#114 - Kynan Pearson Interview (Metroid Prime 2, Donkey Kong, Level Design, Management etc.)

Kynan Pearson is a game developer who has worked on prestigious
game franchises such as Metroid, Donkey Kong and Halo. He is
currently Creative Director at Discord.


Kynan wrote a document on how to create a Metroidvania game that
can be found here


Part 1-
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Q0nMArDDA79ASJgiov9IvlTNpyYcCGTingLa02wwuvo/edit


Part 2 -
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F2NlTIlRDC8WlDp_FV9F-T6B0tkWCOCEq4gTQCcaxLg/edit


SOCIAL MEDIA


TWITTER - @KynanPearson


 


#metroidprime #donkeykong #retrostudios


 


TIMESTAMPS


00:00 - Intro


00:56 - Knowing Retro Staff Before Joining/Jason Behr


02:29 - Approach To Level Design For Metroid Prime 2/Dark World


04:15 - Planning Of Metroid Prime Games


05:37 - World Layout/Planning Of Each Room In MP2


07:06 - Focusing On Each Hub/Compression Of Schedule In MP2


08:42 - Dark World Not Being Interconnected Due To Design &
Time Constraints


10:20 - MP2 Multiplayer’s Influence On The Dark World


12:06 - Striking A Balance With Backtracking To Not Make It
Tedious/MP2 Backtracking


14:27 - MP2 Fetch Quest


16:03 - Mark Pacini Suggested Idea Of GF Marines In Prime 2 Intro
Later Into Development


17:55 - Nailing An Introduction/Intro To MP2 & MP3


19:13 - Approach To Design Of MP3/Ship Being A Big Focus


20:35 - Kynan’s Event Planning Role On Elysia, Skytown


23:00 - Elysia Was Built As A Showcase For MP3/Influences On Game
Design


24:02 - Creatives Having So Many Ideas/Kynan Would Always Check
Everyones Work At Retro


26:18 - Idea Of Background Impacting The Foreground In
DKCR/Kynan’s Inspiration


30:58 - Idea Of Rocket Barrel Levels


33:09 - Retro Was A Well Oiled Machine During DKCR/Monday Morning
Meetings At Retro


37:09 - Acting Like A Gorilla But Being Super Serious With
Miyamoto


37:39 - Idea Of DKCR Silhouette Levels


39:18 - How They Placed Levels In Accordance With World Map


42:07 - Kremlings & K Rool Weren’t Considered As Retro Wanted
To Incorporate A New Enemy


43:31 - Metroid Didn’t Have Influence On Halo/343 Industries


44:38 - Kynan’s Philosophy “You Have To Hate Something To Make It
Better”


48:05 - No Project Is Ever Finished/Deadlines


49:25 - Working Out Balance Of When To Extend Deadlines &
Polish/Release Estimates


51:20 - Adjusting To Different Studios Work Culture/Upper
Management Being Key To Studio Culture


54:53 - Be Respectul & Honest With An Individual That Is
Difficult To Work With


58:20 - Kynan’s Thoughts On Metroid Dread


1:00:18 - Metroid Dread Was The First Time In A Long Time Kynan
Didn’t Critique A Game While Playing


1:01:12 - Where To Follow Kynan Pearson/Kynan’s “How To Design
Metroidvania Games” Document