Michael

$5 for the iOS version? Sold! Seems like it would be a terrific ipad game.

This wasn't clear in the app store description - the $10 purchase allows you to set up private games. If I have a group of four people to play with, do we all need to buy the IAP, or just the person setting up the game?

It's all good! And for what it's worth, I use Adobe Audition for all podcast work. (And Reaper if I have to do music for other projects.)

Wow, I really appreciate that! Though I feel compelled to point out that Rob is the steam engine of the show, and I'm just here shoveling coal. Or something. Wait, maybe Rob is the coal. And I'm a shovel? And Troy is the track... this is getting away from me. In any case, thank you very much.

Good news, sclpls - I was so excited by that game that I already called Rob's attention to it and bugged him to bring it up in next week's show. The Frankfurt talk should start in earnest then.

I fully plan on getting Chris Park back on the show when Stars Beyond Reach becomes available in 2016. In an odd confluence of events relative to these posts, they said they are taking a short break on SBR to work on a roguelike-ish game.

I just assumed you were tired of me talking about AI War by this point. Beating a dead space horse and all that.

Doing an older Romance of the Three Kingdoms game as been on the "to do" list for a long time. Troy is quite fond of the series. I think if enough people bombard him on Twitter (that's @TroyGoodfellow, friends), maybe he'll get the hint. As for the getting the unedited audio -- back in the day I used to do a lot more editing, but now it's really down to a bare minimum. The only time I do anything in a normal show is take out any overly long pauses as well as remove any "oops" sections, like when Skype drops the call. You really don't want to hear that. This week it was five minutes of people wondering where Troy went, where they were in the conversation, and Rowan got up to order a pizza.

Well I can't exactly say (because it's a spoiler you see), but: yes.

Basically Sengoku, just shifted a bit to the west?

One interesting point is that many of the "big" changes that have been brought up as a result of this DLC are in the free update and don't require a purchase: http://www.eu4wiki.com/Common_Sense (such as the changes to forts)

It's up there! The day we launched this one is the second-highest spike in terms of daily downloads, coming in only after the XCOM show we did in 2012 with Jake Solomon. That episode also remains the most downloaded of all time. People like their XCOM. Great!

What browser and version # are you using? I've heard another issue from someone who couldn't get the episode using Firefox. I put the episode in my public Dropbox folder and you should be able to download it using this link in the short term: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2d04hzb88acwgxr/ThreeMovesAhead307.mp3?dl=0

Python is a great language for getting started on but I would probably recommend getting some basic exercises under your belt. Even a simple video game is still a fairly involved software project, especially for someone just starting out. Having said that, this tutorial is pretty comprehensive for getting a game going using Python and libtcod, a really great library made specifically for roguelikes.

Well I had a lot of fun talking to Darren, Tyler, and Rob. I always look forward to getting on the show. (Mostly because if I'm on it's because we're talking about something I really, really like.) I meant to list of a few more games during our recording but completely forgot, so here are a few of my favorites: Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup (of course) UnReal World - brutal survival in a low fantasy far north environment. The controls take some getting used to, but it's incredibly satisfying. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead - zombie survival. Infra Arcana - Lovecraftian roguelike Caves of Qud - really interesting post-apocalyptic game with really fun character generation. It should be on Steam soon.

I was able to put together some sound effects for this - all of them fresh for this game jam. The goal was to get footsteps, a whoosh of a swinging crowbar, and a headcrab getting splattered by said crowbar. I used a Zoom H6 recorder for all of these and then edited them in Audition. The samples were recorded at 96 kHz (which really helps if you need to do a pitch up or down effect) and 24 bit (because I can) and then converted later to normal CD quality wav files. The footsteps were easy enough. The whoosh sound was also surprisingly easy, it was just a matter of finding a rod that made a satisfying sound and swinging it in front of the recorder. I pitched that down a bit. The headcrab splat was a combination of the impact event (a prybar puncturing a box full of clothes) and then the shlorping sound of jello being squished in a bowl. Here's a video I made of the Zoom in action: You can give a listen to the final product here: https://soundcloud.com/hermbot/some-video-game-sounds

Sound effects! You need them! I will make them. I'm not looking to join any one team but will happily provide sound effects for whoever needs them. If I can't record something using my portable recorder, I'll synthesize it. If I can't synthesize it, I'll make the sound with my face. Feel free to shoot me a private message with a reasonable (not 500) list of sound effects that you need, and I will get cracking. If something wacky comes up that was interesting to make, I can make a post about the process.

That's one of the main mechanics in Victoria II; your expanding empire has to deal with the fact that it is made up of smaller subcultures, each with their own beliefs/wants/needs.

I can tell you that it’s been discussed a few times. I enjoy DF quite a bit and have thrown it out there, but the problem is the scope of the game. It’s so dense and complex that the coverage our panelists have the time to allow would not be deep enough to truly satisfy any DF fans out there. If fact, it would probably get them angry. So the problem is depth vs variety: In order to host a weekly show the panelists have to play a variety of games. Something like DF requires a significant time investment at a high opportunity cost. The most common criticism of the show that I see is when “Europa4Lyfe82” (who has played for 1000 hrs) posts that the panelists didn’t even MENTION Obscure Feature #245, so obviously they didn’t even really play the game and shouldn’t be talking about it. That’s the situation with DF but magnify it several times over. But never say never!

My plan worked!

It was provided by Gaslamp, and I believe it will be the Intro theme in the game. (If the file name is any indication.)

The fire alarm went off in their building while the show was recording. That's really all there was to it. Funny to me when I cut it out, but probably not funny to anyone else.

When I named this episode I had the book The Guns of August in mind. Also, it's August. It did not occur to me until later that there's probably also a gamed entitled The Guns of August. There is. This episode is not about that game. (There's also a movie.) I highly recommend the book, though. I'm also reading through Dreadnought and I think I like it even more than Guns of August.

It's that time again! If you have any questions you'd like answered, let us know here. The episode posted on 9/23 (+/- 1 day) is all about your burning queries. Alternatively, you can get a hold of Troy at ask.fm: http://ask.fm/TroyGoodfellow You're already here, though. Reading this. EDIT: Troy went and started his own thread, so go post your questions here: https://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/topic/9576-submitting-questions-for-the-qa-show/

I'm usually the one who will champion an Arcen game as a show topic. I think The Last Federation happened to release at a time when I had no time or mental resources to get into a game that deep. I picked it up on release day but unfortunately it lay fallow on my Steam list as life marched on. I've always admired Arcen's decision to make games that are unique and challenge common themes or conventions. At the same time, that precludes the "gaming shorthand" that can get people started quickly. I added it to the list of games of interest a while ago, but I don't know when we might get onto it. I'm not aware of how well it's doing or if they are looking at expanding it in the near future, but that might be a game we let mellow for a while and then pick up when it's in the news again. I'll keep pushing for it, though! We haven't had Chris on since November of 2012, so it's nigh time we get to check in with him again.