Kiwi Talkz

Rob Carr is an audio designer who is best known for his tenure at Rockstar Games on L.A. Noire, RDR1, GTA 5 and RDR2. He is currently living in Finland working on his game Nyrkkipöytä
#rockstargames #gta #gta5

WEBSITE - https://audioexpat.wordpress.com/

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:30 - How Rob Went From Being A Music Teacher To Working At Rockstar Leeds
07:51 - Moving From Handheld Games To Console Games/Rockstar Have Unlimited Resources
08:30 - The Psychology Of Sound/Finding Sounds That Sound Like Other Sounds
11:19 - There Are No Constraints On Audio With Rockstar Open World Games
13:10 - In Audio Everything You Can Use Is Recordable/Rob Has A 3TB Audio Library
15:17 - Tools & Workflow
19:50 - Technology Evolution/AI
23:51 - Rob Has Been Unemployed For Over A Year/Problems With The Game Industry/
25:50 - Learning A Coding Language
27:40 - Difference Between Numbers People & Creative People
30:30 - Working On Audio Bugs For Red Dead Redemption 1/Why It’s One Of Rob’s Favorite Games
34:30 - Playing A Game And Not Disecting It
37:30 - The Cost Of Buying Games
39:10 - GTA 6
43:21 - Why Rob Left Rockstar
45:24 - Crunch Culture/Europe Has Better Work Life Balance
46:45 - Moving To Finland/Rob’s Brother Has Motor Neuron Disease
51:35 - Rob Can’t Relocate For Work Anymore/Dire State Of The Game Industry
53:10 - Working From Home Has Ceased Because Of Security Reasons
55:20 - Why Rob Worked At The Office During Covid
56:51 - Dealing With Ear Fatigue During Crunch/How Audio People Deal With Crunch
1:05:30 - Q+A - Do You Physically Go On Location To Get Raw Recordings
1:08:00 - Q+A -What’s Rockstar Setup To Test Audio Systems
1:10:48 - Q+A - Is There A Particular Idea That Had To Be Cut
1:13:52 - Robs Game - Nyrkkipöytä
1:21:19 - Where To Follow Rob

I got some of the old devs who worked on Fallout to help review Season 2 of the Fallout series. Bruce Nesmith got the time wrong so didnt join until the last 20 minutes.

#fallout #falloutnewvegas #bethesda

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Fallout Is The Best Video Game Adaptation Of All Time
02:21 - Fallout S2 Thoughts Overrall
05:40 - Macauley Caulkins Acting
06:48 - Walton Goggins/The Ghoul
07:44 - Ella Purnell’s Accent As Lucy
08:40 - The Deathclaws
17:05 - The Prydwens/Factions
18:06 - Brotherhood Of Steel Tone Was Wrong
18:50 - Trust The Audience More/Have More Talking Instead Of Actions Scenes
20:21 - S2 Is A Setup For S3/The Roaches Were Scarier Than The Deathclaws
21:07 - Release Strategy
21:56 - Super Mutants/Ron Perlman
26:15 - Super Mutants In Fallout 4/Todd Howard’s Direction
26:50 - Deprioritize Brotherhood Of Steel In Fallout 5
28:10 - Bethesda’s Views On Fallout New Vegas
31:45 - Where Will S3 Go?/The Toddification Might Cause A Degrade
33:00 - Thaddeus/Keep The Show Low Key & Not Focused On Spectacle
35:55 - Casuals Buying The Games As A Result Of The Show
36:37 - Fallout 3 Remaster Will Release After S3/Remasters
37:50 - Bethesda Games Won’t Be Remade
38:57 - Deathclaw Differences Between Fallout 3 & 4
40:10 - Favourite Scenes
46:18 - Devs Give The Show A Score Out Of 10
47:00 - Making The Show Go On Indefinitely
48:13 - Bruce Nesmith Joins & Gives His Review
50:25 - Bruce’s Hopes For S3
50:45 - Will The Show Influence Fallout 5
51:56 - Bethesda Will Give Fallout 5 To Someone Else/Todd Howard
55:45 - Todd Howard’s Retirement 59:22 - Story Threads In S3 Will Be Less
1:01:20 - Hank’s Story/Will The Ghoul’s Story End In S3
1:03:30 - Practical Effects 1:04:59 - Actors Everyone Would Like In A Cameo
1:10:09 - Final Thoughts

Featurecast is a DJ turned video game composer, he is most associated with @BitmapBureau and his most recent work was his stellar work on Terminator 2D No Fate.

#terminator #terminator2 #terminator2dnofate

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:19 - How The Name Featurecast Came About
04:05 - Working With Bitmap Bureau
08:57 - Learning To Make SFX While Doing It
10:50 - Getting Creative Freedom On Terminator 2D No Fate
14:30 - Scrapping Music And Starting From Scratch/Reviews Praising The Soundtrack
15:45 - Trusting Your Gut
16:00 - How Featurecast Composed For Terminator 2D No Fate
18:10 - Researching The T2 Score/Recreating The Score For T2D No Fate
20:58 - Easter Eggs From T1 & T2 Score/T1000 Death
22:31 - Having The T2 Score On Loop To Prepare/Different Genres In The Music
24:15 - Melody/Terminator Film Scores Don’t Have Melody
26:50 - Blurring The Line Between Music & Sound Design
28:00 - Later Terminator Movies Didnt Capture Brad Fiedels Musical Identity
29:30 - Different Time Signatures/Police Station Time Signature/Future Level 3
31:20 - Writing & Mixing At The Same Time
34:56 - Making The Soundtrack Loud For Bitmap Bureau Games
36:00 - Playing The Game For Inspiration On The Music
38:05 - Music In The Escape From Hospital Level/Bitmap’s Custom Engine
40:10 - Recording The T1000 SFX/Creating SFX/Finding Your Own Way Of Doing Things
43:01 - Not Wanting To Be Influenced By Other Music
44:25 - Going Back And Listening To Your Own Music/LEGO Breakfasts
46:28 - It’s Not What You Know But Who You Know
48:12 - No Longer DJing In Clubs/Patreon/Mashups
51:49 - Q+A - What Drives Composition For Licensed Material
53:22 - Dealing With Imposter Syndrome
54:00 - Playing Music For The Devs The First Time
57:14 - Q+A - What Is Your Favourite Moment From Terminator 2
59:08 - Q+A - What Are Your 3 Favourite VST Instruments
1:00:42 - Changing VSTs For Every Project
1:03:26 - Closing Comments

Jay Epperson is a concept artist who is probably most famous for his concept art on Donkey Kong Country Returns and especially on Tropical Freeze.
#nintendo #donkeykong #donkeykongcountry
Thanks to the Patreon Producers for making this happen Stipe, Borkey, Magic8

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:35 - How Jay Went From Being An Illustrator To Becoming A Concept Artist At Retro
04:50 - Interview Process At Retro/Getting Artists To Draw In Interviews
07:22 - Coming In As A Concept Artist Towards The End Of DKC Returns
10:20 - Retro’s Environmental Artists Were Smart
11:13 - Jay’s Art Is In The DK Theme Park
13:15 - Working With Designers
16:10 - Doing Concept Art On Tropical Freeze
18:42 - Choosing Vikings Over Aliens For The Concept
19:57 - Tikis Vs Snowmads/Reusing Assets
21:20 - Why The Ice World Is The Last Level
22:00 - Sales On Wii U/Coming Up With The Different World Themes
25:06 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Juicy Jungle World
29:27 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Water World
31:11 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Mangroves World/Cut Concepts
32:38 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Savannah World
33:18 - Showing Portfolios To Potential Employers Without Breaking NDAs
33:50 - There Arent Limitations On The DK IP
34:35 - Referencing Rare’s Work
35:33 - Nintendo Japan Were Hands Off On Concept Art
36:22 - Working On Mario Kart 7/Jay Isn’t Included In The Credits
38:30 - Jay’s Outlook “My Next Piece Will Be My Best Piece”
40:25 - Japan & Retro Testing Mario Kart 7
41:06 - Jay Reviews DK Bananza
25:29 - Jay Thinks DK Bananza Is A One Off
47:00 - Jay Doesnt Like K Rool’s Character Design
50:39 - DK’s New Look
52:22 - Why Jay Left Retro Studios
53:20 - Retro Studios Is One Of The Best Studios To Work For
54:00 - Retro Studios Art Team/Metroid Prime 4
55:35 - Nintendo Are Art Forward Not Technology Forward
56:35 - Will Retro Work On Donkey Kong Again?
57:35 - Will Retro Work On Metroid Prime 5/Would Jay Work On DK Again If Retro Asked
59:40 - Closing Comments

Denis Dyack is a legend in the industry and one of the few devs who has been exposed to both the Japanese and Western way of designing games. He is the man behind Legacy Of Kain and Eternal Darkness. I spoke with him in 2023 and he returns to promote his new game Deadhaus Sonata
#nintendo #legacyofkain #epicgames
My first interview with him is here https://youtu.be/Txt85DT68rQ
WEBSITE - https://deadhaussonata.com/
TWITTER - @DDyack
TWITTER - @DeadhausGame

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:00 - Whats Changed In 3 Years Regarding Deadhaus Sonata
05:02 - Deterministic Systems/Quantum Theory
12:00 - Why Taking A Break Benefited The Project/Celestial Clock
14:50 - Weather Physics/Zelda: BOTW/History
20:20 - The Game Will Live Forever/Stop Killing Games
25:20 - The Different Engines Used For Deadhaus Sonata/Unreal Engine 5
27:40 - Why Unreal 5 Games Are Badly Optimised/The Industry Is In Dire Straits
34:20 - GTA 6’s Impact On The Industry/AAA Games Are Too Big In Size
37:29 - Denis’s Thoughts On Resident Evil/Pitching A Game To Nintendo
42:00 - Western Publishers Only Care About Graphics
44:00 - Embracers Demise/Why Pitching Games Now Is So Hard
47:28 - Game Devs Are Terrified Of Nintendo Treehouse
51:20 - How Marketing Teams Look At Games/Lack Of Innovation
53:50 - Getting Investment For Games/Denis Couldnt Get Funding
58:30 - U.S. Culture/Talent/ Japan’s Advantage Over The Rest Of World In Game Development
1:01:50 - Darwinism/People Misunderstand AI
1:12:20 -Technology Doesnt Save Time
1:19:30 - Why Nintendo Will Easily Survive The Dire Times InThe Industry
1:22:15 - AI In Games Can Beneift Gamers
1:24:20 - Prophecy Of Tothe
1:28:09 - Silicon Knights Demise Deeply Hurt Denis/Society Is Crumbling
1:29:30 - Making Up With Epic & Tim After The Lawsuit
1:32:10 - Working With Tanabe/Friendship With Iwata
1:35:00 - Exploitation In The West/Denis Is A Japanese Developer
1:38:00 - Why Miyamoto/Kojima Are One Of A Kind
1:41:11 - Denis Was Crushed When Miyamoto Wasnt Impressed By Realistic Graphics
1:44:10 - Denis Changed Deadhaus Sonata Art From Realistic To Stylized
1:46:15 - Criticism Of Game Trailers/CGI Trailers
1:48:48 - Q+A - Who Came Up With TV Change Effect In Eternal Darkness
1:50:30 - Q+A - What Would A Hyperthetical Sequel To Legacy Of Kain Be
1:57:53 - Q+A - Nintendo’s Approach To Marketing On Eternal Darkness
2:00:02 - Eternal Darkness On NSO/Possible Remake And Sequel
2:02:10 - Worldbuilding In Legacy Of Kain & Eternal Darkness/Narrative Games
2:07:41 - Q+A - Adding Transitions In Eternal Darkness Because The Gamecube Loaded Too Fast
2:10:00 - Consoles Are All The Same Now/AAA Is Now A Bad Moniker
2:13:45 - Closing Comments