Chris Avellone (and Justin Bell) Interview at RPGFan
Chris Avellone (and Justin Bell) Interview at RPGFan
Game News - posted by Zed on Mon 15 October 2012, 15:40:20
Tags: Chris Avellone; Justin Bell; Pillars of EternityThe guys over at Obsidian are really in full interview-mode as the Kickstarter campaign draws to a close. This time it's Chris Avellone answering questions, and he's being interviewed by RPGFan. There really isn't anything new being discussed, but we all know how the Codex loves MCA so I'm posting this anyway. They also asked a music-related question, so Avellone brought in Justin Bell to answer it.
Let's copy-pasta:
RPGFan: Obsidian, perhaps unfairly, has a bit of a reputation for projects that are huge in scope but often feel somewhat unfinished. What is the cause of this and what about the Kickstarter model will change this?
Chris Avellone: Eternity focuses on what we like about role-playing games, specifically the Infinity Engine style games. These are games we've done several iterations of, and not only that, they focus on mechanics that we feel are core to the experience yet still don't require a lot of bells and whistles in terms of the latest graphics card, physics engine, or extensive voice work... we want to focus on the RPG first, and it's our feeling that you don't need a lot of extraneous resources to deliver that experience.
RPGFan: What will the item generation system look like? Are you going to look at a Diablo-style "adjective-based" randomization system, or are you crafting weapons uniquely from the ground up?
Chris Avellone: Our design efforts to date have been focused on hand-crafted content, not randomized content. As an example, we always enjoyed designing specific items in the Infinity Engine games (and I certainly loved telling specific short stories for each magic item in Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment, writing the item lore and giving them unusual powers coupled with their basic function was part of the fun). Additional item breakdowns are something we may detail in future updates.
RPGFan: What are your goals with the game, musically? Who will be composing the music? Will you be offering the soundtrack as a download for those who ultimately purchase the final game, or is it just for Kickstarter backers?
Justin Bell, Obsidian Audio Overlord: Above all, we want the music to enhance and support the rich narrative and setting of Project Eternity. To accomplish that we'll use strong themes that are performed by distinctive and interesting instrumental ensembles. Ultimately we want the score to be every bit as memorable as the Infinity Engine game soundtracks are. As for composer, we don't have anything to announce just yet, but you should definitely expect more on that in the future. Lastly, we do want to release the soundtrack after the Kickstarter ends and we're exploring the various options to do that as well.
You can read the entire interview over here.
Let's copy-pasta:
RPGFan: Obsidian, perhaps unfairly, has a bit of a reputation for projects that are huge in scope but often feel somewhat unfinished. What is the cause of this and what about the Kickstarter model will change this?
Chris Avellone: Eternity focuses on what we like about role-playing games, specifically the Infinity Engine style games. These are games we've done several iterations of, and not only that, they focus on mechanics that we feel are core to the experience yet still don't require a lot of bells and whistles in terms of the latest graphics card, physics engine, or extensive voice work... we want to focus on the RPG first, and it's our feeling that you don't need a lot of extraneous resources to deliver that experience.
RPGFan: What will the item generation system look like? Are you going to look at a Diablo-style "adjective-based" randomization system, or are you crafting weapons uniquely from the ground up?
Chris Avellone: Our design efforts to date have been focused on hand-crafted content, not randomized content. As an example, we always enjoyed designing specific items in the Infinity Engine games (and I certainly loved telling specific short stories for each magic item in Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment, writing the item lore and giving them unusual powers coupled with their basic function was part of the fun). Additional item breakdowns are something we may detail in future updates.
RPGFan: What are your goals with the game, musically? Who will be composing the music? Will you be offering the soundtrack as a download for those who ultimately purchase the final game, or is it just for Kickstarter backers?
Justin Bell, Obsidian Audio Overlord: Above all, we want the music to enhance and support the rich narrative and setting of Project Eternity. To accomplish that we'll use strong themes that are performed by distinctive and interesting instrumental ensembles. Ultimately we want the score to be every bit as memorable as the Infinity Engine game soundtracks are. As for composer, we don't have anything to announce just yet, but you should definitely expect more on that in the future. Lastly, we do want to release the soundtrack after the Kickstarter ends and we're exploring the various options to do that as well.
You can read the entire interview over here.
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