Ep. 21: Intro to GUI

11/19/20 • 124 min

In this episode, Tim and Joel begin a conversation on UI in games. We talk about the purpose of UI generally, in games specifically, and start breaking down the ways UI can make or break a player's immersion in a character. Games discussed: Dead Space, Hardspace: Shipbreaker, Miasmata, Farcry 2, Observer, Aragami, Fable 3, Elite: Dangerous, Call of Duty, Hunt Showdown.

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Ep. 20: Space Games, Part 3

In this episode, Joel and Tim focus in on the problem of designing space games as if you were designing amusement park rides -- by bolting a lot of experiences together based on player expectations, rather than allowing an idea to grow organically. We use Elite: Dangerous as an example to talk about why so many game designers fall into the trap of trying to emulate existing universes rather than creating their own, and end up creating a somewhat bland and forgettable world as a result.

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Ep. 22: UI as Embodiment

In this episode, we talk about UI's ability to embody the player into the character they are playing. We talk about what that means for classic adventure games, action games, and immersive sims, and talk a bit about the potential for both embodiment in VR, and in the real world.

Games discussed: