This week is all about developing games! We are joined by Ashley, who is making a cool JRPG Roguelike called Last Gasp and Bibulous who is making his third Sky Ballet game. You can play His first two on Itch! Of course you can play Bluzo's first games as well, Along an Extremity and Hana's Light which were made with collaborators. The full credits for each are on the itch pages. Also keep an eye out for her work with Broken Rotten!

Please make sure you get your Top 5 for the year in! You can email us at hi@twcr-radio.online or DM it to us in Discord!

Recommendations:

• Ashley: GDC talk by Jeff Vogel: Failing to Fail the Spiderweb Software Way. Also, Octopath 0 is real good!
• Bibulous: PandaMonium Reviews Every U.S. Sega Saturn Game.
• Bluzo: Take breaks!
• TK: This big asset pack by Chequered Ink.

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:47) - Community Updates
• (01:12) - Get us your Top 5s!
• (02:14) - Developing Games!
• (02:26) - *Record Scratch* Channel Highlight actually! Game Development in Genre-Platform-Chat
• (04:22) - Ashley's Game: Last Gasp
• (09:04) - Working in RPG Maker MV
• (09:54) - Ashley's history and experience developing Last Gasp
• (11:33) - How has it felt being in the Game Development Channel?
• (12:55) - Bibulous Making Shmups
• (14:46) - Getting assets/Making art
• (15:46) - AI sucks. Don't use it, even as placeholder
• (18:39) - Sound is really important!
• (20:58) - Are you interested in collaborating?
• (22:28) - Bibulous's history and games
• (26:01) - Get your game in front of the right audience
• (27:44) - Start shorter
• (30:32) - Last Gasp Coming Early 2026
• (31:48) - Iterating with Bibulous
• (35:15) - Be honest with yourself about your strengths
• (38:30) - Broadn your horizons
• (39:49) - Other inspirations?
• (42:14) - Bluzo's experience collaborating
• (52:06) - How do you approach a JRPG?
• (55:01) - Remeber what PaRappa told you.
• (58:22) - It's cool to make things!
• (58:59) - Participate in the Game Jam 4!
• (59:31) - All hail The Kommisar of the Winter Jam!
• (01:00:07) - Are pancakes a game? Sure why not. THE KOMMISAR HAS SPOKEN
• (01:00:46) - Having a creative outlet is good for you!
• (01:01:50) - You have a right to have fun.
• (01:03:48) - Recommendations
• (01:03:53) - Ashley: GDC Talk: Failing to Fail the Spiderweb Software Way
• (01:04:16) - Ashley: Octopath Traveler 0
• (01:04:37) - Bibulous: PandaMonium Reviews Every U.S. Sega Saturn Game
• (01:09:33) - Send us your Top 5!

PLEASE send us your Top 5 for 2025! This can be stuff released in 2025 or things that are new to you this year. Send us audio files to hi@twcr-radio.online or via Discord DM and make sure to include your name!

This week we have GJ and Mike on to talk Actual Play podcasts! Listen to Mike's podcast, Cthulhu Con!

Recommendations:

Jared:

• The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

GJ:

• Follow a cast member from an Actual Play you like.
• Worlds Beyond Number: A County Affair
• American Vandal and Players

Mike:

• Dungeons & Daddies
• Gumshoes & Dragons
• Enshittification by Cory Doctorow
• #Media-Production-Chat

TK:

• Cho Ren Sha 68k
• Pretending to be People

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:50) - Community Updates
• (01:22) - Please Send Us Your Top 5!
• (03:19) - Channel Highlight: Podcast General and Tabletop Roundtable
• (04:49) - Actual Play Podcasts!
• (04:53) - What the hell is Actual Play Anyway?
• (06:29) - How GJ got into Actual Play
• (07:16) - TK fucks up a name again
• (07:51) - There you go buddy. Gold star
• (08:14) - Levels of Actual Play Production
• (09:38) - How did Mike get into Actual Play?
• (12:34) - TK's Actual Play History
• (14:24) - What Are You Looking For Anyway?
• (14:51) - GJ: High Production, Minimal Combat
• (15:21) - Mike's Here For That.
• (16:36) - Jared's History: Humor is Key! Mechanics are a Boon
• (19:12) - TK: D&D Makes for a Bad Show?
• (20:10) - GJ: D&D is Great for a Show!
• (21:02) - Mike: The Books are a Guideline, not Hard and Fast Rules.
• (24:17) - Speaking of Systems: Cthulhu Con?
• (24:34) - Trail of Cthulhu
• (28:24) - Foreshadowing
• (28:32) - Dice: The Secret Extra Writer
• (28:52) - GJ: Chaos is Good! Improv is Fun!
• (31:13) - How Much Tabletop Experience Do We Have?
• (31:22) - Jared and TK are Drift Compatible
• (31:31) - GJ: Not Much
• (32:07) - If You Don't Want Mechanics, Why Actual Play?
• (34:56) - It's Okay to Say No, Sometimes.
• (37:09) - Actual Play is the Idealized Tabletop Group
• (38:26) - Jared's Played a Little Bit
• (40:06) - Actual Play Inspires Actual Play. Woah
• (43:25) - Jared's Sibling Theory
• (45:46) - TK: Late to Tabletop
• (46:25) - Listen to Cthulhu Con!
• (46:41) - More Coming from Skull & Scones
• (49:27) - The Oldest Actual Play: Record of Lodoss War
• (51:09) - Recommendations
• (51:15) - JAred: The Tainted Cup
• (54:31) - GJ: Pick One Performer and Follow Them!
• (55:05) - GJ: American Vandal and Players
• (56:18) - Mike: Dungeons & Daddies
• (57:25) - Mike: Gumshoes & Dragons
• (58:23) - Mike: Enshittification by Cory Doctrow
• (59:07) - Media Production Chat
• (01:00:03) - TK: Cho Ren Sha 68k
• (01:01:01) - TK: Pretending to Be People
• (01:01:54) - GJ Bonus! Worlds Beyond Number: A County Affair
• (01:04:13) - Outro
• (01:06:00) - Show and Tell

This week is a special episode all about Sky Ballet games!

Games Mentioned: Just check out the wonderful TWG Shmup Google Doc

Recommendations:
Bluzo: Watch Gundam, Any Gundam
TK: Use your PSP as a media player
Bibulous: Miles in Transit on YouTube
Zetto: TouHou Makuka Sai ~ Fantastic Danmaku Festival Part III, Dispatch, The Filmography of Akira Kurosawa

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:13) - Community Updates
• (03:43) - Channel Highlihgt: Genre Platform Chat - Sky Ballet
• (04:26) - Main Segment: Sky Ballet!
• (04:32) - Sky Ballet has always been there for us
• (05:21) - Bluzo Revolver: Double Shmup
• (07:25) - Bike Bibulouz: The Beginning
• (09:15) - Vocabulary Term: 1CC - One Credit Clear
• (10:27) - The Fighter Who Wanted to Become... ZettoRanger
• (12:50) - Vocabulary Term: Euro-Shmup (Derogatory)
• (14:28) - Is ZeroRanger a good place to start?
• (16:46) - Vocabulary term: Credit Feed - Pump credits into a game with no limit to complete it.
• (18:04) - Shmups: The hardest genre that wants you to get better
• (20:53) - Great Bullet Hells Steal
• (21:33) - Favorite Shmups
• (21:45) - Bibulous: ZeroRanger
• (22:02) - Bibulous: Cho Ren Sha 68k
• (22:57) - Are Freeware Shmups common?
• (25:22) - Zetto's Favorite: ZeroRanger
• (25:48) - Oh you didn't catch that?
• (25:55) - TouHou Makuka Sai ~ Fantastic Danmaku Festival Part II
• (28:13) - Traditioooooooooon Tradition
• (30:29) - Moving on to Birdcage
• (32:42) - TirdKage? Is this anything?
• (33:19) - Vocabulary Term: Bullet Hell: The entire screen is death
• (34:31) - History Lesson: Batsugan
• (35:34) - TK has it backwards
• (36:20) - Back to the Cage
• (43:56) - Birdcage influences: Radiant Silvergun
• (45:11) - A tangent about Ikaruga
• (46:31) - Talkin' 'bout difficulty
• (49:05) - Are there good stories in shmups?
• (49:28) - Drainus
• (50:10) - Touhou (Danmaku specifically)
• (50:40) - Games by CAVE
• (52:51) - One Hell of a Google Doc
• (56:29) - It's Fun to Lose
• (57:14) - There are many ways to play. Don't be intimidated
• (01:00:14) - Recommendations
• (01:00:21) - Bluzo: Watch Gundam, Any Gundam
• (01:02:03) - TK: The PSP is a good video player, actually
• (01:03:56) - Bibulous: Miles in Transit on YouTube
• (01:05:51) - Zetto: TouHou Makuka Sai ~ Fantastic Danmaku Festival Part III
• (01:07:29) - Zetto: Dispatch
• (01:08:23) - Zetto: The Filmography of Akira Kurusawa
• (01:13:28) - Outro