The Debug Log

The boys are back! In this week's episode, the gang reunites and catches up on what everybody has been up to over the past couple of years. We also address the ongoing layoff crisis in the game industry. What does it mean for the future of AAA and indie game development. We hope you enjoy the show!

We all have to start somewhere. If you are interested in game development and hope to get started soon, you've come to the right place. On today's episode, the guys begin with a discussion of their origin stories and how they each got into game development. From there, they discuss how different the landscape is today and what things they would do if they were just getting started in 2021.Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments about the latest news at: [email protected]

This week we have a classic game industry news round-up. Ryan and Obinna explain Roblox to Andrew while the whole gang tries to understand the weird new world of NFTs. We've been off the news beat for awhile so we touch on a variety of other topics before finally wrapping up with a deep dive into the Cyberpunk drama that has played out over the past few months.Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments about the latest news at: [email protected]

So after a long, hard talk with a couple of GenZ-ers, we decided to move from only-audio podcasts to both audio and video podcast recordings! This episode marks the first video edit of The Debug Log. Our goal is to post both the audio and visual versions of each episode on our various streaming services (i.e. Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and now YouTube).We look forward to diving deep into this new medium and hope you all bear with us as we evolve and refine our video podcast format.In this week's episode, we are talking about the challenges and best practices we've picked up while working remotely in game development. Ryan, Andrew, and Obinna explore some of their key learnings in remote game development in their first video show. We hope you enjoy it!Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments about working remotely while developing games: [email protected]

From patches and updates to seasonal content and daily challenges, the ubiquity of live games has grown exponentially in the internet age. What started as an easy way to fix a released game, has grown into 50GB day-one patches and years of expanded content. While the promise of an ever-changing game can be enticing, not all live games are created equal. On today's show, we discuss the evolution of technology, commerce and art that have allowed live games to rise in dominance over the past decade. We also wax nostalgic over a simpler time when the game you bought was all the game you were ever gonna get.Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments: [email protected]

Clash of the Titans! Not only is it an objectively great 80's movie, it is also what you could call the current climate between Apple and Epic. Platforms are a tricky business. You need developers making software for your platform to make money, but you also need the developers to be happy with the platform and make money. So, what happens when one side messes with the other side's money? You get litigation! A lot of legal punches have been thrown between these technology giants and this week on The Debug Log we are going to attempt to give you a blow by blow and our analysis of the situation.Articles mentioned in the show: https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/13/21366438/apple-fortnite-ios-app-store-violations-epic-payments https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/24/apple-epic-court-battle-august-28-removal/ https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/28/apple-terminates-epic-games-developer-account/amp/ https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/6/21357771/apple-cloud-gaming-microsoft-xcloud-google-stadia-ios-app-store-guidelines-violations https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/5/21356274/microsoft-xcloud-ios-apple-iphone-ipad-testing-ends-apple-app-store-policies Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments: [email protected]

Pandemics go beyond just disease and viruses. They have the capacity to sneak into the core of our being, society, and yes -- our game industry. The pandemic of racial inequality is at the forefront of the discussion today, which comes at the heels of the latest surge of the Black Lives Matter movement. We would be doing our Debug Log community a disservice if we did not talk about the current political and cultural stage as it relates (and has influenced) the game industry.In this episode we check-in we each other and discuss the various ways this pandemic of racial inequality and protests have affected the game industry at large. Stay safe out there.PS5 Delays$1M Humble Bundle Fund$8.1M Itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice & EqualityGithub Language ChangesPS5 ExpoEA Play ExpoFirst FDA-Approved GameThanks for sitting in with us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments: [email protected]

It's not very often that one is aware they are living through history as it happens. 2020 will always remembered as the year we all went into quarantine. Covid-19 has swept across and countries and cultures, changing our lives in ways we could not have imagined just a few months ago.In this episode we check-in we each other and discuss the various ways this pandemic has affected the game industry at large. This episode was recorded relatively early in this process and it will be interesting to see how the things we discussed evolve over the next few months. Stay safe out there.Thanks for sitting in with us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments: [email protected]

Like the complexities of for loops, switch statements, and allocating memory? Or, do you fancy getting the pixels to look just right on screen? Can't choose?! Well, lucky you, this episode and interview with Technical Artists Andrea Bobick and Razvan Luta is tailor made for you!In this episode we break down what technical art is, what Technical Artist do in their day-to-day, and how the role has evolved in the industry over the years.Thanks for sitting in with us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments about technical art: [email protected]

In this week's episode, we talk to Mira Marquez and Kenneth Woodruff about designing for VR and AR applications! Our guests join Ryan and Obinna to talk design for this new medium. The group jumps into discussions that dive into the challenges associated with designing for VR/AR as well as offer some insights into the future of design as it relates to mix reality applications. Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments about designing for VR/AR applications: [email protected]

New year, next gen! In this week’s episode Obinna, Andrew, and Ryan discuss the future of gaming in the next year. As some of you may already know there are some big changes coming for the industry next year. The big players have their next generation hardware ready to go for the holidays and streaming cloud services is on everyone’s agenda. We discuss all this as well as some other interesting developments in the industry. This is going to be an interesting year and we can’t wait for you to hear about it!Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with comments about what you think this year will bring to the game industry at: [email protected]

Everyone has been talking about the cloud… so, we figured we should too!In this week’s episode, we bring in another former Sprocketeer and backend server engineer, Tyler Ohlsen to talk about his experience when developing for the cloud and some of the tools, services, and concepts needed to begin developing games for the cloud. We try out a quick exercise that illustrates how Tyler breaks down and thinks about certain problems as it relates to designing for the cloud.Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with questions about developing for the cloud at: [email protected]

The party doesn't stop at 100! We're keeping the train moving right along with another fresh episodeIn this week's episode, we bring in former Sprocketeer and backend server engineer, Matt Bolt to talk about a series of blog posts that he recently posted. In The Road to Better Concurrency, Matt discusses some pitfalls of multithreaded code and the current APIs that have been built in object-oriented languages to address them.Thanks for joining us this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to contact us with questions about concurrency at: [email protected]

We finally did it! After 4 very short years, we managed to reach 100 episodes of The Debug Log. In this episode, we are joined by a very special person, none other than our lost co-host Eduardo Castillo Fernandez! Together, the 5 of us discuss some of our favorite experiences we've had producing this how over the past 100 episodes. Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with questions you may have. Contact us at: [email protected]

What is better than three episodes about the dark underbelly of software development? FOUR episodes about the dark underbelly of software development!! That’s right depressed ladies and gents. It’s that time YET AGAIN! Put grandma and grandpappy to bed, grab a box of tissues, a tub of ice cream, a random picture of Obinna, and any other items needed to lift your spirits, and sit back and enjoy part four of The Darkside of Development. In this episode, Obinna sits down with former co-workers Mira Marquez, Jim Diaz, and Geoffrey Nahashon to talk company closures, specifically, the closure of the infamous 'Sprockets.' We take a more narrative approach to this episode as we analyze and assess what we think caused the end of the studio. Again, we end the episode with positivity and rainbows to ensure the next generation of game developers leave with a smile on their faces and a pep in their step! Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with questions you may have about studio closures. Contact us at: [email protected]

What is better than two episodes about the dark underbelly of software development? Three episodes about the dark underbelly of software development! That’s right ladies and gents. It’s that time AGAIN! Put the dogs in their kennels, grab a keg of your favorite brew, and sit back and enjoy part three of The Darkside of Development. In this episode, Ryan and Obinna discuss company closures, specifically, the closure of the famed 'Sprockets' with guests Dan Moran and Nick Covington. We each weigh in on the recent closure and analyze and asses what we think caused the end of the studio. It isn't all doom and gloom however as the episode ends with some excellent advice and positivity for both new and veteran game developers! Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any emails with questions you may have about studio closures. Contact us at: [email protected]

As a game dev, you probably deal with bugs and glitches on a day-to-day basis. Today we are talking about the best kind of bugs, bugs that end up being happy accidents. The history of game development is full of stories of legendary glitches that became profound features, not only for the game being developed but for the industry at large. On today’s episode, we discuss some of our favorite examples of bugs becoming features. As usual, we sprinkle in a little advice on how you can make yourself more aware of opportunities for happy accidents in your projects. All that and more on this episode of The Debug Log. Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Send any questions about this episode, to: [email protected]

Welcome to our 4th annual Holiday Special where we discuss some of the biggest games and stories of the past year. Thank you for sticking with us for another year, stayed tuned for more episodes and content in the months to come. Happy Holidays everybody, be safe, and have a happy 2019! Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Contact us at: [email protected]

Unite 2018 Los Angeles! In this episode we discuss the many happenings at the annual Unity convention Unite. There was a lot to see at this years conference. Some of the highlights include the Entity Component System, nested prefabs, the Visual Effects Tool, FPS sample, Mega City, and many more. It was an fun time and inspiring to be around so many creative ideas. We would definitely recommend the experience! Thanks for tuning in and we hope you enjoy the show! Please share any of your thoughts and experiences about Unite by writing to [email protected]

This week we are back with another "Rapid-Fire Roundup" episode. Catching up on a lot of the stories of the past few months, we tackle everything from Microsoft's interesting new Game Pass offerings to updates on the eternal Unity vs Unreal war. All that and more on this episode of The Debug Log. Thanks for tuning in this week and we hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to send any stories you want to hear us cover in the next "Rapid-Fire Roundup", to: [email protected]