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TDM (Mappers') Podcast?


peter_spy

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I don't know about you, but I like listening to people while modeling or mapping. I recently found out two very nice channels, Flipped Normals and Environment Art Podcast:

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_3bpU4AlXIJJS7KhIQcOgQ

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQQFz2LkJMoqSFTas-oozOw

 

They're directly related to making content, and you can find lot of interesting points there. Also the people who make those are pretty enthusiastic about what they do, and I must sat it's quite contagious. They effectively make my mapping time better.

 

Now that got me thinking, how about us having some sort of TDM podcast? It doesn't have to be super frequent, an hour once a month would do. A host (Springheel, Spooks, Biker?) would invite different mappers to talk about what they're working on: design, gameplay, and content creation aspects. A commentary on recent TDM releases would be nice too. If there aren't any new ones, we could talk about older missions, other stealth games, or just games we're playing right now; or things we've watched lately, and possibly related to mapping ideas.

 

I've been recording podcasts for several years, so I'm familiar with tech side of things, but I doubt I'm good enough to speak fluently in English (would need some practice, otherwise would stutter a lot). Still, I can help with mixing or making stuff for background videos, if this was to be released on Youtube.

 

Apart from having something nice and informative to listen to, wouldn't that help to advertise TDM a bit more? :)

Edited by Judith
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Sounds interesting, indeed.

 

Doesn't have to be a conversation, though. Different members recording themselves talking about a certain topic and someone who puts the recordings together would also be an option. This would remove the neccessity of finding a time where everybody is available (think timezones). In addition:

 


... but I doubt I'm good enough to speak fluently in English (would need some practice, otherwise would stutter a lot) ...

this is probably a two-directional issue. Not only may non-native speakers get into trouble when talking in english (especially in regards to technical aspects), but in addition they may have a hard time understanding the other speakers if they have a strong english dialect or foreign accent (in the past I was pretty surprised when native speakers told me that they can actually understand me pretty well when I am speaking english, especially considering the fact that I sometimes have troubles understanding myself if rehearing some of the stuff I have recorded :D ).

 

But as said. The idea is interesting.

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FM's: Builder Roads, Old Habits, Old Habits Rebuild

Mapping and Scripting: Apples and Peaches

Sculptris Models and Tutorials: Obsttortes Models

My wiki articles: Obstipedia

Texture Blending in DR: DR ASE Blend Exporter

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Pre-recorded answers to questions may be an idea as well, although a talk is always more dynamic than an interview. For our podcasts we used Skype, with everyone recording their track locally (we did a "sync clap", like in movies, to facilitate mixing). I've heard Google Hangouts aren't bad for that purpose as well.

 

I've seen your videos Obs, and I didn't have problems understanding you. Sure, like most of us non-natives, you have accent colored by your mother tongue, but that's how it is. Guys from Flipped Normals are Danish and Swedish, AFAIR (they live in London though). There are people with far worse accents giving GDC lectures:

 

 

Mappers from all over the world shouldn't be afraid of taking part in the podcast after seeing that ;) I only thought that the host could be English native, but I guess that's less important than e.g. being on the TDM Team (with additional perks of knowing what's going on behind the scenes right now, giving the audience a sneak peek etc.)

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There are people with far worse accents giving GDC lectures:

That talk once more proves that French accent does not sound good in English speech.

But for unidirectional lectures, any native speaker could do the actual talking. That would maximize the audience by maximizing clarity.

The actual speaker would only need to know enough about the topic as is needed for correcting translation artifacts in the provided text.

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Sure, like most of us non-natives, you have accent colored by your mother tongue, but that's how it is.

What you are hearing is not the german accent, but the saxonian dialect. Surprisingly it is much stronger when I am speaking english as when I am speaking german. :P

 

 

 

There are people with far worse accents giving GDC lectures:

 

Lol, yeah, that is hard at the edge.

FM's: Builder Roads, Old Habits, Old Habits Rebuild

Mapping and Scripting: Apples and Peaches

Sculptris Models and Tutorials: Obsttortes Models

My wiki articles: Obstipedia

Texture Blending in DR: DR ASE Blend Exporter

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I think it'd be fun to have a series where mappers play through their own missions and talk about the process of building it as they go. Then you can hear their ideas on the exact scenes they visit. That might be both more interesting for the laity to watch and most practically useful for the mappers to learn from.

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What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know that it's mine.

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I think it'd be fun to have a series where mappers play through their own missions and talk about the process of building it as they go. Then you can hear their ideas on the exact scenes they visit. That might be both more interesting for the laity to watch and most practically useful for the mappers to learn from.

Are there any commentary tracks of a game you would suggest?

I found one article that points out things that matter in such media type:

 

https://www.popmatters.com/132540-video-game-commentary-2496120106.html

 

I guess it could be fun, especially if you could gather two or three people, or even open a chat with bigger group of TDM fandom that will ask questions and comment the author's playthrough.

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In my idea, it's not actually a playthru per se. It's the mapper's description of where their ideas come from and their process of designing the gameplay & story, and the actual process of building, and the playthrough is just an occasion for them to walk through all the parts of their FM, so they cover everything and give equal weight through the whole FM (so it's not a few ideas they remember, but we see their thinking for all the parts, and seeing the scenes can also remind mappers of the actual work). For example, I can imagine them sometimes going into no-clip mode so they can fly up to show an overview of a scene to better explain it. But I can also see them playing a lot of it straight just to see their ideas in practice.

 

But having other people being able to speak and ask questions at the same time could be a good idea too.

In the past I had the idea of an interviewer interviewing a mapper as they played through the map, which could work here too, and still maybe allowing others to "call in" with a comment or question.

 

When I'm free I'll search around Youtube and see if anyone out there has done something like it before. I can't recall any I've ever seen offhand.

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What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know that it's mine.

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Going through a whole map might be a bit long, but talking about creative process and sharing tips on creating stuff, like some particular impressive effects in your map or general ideas, that should be handy. Any technical advice for other mappers would be a good idea IMO. I feel like there's not enough knowledge about making models, materials, and that kind of stuff in the community, and I'd be happy to share that knowledge too.

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