Interview Brian Heins talks about Tyranny and the nature of evil at PCGamesN

[AwesomeButton]

I know this is something that probably only I'll be able to laugh at, but this thread's title can be hilarious for someone who has no previous knowledge of Tyranny ("and the nature of evil at PCGamesN").

 

[Trashos]

Still, it is published by Paradox, which means that the budget can't be less than several million. Maybe even much more than that. They can definitely build a AA/AAA AoD with that money, the real question is "Do they want to?". The answer is probably no. It remains to be seen how far they will take the CnC.

Nope, not even close. Only on TV ads for Fallout 4, Bethesda spent 14 million. How much they spent on payroll? Around 150 million. Moreover, you need to consider that FO4 is a very repetitive and linear game. A heavy C&C game like AoD would represent more bugs to fix, more everything in triple-A terms.

Right, I didn't mean AAA. By AA/AAA I meant AA and a half, or whatever the hell Obsidian products are considered.

 

[Jaesun]

or whatever the hell Obsidian products are considered.

That all depends on the budget they are working with...

 

[One-and-a-half-Ivan]

This may have been linked before, but still. Brian Heins' interview for gameranx:
http://gameranx.com/features/id/485...th-obsidians-brian-heins-making-hard-choices/
"Kyros" is literally "Master":

Kyros or Kairos, in ancient Greek, means “The Supreme Moment”. Other publications haven’t seemed to make this connection, so far. To what extent is this reference relative to Tyranny’s main plot?

We actually derived Kyros from kyrios (“lord” or “master”) rather than kairos.

Originally we had a different, temporary, name for Kyros that we couldn’t use. We’d lived with it for a while and when the time came to come up with another name, it took a long time to find something that people liked. I actually first started thinking of kyrios on a weekend when I had random music playing in the background. The 80’s song Kyrie started playing and I remembered the meaning of kyrios. It may seem odd that the inspiration for an evil overlord’s name came from an 80’s song about a religious prayer asking for mercy – but I’ll take inspiration wherever I can get it.

Kyrios was one of several possible name ideas I took into a brainstorming meeting, and we left the meeting with Kyros. We changed it because the name felt stronger with only two syllables, and we pronounce it KIE(rhymes with LIE)-ros rather than KEE-ros. It felt like something soldiers would chant on a battlefield.

After that meeting, I did some more research on Kyros and possible meanings. I came across a site talking about the different forms of ‘power’ in ancient Greece – comparing despos (the power practiced towards slaves) versus kyros (the power a father practiced towards their wife and children, with the connotation of family as a man’s property). The idea being that kyros was a gentler form of power thandespos, as the power was practiced from love. That sounded like exactly the type of lie that an evil despot would tell themselves to justify their actions.

I also found that Kyros as a name is thought to be a derivation of Cyrus, meaning ‘far sighted’, which felt like a good attribute for someone who conquers an entire world. And then I found kairos, which felt appropriate for reasons I won’t go into just now – I don’t want to spoil anything about Tyranny’s story.

Three type of character's reputation:

We’ll be talking about this in more detail in future updates. For now I’ll say thatTyranny uses a robust faction system that allows you to develop reputations with major groups in the game, your companions, and the Archons of Kyros’ Empire. As you build favor or wrath with these factions, you unlock abilities that shape your player character.

"Healthy" amount of time, right from Josh's "Obsidian pillars":

I’ve read that Tyranny will offer up to 20 hours of content, going against traditionally long story-driven RPGs. What incentives will the game provide to increase replayability for players?

Tyranny is heavily focused on choice and reactivity. That meant that each of our areas needs to serve multiple purposes depending on the choices that players make. So for players, making different choices on quests and in conversations will net very different experiences as they play the game. We wanted to make a game that people could finish in a reasonable time, so they could come back and try some of the other paths, or character builds, or Companions than they focused on the first time.

 

[Fenix]

Well, now it all sounds negative somehow - "pontification", "judgmental", "dogmatic".

I'm sorry, I didn't realise this was a safe space.

Like those writers from Russia?

But why? Why to be confident in something - is it bad?

Only if you're confident in error.

Why have a clear moral compass - it's bad?

Only if it points the wrong way.

And who decide this?

Btw you sound all the judgmental yourself.

Only about people who are confident in error and have moral compasses that point the wrong way.

Lol, you sound like Nazi with your confidence in your superiority and rightness. Or American.
So, Russian classics are wrong, and you are right.
Now I'm sure you are a fool.
Thanks for enlightenment and plese let's stop this pointless conversation before we talk to each other something really rude.

 

[Prime Junta]

Well, now it all sounds negative somehow - "pontification", "judgmental", "dogmatic".

I'm sorry, I didn't realise this was a safe space.

Like those writers from Russia?

wut?

But why? Why to be confident in something - is it bad?

Only if you're confident in error.

Why have a clear moral compass - it's bad?

Only if it points the wrong way.

And who decide this?

Me, of course. Was that a trick question?

Btw you sound all the judgmental yourself.

Only about people who are confident in error and have moral compasses that point the wrong way.

Lol, you sound like Nazi with your confidence in your superiority and rightness. Or American.

American? Ow, that stung.

So, Russian classics are wrong, and you are right.

Мои любимый роман - это Мастер и Маргарита. Мои любимые авторы и поэты - это Солженицын, Достоевский, Маяковский, БГ и т.д. Я даже изучил русский язык, чтобы лучше понимать им.

Now I'm sure you are a fool.
Thanks for enlightenment and plese let's stop this pointless conversation before we talk to each other something really rude.

Давай. Прошу прошение. Я не был совсем серьезным.

(Но все равно, иногда - проповедуют!)

 

[Xzylvador]

Shut the fuck up, filthy commies!

 

[Fenix]

Давай. Прошу прошение. Я не был совсем серьезным.
(Но все равно, иногда - проповедуют!)

This wasn't that obvious, sorry.
They never pontificate without line of reasoning near in text.
They actually explore the moral and ethical problems, that's why they were called classics.

 

[Prime Junta]

Давай. Прошу прошение. Я не был совсем серьезным.
(Но все равно, иногда - проповедуют!)

This wasn't that obvious, sorry.
They never pontificate without line of reasoning near in text.
They actually explore the moral and ethical problems, that's why they were called classics.

All true.

Seriously, Fenix -- I did not intend to diss the Russian classics (or The Last Ringbearer for that matter). I was just pointing out that The Last Ringbearer shares stylistic characteristics with them, in the way the author goes on digressions about things. My use of "pontification" was intended to be mildly humorous. I would have said "preachy" if I had intended it negatively.

 

[Fenix]

Well, I think I should read The Last Ringbearer in Russian to see exact semantics of book. )

 

[Spectacle]

I'm trying to come up with some variety of #CantStumpTheTrump that works with "Kyros" but I'm getting nowhere. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[DeepOcean]

I had a girlfriend named Kyros once.

She didn't put out so I had to euthanise her.



Hmm.... Could be she was called Kyra, actually...
She also kind of acted like a stalker sometimes, which weirded me out.

Anyhow, point is, it was quite a disappointment. I hope there's no connection.

If Kyros did a sex change and changed his name to Kyra, now that is a villain worthy of Tranny and a villain that could rally all the codexers on love or hate, the leader of a truly evil tranny empire.