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Firewatch’s 3D Artist Jane Ng joins us to disuss 3D art in indie games. We talk about some of the remarkable ways Campo Santo has made Firewatch look beautiful and distinctive. We discuss procedural sky generation, stylistic fog systems, and general challenges with making art for games with small teams. Afterwards, we talk Dragon Age Inquisition, Mario Maker, and avoiding playing Destiny.

• Firewatch’s release date reveal: February 9, 2016
• Jane’s GDC talk on the Art of Firewatch
• Paolo’s blog post on Firewatch’s procedural sky system
• The Firewatch Blog
• The messy exit of Bungie audio director Marty O’Donnell

Guy English returns this week to discuss 3D graphics APIs, so hold on to your butts.

We start with the origins of the GPU, and recount the evolution of graphics APIs. We dig in to what a modern GPU actually does, and then discuss Apple’s new graphics API, Metal. Guy and Nigel reminisce about just how horrible programming for the PlayStation 2 was, we talk latency, and finally Guy explores his relationship with Riddler trophies.

• OpenGL
• The good but weird Voodoo GPUs
• 3dfx’ Glide API
• Microsoft Direct3D’s long winding path
• GLQuake
• Retained Mode, an evolutionary dead end in graphics APIs that lives again
• The Geforce 3 and programmable shaders
• Metal, Apple’s new low-level 3D API
• John Carmack on MegaTextures
• Guy’s MacWorld article on Metal
• Steamclock’s 3D Map of the Internet app
• John Carmack’s battle with latency and Oculus Rift
• Guy and Rene Ritchie’s excellent podcast, Debug
• Batman: Arkham Origins reviews
• The Hearthstone tournament that attempted to ban women

Adam “Atomic” Saltsman joins us to discuss collaboration and sustanability in the world of indie games.

We talk about Adam’s new venture Finji Games, and collaborating with fans, from early access to Earliest Access. We fondly remember Canabalt, remember that critical hits aren’t always commercial hits, and discuss how contracting fills the gaps between projects. We finish by discussing the intense competitive pressure in the indie market, and the daunting task of building a 3D game.

• Finji Games
• Clockwork Empires’ Earliest Access program
• Offworld Trading Company
• Adam’s classic iPhone game Canabalt (on sale for $0.99)
• Gone Home
• The Finji Blog
• @finjigames
• Overland
• Super Time Force
• The Last of Us, which Adam has somehow not played yet
• Concept art for Overland
• Johnathan Blow’s process of producing The Witness

Tyson Kallberg joins us to discuss why games are getting easier, what makes us want to ragequit, and death by checkpoint.

• Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels
• Deus Ex: Human Revolutions’s outsourced boss battles
• The Team Fortress 2 Deathcam
• You Will Die Instantly!, the episode of Hypercritical that we accidentally nearly quote, then later refer to
• Ikaruga Rage Quit
• Eve Online: The Most Thrilling Boring Game
• Please take a minute and rate the show on iTunes

Karoliina Korppoo, Lead Designer on Cities Skylines, joins us to discuss simulation games. We discuss the challenges of simulations, making traffic work, cruise ships on land, focusing on fun, and poop water. Afterwards, we discuss the new expansion After Dark, Diablo, and the glory of single-player games.

• Cities: Skylines
• The Cities Skylines Reddit
• The Poop Powered City
• The Paradox Forums for Cities
• @Cities_PDX
• Skylines After Dark