Pistol Shrimp Podcast

Dan talks about game design with Peter McLaren and Garry Seto of Massive Damage, creators of Halycon 6 and Star Renegades. The duo share their insights on designing sci-fi concepts, building an indie studio, and the influence of The Ur-Quan Masters.

0:00 - Theme music

0:14 - Introductions

2:26 - UQM and Super Melee

12:48 - Alien dialog

16:37 - Creating alien races

26:42 - Building an indie studio

35:16 - Revitalizing retro game conce...

Fred and Dan chat with Freehold Games about Caves of Qud and making an independent game that stands out. Jason and Brian share their love of classic space games, epic science fiction worlds, and the creative appeal of retro games. Hosted live, on Twitch.

0:00 - Theme Music

0:14 - Introductions

3:42 - Classic space games

7:30 - Making The Ur-Quan Masters

11:30.- Writing and character design

15:10 - Making a sequel

22:00 - Super Melee a...

Fred and Dan chat with Charlie Cleveland about Subnautica, Natural Selection, and his leadership at Unknown Worlds. They discuss the influence of The Ur-Quan Masters, and fun is more important than game balance. Charlie highlights the power of multi-linear storytelling, early access, and getting player feedback as soon as possible. Hosted live, on Twitch.

0:00 - Theme music

0:14 - Introductions

2:15 - Charlie's first game

6:25 - De...

Fred and Dan talk with Mac Walters about his experience on Mass Effect and Jade Empire, plus his transition from his leadership at BioWare to his new studio, Worlds Untold. Mac breaks down his sci-fi inspiration, and how he approaches game writing, building a vision, and working as a team.

0:00 - Theme music

0:14 - Introductions

01:22 - Mac's path to BioWare

06:20 - Inspiration and nostalgia

09:20 - How to begin a game story

12:00 -...

Dan and Fred talk to Richard Cobbett about writing for games, including The Long Journey Home, Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, and Nighthawks. Richard shares his love for The Ur-Quan Masters, and explains how a good storyteller can draw the player into a game's story, setting, and characters.

0:00 - Theme music

0:14 - Introductions

1:56 - The Long Journey Home

4:15 - The Ur-Quan Masters

5:52 - Layers of sci-fi writing

10:28 - Likeable vi...

Fred and Dan talk to Chris Taylor about leading a game production, including Total Annihilation, Dungeon Siege, and more. Chris talks about running a game studio, engaging the audience, and why it's sometimes better to be an employee than a leader.

0:00 - Theme music

0:00 - Introductions

1:16 - The UQM Team

11:48 - Chris's start in games

16:42 - Industrial Light & Magic

20:58 - Running a game studio

31:37 - Finding the fun

34:40 -...

Fred and Dan talk to Andrew Hume and Richard Clifford of MinMax Games, creators of Space Pirates and Zombies. The duo talk about building an indie game studio, the power of procedurally generated content, and the influence of The Ur-Quan Masters.

0:00 - Theme music

0:14 - Introductions

3:03 - Influence on Space Pirates and Zombies

10:14 - Discovering a game's focus

17:17 - Building an indie game studio

24:05 - Finding an audience

33:3...

Fred and Dan chat with Christine Love about indie game development, including her work on Digital: A Love Story, Get In the Car, Loser!, and more. Christine shares her love of science fiction, and her insights on writing a memorable game story.

0:00 - Theme music

0:14 - Introductions

1:24 - UQM and science fiction

4:50 - Alien characters

9:17 - Indie game development

15:58 - Writing for games

24:07 - Immersing the player

30:56 - Early...

We talk to Henrik Fåhraeus about his leadership at Paradox Interactive, including the game design of Stellaris and the Crusader Kings series. Henrik explains how artificial intelligence can bring a game world to life, and how The Ur-Quan Masters influenced the story and universe of Stellaris.

0:00 - Theme music

0:14 - Introductions

1:18 - Henrik and UQM

3:07 - Influence of UQM

6:40 - Science fiction and Stellaris

12:54 - What is crea...

We chat with Mark Darrah about his career at BioWare, including his work on Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate, and more. Join the veteran game devs as they discuss the art of storytelling in an open world, and highlight the influence of The Ur-Quan Masters on the Mass Effect series.

Check out Mark Darrah's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qabZM40_bN4

0:00 - Theme music

0:14 - Introductions

1:54 - Ur-Quan M...

Fred and Dan talk with Chris Remo about designing and writing Firewatch, his ongoing work at Valve, and getting his start at Double Fine. Chris talks about his love for The Ur-Quan Masters and Super Melee, and shares his creative experience across music, writing, and game design.

Check out Chris Remo's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUOi3hyPkt8

0:00 - Theme music

0:14 - Introductions

1:55 - Super Melee and ba...

Fred and Dan chat with Ken Levine about his leadership on the BioShock series, plus his storytelling on System Shock 2, Freedom Force, and Thief: The Dark Project. Ken shares his love for The Ur-Quan Masters and Super Melee, and explains the subtle art of game feel and centering the player's story.

Learn more about Ken and Ghost Story Games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOkyTvraWps

0:00 - Theme music

0:14 - Introductions

1:5...

Fred and Dan chat with Tim Cain about his career in games, including his leadership on Fallout, Arcanum, The Outer Worlds, and more. Tim explains why The Ur-Quan Masters is one of his favorite role-playing games, and shares his insights on telling an interactive story and finding a game's tone.

Check out Tim Cain's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A08OTbsi_NA

0:00 - Theme music

0:14 - Introductions

1:38 - Tim a...

For our 30th Anniversary Celebration, we have an additional, special episode of the Pistol Shrimp podcast with UQM illustrator George Barr. George was responsible for many of the iconic, physical illustrations which would then become digitized for use in UQM. Beyond UQM, George contributed artwork to science fiction and fantasy works from books, to magazines, to Dungeons and Dragons rule books.

This interview was originally cond...

For our 30th Anniversary Celebration, we have a special episode of the Pistol Shrimp podcast with none other than Erol Otus. Erol was responsible for several creative parts of The Ur-Quan Masters – art, sound, writing, and voice – but was primarily responsible for creating physical and digital paintings of the various aliens' communications screens. Beyond UQM, Erol has contributed art and design to products and games ranging from ...

Paul Reiche and Lee Hutchinson returnin for another episode of our podcast about the creation of UQM, UQM2, and the many steps taken to get here.

The main topic for this discussion is all about how war & space (and war in space) influenced our personal upbringings and the history of gaming through our lenses, which in turn influenced us. Why is Paul so obsessed with space combat? What did we learn from science museums, the t...

This is the first in what we hope will be a series of dialogues with Pistol Shrimp about the making of The Ur-Quan Masters 2. In this opening installment, UQM2 contributor Lee Hutchinson sits down with series co-creator Paul Reiche and digs in on the role character dialogue plays in storytelling. Come for the behind-the-scenes details, stay for Paul’s anecdotes about the early days of the games industry and the role Pogo the Possum...