Episode 39 features Jason Knobler, a Senior Staff Engineer at Lightning Games in Philadelphia. Jay’s a fellow Full Sail University alumni, who has worked as an Engineer on Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption, and is also writing his own Harmony Game Engine. Chapters: (00:00) John’s Life Notes (4:15) Who is Jason Knobler?  (14:19) Origins (28:41) First Job Digital Embryo (40:38) Rockstar San Deigo & Red Dead Redemption (01:14:03) Going Back to Philly (01:17:05) Harmony Game Engine part 2 (01:26:24) John’s Outro Links: Harmoney Game Engine GitHub: https://github.com/GameOverture/Harmo ..read more

Episode 38 features Claude Jerome, a Lead Gameplay Designer for Firewalk Studios part of the Probably Monsters family. Claude’s experience has led him from Vicarious Visions, 1st Playable, to Microsoft on Project Spark, and Bungie on Destiny to where he is today. We talk about how he got where he is, where he’s trying to go, and everything in between.  Chapters: (00:00) John’s Life Notes (2:56) Who is Claude Jerome?  (17:23) Island Mates (24:26) Firewalk Studios & Probably Monsters (46:08) Building Culture (50:18) Bungie (01:09:32) Project Spark at Microsoft (01:19:45) East Coas ..read more

Episode 37 features Chris Cole a Senior Pipeline Technical Artist working at Amazon Game Studios as of the debut of this episode. We discuss his time at Survios working in VR, breaking in on Blacksite Area 51 at Midway Austin, life at Blizzard working on World of Warcraft, and we discuss ways to better manage and retain your talent. Chapters: (00:00) John’s Intro (2:10) Who is Chris Cole?  (13:36) Amazon Game Studios (25:51) Breaking in at Midway Austin (41:16) Leadership Style (43:01) Neuro-Divergence & Superpowers (01:15:20) Activision Blizzard (01:24:14) Pay Transparency (01:39:01 ..read more

Episode 36 features Leon Kuperman, who gets his gamedev cred from text based Zork style adventures, and is a Co-founder and CTO at CAST AI. Formerly Vice President of Security Products OCI at Oracle, Leon’s professional experience spans across tech companies such as IBM, Truition, and HostedPCI. He founded and served as the CTO of Zenedge, an enterprise security company protecting large enterprises with a cloud WAF. Leon has 20+ years of experience in product management, software design, and development, all the way through to production deployment. He is an authority on cloud computing, web a ..read more

Episode 35 of Out of Play Area the game developer's podcast, we sit down with the creator of Treachery in Beatdown City and discuss founding his company NuChallenger, alongside his time working in the Game Devs of Color Expo, as well as his journey from NYC and the games industry. Chapters: (00:00) Who is Shawn Alexander Allen? (11:14) Sneakerhead Transformation  (23:49) Hip-Hop (29:57) NuChallenger Full Time (37:29) Running Your Own Studio (43:29) Treachery in Beatdown City (58:52) Inspirations and Origins (01:09:58) Combat Mechanics (01:28:36) Game Devs of Color Expo (01:48:33) Game De ..read more

Henry Golding is a Principal Software Engineering Lead at Xbox Game Studios currently spreading the significance of Test Driven Development and Automated Testing in Game Development. He's a native of the UK who has programmed for Sea of Thieves, Minecraft, Disney Universe, and Dead Space: Extraction for the Wii.  We talk about his latest endeavors as well as discuss his journey into the games industry. Chapters: (00:00) Who is Henry Golding? (11:21) Software Architecture In Games  (25:13) Development Team Dynamics (37:30) Academics & University (51:02) Deadspace Extraction (01:0 ..read more

Kent Hudson is a fellow Midway Austin colleague who now serves as a Design Director for Brass Lion Entertainment.  We talk about his start at Ion Storm on Deus Ex in Austin TX, then his jump to 2K Marin on Bioshock 2, and end with his indie hit The Novelist and everything in between. Chapters: (00:00) Who is Kent Hudson (15:38) Ion Storm  (24:12) Shipping Deus Ex (39:09) Midway Austin Criminal (51:23) Leaving for 2K Marin (01:06:10) Bioshock 2 (01:34:06) Going Indie The Novelist (01:57:36) Contract Advice (02:07:55) Brass Lion Entertainment (02:17:39) Final Round (02:23:29) John’s O ..read more

Zach Mumbach is a designer & producer at the Wandering Band who spent 17+ years at EA as a producer on Dante's Inferno, Dead Space, Battlefield: Hardline, Godfather 2, Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel, the Simpsons and more. We talk about his journey in and out of games and more. Chapters: (00:00) Who is Zach Mumbach (07:21) Visceral Games  & Ragtag (18:28) Critical Skills (27:32) Managing External Teams (35:51) Being a Closer (47:37) Montreal Memories (56:10) Pitching at EA (01:05:56) Rag Tag (01:15:22) Time for New Adventures (01:27:34) Something Calls You Back (01:37:55) Publis ..read more

Episode 31 features Ben Retan, a Lead AI & Encounter Designer at 2K’s Hangar 13 Studio out of Novato California. Ben is an old Midway Austin homie as well as a fellow Full Sail University alumni whose credits include Star Wars the Force Unleashed 1 & 2 for his days at LucasArts. We talk about Quantum Computing, Game Design, Dream Week, and more.   Chapters: (00:00) Who is Ben Retan? (7:49) Discord or Slack? (18:31) LucasArts (33:01) Quantum Computing (39:10) Back to GameDev (49:46) Game AI (57:58) All About Marketing (01:05:40) Dream Week (01:18:55) Final Round (01:27:45) John’s ..read more

Episode 30 features Chris Bourassa, a Design Director at Polyarc working out of Seattle. Chris is a fellow Full Sail University of ALumni with over 15 years of game design and engineering experience having worked on Midnight Club LA & Red Dead Redemption at Rockstar San Diego and Carnage Racing at Tiny Giant on Mobile, to his last game Moss 1 & 2. Chapters: (00:00) Who is Chris Bourassa? (13:05) Moss 1 Design Responsibilities (22:16) Player Empathy & Game Balancing (32:44) Design Director Moves (40:41) Game Dev Origin & Full Sail University (58:13) Working on Midnight Club LA ..read more