The Dialog Box

Conversations on game development hosted by game developer Gwen Frey (Bioshock Infinite/The Molasses Flood/Kine)and Chris Slight (Games Journalist/Host).

Ep. 119 Why does Game Dev take so long?

Gwen and Chris talk about game production, pipeline iteration, audio workflows, cutscenes in games, and trailers that maybe don’t have much to do with the game.

10-05
34:31

Ep. 118 Game Writing & Production Woes!

Gwen and Chris catch up on: Lab Rat's development, comedy writing, writing in games, Psychonauts 2, BioShock Infinite, and much more!

09-05
51:02

Ep. 117 Business and design decisions in Darkest Dungeon /w Tyler Sigman

This week we chat with the Design Director of Darkest Dungeon - a brilliantly designed and wildly successful indie game. Tyler dives into his backstory and explains how he gained the experience both designing games and running companies before he co-founded Red Hook. He's the only indie developer I've met with an MBA, and he highly recommends it!

05-10
01:40:09

Ep. 116 Designing Highly Systemic Games With Narrative /w Tom Francis

This week Tom Francis outlines the difficult decisions he has made while developing Tactical Breach Wizards, and why he made them. We also talk about what he learned designing hit indie games Gunpoint and Heat Signature. Afterwards we are joined by accomplished game writers Matt Seiji Burns and Karla Zimonja for a roundtable conversation about writing and VO in indie games.

04-15
01:24:52

Ep. 115 w/ William Chyr on transitioning between projects

William Chyr spent 7 years developing the hit puzzler Manifold Garden and then another 1.5 years porting it and releasing it on every known platform. Now he's reflecting on how far he's come and what comes next for him and his team.

04-04
51:07

Ep. 114 Last Year In Games

2020 was a weird year! Gwen and Chris have a casual chat about what we played and why. ___ Follow the podcast on @DialogBoxCast Follow Gwen @diregoldfish Follow Chris @chrisslight

01-11
41:51

Ep. 113 Crunch, Cert, & Cyberpunk 2077

Gwen & Chris chat about what went wrong with Cyberpunk 2077 - the "edgy" marketing, the way it was developed, the launch issues, the rabid gaming fandom, how this is going to impact console cert for the rest of us, & more.

12-22
40:42

Ep. 112 What We Learned From Playtesting

This week Gwen & Chris chat about game shows in 2021, the Lab Rat playtest, the value of playtests, and how Gwen is approaching marketing in 2021.

12-07
24:51

Ep. 111 Collaborative Game Dev During Covid-19

Gwen & Chris chat about Kine's Steam launch and Gwen's upcoming game, Lab Rat. They specifically discuss how her micro-studio is collaborating remotely. There is definitely room for improvement!

10-26
35:23

Ep. 110 Puzzle Game Devs Nerding Out w/ Corey Martin & Alan Hazelden

Three puzzle developers chat about about pacing in puzzle games, puzzle difficulty, the puzzle genre, the indie game market in general, and what we are playing right now. Guests: Alan Hazelden @draknek (A Monster's Expedition, Cosmic Express, etc ) Corey Martin @mytoboggan (Bonfire Peaks, Pipe Push Paradise) Gwendolyn Bond @diregoldfish (Kine, The Flame in The Flood)

10-05
01:00:53

Ep. 109 The Importance of Passion

Is it important to love the game genre for the game you are working on? That depends on the studio size and your role, right? This week we chat about passion and how important it is for marketing in particular.

08-24
38:58

Ep. 108 Finding Inspiration & Staying Motivated As An Indie Dev

Chris grills Gwen on how she finds motivation to develop games, how she plans her work, why she does it, and more.

07-20
45:10

Ep. 107 Online Game Festivals, Streaming Platforms, & Dis Respect M.D.

Dr Disrespect is thrown off Twitch. Mixer shuts down. Steam adds live streaming to their store. Online game festivals are bad for indies. Gwen and Chris chat about all this and more!

06-29
42:38

Ep. 106 Star Trek: PS5

Star Trek! Gwen's next game! The PlayStation 5! All of it is discussed on this episode! PSA: If you want to skip Star Chat skip to 14:28.

06-15
52:54

Ep. 105 Unreal Engine 5? Sounds Epic!

Gwen and Chris discuss the recently revealed Unreal Engine 5 from Epic, GTA 5 and Civ 6 going on the Epic Store for free and more.

05-25
29:11

Ep. 104 New consoles and a new puzzle game!

This week Gwen & Chris have a quick chat about new console reveals, or lack thereof. We also cover the new game Gwen is working on.

05-11
28:34

Ep. 103 Producing games for over 30 years! w/ Mike Arkin

Long-time veteran Mike Arkin and I talk about his his career and his wartime stories shipping games across each console generation. Topics include working with licensed ip, being the bad guy (publishing producer), his game-dev redemption arc, and his current work remastering System Shock.

03-31
01:23:51

Ep. 102 Human Connection Through Video Games

Gwen and Chris discuss online multiplayer experiences and how they, along with streamers, are bringing people together and giving them something fun to do.

03-16
42:44

Ep. 101 w/ Xalavier Nelson Jr

Gwen and Chris are back from PAX East and are joined by the creator of An Airport For Aliens Currently Run By Dogs Xalavier Nelson Jr! We discuss, exhibiting at PAX, getting satisfaction from your work and balancing that with living a comfortable life and YOTELL.

03-09
50:33

Ep. 100 Coronavirus, PAX East and Personal Brands

Chris & Gwen discuss the impact the Coronavirus could have on the industry at large as well as PAX East, which they have to prep for. They also touch on having a personal brand and the difficulty of figuring it out and having the time to get one. Also, 100 episodes! Yay!

02-24
36:53

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