Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Spelunky, part of a larger series on independent games. Tim uses the B word about the game, and we talk about the rigor with which one approaches the game, as well as some best practices for play, among other topics and listener mail. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.
Sections played:
Into the Jungle (Tim)
Issues covered: relative lack of text but narrative, blending between levels, the Tunnel Man, the gold key and the chest, triggering the golden path, bouncing off the game originally, practice and rigor, in the learning/knowledge phase, a platformer Tim would play, embracing the process, how you spend the time and how to learn, learning from deathly mistakes, Always Be Carrying, looking down, the brilliance of breaking the platformer mold, "this could be the run," the patterns of Spelunky, learning to play Chess, remembering in chunks, slipping into flow and staying, dying to the shopkeeper in a new way, stepping back with the analytical brain, how to use ropes, everything's physical, building up the things you can do, the Polaroid simulating after you die, similarities to Outer Wilds, sacrificing on the altar, the safe space of a coffin, making a choice, running vs not running, the exception that proves the rule, how the random seed works, animating a sprite on a curve, the first commercial game, frying a video card.
Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Rogue, Rogue Legacy (series), Dark Souls (series), Mario (series), Andy Nealen, Outer Wilds, Hollow Knight, Remnant II, Chess, LostLake86, Legend of Zelda, Cave Story, Sasha/scarytiger, Daisuke Amaya, Wii, Nintendo Switch, Luke Theriault, Derek Yu, Aquaria, Alec Holowka, Bit Blot, World of Goo, Gish, Edmund McMillen, Lugaru HD, Wolfire Games, Humble Bundle, Penumbra, Frictional Games, Amnesia, Ori and the Blind Forest, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.
Next time:
More Spelunky!
Errata:
The eye is in fact called the Udjat Eye. And yes, it is in fact Edmund McMillen.