Interview Chris Avellone Interview Roundup

[Infinitron]

Tags: Alpha Protocol; Black Isle Studios; Chris Avellone; Fallout 3 (Van Buren); Fallout: New Vegas; Interplay; Kickstarter; Obsidian Entertainment; Planescape: Torment; Project Eternity; Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords; Torment: Tides of Numenera

Codex mascot Chris Avellone was a guest at DragonCon this year, where he generously agreed, as he often does, to participate in various interviews and panels. One of them was an interview with a website called MOG Nation.

​

It's a short overview of his career, from his beginnings in pen and paper RPGs right up to the Kickstarter projects of the present day. Two notable takeaways from the interview are the news that Chris was involved with a cancelled Forgotten Realms RPG before he did Descent to Undermountain, and a hint that Obsidian may soon be able to reveal the identity of their secret project. Also, did you know that Chris had to pass on working on Fallout 1 because he was busy with Descent to Undermountain? What a waste.

If you're interested in a higher dosage of MCA, you might want to check out this hour-long interview podcast at retrogaming site Racketboy. Much like the previous interview, it's kind of an overview of his career, but much more detailed. There's a particular focus on his work on Planescape: Torment and on the Fallout franchise, including Van Buren. Chris also spares no criticism of Alpha Protocol, to the point where (unlike his boss) he denies that the game could even be considered a "cult classic". Ouch!

In the second part of the interview, Chris answers various questions from listeners, covering such topics as game design advice (Chris believes it's always worth sacrificing "realism" for better gameplay), Kickstarter, the decline of JRPGs, the problems with AAA RPGs, and what franchises he'd like to work on if he could (answer: Doctor Who and The Wire). It's a good interview - I recommend listening to it if you have the time.

 

[felipepepe]

In the second part of the interview, Chris answers various questions from listeners, covering such topics as the decline of JRPGs

EDIT: Infinitron, you teasy bastard! All he says is "I've thought about this, but I have no idea, maybe is because they are linear..."

 

[Infinitron]

BTW, is it just me, or did Chris deliberately make an effort to say the word "BioWare" as little as possible during the podcast? Even when talking about KOTOR he calls them "they" or "the studio that did the original title".

 

[felipepepe]

BTW, is it just me, or did Chris deliberately make an effort to say the word "BioWare" as little as possible during the podcast? Even when talking about KOTOR he calls them "they" or "the studio that did the original title".

Not sure, he does says "BioWare" when talking about how Mass Effect was superior to Alpha Protocol.

 

[Lady_Error]

So is it already known if the secret project is an RPG? Or is it that Russian MMO? Or something completely different?

 

[Infinitron]

So is it already known if the secret project is an RPG? Or is it that Russian MMO? Or something completely different?

It's not the Russian MMO. I doubt it's not an RPG of some sort.

 

[Kz3r0]

Not sure, he does says "BioWare" when talking about how Mass Effect was superior to Alpha Protocol.

 

[Endemic]

Most people here seem to think Alpha Protocol was a less than functional game. It's possible Chris is talking about technical aspects and reception of the two titles as well.

 

[Roguey]

Most people here seem to think Alpha Protocol was a less than functional game. It's possible Chris is talking about technical aspects and reception of the two titles as well.

Mass Effect 2 has better core gameplay as well.

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/50232-the-mass-effect-comparisons-must-get-annoying/#entry871962

If AP does well some other developer can wail and gnash their teeth that everything they are doing is being compared to Alpha Protocol. For now, that's our cross to bear. It's cool. ME did really well for good reason and the games do look similar in gameplay and graphics, so it's an easy point of reference.

I have a lot more fun shooting guys in our game than in ME, though. I hope that after we start doing hands-on previews that will be the next comparison: "It's a lot like ME except that combat is fun."

Eat shit and die Mills, you failed.

 

[Hornawkawk]

Most people here seem to think Alpha Protocol was a less than functional game. It's possible Chris is talking about technical aspects and reception of the two titles as well.

Mass Effect 2 has better core gameplay as well.

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/50232-the-mass-effect-comparisons-must-get-annoying/#entry871962

If AP does well some other developer can wail and gnash their teeth that everything they are doing is being compared to Alpha Protocol. For now, that's our cross to bear. It's cool. ME did really well for good reason and the games do look similar in gameplay and graphics, so it's an easy point of reference.

I have a lot more fun shooting guys in our game than in ME, though. I hope that after we start doing hands-on previews that will be the next comparison: "It's a lot like ME except that combat is fun."

Eat shit and die Mills, you failed.

What really ruined Alpha Protocol's gameplay was the retarded skill system. The shooting itself was enjoyable, but when you have invisibility which allows you to murder a dozen opponents while staying undetected, the whole suspension of disbelief falls apart.

 

[Endemic]

What really ruined Alpha Protocol's gameplay was the retarded skill system. The shooting itself was enjoyable, but when you have invisibility which allows you to murder a dozen opponents while staying undetected, the whole suspension of disbelief falls apart.

Haven't played through it yet, but I hear Chain Shot is better.

 

[Roguey]

What really ruined Alpha Protocol's gameplay was the retarded skill system. The shooting itself was enjoyable, but when you have invisibility which allows you to murder a dozen opponents while staying undetected, the whole suspension of disbelief falls apart.

That's more of a game balance than a realism thing. AP is terribly balanced (except for the CQC skill which was designed by ~Josh Sawyer~ so is pretty good given its limitations). Also its shooting is pretty bad, as demonstrated by Sawyer:

Sega forced this on them, but only because Obsidian had thoroughly botched the systems that didn't rely on massive amounts of spread and a shrinking reticule to produce challenge.

 

[felipepepe]

It's very weird that while AP feels very rushed and unpolished, MCA says that it was ready for release earlier, and that the publishers made them wait to build up some hype...

 

[Infinitron]

Not sure, he does says "BioWare" when talking about how Mass Effect was superior to Alpha Protocol.

He didn't actually say that. He said that Mass Effect had better cinematics/was a better "cinematic game".

only because Obsidian had thoroughly botched the systems that didn't rely on massive amounts of spread and a shrinking reticule to produce challenge.

Source, or are you making shit up again?

 

[Roguey]

It's very weird that while AP feels very rushed and unpolished, MCA says that it was ready for release earlier, and that the publishers made them wait to build up some hype...

Sega stopped funding shortly before October 2009 when it was originally supposed to be released. Everyone thought it was delayed to get more polish, and Sega even said as much.

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2010/02/05/sega-on-alpha-protocol-delay-whats-been-changed/

"We had a few reasons for doing it. One: We wanted to position it better, give it a lot of time. The main reason: We really wanted to polish the game up, make it everything Obsidian planned it to be, and give the consumer a very polished game.

"We added a couple of other things. Tweaks in lighting here and there, added the inventory comparison screen so you can compare what you're buying to what you have equipped. Just bringing the whole quality level up."

Not mentioned: Lighting tweaks and inventory comparison were the only things done during those months.

 

[Endemic]

Then they put out a grand total of one patch after release.

 

[felipepepe]

He didn't actually say that. He said that Mass Effect had better cinematics/was a better "cinematic game".

Nah, don't downplay this to "cinematics"; he clearly says that the storytelling and reactivity mechanics were superior, that BioWare had been doing those for a long time and had all the know-how, blowing AP out of the water.

So yeah, your false emperor clearly thinks that BioWare are the kings of storytelling and player reactivity.

 

[Roguey]

Then they put out a grand total of one patch after release.

It bombed, no sense throwing good money after bad.

 

[Infinitron]

Nah, don't downplay this to "cinematics"; he clearly says that the storytelling and reactivity mechanics were superior, that BioWare had been doing those for a long time and had all the know-how, blowing AP out of the water.

No he didn't. Listen again.

 

[felipepepe]

No he didn't. Listen again.

Oh, FFS Infinitron...

(...)the storyline had a lot of reactivity to it, but in a lot of ways, it was much more of a traditional espionage approaches to story. So I don't know if that stood out quite so much.

And in addition, there were many games out around the time of the game's release that did a lot of the mechanics a lot better than AP did. Like in Splinter Cell, when it comes to stealth and navigating levels, Splinter Cell blew us totally out of the water, because they specialize in that, they know how to do it, and do a frigging' great job with that.

And then Mass Effect 2, they got the whole cinematic dialog/narrative system thing down to a tee. So any attempt we try to do a similar thing it's not gonna shine as well as ME2, because guess what, BioWare has been doing that for a long time, they know the pipelines, they know the process, and it shows from title to title. So, when it comes to things like that AP couldn't stand out in comparison with those titles.

By the time it was released, ME2 had come out and the latest Splinter Cell had come out, both of those excel at the mechanics they were doing, and AP suffered by comparison.

 

[Infinitron]

And then Mass Effect 2, they got the whole cinematic dialog/narrative system thing down to a tee.

Uh, yes?

Nothing about storytelling. Nothing about reactivity.

He also mentions "pipelines" and "processes", which has to do with production of cinematics. He's clearly talking about the technical aspects, not about quality of writing or storytelling.

 

[felipepepe]

That's obviously much wider than just "cinematic game"... MCA is saying that ME has better storytelling and dialog systems than AP, not just that "it's more cinematic".

 

[Lancehead]

He's probably referring to the dialogue wheel, and its application and implications. Even then, AP's dialogue wheel is much better than ME's. For one, there was less ambiguity in the choices since AP has "stances" rather than abbreviations.

 

[Infinitron]

That's obviously much wider than just "cinematic game"... MCA is saying that ME has better storytelling and dialog systems than AP, not just that "it's more cinematic".

No, he really isn't. He was not explaining why Alpha Protocol was a bad game in that paragraph. He was explaining why it wasn't a success. And the reason, according to him, was that it "didn't shine" next to the titles that were released at the same time. Splinter Cell had better mechanics, because the Splinter Cell team is good at that, and Mass Effect had better cinematics, because BioWare are good at that.

That's why he thinks it would have done better if it had been released a year earlier.

 

[felipepepe]

Nothing about storytelling. Nothing about reactivity.

How the hell "NARRATIVE system" has nothing to do with storytelling?