RPPR Episode 93: Better Homes and Bodies
News: Base Raiders is out! You can buy the print edition here and the PDF here. If you buy a print copy forward your order confirmation email to rpprpodcast@gmail.com to receive the PDF for free. All copies to backers have been shipped. In other news, Aaron has a new series on Raillery called Let’s Play in the Dark. Check out the first episode in the above Youtube link. Finally, because of a dispute between Amazon and the Missouri state government, the RPPR Amazon affiliate program no longer works.
Synopsis: Because October is horror month, Tom and I thought we would talk about some of our pet horror topics – architectural and body horror. I recently finished the J. G. Ballard novel, High Rise, which gave me some insight into the intersection of horror and place. Tom’s experience in playing Invasive Procedures gave us some insight into running body horror. So, kind of a refresher episode on running and appreciating horror games. Tom also has a very special letter and of course an anecdote. Huzzah!
Shout Outs
- Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play: Amazing post-apocalyptic play about meta-narratives and storytelling.
- Game Dev Tycoon: A video game about making video games, for profit!
- High Rise: A novel about the alienation of modern society and rich people going all Lord of the Flies.
- John Dies at the End: A horror novel and movie with a twist of the surreal. Quite entertaining.
- Springfield Barcade: Alcohol and free video games, a winning combination.
- FTB Minecraft Server: Hooray Minecraft mods!
- It’s a Disaster: Apocalyptic Comedy about a bad lunch gathering
- Occult America: Book about the history of occult movements that began in America, like Spiritualism. Great fodder for historical games.
- Iteetoo: Cool t-shirts and prints with sufficiently geeky designs
- Wool: Incredible post-apocalyptic novel and well worth reading!
Song: Zombie – club mix – horror halloween music by Sam Haynes
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:34:42 — 65.1MB)
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Game Designer Workshop Episode 2: Research
In the second episode of Game Designer Workshop, Caleb and I talk about the importance of research. This is not only researching setting material but other games. It’s important to understand what kind of game mechanics have already been done so you can learn from them. Researching details for your setting, like technology and history, can take a lot of forms as well. Reading books, listening to podcasts, watching movies, and playing other games can all be considered part of research.
Song: Balkonur by Dispartition
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:00 — 48.8MB)
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Interview with Mike Olson – Strange FATE and Atomic Robo RPG designer
At Gencon this year, I sat down and talked to Mike Olson, one of the leading FATE designers currently working in the industry. He created the Strange FATE system used by Kerberos Club and Base Raiders and his latest project, the Atomic Robo RPG, will hopefully be completed soon. We talked about the state of the FATE system and game design.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:56 — 23.3MB)
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