#126 - Josh Weier Interview (Portal 2, Valve, Game Design, Gabe Newell, Play Testing, Management, Crunch, Certification etc.)

Josh Weier was a game developer at Valve for over 14 years and worked on franchises such as Portal and Half Life. He was the project lead designer on Portal 2.

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SOCIAL MEDIA

TWITTER - @weier_josh

Zero Page: http://zero.page

Zero Page Twitter: @zeropage_game

 

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:53 - Memories Of Valve

02:01 - Orange Box/How Josh Ended Up As Project Lead On Portal 2

05:20 - Portal 2 Storyboards/Design Approach With Portal 2

06:45 - Elevator Doors Are Actually Portals

07:40 - Playtesting/Design Of Game Mechanics

11:00 - Design & Storytelling Working Together/Changing Environments

13:00 - Story Constantly Changed Through Development

14:15 - The Moon Segment Was Added Very Late In Development

15:45 - Catapults/Bridges/Linear & Non Linear Aspects Of The Design

19:23 - Walking On Walls & Bullet Time Were Cut Game Mechanics

21:30 - The Gel Was Hard To Implement/Digipen

23:05-  Difficulties Of Programming For PS3/Smoothing Out Portal Transitions

26:20 - Manscaped Sponsored Segment

27:23 - Momentum Physics/Where People Would Quit On The Original Portal

29:04 - Gabe Newell/Gabe Wanted GLaDOS To Have A Face/Gabe’s Struggles

31:05 - Underground Area Was The Hardest Area To Work On

32:55 - Portal 3/Portal For Xbox Was The Genesis Of Developing Portal 2 

37:20 - Portal 2’s Intro Is Inspired By Super Metroid’s Intro

39:20 - Original Idea For GLaDOS In Portal 2/Announcer

41:40 - Trying To Sell The Part When Wheatley Turns Bad

43:20 - Dealing With The Weight Of Expectations/Valve Doesn’t Have A Template Of Developing

45:20 - Game Designing Is Stressful/Complications Of Crunch

46:50 - Portal 2 Almost Ruined Josh’s Marriage/Game Developments Effect On Family Life

48:30 - Josh’s Management Style/Communication

50:52 - Josh Cant Switch His Brain Off 

53:09 - Crunch Process For Portal 2

54:35 - Certification Problems For PS3 & Xbox/How Much Time Certification Adds To Development

58:24 - Politics Of Certification

58:59 - Zero Page Game

1:00:13 - Where To Follow Josh Weier