Aliens RPG Needs You

[Jason]

Tags: Obsidian Entertainment

Speaking of Obsidian, you (yes, you!) can join them in developing their upcoming <b><a href="http://forums.obsidian.net/index.php?s=ddeaf88010cf7ad730d6c12a8feb028c&showforum=56">Aliens RPG</a></b> as <a href="http://www.obsidianent.com/jobs/design/creative-designer.html">Creative Designer</a>.
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<blockquote>We are searching for an experienced and talented designer to contribute to the level and narrative design for our Aliens console role-playing game.
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In this position, you will help shape the feel of the entire game.
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For this position, design responsibilities refer primarily to content creation - this involves laying out area designs (on paper and blockouts), the ability to do area layouts in the editor, designing the pacing of quests, events and dramatic action, scripting character interactions, events, and cut scenes, all with the intention of giving characters and encounters in the game life. Excellent scriptwriting ability and writing skills are necessary. Area construction experience is a plus.</blockquote>
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Note one of the requirements:
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<blockquote>Narrative design experience on at least one title, including at least one RPG, FPS, or other action title</blockquote>
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.rpgwatch.com/">RPGWatch</A>

 

[Fat Dragon]

RPG and FPS experience? Maybe a clue that the game is a FPS/RPG hybrid? Hopefully so, I could really go for another game like System Shock 2 or Deus Ex.

 

[MetalCraze]

If to believe Davis' hints it will be more like VtmB which is of course would be very good.

 

[Bluebottle]

I was naively hoping for a tactical RPG hybrid with survival horror elements, for some uncharacteristically optimisic reason.

Still, at least this will give them some impetus to ensure the combat doesn't suck. They'll certainly have to if it's going to be competing more directly with the FPS Aliens game that's on the horizon.

 

[inwoker]

Tactical in real-time, are you kidding?

 

[Morbus]

Vampire was awesome, any FPS/RPG hybrid can be aswell. Unless it's made by bethesda who doesn't understand how a RPG can survive without dungeon crawling.

I won't buy it before playing it, though.

 

[SimpleComplexity]

i want to shoot them alienz back to their planet,t preferably with a big gun.

 

[MetalCraze]

Actually Davis said that Aliens won't come in wagons to provide you with gunmeat - he pointed at the first two movies and said that they were pretty heavy on character interactions while aliens' attacks were pretty rare.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Actually Davis said that Aliens won't come in wagons to provide you with gunmeat - he pointed at the first two movies and said that they were pretty heavy on character interactions while aliens' attacks were pretty rare.

And that the actual danger is other humans.

 

[buccaroobonzai]

Actually Davis said that Aliens won't come in wagons to provide you with gunmeat - he pointed at the first two movies and said that they were pretty heavy on character interactions while aliens' attacks were pretty rare.

And that the actual danger is other humans.

And androids who look human...

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Actually Davis said that Aliens won't come in wagons to provide you with gunmeat - he pointed at the first two movies and said that they were pretty heavy on character interactions while aliens' attacks were pretty rare.

And that the actual danger is other humans.

And androids who look human...

Dun dun dun!!! :shock:

 

[Jazper]

Sounds like a fun job. Shame I don't have the skillz for it, and live in the wrong country.

 

[Solohk]

i want to shoot them alienz back to their planet,t preferably with a big gun.

I'd rather nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

 

[HanoverF]

We should dummy up a Cleve resume and send it in.

 

[Gragt]

i want to shoot them alienz back to their planet,t preferably with a big gun.

I'd rather nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

You can't take that kind of decision, you're just a grunt. No offense.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Of course, if they're following on from the movies, the android's name will start with a 'D' (forgot the company's android insider in the 1st movie's name, but it started with 'a', in the 2nd and 3rd films it's 'Bishop', in the 4th it's 'Call').

 

[Zeros]

Yeah. Besides, aliens might have...other uses.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Actually, speaking of the films, I hope they've learnt the lesson from the last couple that after Aliens (2nd film) you can't go back to the premise of the 1st. Particularly problematic in the 4th one, where they go out of their way in a typical, albeit very early, Joss Whedon script, to show how 'badass' the team is (and yes, they do a pretty good job of that - Ron Perlman is always badass), only to reveal later on 'oh no, there's like a whole 8 or 9 aliens on this station'. As soon as I heard that I was 'wtf!!!! The guys from the 2nd film would have cleaned that up in one scene, then gone home and had a shower! Technology is supposed to have progressed 100 years since then!'

One alien up close or ambushing should be deadly, but they can't have us believe that in a film/game set at a time equal or later to the 2nd film that anything but aliens en masse can present a real threat. That's still in keeping with 'few encounters, high drama when they occur' notion - the 2nd film did the transition from survival horror to action/horror very well, very few alien attacks but when they happened they were intelligent and organised enough to be an ambush from hell.

 

[Azrael the cat]

i want to shoot them alienz back to their planet,t preferably with a big gun.

I'd rather nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

You can't take that kind of decision, you're just a grunt. No offense.

All I can say is that they better have a great 'Game Over' screen

 

[DefJam101]

I hope it is possible to totally avoid combat in Aliens RPG.

Diplomacy with xenoforms must be an option.

 

[crufty]

All I can say is I hope it's brutal. The nice part about the aliens franchise is you don't have to start off with aliens, so I would hope its set in a cool futuristic environment that gets brutalized. Marines sent to calm down a civilian insurrection, ho-hum. Whoops, what happened to Private Smith? He doesn't look too good...

 

[Wyrmlord]

Actually Davis said that Aliens won't come in wagons to provide you with gunmeat - he pointed at the first two movies and said that they were pretty heavy on character interactions while aliens' attacks were pretty rare.

But either way: so what?

RPG is a combat genre. After all it evolved from tabletop wargames, did it not?

To quote what you yourself said so rightly once: "Some of the old RPGs did a great job in terms of combat and object/clue finding. I wouldn't want anything more than that because that stuff is far more fun than clicking through long dialogue trees (unless the writing is Torment quality)."

Nothing wrong with an all-combat RPG.

 

[buccaroobonzai]

Yes but there are more fun things to do in games then to shoot or hit something, really its true. Its not like there is only combat and dialogue. There are grey areas. There is stealth, not only sneaking up and taking out some unsuspecting biatch, but sneaking around, avoiding detection, stealing stuff and observing things like secret corporate conversations about for example using colonists as experimental xenobiology labs for fun and profit. Sneaking round can incorporate some minor platforming with it like Deus Ex or Riddick uses.
Not to mention the stealth sneaking avoiding corps and aliens alike would integrate very well with the survival horror aspects.

Add to this espionage and corporate political shenanigans and you have increased the depth of the game multifold.

Also if you want to see how dialog gameplay can be fun and truly enhance a game, read up on what Iron Tower studios is doing with gamplay dependencies to dialog and text adventure based gameplay dialogue.

Give me some multiple path quest/conflict resolution via Deus Exlike secret passages, joinable factions e.g.-marines, corporate, or colonists after the corporate conspiracy slowly peels away.

Another thing not explored in the movies was, what if the game takes place on a whole new planet altogether with its own indigenous biology. We could get some lifeform variety there. Maybe even genetic experimentation by the corps, hybridization etc.

 

[MetalCraze]

Actually Davis said that Aliens won't come in wagons to provide you with gunmeat - he pointed at the first two movies and said that they were pretty heavy on character interactions while aliens' attacks were pretty rare.

But either way: so what?

RPG is a combat genre. After all it evolved from tabletop wargames, did it not?

To quote what you yourself said so rightly once: "Some of the old RPGs did a great job in terms of combat and object/clue finding. I wouldn't want anything more than that because that stuff is far more fun than clicking through long dialogue trees (unless the writing is Torment quality)."

Nothing wrong with an all-combat RPG.

Well first of all - I didn't say that.
And second - I wasn't saying that all-out combat RPG is a good or bad thing here. However I will say that it is nice to see that aliens won't be just an exp/gunmeat for once.

 

[Zomg]

I want an ending where you pull off the full Reiser and bring back Aliens-in-a-can for the company. For Science!