PCI: We’re currently experiencing somewhat of a resurgence of isometric RPGs. Where do you think it’s going? Where will we see the innovation / iteration if these types of games are to continue?

CA: I think each game should have a certain ambience or feel about it which sets it apart. I think Wasteland 2 and Tides of Numenera, they definitely set a different tone and because of the nature of their worlds they were allowed to explore different system mechanics, which I think is good.

My thought is just that as they’re being developed, people will learn more about the intricacies of Unity and the engine. I think there’ll still be an evolution in terms of how that RPG experience comes about; if they’re going an espionage game or a Planescape-style game. All those things allow you to explore different system mechanics.

I think that if anything Kickstarter proved that there’s a large viable market. The fans are out there. It doesn’t always have to be on every console to reach the audience any more. It’s OK to scale back, just the PC is good for now and let’s focus on making a good RPG.

PCI: You’ve spoke a bit about crowd funding, would you ever consider heading up a Kickstarter?

CA: I’m going to hold off on answering that for now.

I’m focusing on Numenera right now, finishing up the companion work and any additional work they want me to do.

I’m also finishing up the last few chapters of the Wasteland 2 novel which I loved writing. Man, it grew from a novella to a novel… My first novella experience and I made the mistake of making four protagonists, because I thought that felt more wastelandy, and that just grew and grew. I was having so much fun writing it that I was like, “Hey Brian (Fargo), can I just turn this into a novel?” And he was like, “Well, you don’t have twist my arm.”

So I want to wrap that up and get the help of a good copy editor who has a lot of time to spare.

PCI: Beyond Numenera is there anything you can talk about that you’re working on in the future?

CA: Nothing that I can talk about right now. I will say that the work on Numenera, I’m really enjoying it. There’s a lot of stuff still to do so I’m looking forward to getting my hands back in there. I really enjoy writing the character that’s going to be in the game, in many respects he’s very planescapey so I’m looking forward to that. Also, I’m working with a lot of the guys that I worked with on NWN 2, and also the originalPlanescape, so being able to work with all those guys again has been a huge joy.

The future beyond that… I guess there’s a lot of gleams in people’s eyes for these really cool ideas they would like to bring to the game arena and those ideas are pretty awesome. So I’m looking forward to seeing where that goes and hopefully being a part of that.
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