How to make a game, with Auroch Digital
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Happiness comes in many forms, especially when it comes to video games. So what is it that video games do that can help you feel happy, and is there anything that connects the games that make us feel this way? We also take a look at non-violent video games, the rise of these through indie games and the sheer variety of gameplay mechanics you can have that are non-violent.
James Batchelor, compiler of Non-Violent Game Of The Day and UK Editor of GamesIndustry.biz, joins Jem, Matt, and Peter for a joy-filled discussion about all of this and more.
Show notes
NVGOTD on tumblr
NVGOTD on Twitter
James Batchelor at GamesIndustry.biz
James Batchelor on Twitter
Check out our own non-violent games 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
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🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
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🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
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Hosts Jemima and Matt are joined by another incredible guest in this weeks episode. Sword fighting expert Fran talks to us about weapons in video games.
Which games do it well? Which games do it badly? What is most important to get right when showing the complexities and brutality of using weapons? We look at The Witcher, Mount & Blade, Nidhogg, Skyrim, For Honor, and more.
Games discussed in this episode
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord - Medieval Combat Simulator & RPG
Intro to the game - 0.00 - 0.30
Tournament fight - 3.00 - 4.21
Siege fight using spear, throwing weapons, and sword - 13.19 - 14.30
For Honor - Medieval Action Melee game
Intro to the game - 0.00 - 0.30
Two handed sword fight vs AI 1.53 - 2.12
Fight vs other player 0.50 - 1.25
Skyrim - Action RPG, wizards, dragons, classic
Sword and shield combat
2 handed sword and then 2 handed axe combat 10.35 - 11.00
Nidhogg - side-scrolling two-player fighting video game, with fencing
Fencing vs AI 0.42 - 1.08
Fencing player vs player 21.24 - 21.40
The Witcher 3 - Action RPG - The best one ever
Sword fight vs NPCs - gorey watch out!
Mordhau - multiplayer medieval fighting PVP game
Game intro - 0.00 - 0.30
Rapier fighting
Fighting with hammer
Show notes
Want to know more? Fran's new podcast By the Sword looks at the modern study of the ancient art of swordplay
Want to try your hand at sword play in real life? Find a Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) club near you
For our UK listeners By the Sword.net is for HEMA events for women and NBs in the UK run by Fran
The School of the Sword is Fran's HEMA school so you can learn along with our guest
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
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🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
It's the final episode of our 3 part Mars Horizon special with amazing guests from the UK Space Agency!
Jem, Matt, and Tom are joined by Paul Smith, Robotic Exploration Programme Manager🤖 at the UK Space Agency.
Hear about the Rosalind Franklin Mars Rover, featured in Mars Horizon, from someone who works on the mission and has even seen the rover up close! We also find out all about colonising Mars, and robots in space, and talk about how we explore this in our game.
Show notes
Watch our Mars Horizon livestream with Paul
Watch our 'Games about Mars' panel discussing Space Exploration and gaming
Follow the UK Space Agency on Twitter
Buy Mars Horizon
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
💬 Want to talk to us? Join our Discord
🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
It's the second episode of our 3 part Mars Horizon special with amazing guests from the UK Space Agency!
This week Jem, Matt, and Tom are joined by Dr Alice Bunn, International Director at at UK Space Agency.
Dr. Bunn explains how space agencies co-operate and collaborate, why this is so important, and how space exploration affects our daily lives. We talk about how this collaboration will help us get to Mars.
We also discuss how you can interact with other space agencies in Mars Horizon and how we show their collaborative, and sometimes competitive, relationships in our game.
Show notes
Watch Dr. Alice Bunns TED talk on diplomacy in space
Global Space Congress: An Interview with Dr. Alice Bunn
Follow the UK Space Agency on Twitter
Pre-order and Wishlist Mars Horizon
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
💬 Want to talk to us? Join our Discord
🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
It's the first episode of our 3 part Mars Horizon special with 3 amazing guests from the UK Space Agency!
Jem, Matt, and Tom are joined this week by Libby Jackson, Human Exploration Programme Manager at UK Space Agency. We delve into the real jobs at space agencies that informed the making of Mars Horizon.
Libby shares her experiences with us including shadowing a flight director at NASA Johnson Space Centre, talking about what its like working in Mission Control during a launch, and what its like working with Tim Peake! She also rates the accuracy of Mars Horizon, and shares her advice about a career in space🚀
Show notes
Follow Libby Jackson on Twitter
Libby Jackson's books
Follow the UK Space Agency on Twitter
Watch our Mars Horizon Livestream with Libby Jackson
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
💬 Want to talk to us? Join our Discord
🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
Have you ever wanted to be a streamer? Or wondered what it is like doing it as your job? Want some great tips to get started? We're here to help!
In this episode of the Auroch Digital podcast Jem and Matt are joined by streamers Grimsevers and Sizzsarz to talk about all things streaming! They share their expertise and experiences, as well as loads of great tips about building communities, finding your voice, and the best equipment to use.
Show notes
Sizzsarz Twitch
Sizzsarz Twitter
Grimsevers Twitch
Grimsevers Twitter
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
💬 Want to talk to us? Join our Discord
🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
Season 6 gets off to a great start with our preview of the first ever Steam Digital Tabletop Fest! Auroch Digital will celebrate games that cross between physical and digital, will make its debut October 21st thru 26th.
Hosts Matt and Jem are joined by CEO Tomas Rawlings and the newest member of the marketing team Allie to talk about their work in setting up this awesome event. Hear about the exciting panels and talks we've got planned, the benefits of a digital event like this, and how you go about organising something this epic!
We also hear from some of the participants of the festival, including: Asmodee, Grey Alien Games, and Precinct Omega. They tell us why they are taking part and what it means to them.
Show notes
Digital Tabletop Fest hub
Digital Tabletop Fest Steam announcement
Asmodee Digital
Precinct Omega
Grey Alien Games
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
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🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
Marketing and community manager Jemima Crow is joined by Peter and Matt to talk about animal simulation in games. They start by looking at how breeding and caring for animals translates to game design. They then focus on how animal behaviour affects player interaction and the future of animal simulation. Please rate the podcast and spread the word!
Show notes
Video games are creating smarter animals
Survival Game About Genetics Is Cute But Cruel
Planet Zoo will feature “the most realistic animals in any game”
Video games offer clues to help curb animal disease outbreaks
Ecosystem on Steam
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🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
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🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
We had some extra special guests in this bonus podcast episode - The Oliver twins! Mike, Jem, and Matt chat to the creators of Dizzy and games industry legends who are the most Prolific 8-bit videogame developers ever! Tune in to hear behind the scenes development stories and to get advice about starting your own career in gaming.
Please note, this episode was recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Auroch Digital team is all working from home to save lives, as are the Oliver Twins.
Show notes
Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy - 1991
Guinness world records
Oliver twins official site
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
💬 Want to talk to us? Join our Discord
🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
In the beginning there was a monitor. A monitor with a black screen. Then, someone made some specs of light and behold - a starfield. From there Space games have gone from strength to strength. In this episode Producer and QA manager Mike Daw takes Matt and Jem on a tour of some of the most important Space games that have been made - including suggestions from the Auroch Digital Discord!
Show notes
SpaceWar (play online)
Space Invaders – 30th Anniversary Developer Interview
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
💬 Want to talk to us? Join our Discord
🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
Producer and QA manager Mike Daw joins Jem and Matt with an update for Auroch Digital's current game in development Mars Horizon! Find out how the game has changed following the alpha and get some teasers about all the awesome stuff that's coming up.
This was recorded before we announced our publisher and the beta. The beta is live right now and you can join in by signing up here: Mars Horizon beta
Sign ups close May 1st 4pm BST, and the beta ends May 4th 9am GMT.
Show notes
Make sure to wishlist Mars horizon!
Mars Horizon: BLAST OFF! find out more about the game and grab yourself a copy!
Hear more about what it's like working for a Space agency in this podcast episode with special guest Andrew Kuh of the UK Space Agency
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
💬 Want to talk to us? Join our Discord
🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
Using the live-action Ghostbusters movies as leverage, Jem and Matt are joined by Creative Producer Peter Willington to chat and tour through the many Ghostbusters video games that have graced gaming systems since 1984 - from first game, to VR, to 2019’s ‘remaster’ of the 2009 AAA release. All in the runup to 2020’s ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’.
Show notes
Ghostbusters 2020 teaser
Ghostbusters: Afterlife trailer 1
Ghostheads Kickstarter Documentary
Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Ghostbusters in Ad campaigns - QuickBooks - Halifax
Interdimensional Crossrip
IDW Comics Series’
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
💬 Want to talk to us? Join our Discord
🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
What is a typical day at a game development studio like? It's busy, hectic, but lots of fun. In this weeks episode you can find out what a day in the life of Auroch Digital is like as we work together to make games.
Please note, this episode was recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic. Our daily lives are currently very different from this, but we are still working hard to make great games. The Auroch Digital team is all staying home to save lives but we hope we can get back to this one day❤️
Show notes
Want to get into the games industry? Check out our blog post with tips and advice to help you.
Check out our store, we currently have some items on sale!
If this is of interest, also check out past episodes; ‘What is it like working for an independent developer?’ (S1 E3) and ‘Setting up a company and a history lesson’ (S1 E1)
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
💬 Want to talk to us? Join our Discord
🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
Auroch Digital CEO Tomas Rawlings joins Jem and Matt to talk about some of the games that Games Workshop made that were not Warhammer titles and how we came to turn some of those into video games.
Show notes
Get Chainsaw Warrrior t-shirt
Grab our non-Warhammer titles in The Totally Radical Auroch Digital 80s Gaming Bundle
Tomas's letter from Games Workshop (in 1989)
Grognard Files
Talisman
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
💬 Want to talk to us? Join our Discord
🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
In this magical episode Marketing and community manager Jemima Crow leads the way, joined by Pete and Matt, to chat about video game adaptations featuring the world of Harry Potter. They look at how the many Harry Potter games both do justice to and fail their source material.
Show notes
Minecraft School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - Gameplay Trailer
Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’ Is The Best Live-Action Video Game Adaptation Ever
Harry Potter open-world RPG leak
Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 interview: ‘We made dark films fun’
PS1 Hagrid
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
💬 Want to talk to us? Join our Discord
🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
Auroch Digital CEO Tomas Rawlings and Creative producer Peter Willington join Jem and Matt to chat about democracy in gaming - both as a topic games are made about and as a thing within a game system itself. Vote with your ears and have a listen!
Show notes
Get our card game, Elections, on sale! & Vote Cthulhu!
Democracy 3 Greek Debt Crisis
Brenda Romero’s 2013 talk at Games for Change
Tomas’s talk at TEDx Houses of Parliament, 2013 on games and democracy.
📝Sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with Auroch Digital
💬 Want to talk to us? Join our Discord
🕹️ Check out our latest titles: 🐠 Megaquarium and 🚀 Mars Horizon
🙋 Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
⭐Please do rate the podcast and spread the word!
Episode 5 and the last episode in Season 4! Hosts Matt Davies (Marketing and Community Manager) and Matthew Walker (Sound Designer) talk with Design Director Tomas Rawlings on the brief history of Cthulhu games. Where they came from and how they've developed over the years. This will also be host Matt Davies last episode #sadface
However, fear not we'll be back with a brand new season in the near future! So make sure you've filled in our survey and got your thoughts down on where we go next!
Show notes
📝 We are asking for YOUR opinions on the podcast - how do you think it sounds? What would you like to change? Let us know!
💬 Want to talk to us about the podcast OR the game? Join our Discord
💥 Check out our games on Steam
🕹️ Grab our titles in The Totally Radical Auroch Digital 80s Gaming Bundle
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
🙋 Any feedback? Drop us a line!
Episode 4 continues our adventure across the galaxy! Hosts Matt Davies (Marketing and Community Manager) and Matthew Walker (Sound Designer) talk about the visit Auroch Digital made to ESA as well as talking. To the Designer on Mars Horizon - Matt Bone.
Find out about the challenges involved in getting the gameplay just right and how to balance the reality and complexity of space travel with game design - all while keeping it authentic!
Show notes
📝 We are asking for YOUR opinions on the podcast - how do you think it sounds? What would you like to change? Let us know!
💬 Want to talk to us about the podcast OR the game? Join our Discord
💥 Check out our games on Steam
🕹️ Grab our titles in The Totally Radical Auroch Digital 80s Gaming Bundle
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
🙋 Any feedback? Drop us a line!
Episode 3 and this one is out of this world! In the fourth season of How to Make a Video Game with Auroch Digital hosts Matt Davies (Marketing and Community Manager) and Matthew Walker (Sound Designer) talk about the visit Auroch Digital made to ESA to show off Mars Horizon to ACTUAL rocket engineers and scientists with Design Director Tomas Rawlings.
We also have some great interviews with the staff of ESA and their thoughts on running a space agency and the challenge of converting that into a video game.
Show notes
📝 We are asking for YOUR opinions on the podcast - how do you think it sounds? What would you like to change? Let us know!
💬 Want to talk to us about the podcast OR the game? Join our Discord
💥 Check out our games on Steam
🕹️ Grab our titles in The Totally Radical Auroch Digital 80s Gaming Bundle
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
🙋 Any feedback? Drop us a line!
It's Episode 2 and this time we are getting aquatic! In the fourth season of How to Make a Video Game with Auroch Digital hosts Matt Davies (Marketing and Community Manager) and Matthew Walker (Sound Designer) chat with Megaquariums developer Tim Wicksteed about the motivations for making the game and how you make marine management fun.
Show notes
📝 We are asking for YOUR opinions on the podcast - how do you think it sounds? What would you like to change? Let us know!
💬 Want to talk to us about the podcast OR the game? Join our Discord
💥 Check out our games on Steam
🕹️ Grab our titles in The Totally Radical Auroch Digital 80s Gaming Bundle
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
🙋 Any feedback? Drop us a line!
We're back! Its the fourth season of How to Make a Video Game with Auroch Digital is here and we have Tomas Rawlings and Peter Willington joining hosts Matt Davies (Marketing and Community Manager) and Matthew Walker (Sound Designer) as we talk about games that haven't been made. Good ideas we've had, why they never saw the light of day and everything else in between.
Show notes
📝 We are asking for YOUR opinions on the podcast - how do you think it sounds? What would you like to change? Let us know!
💬 Want to talk to us about the podcast OR the game? Join our Discord
💥 Check out our games on Steam
🕹️ Grab our titles in The Totally Radical Auroch Digital 80s Gaming Bundle
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
🙋 Any feedback? Drop us a line!
To celebrate the launch of Dark Future: Blood Red States (out now on Steam!) we were delighted to welcome onto the podcast James Swallow to talk to us.
James Swallow is a BAFTA-nominated scriptwriter and the award-winning New York Times, Sunday Times and Amazon #1 bestselling author. He's worked on such IPs as Star Trek, Warhammer 40k, Dr Who as well as writing Jade Dragon in the Dark Future novels.
We chat with him about the history of Dark Future, the works he added to the world and what he's been up too since!
Show notes
📝 We are asking for YOUR opinions on the podcast - how do you think it sounds? What would you like to change? Let us know!
💬 Want to talk to us about the podcast OR the game? Join our Discord
💻 Find out more about James Swallow and his work on his website
💥 Wishlist Dark Future: Blood Red States
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
🙋 Any feedback? Drop us a line!
It's finally here Dark Future: Blood Red States is now live and available to buy!
So what better way to celebrate than to talk to the people who have been working on the game! You can find the previous episodes in the show notes, but in this episode, we speak with Ellie and Jack, Programmers on the game and Sam Chester, Lead Programmer and Aaron Ashbrooke, Lead Designer.
Show notes
📝 We are asking for YOUR opinions on the podcast - how do you think it sounds? What would you like to change? Let us know!
💬 Want to talk to us about the podcast OR the game? Join our Discord
💥 Wishlist Dark Future: Blood Red States
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
🙋 Any feedback? Drop us a line!
We are agonisingly close to the release of Dark Future: Blood Red States and so what better time to talk about the actual game?
We welcome Tomas Rawlings (Design Director) and Peter Willington (Producer) to the episode to talk about the development of the game from its humble origins to what it is today.
A must listen for all aspiring Game Devs
Show notes
📝 We are asking for YOUR opinions on the podcast - how do you think it sounds? What would you like to change? Let us know!
💬 Want to talk to us about the podcast OR the game? Join our Discord
💥 Wishlist Dark Future: Blood Red States
🙋 Any feedback? Drop us a line!
In Episode 2 of Season 3 of the series, we are looking at our upcoming game Dark Future: Blood Red States, and in this episode, we look at the board game our game is based on.
Show Notes
📝 We are asking for YOUR opinions on the podcast - how do you think it sounds? What would you like to change? Let us know!
💬 Want to talk to us about the podcast OR the game? Join our Discord
💥 Grab Dark Future: Blood Red States
You can find a load of information about the game and Car Combat on the compendium article on Medium
Like the podcast? We'd love you to subscribe to the show!
💬 Want to talk to us about the podcast OR the game? Join our Discord
💥 Check out our games on Steam
🕹️ Grab our titles in The Totally Radical Auroch Digital 80s Gaming Bundle
🎙️ Missed an Episode? Find all of the Season here
🙋 Any feedback? Drop us a line!
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Created by
Auroch Digital
Podcast Status
Hiatus/Finished
Started
May 11th, 2018
Latest Episode
Dec 7th, 2020Release Period
Weekly
Episodes
44
Avg. Episode Length
35 minutes
Explicit
No
Order
Episodic
Language
English
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