Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

We're joined by Derek Lieu (derek-lieu.com) and Colin Northway (Fantastic Contraption) to discuss Velgress, the seventh game in the UFO 50 collection. “The space pirate Alpha is trapped in the deep pit known as Velgress. Help her climb out!” Next week: Planet Zoldath http://discord.gg/eggplant https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by Aaron "ix" Kearsley (speedrunner), Stephanie Boluk (UC Davis), and Patrick LeMieux (UC Davis) to discuss Mortol, the sixth game in the UFO 50 collection. “How many people will lay down their lives to save Mortolia?” Next week: Velgress http://discord.gg/eggplant https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by Daniel Mullins (Inscryption), Stuffed Wombat (Mosa Lina), and XanaGear (youtube.com/xanagear) to discuss Magic Garden, the fifth game in the UFO 50 collection. “Stop the jealous witch Cloverana from sabotaging your garden!” Next week: Mortol http://discord.gg/eggplant https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

In the first installment of a new Into the Depths series, we dive into the brilliant Caves of Qud. This sprawling open-world roguelike has been in development since 2007 and Early Access since 2015, and we're celebrating it as it nears a v1.0 release. Doug and Rob, together with guest host and Qud-head Jack Schlesinger (Puzzmo, Knotwords, Good Sudoku), talk to Caves of Qud creators Brian Bucklew and Jason Grinblat all about post-apocalyptic worldbuilding, building an emergence-focused game engine, and what it takes to keep a project and partnership going for nearly two decades. Don't forget to join our discord and play along with the series. Try to get a character to Level 5 before our next episode, where we'll get into some basics around the early game and Qud's many interlocking systems. You can purchase Caves of Qud -- still in Early Access, for now -- on Steam or GOG. Discussed in this Episode Gamma World Dwarf Fortress Kitfox Games Data-Driven Engines of Qud and Sproggiwood, talk by Brian Bucklew @ IRDC 2015 A Data-Driven Object System, talk by Scott Bilas @ GDC 2002 ("Looks like the paper isn't available but here's a talk on the same subject matter") The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Ancient Domains of Mystery (ADOM) Tracery for context-free grammar generation Emergent Narrative in Dwarf Fortress, talk by Tarn Adams @ Progression Mechanics 2017 The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe Clark Ashton Smith Sam Wilson (pixel artist) Craig Hamilton (OST)