Interview Jeff Vogel Interview

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Avadon: The Black Fortress; Spiderweb Software

<p>Inside Mac Games <a href="http://www.insidemacgames.com/features/view.php?ID=555" target="_blank">interviewed</a> Spiderweb's Jeff Vogel, topics include Mac gaming, DRM, <strong>Avadon: The Black Fortress</strong> and his gaming habits.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>JC: You are currently working on Avadon: The Black Fortress. Why should RPG fans be excited about your latest project?</strong></p>
<p>JV: Avadon: The Black Fortress is the first all-new game series from us in ten years. It has all new graphics, setting, game system, story, everything, and all the stuff I've learned over the last decade has gone into this game to make it as cool as possible. The setting and storyline are really neat, and the action is fun and full of strategy.</p>
<p>It will probably be out for the Mac in February, 2011, and it'll have a nice, big demo. Anyone who likes RPGs should definitely give it a look.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.rpgwatch.com/#16320">RPGWatch</a></p>

 

[hanssolo]

"all new graphics" he says, like it's a big deal for a game to not recycle 60% of it's resources from previous releases.

 

[Crooked Bee]

"Full of strategy"?

Ah fuck, I'll probably buy it all the same.

 

[Yeesh]

"all new graphics" he says, like it's a big deal for a game to not recycle 60% of it's resources from previous releases.

I mean on the one hand, yeah. But on the other hand, it's certainly a big deal for a Spiderweb game. Like a once-in-a-decade occurrence.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

"all new graphics" he says, like it's a big deal for a game to not recycle 60% of it's resources from previous releases.

I couldn't care less if he recycles the graphics. I do care less that it has taken so long to implement some halfway decent combat mechanics into the game with Avernum 6. Still, in a sea of excrement, his games are (usually) a pleasant thing for me to get hold of and play when they come out.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Impressive that he's got it all going on a 40-hour week. If you think of it as a small business - most 'small business' owners need to put in around 60 hrs min, and gaming industry working hours range from around 60 to utterly-insane-per-week, so he's done reasonably well for himself. On the other hand, it's a business that requires ongoing new and good IP - almost impossible on a small business basis, so he still doesn't have security from it. Though I expect he'd have excellent back-catalogue sales compared to larger companies.

 

[made]

Avadon doesn't look bad at all. Seems like he could finally afford a contract artist.

 

[commie]

He's gotta keep those character avatar graphics though. They maketh the games!

 

[Elzair]

Seriously, maybe this game will actually be playable. It's too bad he is too lazy/cheap to try to find ANY background music or even some sound effects.

 

[Serious_Business]

But working hard at anything for fifteen years can be tiring. These days, what keeps me going is the need for money to buy food for my children. Writing games is my job. A rewarding job that I have a real knack for, but it is work.

Well this isn't very inspiring.

I didn't know he had kids, too. This is bad idea, Vogel. Why have kids? There's already too much people on the planet.

I guess this is fair, in a way, that we get a human face to attach it to our hobby. Every spiderweb game is like a donation so that Vogel's kids might get a meal tonight. Isn't that nice?

I've been playing Geneforge 4 recently. I've played through 1 & 2 a few years ago on different intervals. 3 I'm avoiding because it's supposedly bad. I think the Geneforge series are definitively underrated (cue in Volo saying that Spiderweb games are overrated yeeeaaaaa--). I'm pretty sure more people here have played Mass Effect than they have played Geneforge, which is a bit of a mess. Sure I wouldn't advice anyone to play the entire series in 2 months, because it'd get repetitive, but these games are unique in their own right.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Geneforge 4&5 are great. True story.

Oh, and Avernum 6 is game of the year.

 

[Raghar]

Impressive that he's got it all going on a 40-hour week. If you think of it as a small business - most 'small business' owners need to put in around 60 hrs min, and gaming industry working hours range from around 60 to utterly-insane-per-week

You cant work for too many hours/weak for long without losing creativity. Sleep, reading books, doing completely unnecessary stuff, all these things are important. (On the other hand when you are going by bus from point A to B and thinking about your projects, these hours are unaccounted for, even when they help a lot.)

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Impressive that he's got it all going on a 40-hour week. If you think of it as a small business - most 'small business' owners need to put in around 60 hrs min, and gaming industry working hours range from around 60 to utterly-insane-per-week, so he's done reasonably well for himself.

It's because he's good at work organization. Caring about stuff like rest and sleep is a part of it. 60hours of work may work for some time but it quickly ends up with loss of efficiency, psychological problems from lack of sleep, burnout, etc.
Especially when someone is doing stuff like programming where small, hard to find errors can fuck up everything.

 

[torpid]

Spiderweb is probably the most reliable RPG developer today. His blog insights are questionable, but overall he's a true bro

 

[SuicideBunny]

60hours of work may work for some time but it quickly ends up with loss of efficiency, psychological problems from lack of sleep, burnout, etc.

on the other hand, somebody progging for 60 hours a week wouldn't have had enough time to play dragon age and be impressed by its shitty mmorpgish combat mechanics to a point where he felt the urge to include something very much like them in his next single-player indie crpg.

 

[Davaris]

But working hard at anything for fifteen years can be tiring. These days, what keeps me going is the need for money to buy food for my children. Writing games is my job. A rewarding job that I have a real knack for, but it is work.

Well this isn't very inspiring.

Its a shame he doesn't enjoy making RPGs anymore, but then again jobs aren't supposed to be fun, that's why they are called work, instead of happy fun time.The thing with the game industry (just like any entertainment industry), is it promotes itself as the fun place to be, but that is just a myth that is an essential component of their marketing strategy. The question people should be asking before they enter the games industry, is if it is so much fun, then why do so many leave the industry forever within 5 years?

At any rate what Vogel has achieved, is to develop a system that reliably produces games that ~4000 people enjoy. So if his family is his sole inspiration, who cares? Whether he still enjoys his process, doesn't affect my playing experience.

I didn't know he had kids, too. This is bad idea, Vogel. Why have kids? There's already too much people on the planet.

There aren't many people like Vogel left on the planet, because they were told not to breed and they believed it. Personally I think people like Vogel absolutely should breed and in as large a numbers as possible! If there are no Vogels left, then who will make the games? :D

 

[Incline]

But working hard at anything for fifteen years can be tiring. These days, what keeps me going is the need for money to buy food for my children. Writing games is my job. A rewarding job that I have a real knack for, but it is work.

Well this isn't very inspiring.

Its a shame he doesn't enjoy making RPGs anymore, but then again jobs aren't supposed to be fun, that's why they are called work, instead of happy fun time.The thing with the game industry (just like any entertainment industry), is it promotes itself as the fun place to be, but that is just a myth that is an essential component of their marketing strategy. The question people should be asking before they enter the games industry, is if it is so much fun, then why do so many leave the industry forever within 5 years?

At any rate what Vogel has achieved, is to develop a system that reliably produces games that ~4000 people enjoy. So if his family is his sole inspiration, who cares? Whether he still enjoys his process, doesn't affect my playing experience.

I think the problem is he used to care about making good games as well as making money, but it seems now he only cares about making money, which means he'll mainstream his games to appeal to a wider audience to maximize the profits, i.e. dumbing down like Avadon has started to show. It's the exact same problem currently affecting the entire video game industry.

 

[janjetina]

Vogel has been saying things like that for years. He should be judged by his games, not by his words. Avadon demo will be available soon.

 

[Jora]

I think the problem is he used to care about making good games as well as making money, but it seems now he only cares about making money

Be that as it may, but Geneforge 5, released last year (I think), is a good game with a good story and varied factions. The only drawback is the repetitive combat. The setting and the plot didn't feel uninspired. If anything, I was surprised Vogel was able to finish the series so well.

 

[SCO]

Yep, it was really great.

 

[Sceptic]

I think the problem is he used to care about making good games as well as making money, but it seems now he only cares about making money

Is this really the case? Geneforge 5 seems to be the most beloved in the series, and Avernum 6 got a lot of good praise around here.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Every spiderweb game is like a donation so that Vogel's kids might get a meal tonight. Isn't that nice?

+-Demonoid.com-+_Spiderweb_Software's_Avernum_Series_w_Keygens_(all_5_games).torrent

_-Demonoid.com-_Spiderweb_Software's_Geneforge_Series_w_Crack_keygens_(all_3_games).torrent

 

[Johannes]

So Avernum 6 is good? I've played first 3, but trying the demo of 4 I was put off by the elimination of the bigger scale map, just felt lame like running in a tube, no proper sense of exploration. What's the strength of 6 then, compared to earlier games?

Oh and nothing strange or worrying in him getting tired of doing this too - it doesn't mean that he might not enjoy thinking up the stuff, the setting, combat system, encounters, whatever, but most of the time you're just slaving away coding to make it all happen.

 

[PorkaMorka]

After a while, *playing* a Vogel game starts to feel like a job, one can only imagine that making them would be just a little bit more tedious.

Especially since he tries to produce an area per day when he is working on that stage of the game.

 

[BLOBERT]

BROS SOME OF YOU FAGS ARE LIKE LITTLE GIRLS FINDING OUT CLAY AIKEN IS GAY BROS HE MAKES THE GAMES HE PROBABLY LIKED THE SHIT AT SOME POINT BUT THIS SHIT IS HIS JOB ITS NOT LIKE HE IS PLAYING KOTOR SEVEN TIMES FOR THE PURE FUN OF IT

LOLOLLOLLOL I IMAGINE THEIR ARE A FEW COIDEX READERS WEARING ALL BLACK WITH BALCK FINGERNAIL POLISH AND LISTENING TO THE CURE CRYING ABOUT SELLING OUT TO THE MAN LOLLOLLOOL A NIGGER HAS TO EAT BRO HE NEEDS THE MONEY