G Ziets Thanks for answering our questions. As someone who has never heard of you, and is only vaguely familiar with some of the projects you've worked on (NVWN 2 MotB which has a fairly good reputation, and TToN which has a poor one), can you explain your general approach and idea when it comes to CRPGs? To focus the question in a little bit, what would you consider to be the most important aspects regarding CRPGs? Also, if we could get your opinion regarding these fairly vague but important questions, that'd be nice.
Opinion on RTwP versus TB?
Opinion on 2D vs 3D?
Isometric or bust?
Philosophy on game difficulty?
Target audience?
And finally, you answered Fluent's question regarding what kind of RPG you're trying to make with this post,
I’ve currently got a document full of RPG and RPG-hybrid pitches. We’ve started prototyping one of them – I can’t say much about it yet, except that it’s an original setting with a vibe you’d expect from us. Down the road, we’re planning to develop some concept art pieces and setting info that we can share.
but is there really nothing more you can tell us? Can we get some comparisons with other games, or perhaps some games you'd cite as inspiration?
Thanks.
In no particular order, here are some of my high-level preferences on RPGs:
Strong, branching narrative is critical for me. Preferably a narrative that focuses on the player. It’s very difficult to make players genuinely care about “save the world” plots, and I think they usually fall flat. As in real life, players can typically be relied upon to care about themselves (the player-character) and people they get to know over the course of the game (companions certainly, but sometimes also multi-dimensional, sympathetic NPCs, allies, or even villains).
Choices – especially the important ones - should have multiple consequences across multiple dimensions of the game. E.g., they should affect how NPCs react to me, what quests I receive and how they play out, what companions I unlock, the appearance of my character and/or other elements in the world, and systemic effects like traits and special abilities.
All aspects of a game (art, narrative, gameplay, sound, etc.) should reinforce one another and come together to create a unified experience. I’m not a fan of rulesets that are completely unrelated to the setting / story and make no effort to adapt themselves to the game as a whole. (A good example of gameplay and story playing well together are the tattoos as armor in Planescape Torment – they serve a systemic purpose while also reinforcing your character’s identity AND reflecting your accomplishments and choices.)
I like to take players to a setting they’ve never seen before and explore it alongside them. Ideally, I try to make the player a stranger in a strange land to set up as much mystery and unanswered questions as I can, and then gradually breadcrumb the answers over the course of the game (always dropping new questions as the initial ones are answered). This is why I set Mask of the Betrayer in Rashemen and Thay, for example, instead of the overused Sword Coast.
All characters – including villains – should have believable motivations for what they do. In real life, almost nobody thinks they’re evil - usually they’re trying to do what they think is right (even if their perceptions are warped), or at least they're able to justify their actions to themselves. “Evil” isn’t just brute psychopathy – it’s subtle and multidimensional and should be portrayed as such.
In response to your specific questions, again based on what I prefer as a player:
Opinion on RTwP versus TB?
Turn-based. I can play and enjoy RTwP games (e.g., Infinity Engine, Pathfinder), often by setting them up to pause on all the optional events, but I still enjoy turn-based systems better.
Opinion on 2D vs 3D?
Isometric or 2D. Mainly this is because 3D games lend themselves more to action combat systems IMO, while isometric or 2D encourage a more tactical, strategic perspective, which is what I prefer. (I know that’s not always the case, but I still prefer the overhead view.)
Philosophy on game difficulty?
I enjoy challenge in turn-based and strategic systems, but I’m terrible at twitchy combat (e.g., Souls games), so I don’t enjoy high-difficulty action games. That said, I’m in favor of including difficulty settings in RPGs so people can play as they like. “Story-mode” for people who just want the narrative and C&C / don’t want to deal with challenging combat doesn’t bother me, as long as it’s not forced on me.
Target audience?
Depends on the game, but I am a PC gamer first, with a preference for strategic (non-twitchy) combat and strong narrative, so making games for people with similar tastes is where my heart lies.
Is there really nothing more you can tell us? Can we get some comparisons with other games, or perhaps some games you'd cite as inspiration?
Not yet. We’re still in the prototyping phase, and we probably will be for a while.
