Kiwi Talkz

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/TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:34 - Differences Between Working In Video Games & Film/TV04:41 - Getting A Job at Naughty Dog07:20 - Working With The Designers On Concept Art For Uncharted09:03 - The Process Was Similar Between Uncharted 2,3 & 410:46 - Leaving Marvel/Being A Freelancer On Uncharted 412:30 - Why Andrew Left Naughty Dog15:30 - How Film Union Works18:23 - The Challenges Of Being A Freelancer In The Film Industry20:55 - It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know21:30 - How You Network In The Film Industry23:10 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 2 33:40 - Sony Santa Monica Has 6 Hour Interviews35:30 - Naughty Dog Interview Was 20 Minutes36:19 - Interviewing Process In The Game Industry Now37:49 - Andrew Would Work On Uncharted 5 If Asked39:20 - Andrew Had Limited Interactions With Amy & Bruce40:17 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 342:39 - Uncharted 3 Piece Got Andrew His Job At Marvel44:00 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 359:36 - Where To Follow Andrew

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/TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:45 - Differences Between Japanese & Western Development02:30 - Differences Between SEGA & Square Enix/Japanese Work Culture07:00 - Nintendo Devs Are Retiring/Japanese Devs Are Nimble09:15 - Kyoto’s Indie Scene/Hiring People At 17-Bit10:39 - Japanese Labour Laws11:40 - What Nintendo Devs Do Once They Retire/Retirement Age At Nintendo11:46 - Nintendo Dev Legends Have Playtested Awaysis14:11 - Playtesting With Awaysis16:25 - Importance Of Iterating On Tutorials/What Is Awaysis20:20 - Local Multiplayer Can’t Be Matched/Online Multiplayer/Covid23:30 - Getting Hirokazu Tanaka To Compose Awaysis/Jake Is A Huge Nintendo Fan25:40 - Pitch To Hirokazu Tanaka26:50 - Physics System Of Awaysis29:54 - Super Mario 64/Game Controls Are Too Tight Nowadays33:28 - Graphics Take Precedent Over Physics34:28 - The Physics System In Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom36:40 - Being Friends With Eiji Aonuma/The Glider In BOTW38:14 - Physics Limitations In Unreal Engine42:24 - Zelda BOTW & TOTK Are Masterpieces/Next Zelda43:15 - Friendship With Eiji Aonuma44:17 - Working At SEGA/Being Mentored By Tetsuya Mizuguchi46:19 - Working With Steven Spielberg On Elemeno/Mirrors Edge50:21 - Original Ideas In Games Are Few & Far Between52:30 - Oversaturation Of Indie Games/Devs Leaving The Industry55:11 - Devs Getting Laid Off Despite Success/The Dire State Of The Industry56:15 - Stability Working At Nintendo & Valve/Struggles For Funding01:01:00 - Gen-Z Play GAAS/Gamers Are Playing Old Games1:03:49 - Where To Keep Up With Awaysis

Joe Houston who worked on Demon Souls Remake joins me to review the GTA of indie games Hollow Knight:Silksong!! I did an interview with him a number of years ago, which you can find here. https://youtu.be/skAWid5zYfg #silksong #hollowknight #hollowknightsilksongTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:40 - Silksong Overview01:30 - Silksong’s Difficulty/The Purpose Of Difficulty In Games07:10 - Runbacks10:54 - Bosses Of Silksong13:40 - Progression Doesnt Help With The Difficulty16:20 - Top Moments In The Game/Story19:50 - Best Areas In Silksong22:45 - Demon Souls & Dishonored Shaping Joe’s Views On Silksong26:37 - Why Demon Souls Remake Didnt Have An Easy Mode/Silksong Nerfs29:10 - Team Cherry Sticking To It’s Vision/Serving Core Players31:30 - Silksong Is Too Long/Length In Games35:12 - Replayability37:45 - Bosses That You Die on The Most39:37 - Will Silksong Win GOTY/GOTY Nominees44:05 - Specificity Of Silksong45:09 - Tastes In Games Change As You Get Older 48:18 - Distribution Model Of Games50:00 - Team Cherry’s Intentions/Devs Get Bored While Developing Games52:00 - Playtesters On Games56:00 - Team Cherry Won’t Make An Easy Mode/Achievements Provide Data To Devs 58:30 - WHATS MORE IMPORTANT TO DEVS - PLAY TIME OR SALES?1:00:20 - Vertical Slices/Why A Games Quality Can Be All Over The Place1:02:40 - Closing Comments/Silksong DLC

Joshua Jay was a former world artist at Bethesda who worked on Fallout 4, 76 & Starfield, prior to that he was a world artist on the Gears Of War trilogy. Josh built a living saloon set in the style of Fallout 76 here! Check it out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7gBi3_lyag&t=167s #fallout #starfield #gearsofwar JOSHUAS ARTWORK CAN BE FOUND HERE https://www.joshuajayart.com/ https://www.artstation.com/joshua_jay_artTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:38 - Lord Of The Rings/Kurt Kuhlmann04:18 - Building A Fallout 76 Saloon13:43 - Todd Howard/Early Work On Fallout 417:51 - Fallout 4’s Colour Palette19:00 - Josh’s Work On Fallout 4’s World Art21:38 - Josh’s Gears Of War 3 Art Was Inspired By Fallout 322:30 - Epic Games Base Their Games On Licensing/Bethesda Vs Epic Culture25:10 - Unreal Engine Vs Creation Engine28:20 - Problems Developing Fallout 7633:25 - Why Fallout 76 Wasnt Delayed/Starfield Was Delayed Due To F07635:18 - Josh & Kiwi Butcher Shigeru Miyamoto’s Quote37:00 - Game Development Costs/Fallout 538:45 - What Josh Wants To See In Fallout 540:15 - Fallout TV Show Being 5 Seasons/TV Shows With Filler42:50 - Video Games With Filler/Alien Isolation45:15 - Video Games Should Be Shorter/Elder Scrolls VI/Rockstar Games48:30 - Josh Got Burned Out On Gears Of War/Josh Avoided Starfield For As Long As Possible52:40 - Working On Starfield53:30 - Q+A - How Bethesda Seamlessly Transition From Different Biomes In Their Games58:09 - Q+A - Were There Talks For Smaller Galaxies In Starfield In Pre-Production59:25 - Game Devs Not Having Time To Play Games/Josh Doesnt Play Many Games These Days1:01:42 - Josh Loves Shadow Of Mordor & War1:02:10 - Q+A - How Was Josh’s Day Organised In A Pie Chart At Epic & Bethesda1:04:45 - Pros & Cons Of Big & Small Studios/Star Wars Games1:07:32 - Josh Loves & Hates The Industry/Story Of Soldiers In Afghanistan1:11:24 - Josh Tells A Touching Story Of A Fallout Fan Who Died1:16:41 - Outro

David O'Reilly is a former game developer who is best known for his work at Rockstar on GTA, RDR2 and GTA VI, yes you read that right he worked on GTA VI up until 2023 when he left the video game industry. He now has a Youtube channel where he reviews environmental art in games. David's Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@Game-World-Art #rockstargames #gta6 #rdr2TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:30 - Having Imposter Syndrome Working At Rockstar04:30 - Having A Good Manager06:05 - Doing Caves For GTA V08:29 - Doing Environmental Easter Eggs In Rockstar Games10:11 - Rockstar Devs Dont Even Know Whats In Their Games At Release12:53 - David’s Art On GTA VI/The Tech Process At Rockstar15:01 - David Will Be Going Into GTA VI As A Fan16:13 - David Hopes His Name Is In The Credits Of GTA VI17:34 - Character & Environmental Artists Dont Work Together/Trevor Motion Capture Sequence18:42 - Problems With Art In Ubisoft Games20:59 - The Houser Brothers23:11 - Why David Left Rockstar/Burnout27:00 - Telling People You Worked On GTA29:00 - David’s Youtube Channel33:00 - How David Decides What Games To Play On Youtube35:15 - Sending Devs To U.S. To Use For Reference Footage39:15 - Different Leads For Each Rockstar Game/Changes In Development Processes40:40 - Art Is Becoming More Specialized 42:30 - Benefits And Drawbacks Of AI On Art/Chat GPT47:12 - GTA 7/GTA VI Trailer49:00 - Difference Between Movie Trailers And Game Trailers51:00 - How Rockstar Make Game Trailers/Reaction Internally To Trailers53:15 - Assassins Creed/There Is More Potential For Games57:30 - Q+A - How Great Does Your Portfolio Have To Be To Get Hired At Rockstar1:00:31 - Why David Doesnt Have His Rockstar Art On Artstation1:03:20 - David Wont Return To The Games Industry1:04:46 - Q+A - What Is The Most Challenging Part Of Making Environments1:06:53 - Q+A - How Much Freedom Are You Allowed On The Games1:10:07 - Closing Comments/David’s Youtube Channel

Obbe Vermeij, a former technical director at Rockstar Games during GTA III to GTA IV, is now working on his indie game Plentiful, and the demo is out now here.#grandtheftauto #gta #rockstargamesPlentiful Demo is here - https://store.steampowered.com/app/3044790/Plentiful/SOCIAL MEDIATWITTER - @ObbeVermeijBLUESKY - ‪@obbevermeij.bsky.social‬TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:46 - GTA IV Design Document01:20 - Working With The Designers On GTA On What’s Possible & Not Possible02:15 - Gang Wars In San Andreas Was Very Difficult04:05 - GTA Series Moved Away From Gameplay First To Story First06:30 - Obbe’s Thoughts On GTA VI 2nd Trailer07:23 - GTA VI Will Be 30FPS08:39 - GTA III’s Success Caught Obbe By Surprise09:50 - The Vibe At Rockstar When GTA III Kept Selling & Selling11:34 - How 9/11 Affected GTA III13:03 - The Houser Brothers15:20 - How GTA An American Parody Game Was Made In Edinburgh16:40 - What Obbe Worked On In The GTA Trilogy18:10 - Obbe’s Role Decreased As Rockstar Got Bigger And Bigger 21:04 - GTA VI Is The Most Expensive Game Ever22:03 - GTA VII Will Be Cheaper To Make Than GTA VI Due To AI22:50 - AI’s Effects On Programmers/How AI Will Help Game Development27:17 - Leslie Benzies/Mindseye30:40 - Rockstar Were Great With Hiring Staff/Indie Games32:00 - Obbe’s Indie Game Plentiful37:02 - Prototyping To Show A Publisher/Obbe Loves Making Games38:00 - Obbe Is Making Plentiful As A Solo Dev/Music39:15 - Obbe Made A Museum App Called Guide App40:28 - Obbe Misses The Rockstar Games Days/Rockstar North Has A Great Work Culture43:28 - Q+A - What Were The Main Differences Developing GTA IV For PS3 & XBOX36044:53 - Q+A - How Much Is The Product Different From The Start Till Release46:37 - Q+A - Favourite Project & Career Highlight47:39 - The Original Intention With Vice City49:21 - Q+A - The Most Impressive Thing The Devs Pulled Off That They Thought Was Impossible53:30 - Where To Follow Obbie & Get His Game Plentiful/GTA IV Delay Story.

Jeremy Huxley is a former environmental artist at Naughty Dog who worked there for 11 years on the Uncharted & Last Of Us franchises. #uncharted #lastofus #lastofuspart2 TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:31 - Coming To Naughty Dog Partway Through Uncharted 302:30 - Art Test/Learning From The Veterans05:20 - Team Being Split Off After Uncharted 3/Working On Uncharted 4/PBR09:00 - The Jump For Art From PS3 To PS410:20 - Naughty Dog’s Reference Material For Uncharted 412:40 - Uncharted 4’s Jungle Environments13:50 - Ray Tracing Vs Baked Lighting17:40 - Jeremy’s Thoughts On AI For Artists22:10 - Reusing Art Assets From Uncharted For Last Of Us23:20 - Transitioning From Uncharted To Last Of Us Seamlessly (Snow Sections)25:30 - Pressure Of Working On Naughty Dog27:30 - Friendly Rivalry Between Devs At Naughty Dog29:30 - What References Were Used For Snow In Last Of Us Part II30:30 - Working On Last Of Us Remaster/Respecting The Original Artists34:00 - Importance Of Remasters & Remakes/Neil Druckmann36:40 - Jeremy Would Love To Work On Zelda/The Game Industry Is In Trouble Due To Realistic Graphics40:10 - Jeremy Praises From Software/Jeremy Is Playing Older Games42:30 - As A Dev Jeremy Analyses Games/Final Fantasy VII Remake45:30 - Q+A - How Artists Work With Designers51:00 - Q+A - Favourite Environment To Work On52:39 - Q+A - Would You Like To Work On A Stylized Game Over Realistic54:32 - Jeremy Critiques Zelda: TOTK’s Art56:25 - Where To Follow JeremySOCIAL MEDIA ARTSTATION - https://www.artstation.com/jeremyh BLUESKY - @jeremyhuxley.bsky.social

Chris Detyna is a video game composer who is best known for his brilliant score for Terminator Resistance. #terminator #terminatorresistance #theterminatorTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:00 - Meeting Teyon/How Chris Got The Job Composing Terminator Resistance04:19 - Including Electric Guitar In The Main Theme/Being Scared Of Making The Music05:52 - Adapting The Terminator 1 Theme/T1 Theme Weird Time Signature09:05 - Directions From Teyon’s Director On The Music11:25 - The Gear Chris Used To Make The Soundtrack13:52 - Kiwi Praises The OST/Teyon Were Nervous Of The Reception/Ear Fatigue17:06 - Music & SFX Balancing18:27 - Why The Terminator Resistance OST Isnt On Spotify20:04 - Scoring The Kyle Reese Cutscene From T1/Transcriptions23:00 - The Approach To Scoring The Game 25:00 - Composing The HK Combat Theme25:49 - Only One Of Chris’ Tracks Were Cut From The Game27:50 - Communication At Teyon Is Great/No Crunch At Teyon29:00 - Working On Robocop: Rogue City/Autotune32:15 - Writing Melody & Lyrics/Ideas Don’t Get Lost36:15 - Doing The T-800 Heartbeat Theme(Infiltrator Mode)41:00 - Chris & Kiwi Discuss Mixing Tips45:25 - Q+A - What IP Would You Like To Compose For48:50 - Q+A - What Does Chris Feel About The Forgettable Scores Post T251:31 - Q+A - What Was Chris’ Influences Growing Up54:35 - Closing Comments