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Kiwi Talkz

Kiwi

Podcast with various Video Game developers as well as other people involved in entertainment such as TV/Film

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  • 21 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 1 hr 14 min
  • English

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Episodes 21

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  • #215
    Monday · 1 hr 5 min

    #215 - Rico Flores On Uncharted 4, Naughty Dog's Engine, Crunch, Animation, Bruce Straley, DEFECT..

    Rico Flores is an animator who is best known for his tenure on Uncharted 3 & 4, he is currently at emptyvessel working on their game DEFECT #uncharted4 #uncharted #uncharted3 TWITTER - @r1c00 WEBSITE - https://www.emptyvessel.io/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:34 - Animating Doors Is Tedious/Naughty Dog Has A Door System 03:12 - Being Chucked In The Deep End On Uncharted 3/How Rico Got Hired 08:10 - Rico Had No Idea How Prestigious Naughty Dog Was When He Got Hired 08:47 - Being Interviewed At Naughty Dog 09:58 - Working On Uncharted 4 12:15 - Assets On Uncharted 4 Werent Carried Over From Uncharted 3/Mocap 14:00 - The Benefits Of Mocap 17:13 - You Could Shoot Mocap As Much As You Wanted At Naughty Dog 20:00 - Naughty Dog’s Flat Structure 22:50 - Intergalactic 25:10 - Crunch On Uncharted 4 28:43 - Staying Healthy While Doing Crunch 31:11 - Commuting Time In L.A. 33:05 - Why Rico Left Naughty Dog/Naughty Dog Pay 36:46 - Culture Of Bioware/Incorporating ND Culture Into Bioware 38:10 - Emptyvessel/Meeting Emanuel Palilic/AAA Isn’t Safe For Devs Now 42:20 - Destructible Terrain In DEFECT/Optimisation 44:45 - Single Player Will Be In DEFECT As Well 46:43 - Mick Gordon 47:43 - Q+A - How Naughty Dog Pull Off Animations Ahead Of It’s Time 50:15 - Naughty Dog’s Engine 52:10 - Q+A - Biggest Challenge In Animating Nathan Drake 54:00 - Working With Programmers 57:12 - Q+A - What Challenge Kept You Up At Night 59:59 - Institutional Knowledge/Microsoft Layoffs 1:01:26 - Working With Bruce Straley 1:02:50 - Where To Follow Rico Flores/Follow DEFECT

  • #214
    August 17 · 1 hr 8 min

    #214 - Kris Roberts On Midnight Club 5, RDR1, GTA 6, Rockstar, RAGE Engine, Houser Brothers etc.

    Kris Roberts was a former designer on Midnight Club 3, Los Angeles and Red Dead Redemption, in this episode he talks about his work at R*. WEBSITE - https://www.robertsmania.com/ T WITCH - https://www.twitch.tv/robertsmania YOUTUBE - @Robertsmania TWITTER - @Robertsmania #rockstargames #midnightclub #reddeadredemption TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - How Kris Got Into Cars 01:58 - Working On Midnight Club Series/Angel Studios Early Days 05:57 - Midnight Club 2/Working In Gamesb 07:40 - The Key To Good Vehicle Simulations & Tuning 10:05 - Kris Takes Shots At Need For Speed 11:00 - iRacing Simulation/Realistic Simulations 12:30 - VR Driving Simulation 14:15 - GTA’s Vehicle Tuning 16:06 - Kris Is Not Interested In GTA 6 16:30 - The ARTS Engine Became The RAGE Engine 18:40 - How The RAGE Engine Evolved By RDR1 20:52 - RAGE Engine Summit 22:45 - Why Midnight Club 5 Was Cancelled 27:00 - Red Dead Revolver 29:00 - Initial Skepticism Over Developing Red Dead Redemption 30:15 - Being The Lead For RDR1 Multiplayer 33:15 - Kris Was Stressed Being A Leader 38:00 - Crunch On RDR1 42:15 - Dan & Sam Houser 45:45 - RDR1 Multiplayer Never Got Relief Unlike The Main Team 47:43 - Rockstar Wives Fallout/Jury Duty 48:40 - RDR1 Multiplayer Being Broken At Launch 52:20 - Why Kris Left Rockstar/Completion Bonus/Layoffs 59:10 - Kris Only Does Contracting Now/Working With Sony Online 1:03:21 - Q+A - Was RDR1 Multiplayer Always Planned As A Sandbox 1:03:50 - Q+A - How Fun Was It To Debug Customisation Options In MC3 1:05:40 - Q+A - Was Undead Zombies Considered For RDR1 In Free Roam 1:06:38 - Where To Follow Kris/Doing A 2nd Podcast About Valve

  • #213
    July 25 · 1 hr 21 min

    #213 - Unleash The Avatar - India's First AAA Game | Developer Interview With Varun Mayya

    Varun Mayya is an entrepreneur, content creator, author and now he is venturing into game development and working on India's most ambitious game ever. Unleash The Avatar #unleashtheavatar #indiangaming See the latest trailer gameplay footage here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_zBp21BWI0 WEBSITE - https://www.unleashtheavatargame.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:28 - Varun Loves The Mechanics Of Dota & Rocket League 03:56 - How Varun Started Making Video Games 05:15 - Journey To Making Unleash The Avatar/Multiplayer Games 06:00 - Soulslikes/Black Myth Wukong/Sekiro 07:39 - Games Are Sustainable/Gamers Demands 11:19 - Unreal Engine/Photogrammetry Of India For Unleash The Avatar 12:48 - Scanning An Entire Indian Town For Assets In Unreal Engine 15:00 - 1st Trailer For Unleash The Avatar Was To Hire Talent 16:15 - Varun’s Smart Plan To Hire The Best Engineers 19:12 - Aftermath Of 2nd Trailer 21:30 - Developing The Game Start Up Style/Revelation From The 2nd Trailer 23:02 - Bollywood Influence On The Game/Anatomy Of The Story 28:10 - Varun Is Closely Involved With The Entire Project 29:43 - Target Audience For Unleash The Avatar 32:10 - Using A Metronome For The Bosses 33:20 - Aura Farming/Taunts In The Game/Difficulty Settings 36:22 - Black Myth Wukong Inspirations & Differences 41:39 - Black Myth Wukong’s Marketing 43:16 - Bold Marketing Strategy For Unleash The Avatar 50:14 - Why India Hasn’t Produced AAA Games/Entrepreneurs 54:55 - Risk & Reward/Varun’s Views On Business 57:00 - Stigma From Parents Regarding Gaming & Content Creation In India 59:00 - Success & Failures Drives Everything Forward 1:00:10 - Economics Of AAA Games In India Vs U.S. 1:06:40 - Unleash The Avatar Was Largely Made Inhouse/Rockstar India 1:08:31 - Why India Will Become A Haven For Game Development 1:13:30 - Assassin’s Creed Setting In India 1:15:30 - Indian Lore & Culture In Unleash The Avatar 1:18:39 - Where To Keep Up To Date With Unleash The Avatar

  • #212
    July 11 · 1 hr 15 min

    #212 - John Ricchio On GTA 5, GTA 6, Rockstar, RDR1, Leadership, AI, Crunch, Cut Content etc.

    John Ricchio was a former producer at Rockstar on games such as GTA 5, RDR1 & Max Payne 3. In this interview he covers his time training people on QA, being a producer and a leader to teams at Rockstar, working on GTA, RDR, MP and more.. #gta #gta5 #rockstargames TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:27 - The Importance Of QA/Training QA People 04:30 - QA People At Rockstar/Advancing Your Career From QA 08:19 - Will AI Be Used To Save Time For QA 12:21 - Unicorn Dev Specialists/T Shaped Game Developers 14:30 - Managing Over 200 People On RDR & GTA 5/Producing Challenges 21:45 - Relinquishing Control/R* San Diego Changed Processes For GTA 5 24:40 - Cut Content From GTA 5 Due To Resources 26:10 - Working Through Constraints/Picking Your Battles 27:10 - Having Your Work Cut From R* Games 28:37 - Will GTA 5 Cut Content Be In GTA 6 29:21 - Cancelled Game Content Ended Up In GTA IV/Tech Changes 30:02 - New Ideas Usually Transcend Cut Content 30:57 - RDR Undead Nightmare/Hot Coffee Mini Game 32:05 - Rockstar’s Approach To DLC 33:17 - Managing R* Devs During High Times Of Stress/Crunch 41:20 - R*Can Get Away With Anything/Unionisation 42:15 - R” Are Good Because Of Iteration But It’s At The Cost Of Crunch 43:26 - Why John Left Rockstar/Crunch 46:45 - Leaders Initiate Crunch Either For Results Or Out Of Fear 52:40 - John Speaks About GTA 6 57:40 - The Future Of The Industry 1:00:11 - Q+A - Will R* Devs Lose More Creative Freedom As The Studio Gets Bigger 1:03:43 - Hanging Out With Dan & Sam Houser 1:05:10 - Following GTA 5’s Model For GTA 6 1:06:03 - GTA 5’s Launch 1:07:02 - Q+A - How Much Did The 360/PS3 Limit The Scope Of GTA 5 1:09:30 - Why R* Release On Console First Before PC 1:12:30 - John Is Currently Unemployed/Where To Follow John

  • #211
    June 20 · 1 hr 3 min

    #211 - Andrew Kim On Naughty Dog, Uncharted, Marvel, Film, Concept Art, Sony Santa Monica

    Andrew Kim is a freelance concept artist who has worked on video games, tv and film. Hes done numerous concepts for games in the MCU and he did concept art for Uncharted 2-4 #uncharted #uncharted4 #uncharted3 ANDREWS WEBSITE IS HERE https://www.andrewkimart.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:34 - Differences Between Working In Video Games & Film/TV 04:41 - Getting A Job at Naughty Dog 07:20 - Working With The Designers On Concept Art For Uncharted 09:03 - The Process Was Similar Between Uncharted 2,3 & 4 10:46 - Leaving Marvel/Being A Freelancer On Uncharted 4 12:30 - Why Andrew Left Naughty Dog 15:30 - How Film Union Works 18:23 - The Challenges Of Being A Freelancer In The Film Industry 20:55 - It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know 21:30 - How You Network In The Film Industry 23:10 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 2 33:40 - Sony Santa Monica Has 6 Hour Interviews 35:30 - Naughty Dog Interview Was 20 Minutes 36:19 - Interviewing Process In The Game Industry Now 37:49 - Andrew Would Work On Uncharted 5 If Asked 39:20 - Andrew Had Limited Interactions With Amy & Bruce 40:17 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 3 42:39 - Uncharted 3 Piece Got Andrew His Job At Marvel 44:00 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 3 59:36 - Where To Follow Andrew

  • #210
    June 6 · 1 hr 4 min

    #210 - Quentin Cobb Interview On Uncharted 4, The Last Of Us, Naughty Dog, Ironroot Games

    Quentin Cobb is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ironroot Games, he was previously a designer at Naughty Dog on Uncharted 4 & The Last Of Us and did a 5 year stint at Zenimax before on a cancelled project he was laid off. #uncharted4 #uncharted #thelastofus SOCIALS TWITTER - @QTrainCobb INSTAGRAM @qtrain.cobb/ @I IronrootGames https://ironrootgames.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - Why Quentin Cobb Loves Wutang Clan 01:37 - Crunch On Uncharted 4 04:02 - Working On Lost Legacy 04:40 - Why Quentin Left Naughty Dog 06:07 - Was It Harder To Salvage Uncharted 4 Rather Than Creating A New Game 07:36 - Quentin Worked On Chapter 8 In Uncharted 4 09:00 - Puzzle Sequences Were Difficult In Uncharted 4/Bruce Straley 10:35 - Difficulty Of Making Puzzles 11:50 - Shifting Mindset From Single Player To Multiplayer 13:39 - Why The Last Of Us Was A Life Changing Experience/Working With Bruce Straley 19:30 - Sony Executives Didn’t Believe The Last Of Us Would Succeed 20:30 - Naughty Dog Was Shocked How Well The Last Of Us Was Received 22:30 - Overcoming The Trauma Of Project Blackbird Being Cancelled 27:00 - Indie Dev Community Are Kind & Supportive 28:01 - Ironroot Games New Action-Adventure Project 29:40 - Naughty Dog Teams Were Well Connected/Small Team Sizes 32:00 - AAA Is All About Trends As Opposed To Making Games With A Heart 34:00 - Creating A Unique Game Can Be Tricky 36:30 - Advice From Bruce Straley/Pacing In Games 40:17 - Microsoft Pulled Funding For Bruce Straley’s Indie Game 41:40 - How Devs Try To Get In Front Of Layoffs/AAA Industry Isn’t Stable 43:04 - Naughty Dog Layoffs/No One Is Safe 44:00 - Last Of Us Part II/Quentin Is Glad He Didnt Work On It 45:39 - Working On Last Of Us Part 1 Was Nostalgic 46:30 - Intergalactic/Meeting His Old Naughty Dog Colleagues 48:05 - Quentin Didnt Work Much With Amy & Neil 48:58 - Q+A - Why Was India Chosen For Lost Legacy 50:17 - Is It Easier To Make A Story First Or Design Mechanics First 51:30 - Q+A - How To Get A Design Job At Naughty Dog 54:30 - A Portfolio Is More Important Than A Degree 57:19 - Q+A - What New Things Were Possible Going From PS3 To PS4 For Uncharted 58:55 - Diminishing Returns With The Next Hardware 1:00:30 - Padding In Open World Games 1:03:05 - Where To Follow Ironroot Games & Quentin

  • #209
    May 23 · 1 hr 6 min

    #209 -Jake Kazdal Interview On Nintendo, Eiji Aonuma, Zelda, SEGA, Hirokazu Tanaka, Awaysis

    Jake Kazdal is a japanese game developer who has worked on games such as Galak-Z and Skulls Of The Shogun, he has worked for Nintendo, SEGA and Square Enix and is releasing his new game Awaysis very soon. This is a rare pullback of the curtain on Japanese design. #nintendo #zelda #botw WEBSITE - http://awaysis.jp/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/3334760/Awaysis/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:45 - Differences Between Japanese & Western Development 02:30 - Differences Between SEGA & Square Enix/Japanese Work Culture 07:00 - Nintendo Devs Are Retiring/Japanese Devs Are Nimble 09:15 - Kyoto’s Indie Scene/Hiring People At 17-Bit 10:39 - Japanese Labour Laws 11:40 - What Nintendo Devs Do Once They Retire/Retirement Age At Nintendo 11:46 - Nintendo Dev Legends Have Playtested Awaysis 14:11 - Playtesting With Awaysis 16:25 - Importance Of Iterating On Tutorials/What Is Awaysis 20:20 - Local Multiplayer Can’t Be Matched/Online Multiplayer/Covid 23:30 - Getting Hirokazu Tanaka To Compose Awaysis/Jake Is A Huge Nintendo Fan 25:40 - Pitch To Hirokazu Tanaka 26:50 - Physics System Of Awaysis 29:54 - Super Mario 64/Game Controls Are Too Tight Nowadays 33:28 - Graphics Take Precedent Over Physics 34:28 - The Physics System In Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom 36:40 - Being Friends With Eiji Aonuma/The Glider In BOTW 38:14 - Physics Limitations In Unreal Engine 42:24 - Zelda BOTW & TOTK Are Masterpieces/Next Zelda 43:15 - Friendship With Eiji Aonuma 44:17 - Working At SEGA/Being Mentored By Tetsuya Mizuguchi 46:19 - Working With Steven Spielberg On Elemeno/Mirrors Edge 50:21 - Original Ideas In Games Are Few & Far Between 52:30 - Oversaturation Of Indie Games/Devs Leaving The Industry 55:11 - Devs Getting Laid Off Despite Success/The Dire State Of The Industry 56:15 - Stability Working At Nintendo & Valve/Struggles For Funding 01:01:00 - Gen-Z Play GAAS/Gamers Are Playing Old Games 1:03:49 - Where To Keep Up With Awaysis

  • #208
    May 9 · 56 min

    REVIEW - Super Mario Galaxy Movie With Former Nintendo Devs!!

    I got together some of the old Retro Studios crew including Kynan Pearson (Metroid Prime 2,3 & DKCR), Jay Epperson (DKCR & Tropical Freeze), Eric Kozlowsky (DKC Tropical Freeze) and Brad Taylor (DKC Tropical Freeze), the latter has never appeared on the show before. Hope you enjoy this, cause we had a blast recording it. #supermariogalaxy #supermario #mariogalaxy TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:25 - Overrall Thoughts 08:30 - Fox/Starfox Movie 09:53 - Smash Bros Movie 12:00 - Super Mario World Vinettes 13:12 - Lack Of Story/Nintendo Are Still Learning How To Make Movies 14:53 - Nintendo Fans Are Aging Out 16:00 - The Movie Shouldve Been Super Mario World Instead Of Super Mario Galaxy 18:03 - No Licensed Music 19:46 - Should Mario Have A Deeper Story? 24:04 - Film Critics Don’t Respect Gaming/Video Game Films 25:01 - Peach Is OP/Super Mario Bros 2 27:15 - Where Do They Go From Here 30:21 - Rumored Star Fox Game/Fox Appearance 33:38 - Kiwi’s Opinion On The Film/Hollwood Actors Being Mario Fans 36:25 - Being An Artist And Picking Apart Art In The Movie 39:43 - The Film Should Be Watched At 0.7 Watch Speed 40:30 - Nintendo Are Hands On With Legacy Characters 43:10 - Bowser Jr 44:30 - Koopalings/3rd Mario movie/Cappy 45:30 - Super Mario Odyssey/Original Idea For SMO’s Artstyle 48:00 - The Soundtrack/Starfox 49:23 - Nintendo Cross Promotion 52:40 - DKC Tropical Freeze Original Name 53:53 - Final Thoughts/Plugs For Nothing LOL 54:57 - The Dire State Of The Game Industry

  • #207
    April 25 · 1 hr 7 min

    #207 - Heather Cerlan Interview On Naughty Dog, Bethesda, Last Of Us, Hawthorne, Creation Engine

    Heather Cerlan a former artist at Naughty and Bethesda, in this interview she shares her journey from a passionate artist to a studio founder, discussing her experiences at Naughty Dog and Bethesda, her insights on game development, and her ambitious new project Hawthorne. Discover lessons on persistence, navigating industry challenges, and the future of game art and design. HAWTHORNE INFO https://playhawthorn.com/ #thelastofus #starfield #uncharted TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:55 - Being In A Rockband 02:30 - Heather Kept Pestering Naughty Dog Till They Hired Her 06:17 - Having Imposter Syndrome At Naughty Dog/Naughty Dog Didnt Have Producers 08:30 - Bethesda Are About Quantity/Naughty Dog Is About Quality 10:36 - Heather’s Role At Bethesda/Starfield 13:45 - Pros & Cons Of Creation Engine 15:05 - There Was Pressure Internally For Bethesda To Migrate To Unreal Engine 16:59 - Uncharted Lost Legacy Production Issues/Intense Crunch 22:44 - Working On The Shiva Temple 24:28 - Heather’s View On Her Work Getting Remastered/Originals Vs Remasters 29:28 - Working With Neil Druckmann/Lesbian Stories 33:04 - Heather Had Concerns On LGBTQ Themes In Last Of Us Part II 38:00 - Naughty Dog Were Split On Joel’s Death In TLOU Part II 38:48 - The Reason Heather Left Naughty Dog 40:04 - Work On Hawthorne/NEAR Studios 43:41 - Bruce Nesmith 46:00 - Hawthorne Is Skyrim Meets Stardew Valley/Raising Money/Bad Publisher Terms 48:15 - How Naughty Dog & Bethesdas Culture Has Influenced Hawthorne 51:16 - Q + A - Differences Between Naughty Dog & Bethesda 54:54 - Todd Howard Is A Neil Druckmann Fanboy 56:42 - Heather Feels Very Lucky/The Decision To Start Her Own Company 59:18 - Overcoming Fear With Hawthorne 1:05:22 - Where To Follow Heather & Keep Up With Hawthorne

  • #206
    April 18 · 1 hr 39 min

    #206 - Gabriel Betancourt Interview On Naughty Dog, Last Of Us, Neil Druckmann, Lighting, Nintendo

    Gabriel Betancourt is a former lighting artist at Treyarch and of course Naughty Dog. We cover his career at Naughty Dog and various other topics on the game industry. #thelastofus #lastofus #lastofuspart2 WEBSITE - https://gabereel.com/ CALORIE GAME - https://www.caloriequest.app/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro/Gabriel Watches Kiwi Talkz & Lists His Favourite Guests 01:44 - It’s Hard To Find Info On Lighting Artists/Early Days As A Lighting Artist 03:00 - Naughty Dog Has A Designer First, Speciality Second Philosophy 06:25 - Naughty Dog Devs Had Huge Arguments During The Last Of Us 09:17 - Game Development Requires The Risk Of Offending People 13:00 - Delivering Negative News In A Positive Way 14:54 - Game Devs Being Passionate & Emotional 18:45 - Naughty Dog Changed As The Studio Got Bigger/AAA Team Sizes Are Too Big 24:43 - The Brilliance Of Nintendo/Making Your Game Fun 27:35 - 60 People Worked On World Of Warcraft/Small Teams Make The Best Games 29:38 - Graphics & Gameplay Were Even During The Seventh Generation 31:00 - Art Is Used To Cover Up Gameplay Issues 32:34 - Everyone At Naughty Dog During The Last Of Us Was A Monster In Skill 33:00 - How Gabriel Joined Naughty Dog/New IP’s Increasingly Are Risky 36:20 - Bruce Straley & Neil Druckmann Risked Their Careers For The Last Of Us 37:45 - Uncharted 2 Put Naughty Dog On The Map 38:42 - Last Of Us Happened Because Bruce & Neil Were Influenced By Robert McKee Conference 43:44 - Why Gabriel Left Naughty Dog 46:49 - Last Of Us Part 2 Pre-production Ran Like Clockwork 49:58 - Gabriel Was Surprised By The Last Of Us Part 2 Controversy/Gabriel’s Suggestion Was Shot Down By Neil 52:19 - Neil Druckmann’s Specialty/Problems With The Last Of Us Part 2 55:00 - Dubar’s Number/Bureaucracy 01:01:40 - Changes At Naughty Dog That Impacted Last Of Us Part 2 1:06:30 - Specialists Left Naughty Dog Which Created Gaps In Skills Needed In The Teams 1:07:50 - A Game Will Be Good If The Director Has A Vision 1:09:54 - Gabriel Was Initially Skeptical Of The Last Of Us 1:11:39 - On Gabriels First Day Neil & Bruce Had A Special Presentation About The Last Of Us 1:16:35 - Q+A - How Did The Lighting Change Between Uncharted & The Last Of Us 1:30:22 - Q+A - Is Baked Lighting Better Than Path Traced Lighting 1:35:00 - Lighting On GTA 6 Trailers 1:36:03 - Closing Comments/Where To Follow Gabriel

  • #205
    April 11 · 1 hr 32 min

    #205 - Benson Russell Interview On Naughty Dog, The Last Of Us, Uncharted, Neil Druckmann, Scope..

    Benson Russell was a former designer at Naughty Dog on The Uncharted Trilogy and The Last Of Us.He has now started his own consulting firm to help game developers navigate a lot of the pitfalls in game development. #uncharted #thelastofus #naughtydog WEBSITE FOR CONSULTING https://www.unhandledexceptions.io/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:32 - The Most Important Aspect Of Design/Player Fantasy 02:50 - Why Games Take So Long To Make/North Star You Need For Development 05:45 - Why Naughty Dog Games Are So Well Made/Story Is Their North Star 08:18 - Games Shouldn’t Take So Long To Develop/Wandering 13:30 - Scope Neglect/The Doomsday Clock 16:00 - Why Intergalactic Crunch Happened/Naughty Dog Treats Internal Deadlines Like External Deadlines 18:23 - Bureauacracy/How Games Differ From Other Creative Outlets 23:13 - Naughty Dog’s Work Structure 26:20 - Planning/Core Mechanics 27:00 - Flexible Working Hours At Naughty Dog/Crunch At Naughty Dog 29:00 - Why Benson Left Naughty Dog 32:45 - Benson Was P!ssed Off With Naughty Dog Deleting His Work On Last Of Us Part 1 46:01 - Working With Evans Wells & Neil Druckmann 47:00 - Clashing With Neil Druckmann 50:14 - Working With Amy Hennig 51:20 - Uncharted 2’s Introduction/Creating Introductions In Games 56:00 - Focus Testing At Naughty Dog/Companies Interpret Data Wrong 1:02:30 Q+A - How Much Naughty Dog Looks At The Competition When Designing Games 1:06:10 - AAA Studios Pivoting When They Are Too Deep/Games Should Be Cheaper 1:10:00 - Cost Of Game Development On The West Coast/China’s Meteoric Rise 1:16:04 - Uncharted 2 Was Influenced By Resident Evil 5 1:16:48 - Q+A - What Is Naughty Dog’s Hiring & Training Process 1:24:00 - Why Naughty Dog Started Losing Talent 1:26:00 - Is Game Development A Young Person’s Game/Knowledge Isnt Being Passed Down 1:31:00 - Closing Comments

  • #204
    March 28 · 1 hr 25 min

    #204 - Rob Carr Interview On Rockstar Games, GTA 5, GTA 6, Audio Design, AI, Red Dead Redemption....

    Rob Carr is an audio designer who is best known for his tenure at Rockstar Games on L.A. Noire, RDR1, GTA 5 and RDR2. He is currently living in Finland working on his game Nyrkkipöytä #rockstargames #gta #gta5 WEBSITE - https://audioexpat.wordpress.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - How Rob Went From Being A Music Teacher To Working At Rockstar Leeds 07:51 - Moving From Handheld Games To Console Games/Rockstar Have Unlimited Resources 08:30 - The Psychology Of Sound/Finding Sounds That Sound Like Other Sounds 11:19 - There Are No Constraints On Audio With Rockstar Open World Games 13:10 - In Audio Everything You Can Use Is Recordable/Rob Has A 3TB Audio Library 15:17 - Tools & Workflow 19:50 - Technology Evolution/AI 23:51 - Rob Has Been Unemployed For Over A Year/Problems With The Game Industry/ 25:50 - Learning A Coding Language 27:40 - Difference Between Numbers People & Creative People 30:30 - Working On Audio Bugs For Red Dead Redemption 1/Why It’s One Of Rob’s Favorite Games 34:30 - Playing A Game And Not Disecting It 37:30 - The Cost Of Buying Games 39:10 - GTA 6 43:21 - Why Rob Left Rockstar 45:24 - Crunch Culture/Europe Has Better Work Life Balance 46:45 - Moving To Finland/Rob’s Brother Has Motor Neuron Disease 51:35 - Rob Can’t Relocate For Work Anymore/Dire State Of The Game Industry 53:10 - Working From Home Has Ceased Because Of Security Reasons 55:20 - Why Rob Worked At The Office During Covid 56:51 - Dealing With Ear Fatigue During Crunch/How Audio People Deal With Crunch 1:05:30 - Q+A - Do You Physically Go On Location To Get Raw Recordings 1:08:00 - Q+A -What’s Rockstar Setup To Test Audio Systems 1:10:48 - Q+A - Is There A Particular Idea That Had To Be Cut 1:13:52 - Robs Game - Nyrkkipöytä 1:21:19 - Where To Follow Rob

  • #203
    March 14 · 1 hr 15 min

    Fallout Season 2 Review With Former Fallout Devs (Jonah Lobe, Bruce Nesmith etc.)

    I got some of the old devs who worked on Fallout to help review Season 2 of the Fallout series. Bruce Nesmith got the time wrong so didnt join until the last 20 minutes. #fallout #falloutnewvegas #bethesda TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Fallout Is The Best Video Game Adaptation Of All Time 02:21 - Fallout S2 Thoughts Overrall 05:40 - Macauley Caulkins Acting 06:48 - Walton Goggins/The Ghoul 07:44 - Ella Purnell’s Accent As Lucy 08:40 - The Deathclaws 17:05 - The Prydwens/Factions 18:06 - Brotherhood Of Steel Tone Was Wrong 18:50 - Trust The Audience More/Have More Talking Instead Of Actions Scenes 20:21 - S2 Is A Setup For S3/The Roaches Were Scarier Than The Deathclaws 21:07 - Release Strategy 21:56 - Super Mutants/Ron Perlman 26:15 - Super Mutants In Fallout 4/Todd Howard’s Direction 26:50 - Deprioritize Brotherhood Of Steel In Fallout 5 28:10 - Bethesda’s Views On Fallout New Vegas 31:45 - Where Will S3 Go?/The Toddification Might Cause A Degrade 33:00 - Thaddeus/Keep The Show Low Key & Not Focused On Spectacle 35:55 - Casuals Buying The Games As A Result Of The Show 36:37 - Fallout 3 Remaster Will Release After S3/Remasters 37:50 - Bethesda Games Won’t Be Remade 38:57 - Deathclaw Differences Between Fallout 3 & 4 40:10 - Favourite Scenes 46:18 - Devs Give The Show A Score Out Of 10 47:00 - Making The Show Go On Indefinitely 48:13 - Bruce Nesmith Joins & Gives His Review 50:25 - Bruce’s Hopes For S3 50:45 - Will The Show Influence Fallout 5 51:56 - Bethesda Will Give Fallout 5 To Someone Else/Todd Howard 55:45 - Todd Howard’s Retirement 59:22 - Story Threads In S3 Will Be Less 1:01:20 - Hank’s Story/Will The Ghoul’s Story End In S3 1:03:30 - Practical Effects 1:04:59 - Actors Everyone Would Like In A Cameo 1:10:09 - Final Thoughts

  • #202
    March 7 · 1 hr 4 min

    #202 - Featurecast Interview On Terminator 2D No Fate, Composing, Brad Fiedel, Sound Design....

    Featurecast is a DJ turned video game composer, he is most associated with @BitmapBureau and his most recent work was his stellar work on Terminator 2D No Fate. #terminator #terminator2 #terminator2dnofate TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:19 - How The Name Featurecast Came About 04:05 - Working With Bitmap Bureau 08:57 - Learning To Make SFX While Doing It 10:50 - Getting Creative Freedom On Terminator 2D No Fate 14:30 - Scrapping Music And Starting From Scratch/Reviews Praising The Soundtrack 15:45 - Trusting Your Gut 16:00 - How Featurecast Composed For Terminator 2D No Fate 18:10 - Researching The T2 Score/Recreating The Score For T2D No Fate 20:58 - Easter Eggs From T1 & T2 Score/T1000 Death 22:31 - Having The T2 Score On Loop To Prepare/Different Genres In The Music 24:15 - Melody/Terminator Film Scores Don’t Have Melody 26:50 - Blurring The Line Between Music & Sound Design 28:00 - Later Terminator Movies Didnt Capture Brad Fiedels Musical Identity 29:30 - Different Time Signatures/Police Station Time Signature/Future Level 3 31:20 - Writing & Mixing At The Same Time 34:56 - Making The Soundtrack Loud For Bitmap Bureau Games 36:00 - Playing The Game For Inspiration On The Music 38:05 - Music In The Escape From Hospital Level/Bitmap’s Custom Engine 40:10 - Recording The T1000 SFX/Creating SFX/Finding Your Own Way Of Doing Things 43:01 - Not Wanting To Be Influenced By Other Music 44:25 - Going Back And Listening To Your Own Music/LEGO Breakfasts 46:28 - It’s Not What You Know But Who You Know 48:12 - No Longer DJing In Clubs/Patreon/Mashups 51:49 - Q+A - What Drives Composition For Licensed Material 53:22 - Dealing With Imposter Syndrome 54:00 - Playing Music For The Devs The First Time 57:14 - Q+A - What Is Your Favourite Moment From Terminator 2 59:08 - Q+A - What Are Your 3 Favourite VST Instruments 1:00:42 - Changing VSTs For Every Project 1:03:26 - Closing Comments

  • #201
    February 28 · 1 hr 1 min

    #201 - Jay Epperson Interview On Retro Studios, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 7, Concept Art.....

    Jay Epperson is a concept artist who is probably most famous for his concept art on Donkey Kong Country Returns and especially on Tropical Freeze. #nintendo #donkeykong #donkeykongcountry Thanks to the Patreon Producers for making this happen Stipe, Borkey, Magic8 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:35 - How Jay Went From Being An Illustrator To Becoming A Concept Artist At Retro 04:50 - Interview Process At Retro/Getting Artists To Draw In Interviews 07:22 - Coming In As A Concept Artist Towards The End Of DKC Returns 10:20 - Retro’s Environmental Artists Were Smart 11:13 - Jay’s Art Is In The DK Theme Park 13:15 - Working With Designers 16:10 - Doing Concept Art On Tropical Freeze 18:42 - Choosing Vikings Over Aliens For The Concept 19:57 - Tikis Vs Snowmads/Reusing Assets 21:20 - Why The Ice World Is The Last Level 22:00 - Sales On Wii U/Coming Up With The Different World Themes 25:06 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Juicy Jungle World 29:27 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Water World 31:11 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Mangroves World/Cut Concepts 32:38 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Savannah World 33:18 - Showing Portfolios To Potential Employers Without Breaking NDAs 33:50 - There Arent Limitations On The DK IP 34:35 - Referencing Rare’s Work 35:33 - Nintendo Japan Were Hands Off On Concept Art 36:22 - Working On Mario Kart 7/Jay Isn’t Included In The Credits 38:30 - Jay’s Outlook “My Next Piece Will Be My Best Piece” 40:25 - Japan & Retro Testing Mario Kart 7 41:06 - Jay Reviews DK Bananza 25:29 - Jay Thinks DK Bananza Is A One Off 47:00 - Jay Doesnt Like K Rool’s Character Design 50:39 - DK’s New Look 52:22 - Why Jay Left Retro Studios 53:20 - Retro Studios Is One Of The Best Studios To Work For 54:00 - Retro Studios Art Team/Metroid Prime 4 55:35 - Nintendo Are Art Forward Not Technology Forward 56:35 - Will Retro Work On Donkey Kong Again? 57:35 - Will Retro Work On Metroid Prime 5/Would Jay Work On DK Again If Retro Asked 59:40 - Closing Comments

  • #200
    February 14 · 2 hr 16 min

    #200 - Denis Dyack Interview On Nintendo, Eternal Darkness, Deadhaus Sonata, AI, Epic Lawsuit......

    Denis Dyack is a legend in the industry and one of the few devs who has been exposed to both the Japanese and Western way of designing games. He is the man behind Legacy Of Kain and Eternal Darkness. I spoke with him in 2023 and he returns to promote his new game Deadhaus Sonata #nintendo #legacyofkain #epicgames My first interview with him is here https://youtu.be/Txt85DT68rQ WEBSITE - https://deadhaussonata.com/ TWITTER - @DDyack TWITTER - @DeadhausGame TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:00 - Whats Changed In 3 Years Regarding Deadhaus Sonata 05:02 - Deterministic Systems/Quantum Theory 12:00 - Why Taking A Break Benefited The Project/Celestial Clock 14:50 - Weather Physics/Zelda: BOTW/History 20:20 - The Game Will Live Forever/Stop Killing Games 25:20 - The Different Engines Used For Deadhaus Sonata/Unreal Engine 5 27:40 - Why Unreal 5 Games Are Badly Optimised/The Industry Is In Dire Straits 34:20 - GTA 6’s Impact On The Industry/AAA Games Are Too Big In Size 37:29 - Denis’s Thoughts On Resident Evil/Pitching A Game To Nintendo 42:00 - Western Publishers Only Care About Graphics 44:00 - Embracers Demise/Why Pitching Games Now Is So Hard 47:28 - Game Devs Are Terrified Of Nintendo Treehouse 51:20 - How Marketing Teams Look At Games/Lack Of Innovation 53:50 - Getting Investment For Games/Denis Couldnt Get Funding 58:30 - U.S. Culture/Talent/ Japan’s Advantage Over The Rest Of World In Game Development 1:01:50 - Darwinism/People Misunderstand AI 1:12:20 -Technology Doesnt Save Time 1:19:30 - Why Nintendo Will Easily Survive The Dire Times InThe Industry 1:22:15 - AI In Games Can Beneift Gamers 1:24:20 - Prophecy Of Tothe 1:28:09 - Silicon Knights Demise Deeply Hurt Denis/Society Is Crumbling 1:29:30 - Making Up With Epic & Tim After The Lawsuit 1:32:10 - Working With Tanabe/Friendship With Iwata 1:35:00 - Exploitation In The West/Denis Is A Japanese Developer 1:38:00 - Why Miyamoto/Kojima Are One Of A Kind 1:41:11 - Denis Was Crushed When Miyamoto Wasnt Impressed By Realistic Graphics 1:44:10 - Denis Changed Deadhaus Sonata Art From Realistic To Stylized 1:46:15 - Criticism Of Game Trailers/CGI Trailers 1:48:48 - Q+A - Who Came Up With TV Change Effect In Eternal Darkness 1:50:30 - Q+A - What Would A Hyperthetical Sequel To Legacy Of Kain Be 1:57:53 - Q+A - Nintendo’s Approach To Marketing On Eternal Darkness 2:00:02 - Eternal Darkness On NSO/Possible Remake And Sequel 2:02:10 - Worldbuilding In Legacy Of Kain & Eternal Darkness/Narrative Games 2:07:41 - Q+A - Adding Transitions In Eternal Darkness Because The Gamecube Loaded Too Fast 2:10:00 - Consoles Are All The Same Now/AAA Is Now A Bad Moniker 2:13:45 - Closing Comments

  • #199
    Dec 27, 2025 · 1 hr 13 min

    #199 - Alpha 7 Interview On Witcher IV, Witcher III, Motion Capture, CD Projekt Red, Poland and more....

    Alpha 7 is a professional mocap studio that was spun off from owner Maciej Kwiatkowski from working with CD Projekt RED( He played Geralt in the Witcher from 1 through to III.) Staff as follows Maciej Kwiatkowski, Madeline Page and Michal Derlicki #cdprojektred #witcher #cyberpunk2077 SOCIAL MEDIA INSTAGRAM MACIEJ - @maciej_kaskader MADELINE - @madeline_maddie_page MICHAL - @derlickimichal WEBSITE - https://alpha7.pro/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:50 - Mocap Performers Training Regime 03:21 - Gameplay Sessions/Behind The Scenes Of Mocap 04:44 - Advantages Of Mocap Over Shooting On Location 05:45 - Differences Between Mocap In Film & Video Games 07:50 - Motion Capture Changes From Witcher I To Witcher IV 11:21 - Becoming Geralt In The Witcher 14:35 - How The Game Industry Changed In Poland After Witcher III/CD Projekt RED 18:00 - Poland Has An Advantage Over America Now In Terms Of Development Costs 21:23 - Working On The Witcher IV Trailer 25:09 - How They All Met/You Need To Be A Good Actor To Do Mocap 31:35 - Males & Females Playing The Opposite Gender In Mocap 36:55 - Explaining Motion Capture Is Hard To Do Through Words/Gollum 37:50 - Most Challenging Characters To Work On 42:28 - Doing Mocap Despite Being In Pain 43:39 - How Alpha 7 Started 49:21 - Q+A - What Equipment You Need To Do Mocap At Home 52:50 - Q+A - What Is Special About Working With CD Projekt Red 58:55 - Q+A - Benefits & Drawbacks Of AI In Motion Capture & Game Development 1:05:45 - Where To Follow Alpha 7/Gaming Industry Advantages Over Hollywood

  • #198
    Dec 20, 2025 · 1 hr 3 min

    DK Bananza Review With Former Donkey Kong Country Devs!!!

    I am joined by Kynan Pearson (Senior Designer on DKC Returns) and Ted Anderson (Environmental Artist on DKC Returns & Tropical Freeze) to review DKC Bananza #donkeykongbananza #donkeykong #donkeykongcountry TED ANDERSONS UPCOMING GAMES https://store.steampowered.com/app/3565460/Tahitian_Driftin/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/3968340/Foolish_Earthlings/ TED ANDERSONS GAME STUDIO PROMOTION IN AUSTIN TEXAS INFO IS HERE https://www.oddwoodbrewing.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:39 - 2D Sections In DK Bananza 02:45 - Voxel Tech Limiting DK Bananza/Destructible Terrain 06:15 - Animal Transformations/Nintendo’s Design Philosophy Evolution 17:29 - DK Bananza Is A Beautiful Mess/Honouring Rare’s Contributions 22:00 - DK Bananza Music/David Wise’s Absence Is Felt 26:15 - Nostalgia In Nintendo Games 27:10 - Favourite Layer Debate spoilers 30:20 - Void Kong 31:53 - The Final Boss/Ending ***SPOILERS*** 37:50 - Nintendo Universe Merging 40:51 - Mario & DK Crossover 42:50 - DK Bananza Was Built On The Foundation Of Odyssey 43:49 - DK Bananza Control Scheme 51:20 - Voxel Terrain/Camera Issues 53:33 - Art Direction Of The Final Boss 55:30 - Void Kong Boss Fight/Ending Build Up 58:07 - Pauline Singing Mechanics 01:00:28 - Donkey Kong Film 01:02:03 - Closing Comments/Pixel Arcades

  • #197
    Nov 8, 2025 · 1 hr 5 min

    REVIEW - Hollow Knight: Silksong (With Demon Souls Dev)

    Joe Houston who worked on Demon Souls Remake joins me to review the GTA of indie games Hollow Knight:Silksong!! I did an interview with him a number of years ago, which you can find here. https://youtu.be/skAWid5zYfg #silksong #hollowknight #hollowknightsilksong TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:40 - Silksong Overview 01:30 - Silksong’s Difficulty/The Purpose Of Difficulty In Games 07:10 - Runbacks 10:54 - Bosses Of Silksong 13:40 - Progression Doesnt Help With The Difficulty 16:20 - Top Moments In The Game/Story 19:50 - Best Areas In Silksong 22:45 - Demon Souls & Dishonored Shaping Joe’s Views On Silksong 26:37 - Why Demon Souls Remake Didnt Have An Easy Mode/Silksong Nerfs 29:10 - Team Cherry Sticking To It’s Vision/Serving Core Players 31:30 - Silksong Is Too Long/Length In Games 35:12 - Replayability 37:45 - Bosses That You Die on The Most 39:37 - Will Silksong Win GOTY/GOTY Nominees 44:05 - Specificity Of Silksong 45:09 - Tastes In Games Change As You Get Older 48:18 - Distribution Model Of Games 50:00 - Team Cherry’s Intentions/Devs Get Bored While Developing Games 52:00 - Playtesters On Games 56:00 - Team Cherry Won’t Make An Easy Mode/Achievements Provide Data To Devs 58:30 - WHATS MORE IMPORTANT TO DEVS - PLAY TIME OR SALES? 1:00:20 - Vertical Slices/Why A Games Quality Can Be All Over The Place 1:02:40 - Closing Comments/Silksong DLC

  • #196
    Oct 25, 2025 · 1 hr 9 min

    #196 - Filip Coulianos Interview On It Takes Two, Josef Fares, FPS Cameras, Nintendo & Jump Space

    In this engaging conversation, Filip Coulianos, co-founder of Keepsake Games, discusses his journey in game development, the influence of Half-Life 2 on his career, and the creative processes behind his latest project, Jump Space. He shares insights on addressing motion sickness in games, the importance of marketing for indie developers, and the evolving landscape of the gaming industry. The discussion also touches on the impact of working with Josef Fares and the lessons learned from successful titles like It Takes Two. #jumpspace #ittakestwo #fpsgames TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:42 - Half-Life 2 Is The Citizen Kane Of Video Games 01:52 - Becoming A Video Game Designer 03:34 - How Half-Life 2 Influenced Jump Space 06:00 - FPS Evolution/Animation Is Key To A Good FPS Camera 09:10 - Motion Sickness In FPS Games 14:30 - Moving Between First Person & Third Person In Jump Space 17:30 - Camera Techniques/It Takes Two Camera 19:19 - It Takes Two Devs Studied Super Mario 64 & Odyssey To Make The Game 23:20 - The Making Of It Takes Two 28:22 - Working With Josef Fares 36:30 - Why Filip Left Hazelight/Having The Idea Of Jump Space Since 2012 41:43 - Jump Space’s Popularity/Daniel Kaplan’s Importance/Marketing 48:00 - Jump Space’s Early Access Release Was Threatened By Silksong And GTA 6 51:09 - Jump Space’s Release Date 52:00 - The Cost Of Game Development/Why So Many Game Studios Close 57:38 - Where The Term AAA Came From/Some Games Will Survive The Game Studio Apocalypse 59:37 - Studios Need To Sell 10 Million Units To Break Even On $100 Million Budget 1:02:10 - Sweden Game Industry/Filip Was Determined To Succeed In The Game Industry 1:05:15 - Will Jump Space Be Relased On Switch 2/PS5? 1:08:17 - Where To Follow Keepsake Games & Jump Space

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