Interview Matt Chat 432: George Ziets on Adventure Construction Set, Earth & Beyond and Neverwinter Nights 2

[Infinitron]

Tags: George Ziets; Matt Barton; Neverwinter Nights 2; Obsidian Entertainment

Matt Barton's interview with George Ziets continues this week with some more discussion of the latter's early career. George got his first taste of game design with Stuart Smith's Adventure Construction Set, a mid-1980s game creation toolset that could be used to create Ultima-like RPGs. After talking a bit about how the industry has changed since then (so much more tools, so much more games), the discussion moves on to the topic of George's first professional game development role on Westwood's failed MMO Earth & Beyond. Apparently the game suffered from severe executive meddling, with the entire plot thrown out six months before it was due to release.

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George's next role was on Neverwinter Nights 2, which as we know was a development hell of its own. The interview quickly segues into an amusing bitching session about RPG strongholds. George wishes they would all cut the faux-strategy game crap and just work like the strongholds in Baldur's Gate II. It's a really fun episode, and we haven't even gotten to Mask of the Betrayer yet. More to come next week.

 

[luj1]

George Cuckiets

 

[Junmarko]

They start talking about Isometric CRPG burnout, then Matt cuts straight to Tyranny. Lol.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

OK, Now he totally looks like The Outer Worlds female NPC

 

[Plane Escapee]

OK, Now he totally looks like The Outer Worlds female NPC

You clearly suffer from some sort of mental disability or severe visual impairment if that's what you're seeing.

Case in point:

Ziets is a man of the highest order. A cultured gentleman and an eldritch aristocrat. Carrier of the bluest of bloods, kept so for generations. Free of the taint of peasantry and grotesque mongrelmen such as yourself: wallowing in the mire in perpetuity; lucidity of a half-tongued donkey and no doubt the same likeness.

 

[Country_Gravy]

Adventure Construction Set was awesome. Spent a lot of time with that game on the C64.

 

[hexer]

Good talk, I like how Ziets just criticizes anyone by just using common sense and simple examples as arguments.
I wonder what his new game will be like now that he has the creative freedom and time

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

Good talk, I like how Ziets just criticizes anyone by just using common sense and simple examples as arguments.
I wonder what his new game will be like now that he has the creative freedom and time

As long as he doesn't bend the knee to suck up some jew money...

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I've been spending a lot of time with ACS in the last year. Love it though not all platforms were created equal. I honestly think the product was rushed a bit on each and there is definitely stuff that needed editing.