Interview Iron Tower RPG Roundtable: Setting, story and characters

[Ausir]

Tags: Vault Dweller

Vault "Vince" Dweller has <a href=http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php?topic=330.0>interviewed</a> various cRPG designers on their approach to the setting, story and characters a the <a href=http://www.irontowerstudio.com>Iron Tower Studio</a> forums.
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<blockquote><b>Chris Avellone:</b> When approaching world design (and with more recent IPs I&#8217;ve been working on at Obsidian), I usually begin with &#8220;what do I want the player to do that&#8217;s the coolest thing ever?&#8221; Whether that&#8217;s allowing the player to convince a mutated dominant lifeform out to enslave the future that his master plan is wrong and talk him into committing suicide, great. If that&#8217;s allowing the player to stand in a fortress built out of a thousand lifetimes of regrets on a plane of negative energy and argue with the possibilities my life about why it&#8217;s important I be allowed to die, great. If I want to stand in an ancient elven citadel shattered by magics and provoke two half-demons and their army into battle to prevent the destruction of the Ten Towns, so be it.
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Asking &#8220;what would be cool to do as a player&#8221; is then followed by, &#8220;okay, what sort of framework could I build around the world to build up to that cool moment(s)?&#8221; World building is similar to story building in some respects&#8230; if I want to make a game where I can voyage inside an android&#8217;s brain, help a pregnant alley give birth, or a world where I can weave death sounds of the beasts I kill into audio-inspired spellcraft, that cool sample moment of player experience is the starting point, and I start constructing a framework around the world to support and give more power to those moments.</blockquote>
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You can read the rest of the responses at the <a href=http://www.irontowerstudio.com/forum/index.php?topic=330.0>Iron Tower forum</a>.

 

[Truth]

Great article. Too bad it's not hosted on the Codex, eh? :wink:

 

[Jeff Graw]

We want VD back.

 

[tunguska]

MCA is a fucking genius. I seriously wonder about that guy's IQ.

 

[Claw]

Pwned.

 

[cardtrick]

Is anyone else getting that the background behind the text of this newspost on the front page blinks about once a second back and forth between light grey and dark grey?

It's pretty much the most annoying thing I've seen on the internet outside of banner ads.

And also, VD totally kicked the Codex' ass.

EDIT: Hm, just checked, it only happens in Opera on one of my computers, and I don't see anything in the source that could possibly cause that kind of behavior, so I think it's something weird on my PC.

 

[MetalCraze]

I want MCA to be my Fallout 3 father

 

[MountainWest]

Is anyone else getting that the background behind the text of this newspost on the front page blinks about once a second back and forth between light grey and dark grey?

I've been having a similar experience from time to time. The whole background rapidly changes between two nuances of gray. It occurs over at the Sherdog Forums as well. Don't know why, though. And it usually stops if I scroll the window.

The article is about as impressive as it can get. Too bad it isn't displayed in a bigger both than ITSF.

Oh, and DU happened to find two newsposts to put above this one within the hour, after having been silent for a couple of weeks. Well done.

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

What, no Todd Howard? That would be a blast to read.

 

[cardtrick]

Too bad it isn't displayed in a bigger both than ITSF.

I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure RPG Watch will link to it, if they haven't already, and the Codex has seen it, and I wouldn't be surprised if Rampant Coyote posts about it . . . it's the kind of thing that will make the rounds just fine.

Oh, and DU happened to find two newsposts to put above this one within the hour, after having been silent for a couple of weeks. Well done.

Aw, come on, that's just crazy talk! DU's just trying to help out any way he can.

 

[cardtrick]

What, no Todd Howard? That would be a blast to read.

Actually, I wonder if Vince did try to get Emil involved. Seeing his response juxtaposed with Avellone's and Sawyer's could have been pretty interesting.

 

[Kingston]

Awesome stuff.

or the idea of an effect in the world called “consensus” (where if enough people within a certain radius believe in a course of action, all actions taken along those lines - defending, attacking, even menial labor - gain a pseudo hive-mind bonus)

:D

 

[Vault Dweller]

MCA is a fucking genius.

He is.

What, no Todd Howard? That would be a blast to read.

Actually, I wonder if Vince did try to get Emil involved. Seeing his response juxtaposed with Avellone's and Sawyer's could have been pretty interesting.

Yes. Pete killed it. Anyway, a few more developers should be joining the interview next week.

 

[JarlFrank]

I read the whole thing through now, and, yes, Avellonne is awesome. I also liked the responses of the other developers, although Jeff Vogel's answers were a bit short.

 

[NiM82]

Bloody Awesome.

I'm rather surprised they all agreed to contribute, given it's technically for another developer's forum rather than a news type site.

 

[Volrath]

What, no Todd Howard? That would be a blast to read.

Actually, I wonder if Vince did try to get Emil involved. Seeing his response juxtaposed with Avellone's and Sawyer's could have been pretty interesting.

Yes. Pete killed it. Anyway, a few more developers should be joining the interview next week.

Heh, I guess they'll never forgive you for your Oblivion review

 

[Gnidrologist]

I think Pete killed all the means of communication way before Oblibians were released.

 

[fastpunk]

Well damn, George Ziets is in there too. I was curious to know more about his take on game design after playing MotB. Kevin Saunders too, never read his take on the matter either. Thanks a bunch VD!

 

[VonVentrue]

Well, I'll be... Amazing. That's a truly fine group of representatives You have assembled, Vince.
Thanks a lot!

We want VD back.

You have my support.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Bloody Awesome.

I'm rather surprised they all agreed to contribute, given it's technically for another developer's forum rather than a news type site.

Charisma. It's not a dump stat.

 

[Elwro]

Unfortunately, I think Thomas Riegsecker's answer to roundtable #3 means Eschalon 2 won't have more developed characters than the first game. A pity; I'd like more writing in future Basilisk Games - Jeff Vogel, even if he gives extremely short answers to VD's questions, always fills his graphically mediocre games with a big dose of vivid descriptions which make the worlds feel alive.

Also,

We want VD back.

You have my support.

 

[denizsi]

We also invented the location of Undergate (not sourcebook canon), a district that spans the ancient sewers beneath Westgate, which originated from an idea of accessing a secret and dangerous place in the city via magical, odd-looking entrances.

Sewers, again. You enter magical, odd-looking entrances and all you'll get is former shit pools. Just say fucking NO to sewers.

 

[inwoker]

vd pwns, thanks
intrview is great

 

[Ander Vinz]

Amazing stuff!
Now tell me, how can one angry indian have all the interesting articles while prestigious RPG Codex which I've read about in printed magazine (!) now only interviews it's former editor?

 

[Kraszu]

Amazing stuff!
Now tell me, how can one angry indian have all the interesting articles while prestigious RPG Codex which I've read about in printed magazine (!) now only interviews it's former editor?

All professional business outsource now, duh.