The Debug Log

“Will this UI work?”, “Does my inventory system make sense?”, “Will this jumping mechanic feel right?”, "Do all dog seriously go to heaven?". These are the type of questions that can arise during the game development process. Outside of a crystal ball, the only way to sufficiently answer these questions is by planning for and building prototypes. Prototypes are where the fun happens -- where imagination and experimentation can truly run wild...

So, you're scouring the inter web forums for some engineering and art help for your next, big game idea, when forum user, "xX1337ProgrammerXx" replies to one of your posts with, "Interested to help! Do you have a working GDD?" -- to which you reply with, "Huh?" Maybe this has happened to you. Maybe not! Either way, in this episode we address the "Why," "What," and "When"s of Game Design Documents, so that the aforementioned lapse of game development know-how never happens to you...

If you’ve had the opportunity to attend Unite in the past couple of years you’ll recognize today’s guest. With his signature hat and jovial personality, he’s hard to miss. I am of course talking about Oscar Clark, another awesome Unity Evangelist. We met Oscar at Unite 2015 in Boston and we were thrilled when he offered to come on the show. The topic of discussion we laid out for him was game monetization, but he went much deeper than that...

It's in the books! We offhandedly, randomly, and unofficially mark the end of the first season of The Debug Log with this episode. The entire five-man Debug Log crew take a moment to look back on some of their favorite episodes, interviews, tips, and games from the first eighteen episodes. The fellas also hint at some big plans and aspirations for the new year that they believe will tickle your fancy as well as further promote community and collaboration among game developers...

What do you get when you add the former VP of Marketing at EA and former COO of Zynga, an individual with a deep passion for games and gamers across the world, and a game-changing (pun intended) game development platform like Unity3D? You get Unity's Chief Marketing Officer Clive Downie and an industry-shaking initiative known as "Made With Unity...

For ages, developers have had the difficult task of balancing the amount of explicit gameplay tutorials with the level of player discovery that is provided in their games. Many gamers have experienced the 'overbearing developer' who forces players to endure an hour-long training sequence, while other gamers have been left bewildered in a massive and evolving game world with seemingly no direction or answers...

Part 2 of our interview with Nicole Lazzaro, the founder and President of XEODesign. At Unite 2015 in Boston, some of us got a chance to see Nicole's talk about Design Leadership in VR then we got to meet her and demo her upcoming VR game "Follow the White Rabbit". We are so glad she agreed to sit down with us and talk about the "4 Keys 2 Fun" and how to better think about some of these game design concepts when developing our own games...

Nicole Lazzaro, the founder and President of XEODesign, Inc. and has twenty years expertise in Player Experience Design (PXD) for mass-market entertainment products. At Unite 2015 in Boston, some of us got a chance to see Nicole's talk about Design Leadership in VR then we got to meet her and demo her upcoming VR game "Follow the White Rabbit"...

A TCP packet walks into a bar and says, "I want a beer." The bartender responds, "You want a beer?" The TCP packet says, "Yes, I want a beer." Wow, just writing that 3-Way handshake joke hurt. In any case, you guessed it, today's show is all about Networking in Unity3D. The gentlemen talk about several networking suites that developers have created for or modified to work with the Unity game engine...

‘The crowd here is electric, Ryan! Developers of all shapes, sizes, and skillsets are pouring into the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention center here in Boston. We’ll be here all week on the ground floor, so stay tuned to the episode for more in-depth discussions on Unite. Anyway, stay classy TDLers and back to you in the studio, Ryan!’ Unite 2015 Field Reporters Zack, Obinna, Andrew, and Eduardo (with special guest, Diana) talk about their experiences while at Unite 2015 in Boston...