Interview with Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye Games

[Jason]

We take a break from our regularly scheduled programming to bring you <a href="http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=202">an interview</a> with indie adventure game designer <strong>Dave Gilbert</strong> of <a href="http://wadjeteyegames.com/" target="_blank"><strong>Wadjet Eye Games</strong></a>.
<blockquote><strong>The gameplay is much more dialogue oriented than the typical adventure game, as shown by Sierra and Lucas Arts, where you mostly collect and combine items. What made you decide to deviate from the traditional adventure formula and focus on dialogue instead of items?</strong>

Even though Blackwell deals with ghosts, it’s very grounded in reality. And in a setting like that, it’s hard to justify the usual adventure game puzzles of using objects in obscure ways to solve arbitrary puzzles. In you’re in a fantasy game and you find a door that can only be opened by six mystical bagels, then fine. You can accept that. But when the setting is urban noir, it’s more difficult to suspend your disbelief. So instead I focused more on dialog-related puzzles and gameplay. I’ve always been a sucker for games like that.</blockquote>

 

[Fat Dragon]

The games my wife and I always talk about are Planescape and Fallout, so whatever we make will be along those lines.

:manly tears:

 

[Wyrmlord]

Bringing the Torment style gameplay to real urban settings would indeed be cool.

And I think there is great potential in remaking Torment as an amnesiac detective mystery. :D

 

[Annonchinil]

I bought Emerald City Confidential after seeing Wicked and was surprised at how fun it was for an adventure game. Will definitely check out the blackwell games.

 

[Darth Roxor]

The problem with detectives is that they don’t have a personal reason for solving a mystery – they do it because it’s their job.

Can't say I agree. It's like saying Dirty Harry is a generic cop because he doesn't really have any personal reasons and is only doing his job.

 

[Gondolin]

The problem with detectives is that they don’t have a personal reason for solving a mystery – they do it because it’s their job.

Can't say I agree. It's like saying Dirty Harry is a generic cop because he doesn't really have any personal reasons and is only doing his job.

Mmm, cops are sworn to uphold the law and protect society. Detectives are only bound to protect the interests of their clients, as far as the law allows it. If you have a righteous streak to your character, like Dirty Harry, then being a cop suits you.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Detectives are only bound to protect the interests of their clients, as far as the law allows it.

But detectives could be easily driven by personal reasons. Like, I dunno, the guy's whole family is murdered when he's a kid, the case is never solved by the police, so he decides to become a private eye because he's disenchanted by the law and thinks he can do better.

 

[JarlFrank]

A lot of fans want to know more about Joey, but they also say his “mysteriousness” is what makes him really interesting

JOEY IS ANDHAIRA

 

[Radisshu]

A lot of fans want to know more about Joey, but they also say his “mysteriousness” is what makes him really interesting

JOEY IS ANDHAIRA

Now that I think about it it makes PERFECT SENSE

 

[Azrael the cat]

Detectives are only bound to protect the interests of their clients, as far as the law allows it.

But detectives could be easily driven by personal reasons. Like, I dunno, the guy's whole family is murdered when he's a kid, the case is never solved by the police, so he decides to become a private eye because he's disenchanted by the law and thinks he can do better.

Well there is Batman, sometimes called the 'World's Greatest Detective'.

And the 'Martian Manhunter' - often referred to a combination of detective and Superman (thank FUCK they killed him off - yes he was invented EARLY, ala the same rough time as Superman, but it was still a clear case of DC comics superpower inflation! Cool when they made him an undead zombie villain, like superman without any kyprotine weakness and only a mild fire vulnerability - made it one of the few villains that was a plausible antagonist to the Green Lantern without being a 'I'm a random supervillain from the planet ubervillainiter!'

Sherlock Holmes occasionally turned against his clients.

Off course, they're all fictional. Which skips past the whole important 'getting paid' thing.

In reality, private detectivecs are used almost entirely for:
(a) bail jumpers; (the easy cases that the police can't be fucked chasing themselves);
(b) corporate espionage (if they're at the top end)
(c) finding cheating partners (mainly in areas where there is 'fault divorce' - once 'no fault divorce' came in over here those detectives disappeared.
AND in my experience as a former lawyer, OVERWHELMINGLY the following:
(D) chasing up debtors. One constant, no matter what country, state or jurisdiction you live in is that the bailiff is shit. If someone doesn't have an obvious property in their name, or it takes more than minimal effort, then you need a PI to do the bailiff's job for him so that all the bailiff needs to do is walk up to the (tracked down, audited, etc) debtor and seize the property that the PI has proven to exist and to belong to the debtor. One place I worked at used to give 'debt collection files' to the article clerks to cut their teeth on - it was all collecting on money owed to the firm rather than another client, so the articled clerk (that's a first year graduate from law school - equivalent of not having been admitted to the bar under the US system - you basically have a 12 month practical requirement plus the exam) can be thrown to the wolves to learn from their own mistakes without getting sued by anyone.

As soon as you got judgment, you'd contact the bailiff to get the papers served. The bailiff would go: (1) is there a known fixed address? If not, then go eat some donuts. (2) is there a car in the driveway? If there is, but the owner says it belongs to someone else, then don't bother checking - that occupies valuable donus-eating time!. (3) If there is a registered property in the debtor's name, then great, you can seize and sell, and pat yourself on the back for being an awesome bailiff. (4) If the guy is living in an address under his wife/girlfriend/kid's name, then don't bother checking the law regarding fraudulent transfers and certainly don't check whether he only put it in their name after the debt was incurred! You can eat LOTS of donuts in that time. (5) If the guy travels for work, then don't bother - that;s going to require finding out where he works and when he gets paid - far too much donut-eating time.

So instead, you just call the private detective. And in almost EVERY case you'll have a name, address, property list, job and everyting you need to collect the debt in about 30 minutes. Yay for Private Detectives. I almost wonder whether the bailiff gets a cut for being so incompetent as to drum up work for them.

 

[denizsi]

I like this guy and the sound of his games. Now only need to choose which of his games to play.

 

[Zed]

Cool guy, good interview.

I hope it's a Detective Rabbi RPG. That would be something. :D

 

[Volourn]

"Bringing the Torment style gameplay to real urban settings would indeed be cool. "

I agree. the urban setting has always needed a FFish game play style. R00fles!

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

I agree. the urban setting has always needed a FFish game play style. R00fles!

what are you misfiring on about now you fucking dunce?

 

[Volourn]

Everybody who isn't arrogant knows that FF itself, depsite it being a western rpg, was heavily influenced by FF. FFS

 

[FeelTheRads]

Spiffy spell effects = gameplay style. You've heard it first from Volourn.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Everybody who isn't arrogant knows that FF itself, depsite it being a western rpg, was heavily influenced by FF. FFS

 

[Volourn]

"Spiffy spell effects = gameplay style. You've heard it first from Volourn."

Actually, we've all ehard it elsewhere first - from the words of PST developers who said they were influenced by FF when making the game. FFS And, it'sroe than just 'spiffy' spell effects. So, stop your fuckin' ignorant posting. Or keep it up. Either way, it's entertaining.

 

[FeelTheRads]

from the words of PST developers who said they were influenced by FF when making the game.

Yawn. You're boring.

 

[Volourn]

It's all fucking shit!

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

ehard

dot com?


*fap, fap, fap*

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Volourn has a point, though. The Codex simply decided this "influence" was limited to the spell effects.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Volourn has a point, though

i'm sorry...and that would be what, exactly?

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Volourn has a point, though

i'm sorry...and that would be what, exactly?

The Codex simply decided this "influence" was limited to the spell effects.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

that aside, saying that you want a game to be more like PS:T would mean you are saying it should be like FF is ridiculous. whatever influence might have been there it's more than obvious what people loved PS:T for...and that part (real or not) isn't it. it's not even on the radar.