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December 27, 2021 35 mins

This bonus episode features your host John R. Diaz, a Senior Technical Designer for Electronic Arts Frostbite Engine. In this 1:1 we look back on the podcast and the inaugural year, where we've been, and where we hope to go in 2022.

Season 202(2) will kick off at the end of January / early February. See you all then!

Feel free to connect with John www.elkingpin.com

And connect with the show at www.outofplayarea.com 

 

Links to other recommended podcasts:

Game Dev with a Shot of Jameson: https://open.spotify.com/show/2lvzEmdq6X9vwKWMi4F6CF

The AIAS Game Maker's Notebook: https://www.interactive.org/Interviews/the_game_makers_notebook.asp

The Game Dev Show: https://www.ptw.com/thegamedevshow/

The Habibis: https://thehabibis.transistor.fm/

GDC Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3IjaJ0YoZiVvgOK5xRlDQx

Zero To Play Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/13V48s0adPvEQRHHKPUU13 

 

 

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
John (00:03):
Welcome to the Out of Play Area Podcast, the game developers podcast.
With me, I'm your host, John Diaz.
this one is going to be a special yearend recap episode, where I sit here,
sip on a little something and takesome time to be present in this moment.
And look back on our firstyear with the podcast.

(00:25):
2021 has been a year and likenone other, nobody saw it coming.
And I just want to sit back anddo something a little different
to celebrate where we've come.
Where we're going.
And.
Just talk to you.
One-on-one.
let me give you all the bio forthose of you who was the first time
listening, who doesn't know me very well.

(00:47):
And let me read you my bio thatI've been going with for all the
conferences and things that are go to.
I'm a first generation, DominicanAmerican with a bachelor's of science
and game design and developmentfrom full sail university.
I'm an industry figure.
Who's contributed to the design of someof the most critically and commercially
successful games of the last decade.

(01:07):
Including grand theft auto five.
And red, dead redemption.
And currently on the experiencedesign for the tools behind
such games as battlefield 2042.
Madden NFL 22 NHL 22 and FIFA 2022.
Um, a game to veteran with over 15years in the game as a game designer
for studios all across the continent,including midway games in Austin, Texas.

(01:32):
Rockstar games and San DiegoWarner brothers games in Montreal
as an AI systems designer.
Then I made the jump over to bigtech and went to Amazon at AWS
as a tutorial designer for there.
Then lumberyard engine now knownas the open 3d game engine.
And then where I made the jump to whereI am today as an electronic artist,

(01:54):
working on their frostbite engine.
Out of Seattle.
As a tech designer.
I work on tools that empower developers tobuild the most engaging games imaginable.
I like to speak at conferences,sharing the knowledge.
So in this year alone, I've spoken at GDC.
That's a bucket list item.
My favorite conference, thatgame does have color expo.

(02:15):
I've spoken at AI four and the LatinX games festival, as well as a few
of the podcasts and interviews outthere that you can find on my website.
At L kingpin.com.
I'm all about that inclusivity anddiversity, and I've actually really
enjoyed playing that mentor card.
And interviewing other video gameindustry thought leaders on this

(02:36):
biweekly game development podcast,you hopefully know as out of play
area available on all the platforms,including Spotify, YouTube, apple.
And any other place thatyou listened to podcasts on?
How does that ring?
Does that sound like full of myself?
Does it sound like someone youeven give a shit to listen to?

(02:58):
One thing I've learned is that.
Nobody's going to give you shit, man.
Nobody's going to give you your props oryour credit based on what you've done.
Would you tell them you've done, man.
So.
I have to sell myself and I haveto keep selling myself no matter
how long I've been doing this,no matter what I've worked on.
I got to make sure that nobodysleeps on what I've done and not

(03:19):
only do I do that for myself, butI want to do that for my guests and
everybody that comes on the show.
Every episode is your real estate.
It's your pitch.
It's your story.
And I do my best to emphasizeeverything and anything that you've
done because surviving in this industry.
Is unlike any other and for thepeople that hang on and thrive, you

(03:39):
can look back and see that you'veaccomplished some pretty amazing things.
So with that.
Let's hear from our friendly neighborhood.
Nerdcore rapper.
Mega rain.

Mega Ran (03:57):
Let's prepare for take off cabin crew.
Please take your seats nowabout to enter the out of Flay.
Every, if you can't reach me guy.
Good.
Since we got to play,
make sure you hit that file when you

(04:44):
welcome to the outer plate.
Every your pockets, the show bygame devs for game day with no ads.
Yes.

John (05:12):
I love that part where he's like best thing out of
Harlem says young miles Morales.
I mean, the dude just came offwith that off the top of his head.
Uh, it gives me goosebumps, you know,that's my hometown, Spanish, Harlem,
and body, or a hundred fifth and firsteast river projects born and bred.
that's my youth, that's my origin story.
And you know, many peoplewhat they know out of Harlem.

(05:34):
Probably Luke cage is popular inpop culture and pop media miles.
Morales was definitely a huge hit.
In the MCU and with this game,courtesy of insomniac, I'm currently
still playing that and loving it.
You know, having his mixed familyAfrican-American and Porter
rock in their special thing.
Additionally as well.
Some of the prominent.

(05:54):
Harlem characters made the mostpeople know if you watch versus this
past year dip set versus the locks.
You know, people like.
Cam'ron Jim Jones, Juul,Santana, and Dame dash.
Right?
Like these are prominent Harlem figures.
there was a artist.
I remember when I was comingup there LA Vega, he was big.
And actually I have to do my homework.

(06:15):
Who else is who else claims Harlem intheir catalog and their repertoire?
Speaking of mega ran.
Right.
I had a shortlist of musiciansthat I wanted to work with.
And due to the nerdy nature of thepodcast, mega ran was at the top.
And I really expected to,Not end up getting it.
but I did, you know, and this was atotally random shot into the void.

(06:37):
He had just released hisbook early this year.
And digging in the well and theGoogles, I was able to find his
management contact information.
And I reached out and.
A huge stroke of luck in thepandemic timing, being what it was.
We were able to get collaborateand collaborate together.
Do the paperwork signed a contract cometo terms that everybody was happy with.

(06:58):
And it is what it is now.
And I'm so happy.
And I'm so proud of that.
I mean, The astute listenersout there might notice.
That there's a slight difference betweenthe original debut version on episode
10 with Danny and the one that youhear at the, at the end of the podcast.
And it's something that.
Never would have happenedif I had not said, fuck it.
And golfer, and it tooka shot to get chance.

(07:19):
When I told Catherine.
Uh, I had gotten him, we workand she was super hyped for me.
Super excited.
I was.
Oh, you, you, you motherfucker,you got mega ran to be on your
podcast we're going to get there.
We've got to start somewhereright again and sell yourself.
Put that high production value onanything and everything you do.
And to an extent, right?
Fake it till you make it.
There's definitely a, an airfraudulence when I hear that term.

(07:43):
But at the same time, I hear empoweringyourself, advocating for yourself.
Not selling yourself short.
And just living up to the visionthat you have in your head.
there's something to be said for.
Having the vision.
Coming prepared.
Right.
And not just like, Hey, you wantto work with me and then, okay.
Let's work.
And then, being empty handed.

(08:03):
No, no.
I had a vision.
I knew what I wanted.
I had a reference, I had a bunch ofother podcasts type introductions,
and even sit-com introductionsthat I was trying to target.
I had some beets and a roughidea, and I had a budget.
So I went in prepared.
And when we got the meeting, You know,we go off to the races quick, fast, and

(08:23):
he was a delight to work with virtually.
What I had not planned on though, was.
Catherine's intro becoming such a staple.
I originally meant to put the mega ran asthe main intro for the show and replace
the placeholder one that Katherine made.
But.
I didn't expect the reception andthe love that people have for her and
hearing her voice, especially when she'slike, you know, no ads, no bullshit.

(08:46):
People love that.
I was like, damn man, I paidfor the central, what I'm gonna
do, but we ended up figuring outa, it works well in the outro.
Which I know for a fact, most of youdon't even stick around for, but that's
how I, you know, the real ones enjoy.
And if this episode wasthe first time hearing it.
I hope you enjoyed.
Speaking about Katherine's intro.

(09:07):
This show comes all out of pocket.
Completely.
My own product.
You know, I wouldn'thave it any other way.
Really?
The costs have pretty minimal.
I have.
Uh, license.
I pay for Kevin Lee, which handles allmy automation for booking and scheduling.
I pay for my email domain, whichis, you know, probably a dollar
or two a month through I own us.

(09:28):
I play, I pay a subscription to Descript.
which is the best.
Software for audiointerview editing out there.
I don't know of anything better.
I challenge you to, to putsomething more fun to work in.
Which by the way.
I got affiliate status so Ican hook you up with a code.
And if you like it, you know,I get a little kickback on it.

(09:50):
you got to check it out.
If you work in.
Transcription and audio editing.
There's no better tool I've used.
Right.
And I've messed with abunch, all the Adobe suite.
Audacity.
some of these other things,my workflow is sandcastle.
To record interviews.
Imported.
And it's a de script, do all myediting and T script doing my
post-production and de script.

(10:10):
And that's it.
And then blast it up.
I pay for pod bean, podbeans, where I hosted.
Epidemic sounds for music licensingfor some of the beats I use.
And I think that's about.
It for the most part.
But yeah, I don't make a dime.
I do have swag out there though.
Curious if anybody picked upsome swag, if you go to my
website, oughta play every.com.

(10:30):
There's a link.
Too.
I get shirts, hoodies.
What have you curious ifanybody's picked any up?
I'd lose my shit if I wasto see that in the wild.
If you want a sample, Ican get one to you at cost.
So with all that, I don't make a dime.
I'm not in this for monetization.
I've had a few people reach out to me for.
Uh, sponsoring and all that.
And, you know, it's kindof at odds with the whole.

(10:53):
No as no bullshit, but we'll see.
I'd be lying if I wouldn't be excitedto get to a point where at the minimum,
the show can just pay for itself.
And that way I'm not, a net zero.
That would be dope.
But for now.
You know, the labor of loveand putting my money into this.
For what it gives me in return.
I'm already coming out positive.
it was something I managed to workout with EA that I can do this on the

(11:16):
side of my own time, not on company.
Hours or equipment and never talking.
For them, or we speaking in my own voice.
I've never asked any of my previousemployees to do something like this.
And I think it's pretty simple, right?
It's just something.
Now you declare as like a prior invention.
And that you don'trepresent your employer.
it's honestly hard for me to imagine.

(11:37):
Having been allowed to do this when I wasat Amazon doing like YouTube videos or.
At WB games or even at rockstar, right.
Like I just don't see them beinglike, oh yeah, you can go ahead
and make a game dev podcast.
I got.
I just don't see that, but Hey, theworld is very, very different, right?
Like if you would've told me the gameindustry would have allowed remote work,

(11:59):
I would have told you you're crazy.
But here we are.
And.
I'm so happy, right?
Like III has been.
Amazing to me.
They've been a fantastic employer.
I've been with them for a year andI could see myself with them for.
Silver retirement to be fair, right?
Like what I get to do on frostbite is.
A dream come true.
Like, I don't know, you know?

(12:19):
You know, each their own.
Which by the way.
I'm staring at this mama Juana thatmy, my Barbara Frank hooked me up with
at Seattle barbershop in cap hill.
And this is the island right here.
This is Dominican Republic.
So
To me, Hinton to health wealth.
Happiness.
Success knowledge health always.
Whole.

(12:39):
Smooth.
Smooth.
Oh, that hits wonderfully.
You gotta look that up.
I looked at him.
If you don't know mama.
Juana is.
Speak to speak to yourlocal Dominican embassy.
And ask them for moreinformation on that or Google it.
That's uh, some special right there.
If you listen or watch drink champs,the podcast was with Noriega, DJ

(13:03):
EFN, he's Dominican, and you'llsee him drink of some of my Juana.
Whenever he shouts it out.
Uh, where was I?
Frostbites amazing, youknow, to each their own.
At my heart as much as I love.
AI systems design And the allure ofstealth And the cat and mouse game play.
And.
Smarty I, that makes you thinktwice and makes you step back.

(13:24):
Like what did they do?
Holy cow.
It's amazing.
At my truth.
I'm a tech designer, I.
Was a moderator for a panel discussingwhat take design is all about at GDC.
You can find it on the vault.
It's called avoided an identitycrisis as a tech designer.
It's got.
Homie's very near and dear to my heartthat I will definitely be bringing
on to the podcast in 2022 or 2023.

(13:47):
I have a big ass backlogof episodes I've recorded.
Featuring some deal homie'sfrom my rock star days.
All the fellow full sail alumni.
Some amazing people that areconnected with for the first time.
And then I have a bunch of peoplethat have been nominated that
I have to chase up and record.
And definitely.
Want to bring in some more engineers,some more pure engineers, talk

(14:10):
to them, get their perspective.
Definitely want to bring ona bunch of Gotham Knights
people when that came drops.
Bring on some mosque topeople in that came, drops.
Anything else coming out in thenew year that I'm excited about?
I definitely, you know this every,but I want to tell it to everybody.
What can I say, man?
This, this podcast has been a ride.
And I'm so happy.
That I've been talking about puttingthis since 2014, when I left rockstar.

(14:34):
I was looking at things to dooutside of the game industry.
Or even some entrepreneurial type thing.
And I wish I had followedsuit to be honest, right?
Like, At the time, I thinkserial podcast wasn't out.
And so the world hadn't blown up.
some might say, Hey, I missed the boat.
Right?
Like now it seems like everybody andtheir moms has a podcast in 2021, but.

(14:54):
I think that's fine, bro.
Like, I'm not doing this foranybody, but my damn self.
And the little bit that I seein growth has been amazing and
it motivates me to keep going.
You know, there's something too.
Shipping content.
You know, as a game developer, we go.
3 4, 5 years before we shipped something.
And.
If I had stayed at WB games, right.

(15:17):
I got the in 2015.
And got the night's still hasn't shipped.
You know, hopefully it's out in20, 22, but it would have been
since 2013 that I should, we would,it would have been nine years.
And, uh, so fuck that.
And I'm super happy that I madethe choice I did and jumped ship.
And 2018.
Came aboard Amazon and was like, yo.

(15:38):
You making what?
You making a came engine.
And it's based off CryEngine.
And it's open source of free.
And it natively integrateswith the cloud and does what.
For real.
And, you know, thinking to myself,like if anybody got the pockets
to make a competitor to unrealor unity, It's definitely Amazon.
And I was hyped, man.
Like.
Hell.

(15:58):
Yeah, let me, let me forget this.
Working infinitely on a title.
That may or may not see the light of day.
And let me come work on toolsand see a bunch of games.
See all the games that the engine istouching and be able to support all
these developers and not be tied to one.
Project for X amount of years, right.
That that's where my head was at.
You know what I'm saying?
I've come to find outthat what excites me.

(16:19):
Is the act of making the game.
And refining that.
And making it more efficient and helpingempower people who are better than me.
To get to the fun faster, right?
Like if we spend.
60, 70% of the effort.
Just making things work.
And then the remaining 30, 40%.
Tuning it and refining it and makingit fun and compelling and make sense.

(16:41):
And making that thing,shine and Polish, right?
Like I want to flip that around.
You know, I want to make making the game.
Easy.
And then give you all the tools and theflexibility to refine and Polish and.
chip away.
You know that that's what,that's what it thrills me.
That's what excites me.
And that's what I've found at frostbite.
it Amazon, it was like,
Hey come.
Bill videos and show peoplehow to use the angina there.

(17:01):
Holy shit.
Okay.
I never done this before, but okay.
Let me go for it and taught myself Adobepremiere and the whole Adobe suite.
And studio recording andlighting and acoustics.
And.
Framing and color and lightingand all this craziness, bro.
And editing.
Who I was a crazy threeyears at Amazon man.
Put me in another.
In another world, right?

(17:22):
Like big tech is insane.
Well, I come to find out.
Seattle is just.
Crazy with the cost of living and thesalary bands out here is just crazy.
You make a lot of money.
But you also spend a lot.
You know, that's something.
But yeah, man, I found frostbite.
Where it was like, man, Amazon'snever going to ship a game.
And they don't really knowwhat to do with all this.
Time and effort and money.

(17:43):
Like they, they not inno rush to get anywhere.
They'll get there eventuallyon their own time.
New world shipped that year.
And that was a big deal, you know,hats off to them, kudos to them.
I wasn't tied to that.
You know, that was one thing thatdidn't make sense to me was The
connection and the communication betweenthe engine team and the games team.
Was a, it was weird.
When I left.
What would appeal to me atfrostbite was like, okay.

(18:03):
There's games being made on thistechnology is hard and then refined,
you know, those battlefields in thesports games and the BioWare games.
And.
We're going to refine the engine bythe nature of the games that we're
putting out, which are everything right.
You got need for speed racers,you got football and soccer.
And you got shooters and battlefield and everything in between man.
So I was like, yes.

(18:24):
I love working in the engine spaceand I want to come work for an engine.
That's actually pumping out.
Heavy hater games that peoplewere playing and big ass
communities and a stapled name.
And here I am.
this year.
my plan has paid the fuck off because.
In 2021.
I shipped as many games as.
If I had done.
In my entire career.

(18:45):
With NHL.
Madden and FIFA and thecapping it off with battlefield
that's four games in 2021.
Added to the bill andmind you I'll be honest.
If I be, I be real with y'all.
I'm credited as part ofthe experience design team.
On the engine team.
that in itself is amazing.
we have a dedicated content developmentteam just for the engine team.

(19:06):
And mind you, I didn't check in a singlething to any of those project we pose.
But I'm credited on the game because whatI did check in was all engine facing.
Content for working with the engine.
and I got those creds, bro.
And if I stay here, you know, that'slike four or five games a year.
10 more years, man.
I'll be in an, in a nice,nice league of my own.

(19:27):
thanks to the opportunity.
This is just the things I see ahead.
Well drinking this mama Juana.
All that being said, The thrillof shipping is second to none.
And working on something witha team and celebrating that
blood, sweat, and tears, but.
That thrill.
I get it in tiny doses in micro doses.
When I was shipping 10,15 minute tutorial videos.

(19:49):
Every week on YouTube for Amazonand being paid to do it right.
I was paid to be a YouTube were paid.
Better than ever.
Been better than when I wasbeing paid to be a game designer.
And.
Now.
When I didn't have that, I missed it.
And that's what thispodcast gives me, right.
Is I make content and I crafted andpolished it and edit it down and
then release it every two weeks.
And they get the feedback andrefine it, iterate, but shipping

(20:10):
and hitting that publish button.
Gives me that thrill, right?
Definitely to a smallerscale, smaller degree.
But it's so satisfying, right?
Ah, ship dash shit.
Boom.
It's out there in the world that exists.
It will, it will stand the test of howeverlong the internet it's up and running.
It's my content.
I shipped it right.
It's my baby.
for the public to consume tear up andhate on or praise or whatever site

(20:33):
source, whatever, get me in trouble.
Who knows.
And I love it, man.
What was funny is I didn't know how Iwas going to find the time for this one.
I was telling Catherine,Catherine was super hyped for me.
When I told her I wanted to dothis, she was super supportive,
but she was like, I don't know.
We're going to find the time youhave a bunch of shit going on.
And.
I just dove into it.
And so.
I would estimate it takes me about.

(20:54):
one hour to have a pre-show chat withthe guests to actual hours of recording.
And then about three or sohours of post-production.
And probably another hour.
Into like social media andpromoting and writing up those
little videos or images and, andlittle blurbs, spreading awareness.
So let's round up to say.

(21:14):
seven hours, seven, eight hours episode.
an episode every two weeks.
Therefore we can runthose a four hours a week.
And.
With all the things I got going on.
I took inventory of my time.
And I noticed there wasa shit ton of time spent.
Watching media or consumingmedia or playing games.
And once I decided to cut frommy gaming or no Netflix timing.

(21:39):
Those four hours with easy.
And I love the iOS has been there and it'sskills that are adding to my repertoire.
It's things that I can put on my resume.
And new software that I get to useand a new voice that gives back into.
The other thing I like to do, right.
Mentoring.
Sharing the knowledge at conferences,it helps me to be a better speaker,
helps me to be a better intervieweras well as an interviewee.

(22:01):
You know, I've, you know, my model is.
Say yes to every opportunity of whichthere are so fucking many on LinkedIn
these days now with the remote work, beingwhat it is, everybody in their moms is
being like, yo, you're a tech designer.
We looking for tech designers.
And none of them Our On the same.
Level of understanding as like, yo.
Uh, tech designer can beso much more efficient.
If you let us work Acrossprojects, as opposed to just

(22:23):
building it on one project.
And again, that takes me back tothe opportunities that I have.
On engine teams, right?
Like.
I love frostbite and I don't needto see myself going anywhere.
As long as they keep taking careof me and give me a road to get
to the levels I want to get to.
Right.
Right now on my, I see I'm a senior.
I definitely have aspirationsto move up to principal.
And hone in on my skills, but.

(22:43):
As a result of this mentorship and talkingto people and talking about growing a
team and fostering talent, you know,for the first time in my career, my
life, I would not be opposed to being amanager, being a director, being a lead.
that's something I'm open to, It'sone of those typical things you
see in games where, Hey, you'dnever been a manager before.
We're not going to give youthe management position, but.

(23:04):
With my boss.
I think I can grow into it.
if I had to think hard to belike, what place can give me this
opportunity, a similar opportunity,or maybe to another degree?
I would imagine epic, right?
Like unreal engine.
Like, Hey John, we want you.
Come work on the unreal engine and do whatyou do, but for unreal of which there are.
So many of the homie's workingon unreal for their game.

(23:27):
And then if I can comebehind the scenes and help.
Author that stuff and pushthat out and make that better.
While learning it, right?
Like.
I think that'd be somethingthat I'd have to entertain.
Who knows.
Bro.
It's been a crazy year, man.
Uh, I'm so happy.
What we've done.
What's out there in the wild.
We've had a lot of great guests.
What are we 23 episodes in.
Hopefully next year I'll get 24 in andprobably that that'll be the cadence.

(23:50):
So have a 50th episode sometime in2023, if things keep going well.
There's been some interesting.
Reoccurring themes.
That I've heard in 20, 21after all these interviews.
And so one of them.
Has obviously been how differentand unique each of our stories is
and breaking into the industry.

(24:11):
You know, some starting QA, others throughinterning others through community or
social, or e-sports others go to school.
You know myself, I went to full sail.
And almost always, you know,connections play a big role in there.
Someone nudging you, pushingyou, uh, telling you that you can
do the thing or putting you incontact with somebody to do it.
And then taking thechance and going for it.

(24:32):
And we all play game for, we willall gamers before nobody just kind of
ends up in game development withouthaving been a gamer of some sorts.
Find this super fascinating.
The second big theme thatcame up a lot this year was.
That.
It's super important tobe flexible and adaptable.
It's very rare that the thing you thinkyou will end up doing or applying for is

(24:53):
the job that you actually end up doing.
But, having a generalsense is important, right?
Like, Hey.
Oh, yeah.
I want to do design or Iwant to do engineering.
I want to be an artist.
A fair amount of us designersall started out as engineers and.
Ended up getting into design.
And then you have QA that usuallyevolve into something else right before.
Evolve into design, evolve intoproduction, being a producer.

(25:16):
So looking back on all that right.
Something we talked about a lot isthe vital skill to stay adaptable.
Dare I say fungible.
Especially today there's roles todaythat didn't exist 10, 15 years ago.
Right?
This monetization or economy designeris user experience was not a thing.
Community wasn't a thing.

(25:37):
Right?
And these are new roles that.
You may not have a degree in maybe acertificate, but you know, I apply that.
A lot of the skills is,is about communication.
And not being scared to dive intotechnology or learn something on the job.
And I think finally, the third themethat you heard a lot of was when

(25:57):
I asked a bunch of these peoplelike, Hey, what do you look for?
And when you're hiringand talent and recruiting,
You know, they will all.
Pretty aligned with, you know,we want to hire good people.
and my saying is right, my bad, my bad.
I was being a Dick is.
They don't want to hire jerks.
You know, like it doesn'tmatter how good you are with.
The games you've worked on.
If you're a jerk, whateverprior experiences, right?

(26:17):
Like we all have our prior relationshipsor learned behaviors Any creative
can get easily defensive, andthen you want to square up and
bring the knives and guns out.
But.
stepping beyond that Neanderthal reaction.
Is using that.
Medulla oblongata or that.
prefrontal cortex and thinking.
Going back against your instincts tofight or flight And remind yourself

(26:41):
that yo, we're all on the same team.
We all want to makethe best game possible.
Let's talk to Sal.
Help me understand what you're saying.
It feel explaining your feelings.
Right?
Emotional intelligence is a never ending.
Skill or journey and figuring,learning yourself out communicating
your thoughts and emotions becausenobody ever really knows what's
going on in someone else's head.
Right.

(27:01):
you can't teach those skills, but.
Those are the vital things.
Right?
Good attitude and communication.
Any day over someone withthe skills of the portfolio.
You know what it is, man.
Like, it just takes too muchdamn time and investment.
You can always teach the hard skills.
' cause you know, one Brighton person.
And their toxicity.
Will seep through an entire teamand that's how you lose talent.
I put a lot of love into these posts,editing on these episodes, you know?

(27:25):
Each interview is about two hours ofrecording and I'm usually trying to
fight to trim out like quarter of it.
And I keep telling myself that Icould be far more aggressive and
cut them down to even under an hour.
And.
You know, the more I cut the higher,the quality of the interview, typically.
Curious what you guys think.
I like the long form I'm happy withthem around 90 minutes is so it allows

(27:45):
you to really get to know the person.
Really feel like youcan connect with them.
So if you see them one day in the wildwill never, the world goes back to normal.
You can reach out to them onTwitter or LinkedIn that you have
a sense of, like you have someconnection there to build off of.
But, you know, that's, kind of wheremy head is at in the next year.
Right.
Keep doing what we're doing.
Fighting to get that.

(28:06):
like Polish in and get these episodesto like, An hour, as opposed to
their length now is like 90 minutes.
I think would lead to abetter overall experience.
Having more listenerscomplete the episodes.
It's been a great year.
Y'all 2021 has been fantastic.
This pandemic.
You know, while it's ashitty, as it's been.
I've been able to really thrive in.

(28:28):
I'm not going to lie.
You know, I've turned myhome into headquarters.
And.
I've just been creating and fosteringthe family side with wife and Maui.
Keeping my health up eating right.
Take an inventory of my time and how Ispend things and connecting with like,
Coaches and mentors.
And turning that around, right.
For the betterment of like, yo, whatcan I do to help this industry out?

(28:49):
What do I have to sharefrom my experiences?
And will anyone listenwhen, when give a damn.
I don't know, but I'mputting it out there.
And I hope.
Whoever it resonates with, evenif it's one person that can come
back to me and be like, yo John.
I got in because of the thing you said,or this episode or this talk or whatever,
then it will all have been worth it.
Mind you that's beenanother huge thing, right?

(29:11):
Like I helped Catherinebreak into the industry.
She's over on lumberyard,the open 3d team.
This was like, One easily, one of thebest moments of my life, like hearing
her as she thrives and kicking assover there, bringing her experience
into games and helping write that ship.
And I've gotten a fewother people put on, right.
I think I've helped morepeople land jobs this year.

(29:33):
Than ever before all the otheryears combined on my career.
And I love it.
It's a great feeling.
I can actually appreciate.
What recruiters do much more than ever.
I could see how people just likededicate their lives to that.
Which that's another great point.
Is, I want to bring someone onto the show.
I want to bring several peopleonto the show that work in.
talent acquisition.

(29:54):
I think there's justso many insights, man.
I've been through so many.
sales pitches and negotiation talksthat I'd love to get someone on
here sharing their insights on that.
Next year.
I got a bunch of nominations Igot to follow up with as well.
Bi-weekly seems to work welland sustainable for this
one person solo production.
it's been a great year.
And I curious what next year will be.

(30:15):
Will we all be in a kindof a hybrid situation?
I see myself continuing to work from home.
Dammit.
I have no reason to go into the office.
I would definitely love to go flyand travel to some other studios and
meet people that I've been workingwith over the past year or so.
I will definitely welcome that.
But as far as like, Hey, goingback into the office, like,
nah, nah, not for me, man.

(30:36):
I'm being far too productive, working fromhome and I'm not letting this shit go.
Ever.
Today is the day afterChristmas, December 26th.
It is Sunday.
Normally I have the episodes arebuttoned up and polished up by now,
but this was live post-Christmasbig ass snowstorm in Seattle.
We love it.
It's rare.

(30:56):
It makes me feel like Montreal, youknow, Kathryn feels like she's back home.
We get to live like we're back in Quebecwith our snow gear and boots and all that.
And playing in the snow Maui.
Lowe's playing this snow.
I posted a reel on my Instagram ofwhat that's like for those of you
who hook up with me on Instagram.
You owe me a hint that.

(31:16):
You know, I'm not just a podcasterfor those of you that don't know.
I'm also a developer.
It's important for me to establish thatI'm not just a talker of talks that I
walked the walk and I shipped games.
Right.
And so this year has been.
The best year.
Well, I got four new titles under thebelt and not just any titles, right?
Like how the hell do I follow up?

(31:38):
GT five, that's still selling right.
Sold.
On 360 MP3 sold a bunchon PS4 and the next box.
And then they even sells now on PS five.
And the next generation.
how do you top a game?
That's so.
Damn near a billion copies.
And I mean, you know, get in on FIFA.
Madden those franchises that.

(32:00):
You know, ship numbers.
Pretty close to GTA numbers.
And then you throw that ontothe battlefield franchise
and having my name in there.
Right.
It's one name out of hundreds.
And it's something I don't takelightly and I want to pay back and.
And eventually actually makea commit to those repos, but,
you know, learning the land.
Doing what I can and, and.
And I've been blessed, man.

(32:21):
My career.
My resume.
That's pretty solid.
Yo.
Not gonna lie.
But more importantly than that,I would say the network is pretty
solid and anyone that knows me.
Hopefully we'll vouch for workingwith me is like, and for those of
you that haven't worked with me.
Maybe you would like to work withme, maybe that's something that.
I've been able to convinceyou or entice you on.

(32:43):
That's always a possibility.
One thing that happened is thezero to play podcast and the homie
call a duke over, down under.
We connected and he's ahell of an interviewer.
Yo, if you haven't checked outthat podcast, go check it out.
He reminds me of Sean.
on a hot ones with his researchand that there he's able to take

(33:04):
up and throw at you on the fly.
He's actually reached out to me like, yoman, come be a guest host on that podcast.
And I'm like, yo, why the hell?
Not hell yeah man.
Let's do it.
Let's cross promote.
Let me lend my voice to your showand, Let people know that there's,
if they like me, that I got myown thing, come check it out.
And as well as put my audienceonto his content, some of
the other podcasts I love.

(33:25):
Right.
If you think mines is I in decent.
Or you want more, but I'mnot able to give you more.
Right.
there is game dev, have a shot ofJamison with the homie Jamison Darale.
He came on episode four.
He has his podcast thathe drops every week.
Talking about similartopics and game development.
A big one that I love as well.

(33:45):
Is The game makers notebook bythe academy of interactive arts
and sciences, featuring thehomie Ted price over insomnia.
I got love to get thatdude on the podcast.
That'd be dope.
The GDC podcast has somedecent ones every now and then.
There's another one called the game.
Dev show is pretty dope.
I had Alicia on there.
That's when I gave a listen Shalishawas fellow rockstar now at crystal

(34:07):
and she was on the tech design panel.
I'd be remiss if I didn'tshout out the Habibi's.
I'm old homeo Sama, Darius.
Fonzie Ms.
Moore.
and Rami that's a funguy, has to listen to.
They put another spin on it,but you know, you occasionally
hear industry talk on there.
Tools are the big ones that I like toplug for people looking to understand

(34:27):
more about game development andget a sense of what goes on there.
Yeah, so go check that out.
Go spread the love.
Let me know.
As always, always looking for peopleto bring on and talk shit with, let
me know if you like these generalkind of flow of consciousness.
One-on-ones with your boy.
And it's not hard for me to do.
I could definitely get on the mic, drinksome drink, talk my shit, But you know,

(34:48):
this is more for y'all than it is for me.
My personal enjoyment definitelycomes from connecting with you guys.
One-on-one talking shit,Joe Rogan style, you know,
I mean.
Let's wrap this one up.
See you all in 2022, I'm going to takea little break probably a month break.
And then episode
25.

(35:09):
I haven't decided whothat's going to feature.
It may be.
The homie moral fury.
Whom I work with a rockstar.
Who's now working at fire monkeys.
He's an electronic artistsdoing big things down there.
But that may be who itis and that will debut.
Probably last week of January,if not early week of February.
So for now.

(35:30):
Happy 2022.
Game devs.
It's been a blast.
Thank you for having me in your life.
Thank you for giving me a space.
Thank you for motivating me andkeeping me doing this thing.
I'm so excited.
You don't even know what this podcastallows and gives me and rewards me with.
And so if someone else happens toentertain or get something out of

(35:50):
it, that's just all that much better.
Anyways, Take care.
Be safe, stay strong.
Stay true.
Stay dangerous.
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