Tags: Brian Fargo; InXile Entertainment; Wasteland 2
Now that two weeks have passed since the end of the Wasteland 2 Kickstarter campaign, a very short new interview with Brian Fargo has appeared. In it, Digital Trends asks InXile's CEO about the current status of the game's development, Chris Avellone's involvement, and the usual publisher thing. Have a snippet:
That's all there is to the interview, basically, but you may also want to check it out in full, just in case.
Now that two weeks have passed since the end of the Wasteland 2 Kickstarter campaign, a very short new interview with Brian Fargo has appeared. In it, Digital Trends asks InXile's CEO about the current status of the game's development, Chris Avellone's involvement, and the usual publisher thing. Have a snippet:
“Our next step is to make damn sure we deliver the game that people are expecting,” says Brian Fargo. “We still want to be able to get this done in 18 months. Our pre-production work was complete in terms of the basic storyline, setting a visual tone and determining what the most important touch points need to be. We’re close to finalizing the tech but we need to do some art tests to make sure we are happy with the result. Once we have that we will start showing some imagery to the fans so they can chime in. From there we will open up aspects of the production to some if they would like to pitch in on asset creation.”
[...] “Obsidian’s involvement is the help of Chris Avellone helping in the design of the Wasteland world and the levels themselves,” explains Fargo, “He spends 2-3 days a week over here brainstorming everything from storylines to combat systems. It’s been a joy to work with him again. Additionally Obsidian has a host of tools that may help us to get story and dialogue assets organized and integrated more easily. The coding is happening at InXile.”
Would Wasteland 2 have been made if a publisher backed it in 2012? Would it be the same game? Maybe, but the game’s connection with its audience would definitely be lost. “I highly doubt we would have the same relationship with the public that we do. In the past I had to fight for features that I knew the fans would want and now we have none of that. A publisher may well have given us more money but it is normally with doled out slowly with heavy conditions on each check,” says Fargo, “The best development happens in a more fluid manner with priorities and ideas shifting around the core tenets. Publisher led deals are typically more contract driven in that you must crystal ball the details and do them in that order no matter what the impact on the overall game or the shift in ideas.”
[...] “Obsidian’s involvement is the help of Chris Avellone helping in the design of the Wasteland world and the levels themselves,” explains Fargo, “He spends 2-3 days a week over here brainstorming everything from storylines to combat systems. It’s been a joy to work with him again. Additionally Obsidian has a host of tools that may help us to get story and dialogue assets organized and integrated more easily. The coding is happening at InXile.”
Would Wasteland 2 have been made if a publisher backed it in 2012? Would it be the same game? Maybe, but the game’s connection with its audience would definitely be lost. “I highly doubt we would have the same relationship with the public that we do. In the past I had to fight for features that I knew the fans would want and now we have none of that. A publisher may well have given us more money but it is normally with doled out slowly with heavy conditions on each check,” says Fargo, “The best development happens in a more fluid manner with priorities and ideas shifting around the core tenets. Publisher led deals are typically more contract driven in that you must crystal ball the details and do them in that order no matter what the impact on the overall game or the shift in ideas.”
That's all there is to the interview, basically, but you may also want to check it out in full, just in case.
