Kiwi Talkz

In this episode Ryan Trowbridge shares his journey in game development, focusing on facial animation technology, leadership at Naughty Dog, and pushing creative boundaries in AAA titles.

#naughtydog #uncharted4 #uncharted

TIMESTAMPS -

00:00 - Intro

00:28 - How Seeing Gollum In LOTR Impacted Ryan As An Artist

02:08 - Upgrading The Facial System For Uncharted 4

07:00 - Naughty Dogs Engine

08:53 - Moving Into A Leadership Role At Naughty Dog

10:34 - No Producers At Naughty Dog/The Lead’s Role

12:29 - ND Created Their Own Ticket Tracking System

14:10 - The Devs Just Wing It Every Day At Work

16:10 - Creating Pirates In Uncharted 1/Prototyping Quickly

17:15 - Working With Neil Druckmann/Neil Taking Over On Uncharted 4

22:05 - Early Production On Uncharted 4/Skin Pores

23:30 - Everyone At ND Is An Artist

26:20 - Drake Had 60,00 Animations In Uncharted 4

28:13 - Attention To Detail At ND

30:00 - ND Doesnt Makes Games On A Production Schedule

31:00 - Uncharted 1/Gears Of War Influenced Uncharted 2

33:15 - Pushing The Envelope On Uncharted 2/Rockstar Influences

38:30 - Pushing The Tech On Uncharted 4

40:15 - Crunch On Uncharted 4

43:31 - Becoming A Wizard At Python

46:37 - Interview At Naughty Dog/Building Characters With More Detail

50:16 - Working With Amy Hennig/Automation Flaps

52:30 - Automated Lip Syncing

53:14 - Working On Perfect Dark Before It Was Cancelled

56:00 - What Ryan Looks For When He Interviews Devs For Roles

58:26 - Working On Perfect Dark Before It Was Cancelled Part 2

1:03:14 - Q+A - How Do You Set The Bar For Character Quality

1:04:57 - Q+A - Where Was Inspiration Taken For The Fighting Style Of Drake

1:07:40 - Where To Follow Ryan Trowbridge/Artstation

1:08:51 - People Lying In Interviews At ND/NDAs

It took a long while to get here! Finally after much delay here is the review of Metroid Prime 4 with my good friend Jack Mathews (Lead Technical Engineer On Metroid Prime Trilogy) In this episode, Jack Mathews and I analyze the development, design, and production challenges of Metroid Prime 4.

#metroidprime4 #metroid #nintendo

iF YOU WANT TO BUY JACKS WIFES COOK BOOK YOU CAN GET IT HERE https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593853148?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:25 - Metroid Prime 4 Overview

04:00 - Nintendo & Retro’s Collaborations On Metroid Prime Trilogy

06:38 - Mark Pacini Knew How To Deal With Tanabe

08:04 - Working With Risa Tabata

11:05 - Tanabe Is The Reason Prime 4 Is The Game It Is

12:01 - Memory Fruit/Certification Whiplash

13:45 - Jack Breaks Down The Intro Of The Game

18:30 - Sol Valley/Shrines

20:00 - Federation Marines

21:00 - Federation Faces In Prime 3

22:00 - Retro Studios Artists

23:14 - Why Tanabe Is Obsessed With The Federation

24:30 - The NPCs Weren’t Necessary/Prime 3 NPCs

26:15 - Ice Belt/Grievers Climbing Through The Walls

28:30 - Missiles Alerting Grievers In The Mines

31:18 - Jack Thinks Samus Should Never Talk

33:30 - Sylux’s Origins Was Terrible

35:00 - Metroid’s Presence Was Pointless

37:15 - Retro Getting Handed Bandai Namco’s Version Of Prime 4

39:45 - Why Sol Valley Didnt Work From A Production Standpoint

45:40 - Original Idea For Samus’ Ship In Prime 3

48:15 - Missing Visors, Speedbooster & Screw Attack

49:15 - The Vi-O-La

51:30 - Jack Played Prime 4 Mostly In Handheld

53:35 - Free Aim Issues On The Bosses/Mouse-Mode

56:30 - Prime 4 Is A Technical Marvel

59:45 - Retro Wont Make Metroid Prime 5 or Prime 2 Remastered

1:01:44 - Retro Is Done With Metroid

1:03:22 - Item Upgrades Are Uninspired

1:05:30 - Prime 4 Wasn’t Innovative

1:07:45 - Mark Pacini Is One Of The Best Systems Designers Ever

1:09:29 - Metroid Prime Trilogy Worked Cause Of Coordination

1:11:30 - AAA Development Is So Large You Can’t Pivot Anymore

1:12:28 - Prime 4’s Design Is Linear Corridors

1:14:42 - Green Crystal Hunt

1:15:30 - Chrono Tower Had Nothing

1:17:35 - Jack & Kiwi Rank The Prime Games Best To Worst

1:19:50 - There Are Only 4 Enemies in The Game

1:21:23 - Jack’s Wife’s Cook Book

Jérémy Hartvick is a former designer at Rockstar, best known for his work on RDR2 (he left Rockstar early in 2020). In this episode, Jérémy shares insights from his experience at Rockstar, discussing leadership, mission design, technical challenges, and the future of game development.CONSULTING WEBSITE - https://jeremyhartvick.com/

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:03 - Having A Good Leader At Rockstar

03:00 - Moving Into Leadership

05:00 - Modern Day Leadership Is Different

07:50 - Jeremy’s Goals At Rockstar & In The Industry

09:50 - Rockstar Has The Best Engineers

13:00 - Doing Mission Design

14:30 - Work On Horseman Apocalypse & Honor Amongst Thieves In RDR2

16:00 - Working On Details In RDR2/Rockstar Has No Centralised AI System

18:50 - Pitching A Mission In A Rockstar Game

21:15 - Internal Deadlines At Rockstar

23:40 - Cross Collaboration Between The Different R* Studios

25:40 - Not Being Able To Separate Work From Personal Life

28:09 - Doing 100 Hour Weeks On RDR2

31:20 - Having To Standout Compared To Everyone Else

34:26 - Your Job Is Largely Safe At Rockstar

35:28 - Why Jeremy Left Rockstar

37:30 - GTA 6

39:30 - How Programmers Optimize Rockstar Games

42:20 - You Can Hire Devs For Greater Concessions Now

43:40 - The Game Industry Needs A Restructure

45:45 - Asia Is Now Making The Best Games

49:20 - Hollywood Has Indoctrinated Western Devs To Make Cinematic Games

55:40 - Jeremy’s Future Endeveurs

57:45 - Q+A - How Much Do Designers & Writers Collaborate With Missions

59:14 - Q+A - What Missions Were Possible From More Powerful Hardware

1:01:30 - Todd Howard/You Can Do Everything

1:03:47 - Switch 2/Building Games Around Hardware

1:05:15 - GTA 6 Port Potential On Switch 2

1:08:34 - Q+A - Were There Any Missions That Were Cut From RDR2

1:10:20 - Eye Of Sauron/Sam Houser

1:11:50 - Where To Follow Jeremy/Jeremy’s Consulting Website

Matt Radford was a VFX Artist on TLOU and Uncharted 4, he began research into volumetric rendering during the development of Uncharted 4 and that led to it being used in TLOU Part 2. He has now founded his own studio 5th-Corner which is also the name of his studio's upcoming game.

#uncharted #uncharted4 #unrealengine

WEBSITE - https://www.5th-corner.com/

X - @mradfo21

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:39 - Matt Started A Hoverboard Trend At Naughty Dog

03:30 - Culture Of Naughty Dog/Crunch

06:42 - Naughty Dog’s Engine Is Bad/Litmus Test

09:30 - Should Naughty Dog Devs Migrate To Unreal Engine

11:52 - Why Matt Left Naughty Dog/Legacy Of Artists

14:00 - Ending A Relationship Due To ND/Starting A Start Up

16:00 - Naughty Dog Is A Cult

17:45 - Researching Volumetric Rendering On Uncharted 4

24:50 - Uncharted Games Have A Specific Artstyle/PS3 To PS4 Memory Increase

26:29 - The Ray Marching Technique

27:50 - Restrictions Of PS3/Freedom Of PS4/PS5

29:10 - Intergalactic

33:38 - Talent Has Moved On Which Affects Uniqueness

35:17 - Technology Has Plateaued /Working At Epic On UE5

37:20 - Technology Has Come At The Cost Of Game Design

40:12 - Matt Doesnt Play On Console Anymore Due To Steam

41:57 - GTA 6

44:25 - Matt Wants Shorter Games

45:14 - Young People Have Too Many Options For Entertainment

46:33 - Matt’s Indie Game 5th-Corner

52:30 - Running A Business When You Are Broke/Helpful Mentors

54:12 - Game Development Is More Collaborative Than Film

55:44 - Matt Is Hopeful & Scared For His Career

56:45 - Q+A - Any Regrets Working At Naughty Dog

59:06 - Resilience/Traumas Make Entrepreneurs

1:00:06 - Q+A - What Is The Most Efficient Way Of Bulding Large Environments Solo

1:01:46 - Q+A - Details Of Amy’s Uncharted 4

1:05:43 - Working With Amy Hennig

1:06:55 - Where To Follow Matt & Keep Up With 5th-Corner

Emanuel Palalic was a former character artist on DOOM 2016 & DOOM Eternal he has now founded the studio emptyvessel and is working on their indie game DEFECT (which looks sick).

https://www.emptyvessel.io/

TWITTER/INSTAGRAM - @epalalic

ARTSTATION - https://www.artstation.com/drheadpop https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UChY3EdNFeXYjekxD4KpMpLQ

@emptyvesselplay

#doom #doometernal #idsoftware

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:30 - Working With Teams On Different Continents

02:20 - Founding Emptyvessel

05:30 - Emptyvessel’s High Calibre Team.

06:45 - Being Overwhelmed Setting Up emptyvessel

09:10 - Destructible Terrain In DEFECT

11:30 - Gore System In DEFECT & DOOM Eternal

15:40 - Being An Intern At ID Software On DOOM 2016

18:15 - Working With Hugo Martin

20:15 - The Culture Of ID Software

22:00 - Rebooting DOOM/DOOM 2016

25:30 - ART REEL - Icon Of Sin

27:45 - Gore Wounds

29:00 - ART REEL - Baron Of Hell

31:15 - ART REEL -Shotgunner

34:30 - Attention To Detail At ID Software

35:28 - ID Software Thought People Would Hate doom 2016

39:40 - The Pressure Of Working On DOOM 2016 & Eternal

40:34 - Mick Gordon

45:42 - The Mistakes AAA Games Make.

48:18 - There Is No Safety In AAA Anymore

50:58 - Focus Group Testing/Devs Following Trends

52:05 - Investors Are Apprehensive Towards Realistic FPS Games

55:30 - Motion Sickness With FPS Games

57:50 - DEFECT Won’t Have Third-Person

59:26 - Q+A - Was DOOM Guy Mini Face Considered In The UI

1:01:17 - DOOM 2016/Eternal Was Influenced By Metroid Prime/ID Software Loves Metroid

01:02:35 - Q+A - How Long Does It Take For Art To Be Approved

01:04:29 - Q+A - How Did The Pipeline Work With ID Tech Engine

1:08:40 - Where To Follow Emptyvessel & DEFECT

Andrew Willis was a producer on DOOM TDA & Revelations and planned on staying at ID Software till retirement, till the dreaded Microsoft layoffs. In this episode he covers his time at ID Software and the terrible layoffs.

#doom #doomthedarkages #idsoftware

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:35 - Going From Manager At A Pizza Place To ID Software Producer

06:38 - Why ID Software Culture Was So Great

09:00 - Realising His IT Knowledge Was Useless At ID Software

10:45 - Being A Producer At ID Software

13:10 - ID Tech Engine

13:59 - Smash Bros/Doom Slayer In Smash Bros

15:30 - ID Software Layoffs

22:30 - Not Being Allowed Back In The Office To Get Belongings

24:07 - ID Software PR Statement Is BS/Nightmare Production On DOOM 2016

25:10 - The Firings Will Be Analysed

25:59 - Microsoft’s 14 Layers Of Management Are Lies

29:00 - Game Development Has Been Taken Over By Greedy Execs

34:30 - Nintendo Protect Their IP & The West Doesnt

35:30 - Gamepass Is Mismanaged

39:50 - How Gamepass Affected DOOM: TDA

41:10 - Happy Xmas Story At ID Software

42:50 - Working With Hugo Martin

45:00 - Developing The Dragon & Mech In DOOM TDA

47:15 - ID Software Started To Become More Hieracachal

49:40 - Q+A - Was The Buzzshield Inspired By Captain America

50:25 - Q+A - Will ID Software Switch To Unreal Engine

52:29 - Q+A - Were Things Cut From DOOM TDA DLC

54:32 - DOOM Revelations Is Bittersweet/Layoffs On The Day Before Release

58:34 - Andrew Planned To Retire There/Unionisation

1:01:37 - Q+A - How Much Does Ray Tracing Speed Up The Production

1:05:02 - Working With Alex Klingle/Finishing Move On The Soundtrack

1:06:00 - Andrew Thanks DOOM Fans/Changing The Industry

The legendary Shawn Layden returns to provide wisdom on things surrounding the video game industry. As was the case last time, I tried to ask him a lot of stuff he hasn't been asked before. Enjoy!!

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro/Shawn Layden Made Kiwi Smarter

01:49 - Differences Between Working At Sony’s Offices In Japan,UK & US

05:45 - How The Japanese Felt When Sony HQ Moved From Tokyo To California

07:00 - Salaries In The US Are Hurting Game Development There/Outsourcing

10:20 - Nothing Will Beat GTA/Strauss Zelnick

11:45 - Shawn’s Role As A Chairman

13:30 - Shawn Knowing His Limitations As A Boss

15:01 - Games Aren’t Built By Gamers Anymore

15:45 - Publishers Are Becoming Risk Averse/Chasing AAA

18:00 - Why AAA Games Are Financed Over AA

19:15 - Institutional Knowledge/The Power Of Brand

23:00 - Sony Getting Rid Of Physical Discs

24:05 - Sony Can Take Japan Back From Nintendo

25:13 - Sony Can’t Support Two Consoles At Once

27:00 - Nintendo & Sony Are Becoming Direct Competitors Again

28:30 - Sony Putting Games On PC

31:30 - Shawn’s Views On Meetings

32:00 - Unproductive Meetings

36:00 - Employees Whose Jobs Are To Arrange Meetings

37:30 - Shawn Kills Rumor That He Spoke To Asha

38:50 - Shawn Speaks On Asha/Microsoft’s Goals

40:30 - Live Services Titles Successes Are By Accident

43:20 - Data Driving Decisions

44:50 - Spreadsheet Decision Shawn Made/Edutainment

48:10 - Success Is Seductive/Hire The Right Talent

49:30 - Avoiding YES MEN When You Are The Boss

52:00 - Shawn Is Happy He Never Has To Do A Budget/Plan & Peformance Appraisal Again

53:25 - Q+A - Was A Cell Based GPU Considered For PS3

54:16 - Q+A - How Do We Correct The Over Reliance On AAA

57:15 - Astro Bot/Sony Needs To Do More AA Games

1:01:15 - Why GTA 6 Is An Event/Diluting A Brand

1:02:20 - Q+A - Will The Japanese End Up Pulling Ahead Of Everyone Else

1:04:15 - GTA 6/Games Need To Be Shorter

1:05:30 - Girls Make Games Scholarship Fund

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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