Dev to Dev S03 E07 - Harvard Bonin

Howdy folks, due to a scheduling snafu I'm rolling a cheeky revisit this week of an episode I loved. This was a great way to open Season 02 of Dev to Dev and my conversation with Randy is still one of the most unique on the show. Please enjoy and look out for an all new episode next week!Randy and I had never met before this conversation, which made it a great way to open Season 2. He’s been making games since 1997, and I loved how openly he credits luck while describing a path he built very deliberately.What stays with me is how much of his career runs on one idea: follow what genuinely pulls you, then hold your work to a standard you’d stand behind. He’s funny about his own mistakes, generous about the people who taught him, and he even turned a question back on me at the end.HighlightsTyping out BASIC programs at eight like spells from a spellbookBuilding a degree in computer science, psychology and media arts before game degrees existedTracking down a project director’s desk phone to ask for a job at Looking GlassBecoming a project director at twenty-five, and what staying at arm’s length from the software cost himWhy Tiger Style set out to make games where violence isn’t the main verbHis advice for anyone starting out: do the work you most want to doCome and listen to the full conversation with Randy. I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreonRSSInstagramBlueskyYouTubeBlogNewsletterEmail: [email protected] Randy At: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randy-smith-gemini/https://www.wavesallday.com/https://bsky.app/profile/randyevergreen.bsky.socialFind my episode of the Level Design Lobby here:https://youtu.be/lwTwv2aiLWQ?si=tSYtE8VhMWCcIu9Mhttps://open.spotify.com/episode/2FLn7orfo4pSo8sijbLbCRFind my episode of The Retro Hour here:https://youtu.be/FabiY0keM3I?si=BecLWcu0YAvdBKA4https://open.spotify.com/episode/2fBMB4KKQkCk8JkjwjHigK

Cole and I worked together for four years at ZeniMax Online, so this one felt like catching up with an old friend, with a few things I’d never heard before. I knew Cole came from science. I didn’t know about the two years of YouTube, the leap of quitting a stable job, or how close he came to never working in games at all.What I loved most is how he looks at it now. Every detour, from the lab to the rejection to the cancelled project, handed him something he’s still using. He’s honest, funny and a little raw about it too, especially on burnout and on what it’s like to lose a project you’ve poured four years into.HighlightsWhy four years of bacteria research turned out to be the best preparation for pitching game mechanicsPlaying 950 indie games in two years, and how that YouTube channel became a grad school applicationHaving two job offers at once and learning to negotiate for the first timeThe grappling hook story: understanding what players are really asking forWhat a cancelled project taught him about giving a little less to work, and the grief-themed game he made afterwardsHow an introvert spends a whole social battery on a big teamCome and listen to the full conversation with Cole. I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreonRSSInstagramBlueskyYouTubeBlogNewsletterEmail: [email protected] Cole At: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colemorgandesign/https://coalfire.itch.io/https://m.youtube.com/c/CoalFireFind my episode of the Level Design Lobby here:https://youtu.be/lwTwv2aiLWQ?si=tSYtE8VhMWCcIu9Mhttps://open.spotify.com/episode/2FLn7orfo4pSo8sijbLbCRFind my episode of The Retro Hour here:https://youtu.be/FabiY0keM3I?si=BecLWcu0YAvdBKA4https://open.spotify.com/episode/2fBMB4KKQkCk8JkjwjHigK

This one’s a bit of a swap. Max had me on his show, the Level Design Lobby, first, so it was great to turn the mic around. I wasn’t expecting how personal it would get. Max lost his Mum when he was eight, and games were how he got through it. Everything he’s done since comes back to wanting to give that feeling to someone else.He’s also a reminder that doors don’t always get opened for you. Sometimes you’re the only person in the room who walks up and knocks.HighlightsWatching his Dad and Uncle fight Grey Fox in Metal Gear Solid, and the science teacher who said games weren’t a careerBeing the only student to approach a guest speaker, and gaining a placement year because of itThe Grandfather at Dare to Be Digital who asked when his game was coming outBuilding systems on The Division, and launching Cyberpunk 2077 alone in lockdownWhy contractors should demand a three-month notice periodWhat he promises every designer who joins his teamGrab a brew and give it a listen. It’s a good one.Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreonRSSInstagramBlueskyYouTubeBlogNewsletterEmail: [email protected] Max At: [email protected] Find our episode here:https://youtu.be/lwTwv2aiLWQ?si=tSYtE8VhMWCcIu9Mhttps://open.spotify.com/episode/2FLn7orfo4pSo8sijbLbCRFind my episode of The Retro Hour here:https://youtu.be/FabiY0keM3I?si=BecLWcu0YAvdBKA4https://open.spotify.com/episode/2fBMB4KKQkCk8JkjwjHigK

This one was a real pleasure. Harvard and I go back to our Sony Santa Monica days, which involved a lot of late nights and a lot of pizza. Even so, I learned things about him I never knew. The biggest was that underneath decades of production and project management, he’s still the kid who mailed game ideas to Atari.We also got into the side of game-making we rarely cover on the show: frameworks, milestones and the operations work that gets a game out the door. Harvard explains all of it in a way that makes it clear why it matters to everyone on a team.HighlightsA horse-track win, an Atari 5200, and the best investment his parents ever madeGetting hired over breakfast the day after a layoff, without realizing it had happenedOwning the friction he caused by stepping outside his lane as a young producer“Rules of play,” and why teams should write them before they need themWhy milestones should feel like Christmas season, not Christmas DayTurning a layoff into the best summer in years, building a Roblox game with his daughterGrab a coffee and give this one a listen. It’s a different angle from what we usually cover, and I think you’ll enjoy it.Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreon⁠RSS⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠Blog⁠NewsletterEmail: [email protected] Harvard At: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvardboninharvardbonin.com

This one made me smile. Derin Halil has a habit of asking the question most of us only think: why me? He even asked it out loud, swivelling round in his chair to put it to his head of design. Underneath the laugh is a real story about imposter syndrome, meditations on being lucky, and about finding the kind of work your brain was built for.It also landed for me personally. Derin's moment of wondering whether he was any good, or just good at one studio, is exactly where I was after eleven years at Sony Cambridge.HighlightsGrowing up in a big gaming household, and why his mum saw games as the best bargain goingHow a physics degree, not a games course, ended up shaping his systems designA four-hour round trip commute for one week of QA work experience, at fifteenThe job interview where the interviewer told him to take the other offerThe website feature he pitched in an interview, didn't get the job for, and then saw go live six months laterSeven and a half years on Elite Dangerous, and why he still had to leaveGive it a listen. It's one of the most honest takes on "luck" we've had on the show.Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreon⁠RSS⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠Blog⁠NewsletterEmail: [email protected] Derin At: https://bsky.app/profile/derinahalil.bsky.socialhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/derinhalil

Hey folks — this week's conversation is one of the most unique yet. Heather Chandler has been in this industry for three decades, and what struck me most wasn't any single credit on her resume — it's how honest she is about the limits of her own expertise, and how she's built an entire career turning that honesty into trust.We talk about her accidental start at Activision (she was gunning for a film career), the two books she wrote because nobody else had written them, what it was actually like inside Epic during Fortnite's pivot to Battle Royale, and the gutsy — and gut-punching — decision to open a physical escape room right before the pandemic hit.Highlights:How a stray résumé at Activision in the '90s rerouted her entire career pathWhy she wrote the book on game production because the book didn't existWhat it was like inside Fortnite's live-service pivot, and the lesson about not going "110% forever"Betting on herself twice — the escape room, and the freelance restart that followedWhy she's found more satisfaction backing small indie teams than she ever did at scaleGo give this one a listen — Heather's got a wonderful grounded, no-ego perspective and I think you'll walk away thinking differently about what makes a good producer.Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreon⁠RSS⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠Blog⁠NewsletterEmail: [email protected] Heather At: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathermakesgames/heathermakesgames.com

Hey everyone, this week I got to sit down with Jamie Smith, and it's a conversation I really enjoyed. We'd never met before we hit record, but within minutes it felt like catching up with someone who'd walked a road very like mine.Jamie grew up in Middlesbrough believing games were simply magic. Now he's the one making it. What struck me most was how little he's chasing. He isn't chasing the title, the hype, or the next big genre. He's just trying to add value every single day and to putting what’s important first. That's a mindset I only really landed on in the last ten years, and he's got there much sooner.HighlightsWhy he didn't know games were made by people, and what finally broke the spellThe pitch event where a hostile judge tore his idea apart, and how fixing it led to an internship at ReflectionsDriver: San Francisco, and the spreadsheet lesson that changed how he designs"It needs to feel good to miss": the Call of Duty rule, and his Mortal Kombat obsessionHanding over the lead role on The Crew, and why the title is just recognitionWhy he now puts health first and works to live rather than lives to workGo and have a listen. It's a great one.Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreon⁠RSS⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠Blog⁠NewsletterEmail: [email protected] Jamie At: https://linktr.ee/smithstockhttps://bsky.app/profile/smithstock.bsky.social 

I love this conversation with Lana Bachynski (Associate Art Director, Riot Games) — because it's not really about animation, even though she's one of the best in the business at it. It's about what happens when you decide to be the person who shows up.Lana grew up in a house that banned video games, which somehow made her more obsessed with them, not less. She talks about rotating on footstools with her siblings waiting for a turn at the family computer, about a teacher who connected her secret animation habit to an actual career, and about landing a Blizzard internship with a demo reel full of monsters instead of the walk cycles everyone else submitted.But the part that stuck with me most was after Blizzard — when Lana got to Riot and found the studio's animator community was basically three people in an empty room. She didn't shrug and move on. She built it into something dozens of people show up for every week.Highlights:The banned Super Nintendo that started it allThe mentor who connected animation to a games careerWhy she chose games over a Pixar-track path — it comes down to replayabilityRigging and animating a Blizzard test character in seven days, on a bicycle with no seatTurning three people in an empty room into the Riot Animation TeamGo give this one a full listen — it's one of those episodes that's really about community dressed up as a career story.Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreon⁠RSS⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠Blog⁠NewsletterEmail: [email protected] Lana At: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lana-bachynski-3281991b/https://linktr.ee/latienie 

This week's episode is one of my favorites so far, and it's not because Jay Powell has some big design philosophy to unpack — it's because he doesn't. He told me straight up: "I would never claim to be a world-class game designer." What he's spent thirty years building instead is something almost nobody talks about: the ability to sit between two people who don't understand each other and make a deal happen anyway.Jay started as an English Literature major with zero interest in games as a career — the games industry basically didn't exist as a career when he was in college. He fell into it through a beer-money job testing games, and from there built one doing things nobody had a manual for: inventing contracts one country at a time before digital distribution existed, translating for movie studios and museums who had no idea how games worked, and eventually running scouting for publishers who couldn't articulate what they actually wanted.He also told me one of the most honest burnout stories I've heard on this podcast — an ulcer, throwing up blood at 4am, and quitting on the spot the day a manager told him to just stay quiet behind a closed door during layoffs. If you've ever felt like this industry asks too much of the people who love it most, this one's going to hit.Highlights:The floating cube that sold an entire publishing deal — no playable demo requiredHow one careless word nearly got him in real trouble with the SmithsonianWhy Nickelodeon's character bible for Dora the Explorer remains the gold standard of licensing paperworkThe exact moment — mid-ulcer, told to hide during layoffs — he quit with no planWhy every young developer needs to understand "the Hollow Knight problem" before picking a genreGo give this one a listen — it's a masterclass in staying indispensable to an industry for thirty years without ever writing a line of code.Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreon⁠RSS⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠Blog⁠NewsletterEmail: [email protected] Jay At: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaypowell/https://powellgroupconsulting.com/https://indiegamebusiness.com/category/podcast/   

Dev to Dev is back and this first episode of Season 03 is a bit special for me — Steven and I go back, and it was great getting to sit down and finally hear the whole story, not just the bits I already knew.What gets me about Steven's career is how little of it he actually planned. He failed his way out of a computer science degree at Glasgow, and it was his Mum who pushed him toward Abertay's games course — one of only two in the world at the time. He burned out hard on his first industry job in Japan and quit on the spot the day it shipped. He recovered by playing World of Warcraft, and it was, once again, his Mum who pointed out that people actually make that game for a living. Twenty years later, he's still there.Every "failure" in his story turned out to be a redirect. I don't think you can plan for that — you can only trust it when it happens.Highlights:Growing up on a proto-console called the Grandstand, and a Pac-Man handheld that started it allFailing nearly every class at Glasgow University except geographyLanding at Abertay — one of only two game-specific computer science courses in the worldA year in Japan, fifty cold applications, and a job on Sonic Riders that ended in burnoutThe unforgettable Blizzard interview: handwritten algorithms faxed into a grainy video callSeventeen years on WoW's tools team, and what it's taught him about institutional knowledgeGo give this one a listen — Steven's honesty about the parts of his career that didn't go to plan is exactly why I wanted to have him on.Find the Podcast at:SpotifyPatreon⁠RSS⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠Blog⁠Email: [email protected] Steven At: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sdwy/