Kiwi Talkz

Kiwi

5.0 (1)
VIDEO GAMES
UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Podcast with various Video Game developers as well as other people involved in entertainment such as TV/Film

6 DAYS AGO

PAX AUS 2024 - Valve Panel With Josh Weier (Developer On Half-Life 2 & Portal 2)

Here is the panel I did with Josh Weier at PAX AUS. I spent a year planning this with Josh and PAX AUS to make this happen. #portal2 #valve #halflife2 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 02:21 - Why Valve Games Are Very High Quality 05:25 - Steam Originally Had Some Skepticism 09:07 - Importance Of The Source Engine On Valves Games 12:04 - Advanced Physics In Half-Life 2/Gravity Gun 15:20 - The Modular Nature Of Portal & Portal 2 17:10 - Why Valve Games Have Great Pacing 20:35 - Valve's Approach To Tutorials 22:30 - Super Metroid's Influence On Portal 2 25:00 - Why Valve Games Don't Have Cutscenes 28:02 - Interweaving Design & Story 31:08 - Original Idea Of Wheatley/Rehabilitating Ideas 34:27 - Valve's Structure To The Ending Of Games 38:04 - Overcoming Despair During Game Development 41:30 - Q + A - Game Mechanics That Were Removed 42:22 - Q + A - Difficult Parts Of Development 44:26 - Q + A - Wheatley Killing You Section 46:21 - Q + A - Things That Were Cut 47:39 - Q + A - Thoughts On Speedrunners 48:30 - Q + A - Hardest Things To Implement 50:11 - Q + A - The Best Qualities Of The Valve Devs 53:04 - Q + A - Josh's Hopes For Valve In The Future 54:46 - Q + A - How Josh Stays Fit 55:44 - Deciding Who Should Get Prize Money/Outro

58 min
OCT 6

#173 - Jason Schreier Interview (Play Nice: The Rise, Fall & Future Of Blizzard Entertainment)

Jason Schreier the legendary video game journalist talks to me about his new book PLAY NICE that you can purchase here https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jason-schreier/play-nice/9781538725429/ #blizzard #blizzardentertainment #bloomberg NOTE: Jason had to bail urgently which is why the podcast ended very abruptly. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:23 - Researching & Preparing For Play Nice 04:01 - Movie/TV Adaptation Of Play Nice 04:50 - Blizzard Sex Parties 07:09 - Will Blizzard Ever Be On The Level They Once Were 08:40 - Why Jason Wanted To Write About Blizzard 10:02 - How Jason Decided To Finish The Book 11:30 - Crunch At Blizzard & In The Industry 14:30 - Blizzard Employees Dating & Marrying Each Other 16:30 - Blizzard Approach To Polish 20:00 - Blizzard Devs Clashing With Upper Management 21:30 - CEO’s In The West Won’t Follow Iwata’s Model 25:15 - Trauma For Devs Following Lay Offs 26:51 - Commute Times For Blizzard Devs 28:39 - Crunch/Devs Being More Open Of Work Conditions 29:57 - Jason Doesn’t Leak Info/Still Being Blacklisted From Bethesda 31:40 - Jason’s Dream Book To Write/Japanese Culture Barrier 33:50 - Japanese Game Industry 35:10 - Play Nice Is A Very Dense Book In Terms Of Stories 36:19 - Blizzard Devs Opinions Of Armin Zerza 37:09 - Game Devs Vs The Suits

41 min
SEP 29

#172 - Dredge Developer Interview With Joel Mason

Joel Mason was a developer on the indie game Dredge and works for @blacksaltgames #dredge #gaming SOCIAL MEDIA FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/blacksaltgames/ INSTAGRAM - @blacksaltgames YOUTUBE - @blacksaltgames TWITTER - @blacksaltgames TWITTER JOEL MASON - @bsg_joel TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:37 - How The Concept Of Dredge Came About 03:10 - The Artstyle Of Dredge 04:56 - Most Difficult Things To Implement 07:47 - Joel Has Never Played Zelda: Wind Waker/Keeping Scope In Check 08:50 - Comparisons To Resident Evil 4 With The Inventory/Influences 10:45 - How The Panic Eye/Sanity Meter Came About/Time 13:30 - Why Multiplayer Wasn’t Implemented/Overcoming Hardware Limitations 15:32 - How They Came Up With The Biomes/Cut Jungle Level 18:55 - Feature Creep 20:52 - Being Nervous About The Reception After Release 22:19 - Dredge Film Adaptation 25:47 - Evolution Of The Fishing Mechanic 28:31 - The Endings Of Dredge**MINOR SPOILERS** 31:30 - Evolution Of The Story 32:50 - The Leviathan 35:44 - Development Of The Iron Rig DLC 39:05 - Next Stages Of Dredge/Team Size 41:50 - Being Out Of Your Depth/Team Effort 43:30 - Joel Is Tired Of Working On Dredge 44:45 - Expectations On Their Next Game 46:54 - Where To Follow Joel & Dredge Social Media

48 min
AUG 18

#171 - Bruce Nesmith Interview (Designer On Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout 4 & Starfield)

Bruce Nesmith was a former designer at Bethesda and worked at the studio from Elder Scrolls II:Daggerfall before leaving and returning part way through Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion up until Starfield. He is now a novel writer who just launched his newest novel Glory Seeker Book One: Feast Of Ghouls #skyrim #bethesda #starfield Purchase Bruce's new book here! https://www.amazon.com/Glory-Seeker-Ghouls-LitRPG-Adventure-ebook/dp/B0D94KTJTN TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:45 - Lord Of The Rings Film Trilogy’s Impact On Oblivion 03:11 - Re-learning Game Development When Rejoining Bethesda 05:37 - Todd Picking Bruce To Be Lead Designer On Skyrim 07:30 - Bruce’s Relationship With Todd Howard 09:15 - Todd Howard’s Time Management Skills 14:15 - Todd Will Be Difficult To Replace/Todd Doesn’t Let Go Of Things 16:10 - Reality Vs Expectations/Elder Scrolls VI 18:20 - Negative Effect Skyrim Had On Bethesda Games 20:05 - Pressure Of Developing Elder Scrolls VI/Larian Studios 21:45 - Developing Sequels 24:10 - Feature Creep In Bethesda Games/Cut Systems From Starfield 26:00 - Designers Block/Being Hard Headed 28:45 - Self-Identity Being In Your Job/Writing Novels 34:45 - Bethesda’s Retention Rate Created A Problem/Layoffs 38:30 - Why Fallout 76 Initially Failed 43:06 - Fallout TV Show 45:30 - Travelling Inspiring Bruce’s Work/Being A Jack Of All Trades 52:40 - Glory Seeker Book One: Feast Of Ghouls 57:00 - Process Of Writing A Novel 1:00:11 - Q+A - Challenging Aspects Of Starfield 1:01:47 - Q+A - Criticism Of Starfield/Differences In Terms Of Design Between Fallout 4 & Starfield 1:04:21 - Q+A - Features Cut From Fallout 4 & Starfield 1:07:18 - Where To Get Glory Seeker Book One: Feast Of Ghouls

1h 8m
AUG 4

#170 - Shawn Green Interview(OG ID Software Programmer & Designer)

Shawn Green was a former developer at ID Software, ION and Escalation Studios. He was part of the original ID Software team and worked alongside legends such as John Romero and John Carmack #doom #idsoftware #johnromero TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:36 - How Shawn Ended Up At ID Software/Commander Keen 05:05 - Learning The DOOM Editor 06:40 - Doing The Ports For DOOM 10:55 - Designing Levels For Ultimate DOOM 13:10 - Making E4M8 - Unto The Cruel 16:25 - How Shawn Learned To Design DOOM Levels 18:15 - Working With John Romero 21:30 - Romero & Carmack’s Differences 23:40 - ID Software Didn’t Have A Hierarchy 27:00 - John Carmack Is A Monster 28:30 - The Circumstances Of Crunch Matters/Carmack Is A Workaholic 30:30 - John Carmack Sacrificed A Lot To Be Who He Is 32:30 - Getting Into A Zone/Working On Halo: Combat Evolved 38:30 - Shawn Puts His Programming Hat On While Playing Games 39:31 - Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom’s Amazing Physics Engine 41:15 - The QA On DOOM Ports 43:20 - The Hardest Thing About Programming 44:30 - Integration Is An Important Part Of Coding 46:30 - The Curve Balls Of Running Escalations Studios 48:35 - The Pros And Cons Of AI 53:10 - Design Differences Between Japan & The West/Layoffs 1:06:40 - Shawn’s Final Thoughts/Working For Nintendo

1h 10m
JUL 23

#169 - Jonah Lobe Interview (Character Artist On Skyrim, Fallout 3 & Fallout 4)

Jonah Lobe is a former artist at Bethesda and did the art for a number of characters on Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as well as Fallout 3 and Fallout 4. He is currently working on his Fantasy Novel: Quiet Level One that you can support here. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/quietlevelone/quiet-level-one-by-jonah-lobe #bethesda #fallout #skyrim SOCIAL MEDIA YOUTUBE - @JonahLobeDraws TWITTER - @Jonahlobe FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/jonahjonahlobe INSTAGRAM - @iamjonahlobe 00:00 - Intro 01:14 - Getting Tendonitis From Working On Alduin The Dragon 08:47 - How The Balrog From LOTR Influenced The Deathclaw Horns 14:15 - What Makes Art Iconic/Why Deathclaw Is Iconic 21:00 - Critiquing Games & Movie Art/Why The Sharks In Aquaman Are Terrible 22:35 - Sandworms In Dune Are Iconic/Across The Spiderverse Is Perfect 24:30 - Deadlines On Art At Bethesda/Jonah’s Specialty/Iterations Of Art 29:04 - What Jonah Learned From Adam Adamowicz/Letting Go Of Your Ego 33:50 - Why Bethesda Has High Retention Of Its Employees 39:10 - Working With Todd Howard 45:10 - Todd Howard Is Irreplaceable 46:50 - Fallout 76 Was Wasnt Decided By Todd But By The Suits 48:40 - Jonah’s Review Of The Fallout TV Series 51:40 - Why Bethesda Games Don’t Have A Signature Artstyle 53:15 - Realism Vs Stylized Art 54:30 - Jonah’s Fantasy Novel Quiet: Level One

1h 5m
JUN 8

#168 - Stephen Hughes Interview (The Voice Of Quiet Robe)

Stephen Hughes is a renowned director, producer, voice actor and teacher. He is well known in Spain in the voice over industry. He helped to direct the voice actors on Metroid Dread including Nikki Garcia(The Voice Of Samus) and he voiced the character Quiet Robe. #metroid #metroiddread #nintendo TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:00 - How Stephen Ended Up In Madrid, Spain 05:05 - Ongoing Consulting Work For American Companies 06:19 - Spain Is The Best Country In The World For Dubbing/Dubbing For The Arabic World 10:15 - So Many Studios In Spain/How Mercurysteam Found Stephen 11:50 - Early Work With MercurySteam/Acting For Animation 15:25 - Voice Acting For Videogames Compared To Animation 17:30 - Language Of The Chozo/Nikki Garcia Did Voice Of Samus In 1 Take 18:30 - Stephen Helps Direct The Voices Sometimes At MercurySteam/Enric Alvarez Is Well Versed In English 19:50 - Game Directors Are Like Film Directors 21:55 - Previous Work Stephen Has Done For Mercurysteam 22:49 - How MercurySteam Made The Chozo Language/Nikki Has A Great Sense Of Language 25:31 - How To Speak In Made Up Languages And Make Them Sound Good 26:50 - Confidence Comes A Lot Easier To Americans Than Other Cultures 28:24 - How Stephen Did The Voice Of Quiet Robe/Being Careful With The Voice You Create 30:30 - Vitamin A + E Repairs Vocal Chords 31:55 - Foods & Drinks To Avoid Before A Vocal Session/Anchovies Are Great For Your Voice 37:45 - The Problems Of AI On Voice Artists 41:00 - Being A Jack Of All Trades/Advertising/Jobs Already Taken By AI 48:43 - AI Is Replacing Jobs For Young People/Being Adaptable 51:10 - Voice Actors Won’t Be A Sole Career 54:40 - Stephens Early Days In Voice Acting 57:08 - Why Pro Voice Actors Sometimes Give Bad Performances 58:00 - Translations/Translating Spanish/Dubbing 1:08:00 - Where To Keep Up Stephen

1h 13m
APR 30

#167 - Omar Fernandes Interview(Lighting Artist On Grand Theft Auto V)

Omar's story is amazing, he got an architecture degree before moving into video game art and film/tv vfx. He has worked on films such as Star Wars: Rogue One and Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, he also worked as a lighting artist on GTA V. #gtav #rockstargames #starwars TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:01 - How A Degree In Architecture Helped Omar With VFX 04:51 - How Omar Ended Up At Rockstar Games/China 07:15 - Omar Had Never Played GTA Before Joining Rockstar/Learning What GTA Was 09:15 - Doing Cutscenes On GTA V 10:00 - Only 2 Artists Did Lighting On Cutscenes/The Shock Of Working On GTA V 12:05 - Crunch On GTA V/ Difference Between Games & Film 15:00 - Challenges Of Lighting/Omar’s Approach To Lighting 17:15 - Working On Star Wars: Rogue One 19:16 - ARTWORK REEL - Star Wars: Rogue One 21:25 - ARTWORK REEL - GTA V 32:07 - ARTWORK REEL - Rings Of Power 38:46 - ARTWORK REEL - Avengers: Infinity War 43:00 - ARTWORK REEL - LEGO 45:26 - ARTWORK REEL - Batman Vs Superman 46:09 - ARTWORK REEL - The Division 2: Warlords Of New York 48:27 - ARTWORK REEL - Aquaman 50:38 - Where To Follow Omar Fernandes

52 min

See All (173)

Podcast with various Video Game developers as well as other people involved in entertainment such as TV/Film

Creator

Kiwi
Years Active

2K
Episodes

173
Rating

Explicit
Show Website

Kiwi Talkz

Kiwi Talkz

Episodes

PAX AUS 2024 - Valve Panel With Josh Weier (Developer On Half-Life 2 & Portal 2)

#173 - Jason Schreier Interview (Play Nice: The Rise, Fall & Future Of Blizzard Entertainment)

#172 - Dredge Developer Interview With Joel Mason

#171 - Bruce Nesmith Interview (Designer On Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout 4 & Starfield)

#170 - Shawn Green Interview(OG ID Software Programmer & Designer)

#169 - Jonah Lobe Interview (Character Artist On Skyrim, Fallout 3 & Fallout 4)

#168 - Stephen Hughes Interview (The Voice Of Quiet Robe)

#167 - Omar Fernandes Interview(Lighting Artist On Grand Theft Auto V)

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