyler Ohlsen to talk about his experience when developing for the cloud and some of the tools, services, and concepts needed to begin developing games for the cloud. We try out a quick exercise that illustrates how Tyler breaks down and thinks about certain problems as it relates to designing for the cloud.

Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with questions about developing for the cloud at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 101: The Road to Better Concurrency

thedebuglog@gmail.com (The Debug Log) — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 20:31:00 +0000

The party doesn't stop at 100! We're keeping the train moving right along with another fresh episode

In this week's episode, we bring in former Sprocketeer and backend server engineer, Matt Bolt to talk about a series of blog posts that he recently posted. In The Road to Better Concurrency, Matt discusses some pitfalls of multithreaded code and the current APIs that have been built in object-oriented languages to address them.

Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with questions about concurrency at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 100: 100th Episode Retrospective

thedebuglog@gmail.com (The Debug Log) — Thu, 1 Aug 2019 01:26:14 +0000

We finally did it! After 4 very short years, we managed to reach 100 episodes of The Debug Log. In this episode, we are joined by a very special person, none other than our lost co-host Eduardo Castillo Fernandez! Together, the 5 of us discuss some of our favorite experiences we've had producing this how over the past 100 episodes. Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with questions you may have. Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 99: The Darkside of Development: Company Closures II

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 15 May 2019 04:00:00 +0000

What is better than three episodes about the dark underbelly of software development? FOUR episodes about the dark underbelly of software development!! That’s right depressed ladies and gents. It’s that time YET AGAIN! Put grandma and grandpappy to bed, grab a box of tissues, a tub of ice cream, a random picture of Obinna, and any other items needed to lift your spirits, and sit back and enjoy part four of The Darkside of Development.

In this episode, Obinna sits down with former co-workers Mira Marquez, Jim Diaz, and Geoffrey Nahashon to talk company closures, specifically, the closure of the infamous 'Sprockets.' We take a more narrative approach to this episode as we analyze and assess what we think caused the end of the studio. Again, we end the episode with positivity and rainbows to ensure the next generation of game developers leave with a smile on their faces and a pep in their step!

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with questions you may have about studio closures. Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 98: The Darkside of Development: Company Closures I

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 8 May 2019 07:00:00 +0000

What is better than two episodes about the dark underbelly of software development? Three episodes about the dark underbelly of software development! That’s right ladies and gents. It’s that time AGAIN! Put the dogs in their kennels, grab a keg of your favorite brew, and sit back and enjoy part three of The Darkside of Development.

In this episode, Ryan and Obinna discuss company closures, specifically, the closure of the famed 'Sprockets' with guests Dan Moran and Nick Covington. We each weigh in on the recent closure and analyze and asses what we think caused the end of the studio. It isn't all doom and gloom however as the episode ends with some excellent advice and positivity for both new and veteran game developers!

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with questions you may have about studio closures. Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 97: It's Not a Bug, It's a Feature

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 4 Apr 2019 19:59:00 +0000

As a game dev, you probably deal with bugs and glitches on a day-to-day basis. Today we are talking about the best kind of bugs, bugs that end up being happy accidents. The history of game development is full of stories of legendary glitches that became profound features, not only for the game being developed but for the industry at large.

On today’s episode, we discuss some of our favorite examples of bugs becoming features. As usual, we sprinkle in a little advice on how you can make yourself more aware of opportunities for happy accidents in your projects. All that and more on this episode of The Debug Log.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Send any questions about this episode, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 96: Holiday Special 2018

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 2 Jan 2019 05:00:00 +0000

Welcome to our 4th annual Holiday Special where we discuss some of the biggest games and stories of the past year. Thank you for sticking with us for another year, stayed tuned for more episodes and content in the months to come. Happy Holidays everybody, be safe, and have a happy 2019!

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 95: Unite 2018 Wrap Up

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 13 Nov 2018 05:01:00 +0000

Unite 2018 Los Angeles!

In this episode we discuss the many happenings at the annual Unity convention Unite. There was a lot to see at this years conference. Some of the highlights include the Entity Component System, nested prefabs, the Visual Effects Tool, FPS sample, Mega City, and many more. It was an fun time and inspiring to be around so many creative ideas. We would definitely recommend the experience!

Thanks for tuning in and we hope you enjoy the show! Please share any of your thoughts and experiences about Unite by writing to thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 94: Rapid-Fire Roundup

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 10 Oct 2018 04:00:00 +0000

This week we are back with another "Rapid-Fire Roundup" episode. Catching up on a lot of the stories of the past few months, we tackle everything from Microsoft's interesting new Game Pass offerings to updates on the eternal Unity vs Unreal war. All that and more on this episode of The Debug Log.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any stories you want to hear us cover in the next "Rapid-Fire Roundup", to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 93: Evolution of Game Networking

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 19:00:00 +0000

Another walk down gamedev memory lane with Ryan and the gang!

This week on the show we discuss the evolution of networking in games. We cover the growth of the play spaces for multiplayer games such as university networks to linked computers and on to the Internet. We also talk about the networking models to bring these games to life, such as peer to peer and client/server.

Check out The Debug Lounge and feel free to suggest an episode topic that you'd like to hear more about.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Send any questions about networking to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 92: Optimizing Your Game for Performance

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 5 Jun 2018 05:00:00 +0000

Double the flavor, double the fun!

We've got a pair of Sprocketeers, in Dan Moran and Lisa Hicks, joining us today to talk about methodologies, tools, and techniques used to help optimize games for performance. We take a fairly high-level view of optimization techniques, which makes the discussions in this episode easily applicable to wherever you are in your game development journey.

This episode is a product of a Debug Lounge (our Facebook group) thread about episode suggestions. So, a special shout out to Scott for suggesting that we talk about optimization, performance, and profiling! Check out The Debug Lounge and feel free to suggest an episode topic that you'd like to hear more about.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Send any questions about performance and optimization to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 91: Is Your Game Worth It?

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 3 May 2018 04:00:00 +0000

We all know making games is hard, but what do you when a project lingers on forever unfinished? Are you working on your grand masterpiece? Will you look back one day and feel proud that every doubt you had, every project delay, every catastrophe was all part of the journey that eventually led to your success? Or, are you trapped in a fool's errand, destined to end up in the scrap pile of game industry history? Spoiler alert, only you can determine that. There are countless examples of successful games that took forever to develop, while there are just as many, if not more that languished in development hell for years only to fail or go unfinished. On today's episode, we discuss the variety of ways a project can go astray, the methods you can you use to self-assess your own games, and what to do when you find your answer. All that and more on this episode of The Debug Log.

Episode 90: World Building with Geoffrey Nahashon

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 05:11:00 +0000

It’s Interview Time! (to be read in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers voice)

In this week’s episode we sit down with industry vet, Geoffrey Nahashon to talk about his experience as a Lead Artist and his approach to building game worlds. He offers up a lot of solid advice and is a wealth of knowledge as it relates to creating the mood and atmosphere for your game. He also speaks on the struggles and growth he’s had as an artist and explains the mentality he has had to adopt for industry success as an artist.

Thanks again for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Send any questions about this episode, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 89: Unity 2018 Beta

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 05:00:00 +0000

Oh. My. God. Becky.

First. It's Zack's Birthday. Second. Unity 2018 Beta is out and ready for all you eager developers out there to get your hands on it! In this week's episode Obinna and Ryan cozy-up and discuss Unity Technologies' latest beta release of Unity 2018, which is jam-packed with new features and fixes. So, if you've been curious to see what Unity has been working on for the past year, this is the episode for you!

Thanks again for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Send any questions about this episode, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 88: The Next Big Thing

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 05:00:00 +0000

"Patience is a virtue. "

So, that quote has nothing to do with this topic, but it seems like a cool thing to start the episode summary with! That said, in this week's episode Zack, Ryan, Andrew (Happy Birthday), and Obinna sit down to discuss "The Next Big Thing." Specifically, they talk/argue about what makes a game, genre, and even a platform the next big thing. The gents outline their criteria for "the next big thing" and then try to measure that against some of the top games in the industry right now. There is a lot of great discussion in this episode as well as the triumphant return of Game of the Week!

Thanks again for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Send any questions about this episode, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 87: Game Dev Tricks

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 23:35:00 +0000

Happy New Year! It's time to kick off 2018 with a feast of an episode. We start with a very fun conversation about all the interesting tricks game devs employ to improve the player experience of their games. We have to admit some of the tricks seem to be just clever ways to hide technical issues, but, the vast majority are really creative user experience hacks that will change the way you think about some of your favorite games. We round out the episode with our wrap-up of 2017 in the game industry. We discuss our favorite stories and games of the past year, plus out most anticipated games for 2018. All that and more on this episode of The Debug Log.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Send any questions about this episode, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 86: Rapid-Fire Roundup

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 23:30:00 +0000

OMG, we're back again! Brothers, sisters, everybody read! It's time for another edition of "Rapid-Fire Roundup". This week we discuss the intense fallout caused by the inclusion of things like Loot Boxes in newer PC and console titles, Ryan airs his many grievances in spectacular fashion, EA shakeups, and the announcement of the Microsoft game streaming service. All that and more on this episode of The Debug Log.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any stories you want to hear us cover in the next "Rapid-Fire Roundup", to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Stories We Covered:

https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/17/16490960/ea-closing-visceral-games-star-wars-game-delayed
http://www.shacknews.com/article/102063/ea-acquires-respawn-entertainment-for-over-300-million
https://www.polygon.com/2017/11/8/16623052/take-two-recurrent-consumer-spending-microtransactions-gta-online
https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/18/16498610/activision-dlc-microtransactions-patent
https://www.polygon.com/2017/11/6/16614854/microsoft-game-streaming-service-announcement-xbox-one-no-console

Episode 85: The Downsides of Developer Transparency

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 04:00:00 +0000

There has always been an air of mystery surrounding the game development process. In the past, this was mainly due to the archaic processes involved and the massive amounts of specialized knowledge required to dip a toe into that world. Fast-forward to now, what has changed? Well, the tools are a whole lot better, the entire process has become much more open to people of all talents, and the basic concepts of game development are pretty much common knowledge, even to the casual gamer. But, as games got easier to make they grew exponentially in their complexity and the concept of AAA development entered the fold. In the past, where only a handful of developers were required to churn out a blockbuster, now hundreds of developers spend several years creating these things. Granted, we do have our fair share of indie darlings that rise to the top, but those are almost exceptions to the rule when you compare their market share to the incredible amount of money going in and out at the AAA level.

For a myriad of reasons, as games got more and more complex, it became harder for gamers and aspiring devs to get a behind-the-scenes look at the process. This lack of transparency has become something of a polarizing issue in the industry. On today's episode, we break down the recent discussions involving developer transparency. What are the benefits of it? Is it worth the risk? Why don't bigger developers share more? We cover all these questions and more.

Episode 84: Game Design Breakdown - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 31 Aug 2017 13:00:00 +0000

It seems like every year, one game comes along and dominates the conversation, whether for its excellent execution, superb gameplay, or its originality of ideas. For awhile we thought that game for 2017 would be the triumphant return of the Zelda franchise in Breath of the Wild, but a well-known modder, going by the name Playerunknown, had a different idea. Building off his experience building a very popular Arma 2 mod named DayZ: Battle Royale, Playerunknown aka Brendan Greene, teamed up with Korean developer Bluehole and created a standalone game based on the mod. In March of 2017, PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS was released in Early Access on Steam. Since then the game has garnered over 8 million units sold, record breaking player engagement, and big name investment from companies like Microsoft.

This week on the show we try out a new format and analyze why PUBG has enjoyed so much success. If you've never played the game, don't worry, we breakdown the entire player experience and highlight all of the subtle, and not so subtle, design decisions that make the game so intriguing. While this type of game or genre might not be related to anything you are building, there are still many great lessons to be learned in taking a look at all of PUBG's systems and how they interact for a player. Hopefully, you'll find a few nuggets you can apply in your own designs.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 83: Marketing Your Game on a Low Budget

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Making a good game is not enough to make a profit from it. That is why we decided to talk about Marketing in this episode. With such overcrowded market and players with smaller attention spans, it is extremely important to know how to market your game. Of course, we are not marketers, but with our combine experience, we hope to give you some tips that could help you make your game successful. We will be discussing some of the basic things that you can do to promote your game without having to spend too much money.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 82: Let's Talk Security: Data Storage

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 04:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode we discuss game data security, but specifically try to target how developers should think about and approach security as it relates to their game’s data. This episode is one of a possible* three-part series about security within game development.

The Debug Log crew, sans Andrew, also try to spice up the episode with a mini-game, “Assess That Risk!” where we tackle a few game data scenarios and how to address the security risks associated with those game and data types.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any questions or comments about today’s episode to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 81: Personal Programming Methodologies

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 8 Aug 2017 13:00:00 +0000

After a brief month of summer vacation, we are back in action. This week we are talking about Personal Programming Methodologies. Basically, different methods and thought processes that you can employ to break your projects into manageable pieces. We start with a brief exploration into the most popular schools of thought in programming methodologies. We then explore the ways you can use all of your favorite bits to forge a whole and coherent process that is truly your own.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any questions or comments about today's episode to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 80: Rapid-Fire Roundup

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 16:00:00 +0000

Back at last! It's time for another edition of "Rapid-Fire Roundup". This week we break down the colossal new version release from Unity, resist the temptation of a cheaper Oculus, assess the fallout from the Fallout 4 ad campaign, and get our minds blown by the amount of money in Esports these days. All that and more on this episode of The Debug Log.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any stories you want to hear us cover in the next "Rapid-Fire Roundup", to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 79: Technical Directing with Benjamin Jordan

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 16:30:00 +0000

From flunk to hunk!

In this week's episode, we have the privilege of sitting down with the Studio Technical Director of "Sprockets," Benjamin Jordan, who talks about his experience, growth, and the lessons he's learned as a TD. Knowledge is dropped consistently throughout this episode as we explore his early high school struggles with Mathematics and how he overcame them to eventually write, and eventually sell, his own physics engine.

Ben also gives the 'skinny' on what goes into being a Technical Director and some of the pitfalls and highlights of the position. He also offers up an eloquent ending to the show by imparting some amazing career (and life) advice that we recommend you stick around to hear.

As always, we appreciate your ears and for supporting the show. If you have any questions about being a Technical Director, be sure to contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 78: E3 2017 Wrap-up

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 02:00:00 +0000

E3 2017 has come and gone and as usual, we are left with a bevy of game industry news to wade through. There were some significant format changes to show this year, some major hardware announcements from Microsoft, and as always, a ton of info on new games that we can only hope will come out at some point in our lifetime. On this week's episode, we break down all the latest news from this year's conference. We end the discussion with our favorite bits and what we are looking forward to playing in the near future.

Thanks, as always, for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! If you have any questions about this week's episode, be sure to contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 77: Targeting AAA Game Studios with Ryan Killgore

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 15:00:00 +0000

AAA: From Start to Finish!

In this week’s episode, we sit down with another one of our fantastic co-hosts, Ryan Killgore. We jump into an in-depth conversation about how Ryan took a very deliberate approach to his career in game development, mapping out his way to becoming a AAA game developer. He offers several tips and tricks, as well as some great insight into how he targeted AAA game studios from the onset of his career.

We believe that Ryan highlights how one can start to take steps early on in their development career in planning for a career with AAA game studios.

Thanks, as always, for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! If you have any questions about the genius, beautiful, and magnificent Ryan, be sure to contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 76: Design Patterns - Observer

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 31 May 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Hello, guys. Here is another episode of the series about design patterns. For this round of basic patterns, I wanted to finish with the observer. In next episodes, we will be focusing more in design patterns that improve performance. Anyways, that is in the future. In this episode, we talk about what is the observer, when to use it, implementation details, benefits, and pitfalls. I hope you find this episode helpful.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 75: Mythic Structure in Game Design

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 12 May 2017 12:46:00 +0000

What do rollercoasters, songs, fancy meals, and summer blockbusters all have in common? They are designed to take us for a ride. Whether emotionally or physically, each moment is engineered to be just what the audience needs at just the right time. The creators in these mediums are able to pull off such feats time and time again because certain narrative structures resonate with human beings, and, in fact, have done so since the beginning of recorded history. Joseph Campbell, the respected comparative mythologist, pioneered research in this field with his seminal work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. His thesis being that the myths of both ancient and modern societies all follow a similar pattern and structure. The reason for theses parallels, he argues, is that human beings en masse experience the same journey from cradle to grave and this "Hero's Journey", as he coined it, serves as a symbolic map to the important milestones in our lives. The "Hero's Journey" gained pop culture awareness after George Lucas embedded the theory and ideas into an obscure little space movie he was making in the late Seventies. The rest is history.

This week, we explore how these common mythic structures can help us to make our games more engrossing. From Nicole Lazzaro's "4 Keys 2 Fun" to Jesse Schell's "Interest Curves", we explore how different game designers have tackled this idea. Whether your game is narrative based or not, these principles are just as valid and worth discussing. Luckily, on today's episode, we do just that.

If you have any questions about today's episode, be sure to contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 74: From Gamer to Game Developer with Zack Schneider

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 2 May 2017 03:59:00 +0000

A Tale of Proving out Passion!

In this week’s episode, we have the honor of speaking with our very own Zack Schneider about his career and growth as a game developer. We go into how his initial passion for playing games provided the spark to pursue a career in game development. We also dive into his experience getting a game development job immediately after leaving college — one that dealt exclusively with virtual reality no less!

We believe that Zack serves as an excellent subject in ‘proving out’ one’s passion and how doing so can lead to challenging yet rewarding work.

A kudos to you for listening in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! If you have any questions about our dearest Zack, be sure to contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 73: Design Patterns: Singleton

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Hello, Debuggers. In today’s episode, we continue our series about design patterns with one of the most polemic design patterns of all, Singleton. We explain when you might want to use a Singleton, we go over the definition of this design pattern, we talk about two very common definitions, and finally, we go over some of the reasons why people do not like to use Singletons.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 72: A Master Study in Content Design with Joshua Herbert and Benjamin Gross

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 03:59:00 +0000

From Tomb Raider to Ninja Turtles, this pair of Game Designers have been through it all. In this week’s episode we sit down with Benjamin Gross and Joshua Herbert about their roles as Content Designers in the game industry.

We discuss the basics behind content design but also take a deep dive into the world of interactive storytelling and how it plays out in both the Indie game development realm as well as within AAA game development. If you have ever been curious about the role of a content designer or what it takes to get started within the field, then this episode is one that should surely help shed some light!

Thanks again for listening in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! If you have any questions about content design, be sure to contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 71: Common Developer Mistakes

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 6 Apr 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Mistakes. We all make them, especially as developers. The good news is that we can all learn from each other and try to avoid them in the future. This week we discuss a really interesting article by Tomas Macek entitled, The 10 Most Common Mistakes That Unity Developers Make. This article served as a great jumping-off point for us to discuss the most common problems we see every day. Hopefully, you'll be able to glean a few gems from this discussion and be able to implement some of these tips, in your game, today.

Thanks again for listening in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! If you have any questions about today's episode, be sure to contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 70: Status Updates

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 05:00:00 +0000

“Whatchu working on?!”

In this week’s episode, the gentlemen of The Debug Log discuss their progress on their respective games. Eduardo drops a few more hints on THE new VR game he has been working on. Zack and Andrew outline some of the work and challenges that were encountered during the development of their hot, new Rougelike. They also announced the name of their new company. Obinna also explains some of the major challenges and decisions that he and his team have been faced with over the past few months and the strides they have taken to overcome them.

Thanks again for listening in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! If you have any lingering questions about our projects or general development, be sure to contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 69: Design Patterns: State

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 16:00:00 +0000

In today’s episode we talk about design patterns in game development, specifically, the State pattern. This is going to be an episode mostly oriented to developers, but it is an important part of our effort to bring good programming practices to other devs. We explain the basics of what a design pattern is and we mention some of them. Later on we present a very common scenario in game development, which is the implementation of an AI. We explain why an implementation with if and else is not recommended and we show you a great way to implement the State pattern.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 68: How To Pitch Your Game

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:30:00 +0000

Before the thousands of players, before the money, before the press conferences, even the biggest games had to start with one simple thing; the pitch. Whether it's to investors or collaborators, fans or the press, pitching your game is something you will be doing constantly as a developer. Not only is it hard to become comfortable with the idea of "selling yourself", it becomes hard to distill the passion you have for your project into a clear and enticing message.

In this week's episode, we sit down and discuss the best ways to pitch your game. We go over my "3 C's of Problematic Pitches", some great advice on purpose and structure from Vlambeer's Rami Ismail, and the crisis of confidence everybody faces when pitching their own projects. All that plus a pretty wild "Game of the Week".

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with questions you may have about Pitching to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 67: A Product Manager's Purpose with Vignon Zinsou

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 8 Mar 2017 08:00:00 +0000

Tired of getting your PM’s mixed up? Not sure what goes into product management? Eager to impress your friends and co-workers with some key, trivia-ready information about what a product manager does? If you answered, ‘Yes’ to any of the above questions, then this episode is for you!

In this week’s episode, we sit down with Vignon Zinsou, a Product Manager at “Sprockets,” who has had the unique experience working with both eastern and western markets of mobile games. Vignon provides a detailed outline of the purpose of a product manager within a game studio while sharing his experiences.

Thanks for spending your time with us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with questions you may have about Product Management to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 66: Unity Analytics with John Cheng

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 08:00:00 +0000

In this episode, I have to pleasure to talk to John Cheng, the head of Unity Analytics. We go over the different parts of Unity Analytics and its features to show you all the power that you have in your hands if you use Unity. Finishing a game is not enough if you want to have a game development business. That is why I ask John how a developer can use this business intelligence tool to make better design decisions. Listening to the players of your game is fundamental. Unity Analytics helps you do exactly that, but don’t take my word for it, listen to the episode and hear it from the leader of the team who created this tool. Thanks for tuning in and have an amazing day.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 65: Makin' Stuff Look Good with Dan Moran

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 15 Feb 2017 07:59:00 +0000

You lookin’ gooooood!

In today’s episode we are covering the topic of visual effects in a conversation with our friend Dan Moran. Dan runs the Youtube channel Makin’ Stuff Look Good and works with Obinna and I at Sprockets as a Graphics Engineer. He is very knowledgable when it comes to the subject of visual effects and graphics programming and shares this knowledge with us on the show.

We talk about how he got his start, tools of the trade, shader programming, and how he approaches creating a new visual effect, like Winston’s shield from Overwatch. Get ready to have some knowledge dropped as we make stuff look good with Dan Moran.

Thanks again for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about makin' stuff look good, send us an email at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 64: UI/UX: Theory & Practice

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 7 Feb 2017 05:00:00 +0000

It's time to stretch our academic muscles! On today's episode, we revisit a topic we've discussed previously, UI. This time we look at it through the lens of User Experience Design. Instead of listing Unity libraries and various technical solutions, we try to take a more formal design approach to the subject and look at what the body of research has to say about UI and UX. We also break down, and I mean really break down, how a player interacts with your game and what questions you can ask yourself to make that experience better. Finally, we wrap it all up with a particularly delicious Game of the Week!

Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with questions you may have about today's discussion to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 63: Retro Review: What Makes a Game a Classic?

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 07:37:00 +0000

They’re back!

In this week’s episode, we welcome back our friends of the podcast, Will Dal Porto and Greg Anderson to talk about what makes a game a classic! We lay out some criteria on how we gauge a game (or franchise) to claim ‘classic status.’

In addition to laying out our Classic Criteria, we also review some retro — and not so retro — games of yesteryear. In the review, we highlight how these games have either maintained or failed to maintain classic status. We also take a stab at predicting whether the games of today will be able to achieve the same level of ‘classic’ as done by past titles like Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt. So, if you love talking about the beloved games of the past, then we think you will thoroughly enjoy the show.

Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with questions you may have about classic games to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 62: Tales of a Community Manager

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 05:00:00 +0000

“I am a tiny potato.
And I believe in you.
You can do the thing.”

In this week’s episode, we have the privilege of chatting with our friend and community management adept, Janine Dong, about her experiences and growth as a Community Manager. She was an absolute pleasure to interview and discuss the ever-changing, and often frenzied world of community management.

During our discussion we touch on a variety of topics, such as how one could get started in a career in community management, what tools and mindset is required to flourish as a CM, and how the role has become increasingly stigmatized. If you are interested in community development, community management, how to leverage social media outlets to bolster your community, or wanting to hear some real stories from a community manager with years of experience in the industry — then this episode is for you.

Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with questions you may have about community management to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 61: Idea Generation

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 6 Jan 2017 22:00:00 +0000

Creating original ideas for games might be a difficult process for some people and an easy ride for others. In any case, polishing that original idea takes time and discipline. That is why today we go over how we come up with new ideas for our games and how we develop them. We mention some established techniques that will be extremely helpful in this process; for example Brainstorming, MindMapping, and SCAMPER. However, you know what a crazy team we are; not all of us follow the same path or process. I had a great time listening to how the guys develop their ideas because it is a mix of the things that I do. Towards the end of the show, we had a new section that is all about motivation. We had received so many emails, tweets, and reviews talking about how inspiring the podcast is, that I just wanted to dedicate part of the show to help you keep your motivation and focus on finishing your game.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 60: Holiday Special 2016

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 20:00:00 +0000

Welcome to our 2nd annual Holiday Special where we discuss some of the biggest games and stories of the past year. We also get a chance to revisit our game dev resolutions for 2016. Before all that, we kick off the episode with a nice positive discussion about why we choose to make games. We've spent the last two episodes highlighting the darkest sides of game development. We thought it would be nice to end the year with all the reasons you should be doing this and hopefully give a little inspiration for the year to come. Happy Holidays everybody, be safe, and we'll see you in 2017.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 59: The Darkside of Development: Culture & Competition

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 05:00:00 +0000

What is better than one episode about the dark underbelly of software development? Two episodes about the dark underbelly of software development! That’s right ladies and gents. It’s that time again! Put the kids to bed, grab a bottle of wine or your favorite brew, and sit back and enjoy part two of The Darkside of Development.

In this episode, Andrew and Obinna discuss company culture and competition and how they both play out in the game industry. We share some of our experiences, air out some of our grievances, and highlight some truths about the downsides to the culture of competition within the industry. We end the show with a pinch of positivity and speak on the perspective game developers should take when addressing the dark side of game development.

Thanks again for listening in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with questions you may have about culture or competition — or if you just want to join us in our rant about game development. Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 58: The Darkside of Development: Crunch & Crashes

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 06:25:00 +0000

With all the merriment of the holiday season going on around here at TDL, we thought it appropriate (and of true ‘Troll’ fashion) to go on a series of rants about the uglier side of game development. Today’s episode is Part One of what is slated to be a two-part series, where we highlight and discuss aspects of game development that really grind our gears! Things that you don’t hear in interviews, or aren’t written in job descriptions, or in a sweet sizzler reel of your favorite game.

In Part I, we talk about crunch and its negative effects on development. We also explore avenues and ways crunch could be curtailed and/or mitigated. We also speak on the nature of crashes and bugs that surface during development and their effects on the developer. The guys avoid the “sunshine and rainbows” talk in this series — so the faint of heart beware.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with questions you may have about crunch or crashes -- or if you just want to join us in our rant about game development. Contact us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 57: The Role of a Systems Developer with Hi-Rez's Dayle Flowers

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 04:59:00 +0000

Game Development has many roles: Gameplay Developer, Systems Developer, Level Designer, Character Artist, Sound Designer, Game Designer, and many more. In today’s episode, we are going to talk about the role of a Systems Developer. To do so, I have the pleasure of talking with Dayle Flowers, lead developer on Paladins at Hi-Rez Studios. Before becoming a lead developer, Dayle had several years of experience as a Systems Developer. He explains what the job of a Systems Developer is in a game studio and what mindset and skills are needed to do this job. He also clarifies the differences between a Gameplay Programmer and a Systems Developer. In addition, we talk about Paladins and its controversial similarities with Overwatch. Towards the end of the episode, Dayle shares some of the good practices that he uses to make his game development process more efficient and stay productive.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails if you have more questions about with comments, questions, and concerns, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 56: Unite 2016 Wrap-Up

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 05:00:00 +0000

It's that time of year folks, that's right, it's time for Unite 2016! This year, Obinna, Eduardo, and I had the chance to fly out to Los Angeles and attend the event. We've been the past couple of years and had a lot of fun, but this year we decided to try something different. We grabbed a camera, a mic, and descended on Unite with the intention of talking to as many people as possible. Mission accomplished! We have about 25 interviews that you guys will get to check out on our youtube show, The Debug Lounge, over the next couple of months. In the meantime, we decided to recap everything that went on at Unite this year and give a little preview of some of the upcoming interviews.

Thanks so much for listening and we hope you enjoy the show. Please send any emails with comments, questions, or contributions regarding the episode, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 55: Women in Game Development With Ker-Chunk Games CEO, Molly Proffit

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 16:35:00 +0000

In this episode, we had the pleasure to talk to Ker-Chunk Games’ Co-founder and CEO Molly Proffit. She shares what motivated her to create a company that focuses on making games that empower women as players. We also discuss what the game industry can do to hire and retain more female devs.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 54: Freelancing in the Game Industry

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 07:30:00 +0000

Free • lance -
Origin:
Early 19th century (denoting a mercenary): originally as two words.

There is honestly no substantive reason as to why I just gave you the etymology of ‘freelance,’ however Andrew thought you would enjoy it… so, there it is.

Awkwardness aside, in this week’s show we talk about and try to address some of the more common issues and questions developers start to ask themselves as they look into freelancing within the game industry. If you are a developer out there and just not sure where to begin when it comes to freelancing, this episode should help shed some light on the practice.

A huge thank you for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about freelancing, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 53: SIEGE 2016 Wrap-Up

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 16:00:00 +0000

This weekend was AWESOME. I had the pleasure to go to SIEGE (Southern Interactive Entertainment & Game Expo) for the first time. For those of you who don’t know what SIEGE is, let me give you an overview. It is a game development conference like GDC and Unite, but it is hosted just in Atlanta. Like other game dev conferences, it has talks about relevant topics in the industry, a Showroom where people can play local studio’s games, and of course, it has a big party where you can meet other devs. In today’s episode Zack and I tell Andrew our experiences in SIEGE 2016. In addition, we try a new episode format because we include some interviews that I made while I was there. The conference was extremely fun and helpful. I not only had the honor to talk to Rand Miller, but also was part of the portfolio review team, where I could help other fellow devs who recently graduated from school to find their path and prepare for future job interviews. It was certainly an unforgettable conference for me, but that was not the best part, my favorite moment was when I went to Zack’s talk about version control. I have to say that I am very proud to see The Debug Log team helping the community of game devs here in Atlanta.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about game dev interviews, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 52: Procedural Generation: What, When, Why?

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 7 Oct 2016 18:00:00 +0000

Have you ever wanted to create hundreds of levels without the hassle of handcrafting them? Then this episode on Procedural Generation is for you. In this episode we talk about the pros and cons of using a procedural system and some best practices for creating a procedural generation system.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 51: The Problem with Freemium Games with Late Panda

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 16:30:00 +0000

We had the pleasure of snagging an interview with fellow TDLers, Elisabeth Heed and Stephen McCallam, from across the pond in Glasgow, Scotland. In this episode we talk about how the freemium game model, which is rapidly monopolizing the various app stores, can be seen as having very negative effects on the mobile game market, indie game developers, and the game industry at large.

Stephen and Ellie also outline some of the steps they are taking to integrate premium content in their latest title, Skorian Tales, in a less intrusive and more integrated way. We had a ‘pure dead brilliant’ time speaking with them and we hope that you enjoy it as well!

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about the freemium game model in the game industry to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 50: The Art of Game Design with Jesse Schell

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 17:00:00 +0000

"The Art of Game Design, a Book of Lenses” is a must read book for every game developer. That is why, we wanted to bring Jesse Schell, author of this amazing book, to the show to celebrate our episode number 50. To be honest, we could make a one-hour episode per chapter of this book, however, we did not have that much time with Jesse. In this interview we ask him about the 4 elements in which he separates a game, Aesthetic, Technology, Gameplay, and Story. In addition, we mention some ways in that developers can use to balance fighting games. You know how much I like fighting games, I had to ask him about that topic. Another of the topics that was discussed in the show was the curve of interest in games; one topic that can be applied not only to games, but to any sphere where you want to entertain an audience. Andrew and I really had a great time talking to Jesse Schell in this interview and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about game dev interviews, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 49: Streaming Assets Deconstructed

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 16:30:00 +0000

Is your app too big to install over the air? Need a dynamic content delivery system? Then streaming assets are for you! Yes friends streaming assets are a very useful tool in modern game content management. This week the gang and I explore what streaming assets are, how to build a streaming asset system, as well as some peripheral systems and gotchas that come with these systems.

Many thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 48: Creating In-Game Communities with KTplay CEO, Spencer Liu

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 7 Sep 2016 16:00:00 +0000

Community is the secret sauce to any successful game. Knowing this, bigger companies often hire a community manager whose full-time job it is to build that community, running from social networks to message boards, engaging players and keeping everyone not only interested in the game at hand, but also in the future of the company. While successful, this method involves a lot of time and resources, two things indie devs have in short supply. Recently, Andrew and Eduardo had the chance to sit down with Spencer Liu, CEO of KTplay, a company attempting to solve this problem in a very interesting way.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about game dev interviews, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 47: Making Your First Game

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 16:04:00 +0000

Finishing your first game is certainly a tough task, but with determination and hard work you can do it. In this episode we go through my journey in the development process of “The Hangman,” which it’s released in Google Play. Today, we cover all those small design decision that can make a game succeed or fail. For instance: What platform to pick? How big will the game be? What monetization strategy are you going to use based on the chosen platform? How is the game going to look like? Should you work alone in the game? What propagation strategy do you include in your game, if any? In addition, we go through the research process before I decided to make “The Hangman,” the most challenging parts of the game, and also how to overcome those obstacles. It was an AWESOME experience and I am glad to share it with you in this episode.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about game dev interviews, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 46: Pathfinding Deconstructed

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:17:00 +0000

Ever wonder how to get your enemies to find their way to you, or how to get a companion to run behind you? Then this is the episode for you. In this episode The Debug Crew discusses Pathfinding and the pros and cons of different methods commonly used. From out-of-the-box solutions to do it yourself algorithms we cover them all.

As always, many thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 45: Quality QA with Will Dal Porto & Greg Anderson

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 9 Aug 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered what goes into the field of QA as it relates to the game development industry? Or maybe you have been itching to know what a ‘smoke test’ is and whether you should be running these tests as an indie dev? Well, in this episode, Obinna and Andrew sit down with Lead QA developers Will Dal Porto and Greg Anderson to talk about their experiences in QA.

These two gents are a very lively, honest, and opinionated pair who don’t hold back about the intricacies of QA and the game industry as a whole. This episode is a good one with plenty of good information littered throughout!

As always, many thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 44: Why Do You Hate My Game?

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 4 Aug 2016 20:01:00 +0000

Congratulations! You've finished your game. Time to sit back and relax knowing that players across the world are falling in love with it. BEEP! Ooh, your first comment!

"This game is TrAsH!!!" - @WookieeJumper69

Ok, well not what you expected, but nothing to worry about. BEEP! Another one...oh...they too agree the game is trash, they are just fighting over what kind. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP Aandd several more have joined the party. They seem so angry. Now they're saying your game is a "dumpster fire", wait, now it's a "dumpster fire full of dirty diapers", one sec, now it's....ok...I'm not repeating that.

You get the point. We can't control how people react to our games. No matter how amazing it is, if you release something into the world it will receive some degree of negative feedback. Sometimes this feedback is justified, sometimes it's just a dumpster fire full of angry people.

On today's episode we talk about the different reasons for player outrage and debate about various real-world examples. We also discuss best practices in dealing with negativity related to your own games.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 43: Increasing Productivity

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 04:21:00 +0000

If you get easily distracted from working on your game and you struggle to get things done, no worries, we got your back. This episode will help you increase your productivity. We cover three main areas that will make you more productive: Organization, Focus, and Time Management.

To improve your organization, we suggest you have your project well documented and have at least one to-do lists to help follow the steps you need to complete your project.
If your problem is that you cannot stay focused, we mention a technique that can help you. It is called: Pomodoro. In addition, you could eliminate main sources of distractions like your cellphone by just muting it and putting it away.

Time management is my favorite part because one of the things that we recommend is to listen to audiobooks or podcasts in your commute time. Having said that, click in the play button and enjoy this episode.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about game dev interviews, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Bonus Episode: The Debug Lounge is Live!

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 14:51:00 +0000

Just a quick reminder this week that our new video series "The Debug Lounge" has been released.

Allow us to set the scene…

That sound you hear? Those sounds are the sultry voices of hosts Andrew, Obinna, Zack, Ryan, and Eduardo. That lingering smell you smell? Well, that is just a healthy splash of Sex Panther™ cologne. The ‘who and what’ you see will vary from week to week — but the sole purpose of the Lounge remains the same:

The Debug Lounge aims to help provide for a more engaging and interactive atmosphere for game developers and their respective communities. It is meant as a platform from which members of the game development community can speak about their growth as developers as well as the games they have created and/or aspire to create.

Regardless of where you find yourself in your career as a game developer, the interviews in The Lounge are sure to provide some value. So, sit back, grab your favorite drink, and enjoy the show.

Episode 42: Picking the Perfect Platform

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 17:55:00 +0000

Xbox? Xbox One? PS3? 4? Wii? Steam? Android? iOS? WebGl? Windows Phone? PC? Mac? Android TV? Apple Tv? That’s just to name a few. With so many available platforms to release your application or game on, it is becoming increasingly important to carefully consider your options before beginning development.

In this episode, Ryan, Andrew, and Obinna gather ’round the perverbial campfire and discuss some key considerations you should have when picking the perfect platform for your game.

Thanks so much for listening and we hope you enjoy the show. Please send any emails with comments, questions, or contributions regarding the episode, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 41: The Cake is a Lie: Why is Portal So Funny?

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 6 Jul 2016 20:37:00 +0000

In this episode, the guys take a look at the many aspects of the Portal franchise that make them so darn funny. With the popularization of comedic games and the ever popular narrative driven games, this episode bodes to be extremely relevant. Also the guys bring back everyone’s favorite segment. That’s right, Game Of The Week is back with Overwatch!

Thanks so much for listening and we hope you enjoy the show. Please send any emails with comments, questions, or contributions regarding the episode, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 40: The State of the Game Dev Union

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 16:00:00 +0000

Members of the Debug Lounge, TDLers, our handful of Google+ followers, and my fellow game developers:

This episode marks The Debug Log's inaugural State of the Game Dev Union. On today's show, Obinna, Andrew, Zack, Ryan, and Eduardo discuss things concerning the current state of the game development industry as well as what we envision for its future. We also outline a few key aspects, such as: why our field is so important to our society, and how, in the game development industry, we feed off, what we call "Competition's Causal Relationship." Throughout the episode we maintain the perspective of 'you,' the game developer, while discussing all of this. More specifically, we attempt to address the age-old question of just where -you- fit into this evolving and growing industry of Game Development.

Thank you for tuning in and we hope you enjoy the show. Please send any emails with comments, questions, or contributions regarding the union address, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 39: E3 2016 Wrap-up

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 15:36:00 +0000

E3 is in the books! Annnnd, WWDC happened too.

In this episode, the guys huddle up by the warmth of what was a pretty exciting conference and talk about some of the key takeaways and things you all should be looking forward to in the coming months. The industry is being shaken up constantly with the coming and going of conferences like E3 and GDC, and staying abreast with the happenings around the game development industry is a necessity for innovation for all developers -- both indie and AAA.

Thanks so much for listening and we hope you enjoy the show. Please send any emails with comments, questions, or contributions regarding the episode, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 38: Talking Team Management

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 19:00:00 +0000

Being a good leader is a difficult task. Therefore, The Debug Log team couldn’t let go a topic like this. It is our duty and pleasure to help you become a better leader for your team and share our experiences with you, so you don’t make common management mistakes that could cost you the lost of good team members. In addition to helping you manage your team better, we mention some of the differences between managing a local and a remote team. It is a loooot different when you have to deal with team members in others parts of the world. Fortunately, we got you covered. Could you guess what else we have in this episode? Yes, tools and methodologies that will help you immensely to communicate with your team and to have all projects organized.

Thank you very much for listening to the show and for being part of this amazing TDL community. We hope you like … no, you LOVE this episode. If you don’t LOVE it, it is Zack’s fault. Jajaja, just joking. Well, that’s it guys. If you have any comments or questions about this episode feel free to email us at thedebuglog@gmail.com. Have an AWESOME day.

Episode 37: Being Strategic About the Scope of Your Game

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 9 Jun 2016 01:47:00 +0000

In this week's episode Andrew, Obinna, Eduardo, and Ryan talk about one of the most important topics when it comes to finishing your game, scope. Instead of taking the traditional approach to scoping a project which involves taking away from an already complete game design, the guys dive into what you can do before development begins. This is not just about considering your limitations, it's about using those limitations as a creative catalyst to fulfill all of your development goals. As always the guys wrap up the show with some best practices to help you get started.

Thanks so much for listening and we hope you find the show as entertaining to listen to as we did to record it. Please send any emails with comments, questions, or contributions regarding the episode, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 36: Rapid-Fire Roundup

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 1 Jun 2016 17:42:00 +0000

That's right folks, it's time for another edition of "Rapid-Fire Roundup". This week Ryan talks new Xbone rumors, Obinna Daydreams with Google, Eduardo goes full-on moneyball with the VR marketplace, and Andrew envies a monumental success. All that and more on this episode of The Debug Log.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any stories you want to hear us cover in the next "Rapid-Fire Roundup", to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 35: Evolution of the FPS

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 25 May 2016 17:16:00 +0000

In this week's episode Andrew, Obinna, and Ryan explore the evolution of the first person shooter. We examine its contributions to gaming from both a technical and gameplay perspective. Even if the FPS genre isn't your cup of tea you may be surprised at its many contributions to gaming. Time to get knee deep in the dead.

Episode 34: How to Handle Cheaters

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 20 May 2016 18:31:00 +0000

Cheater, cheater, pumpkin-eater;
Had a game but couldn't beat her;
He got a GameShark in the mail,;
And then he beat it very well!
We all know them very well. Hell, sometimes when pushed against a wall (or die one too many times while playing GoldenEye 007), we become them. Cheaters. There are countless reasons as to 'why' people cheat, as well as 'how,' and in this episode the hosts touch on a few of them. During the show, Zack, Eduardo, Ryan, Obinna, and Andrew really zero-in on a developer's approach on how to handle cheaters in games.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send us any questions or comments to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 33: Maintaining Motivation in Game Development

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 11 May 2016 15:43:00 +0000

In this episode the fellas sit down and talk about best practices for maintaining motivation for your project during the game development life cycle. No matter where you may find yourself in your game dev career, whether you're brand new to game development or a seasoned vet, this episode is sure to leave you with a few nuggets of wisdom that you can apply.

Cheers for tuning in this week and we hope that you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about maintaining motivation in game dev, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 32: Google Play Services

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 4 May 2016 18:03:00 +0000

Increasing player acquisition, retention, and optimizing development time are three of the top priorities for most game developers. In this episode we bring you a solution to help you solve the aforementioned problems, in addition to allow you to save player's progress in the cloud and make your game multiplayer. It sounds great, right? Well, it is.

This week we are talking about Google Play Services. This extremely useful suite of services allow you to have global and social leaderboards in your game, and make it easier for players to invite their friends to play. It also offers a very straightforward way to create challenges and quests that will keep players engaged and coming back for more. In this episode we not only explain Google Play Services’ features and benefits, we take it a step further, and talk about some of the game design decisions that you will have to make when integrating these services into your game.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send us any questions or comments to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 31: How to Get Featured in the iOS App Store

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 19:58:00 +0000

The holy grail for any iOS game developer is have their game featured on the front page of the App Store. Whether it's in a coveted "Best of.." spot or as a deeper cut in a creative sub-category, App Store attention converts to downloads. Downloads convert to dollars. It's not a coincidence that the most successful games in App Store history have all been heavily featured.

This week on the show we talk about an incredible reddit post we found by Amir Rajan, the developer of the iOS port of "A Dark Room". In the post, Rajan lays out a step-by-step guide to help give your game the best chance for being featured in the iOS App Store. I know iOS might be a bad word for some of you, but fear not; Rajan's post, and this episode, are chocked full of so much great, general game development advice that you might not be able to handle it.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send us any questions or comments to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 30: Rapid-Fire Roundup

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 15:03:00 +0000

That's right folks, it's time for another edition of "Rapid-Fire Roundup". This week Eduardo gives us the skinny on Unity's in-development input system, Zack dives deep into the differences between two of his favorite games, Obinna tells all about the latest in pizza ordering AI technology, and finally Andrew wraps up the discussion with a collection of stories including one about a game jam on a train. All that and more on this episode of The Debug Log.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any stories you want to hear us cover in the next "Rapid-Fire Roundup", to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 29: Mastering the Game Dev Interview

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 18:28:00 +0000

Getting a job in the game development industry is a dream for many people, a challenge for others, and a fulfilled goal for some lucky ones. This episode is about helping you get the job that you are looking for and to help you become a game developer. This time the team gives tips, do’s and don’ts that will help you master a job interview in the game development industry. Of course, we speak from our experience, there is no formula that you can follow to get a job. However, there are many best practices that can help you through the interview process. Thanks to Ryan and Obinna, we were able to speak not only from the point of view of the interviewee, but also from an interviewer stand point so, check out The Debug Log Episode 29.

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about game dev interviews, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 28: AAA vs. Indie Game Development

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 6 Apr 2016 16:25:00 +0000

Introducing first... from the rich, ruby red corner. Weighing in at $1.5+ million dollars. He hails from the beautiful, but volatile Silicon Valley. With over 52 published games, five top grossing, and only seven defeats! He IS the former heavyweight champion of the world, TRIPLE-A GAME DEVELOPMENT!

In the broke, blue corner. Weighing in at $200 and a gift card to GameStop. Hailing from a hot, two-car garage in the middle of nowhere. With a pixel perfect game in its alpha stages, a monthly subscription to Lynda.com, and a successful Kickstarter in the works! He IS the challenger, a.k.a Señor Success, a.k.a the Voice of the People... INDIE GAME DEVELOPMENT!

Let's Get Ready To Rumble!

In this episode, the guys sit down and discuss the pros and cons to both AAA and Indie game development. There are a lot of great nuggets strewn throughout the discussion, so we're sure you will enjoy!

Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about AAA and/or Indie game dev, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Check it Out

Brace for Impact: The Crashlands Story Kickstarter

Crashlands - Butterscotch Shenanigans

Episode 27: Debugging Basics

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 15:14:00 +0000

Bugs?!?! Ewwwww, gross! It's no secret that most people are not overly fond of bugs. If bugs happen to invade your home you can always call the Orkin Man, if they invade your game, however, you have to take care of them yourself.

Debugging is something every developer has to come to terms with. From the beginning of a project to well after the game is released, debugging is something we do almost everyday. The Debug Crew does it so much, in fact, that it even inspired the name of this podcast. On today's episode we break down what a bug actually is, the tools you'll need to take them on, and best practices that'll make your debugging process as efficient as possible.

Cheers to you for tuning in to this week's episode and we hope that you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, or concerns about game design documents or the game design process, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Game of the Week:
Piloteer - Fixpoint Productions

Resources:
The Developer's Guide to Debugging: 2nd Edition

Episode 26: GDC 2016 Wrap-up

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 13:43:00 +0000

Ahhh GDC. A magical time where game developers gather from across the land to share their ideas, innovations, and a few drinks. Or perhaps several drinks. In the year of VR it has been a noteworthy conference. Join us as we discuss the interesting news from Unity and the rest of the game industry.

If you'd like us to discuss something in particular in the coming month, send us an email at: thedebuglog@gmail.com and we will be sure to work it into our next episode of Rapid-Fire Roundup.

Game of the Week:
Her Story - Sam Barlow

Episode 25: Rapid-Fire Roundup

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 15:49:00 +0000

You’ve sent letters! You’ve emailed! You’ve snail-mailed! You’ve smoke-signaled for it! You’ve asked, and we’ve delivered! Actually, you did none of the above… but we are adding a brand new podcast segment entitled, “Rapid-Fire Roundup” where the hosts collect a handful of the latest game dev articles as well as questions from the TDL and game development community at large and talk shop.

What’s the latest in Unity’s newest patch? What are the must-attend game developer conferences this year? What VR/AR headset should I invest in? These are some of the rapid fire discussions you can expect to happen during this brand new segment.

If you’d like us to discuss something in particular in the coming month, send us an email at: thedebuglog@gmail.com and we will be sure to work it into our next episode of Roundtable Rapid Fire.

Game of the Week:
SUPERHOT – SUPERHOT Team

Episode 24: Networked Games with Eirik Pederson

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 8 Mar 2016 19:17:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered what it would take to get a game online and accessible to individuals all across the globe? Curious as to when and how to plan for scalability and dealing with server load? For those of you out there interested in the ins and outs of networked games, this episode is for you.

Join co-hosts Andrew, Eduardo, and Obinna as they sit down with Sales Director and Co-founder Eirik Pederson of GameHosting to discuss the company and provide insight on what it takes to get a game online.

Thanks again for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about servers or networked games in Unity, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

NOTE:
Ulf Magnusson of GameHosting will be in the Los Angeles area from March 28th - April 1st, 2016 to meet with any and all game developers interested in learning more about GameHosting's services.

Episode 23: Game Prototypes: What, When, Why?

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 2 Mar 2016 20:20:00 +0000

“Will this UI work?”, “Does my inventory system make sense?”, “Will this jumping mechanic feel right?”, "Do all dog seriously go to heaven?". These are the type of questions that can arise during the game development process. Outside of a crystal ball, the only way to sufficiently answer these questions is by planning for and building prototypes. Prototypes are where the fun happens -- where imagination and experimentation can truly run wild.

This week the guys go over what a game prototype is, when is the best time to make them, and why they are essential to development. They relate some personal stories and utilize some really great sources from the dev community. As always they share some hot tips that will help you through your own prototyping adventures.

Episode 22: Game Design Documents: What, When, Why?

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 18:19:00 +0000

So, you're scouring the inter web forums for some engineering and art help for your next, big game idea, when forum user, "xX1337ProgrammerXx" replies to one of your posts with, "Interested to help! Do you have a working GDD?" -- to which you reply with, "Huh?"

Maybe this has happened to you. Maybe not! Either way, in this episode we address the "Why," "What," and "When"s of Game Design Documents, so that the aforementioned lapse of game development know-how never happens to you.

Episode 21: Game Monetization with Oscar Clark, Unity Evangelist

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 18:15:00 +0000

If you’ve had the opportunity to attend Unite in the past couple of years you’ll recognize today’s guest. With his signature hat and jovial personality, he’s hard to miss. I am of course talking about Oscar Clark, another awesome Unity Evangelist.

We met Oscar at Unite 2015 in Boston and we were thrilled when he offered to come on the show. The topic of discussion we laid out for him was game monetization, but he went much deeper than that. In what turned out one be one of our longest interviews yet, Oscar shared some amazing insights, not just on monetization strategies and how to implement them in your game, but also on the underlying design principles that motivate player engagement in the first place. Lots of great actionable advice here. As always, if you have any questions for us or Oscar send them to thedebuglog@gmail.com.

Episode 20: Game Dev Resolutions

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 15:12:00 +0000

It's in the books! We offhandedly, randomly, and unofficially mark the end of the first season of The Debug Log with this episode. The entire five-man Debug Log crew take a moment to look back on some of their favorite episodes, interviews, tips, and games from the first eighteen episodes.

The fellas also hint at some big plans and aspirations for the new year that they believe will tickle your fancy as well as further promote community and collaboration among game developers.

Anyway, as you listen to this episode (whether you're in your car, on a jog, or sitting on the john), think about some of your game development aspirations and goals for this year. What do you want to accomplish? What aspect of game dev do you really need to improve on or learn about? Have you been too scared to try writing a shader? Try one out. Enemy AI?! Learn about behavior trees and flocking! Project management? .... no comment.

In any case, set your game development goals and tell us about them so we can hold you accountable in 2016! You can reach us at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 19: #MadeWithUnity with Unity CMO, Clive Downie

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 3 Feb 2016 05:00:00 +0000

What do you get when you add the former VP of Marketing at EA and former COO of Zynga, an individual with a deep passion for games and gamers across the world, and a game-changing (pun intended) game development platform like Unity3D? You get Unity's Chief Marketing Officer Clive Downie and an industry-shaking initiative known as "Made With Unity."

Telling your story has never been as accessible as it is now with the advent of Unity's Made With Unity campaign - an initiative that offers game developers the power and platform to connect with their player base in a way that hasn't been possible... until now. Join Eduardo, Zack, Andrew, and Clive Downie as they discuss the inner workings of #MadeWithUnity and how it can be leveraged to amplify your voice in the game development community.

We are stoked that Clive Downie was able to sit and chat with us and hope that you all are able to benefit as much from this talk as we were. Feel free to send us any emails with comments, questions, or concerns about Unity's MadeWithUnity initiative, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 18: A Game Tutorial Retrospective

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 16:35:00 +0000

For ages, developers have had the difficult task of balancing the amount of explicit gameplay tutorials with the level of player discovery that is provided in their games. Many gamers have experienced the 'overbearing developer' who forces players to endure an hour-long training sequence, while other gamers have been left bewildered in a massive and evolving game world with seemingly no direction or answers.

In this week's show, Obinna, Andrew, Zack, and Ryan discuss pros and cons to tutorials and ways in which some games deliver key game mechanics to players. The fellas have a fun round table discussion about the history and evolution of tutorials (or lack thereof) that hopefully encourages listeners to consider the many sides of game design and content delivery.

We are super excited that you're tuning in this week and we hope that you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about tutorials, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Game of the Week

Gone Home - Fulbright

Episode 17: The 4 Keys 2 Fun with Nicole Lazzaro - Part 2

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 8 Dec 2015 07:09:00 +0000

Part 2 of our interview with Nicole Lazzaro, the founder and President of XEODesign. At Unite 2015 in Boston, some of us got a chance to see Nicole's talk about Design Leadership in VR then we got to meet her and demo her upcoming VR game "Follow the White Rabbit". We are so glad she agreed to sit down with us and talk about the "4 Keys 2 Fun" and how to better think about some of these game design concepts when developing our own games. We also touch on designing for VR and various other topics. Be sure to look for the second part of this interview next week.

Episode 16: The 4 Keys 2 Fun with Nicole Lazzaro - Part 1

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 20:28:00 +0000

Nicole Lazzaro, the founder and President of XEODesign, Inc. and has twenty years expertise in Player Experience Design (PXD) for mass-market entertainment products. At Unite 2015 in Boston, some of us got a chance to see Nicole's talk about Design Leadership in VR then we got to meet her and demo her upcoming VR game "Follow the White Rabbit". We are so glad she agreed to sit down with us and talk about the "4 Keys 2 Fun" and how to better think about some of these game design concepts when developing our own games. We also touch on designing for VR and various other topics. Be sure to look for the second part of this interview next week.

Episode 15: Networking in Unity

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 14:29:00 +0000

A TCP packet walks into a bar and says, "I want a beer." The bartender responds, "You want a beer?" The TCP packet says, "Yes, I want a beer."

Wow, just writing that 3-Way handshake joke hurt. In any case, you guessed it, today's show is all about Networking in Unity3D. The gentlemen talk about several networking suites that developers have created for or modified to work with the Unity game engine. As usual, in addition to reviewing a handful of networking tools, the guys highlight some of their experiences and tips while developing networked games.

Thanks again for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoyed the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about networking in Unity, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com.

Game of the Week

Kingdom Rush - Ironhide Game Studio

Episode 14: Adventures at Unite 2015

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 22:22:00 +0000

‘The crowd here is electric, Ryan! Developers of all shapes, sizes, and skillsets are pouring into the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention center here in Boston. We’ll be here all week on the ground floor, so stay tuned to the episode for more in-depth discussions on Unite. Anyway, stay classy TDLers and back to you in the studio, Ryan!’

Unite 2015 Field Reporters Zack, Obinna, Andrew, and Eduardo (with special guest, Diana) talk about their experiences while at Unite 2015 in Boston. From their thoughts on the Keynote, Awards show, and pub mixer, to lunch and several of our favorite talks.

Many thanks for riding along with us on this Unite 2015 review and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, or thoughts about Unite 2015, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Game of the Week

ClusterPuck 99 – PHL Collective

Episode 13: Best Practices in Mobile Game Development

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 8 Oct 2015 14:11:00 +0000

What's the 'Viralability' of your mobile game? What's Viralability, you ask? Well, I'll tell you! Viralability is a completely made-up word that defines the capacity for your mobile game to go viral! If your game isn't hitting a Viralability Score of 6.0 or higher, then we are here to help!

In this week's episode, the crew, sans Zack, sit down and talk about mobile game development -- specifically the major challenges and pitfalls developers usually run into when developing mobile games for the iOS and Android markets. We also drop a hint or two to help you achieve the Viralability score you've been looking for!

We appreciate your tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, or concerns about mobile game development, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Game of the Week
Hitman Go - Square Enix

Episode 12: Unite 2015 Preview

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 17:25:00 +0000

Chugga chugga choo choo! That's right, folks! Unite 2015 is here and we're uber excited to be hopping on the hype train going straight to Boston. We can’t wait to engage with the growing Unity community at the conference and hope we can meet a few of our listeners while there — whether it’s at a bar, restaurant, library, or alleyway (um…scratch that)!

In this episode, we start by talking about some of the new features and fixes that came with Unity’s 5.2 release. We then scrub through some of our highly-anticipated talks that we’re eager to attend while at the conference. To wrap things up, the guys offer up some general ‘tips and tricks’ to networking at game conferences like Unite 2015.

Thanks, as always, for tuning in this week and we hope that you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about Unite 2015 to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 11: 2015 IGF Grand Prize Winner and Crowdfunding Pioneers

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 05:14:00 +0000

In this episode we speak with a handful of game development pioneers in CEO and Founder of Fig, Justin Bailey and the team behind the 2015 IGF Grand Prize winner, Outer Wilds. Justin breaks down how the Fig platform works as a curated crowdfunding and investing medium where passionate players and developers intersect. Lead Designer Alex Beachum, Producer Avimaan Syam, and Engineer Logan Ver Hoef describe the premise and promise of Outer Wilds, an in-depth exploration game built in Unity3D.

Their experiences, struggles, and triumphs are sure to grab and hold your attention in this episode.

Episode 10: Version Control 101

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 4 Sep 2015 05:13:00 +0000

A personal Github account with Large File Storage: $0. Hosting a server for your repository: $300. Writing an epic compression algorithm that you lose because you didn’t have your project under source control: priceless. Devs, don’t be -that- person! Set your projects up with version control — early and often.

In this episode we do a survey of the more popular version control systems (VCS) made available to developers, while also covering the advantages and disadvantages of each. The crew, sans Eduardo, share stories about their experiences with both centralized and distributed VCSs and recommend tips and tricks on managing your project.

We appreciate you tuning in this week and we hope that you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about version control in Unity to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 9: Motion Capture on a Budget with James C. Martin

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 05:12:00 +0000

Byah, byah, byah! Ahem, that was me practicing my jiu jitsu moves via text... anyway, horrible jokes aside, if you've ever wanted to motion capture your fighting moves, dances moves, or pretty much anything else -- then this episode is definitely for you!

In this episode we talk to James C. Martin, Owner and operator of Mobacap, a company that specializes in providing motion capture services. James talks about a powerful, yet inexpensive mo cap suit by Noitom called Perception Neuron. He also discusses some very interesting 3D and 2D tools, in CrazyTalk and iClone, that integrate nicely with Unity.

Thanks again for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoyed the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about motion capture in Unity, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 8: Top 5 Picks from the Asset Store

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 04:21:00 +0000

We raise a glass to you, Christian Strang, for without you today's episode might not have been possible!

On today's episode we tackle Christian's question about our favorite Unity Asset Store assets. Each of the guys pick one of their favorite assets and talk about how the asset has influenced the way they develop games in Unity3D. Outside of their favorites, they discuss other assets they've encountered that have stood out among the many available utility, art, and scripting assets on the asset store.

We also introduce a new segment to the show, tentatively named "Shop Talk," where we lay out what things we are currently working on outside of the podcast -- from games, projects, new tools, etc.

We sincerely appreciate all of the feedback and questions we've received and encourage everyone to continue sending questions, comments, and feedback so that we can continue to deliver interesting and enjoyable content.

Thanks again for tuning in this week and we hope that you enjoy the show. Be sure to send any emails with comments, questions, or thoughts regarding Unity's Asset Store to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Game of the Week

Marvel: Contest of Champions - Kabam

Episode 7: How to Build a Community Around Your Game with Unity's Mark Schoennagel

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 18:55:00 +0000

Oh. My. God. It's Mark Schoennagel!!! throws panties at stage! That's right, folks! We've managed to snag an interview with an inside man in Unity Evangelist, Mark Schoennagel. If your memory isn't as bad as ours, then you will probably remember Mark Schoennagel who MC'd the Awards show (quite beautifully) at Unity's Unite 2014 in Seattle and who will be doing the same during the 2015 Unite Conference in Boston.

In this episode, we speak with Mark about his background as an animator and role as a Unity Evangelist, how to build community for your game, and also wheedle Mark into giving us some of his favorite tips and tricks when developing for the Unity game engine.

Like always, we are glad you're tuning in this week and we hope that you enjoy the episode! Be sure to send any emails with comments, questions, or thoughts you have about community development to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Game of the Week

City Skylines - Paradox Interactive

Episode 6: Virtual Reality and Unity3D

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Fri, 7 Aug 2015 14:02:00 +0000

In this episode, the whole crew sits down to talk about Virtual Reality and Unity3D. The five hosts weigh in on the current landscape of virtual reality headsets, how the rising stars of VR and AR are poised to shake up future game development, best practices when developing VR applications, and where the Unity3D game engine intersects with it all.

Thanks again for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoyed the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about virtual reality in Unity, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Game of the Week
Star Wars Commander - Disney Interactive Studios

Episode 5: Playtesting your Game

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 04:11:00 +0000

Rogue podcasters Ryan, Obinna, and Andrew were feeling a bit brazen and decided to record an episode without the other two co-hosts. In this episode we answer the “How”, “Why,” and “What” when playtesting your game.

The guys channel their inner Fido in this episode in referencing a somewhat common phrase, “Eat your own dog food.” The guys explore the phrasing and its many interpretations, highlighting a few ‘gotchas’ when approaching playtesting, such as modular tests versus holistic play testing.

Thanks again for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoyed the show! We are still receiving an overwhelmingly positive response and sincerely appreciate all of the listens, downloads, and ratings and reviews we’ve received on iTunes! Every review helps us immensely.

Game of the Week

The Room - Fireproof Games

TL;DL — “Too long, didn’t listen"

“Eat your own Dog Food” is a software term used to reference a scenario in which a company uses its own product to validate the quality and capabilities of the product.
When play testing, ask yourself, “Is this game system/scene/NPC in alignment with what the game designer/producer/engineer had in mind? Does the functionality match the design?”
Typically, developers are drawn to testing their game modularly (system by system). However, there can be pitfalls when testing things so modularly and you can find yourself missing things that would otherwise not show up until you test the game in it’s entirety.
Testing in Game Development isn’t quite the same as other development domains (i.e. Web development) in so that you can typically test a whole website automatically with things like Continuous Integration testing. This doesn’t quite work in games as there are several other aspects and influences in a game (think, colliders, game objects in a scene, physics) that can’t quite be as well controlled. So, physically testing your game is absolutely essential.
Remember, "small changes can have huge casualties” in your game. Do not assume that moving a game object in a scene one pixel to the left will not cause any problems… playtest, playtest, playtest!
In most games, “fun” is the name of the game. Testing for fun is critically important.
“Fail early and often.” Get your game out there and in the hands of potential consumers (friends, family, etc) and get their feedback on ‘fun’ and ‘functionality.’
Playtesting is something that you should be doing from the very beginning of a project, not something that happens after you’re ‘done’ with the game. Play testing can start as early as the prototype phase of a project.
Check out the Halo 5: The Sprint documentary about how they hired several Halo experts to playtest their latest game.
Playtesting Pro Tip: “Put music/SFx in your game as a final polish step” — or mute your speakers as it can, and probably will, become annoying.
We recommend visiting the Unity Forums to request for feedback on your game in progress. Share it. Test it!
There are key advantages of “blind testing” as opposed to “guided tests”. Blind testing is giving your game to someone without being there to facilitate the user’s interaction with your game. This ‘blind test’ helps with honest and unrestricted reviews on your game by the tester. You can learn what you’re doing right, what you’re doing wrong, and maybe even get new ideas by play testing with others.
The Debug Log Facebook group (“The Debug Lounge”) opens up their doors, inviting members to share their games with the community for play testing and feedback.
Other interpretations of “Eat your own Dog Food” is that you should build robust systems so that they can be reused in your current project and/or other/future projects. Emphasis on code reuse and object-oriented design.
Image: Toine Rooijmans

Episode 4: Steam Greenlighting with Travis Lacey

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 06:19:00 +0000

It finally happened! We wheedled the first person into sitting down with our ragtag group of developers for several minutes for an up close and personal interview. Travis Lacey is a freelance concept artist, seasoned Indie developer, official Steamworks Developer, Pax South Exhibitor, owner of Ravenseye Studios, LLC., and Art Director for Aero's Quest, which was Greenlit on Steam in January.

In the episode, we talk to Travis about the role of the concept artist/designer and the art direction of Aero's Quest -- developed by Soloweb, N.V. We pick Travis' brain about the process he and his partner, Ivano, went through in getting their game on Steam and receiving the Greenlight in only a handful of weeks. Soloweb N.V. offers several blog posts and Dev Blogs related to Aero's Quest and their quest for Steam Greenlight. Check out the link to their Dev Blogs below!

Travis is an extremely talented freelance developer and always looking for another fresh, new project to jump into. Check out his blog, portfolio, and other works below:

Travis' Blog: http://ravenseyestudiostravislacey.blogspot.com/

Website/Resume: www.Ravenseyestudios.com

Artstation: https://ravenseye.artstation.com/

Deviantart: http://ravenseyetravislacey.deviantart.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ravenseyestudios.travislacey

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TLaceyArtist

Soloweb N.V Dev Blog: http://aerosquest.com/development/

Groupee Greenlight Bundle: https://groupees.com/bagb

Game of the Week

Fallout Shelter - Bethesda Softworks, LLC. (iTunes)

Episode 3: Best Practices in Game Development

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 04:12:00 +0000

Just when you thought four's a crowd, we add our fifth and final member to The Debug Log crew! We are excited to welcome Eduardo Castillo Fernandez into the fold, who brings several years of professional development experience -- both inside and out of the gaming realm. With Eduardo being a guru in documentation, the guys sort of grill him on the approach he takes with documentation and commenting his code while Zack highlights the importance of self-documenting code and defining a project's coding style.

We introduce a new News segment about Unity in which we discuss recent topics in Unity. This week, we talk: Unity's Unite Europe, Unity's push for transparency with Roadmap, and also...

Happy 10th Birthday, Unity! Yurrrp, that's right! Unity3D turns 10 this week and also released a fancy YouTube clip that revisits a host of games that have been made in Unity in those glorious ten years. Check out the link here.

Finally, and probably our most exciting news for the day, we talk about our upcoming Unity course tutorials that we have started working on! The courses are meant to take two different approaches to learning game development with Unity3D. We split courses between "Core Courses" and "Project-based courses." In the core courses, we discuss core topics such as game design, marketing, community building, etc., while in the project-based courses we build complete games that tackle different concepts and cover several Unity features. Again, we are super excited and hope you all are as well. We will definitely keep you all in the loop as we progress with the tutorials and fill out our courses.

Game of the Week

Crossy Road - Hipster Whale

Episode 2: You and Your UI

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 05:03:00 +0000

In this episode, we unravel several UI solutions that have been birthed from the thralls of Unity’s legacy UI (OnGUI) system.

Andrew wears his heart on his sleeve, shedding a single tear mid-recording when discussing pixel perfection, DPIs, and screen resolutions! The crew talks about the pros and cons as well as things to consider about the many UI solutions that have been made available for Unity3D.

Thanks again for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoyed the show! Feel free to send any emails with comments, questions, and concerns about UIs in Unity, to: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 1: You Put My Data Where?!

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Woe is me! Ryan breaks a few hearts in this episode with his west coast news, so it was tough pulling Zack away from his bucket of Breyers ice cream and stopping him from binge watching the whole second season of “Friends” in order to record this week.

That said, today’s episode is a bit of a doozy as we get rather intimate with a slew of data solutions for Unity. We talk about the built-in Unity PlayerPrefs, the cloud storage solution Parse.com, and a few others that we’ve played around with while developing our games.

Thanks again for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoyed the show! If you have any other data solutions that you absolutely love, or absolutely abhor, feel free to drop us a line at: thedebuglog@gmail.com

Episode 0: Hello World!

thedebuglog@gmail.com (thedebuglog.com) — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 04:57:00 +0000

It’s been a long road since Unity’s Unite 2014, when The Debug Log was first conceived in the streets of Seattle. It was at the conference, while surrounded by so many innovative minds, inspiring games, and tools developed for and using the Unity game engine, that the guys decided to give back to the Unity community by creating their very own podcast.

After months of procrastination and five too many test episodes, the guys finally get together to talk about “All things Getting Started.” We all weigh in on how we started in game development, from loading DOS from floppy disks and finding love at first type with text-based gaming to developing smash Indie hits for XNA.

The guys discuss several important Unity features as well as take a moment to answer a question that often rears its head to new developers, “So, I’ve downloaded Unity. Now what?”

We are all super excited to be launching the podcast and hope that this episode, and the ones that follow, all work to strengthen and build the community of Unity developers that we love. Thank you for joining us on this journey and we sincerely hope to hear from each of you personally!

Game of the Week
Beseige – Spiderling Studios ( Get it on Steam )