#185 - Jeremy Bryant Interview (Animator On Skyrim, Fallout 4, 76 & Starfield)

Jeremy Bryant was an animator at Bethesda for over 15 years from
Skyrim to Starfield. This is his first interview!


#starfield #fallout #skyrim


TIMESTAMPS


00:00 - Intro


00:26 - Jeremy Commuted To Work By Plane


04:07 - Working With Dennis On The Werewolf


06:26 - How The Animation Tools Evolved From Skyrim To Starfield


08:43 - Mocap Use On Skyrim/Jeremy Used His Own Mocap On Skyrim
DLC


10:35 - Animating Hands/Hardest Things Animating


11:54 - Jeremy Was Known As The Gun Reloader Animator Guy


14:06 - Non-Combat Animations 15:20 - Non Humans Were Key Framed
Not Mocapped/Only 7 Animators On Skyrim


16:55 - Bethesda’s Management System In The Old Days Doesn’t
Scale Well


18:50 - Bethesda Expanded Too Fast For The Culture To Remain The
Same/Team Sizes


20:15 - Starfields Roadmap Required A Massive Team


21:45 - Rockstar’s Level Of Polish/Downsides Of Large Teams


24:00 - Animating Procedural Generated Content


25:00 - Jeremy’s Thoughts On Todd Howard


28:50 - Jeremy Changed From A Full Time Employee To A Contractor
Part Way Through Starfield


30:00 - Pros & Cons Of Remote Work/How Covid Impacted
Starfields Development


32:15 - Microsoft Acquisition


33:15 - Modding Community 35:20 - Bethesdas Feature Creep Culture


36:30 - Why Jeremy Left Bethesda


39:10 - Games Are Costing Too Much To Make/Layoffs/Dev Salaries


43:15 - Larian Studios/Growing Studios Gradually


44:45 - Q+A - Why Slo Mo Kills Were Removed From Starfield


45:45 - Q+A - How Does An Animator Go About Animating A Mythical
Creature


47:00 - Game Jams At Bethesda/Originally There Was A Mad Max
Motorcycle In Fallout 4


50:00 - Many Vehicles Made For Starfield That May Still Be
Added/Vampire Lord In Skyrim


51:30 - Pros & Cons Of Bethesda Migrating To Unreal Engine
5/Creation Engine


57:52 - It’s Easier To Make Realistic Graphics Than Stylized
Graphics


1:00:25 - Elder Scrolls VI/Gameplay Is More Important Than
Anything Else


1:02:10 - Bethesda’s Culture Is Great/Game Devs Who Have Never
Shipped A Game Due To Layoffs


1:04:30 - Jeremy Asks Kiwi For His Thoughts On Xbox Multiplatform
Strategy/Gamepass & Game He Played Most In 2024


1:08:30 - Closing Comments/LinkedIn Is Facebook 2.0