#144 - Jack Mathews Interview - Metroid Prime 20th Anniversary (Crunch, A.I., Fetch Quests, Bosses, Speed Booster, Reflections, First Person )

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Metroid Prime, Lead
Technical Engineer on the Metroid Prime Trilogy, Jack Mathews
returns to the show talk all about the behind the scenes
development of the game.


#metroidprime #metroid #nintendo


 


You can watch our previous podcast here


https://youtu.be/_vkczsDyZp4


 


TIMESTAMPS


00:00 - Intro


00:47 - How Often Super Metroid Was Referred To During
Development


02:20 - A.I Systems/Beetle In Chozo Ruins


05:45 - Chozo Ruins Was The First Area Worked On


06:44 - Mirror Plate In Chozo Ruins


07:45 - Finding Ways To Show Samus’ Reflection In First Person


09:00 - Reflections Causing Frame Rate Issues


10:40 - Third Person Vs First Person Optimisation 


11:20 - Why Speed Booster/Shinespark Isnt In The Prime
Games/Motion Sickness


16:20 - Limitations On The Space Jump & Screw Attack


19:34 - Andy O’Neil’s Contributions


24:00 - Crunch On Prime 1/Retro Studios Old Studio


27:25 - Whata Burger Story/Debugging During Crunch


29:38 - Bug In The Pause Screen Story


30:00 - Elevator Glitch Story


36:30 - Wanting The Metroids To Be More Dangerous In The Prime
Games


39:11 - Writing And Story Of Prime Games/Video Game Writing
Problems


43:00 - Environmental Story Telling Of Prime 1 & Super
Metroid


44:20 - Why The Fetch Quests Were Implemented


46:00 - Prime 1’s Pacing


47:20 - Why Kraid Was Cut/Omega Pirate Scripting


50:30 - Parasite Queen


52:00 - Flaaghra 


54:10 - Thardus/Meta-Ridley


55:20 - Metroid Prime Battle


56:20 - Bosses Of Prime 2/Development Problems Of Prime 2


57:20 - Difficulty Vs Stressfulness To The Player/Prime 2
Examples


1:01:00 - Difficulty Of Light Bubbles In Prime 2


1:02:00 - Prime 4 Will Not Be Metroids Breath Of The Wild Moment


1:05:00 - Fans Having Unrealistic Expectations


1:07:00 - Jack Misses Working For Nintendo/Prime 4 Wishes


1:08:26 - Metroid Prime HD Rumors/Game Rumors


1:10:50 - Kiwi Thanks Jack & Devs As Metroid Prime Helped Him
Cope With His Mother’s Death


1:12:00 - Jack & Kiwi Reflect On Feeling Old & Prime 1


1:13:20 - QOL Improvements Jack Would Want For Prime 1 HD


1:14:50 - Elevator Between Phendrana Drifts & Tallon IV
Overworld Wasnt Considered


1:15:40 - During Development The Devs Were Constantly Worried
Prime 1 Would Be Too Short