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  2. Building a Free Library of Images for Everyone

    Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's topic in Game Development

    Happy October Everyone! Brand new free texture images are ready on my Ground-Seamless page: https://soundimage.org/txr-ground-seamless/ As always, they are 100% free to download and use in your projects with attribution, just like my 4000+ other images. OGG MUSIC PACKS If you've been using my music tracks, please don't forget to check out my Ogg music packs. They sound great, loop really well in game engines and enable you to download hundreds of my tracks at once: By genre... https://soundimage.org/ogg-music-packs-2/ ...or all my game music at once: https://soundimage.org/ogg-game-music-mega-pack/ Enjoy, stay safe and keep being creative! :-)
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  5. Free Music / SFX Resource - Over 2500 Tracks

    Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's topic in Game Development

    Happy October Everyone! I've created a bunch of new free music tracks to share with you: On my Chiptunes 5 page: "COIN-OP LOW RIDER" "COIN-OP LOW RIDER_v001" https://soundimage.org/chiptunes-5/ On my Puzzle Music 7 page: "LIGHT PUZZLES 12" "DREAMING OF PUZZLES" https://soundimage.org/puzzle-music-7/ And on my Sci-Fi 13 page: "SPACEMAN SPIFF" "CYBER CRUISING" https://soundimage.org/sci-fi-13/ My new GAME MUSIC MEGA PACK is here: https://soundimage.org/ogg-game-music-mega-pack/ My GENRE GAME MUSIC PACKS are here: https://soundimage.org/ogg-music-packs-2/ And, as always, my other 2700+ tracks are 100% free to download individually in Mp3 format. Enjoy and have a good week! :-)
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  7. Designer Notes 85: Zach Barth - Part 2 Hi everybody, this is Soren Johnson, and you are listening to Designer Notes, a podcast about why we make games. Today, we are talking with independent game developer Zach Barth, best known for his puzzle games, including SpaceChem, Infinifactory, Shenzhen I/O, and Opus Magnum. This episode was recorded on September 11, 2023, and was engineered by Michael Hermes. In this episode, Soren interviews independent game developer Zach Barth, best known for his puzzle games, including SpaceChem, Infinifactory, Shenzhen I/O, and Opus Magnum. They discuss why he made a game about assembly language, how he guaranteed that Fortune’s Foundation is winnable, and whether he knows how to make fun games. This episode was recorded on September 11, 2023. Games discussed: Infinifactory, TIS-100, Counter-Strike, Ricochet, Zortex, Alien Swarm, Shenzhen I/O, Zachtronics Solitaire Collection, Opus Magnum, Exapunks, MOLEK-SYNTEZ, Last Call BBS, Eliza, Mobius Front ‘83, Picross Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes
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  9. David#zaliv[Fzytoxynuvykyi started following Video Games: The Making Of
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  11. Three Moves Ahead 622: Tactical Breach Wizards Len and Rowan are joined by games writer Kris Lorischild to discuss Tactical Breach Wizards. We discuss how rare it is for a game to be this funny on purposes, as opposed to from the chaotic intersection of procedural systems, how it creates rewarding tactical puzzles with simple ingredients, and... Metal Gear?! Tactical Breach Wizards, XCOM: Chimera Squad, Disco Elysium Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

  12. Building a Free Library of Images for Everyone

    Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's topic in Game Development

    BIG NEWS! If you happen to be using my music tracks, you can now download ALL of my video game music tracks at once. My brand new "Game Music Mega Pack" contains all of my game music tracks (looping and non-looping) to date...over 1100 tracks in super high-quality Ogg format. I had a lot of requests for this, so here it is: https://soundimage.org/ogg-game-music-mega-pack/ That said, I've created some cool new bark textures. They live on my Bark - Artistic (Tile-able) page. You can access all my free textures here: https://soundimage.org/images-home-page/ Have a great week! :-)
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  14. Free Music / SFX Resource - Over 2500 Tracks

    Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's topic in Game Development

    UPDATE: I just released my Ogg Game Music Mega Pack. It contains all of my video game music tracks (looping and non-looping) to date...over 1100 tracks. Here's the link: https://soundimage.org/ogg-game-music-mega-pack/ I had been receiving numerous requests for a way to download all of my game music at once. You asked for it...you got it! Enjoy! :-)

  15. Free Music / SFX Resource - Over 2500 Tracks

    Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's topic in Game Development

    Hi Everyone, Please don't forget about my Ogg Music Packs. Each pack enables you to download all of my music tracks from a particular genre... over 1000 tracks, both looping and non-looping. Here's a link: https://soundimage.org/ogg-music-packs-2/ That said, this week's brand new free MP3 track is one my Sci-Fi 13 page: "CYBERPUNK STORIES" https://soundimage.org/sci-fi-13/ I sincerely hope some of my creations are helpful in your projects! :-)

  16. Building a Free Library of Images for Everyone

    Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's topic in Game Development

    Greetings Fellow Creatives, I've uploaded some cool new seamless wood texture images that you can use for materials for games, 3D art, backgrounds for videos and anything else you can think of. You'll find them here: https://soundimage.org/txr-wood-seamless/ As always, they are completely free to download and use with attribution, as are my 5000+ other images. OTHER NEWS For those of you who use my free Mp3 music tracks, I'm working on creating a Music Mega Pack that will enable you to download all of my tracks from my most popular genres at once...a huge time-saver. Plus, the tracks will be in higher-quality Ogg format which also tends to loop better in game engines...another added bonus. If anyone has any questions, feel free to reach out. :-) In the meantime, enjoy, stay safe and keep being creative!

  17. SOMA

    registradus replied to TheLastBaron's topic in Video Gaming

    just played through SOMA and loved it. did they ever discuss it on the podcast?

  18. Free Music / SFX Resource - Over 2500 Tracks

    Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's topic in Game Development

    Greetings Everyone, This week's new music track is on my Sci-Fi 13 page: LoFi_DESOLATION IN THE OUTER RIM https://soundimage.org/sci-fi-13/ I think the LoFi version sounds really cool. Anyhow, it's 100% free to download and use with attribution, just like my thousands of other music tracks. Enjoy and keep being creative! :-)
  19. Michael, I didn't put it together. I was just a listener like you. I shared about the MicroPlay label (MicroProse's "second label") because I remembered when it happened. All credit to Dave and the podcast team for putting together a very nice program.

  20. Designer Notes 84: Zach Barth - Part 1

    PremiumX replied to Soren Johnson's topic in Designer Notes Episodes

    I was at that PAX where Zach was showing off Ironclad Tactics! I distinctly remembering being excited, going home to keep tabs on it and buying it on release because the core gameplay (cards played with real time energy system) reminded me of a PvP WC3 custom game with the same core mechanic. I definitely enjoyed Ironclad, but I was sad that there was never a sequel. Weirdly enough, this formula eventually got refined by Clash Royale, so maybe y'all were on to something!
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  22. This episode sounds like a must-listen for anyone with fond memories of MicroProse! It’s amazing to hear that they’re bringing back such a legendary brand in gaming. The conversation with David Lagettie must have been fascinating, especially hearing his thoughts on what makes a true MicroProse game. I’m definitely going to check this out—there’s something special about revisiting those classic game designs and seeing how they’re being revived today with new seasons, events and updates. Thanks for putting this together!
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  24. docjohnny started following Three Moves Ahead 621: The Return of MicroProse
  25. Loved the episode. As for MicroPlay, there were different reasons for that label. Originally, it was intended to be an affiliated label program like EA Distribution (originally Affiliated Labels) and Activision's Affiliated Publisher program. These were to have been games developed out-of-house and the idea was not to risk the MicroProse brand identity. Secondly, this was about the time that schedules were starting to slip drastically. So, having 3rd party properties that could be swiftly put into distribution as "revenue fillers" for a given quarter was a necessity. A lot of the MicroPlay products were developed by Paragon Software, the guys from Carnegie-Mellon in Jean, PA who did Megatraveller and Space: 1889, and later some of the early Take-2 products (maybe even Black Dahlia?). MicroPlay was also a place to put developers as an audition. And, wholeheartedly agree with Dave that Bill Stealey is a nice guy and was always sincerely, super-enthusiastically involved with his products. All of the above information is from my memories as Editor-in-Chief of Computer Gaming World.
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  28. Designer Notes 84: Zach Barth - Part 1 In this episode, Soren interviews independent game developer Zach Barth, best known for his puzzle games, including SpaceChem, Infinifactory, Shenzhen I/O, and Opus Magnum. They discuss why he never originally wanted to make money on his games, why puzzle games are terrible, and whether he has ever played Minecraft. This episode was recorded on September 11, 2023. Games discussed: Duke Nukem, Star Wars: Empire at War, Civilization III, SpaceChem, Infiniminer, Minecraft, The Codex of Alchemical Engineering, Motherload, Civilization IV, Last Call BBS, MOLEK-SYNTEZ, Ironclad Tactics, Opus Magnum, Mobius Front ‘83, Infinifactory Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes
  29. Three Moves Ahead 621: The Return of MicroProse Len is joined this week by David Lagettie, CEO of the resurrected MicroProse. We share some of our own MicropProse memories, and discuss what makes a MicroProse game, as well as why David chose this brand to bring back from oblivion. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

  30. Building a Free Library of Images for Everyone

    Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's topic in Game Development

    Hi Everyone, Brand new seamless texture images are ready on my Stone - Artistic (Tile-able) page. You can access my images categories here: https://soundimage.org/images-home-page/ All of my images are 100% free to use with attribution, just like my music and sound effects. Enjoy! :-)
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  32. Three Moves Ahead 620: Fined by the Pope (EU5 Megacast 5 Preview) This is a free preview of this month's Patreon episode. Check out the extended version at Patreon.com/3ma! Len, Lambert, and FatherLorris continue their ongoing beef with the Holy See while discussing Europa Universalis 5 dev diaries primarily focused on warfare. We're not even doing jokes about how long these are anymore. That's so early 2024. It's just expected at this point. This is our lives now. Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

  33. Designer Notes 81: Jake Solomon - Part 2

    new_cuc replied to Soren Johnson's topic in Designer Notes Episodes

    Notes: XCOM's world state mechanic was borrowed from Pandemic the board game wholesale. in XCOM, players know what actions they can do, don't know if they will succeed; Midnight Suns was opposite: players know their actions will succeed, don't know what actions will be available. 2h13m: Jake's mind was "drifting towards XCOM 3" when Marvel approached. XCOM 2 "way overshoot what a sequel should be, 'coz I don't know what a sequel should be". Solomon knew Levine "for a long time" since Levine's time making an XCOM game for 2K. XCOM 2's concept came from Levine, he called the idea "XCOM Lives". Jake had never done any expansion before War of the Chosen. it was packed full of content. 2h28m: XCOM has enough design space that Jake could see himself keep making it, unlike Civ, where once you present your solutions to the problems, you are done. 2h35m: Midnight Suns switched to card mechanics early (it solved problems), it was immediately controversial: it has baggage, devs were resistant. 2h41m: "Sometimes you don't need to make sense." (On infinite movement, which came about as a player-friendly feature). 2h57m: Drawing comparison to Slay the Spire, "every card game, the joy is breaking it" (but the boring optimal solution must be removed from Midnight Suns). 3h02m: when making XCOM2, Jake might be too caught up with people's comparison of XCOM to Dark Souls. playing it "sometimes stresses me out". he wanted to make a more lighthearted game. XCOM is "how can I survive", Midnight Suns is "how can I beat this level better". 3h04m: Soren: XCOM is a long game. if he were the XCOM designer, the big concern would be preventing unwinnable situations. Jake's solution: biggest boosts are from gear. "rookies must be viable to the last mission." only the "Big 4" techs to research to keep gear up. researching them are the games' turning points. "we have so many built-in things to protect the player". soldier deaths make it feel more threatening than actually is.
  34. One thing that I thought might be interesting to you, based on the discussion about cultures, is that there are alternate strategies you can take where you do not have to focus on your core region necessarily that open up the variety/direction your campaign can take and allow you to interact with (fight) vastly different cultures. I recently played two campaigns, both as Ithaca (minor Aegean faction - I happen to like the start position) where I went the same route, but with different outcomes. In both instances, I conquered the island of Knossos as soon as I was able to, and used it as a base to launch invasions into Egypt. In one playthrough, I used the legitimacy, land and influence I gained in order to make myself Wanax of the Aegean despite only owning 7 settlements in the Aegean (the three islands that make up Ithaca's starting province and the four on Knossos). Narratively, in my head, I imagined that the power and prestige that your favorite guy Odysseus has managed to gain by conquering all these foreign lands has allowed him to command the rest of the Aegean people without taking their territory. I actually was able to vassalize Achilles, and the Boetions, so Achilles and Diomedes did all the grunt work of fighting the other Aegean factions for me if/when they declared war. In the second playthrough, I didn't join the Aegean court at all. Some minor factions aren't locked into the court for the culture of the part of the world they start in. So in that playthrough, I actually ended up waiting 30-40 turns or whatever until I had enough land in Egypt to join the Egyptian court and trying to make myself Pharaoh as Odysseus. Ended up not finishing because as you can imagine invading Egypt and gaining enough influence there over the long-established factions is pretty time consuming, and I just got tired of it, but it was a fun little fantasy narrative to play out. There's also the options to play as the Caananites, Bay in particular. He's a major faction that is not locked into any particular royal tradition, and he can decide to join any royal court even without holding any of their core lands. So you can become this regional power in the Levant and decide you're going to try to become king of the Hittites, or the Pharaoh, or move east and try to take Mesopotamia. Similarly, the Sea People, if you choose to settle rather than burn the world, can declare themselves part of an existing court. It's a fun way to spice up your campaigns if you want something different.
  35. salihzain started following Can anyone recommend any good budgeting software/apps/sites?
  36. Three Moves Ahead 619: Total War: Pharaoh Dynasties Len is joined by Aftermath's Luke Plunkett and Dr. Bret Devereaux to discuss Total War: Pharaoh's expansive Dynasties glow-up. We dig into the sources that are and aren't available for Bronze Age warfare, how the latest historical Total War feels now with all the bells and whistles, and whether or not Creative Assembly's grand apology tour might be a sign of things to come, or just a one-off PR move. Total War: Pharaoh Dynasties Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes

  37. Free Music / SFX Resource - Over 2500 Tracks

    Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's topic in Game Development

    Hi Everyone, This week's brand new free music track is on my Sci-Fi 13 page: "CYBER NOIR" – (Looping and Non-Looping) https://soundimage.org/sci-fi-13/ If you can, please consider making a small donation on my website to help support my efforts. My site has always been 100% ad-free (I pay for everything myself) and contributions from the community really help me a lot. To donate, you can: *Purchase one of my Ogg music packs. These packs contain all of my tracks to date in various genres: https://soundimage.org/ogg-music-packs-2/ *Donate through PayPal (or a credit card) using the Donate button. https://soundimage.org/donate/ Thanks in advance for your support and encouragement!
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  39. Free Music / SFX Resource - Over 2500 Tracks

    Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's topic in Game Development

    Greetings Fellow Content Creators! "IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT" is this week's new music track. As always, it's 100% free to download and use in your projects with attribution, just like my thousands of other tracks. You'll find it on my Dark/Ominous 2 page: https://soundimage.org/dark-ominous-2/ CUSTOM MUSIC Does anyone need some custom music? I'd love to help out! In the meantime, enjoy my free library! :-)
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  41. Free Music / SFX Resource - Over 2500 Tracks

    Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's topic in Game Development

    Just finished a bunch of custom music for a cool point-and-click horror game that will be released in September. I think it came out really well. If anyone is interested in checking it out, let me know and I'll send you a link. That said, this week's new free-to-use-with-attribution music track is on my Funny 8 page: "CHAOS IN THE SEWERS" https://soundimage.org/funny-8/ Enjoy, stay safe and keep being creative!
  42. DonaldWeree started following [FOR HIRE] Professional Concept Artist Available - Book a Free Introduction Call
  43. Len, you say you wanted Workers and Resources but IRL? Such a thing existed: Czechoslovakia's "Socialist Miracle" (youtube.com)
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