Silver Spook Podcast

[Silverspook]

A podcast featuring creators -- game developers, writers, and more -- largely indie and of the cyberpunk, sci-fi and adjacent genres (though not exclusively). Enjoy!

Episode 15 - Nathan Hamley creator of Guard Duty

Episode 14 - Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye Games

Episode 13 - Francisco Gonzalez of Grundislav Games

Episode 12 - Japes Hirons creator of Neon Sword

Episode 11 - Jonas Waever lead designer of "The Nameless Mod" for Deus Ex 1

Episode 10 - Jamie Patton creator of Spinnortality

Episode 9 - Primordia Writer Mark Yohalem

Episode 7 - Technobabylon creator James Dearden

Subscribe to my Youtube channel to stay up to date with these! https://www.youtube.com/user/twiliteminotaur

[Glaurung]

Admin note: I cleaned up the link to podcast 15 - it had got a bit mangled.

[Silverspook]

In this episode, Christian "Silver Spook" Miller talks to James Spanos, a game designer who worked on indie gems including Primordia, Cat Lady, Downfall, Until I Have You, and and an upcoming Wormwood Studios project. Topics include:

-Primordia, including interesting backstory on why Crispin "spins", the voice of Clarity, and what it's like to have people from around the world creating fan art of the game.
-Some news on Wormwood Studios upcoming projects "Fallen Gods" and "Strangeland".
-Until I Have You, James' solo-project and a great cyberpunk platformer that pays homage to everything from Strider and other 80's platformers and CP anime like Ghost in the Shell and Akira.
-James' contributions to Cat Lady and Downfall, and some insight into how lead designer Rem Michalski's often rough experiencing working as a nurse and frequent coffee/smoke breaks helped take Cat Lady to the next level.
-A wide range of cyberpunk and adjacent films, books, games and anime including Neuromancer, Idoru, Johnny Mnemonic, Terry Gilliam's Brazil, District 9, Perfect Blue, Metal Gear Solid, GITS, BR & BR 2049 (& many more) and the ways in which cyberpunk has been and remains relevant to society, the human (or trans-human) condition, and civilization.
-Synthwave, and composition (both James and Christian composed the music for their own one-person projects).

Sorry that some of this interview was washed out by a sudden thunderstorm, drowning out our Greco-Hawaiian cyberpunk insights, like tears in rain...


Wormwood Studios: wormwoodstudios.com

Until I Have You: http://untilihaveyou.com/

James' Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dualnames

Support Silver Spook Podcasts and Games on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/neofeud

Check out the rest of the podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLA7QLc4WB_Feo9QSIX7-To7bCbIygO0o

Get Neofeud on Itch.io! https://silverspook.itch.io/neofeud

Get Neofeud on Steam! http://steamcommunity.com/app/673850

Check out the website: http://silverspookgames.com

Silver Spook Games Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/silverspookgames/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SilvrSpookGames

Silver Spook Games' next project "Dysmaton": https://silverspook.itch.io/forgotten-city

[Jubal]

I've listened to some of these now - nice work They're quite long which makes it hard to fit them into the slots I usually have for podcast-listening, which is a pity, but I'll try and get round to listening to a few more of them in the next few weeks.

[Silverspook]

Thanks for checking them out! I may try breaking them into smaller chunks (like 1 hour each) but we'll see. Sorry that this one I'm about to post is extra long!

EDIT: forgot to add the video, oops!

In this episode, Christian "Silver Spook" Miller talks to Sophia Park, leader and co-founder of Aether Interactive. Localhost is their most well-known title to date; a great cyberpunk gem and 4th-best selling game on Itch.io in 2017. In Localhost, you play a network administrator whose job it is to erase some corrupted hard drives containing artificial intelligences. To accomplish this, you need to talk to the AIs and convince them to unlock the drives and allow themselves to be deleted.

Topics include:
-Localhost and Aether Interactive's upcoming project, "Subserial Network"
-Techno-mysticism
-Whether an iPhone, the Philip K. Dick robot, or Alexa is conscious.
-Is the technological Singularity and subsequent superintelligent machines out salvation, doom, or something weirder?
-A psychoanalysis of why Elon Musk is launching Teslas into space as a form of mid-life crisis, and what that could mean for all sentient beings.
-What is love, what would the love of synthetic consciousnesses be like.
-What is to be done about billionaires, AI created by billionaires, and possibly billionaire AI?
-What is to be done about the impending electron revolt and socialist Valentine's Day.

Aether Interactive: http://aether.in.net/

Sophia's Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiapark_

Sophia's Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/web/accounts/147494

Support Silver Spook Podcasts and Games on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/neofeud

Check out the rest of the podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLA7QLc4WB_Feo9QSIX7-To7bCbIygO0o

Get Neofeud on Itch.io! https://silverspook.itch.io/neofeud

Get Neofeud on Steam! http://steamcommunity.com/app/673850

Check out the website: http://silverspookgames.com

Silver Spook Games Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/silverspookgames/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SilvrSpookGames

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/web/accounts/259792

Silver Spook Games' next project "Dysmaton": https://silverspook.itch.io/forgotten-city

[Jubal]

I think basically, if you're getting listeners, you don't need to change it - I may well be an outlier given that I don't have long commutes and struggle to stick with a podcast longer than half an hour because I need to be back working after that. I will try and listen to more of them when I can, certainly

[Silverspook]

In this episode, Christian "Silver Spook" Miller talks to Joshua Neurnberger, creator of Gemini Rue, a stellar, award winning adventure game, including PC Gamer "Game of The Year" 2012 in the adventure category. Discover a world where life is cheap, identities are bought & sold, & a quest for redemption can change the fate of a whole galaxy.

Topics include:

-What it was like making Gemini Rue over the course of 3 years as a solo project.
-Influences behind Gemini Rue.
-The art design choices in Gemini Rue (limited purple / green color palette, use of visible brush strokes over pixelation)
-The storytelling techniques in Gemini Rue such as the use of dual narrative and adding key twist reveals during a gun fight to heighten tension.
-The benefits and drawbacks of procedural generation vs fully scripted, directed experiences.
-A wide range of sci-fi and cyberpunk media including Blade Runner, Cowboy Bebop, Inception, Neuromancer / Snowcrash, System Shock, and more.
-Dave Gilbert's army of testers.
-If there is any chance of a Gemini Rue sequel (listen to find out!)

Josh's website: http://www.thejburger.com/

Support Silver Spook Podcasts and Games on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/neofeud

Check out the rest of the podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLA7QLc4WB_Feo9QSIX7-To7bCbIygO0o

Get Neofeud on Itch.io! https://silverspook.itch.io/neofeud

Get Neofeud on Steam! http://steamcommunity.com/app/673850

Check out the website: http://silverspookgames.com

Silver Spook Games Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/silverspookgames/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SilvrSpookGames

Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/web/accounts/259792

Silver Spook Games' next project "Dysmaton": https://silverspook.itch.io/forgotten-city

[Silverspook]

In this episode, Christian "Silver Spook" Miller talks to The Space Quest Historian, a well-known promoter and friend of the original Space Quest creators in the adventure game world.  He does regular and very entertaining Youtube Let's Plays, Twitch Streams, seasonal podcasts and is a co-host of The Back Seat Designers (who interviewed John Romero and I am very jealous).

SPOILER ALERT: Skip from 30:00 to 45:00 to avoid spoilers if you haven't played Neofeud!

Topics include:

-A "history" of the Space Quest Historian.
-How the point-and-click and adventure game scene has evolved over the course of the past several decades.
-Space Quest Historian's take on Neofeud.
-Silver Spook elaborates on the meaning(s) of the ending of Neofeud, and how that plays into Neofeud 2, currently in production.
-Whether Let's Players and Twitch streamers hurt or help game sales.
-Amayirot Akago's amazing voice acting (also a friend of SQH)
-Whether to call this the "Space Spook Podcast", or perhaps the "Silver Quest Podcast: a Cyberquestorian Adventure-Punk Idle Game."
-Whether Proto-J will be making a guest appearance on the Back Seat Designers at some point in the season to whack them dwibulniby mu'flakkas.

Space Quest Historian Site: spacequesthistorian.com

SQH Twitter: https://twitter.com/SQHistorian

Support Silver Spook Podcasts and Games on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/neofeud

Check out the rest of the podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLA7QLc4WB_Feo9QSIX7-To7bCbIygO0o

[Jubal]

Ah, SQH is nice, I've chatted to him on Twitter & Mastodon in the past

[Silverspook]

Cool. Yeah I may be on that other podcast he co-hosts, Back Seat Designers one of these days.

[Silverspook]

My interview with William Gibson, edit-in-progress! Cyberpunk as co-optable movement vs subversive tendency, misfit matchmaking, Neofeud, Ray Bradbury in sleeveless jean jackets and more, from the master himself.

Also, Neofeud is still on sale for a few more days! http://store.steampowered.com/app/673850/Neofeud/

[Silverspook]

William Gibson on the Silver Spook Podcast!

An illuminating deep-dive into "cyberpunk" and the atemporal torch-passing of subversive sci-fi mindportugalery from British New Wave to CP to Black Mirror and Ned Beauman.

Topics include:
-cyberpunk as co-optable movement vs subversive tendency
-misfit matchmaking on the WGB
-Ray Bradbury in sleeveless jean jackets
-the evolution of the semiotics and culture of cyberpunk
-techno-shintoism and Buddhist robotic dog burials
-the inside-scoop on Johnny Mnemonic
-and more, from the master himself!

(Also, my cyberpunk adventure Neofeud is on sale for just 5 more days! https://store.steampowered.com/app/673850/Neofeud/ )

[Silverspook]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCeGDSLQZaY

In this podcast I'll be attempting to discuss some serious topics, including the suicides and deaths of some of my friends in the game and game development community. Many of my friends and colleagues in nerd, geek, and adjacent culture have been succumbing to depression, self-harm, contemplating suicide, or taking things out on others. This really breaks my heart, and this video is me trying to confront this tragic reality, deal with it myself, and perhaps help some of these guys out there who are in a bad place by sharing my story.

I'll be opening up about my experiences with bullying, isolation, and depression throughout school, being a virgin for 20+ years, feelings of inadequacy, hopelessness, lack purpose or direction. A lot of the things which a lot of younger men are dealing with now, and how I ultimately came to a better place, doing what I love (making video games I am passionate about, and are creatively fulfilling), with a woman whom I adore, raising two amazing kids, and have never been happier.

Remember, there is hope!

[Silverspook]

Here's a recent review / analysis I did of a great cyberpunk movie called "Hotel Artemis"

"While its neo-noir lighting and fixtures, whodunit slow-burn sensibility and post-genre originality may not be everyone's idea of a silver screen weekend getaway, for those who fans of true cyberpunk, and tour-de-force from-the-heart indie filmmaking if you check into Hotel Artemis, like the Eagles Hotel California says, 'you'll never leave'."

You can also read it in my blog over here: https://silverspookgames.blogspot.com/2018/10/hotel-artemis-review-cyberpunk-analysis.html

[Silverspook]

I interviewed James Dearden @TechnocratGames with news on the amazing Technobabylon 2, point and click adventuregames, Deus Ex, cyberpunk & the secret key to drunk-tweeting Warren Spector (Deus Ex) & Richard K. Morgan (Altered Carbon)!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mfP1HDVLUQ&feature=youtu.be

Also, Neofeud is still 60% off! Get it quick!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/673850/Neofeud/