S1: From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's
S1: your host Sam Colley.
S2: Hello, everyone. It's great to be here with you. And
S2: for the next half hour we talk matters of blindness
S2: and low vision.
S3: Obviously, as we've expanded to focus on those with a disability,
S3: we've encountered people with different disabilities that we haven't come
S3: across before, which obviously provided some accessibility challenges that we've
S3: had to work through. But yeah, we've been very happy
S3: to work through those and just, you know, even just
S3: feeling the impact on the participants who, you know, have
S3: received our services and have made a huge difference in
S3: their lives, um, that's definitely made any kind of, um,
S3: issues with, with trying to get that coordinated. Very much
S3: worth it.
S2: Welcome to the program. This week we feature an interview
S2: with Alfie Coyle, the founder and creative director of Lightmass Studios,
S2: a game studio and training academy for coders and gamers
S2: with disabilities, to get into the gaming industry and share
S2: their love for games and computing and coding. That interview
S2: is coming up very shortly and I'm very excited to
S2: bring it to you. That's just around the corner, so
S2: stick around. And then after we hear from Elfi, we
S2: share some Easter news and we finish up with a
S2: reader recommended from Francis Kelland. I hope you enjoy this
S2: week's episode of Talking Vision. Elfie Coyle is the founder
S2: and creative director of Lightmass Studios, a games company and
S2: Training academy for people with disabilities to get involved in
S2: creating games and joining together to enjoy gaming in a
S2: social setting. But more recently, we can reveal on Talking
S2: Vision that they are set to launch the Vibe coding initiative,
S2: kicking off late this month for early adopters to the program,
S2: and it's my great pleasure to be joined by Alfie
S2: right now to talk all about it. Alfie, welcome to
S2: Talking Vision. Thank you very much for your time.
S3: Thanks for having me, Sam.
S2: Now, firstly, Alfie, let's jump into some details around your company.
S2: Nightmare games tell our listeners all about it.
S3: Yeah. So Nightmare Studios is a video game studio primarily,
S3: but we've also been supporting those who want to learn
S3: how to make video games and want to learn social
S3: skills as well through making and playing games. For the
S3: last 17 years. So yeah, we've basically been very well
S3: known within the game development, education and the broader disability
S3: sectors over that time.
S2: Before that, 17 years. So 17 years ago around that time,
S2: how did Nightmare Studios come about? Where did the idea
S2: spring from?
S3: Yeah, so I started in 2007 because I become financially
S3: independent through a couple of phone shops and had just
S3: really got obsessed with playing video games. And then after
S3: a few months of trying to become a pro gamer
S3: and failing miserably, I decided to actually combine my two
S3: passions of games and business and create a game studio.
S3: That's where it began.
S2: Okay. And, um, what's been the main things that Nightmare
S2: Studios have been up to over the 17 years? Give
S2: us a bit of a highlight package.
S3: Yeah, absolutely. So we started in a garage back in 2007, 2008.
S3: We ended up moving into and purchasing an internet cafe.
S3: And then we operated out of that internet cafe during
S3: the day. And then at night it was internet cafe.
S3: That's kind of our humble beginnings. We made a few
S3: small titles, eventually got some success with a title called
S3: Infinity Wars, and people have been playing it since 2011. Uh,
S3: we've been going pretty much that whole time with that
S3: game and continuing to to serve that across the world
S3: to over half a million players have played our game.
S3: And so it's one of the highlights during that time,
S3: we also got the rights to, uh, Star Trek The
S3: Next Generation and had that as part of our card
S3: set as well. But the whole time that we've been
S3: doing video game creation in the background, we've or in
S3: the foreground as well as the background, we've been making
S3: programs for participants who want to learn either game development
S3: skills or social skills. And so through that time, we've
S3: actually helped over over 3000 young people gain qualifications and
S3: even employment in game development. And a good third of
S3: those are actually those with a disability.
S2: Oh, wow. And has Lightmass Studios always had that focus on,
S2: you know, disability and accessibility from day one, or did
S2: that organically develop over the time where you sort of
S2: saw a niche and thought, you know, this is something
S2: we really want to be a part of and really
S2: get into that space and make a difference there.
S3: Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, the idea of actually working specifically
S3: in disabilities wasn't something that we intended to do. We
S3: had organically done that through, you know, having these participants
S3: come in and do, um, game development courses with us
S3: and traineeships and actually get paid to, to make video games.
S3: And through that process, we noticed that there was a
S3: large number of those, um, coming through that had some
S3: form of disability. It turns out that the industry itself
S3: has at least a 30% number of people who are
S3: identified as having a disability. So it ends up really
S3: lending lending itself well, particularly to those on the spectrum.
S3: So yeah, we kind of stumbled into that, uh, fact
S3: that we had helped so many people with disabilities and
S3: had done that for years and years before we even
S3: looked at other ways we could directly help those with
S3: this disability. So we've only directly gone out to have
S3: programs that, for example, could have participants in it using
S3: using NDIS services. Only about three years ago. But we've
S3: been helping people with disabilities that whole 17 years.
S2: Oh, wow. And had you or, you know, members of
S2: your team had much experience with disability before encountering it,
S2: with clients and people coming in and taking part in,
S2: you know, the activities that Nightmare Games had to offer.
S2: And what was that learning curve like for you in
S2: the team?
S3: Sure. Well, it wasn't that hard a jump for us
S3: because we, like myself, I have ADHD and a number
S3: of other our staff members have got various disabilities of
S3: some sort. So we found that we actually ended up
S3: really resonating with those with the disability, particularly those on
S3: the spectrum very naturally anyway, because a number of us,
S3: upwards of half of us, had some form of, uh,
S3: something on the spectrum or something, uh, that made us
S3: able to relate to those who were coming through. So obviously,
S3: as we've expanded to focus on those with a disability,
S3: we've encountered people with different disabilities that we haven't come
S3: across before, which obviously provided some accessibility challenges that we've
S3: had to work through. But yeah, we've been very happy
S3: to work through those and just, you know, even just
S3: feeling the impact on the participants who, you know, have
S3: received our services and have made a huge difference in
S3: their lives, um, that's definitely made any kind of, um,
S3: issues with, with trying to get that coordinated very much
S3: worth it.
S2: So cool. And, um, following on from that, Alfie, I'd
S2: love to have a chat about a couple of programs
S2: that Nightmare Studios are involved with lately, starting off with
S2: the Vibe coding initiative. Tell us a bit about that one.
S3: Yeah, so the Vibe Coding initiative is a brand new initiative,
S3: so I would need to talk about the broader group
S3: that we're focusing on lately first. But basically, we have
S3: a social games community that connects our veteran game developers,
S3: as well as community managers and even those who work
S3: in various other roles in a clinical sense, with those
S3: that are passionate about video games. And yeah, and then
S3: a lot of those participants are actually secretly suffering from
S3: loneliness and social anxiety as well. So the community basically
S3: gets together and either plays games or creates games. And
S3: then that allows a space for people to develop their
S3: social skills whilst engaging with them, something that they love
S3: as it could be like Minecraft or digital art or
S3: game design, or even virtual Dungeons and Dragons that we
S3: do as well. And so ultimately, our purpose is to
S3: transform lives through games. And so we'll we'll find various
S3: means to do that. And the latest one of those
S3: is the vibe coding group. So happy to cover that
S3: unless you've got another question. In the meantime.
S2: No, that's um, some. That's really interesting. Um, did you
S2: have any more details about the social games groups? Because that's, um,
S2: that's quite, um, intriguing as well. How long has that
S2: been going for and what sort of reception have you
S2: had over the years when it has been running?
S3: Yeah. So it's only been going for about three years now,
S3: which is probably a long time in the space. But uh,
S3: certainly the program itself has had a great reception. So
S3: participants obviously a lot of them love video games, and
S3: there's a lot of people out there who love video
S3: games and are missing like a third space, what they
S3: call a third space, or a safer space where people
S3: can come together and not be at work or be
S3: at home like, yeah, so that allows them to actually connect.
S3: A lot of them connect online. So it is actually
S3: done primarily through online, but it allows them to still
S3: enjoy that social aspect, no matter where they are, and
S3: have that community of people that they form genuine connections
S3: with and genuine friendships with. And, uh, yeah, we've had
S3: a lot of participants come back to us saying that
S3: they love the program and it's changed their life. It's
S3: become like an extension of their family for some of them.
S2: Oh that's fantastic. And it certainly is a great time
S2: to jump back into the details around vibe coding. Now
S2: we've got a bit of that context and you know
S2: how it's become that offshoot of the social games groups.
S2: Why don't we jump into the details around vibe coding?
S3: Yeah. So vibe coding as a concept has only been
S3: around for a couple of months now. It's very recently
S3: started to hit the mainstream of people who are interested
S3: in AI or interested in game development in some way.
S3: And so it's a, it's a, it's a form of, um,
S3: coding that's available now. People can just jump in and
S3: actually start vibe coding today. They can connect up a
S3: large language model to their coding environment and then also
S3: and then from there, from just doing that, they can
S3: actually type and talk to the AI like the same
S3: as you would ask an AI about a particular topic
S3: or whatever. You would ask it to make a game
S3: using whatever parameters and whatever things you want to have
S3: in it, and it would go away and actually make
S3: that game for you. And so when you first ask
S3: it to do it, it'll produce a bunch of code,
S3: and then you can test it out. And if you
S3: find anything you want to improve, or if you find
S3: any mistakes that you want it to fix, then you
S3: would have it be fixed through engaging in conversation with
S3: the AI and not actually typing a single line of code.
S2: Are there any sort of details around where and when
S2: the vibe coding sessions will take place? Is that set
S2: in stone yet for people?
S3: Yeah, so we've actually teed up our first live coding
S3: session for the last day of this month. So it
S3: should be the 30th of this month or Wednesday night.
S3: And that'll be the first, like official vibe coding session.
S3: It'll be done. Still in the social games development community
S3: that we have. That happens on a Wednesday night. And
S3: so participants will people can just come along and check
S3: out the program, at least before the actual Vibe Coding day,
S3: to just see if they find that they're a fit
S3: for joining the community. They can come along for a
S3: free session, and then if they enjoy that free session
S3: and want to start coming along, then that would be
S3: the way that they could start coming along to these
S3: vibe coding sessions that we will be having at least fortnightly,
S3: if not weekly, based on the interest.
S2: Well that's fantastic. There's a little sneak peek vibe coding
S2: session for people to dip their toe in and have
S2: a go. Check it out and see if it's the
S2: right thing for them. That's a great way to do it.
S2: And elfy, in terms of where the sessions are taking place,
S2: I understand it's mostly online, but have there been other
S2: in-person things that have happened and possibly coming up in
S2: the future?
S3: Yeah, absolutely. So we do deliver it primarily online and
S3: it's to 99% of Australia. So basically if you have
S3: a broadband internet connection, you can join the program. And
S3: for those that want to progress to doing something in person, um,
S3: because often it takes a lot more confidence to come
S3: in and do it in face to face, and we
S3: prefer to actually meet our participants where they're at with
S3: what they prefer to do. But we have done some
S3: in-person things in the past, and we're actually looking at
S3: doing some more events starting in Brisbane in the coming
S3: months as well. In person at a yeah, a studio location.
S2: Oh, cool. And, um, you mentioned there that one of
S2: the initial vibe coding sessions is free, but what's the
S2: sort of structure for prices going forward with either the
S2: social games groups or the vibe coding sessions, if people
S2: would like to take part?
S3: Sure. So if people want to participate in the social
S3: games community beyond the first discovery session, there is a
S3: nominal charge that we would have per session if they're
S3: doing it under a fee for service, but it is
S3: covered completely by services like the NDIS. There's there's no
S3: out of pocket for the participants at all if they
S3: happen to be on the NDIS and otherwise. Yeah, we
S3: have rather nominal charges for our services each week that
S3: can come from other places if they wanted to fund it, but. Yeah.
S2: All right. Cool. If people would like to find out
S2: more about the social games groups or vibe coding, or
S2: maybe they just want to find out a bit more
S2: about Nightmare Studios, what are the best ways for people
S2: to do that?
S3: Yeah, the best way would be to hop on to
S3: social Dot nightmare and it's spelled l I g h
S3: t m a r e. So like nightmare but with light.
S3: So that's social.nightmare.com.au. And that has a page about the
S3: social games community in general. And then as far as
S3: the vibe coding part, they would need to maybe just
S3: when they express interest on the on the form, mention
S3: the vibe coding as an interest, and we'll try and
S3: get them in for an earlier session so that they
S3: can still join that session. The first session coming up
S3: on the 30th. Obviously, we're going to have more than
S3: just the one session, so there's no real urgency. But
S3: if they want to be one of the very founding
S3: people in the vibe coding group, then that would be
S3: the best way to do that. Just go to social. social.com.
S3: Fill out the form and then we can coordinate for
S3: them to have a free discovery session to see if
S3: they like it. And then the other thing to mention
S3: as well is, um, you know, those who have vision impairment,
S3: there's also means and tools that we can connect the
S3: participant to so that they can actually start to vibe
S3: code without touching a keyboard, and they can create something
S3: auditory or whatever they want to create. Again, just through
S3: vocal conversation, instead of having to type, they can just
S3: talk to the AI and the AI talks to the Mac.
S3: So that's another thing we'll be setting up with those
S3: who have, you know, some form of inability to type,
S3: or they'd prefer to just do it through voice.
S2: Oh that's incredible. No, that sounds fantastic. Well, I'm really
S2: looking forward to seeing how the Vibe coding initiative goes.
S2: Let's possibly catch up in a few months, and we
S2: can get a little bit of a progress report and
S2: tell us a bit about how the first six months
S2: have gone. So that's very exciting. Looking forward to catching
S2: up with you then. I've been speaking today with Elfie Coyle,
S2: founder and creative director of Lightmass Studios, in charge of
S2: game development and a training academy for people with disabilities
S2: to get involved in social gaming and more recently, the
S2: Vibe coding initiative coming up very shortly. Elfie, thank you
S2: so much for your time today. It was great to
S2: catch up with you and chat about all the things
S2: Lightmass Studios has been up to.
S3: It's been fantastic chatting with you Sam, and I'm looking
S3: forward to potentially coming back with some of the, you know,
S3: maybe some of the projects that some of the participants
S3: have worked on would be really cool to check out
S3: as well.
S2: I'm Sam Corley and you're listening to Talking Vision on
S2: Vision Australia Radio, Associated Stations of Reading Radio and the
S2: Community Radio Network. I hope you enjoyed that conversation with
S2: Alfie Coyle there. If you missed any part of that
S2: conversation with Alfie or you'd love to hear it again.
S2: Talking vision is available on the podcast app of your
S2: choice or through the Vision Australia library. You can also
S2: find the podcast of the show on the Vision Australia
S2: Radio website. Simply head to RVA radio Dot. That's RVA
S2: radio Dot. And now it's time for some Easter news
S2: and information. The Vision Australia Easter Egg Hunt is back
S2: in Bendigo. Coming up this good. Friday, April 18th, 2025
S2: from 9:40 a.m. to 5 p.m. it costs $18 each
S2: and it's located, as always, at Rosalind Park in Bendigo.
S2: Join the exciting search for 85,000 Easter eggs in Rosalind
S2: Park on Good Friday. The chocolate eggs will be hidden
S2: in straw at the beautiful Rosalind Park for more than
S2: 4000 children to find. Easter egg hunts are organised for
S2: separate age groups over various time slots throughout the day.
S2: See the below table on the website, which I'll give
S2: at the end. Come and say hello to Vision Australia's
S2: Seeing Eye Dogs, who will be part of the Easter
S2: action too. They've had to make a change to the
S2: product used in their Easter egg hunt due to supply issues. No,
S2: the Easter eggs are unaffected, but this year they'll be
S2: using straw and hay instead of wooden wool. They appreciate
S2: your understanding and can assure you that the change will
S2: not impact the fun and excitement of the event. In
S2: regards to tickets, tickets will be available for purchase prior
S2: to the event. Tickets will be available to purchase via
S2: the Bendigo Visitor Centre by visiting the website, or calling 1800 813 153.
S2: That's 1800 813 153. Tickets can also be purchased in person at
S2: the Bendigo Visitor Centre at 51 to 67 Pall Mall,
S2: Bendigo Limited. Tickets may be available on the day, subject
S2: to availability. They've added an extra, all accessible hunt for
S2: children who need a little extra support. This hunt will
S2: have a much smaller amount of participants and be held
S2: at 9:40 a.m., before the park becomes too busy. Spaces
S2: are limited. All proceeds go towards supporting the local services.
S2: Vision Australia provides to people who are blind or have
S2: low vision living in the Bendigo region. To find out more,
S2: visit the Bendigo Easter Festival website at Bendigo Easter Festival.
S2: That's Bendigo Easter festival. And search for Vision Australia. Easter
S2: egg hunt. You can also visit the Bendigo Visitors Centre
S2: website at Bendigo region. That's Bendigo. And in some other
S2: Easter news, the hundred K team has released ten fun,
S2: long weekend ideas to go 100 K your way. So
S2: here's ten long weekend KM boosters with a four day
S2: weekend in sight. There's a great opportunity to plan a
S2: power up on your 100 Koa efforts. Whether you're taking
S2: it slow and enjoying time with loved ones, or blazing
S2: your case with a four day fitness frenzy, here are
S2: ten ideas to boost your kilometres this weekend. Take a
S2: hike in a place you've never visited before. Check out
S2: this list of inclusive all abilities trials for inspiration, which
S2: you can find at trial. Hiking. That's trial hiking. And
S2: search all inclusive. Trials. Australia. Enjoy some screen free time
S2: with a family bike ride. Visit the local pool and
S2: get in some extra laps before winter sets in. Play
S2: backyard sports after lunch. Explore new towns by foot on
S2: a day trip or holiday. Take the kids to the
S2: local zoo. Spend a day at your local botanic gardens.
S2: Take your dog to the beach for a long walk
S2: and play. Play tag with the kids for a fun.
S2: Run around and rollerblade your local beach or river boardwalk.
S2: You can download a free KM planner by heading to
S2: Vision Australia's fundraising page at Fundraising Vision Australia. That's Fundraiser
S2: Australia and search under Planners and Tallies, where you'll see
S2: an activity conversion chart. And lots of teams really went
S2: the distance in kilometers and fundraising last week. You can
S2: check out the 100 K Your Way leaderboard to see
S2: the latest rankings for teams and individuals. Again, to check
S2: out everyone's progress. You can head to fundraiser dot. That's
S2: fundraiser Dot to check out how everyone's 100 K is going.
S2: Or if you'd like to particularly check out how your
S2: Vision Australia radio favorites are tracking along, you can head
S2: to the Vision Australia Radio website, of course at radio Dot.
S2: That's VA radio dot and click the link on the
S2: front page to head to the Vision Australia Radio 100
S2: K pages featuring all teams from Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and
S2: regional Victoria. And now here's Frances Kelland with her radar recommended.
S4: Thank you Sam. Now today's reader recommended is a timely
S4: one because sadly, we saw the passing of father Bob
S4: Maguire and this book is one we've had in the
S4: library collection for a little while. Its father, Bob the
S4: Larrikin Priest by Sue Williams. This is the life story
S4: of father Bob Maguire. A rare behind the scenes look
S4: at the much loved people's priest. The enigmatic champion of
S4: the down and out was shaped by a lonely childhood
S4: in poor circumstances, an early priesthood that collided with the
S4: upheaval of Vatican Two and working with the army during
S4: the Vietnam War. This is a lively portrait of the
S4: man behind the resilient social activist and popular media performer,
S4: who refuses to be defeated by enforced retirement from the
S4: parish over which he presided for nearly 40 years. Let's
S4: hear a sample of father Bob, the Larrikin Priest by
S4: Sue Williams. It's narrated by Richard Bligh.
S5: The most chilling sound of young Bob Maguire's childhood was
S5: his father's heavy footfall on the front doorstep, followed by
S5: the scratch of a fumbled key in the lock as
S5: he stumbled home from yet another drunken evening at the pub,
S5: the family would hold their breath in fear, waiting to
S5: see just what would walk in. Sometimes it would be
S5: his dad, in a genial mood, animated with ale and conversation,
S5: telling jokes, singing songs, reciting passages from Shakespeare and recounting
S5: funny anecdotes from his years spent at sea. More often,
S5: it would be a dark, smoldering stranger who didn't want
S5: to know his kids and could, with his temper on
S5: a hair trigger, explode into violence at any moment. It
S5: was their mum who was his usual target, and she
S5: regularly endured savage beatings. The four children would cower in
S5: terror as their father lashed out in an alcoholic rage,
S5: frequently leaving his wife cut, bloodied and bruised. Even today,
S5: three quarters of a century later, Bobby's older brother Jim
S5: can still picture the handprints of blood left smeared on
S5: the walls as she struggled to get away from him
S5: and out of the sight of the children. At other times,
S5: their eldest sibling, Eileen, found herself on the wrong side
S5: of his fists. But Bobby, the baby of the family,
S5: has few memories of any of that. I think I
S5: probably just blocked it out, he says now. But I
S5: do remember the only time my father communicated with me.
S5: He'd been away, and when he came home, he beat
S5: me with his belt. He was always a bad drunk.
S5: And that's the only time I can ever remember him
S5: taking any notice of me.
S4: And that was a sample of father Bob by Sue Williams.
S4: If you would like to borrow that book, if you
S4: would like to join the library and find out about
S4: other wonderful books they have, you can always call 1300 654 656.
S4: That's 1300 654 656. Or you can email the library at Library
S4: at Vision Australia. That's library at Vision In Australia.
S2: And that's all the time we have for today. You've
S2: been listening to Talking Vision. Talking vision is a Vision
S2: Australia radio production. Thanks to all involved with putting the
S2: show together every week. And remember, we love hearing from you.
S2: So please get in touch anytime on our email at
S2: Talking at Vision Australia. That's talking vision all. One word
S2: at Vision Australia. But until next week. It's Sam Culley
S2: saying bye for now.
S1: You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during
S1: business hours on 130084746. That's one 384 74 six. Or
S1: by visiting Vision Australia. That's Vision Australia.