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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

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

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

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

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

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

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/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:28 - Varun Loves The Mechanics Of Dota & Rocket League 03:56 - How Varun Started Making Video Games 05:15 - Journey To Making Unleash The Avatar/Multiplayer Games 06:00 - Soulslikes/Black Myth Wukong/Sekiro 07:39 - Games Are Sustainable/Gamers Demands 11:19 - Unreal Engine/Photogrammetry Of India For Unleash The Avatar 12:48 - Scanning An Entire Indian Town For Assets In Unreal Engine 15:00 - 1st Trailer For Unleash The Avatar Was To Hire Talent 16:15 - Varun’s Smart Plan To Hire The Best Engineers 19:12 - Aftermath Of 2nd Trailer 21:30 - Developing The Game Start Up Style/Revelation From The 2nd Trailer 23:02 - Bollywood Influence On The Game/Anatomy Of The Story 28:10 - Varun Is Closely Involved With The Entire Project 29:43 - Target Audience For Unleash The Avatar 32:10 - Using A Metronome For The Bosses 33:20 - Aura Farming/Taunts In The Game/Difficulty Settings 36:22 - Black Myth Wukong Inspirations & Differences 41:39 - Black Myth Wukong’s Marketing 43:16 - Bold Marketing Strategy For Unleash The Avatar 50:14 - Why India Hasn’t Produced AAA Games/Entrepreneurs 54:55 - Risk & Reward/Varun’s Views On Business 57:00 - Stigma From Parents Regarding Gaming & Content Creation In India 59:00 - Success & Failures Drives Everything Forward 1:00:10 - Economics Of AAA Games In India Vs U.S. 1:06:40 - Unleash The Avatar Was Largely Made Inhouse/Rockstar India 1:08:31 - Why India Will Become A Haven For Game Development 1:13:30 - Assassin’s Creed Setting In India 1:15:30 - Indian Lore & Culture In Unleash The Avatar 1:18:39 - Where To Keep Up To Date With Unleash The Avatar

John Ricchio was a former producer at Rockstar on games such as GTA 5, RDR1 & Max Payne 3. In this interview he covers his time training people on QA, being a producer and a leader to teams at Rockstar, working on GTA, RDR, MP and more.. #gta #gta5 #rockstargames TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:27 - The Importance Of QA/Training QA People 04:30 - QA People At Rockstar/Advancing Your Career From QA 08:19 - Will AI Be Used To Save Time For QA 12:21 - Unicorn Dev Specialists/T Shaped Game Developers 14:30 - Managing Over 200 People On RDR & GTA 5/Producing Challenges 21:45 - Relinquishing Control/R* San Diego Changed Processes For GTA 5 24:40 - Cut Content From GTA 5 Due To Resources 26:10 - Working Through Constraints/Picking Your Battles 27:10 - Having Your Work Cut From R* Games 28:37 - Will GTA 5 Cut Content Be In GTA 6 29:21 - Cancelled Game Content Ended Up In GTA IV/Tech Changes 30:02 - New Ideas Usually Transcend Cut Content 30:57 - RDR Undead Nightmare/Hot Coffee Mini Game 32:05 - Rockstar’s Approach To DLC 33:17 - Managing R* Devs During High Times Of Stress/Crunch 41:20 - R*Can Get Away With Anything/Unionisation 42:15 - R” Are Good Because Of Iteration But It’s At The Cost Of Crunch 43:26 - Why John Left Rockstar/Crunch 46:45 - Leaders Initiate Crunch Either For Results Or Out Of Fear 52:40 - John Speaks About GTA 6 57:40 - The Future Of The Industry 1:00:11 - Q+A - Will R* Devs Lose More Creative Freedom As The Studio Gets Bigger 1:03:43 - Hanging Out With Dan & Sam Houser 1:05:10 - Following GTA 5’s Model For GTA 6 1:06:03 - GTA 5’s Launch 1:07:02 - Q+A - How Much Did The 360/PS3 Limit The Scope Of GTA 5 1:09:30 - Why R* Release On Console First Before PC 1:12:30 - John Is Currently Unemployed/Where To Follow John

Andrew Kim is a freelance concept artist who has worked on video games, tv and film. Hes done numerous concepts for games in the MCU and he did concept art for Uncharted 2-4 #uncharted #uncharted4 #uncharted3 ANDREWS WEBSITE IS HERE https://www.andrewkimart.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:34 - Differences Between Working In Video Games & Film/TV 04:41 - Getting A Job at Naughty Dog 07:20 - Working With The Designers On Concept Art For Uncharted 09:03 - The Process Was Similar Between Uncharted 2,3 & 4 10:46 - Leaving Marvel/Being A Freelancer On Uncharted 4 12:30 - Why Andrew Left Naughty Dog 15:30 - How Film Union Works 18:23 - The Challenges Of Being A Freelancer In The Film Industry 20:55 - It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know 21:30 - How You Network In The Film Industry 23:10 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 2 33:40 - Sony Santa Monica Has 6 Hour Interviews 35:30 - Naughty Dog Interview Was 20 Minutes 36:19 - Interviewing Process In The Game Industry Now 37:49 - Andrew Would Work On Uncharted 5 If Asked 39:20 - Andrew Had Limited Interactions With Amy & Bruce 40:17 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 3 42:39 - Uncharted 3 Piece Got Andrew His Job At Marvel 44:00 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 3 59:36 - Where To Follow Andrew

Quentin Cobb is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ironroot Games, he was previously a designer at Naughty Dog on Uncharted 4 & The Last Of Us and did a 5 year stint at Zenimax before on a cancelled project he was laid off. #uncharted4 #uncharted #thelastofus SOCIALS TWITTER - @QTrainCobb INSTAGRAM @qtrain.cobb/ @I IronrootGames https://ironrootgames.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - Why Quentin Cobb Loves Wutang Clan 01:37 - Crunch On Uncharted 4 04:02 - Working On Lost Legacy 04:40 - Why Quentin Left Naughty Dog 06:07 - Was It Harder To Salvage Uncharted 4 Rather Than Creating A New Game 07:36 - Quentin Worked On Chapter 8 In Uncharted 4 09:00 - Puzzle Sequences Were Difficult In Uncharted 4/Bruce Straley 10:35 - Difficulty Of Making Puzzles 11:50 - Shifting Mindset From Single Player To Multiplayer 13:39 - Why The Last Of Us Was A Life Changing Experience/Working With Bruce Straley 19:30 - Sony Executives Didn’t Believe The Last Of Us Would Succeed 20:30 - Naughty Dog Was Shocked How Well The Last Of Us Was Received 22:30 - Overcoming The Trauma Of Project Blackbird Being Cancelled 27:00 - Indie Dev Community Are Kind & Supportive 28:01 - Ironroot Games New Action-Adventure Project 29:40 - Naughty Dog Teams Were Well Connected/Small Team Sizes 32:00 - AAA Is All About Trends As Opposed To Making Games With A Heart 34:00 - Creating A Unique Game Can Be Tricky 36:30 - Advice From Bruce Straley/Pacing In Games 40:17 - Microsoft Pulled Funding For Bruce Straley’s Indie Game 41:40 - How Devs Try To Get In Front Of Layoffs/AAA Industry Isn’t Stable 43:04 - Naughty Dog Layoffs/No One Is Safe 44:00 - Last Of Us Part II/Quentin Is Glad He Didnt Work On It 45:39 - Working On Last Of Us Part 1 Was Nostalgic 46:30 - Intergalactic/Meeting His Old Naughty Dog Colleagues 48:05 - Quentin Didnt Work Much With Amy & Neil 48:58 - Q+A - Why Was India Chosen For Lost Legacy 50:17 - Is It Easier To Make A Story First Or Design Mechanics First 51:30 - Q+A - How To Get A Design Job At Naughty Dog 54:30 - A Portfolio Is More Important Than A Degree 57:19 - Q+A - What New Things Were Possible Going From PS3 To PS4 For Uncharted 58:55 - Diminishing Returns With The Next Hardware 1:00:30 - Padding In Open World Games 1:03:05 - Where To Follow Ironroot Games & Quentin

Jake Kazdal is a japanese game developer who has worked on games such as Galak-Z and Skulls Of The Shogun, he has worked for Nintendo, SEGA and Square Enix and is releasing his new game Awaysis very soon. This is a rare pullback of the curtain on Japanese design. #nintendo #zelda #botw WEBSITE - http://awaysis.jp/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/3334760/Awaysis/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:45 - Differences Between Japanese & Western Development 02:30 - Differences Between SEGA & Square Enix/Japanese Work Culture 07:00 - Nintendo Devs Are Retiring/Japanese Devs Are Nimble 09:15 - Kyoto’s Indie Scene/Hiring People At 17-Bit 10:39 - Japanese Labour Laws 11:40 - What Nintendo Devs Do Once They Retire/Retirement Age At Nintendo 11:46 - Nintendo Dev Legends Have Playtested Awaysis 14:11 - Playtesting With Awaysis 16:25 - Importance Of Iterating On Tutorials/What Is Awaysis 20:20 - Local Multiplayer Can’t Be Matched/Online Multiplayer/Covid 23:30 - Getting Hirokazu Tanaka To Compose Awaysis/Jake Is A Huge Nintendo Fan 25:40 - Pitch To Hirokazu Tanaka 26:50 - Physics System Of Awaysis 29:54 - Super Mario 64/Game Controls Are Too Tight Nowadays 33:28 - Graphics Take Precedent Over Physics 34:28 - The Physics System In Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom 36:40 - Being Friends With Eiji Aonuma/The Glider In BOTW 38:14 - Physics Limitations In Unreal Engine 42:24 - Zelda BOTW & TOTK Are Masterpieces/Next Zelda 43:15 - Friendship With Eiji Aonuma 44:17 - Working At SEGA/Being Mentored By Tetsuya Mizuguchi 46:19 - Working With Steven Spielberg On Elemeno/Mirrors Edge 50:21 - Original Ideas In Games Are Few & Far Between 52:30 - Oversaturation Of Indie Games/Devs Leaving The Industry 55:11 - Devs Getting Laid Off Despite Success/The Dire State Of The Industry 56:15 - Stability Working At Nintendo & Valve/Struggles For Funding 01:01:00 - Gen-Z Play GAAS/Gamers Are Playing Old Games 1:03:49 - Where To Keep Up With Awaysis

I got together some of the old Retro Studios crew including Kynan Pearson (Metroid Prime 2,3 & DKCR), Jay Epperson (DKCR & Tropical Freeze), Eric Kozlowsky (DKC Tropical Freeze) and Brad Taylor (DKC Tropical Freeze), the latter has never appeared on the show before. Hope you enjoy this, cause we had a blast recording it. #supermariogalaxy #supermario #mariogalaxy TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:25 - Overrall Thoughts 08:30 - Fox/Starfox Movie 09:53 - Smash Bros Movie 12:00 - Super Mario World Vinettes 13:12 - Lack Of Story/Nintendo Are Still Learning How To Make Movies 14:53 - Nintendo Fans Are Aging Out 16:00 - The Movie Shouldve Been Super Mario World Instead Of Super Mario Galaxy 18:03 - No Licensed Music 19:46 - Should Mario Have A Deeper Story? 24:04 - Film Critics Don’t Respect Gaming/Video Game Films 25:01 - Peach Is OP/Super Mario Bros 2 27:15 - Where Do They Go From Here 30:21 - Rumored Star Fox Game/Fox Appearance 33:38 - Kiwi’s Opinion On The Film/Hollwood Actors Being Mario Fans 36:25 - Being An Artist And Picking Apart Art In The Movie 39:43 - The Film Should Be Watched At 0.7 Watch Speed 40:30 - Nintendo Are Hands On With Legacy Characters 43:10 - Bowser Jr 44:30 - Koopalings/3rd Mario movie/Cappy 45:30 - Super Mario Odyssey/Original Idea For SMO’s Artstyle 48:00 - The Soundtrack/Starfox 49:23 - Nintendo Cross Promotion 52:40 - DKC Tropical Freeze Original Name 53:53 - Final Thoughts/Plugs For Nothing LOL 54:57 - The Dire State Of The Game Industry

Heather Cerlan a former artist at Naughty and Bethesda, in this interview she shares her journey from a passionate artist to a studio founder, discussing her experiences at Naughty Dog and Bethesda, her insights on game development, and her ambitious new project Hawthorne. Discover lessons on persistence, navigating industry challenges, and the future of game art and design. HAWTHORNE INFO https://playhawthorn.com/ #thelastofus #starfield #uncharted TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:55 - Being In A Rockband 02:30 - Heather Kept Pestering Naughty Dog Till They Hired Her 06:17 - Having Imposter Syndrome At Naughty Dog/Naughty Dog Didnt Have Producers 08:30 - Bethesda Are About Quantity/Naughty Dog Is About Quality 10:36 - Heather’s Role At Bethesda/Starfield 13:45 - Pros & Cons Of Creation Engine 15:05 - There Was Pressure Internally For Bethesda To Migrate To Unreal Engine 16:59 - Uncharted Lost Legacy Production Issues/Intense Crunch 22:44 - Working On The Shiva Temple 24:28 - Heather’s View On Her Work Getting Remastered/Originals Vs Remasters 29:28 - Working With Neil Druckmann/Lesbian Stories 33:04 - Heather Had Concerns On LGBTQ Themes In Last Of Us Part II 38:00 - Naughty Dog Were Split On Joel’s Death In TLOU Part II 38:48 - The Reason Heather Left Naughty Dog 40:04 - Work On Hawthorne/NEAR Studios 43:41 - Bruce Nesmith 46:00 - Hawthorne Is Skyrim Meets Stardew Valley/Raising Money/Bad Publisher Terms 48:15 - How Naughty Dog & Bethesdas Culture Has Influenced Hawthorne 51:16 - Q + A - Differences Between Naughty Dog & Bethesda 54:54 - Todd Howard Is A Neil Druckmann Fanboy 56:42 - Heather Feels Very Lucky/The Decision To Start Her Own Company 59:18 - Overcoming Fear With Hawthorne 1:05:22 - Where To Follow Heather & Keep Up With Hawthorne

Gabriel Betancourt is a former lighting artist at Treyarch and of course Naughty Dog. We cover his career at Naughty Dog and various other topics on the game industry. #thelastofus #lastofus #lastofuspart2 WEBSITE - https://gabereel.com/ CALORIE GAME - https://www.caloriequest.app/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro/Gabriel Watches Kiwi Talkz & Lists His Favourite Guests 01:44 - It’s Hard To Find Info On Lighting Artists/Early Days As A Lighting Artist 03:00 - Naughty Dog Has A Designer First, Speciality Second Philosophy 06:25 - Naughty Dog Devs Had Huge Arguments During The Last Of Us 09:17 - Game Development Requires The Risk Of Offending People 13:00 - Delivering Negative News In A Positive Way 14:54 - Game Devs Being Passionate & Emotional 18:45 - Naughty Dog Changed As The Studio Got Bigger/AAA Team Sizes Are Too Big 24:43 - The Brilliance Of Nintendo/Making Your Game Fun 27:35 - 60 People Worked On World Of Warcraft/Small Teams Make The Best Games 29:38 - Graphics & Gameplay Were Even During The Seventh Generation 31:00 - Art Is Used To Cover Up Gameplay Issues 32:34 - Everyone At Naughty Dog During The Last Of Us Was A Monster In Skill 33:00 - How Gabriel Joined Naughty Dog/New IP’s Increasingly Are Risky 36:20 - Bruce Straley & Neil Druckmann Risked Their Careers For The Last Of Us 37:45 - Uncharted 2 Put Naughty Dog On The Map 38:42 - Last Of Us Happened Because Bruce & Neil Were Influenced By Robert McKee Conference 43:44 - Why Gabriel Left Naughty Dog 46:49 - Last Of Us Part 2 Pre-production Ran Like Clockwork 49:58 - Gabriel Was Surprised By The Last Of Us Part 2 Controversy/Gabriel’s Suggestion Was Shot Down By Neil 52:19 - Neil Druckmann’s Specialty/Problems With The Last Of Us Part 2 55:00 - Dubar’s Number/Bureaucracy 01:01:40 - Changes At Naughty Dog That Impacted Last Of Us Part 2 1:06:30 - Specialists Left Naughty Dog Which Created Gaps In Skills Needed In The Teams 1:07:50 - A Game Will Be Good If The Director Has A Vision 1:09:54 - Gabriel Was Initially Skeptical Of The Last Of Us 1:11:39 - On Gabriels First Day Neil & Bruce Had A Special Presentation About The Last Of Us 1:16:35 - Q+A - How Did The Lighting Change Between Uncharted & The Last Of Us 1:30:22 - Q+A - Is Baked Lighting Better Than Path Traced Lighting 1:35:00 - Lighting On GTA 6 Trailers 1:36:03 - Closing Comments/Where To Follow Gabriel

Benson Russell was a former designer at Naughty Dog on The Uncharted Trilogy and The Last Of Us.He has now started his own consulting firm to help game developers navigate a lot of the pitfalls in game development. #uncharted #thelastofus #naughtydog WEBSITE FOR CONSULTING https://www.unhandledexceptions.io/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:32 - The Most Important Aspect Of Design/Player Fantasy 02:50 - Why Games Take So Long To Make/North Star You Need For Development 05:45 - Why Naughty Dog Games Are So Well Made/Story Is Their North Star 08:18 - Games Shouldn’t Take So Long To Develop/Wandering 13:30 - Scope Neglect/The Doomsday Clock 16:00 - Why Intergalactic Crunch Happened/Naughty Dog Treats Internal Deadlines Like External Deadlines 18:23 - Bureauacracy/How Games Differ From Other Creative Outlets 23:13 - Naughty Dog’s Work Structure 26:20 - Planning/Core Mechanics 27:00 - Flexible Working Hours At Naughty Dog/Crunch At Naughty Dog 29:00 - Why Benson Left Naughty Dog 32:45 - Benson Was P!ssed Off With Naughty Dog Deleting His Work On Last Of Us Part 1 46:01 - Working With Evans Wells & Neil Druckmann 47:00 - Clashing With Neil Druckmann 50:14 - Working With Amy Hennig 51:20 - Uncharted 2’s Introduction/Creating Introductions In Games 56:00 - Focus Testing At Naughty Dog/Companies Interpret Data Wrong 1:02:30 Q+A - How Much Naughty Dog Looks At The Competition When Designing Games 1:06:10 - AAA Studios Pivoting When They Are Too Deep/Games Should Be Cheaper 1:10:00 - Cost Of Game Development On The West Coast/China’s Meteoric Rise 1:16:04 - Uncharted 2 Was Influenced By Resident Evil 5 1:16:48 - Q+A - What Is Naughty Dog’s Hiring & Training Process 1:24:00 - Why Naughty Dog Started Losing Talent 1:26:00 - Is Game Development A Young Person’s Game/Knowledge Isnt Being Passed Down 1:31:00 - Closing Comments