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- Oct 21, 2002
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Tags: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn; Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal; Baldur's Gate III (Obsidian Entertainment); Dungeon Siege III; Fallout: New Vegas; George Ziets; King of Dragon Pass; Obsidian Entertainment; Pillars of Eternity; The Elder Scrolls Online; Torment: Tides of Numenera
We are lucky George Ziets managed to leave a strong mark on the world of CRPGs during his adventures at Obsidian Entertainment. Were it not for his phenomenal work on Mask of the Betrayer, perhaps we would not have seen him as a double Kickstarter stretch-goal superstar. Regardless, here we are with Ziets taking on both Project Eternity and the world of Numenera, and we couldn't be happier.
Mr Ziets, being no stranger to taking questions from random people, was the perfect candidate for an RPG Codex feature. In this interview, we ask him about his approach to game design, his influences, ideas, writing, and of course the games he has been involved with in the past (including NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer and the upcoming The Elder Scrolls Online) and present (Project Eternity and Torment: Tides of Numenera) -- and perhaps future.
Have an excerpt:
Read the full article: RPG Codex Interview: George Ziets on Eternity, Torment, and crafting worlds
We are lucky George Ziets managed to leave a strong mark on the world of CRPGs during his adventures at Obsidian Entertainment. Were it not for his phenomenal work on Mask of the Betrayer, perhaps we would not have seen him as a double Kickstarter stretch-goal superstar. Regardless, here we are with Ziets taking on both Project Eternity and the world of Numenera, and we couldn't be happier.
Mr Ziets, being no stranger to taking questions from random people, was the perfect candidate for an RPG Codex feature. In this interview, we ask him about his approach to game design, his influences, ideas, writing, and of course the games he has been involved with in the past (including NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer and the upcoming The Elder Scrolls Online) and present (Project Eternity and Torment: Tides of Numenera) -- and perhaps future.
Have an excerpt:
You've mentioned that you were hoping to get a chance to work on some of Project Eternity's area design in addition to your various writing duties. Has that come about? Did you have any personal design philosophies or ideas you were hoping to bring to that particular arena?
PE is still in preproduction, so that hasn’t happened yet. I’ve mainly been contributing to world and story design.
I think of area design as another form of storytelling. So the first thing I do is determine the central narrative of the area. What story (or stories) are we trying to tell? And what kind of setting or atmosphere are we trying to convey? Once those questions are answered, I have a context, and everything – main quest, side quests, NPC chatter, etc. – should arise from that. Even the smallest details can (and should) be used to communicate story and setting, so that the area feels like a unified whole.
Baldur’s Gate 2 generally did this well. When I traveled to each of the major areas (Umar Hills, De’arnise Keep, etc.), I felt like I was entering a coherent side story – a self-contained D&D module - where all the dialogues and quests were focused on telling the area’s story and/or the player’s own. That’s what we tried to do on MotB, too.
I look at quests through a similar lens. Every quest is an opportunity to explore another facet of the narrative. We should use them to deepen the player’s experience of the area’s story and setting and explore how different people/factions would react to the same events. I don’t think we should ever have to resort to “generic” quests in a well-designed RPG.
Is your creative process in any way affected by simultaneously writing for both Eternity and Torment? Have you had any problems managing your ideas? For instance, that one project bleeds into another? Are there things that would work in Eternity, but that would absolutely not work in Torment (or vice versa)?
Not really. The two worlds are very different from one another. Despite its exotic nature, Torment feels closer to science fiction or post-apocalyptic fiction to me, especially to Gene Wolfe’s New Sun series. Eternity, on the other hand, is firmly rooted in fantasy and historical traditions, and in my opinion, it feels closer to the Forgotten Realms or the Malazan Books of the Fallen (with some notable differences).
I tend to base my designs heavily on setting and story context, so I haven’t had any trouble with overlap so far.
PE is still in preproduction, so that hasn’t happened yet. I’ve mainly been contributing to world and story design.
I think of area design as another form of storytelling. So the first thing I do is determine the central narrative of the area. What story (or stories) are we trying to tell? And what kind of setting or atmosphere are we trying to convey? Once those questions are answered, I have a context, and everything – main quest, side quests, NPC chatter, etc. – should arise from that. Even the smallest details can (and should) be used to communicate story and setting, so that the area feels like a unified whole.
Baldur’s Gate 2 generally did this well. When I traveled to each of the major areas (Umar Hills, De’arnise Keep, etc.), I felt like I was entering a coherent side story – a self-contained D&D module - where all the dialogues and quests were focused on telling the area’s story and/or the player’s own. That’s what we tried to do on MotB, too.
I look at quests through a similar lens. Every quest is an opportunity to explore another facet of the narrative. We should use them to deepen the player’s experience of the area’s story and setting and explore how different people/factions would react to the same events. I don’t think we should ever have to resort to “generic” quests in a well-designed RPG.
Is your creative process in any way affected by simultaneously writing for both Eternity and Torment? Have you had any problems managing your ideas? For instance, that one project bleeds into another? Are there things that would work in Eternity, but that would absolutely not work in Torment (or vice versa)?
Not really. The two worlds are very different from one another. Despite its exotic nature, Torment feels closer to science fiction or post-apocalyptic fiction to me, especially to Gene Wolfe’s New Sun series. Eternity, on the other hand, is firmly rooted in fantasy and historical traditions, and in my opinion, it feels closer to the Forgotten Realms or the Malazan Books of the Fallen (with some notable differences).
I tend to base my designs heavily on setting and story context, so I haven’t had any trouble with overlap so far.
Read the full article: RPG Codex Interview: George Ziets on Eternity, Torment, and crafting worlds
Article worth it for this alone. (game related stuff is neat too, I suppose)
