#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