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News: The Red Markets Kickstarter is live! If you want to see the fruits of Caleb’s labors, be sure to back the Kickstarter.

Synopsis: Structuring a Kickstarter is a difficult task. A game designer has to predict how much it will fund. Overshoot a goal and the Kickstarter will fail. Undershoot the goal may result in stretch goal hell, especially if the stretch goals aren’t planned properly. Caleb discusses his thoughts when he structured the Red Markets Kickstarter and what advice he got from other game designers. Remember that a wildly successful Kickstarter can bankrupt a company if it was not planned well enough. What has Caleb decided? Find out in this special episode!

If you enjoy this podcast, backing the Red Markets Kickstarter is a great way of showing support. Thanks to everyone who has already backed it!

Song: Zombies on my back by The Wild Zombies.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:34:23 — 32.6MB)

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dhqs-bondsNews: The Brutalists campaign is well under way! Check out our actual play podcasts of the Red Markets beta. There’s also a subreddit for Red Markets and Caleb did an AMA on it. Don’t forget to check out Hebanon Game’s blog for more up to date news about Red Market’s development.

Synopsis: Creating a game usually involves more than one person. If it’s your game, you need to learn the esoteric art of project management in order to effectively coordinate the efforts between your team. Good project management can enhance the quality of a game while bad project management can doom it. We talk about contracts, budgets, art direction, and many of the many other challenges a project manager faces in an RPG project. Caleb also mentions working with talented freelancers like Laura B. and Rollplay Studios.

Song: Eastern Wind by Azgard

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:14:33 — 34.3MB)

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red-markets-posterEven though Fallout 4 is out, Caleb is still hard at work on Red Markets. Playtest feedback is trickling in, so the next step is deciding how to change the game based on this feedback. Some changes will be easier than others, but not every bit of feedback will be used to make these changes. After all, not all feedback is equal. Giving and receiving feedback is a crucial skill for a game designer, yet it is often an undeveloped skill. Fred Hicks about his experiences at Metatopia about feedback skills and is mentioned during out discussion.

Even after receiving valuable feedback, changing the game will not be easy. Caleb discusses some of the changes he is considering and I provide some analysis of Red Markets in its current state.

Music: Footbeats by Admiral of the Red.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:16:07 — 52.4MB)

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