Episode 14.3: Interview with The Game Bakers' Emeric Thoa, Microsoft Mesh, V1's Disintegration, and a Duffer Brothers/Stephen King Collab

Welcome back to another episode of the Online Warriors Podcast! This week, we have a very special episode in store for you.

We kick off the episode with a special guest interview featuring the Creative Director and Co-Founder of The Game Bakers: Emeric Thoa! Emeric comes on the show today to discuss his experience in game development while shedding some light on The Game Bakers' newest project: Haven. Some quick hits from our interview:

• Emeric's background and how he got his start in the gaming industry (00:44)
• What it's like to start an indie game studio and the driving vision behind The Game Bakers (2:06)
• The games that inspire Emeric and have been the biggest influence on his career (3:54)
• The inspiration behind Haven (6:00)
• The process behind writing authentic dialogue for Haven (8:55)
• How The Game Bakers found a way to make both solo and co-op play feel balanced for Haven (11:29)
• Whether there are any plans for a Haven sequel, or more content set in the world of Haven (14:03)
• The core themes and biggest takeaways from the story of Haven (15:20)
• How Emeric collaborated with Danger to craft the perfect soundtrack for Haven (17:25)
• What it's like designing a game in-between console generations and across multiple platforms (19:29)
• Emeric's thoughts on Xbox Game Pass as a developer, and the future of gaming (21:48)
• Emeric answers: "If you could be a superhero, what would be your superpower?" (25:23) 

Next, we jump into some of the latest juicy news in the world of nerdy entertainment:

• Microsoft shows off their latest Mesh AR technology (27:23)
• Disintegration studio, V1 Interactive, shuts down (39:42)
• The Duffer Brothers sign on to work on Stephen King's "The Talisman" (50:32)

The crew then goes hands on in their What-Are-You-Up-To Segment:

• Techtic starts playing Iron Man VR and finishes his hydroponic grow box (1:01:43)
• Nerdbomber plays Squadrons, Beat Saber, and BoxVR (1:06:37)
• Illeagle plays The Witness, and takes up Crossword Puzzle Creation and Typewriter Restoration (1:16:06)

This week, we celebration Pi Day in advance with some fun, nerdy pi-themed trivia. Who will be the most victorious (bigger) nerd? Find out (1:19:38)

Special shoutout to our Patreon Producers: Ben Cheknis and Steven Keller

This week's episode is brought to you by The SkinStore! Right now the SkinStore is offering our listeners 20% of your next purchase by using the code POD at skinstore.com/pod.list.

We'd like to thank each and every one of you for listening in every week. If you'd like to support the show, you can drop us a review on your favorite podcast platform or, if you're feeling extra generous, drop us a subscribe over at Patreon.com/OnlineWarriorsPodcast. We have three tiers of subscriptions, each of which gives you some awesome bonus content!

As always, we appreciate you tuning in, and look forward to seeing you next week! Stay safe and healthy everyone!

Find us on Twitter: @OnlineWarriors1, @OWIlleagle86, @OWNerdbomber, @OWTechtic

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Thanks again to Emeric Thoa! You can check out Haven on all consoles and PC now, and keep up to date with The Game Bakers at their website: https://www.thegamebakers.com.