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 #unchartedTIMESTAMPS - 00:00 - Intro00:28 - How Seeing Gollum In LOTR Impacted Ryan As An Artist02:08 - Upgrading The Facial System For Uncharted 407:00 - Naughty Dogs Engine08:53 - Moving Into A Leadership Role At Naughty Dog10:34 - No Producers At Naughty Dog/The Lead’s Role12:29 - ND Created Their Own Ticket Tracking System14:10 - The Devs Just Wing It Every Day At Work16:10 - Creating Pirates In Uncharted 1/Prototyping Quickly17:15 - Working With Neil Druckmann/Neil Taking Over On Uncharted 422:05 - Early Production On Uncharted 4/Skin Pores23:30 - Everyone At ND Is An Artist26:20 - Drake Had 60,00 Animations In Uncharted 428:13 - Attention To Detail At ND30:00 - ND Doesnt Makes Games On A Production Schedule31:00 - Uncharted 1/Gears Of War Influenced Uncharted 233:15 - Pushing The Envelope On Uncharted 2/Rockstar Influences38:30 - Pushing The Tech On Uncharted 440:15 - Crunch On Uncharted 443:31 - Becoming A Wizard At Python46:37 - Interview At Naughty Dog/Building Characters With More Detail50:16 - Working With Amy Hennig/Automation Flaps52:30 - Automated Lip Syncing53:14 - Working On Perfect Dark Before It Was Cancelled56:00 - What Ryan Looks For When He Interviews Devs For Roles58:26 - Working On Perfect Dark Before It Was Cancelled Part 21:03:14 - Q+A - How Do You Set The Bar For Character Quality1:04:57 - Q+A - Where Was Inspiration Taken For The Fighting Style Of Drake1:07:40 - Where To Follow Ryan Trowbridge/Artstation1:08:51 - 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=mhFallbackTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:25 - Metroid Prime 4 Overview04:00 - Nintendo & Retro’s Collaborations On Metroid Prime Trilogy06:38 - Mark Pacini Knew How To Deal With Tanabe08:04 - Working With Risa Tabata11:05 - Tanabe Is The Reason Prime 4 Is The Game It Is12:01 - Memory Fruit/Certification Whiplash13:45 - Jack Breaks Down The Intro Of The Game18:30 - Sol Valley/Shrines20:00 - Federation Marines21:00 - Federation Faces In Prime 322:00 - Retro Studios Artists23:14 - Why Tanabe Is Obsessed With The Federation24:30 - The NPCs Weren’t Necessary/Prime 3 NPCs26:15 - Ice Belt/Grievers Climbing Through The Walls28:30 - Missiles Alerting Grievers In The Mines31:18 - Jack Thinks Samus Should Never Talk33:30 - Sylux’s Origins Was Terrible35:00 - Metroid’s Presence Was Pointless37:15 - Retro Getting Handed Bandai Namco’s Version Of Prime 439:45 - Why Sol Valley Didnt Work From A Production Standpoint45:40 - Original Idea For Samus’ Ship In Prime 348:15 - Missing Visors, Speedbooster & Screw Attack49:15 - The Vi-O-La51:30 - Jack Played Prime 4 Mostly In Handheld53:35 - Free Aim Issues On The Bosses/Mouse-Mode56:30 - Prime 4 Is A Technical Marvel59:45 - Retro Wont Make Metroid Prime 5 or Prime 2 Remastered1:01:44 - Retro Is Done With Metroid1:03:22 - Item Upgrades Are Uninspired1:05:30 - Prime 4 Wasn’t Innovative1:07:45 - Mark Pacini Is One Of The Best Systems Designers Ever1:09:29 - Metroid Prime Trilogy Worked Cause Of Coordination1:11:30 - AAA Development Is So Large You Can’t Pivot Anymore1:12:28 - Prime 4’s Design Is Linear Corridors1:14:42 - Green Crystal Hunt1:15:30 - Chrono Tower Had Nothing1:17:35 - Jack & Kiwi Rank The Prime Games Best To Worst1:19:50 - There Are Only 4 Enemies in The Game1:21:23 - 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/TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:03 - Having A Good Leader At Rockstar03:00 - Moving Into Leadership05:00 - Modern Day Leadership Is Different07:50 - Jeremy’s Goals At Rockstar & In The Industry09:50 - Rockstar Has The Best Engineers13:00 - Doing Mission Design14:30 - Work On Horseman Apocalypse & Honor Amongst Thieves In RDR216:00 - Working On Details In RDR2/Rockstar Has No Centralised AI System18:50 - Pitching A Mission In A Rockstar Game21:15 - Internal Deadlines At Rockstar23:40 - Cross Collaboration Between The Different R* Studios25:40 - Not Being Able To Separate Work From Personal Life28:09 - Doing 100 Hour Weeks On RDR231:20 - Having To Standout Compared To Everyone Else34:26 - Your Job Is Largely Safe At Rockstar35:28 - Why Jeremy Left Rockstar37:30 - GTA 639:30 - How Programmers Optimize Rockstar Games42:20 - You Can Hire Devs For Greater Concessions Now43:40 - The Game Industry Needs A Restructure45:45 - Asia Is Now Making The Best Games49:20 - Hollywood Has Indoctrinated Western Devs To Make Cinematic Games55:40 - Jeremy’s Future Endeveurs57:45 - Q+A - How Much Do Designers & Writers Collaborate With Missions59:14 - Q+A - What Missions Were Possible From More Powerful Hardware1:01:30 - Todd Howard/You Can Do Everything1:03:47 - Switch 2/Building Games Around Hardware1:05:15 - GTA 6 Port Potential On Switch 21:08:34 - Q+A - Were There Any Missions That Were Cut From RDR21:10:20 - Eye Of Sauron/Sam Houser1:11:50 - 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 TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:39 - Matt Started A Hoverboard Trend At Naughty Dog03:30 - Culture Of Naughty Dog/Crunch06:42 - Naughty Dog’s Engine Is Bad/Litmus Test09:30 - Should Naughty Dog Devs Migrate To Unreal Engine11:52 - Why Matt Left Naughty Dog/Legacy Of Artists14:00 - Ending A Relationship Due To ND/Starting A Start Up16:00 - Naughty Dog Is A Cult 17:45 - Researching Volumetric Rendering On Uncharted 424:50 - Uncharted Games Have A Specific Artstyle/PS3 To PS4 Memory Increase26:29 - The Ray Marching Technique27:50 - Restrictions Of PS3/Freedom Of PS4/PS529:10 - Intergalactic33:38 - Talent Has Moved On Which Affects Uniqueness35:17 - Technology Has Plateaued /Working At Epic On UE537:20 - Technology Has Come At The Cost Of Game Design40:12 - Matt Doesnt Play On Console Anymore Due To Steam41:57 - GTA 644:25 - Matt Wants Shorter Games45:14 - Young People Have Too Many Options For Entertainment46:33 - Matt’s Indie Game 5th-Corner52:30 - Running A Business When You Are Broke/Helpful Mentors54:12 - Game Development Is More Collaborative Than Film55:44 - Matt Is Hopeful & Scared For His Career56:45 - Q+A - Any Regrets Working At Naughty Dog59:06 - Resilience/Traumas Make Entrepreneurs1:00:06 - Q+A - What Is The Most Efficient Way Of Bulding Large Environments Solo1:01:46 - Q+A - Details Of Amy’s Uncharted 41:05:43 - Working With Amy Hennig1:06:55 - 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 @emptyvesselplay #doom #doometernal #idsoftwareTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:30 - Working With Teams On Different Continents02:20 - Founding Emptyvessel05:30 - Emptyvessel’s High Calibre Team. 06:45 - Being Overwhelmed Setting Up emptyvessel09:10 - Destructible Terrain In DEFECT11:30 - Gore System In DEFECT & DOOM Eternal15:40 - Being An Intern At ID Software On DOOM 201618:15 - Working With Hugo Martin20:15 - The Culture Of ID Software22:00 - Rebooting DOOM/DOOM 201625:30 - ART REEL - Icon Of Sin27:45 - Gore Wounds29:00 - ART REEL - Baron Of Hell31:15 - ART REEL -Shotgunner34:30 - Attention To Detail At ID Software35:28 - ID Software Thought People Would Hate doom 201639:40 - The Pressure Of Working On DOOM 2016 & Eternal40:34 - Mick Gordon45:42 - The Mistakes AAA Games Make. 48:18 - There Is No Safety In AAA Anymore50:58 - Focus Group Testing/Devs Following Trends52:05 - Investors Are Apprehensive Towards Realistic FPS Games55:30 - Motion Sickness With FPS Games57:50 - DEFECT Won’t Have Third-Person59:26 - Q+A - Was DOOM Guy Mini Face Considered In The UI1:01:17 - DOOM 2016/Eternal Was Influenced By Metroid Prime/ID Software Loves Metroid01:02:35 - Q+A - How Long Does It Take For Art To Be Approved01:04:29 - Q+A - How Did The Pipeline Work With ID Tech Engine1:08:40 - 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 #idsoftwareTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:35 - Going From Manager At A Pizza Place To ID Software Producer 06:38 - Why ID Software Culture Was So Great09:00 - Realising His IT Knowledge Was Useless At ID Software10:45 - Being A Producer At ID Software13:10 - ID Tech Engine13:59 - Smash Bros/Doom Slayer In Smash Bros15:30 - ID Software Layoffs22:30 - Not Being Allowed Back In The Office To Get Belongings24:07 - ID Software PR Statement Is BS/Nightmare Production On DOOM 201625:10 - The Firings Will Be Analysed25:59 - Microsoft’s 14 Layers Of Management Are Lies29:00 - Game Development Has Been Taken Over By Greedy Execs34:30 - Nintendo Protect Their IP & The West Doesnt35:30 - Gamepass Is Mismanaged39:50 - How Gamepass Affected DOOM: TDA41:10 - Happy Xmas Story At ID Software42:50 - Working With Hugo Martin45:00 - Developing The Dragon & Mech In DOOM TDA47:15 - ID Software Started To Become More Hieracachal 49:40 - Q+A - Was The Buzzshield Inspired By Captain America50:25 - Q+A - Will ID Software Switch To Unreal Engine52:29 - Q+A - Were Things Cut From DOOM TDA DLC54:32 - DOOM Revelations Is Bittersweet/Layoffs On The Day Before Release58:34 - Andrew Planned To Retire There/Unionisation 1:01:37 - Q+A - How Much Does Ray Tracing Speed Up The Production1:05:02 - Working With Alex Klingle/Finishing Move On The Soundtrack1:06:00 - 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!!TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro/Shawn Layden Made Kiwi Smarter01:49 - Differences Between Working At Sony’s Offices In Japan,UK & US05:45 - How The Japanese Felt When Sony HQ Moved From Tokyo To California07:00 - Salaries In The US Are Hurting Game Development There/Outsourcing10:20 - Nothing Will Beat GTA/Strauss Zelnick11:45 - Shawn’s Role As A Chairman 13:30 - Shawn Knowing His Limitations As A Boss15:01 - Games Aren’t Built By Gamers Anymore15:45 - Publishers Are Becoming Risk Averse/Chasing AAA18:00 - Why AAA Games Are Financed Over AA19:15 - Institutional Knowledge/The Power Of Brand23:00 - Sony Getting Rid Of Physical Discs24:05 - Sony Can Take Japan Back From Nintendo25:13 - Sony Can’t Support Two Consoles At Once27:00 - Nintendo & Sony Are Becoming Direct Competitors Again28:30 - Sony Putting Games On PC31:30 - Shawn’s Views On Meetings32:00 - Unproductive Meetings36:00 - Employees Whose Jobs Are To Arrange Meetings37:30 - Shawn Kills Rumor That He Spoke To Asha38:50 - Shawn Speaks On Asha/Microsoft’s Goals40:30 - Live Services Titles Successes Are By Accident43:20 - Data Driving Decisions44:50 - Spreadsheet Decision Shawn Made/Edutainment48:10 - Success Is Seductive/Hire The Right Talent49:30 - Avoiding YES MEN When You Are The Boss52:00 - Shawn Is Happy He Never Has To Do A Budget/Plan & Peformance Appraisal Again53:25 - Q+A - Was A Cell Based GPU Considered For PS354:16 - Q+A - How Do We Correct The Over Reliance On AAA57:15 - Astro Bot/Sony Needs To Do More AA Games1:01:15 - Why GTA 6 Is An Event/Diluting A Brand1:02:20 - Q+A - Will The Japanese End Up Pulling Ahead Of Everyone Else1:04:15 - GTA 6/Games Need To Be Shorter1:05:30 - 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/TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:34 - Animating Doors Is Tedious/Naughty Dog Has A Door System03:12 - Being Chucked In The Deep End On Uncharted 3/How Rico Got Hired08:10 - Rico Had No Idea How Prestigious Naughty Dog Was When He Got Hired08:47 - Being Interviewed At Naughty Dog09:58 - Working On Uncharted 412:15 - Assets On Uncharted 4 Werent Carried Over From Uncharted 3/Mocap14:00 - The Benefits Of Mocap17:13 - You Could Shoot Mocap As Much As You Wanted At Naughty Dog20:00 - Naughty Dog’s Flat Structure22:50 - Intergalactic25:10 - Crunch On Uncharted 428:43 - Staying Healthy While Doing Crunch31:11 - Commuting Time In L.A.33:05 - Why Rico Left Naughty Dog/Naughty Dog Pay36:46 - Culture Of Bioware/Incorporating ND Culture Into Bioware38:10 - Emptyvessel/Meeting Emanuel Palilic/AAA Isn’t Safe For Devs Now42:20 - Destructible Terrain In DEFECT/Optimisation44:45 - Single Player Will Be In DEFECT As Well46:43 - Mick Gordon47:43 - Q+A - How Naughty Dog Pull Off Animations Ahead Of It’s Time50:15 - Naughty Dog’s Engine52:10 - Q+A - Biggest Challenge In Animating Nathan Drake54:00 - Working With Programmers57:12 - Q+A - What Challenge Kept You Up At Night59:59 - Institutional Knowledge/Microsoft Layoffs1:01:26 - Working With Bruce Straley1:02:50 - 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/ TWITCH - https://www.twitch.tv/robertsmania YOUTUBE - @Robertsmania TWITTER - @Robertsmania #rockstargames #midnightclub #reddeadredemption TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:30 - How Kris Got Into Cars01:58 - Working On Midnight Club Series/Angel Studios Early Days05:57 - Midnight Club 2/Working In Gamesb07:40 - The Key To Good Vehicle Simulations & Tuning10:05 - Kris Takes Shots At Need For Speed11:00 - iRacing Simulation/Realistic Simulations12:30 - VR Driving Simulation14:15 - GTA’s Vehicle Tuning16:06 - Kris Is Not Interested In GTA 616:30 - The ARTS Engine Became The RAGE Engine18:40 - How The RAGE Engine Evolved By RDR120:52 - RAGE Engine Summit22:45 - Why Midnight Club 5 Was Cancelled27:00 - Red Dead Revolver29:00 - Initial Skepticism Over Developing Red Dead Redemption30:15 - Being The Lead For RDR1 Multiplayer33:15 - Kris Was Stressed Being A Leader38:00 - Crunch On RDR142:15 - Dan & Sam Houser45:45 - RDR1 Multiplayer Never Got Relief Unlike The Main Team47:43 - Rockstar Wives Fallout/Jury Duty48:40 - RDR1 Multiplayer Being Broken At Launch52:20 - Why Kris Left Rockstar/Completion Bonus/Layoffs59:10 - Kris Only Does Contracting Now/Working With Sony Online1:03:21 - Q+A - Was RDR1 Multiplayer Always Planned As A Sandbox1:03:50 - Q+A - How Fun Was It To Debug Customisation Options In MC31:05:40 - Q+A - Was Undead Zombies Considered For RDR1 In Free Roam1:06:38 - 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/TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:28 - Varun Loves The Mechanics Of Dota & Rocket League03:56 - How Varun Started Making Video Games05:15 - Journey To Making Unleash The Avatar/Multiplayer Games06:00 - Soulslikes/Black Myth Wukong/Sekiro07:39 - Games Are Sustainable/Gamers Demands11:19 - Unreal Engine/Photogrammetry Of India For Unleash The Avatar12:48 - Scanning An Entire Indian Town For Assets In Unreal Engine15:00 - 1st Trailer For Unleash The Avatar Was To Hire Talent16:15 - Varun’s Smart Plan To Hire The Best Engineers19:12 - Aftermath Of 2nd Trailer21:30 - Developing The Game Start Up Style/Revelation From The 2nd Trailer23:02 - Bollywood Influence On The Game/Anatomy Of The Story28:10 - Varun Is Closely Involved With The Entire Project29:43 - Target Audience For Unleash The Avatar32:10 - Using A Metronome For The Bosses33:20 - Aura Farming/Taunts In The Game/Difficulty Settings36:22 - Black Myth Wukong Inspirations & Differences41:39 - Black Myth Wukong’s Marketing43:16 - Bold Marketing Strategy For Unleash The Avatar50:14 - Why India Hasn’t Produced AAA Games/Entrepreneurs54:55 - Risk & Reward/Varun’s Views On Business57:00 - Stigma From Parents Regarding Gaming & Content Creation In India59:00 - Success & Failures Drives Everything Forward1:00:10 - Economics Of AAA Games In India Vs U.S.1:06:40 - Unleash The Avatar Was Largely Made Inhouse/Rockstar India1:08:31 - Why India Will Become A Haven For Game Development1:13:30 - Assassin’s Creed Setting In India1:15:30 - Indian Lore & Culture In Unleash The Avatar1:18:39 - Where To Keep Up To Date With Unleash The Avatar