Steve

Tone Control 8: TOM FRANCIS

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Clutch quote from this episode: "I want any figurative balls, but not actual balls."

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Haven't listened to this yet, but seeing Tom Francis's name on here I feel compelled to speak out.  I was initially unenthusiastic about Tone Control because I figured you'd be talking to a bunch of people I've never heard of and maybe talking about games I wasn't interested in.

 

But wow.  Episode after episode, I keep saying, "Oh, I know (of) that guy!  I love that game.  I'm really interested to hear this."  And the interviews have consistently been more interesting than even that first burst of recognition and enthusiasm would make me expect.

 

And now you get Tom Francis, who is pretty much my favorite person to listen to talking about video games outside of the Idle Thumbs crew.  So, I give up.  I officially love this podcast.  Congrats, Steve on getting such a great lineup of game devs and thanks for asking them such interesting questions. 

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Looking forward to this one.  I also want to mention that I appreciate the release schedule for Tone Control.  The episodes are longer than a typical podcast but it also provides for ample time to anticipate the next one.  So even if it was done since 4-5 developers a month would be quite tough it seems like a perfect schedule.

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Awesome, I'm glad this episode was able to happen. In my mind Tom Francis is like the most inspirational indie dev just because he doesn't come from a programming background, which is obviously the biggest obstacle for people that have ideas about game designs from being able to make something that people can play.

 

Also thanks for the Silent Storm recommendation Steve! I've never heard of that game before, but it looks rad.

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Awesome, I'm glad this episode was able to happen. In my mind Tom Francis is like the most inspirational indie dev just because he doesn't come from a programming background, which is obviously the biggest obstacle for people that have ideas about game designs from being able to make something that people can play.

 

Also thanks for the Silent Storm recommendation Steve! I've never heard of that game before, but it looks rad.

 

Silent Storm is the bomb! Brendon Chung also didn't start with programming training and figured it out as he went... you're right, inspirational stuff!

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Also thanks for the Silent Storm recommendation Steve! I've never heard of that game before, but it looks rad.

 

I will always confuse this game with Sid Meier's Silent Service for the C64.  It's time for the resurgence of submarine games!

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Not to disregard the whole podcast but Tom's showing off his new game! Heat Signature -

 

It looks really interesting and I like how, when you board the ship, you're all still moving in space which gave the sort of cosmic awareness I don't get in many other games set in space. It's no Kerbal in that regard but for an abstract 2D game, watching that video sure made me feel vulnerable and insignificant. 

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Yeah, that video is rad. The randomized roles, and how that will change your goals, is a really interesting idea too

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Why would a robot detective in a trench coat enter a fighting competition?

q-stance.gif

That never stopped capcom. (Disclaimer, dudes not actually a detective and possible not a robot... Nobody knooooooows)

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Close but no cigar. It's Q from street fighter 3 third strike

But you are right eternal champion was the nuts

234043-larcen_tyler512.gif

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Not to disregard the whole podcast but Tom's showing off his new game! Heat Signature -

 

It looks really interesting and I like how, when you board the ship, you're all still moving in space which gave the sort of cosmic awareness I don't get in many other games set in space. It's no Kerbal in that regard but for an abstract 2D game, watching that video sure made me feel vulnerable and insignificant. 

 

This is the raddest idea for a game I've ever heard.

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I like listening to Tom. He has a smile in his voice.

 

So true! He also really reminded me of another British games writer, Oli Welsh of Eurogamer, until I went back and compared the two, realizing that they sound nothing alike. Oops.

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The Crate and Crowbar podcast has a bunch of people who sound like Tom, unless Tom is on at which point he's the only one who sounds like Tom. I guess my voice processing is weird.

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Yeah, that seems odd to me because everyone at C&C seems to have very distinct British accents so I never mixed anyone up even when I first started listening and was struggling to remember their different names. To dust off that old Idle Thumbs chestnut: brains are weird.

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I like listening to Tom. He has a smile in his voice.

 

His game videos (especially Spelunky) are my favorite to watch because of how much joy he takes in destroying enemies in clever ways.

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(Sorry if this has been pointed out elsewhere)

 

Steve, this episode doesn't show up on the Recent Episodes list on the main Show page; I had to go to the archive to find it. If I hadn't seen this thread, I wouldn't have known it existed to look for!

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(Sorry if this has been pointed out elsewhere)

 

Steve, this episode doesn't show up on the Recent Episodes list on the main Show page; I had to go to the archive to find it. If I hadn't seen this thread, I wouldn't have known it existed to look for!

I'm confused...

post-5966-0-11192000-1392230587_thumb.jp

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