Sep 20, 2021
Ready for more? Well, here you go! The Jason Schreier "Press Reset" special goes on and continues to feature interviews with people from the book. “Press Reset” details the stories of game development studio closures and how it affected the people behind some of gaming's biggest titles to date. This time I am joined by Joe Quadara, the former lead combat designer at Big Huge Games on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Joe touches upon his journey into the games industry, how to design great combat and how a legendary baseball player ended up being his boss. We also discuss the closure of Big Huge Games and how indie games are creating a path to a better games industry.
Time – Topic Discussed:
0:00 - Intro
03:56 - How did Joe’s story end up in the book?
05:20 - What it was like reading his own story
06:34 - Did Joe learn something new about 38 Studios?
07:40 - How Joe ended up in the games industry
12:42 - Joe’s Tekken Tag Team Tournament Team
13:46 - Quality assurance back in the day
16:52 - How Joe became a combat designer
18:25 - The best designers are multi disciplinary
19:40 - Joining Big Huge Games
24:30 - The creation of the combat pit
27:20 - The balance of criticism
31:56 - What makes good combat design?
34:56 - The difference of combat between East and West
38:30 - Why do combat designers hate combat barks?
40:22 - The secret internal build of Urban Chaos
42:42 - The uncertain future of Big Huge Games
48:18 - Politely saying no
50:27 - The feedback for the combat of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
52:07 - The end of Big Huge Games
54:01 - The chaos that comes along with a studio closure
54:40 - How Joe tackles the issue of sustainability of the the games industry
59:41 - Outro
Things mentioned on the show:
Social Media:
Joe Quadara
Joe Quadara on Twitter (@bazooie)
Joe Quadara on Instagram (@bazooie)
Joe Quadara on Facebook (@Joe Quadara)
YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY
YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Twitter (@youmeindustry)
Dorian on Twitter (@DorianChou)
YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Instagram (@youmeindustry)
Dorian on Instagram (@dorian.chou)
YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Facebook (youmeindustry)
Intro/Outro by FreshMcZone
Artwork by Thomas Martin (Instagram: @thomas.martin.martin)