216 episodes
#218 - Emanuel Palalic Speaks On ID Software, DOOM 2016, Mick Gordon, Emptyvessel, DEFECT
21/09/2026 | 1h 10 mins.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 #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#217 - Andrew Willis Speaks On ID Software Layoffs, DOOM TDA, Gamepass, Xbox, ID Tech Engine etc..
14/09/2026 | 1h 9 mins.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#216 - Shawn Layden On Physical Discs, PS6 Handheld, Asha Sharma, Spreadsheets etc.
07/09/2026 | 1h 6 mins.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#215 - Rico Flores On Uncharted 4, Naughty Dog's Engine, Crunch, Animation, Bruce Straley, DEFECT..
24/08/2026 | 1h 5 mins.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#214 - Kris Roberts On Midnight Club 5, RDR1, GTA 6, Rockstar, RAGE Engine, Houser Brothers etc.
17/08/2026 | 1h 8 mins.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
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About Kiwi Talkz
Podcast with various Video Game developers as well as other people involved in entertainment such as TV/Film
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