Kiwi Talkz

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

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

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

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

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