Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Eye of the Beholder. We killed Xanathar! We saved Waterdeep! And we talked about simulation vs game vs narrative and various other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Finished the game!

Issues covered: potential NPCs, getting misled by the star, hating the missing buttons, good reveals on secret doors, unmotivated puzzles, brute force, accidentally solving a puzzle, up into a small enclosed space, not finding the Drow, wanting more of a sense of NPC presence, leaning into narrative and game-iness, using game-iness to add drama, simulation elements in D&D, being more naturalistic, spiking a door vs more elaborate narrative elements, having to abstract rest mechanics, having consequences for time advancing, JRPGs and rest mechanics, dying many times to the beholder, getting so much of the map connecting moments, identifying magic items, using enemies as clues via audio, the silent mind-flayers, not seeing the dice and having the opportunity to balance, terrifying appearance of Xanathar, being unprepared, not seeing all of the beholder effects, respawning monsters, not being able to level up your mages enough, running away from Xanathar, mouse panic, using collision audio to know where he was, wand spamming, being teleported into the final room, not understanding the teleporters, portraits and the art style, not knowing when to stop pushing, giving impressions through simple art, adding audio to later games, D&D of particular eras.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: The Crystal Shard, Ultima Underworld, Temple of Elemental Evil, Fallout, Baldur's Gate III, Pool of Radiance, Star Wars, William Shatner, Sierra, LucasArts, Diablo (series), Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Next time:
Takeaways and mail bag

Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 1991's Eye of the Beholder. We talk quite a bit about adaptation and the things that are not entirely.... fun... about D&D. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Up to level 10 or 11

Issues covered: Discord Game Club, finding the dwarves, the injured dwarf, information as a reward, inconsistent locks, messages you can only read if you have a dwarf, using up keys and not knowing when you should use them, communities below ground, "Xanathar: he's kind of a big deal," history in the built environment, the sewer map, "feelies," wishing the computer would do the rules for us... or not?, translation of D&D, the problems of adaptation, diving into the movie, respawning hellhounds and imagining hell, what's a xorn?, puzzle opacity, good puzzles, holdover concepts that stick around, level connectivity, the pleasures of linking up segments of map, removing useful friction, games where there's not a lot of high hights nor low lows, podcast games, having to learn the world and feeling the mastery, great connections in Dark Souls, landmarking and not wanting a map.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: D&D, Discord Game Club, Artimage, Mark Garcia, BioStats, Final Fantasy IX, Kotaku, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Temple of Elemental Evil, Infocom, Zork (series), Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, Republic Commando, Baldur's Gate (series), Diablo, Chris Pine, Ultima Underworld, Richard Garriott, System Shock, King's Quest, Assassin's Creed, World of Warcraft, Dark Souls, Ico, Dragon/Dungeon magazines, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers. 

Next time:
Finish the game!

Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @devgameclub
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 1991's Eye of the Beholder. We talk about using what you've got, contrast it with non grid-based games like Underworld, and other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
Thru level 4 (Tim), level 2 (Brett)

Issues covered: Discord Game Club, getting deeper in the levels, paranoia about missing items or XP, being lost in the spinner maze, avoiding the spinners via runes, the compass flipping, leaving a clear landmark, feeling the need for the hint guide, having fewer games, older D&D puzzles, what concepts did designers use and discover level design in the process, fast traveling to the exit, systemic doors, how to give information to the player, distillation, focus, using a button in a different way, levels having multiple heights, logistically making the space work and having a rail, D&D mage lair fun, needing a little more from spatial understanding, having trouble with landmarks, using what you have for gameplay design, making opportunities out of constraints, finding your way through with a DM, advancing to more systems, how big is your flowchart, THAC0, what you choose to represent, story vs crunchy combat, giving you more options, Tim's spider problem, speedrunning to the potions, how much one saves, the lack of fun in poison and food.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Artimage, Mark Garcia, Ultima (series), Bard's Tale, Double Fine, Psychonauts 2, Dark Souls, Breath of the Wild, SuperGiant, Bastion, Transistor, Hades, Rogue, Adventure, The Elder Scrolls (series), Diablo, World of Warcraft, Wizardry (series), Baldur's Gate (series), James Ohlen, Chrono Trigger, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers.

Next time:
More of Eye of the Beholder

Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub
Discord 
DevGameClub@gmail.com