The story went through two drafts (not unusual – Knights of the Old Republic II, our previous title, went through at least 1), and a year and a half ago we finalized the story
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Ultimately, tying the story to game mechanics wasn’t a big change (we try to make sure dialogue in our games is also a game mechanic, not just exposition) – but the biggest change was the way you communicate with characters in the game. Designed by Brian Mitsoda and implemented by Dan Spitzley, Alpha Protocol has a timed dialogue system with one route through the conversation (no loops as in previous title), and the goal was to create a more natural conversation, yet give those conversations the sense of urgency you’d often feel when watching TV shows like 24 or the snappy back-and-forth you’d get in a Bond flick.
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Alpha Protocol is actually a much smaller RPG in terms of line count than our previous titles, but the reactivity amongst the major characters ends up being stronger.
flick.
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With any luck, Alpha Protocol will help getting videogame storytelling outside the industry the recognition it deserves.​