Phil Crifo

#298 Tchia with Phil Crifo

Genre Deep Dive

Series


Today on the show, Dirk and David are joined by Phil Crifo, game director at Awaceb, most prominently known for his work on Fossil Echo and Tchia. He discusses growing up in New Caledonia, and how it serves as an influence on the creation of Tchia. Topics include the history of New Caledonia and colonization, creating a world based on difficult histories, making an engaging open world, and what soul jumping actually is.

Episode Outline

0:00 Beginning of Show

1:05 End of Intro

1:09 Crifo’s Path into Game Design

4:05 History of New Caledonia 

6:14 Caledonian Influences

9:17 Local Response

11:42 Including Unique Experiences

14:55 Creating an Open World

25:09 Open World Influences

28:07 Designing Aesthetic Mechanics

31:36 Creating a Design Process

34:21 What’s Soul Jumping?

38:03 Sound Design

40:30 What didn’t make the cut?

42:21 Lessons Learned about design

46:08 Funding as a small studio

48:30 Advice for Listeners

50:39 Outro

51:40 End of Show

In this Episode

Phil Crifo - @PhilCrifo, www.awaceb.com
David V. Heron - @davidvheron
Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer

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Team

Dirk Knemeyer Producer & Co-Host

David V. Heron Producer & Co-Host

Ellie Dix Producer, Editor & Host of Behind the Cardboard

Kathryn Hymes Panelist

Rob Daviau Recurring Guest

Soren Johnson Recurring Guest

Cody Harold Producer

Avery Paez Editor

Diana Almaguer Support

Alumni

Cole Wehrle Co-Host

Dave Nelson Audio Engineer

Erik Ririe Producer

Harrison Pink Co-Host

Jon Shafer Co-Founder & Co-Host

Michael Hermes Audio Engineer

Skye Larsen Producer & Editor

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