Kiwi Talkz

I managed to have a conversation with casualties of the ID Software Layoffs, Todd Boyce, Jordan Turner & Taylor Offilll who along with 17 other devs from ID Software have set up their new studio Hidden Horses.
WEBSITE - https://www.hidden.horse/
X -@hiddenhorsegame
BLUESKY - https://bsky.app/profile/hiddenhorses.bsky.social
YOUTUBE - @HiddenHorses

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:30 - Ex ID Software Devs Starting Hidden Horses
03:30 - What Engine The Devs Will Use
05:15 - What Game Will The Devs Make
06:21 - ID Tech Engine
07:40 - Learning The ID Tech Engine
09:10 - Narrative Setups For DOOM TDA & Revelations
10:05 - Procedural Gore System In DOOM TDA
13:48 - Being An Intern On DOOM Eternal
14:30 - Kreed Maykr Boss Fight
15:40 - Working In QA/Job Interview
17:00 - Moving From QA To Design/DOOM 2016 Crunch
18:00 - Crunch At ID Software/Deadlines
23:54 - DOOM Eternal Production During Covid
26:06 - DOOM Eternal/Animal Crossing Crossover/Marketing
27:10 - Microsoft’s Influence Over ID Software
28:20 - Commute To ID Software
31:00 - Marty Stratton
34:26 - Marty Going To Bat For QA
35:45 - ID Software Work Culture/Why People Didn’t Leave
38:00 - ID Software Was Very Lean
39:10 - ID Software Layoffs
50:49 - ID Software Almost Closed Down on DOOM 2016
51:20 - Competition Applying For Jobs
52:40 - ID Software Devs Staying Together
53:55 - The Industry Growing Forward/AAA Business Model
55:40 - Franchise Fatigue
57:00 - Original Concept For DOOM TDA
59:00 - Sales Targets For DOOM TDA/Microsoft’s Goals Changing For Gamepass
1:01:30 - Gamepass Doesn’t Make Sense
1:03:59 - GTA 6/Sony Treats Its Studios Better
1:05:08 -Nintendo/Creating Hidden Horses
1:07:00 - Microsoft Told ID Software To Make DOOM TDA More Accessible
1:09:12 - Where To Keep Up With Hidden Horses

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