We welcome Raigan Burns, designer and musician of Metanet Software, to The No-Frauds Club! Join us for a discussion on the N line of platformers, the pursuit of greatness, and the conceptual processes of game design.

Follow Raigan: https://twitter.com/raiganburns

Raigan recommends:
Michael Brough's site - http://www.smestorp.com/
Cinco Paus - https://smestorp.itch.io/cinco-paus
Doom the Roguelike - https://drl.chaosforge.org/
Hyper Light Drifter - https://store.steampowered.com/app/257850/Hyper_Light_Drifter/
Probability 0 - https://store.steampowered.com/app/258070/Probability_0/
Starseed Pilgrim - https://store.steampowered.com/app/230980/Starseed_Pilgrim/
Serene Velocity - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159727/
Home - https://store.steampowered.com/app/215670/Home/

The No-Frauds Club interview playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN70PQ8mAOvWg1_xB5HVrEmZwYPoDU4rx
Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/show/5DDTJZytcZYfoizAj1LKNw

Visit The No-Frauds Club!
Website: http://www.fraudsclub.com/
Discord server: https://discord.com/invite/s5SKBmY

Timestamps:
0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:10 Deciding what skills to test, and how to test them
0:09:47 Making mastery optional, yet enticing
0:23:29 "Fake" difficulty
0:32:45 Deciding when it's done, and the path to completing N++
0:45:16 The impact of feedback, positive and negative
0:52:18 When niche creations lose their lustre
1:01:45 How team size sabotages creative vision
1:14:10 Keeping things fresh without changing too much
1:23:00 The team size of Metanet Software
1:27:41 Drawing inspiration from other games
1:37:36 Notable negative experiences that provided inspiration
1:47:40 Pushing back on casual games with the original N
1:52:04 Dissecting "cameraman" games, cinematic trends, and so on
2:11:08 Poverty of words, misuse of genres, and calling everything "games"
2:20:27 Objectivity in game design
2:30:54 How music is used in video games
2:49:58 Using dialogue in ways only games can
2:54:22 Considering dynamic events and environments
3:00:23 Conclusion: possibilities of what games could be
3:02:27 Outro

Thumbnail art components courtesy of:
- Jassy2012 (trees)
- N++ (background art)

Font used is a Autobus Omnibus

#Podcast #Raigan #NPlusPlus #Programming #Design #indie #videogame

(From Youtube)