Kiwi Talkz

Happy 10th anniversary to DKC: Tropical Freeze!! Let's celebrate former artists on the game Eric Kozlowsky and Ted Anderson to go on a deep dive of working on it. TWITTER LINKS Eric Kozlowsky - @VoNKoZ Ted Anderson - @Pixel_Possum #donkeykong #donkeykongtropicalfreeze #retrostudiosTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:50 - DKC: Tropical Freeze Early Days/Wii U Hardware04:55 - Artists Experimented Very Early On/Mangroves Were The First Levels Worked On07:15 - Office Structure Of Retro Studios08:50 - Artists Collaborating With Animators10:00 - Playtesting/Brilliant Design Of The Levels/Meltdown Mayhem12:40 - Ted & Erics Collaboration On The Steamship14:05 - ARTWORK REEL - World 3 Boss Behind The Scenes Art16:15 - ARTWORK REEL - World 2 Boss Behind The Scenes Art17:20 - ARTWORK REEL - Updating DKCR Art19:45 - ARTWORK REEL - Creating A Texture Map22:20 - ARTWORK REEL - Difficulty Of The Fruit In World 523:15 - ARTWORK REEL - Ensuring Colours Don’t Blend In With Donkey Kong24:20 - ARTWORK REEL - Foreground To Background25:10 - ARTWORK REEL - Rocket Barrel/Barrel Cannons26:30 - Will They Use Tropical Freeze Art For The DK Movie?27:10 - ARTWORK REEL - Fruity Factory Level28:30 - ARTWORK REEL - Wireframes/Nintendo Ninjas29:48 - ARTWORK REEL - Steamship Level Of Detail31:20 - Alternate Universe - Working On Metroid Prime 4/Metroid Dread33:25 - Limitations Fosters Creativity34:30 - Tropical Freeze’s Crunch Period37:00 - Oversight From Nintendo Of Japan/DK Fur Tech39:30 - How To Deal With Frustration Of Having To Redo Art Due To NOJ41:30 - Sign Off For Easter eggs42:21 - Backlash Of The Tropical Freeze Trailer/Tropical Freeze Was Made Due To DKCR Sales45:20 - The Legacy Of DKC: Tropical Freeze46:50 - Where Donkey Kong Goes From Here/DK Spinoff Film49:00 - Q + A - Working With Vince Joly & Ryan Harris50:20 - Q + A - Stuff That Was Discussed But Never Made It Into DKC:TF52:50 - Q + A - How Did The Snowmads Idea Come Up/Ted Voicing The Penguins55:36 - Q + A - Would A David Wise Track Or Level Layout Inspire The Artwork59:58 - Favourite Level In DKC: Tropical Freeze1:03:28 - Plugs For Ted & Eric’s Games

Award-winning writer Ryan Kaufman discusses his dream game about the Titanic, the challenges of writing for major franchises like Star Wars, and the intensity of game development at Telltale. He explores the balance between narrative and gameplay, critiques film narratives, and reflects on the difficulties of rewrites in game development.

Peer Schneider is one of the co-founders of IGN and is currently IGN's EVP and Chief Content Officer. #ign #gaming #gamesSOCIAL MEDIATWITTER - @peerignINSTAGRAM - @peerignTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:20 - How Peer Fits In Gaming Time With His Busy Schedule04:50 - IGN’s Current Work Model/Remote & Office Work07:40 - Interview Process At IGN/Bad Interviewees10:05 - How IGN Knows When To Change Strategy With Its Content13:40 - The Different Youtube Channels/Youtube Algorithm18:40 - Optimising Content/SEO19:30 - Peer’s Views On Chat GPT & AI23:40 - Other Publications Ripping Off IGN’s Content26:20 - Mortal Kombat Guide Content That Was Ripped Off/ Contacting The Perpetrators28:00 - Crediting Sources29:00 - Being Blacklisted By Gaming Publishers/THQ Scandal34:10 - Political Nature Of Gaming Journalism/Being Trustworthy36:30 - Moving To America From Germany/Living In Japan39:00 - Places In America Peer Hasn’t Been To40:10 - Travelling For Work And Maintaining Energy/Gaming Behaviour Tour/Presentations42:10 - Flight Times/Peer Hasn’t Been To New Zealand & Australia Yet43:10 - Why There Won’t Be A Fourth Hardware Competitor45:20 - Fortnite Itself Is A Platform46:10 - IGN’s Approaches To Leaks48:27 - The Legend Of Zelda Live Film Discussion/Video Game Movie Adaptations51:40 - Metroid Prime 4, Wii U & Switch 2 Discussion56:40 - The Biggest Misunderstanding People Have With IGN/ Publishers Do Not Pay IGN For Good Reviews1:02:09 - How IGN’s Top Lists Are Made/Peer Doesn’t Like Ninja Gaiden/IGN Doesn’t Have A Hive Mind1:03:58 - The Obsession With The Metacritic Score1:05:12 - Starfield’s Review Score1:06:56 - Reviewers Having Enough Time To Review A Game1:07:50 - Kiwi’s PAX West 2024 Pitch With Retro Studios Devs/Outro

Garrett Young has been in the video game industry for over 25 years and has worked on games such as DOOM 2016, Rage Forza and James Bond: Quantum Of Solace. #doom #doom2016 #forza SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER - @garrettyTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:05 - Working On DOOM 201606:43 - Early Builds Of The Game/Garrett’s First Week On DOOM 201612:30 - Single Player Mode/Push Forward Combat/17:05 - Difficulty Story On Nightmare21:56 - Tackling The FPS Platforming Problem In DOOM 201624:20 - Metroid Prime & Batman’s Influence On DOOM 201626:50 - Cancelled Soccer Game For Xbox/EA Sabotaged The Dreamcast31:21 - Working On Forza33:23 - Working On The City Tracks Vs Forza/Building Up The Team/Publishing Vs Game Studios37:26 - Diversity In Skillset/ Knowing When To Pivot When Something Isn’t Working39:51 - The Reality Of Crunch In The Industry/Management48:20 - Fake Deadlines/Agile Development51:20 - Where To Follow Garrett Young/Doing Another Podcast In The Future

Randy Linden is a legendary programmer who is best known for doing what was thought to be impossible porting DOOM from the PC to the SNES, hes also responsible for porting Dragon's Lair to the Amiga and making Bleem an emulator for the Playstation. He is currently working for Limited Run Games. #doom #supernintendo #snes SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER - @RandalLindenTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:40 - Being In The Industry For Over 40 Years01:57 - Randy’s Thoughts On Zelda: Breath Of The Wild & Super Mario Odyssey06:03 - Randy’s Standout Moment In Zelda: Breath Of The Wild07:25 - Honing In On The Programming Aspect of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild & Super Mario Odyssey09:50 - Zelda Inspired Randy To Improve On His Programming Skills/Writing A Program11:34 - Why The Rocket Launcher Is More Powerful In DOOM SNES/Reverse Engineering15:25 - Why Monster Infighting Isn’t In DOOM SNES18:08 - Why Monsters Don’t Respawn In Nightmare Mode/Monster Speed In Nightmare/SNES Violent Games21:59 - Guessing The AI For The Monsters/Tight Deadline For DOOM SNES25:14 - Being In The Zone Creatively/Crunch For DOOM SNES/Managing Time Effectively34:16 - How Randy Balances Quality Vs Quantity In Programming36:50 - Story Of Metal Gear Solid Bug For Bleem On Dreamcast42:45 - Randy’s Terrible Diet While Working44:26 - How To Get In The Zone45:30 - List Of Programming Priorities/Priority On DOOM SNES49:11 - How The Quake GBA Prototype Came About51:21 - The Hardest & Most Misunderstood Thing About Programming56:50 - Game Development Roles These Days Are More Specialized/AAA Development1:01:00 - Cost Of Games1:05:18 - Gaming Has More Value For Money Than Film/Game Studios Lay Offs1:08:35 - Its Harder For Game Studios To Be Successful Today Than It Was In The Past1:11:05 - Incremental Hardware Increases1:12:06 - Sandy Peterson Never Worked On DOOM SNES1:14:31 - E2M2 In DOOM SNES/John Coffey Level Edits That Got Rejected By ID Software/Metallic Grates1:17:45 - Where To Follow Randy Linden/Jurassic Park

Here is the recorded panel I did at PAX 2023 with the one and only Mick Gordon. All video footage is owned by PAX Australia. FUN FACT: After the panel finished, 200+ people converged on Mick to ask him questions and get him to sign things. As a result he remained at the venue for 3 hours and he missed our dinner reservations #mickgordon #doom #killerinstinct PAX AUS TWITCH - https://www.twitch.tv/pax2 PAX AUS YOUTUBE - @PAXAustraliaOfficial BLACK DOG INSTITUTE - https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Early Intro00:30 - Generozity Game/Raising Money For Mental Health01:40 - Introductions04:43 - Evolution Of Video Game Music/Mick’s Introduction To Video Games Music & Melody17:35 - Creating Tracks With Vocals For Killer Instinct20:45 - The Writing & Creative Process Of Killer Instinct And How It Differed From The Original29:18 - Main Menu Themes/Creating Opening To Hell Remix For DOOM Eternals Main Menu Theme33:48 - Sampling Original Themes35:38 - AI And How It Will Affect Musicians And The Creative Process40:56 - Advice For Up & Coming Composers/Stem Separators 46:14 - Mick’s Favourite Game Score Over The Last Few Years48:05 - Q+A - Mick’s Musical Influences49:48 - Q+A - How To Improve Your Weaknesses As A Musician50:53 - Q+A - Creating The Partisan For Wolfenstein Old Blood52:19 - Q+A - Practice Routines54:20 - Q+A - How Mick’s Musical Style Has Changed And The Difference Between Band Music and Video Game Music56:26 - Q+A - Where The Thunder Chants From PAX 2013 Are In Killer Instinct

Jeffrey Kung is a game developer with over 27 years experience. He is best known for his tenure at Lucas Arts working on games such as Mysteries Of The Sith, Rogue Squadron and Republic Commando. He studied Psychology before dropping it to pursue game development. #starwars #lucasarts #republiccommando SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE - https://www.jeffreykung.com/ INSTAGRAM - @pinecone.jeffTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:33 - Why Jeffrey Stopped Studying Psychology To Make Video Games04:30 - Early Days In Video Games/Lucas Arts06:15 - Level Design Test At Lucas Arts/Level Design On Mysteries Of The Sith09:00 - Designing Search For Nonnah In Rogue Squadron11:40 - Rogue Squadron Crunch/Bonding With His Team13:30 - Incorporating Psychology Into Leadership/1 On 1 With His Team16:30 - How To Stop Bickering In A Meeting18:30 - Being A Star Wars Fan/Multiplayer Level In Mysteries Of The Sith20:50 - The Fundamentals Of Level Design22:35 - Live Ops Games Are Great For Level Design/Tuning A Game24:20 - Where To Still Play Jeffrey’s DOOM Levels/Designing DOOM Levels/Breaking A Level32:30 - Terrible Crunch Story/EA’s Crunch Drama Helped The Industry/Why Crunch Is Bad36:30 - Why Mobile Development Doesn’t Have As Intense Crunch38:40 - Industry Is Starting To Learn About Crunch/Productivity Loss40:50 - Experience Of Developing Republic Commando/Visor Wipe44:48 - Fine Tuning The System Design In Republic Commando/Xbox Controller & Halo Influences47:10 - Switch Port Of Republic Commando Is Bad/Joy-Cons Are Terrible For FPS48:50 - Being Laid Off After Republic Commando/Constant Lay Offs51:26 - Working Remotely Vs Working In The Office/Perks Of Discord56:18 - How Jeffrey Learned To Be Extroverted/Teaching Game Design At College59:20 - Imposter Syndrome/Kevin Schmitt1:01:20 - Where To Follow Jeffrey Kung/Carnivores Plants

Paul Topolos is currently an artist at Pixar and worked on over 18+ Films but before this he worked in the video game industry on various games for Lucas Arts & Factor 5 most notably the Star Wars Rogue Squadron games and Episode 1 Racer #starwars #roguesquadron #lucasfilmTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:50 - Difference Between Lucas Arts & Lucas Film3:00 - Working On Episode 1 & Episode 25:00 - Making Art Looking Like Star Wars/Artwork On The Prequels07:30 - Working On Episode 1 Racer While Phantom Menace Was Being Developed09:30 - Being Blown Away By The Artistry On Phantom Menace/Story Of Phantom Menace13:10 - Paul Is A Fanatic Of The Original Star Wars Trilogy14:00 - Visual Effects Of The Original Star Wars/2001 Space Odyssey16:00 - Limitations Of N6419:35 - Pushing The Pixels On Rogue Leader23:35 - Visuals Are Very Important25:30 - Factor 5 Was Programmer Heavy/Learning From Rogue Squadron On Rogue Leader28:00 - Crunch/Working 2 Full Time Jobs At Lucas Film & Factor 531:26 - What Paul Loved About Working On Rogue Leader32:30 - Maintaining Energy Well Working 2 Full Time Jobs/Ian McCaig/Deadlines38:00 - Paul Had A Meltdown On His 2nd Day Of Work On Phantom Menace39:28 - Pauls Superpower Is Making Something Look Real In Photoshop40:30 - 9/11 Affecting Rogue Leaders Final Days Of Development42:45 - America’s Infatuation With The American Flag/Foreigners Confused By 9/11/Aftermath Of 9/1148:20 - Work On Grim Fandango/ Grim Fandango Got Paul His Job At Pixar55:40 - Working At Pixar56:20 - Unspoken Rules Of Interacting With George Lucas/Geeking Out Over Celebrities1:00:11 - Paul Doesn’t Have Social Media

Kevin Schmitt has been working in the video game industry for over 25 years and currently works for Epic Games, he previously worked at 343 on the Halo Series and Lucas Arts where we worked on many Star Wars properties such as Rogue Squadron, Republic Commando, Obi-Wan and Mysteries Of The Sith #starwars #roguesquadron #lucasarts TWITTER- @kevindschmittTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:50 - Kevin’s Time In The Industry Has Flown By03:00 - Biggest Changes In The Industry/Kevin’s Early Years07:25 - AAA Games Size08:24 - Stories Of The Design For Star Wars Rogue Squadron11:50 - Mark Haigh Hutchinson Was A Great Leader15:40 - Importance Of Good Leadership/Making Multiple Projects At Once At LucasArts20:50 - How Designs Were Originally Mapped Out At LucasArts24:10 - Metroid Prime’s HUD influenced Republic Commando’s25:30 - How You Approach Design For Different Genres/FPS’s Are Kevin’s Bread & Butter27:00 - Frustration Of Creative Constraints With Star Wars IP/Ideas Being Shot Down32:30 - LucasArts Vault With Sacred Phantom Menace Info/ Team Seeing A Rough Cut Of Phantom Menace36:00 - The Process Of Pitching Games37:20 - Kevin Shows Off LucasArts Game Design Folders/Archiving39:30 - Phantom Menace Game Idea That Didnt Pan Out41:50 - Approach To Halo Campaign Vs Multiplayer44:15 - How Kevin Became A Writer48:20 - Kevin’s Thoughts On ChatGPT51:40 - Vetting Leaders In The Game Industry/The Industry Doesn’t Allow Discussions Of Failures55:00 - Post Mortem At The End Of A Game Project58:20 - Leaders Recognising Their Own Faults/Mark Recognising His Strengths & Weaknesses1:00:15 - Being Confrontation When You Aren’t A Confrontational Person1:01:25 - A Cohesive Team Is The Most Important Factor On A Project/Communication Differences1:04:30 - Republic Commando Team Being Told Their Being Laid Off When The Project Finishes1:06:40 - Where To Follow Kevin Schmitt

Steve Jude is a game developer and currently Senior Producer at Tantalus, he has worked on franchises such as Zelda, Borderlands, Lego, Star Wars and more.... #zelda #lego2kdrive #skywardsword TWITTER - @SteveJudestorm TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro/Disclaimer Regarding The Legend Of Zelda:Skyward Sword HD 01:15 - Why Northlane Is Steve’s Favourite Band 03:05 - Steve Doesn’t Listen To Music While He Is Working 03:45 - What Is Required In Project Management 07:01 - Adjusting Management Styles 08:50 - How Steve Ended Up In The Video Game Industry 12:03 - Interview At Krome Studios 14:41 - Portfolio Matters More To Employers Than University Degrees 17:12 - Lego 2K Drive Is The Most Challenging Project Steve's Worked On 20:43 - Porting A PS5 Game To Switch Is Hard/Working With Visual Concepts 23:34 - Steve Is Still Relatively Young With Nearly 20 Years XP And Where He Wants To Be As A Senior Producer 24:00 - Steve Wants To Be More Of A Technical Producer Down The Line 24:40 - Adapting Deus Ex Human Revolution For The Wii U Gamepad 27:46 - Deus Ex Didn’t Have Too Many Wii U Gamepad Bugs/How Testing Works 29:50 - Steve’s Turbulent Career Path 37:30 - History Of Tantalus Media 39:37 - The Harsh Reality Of Working In The Video Game Industry 41:13 - Where To Follow Steve Jude