Company News The Knights of New Vegas: A History Of Obsidian Entertainment

[Roguey]

A *vision* is not something specific.

And we KNOW they had a design doc for KOTOR II and NWN II

http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=103

Design documents are different from vision documents. Read more than the first sentence please. That article describes exactly what you're saying a "game specification" document is. Divinity 2's design documents from 2006/2007 describe game mechanics and the structure of the story in great detail and those are just a bunch of jerks from Belgium.

 

[IronicNeurotic]

A *vision* is not something specific.

And we KNOW they had a design doc for KOTOR II and NWN II

http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=103

Design documents are different from vision documents. Read more than the first sentence please. That article describes exactly what you're saying a "game specification" document is. Divinity 2's design documents from 2006/2007 describe game mechanics and the structure of the story in great detail and those are just a bunch of jerks from Belgium.

Well, anyway. I maintain what I said that the *specification document* mentioned is something different, as we know through various sources the existence of design documents for KOTOR II, NWN II and even Alpha Protocol. Mentions are not even hard to find. Just google that shit.

Here through Alexander Brandon in the Sound Department

A design document and sound asset list were created, in Microsoft Word and Excel, respectively.

So, unless Feargus is already senile, he does mean something else with the *specification document*

 

[Roguey]

The goals of audio were like any other project: establish thematic and stylistic direction, execute content that blended with gameplay, and make the right focus points pop for the player. A design document and sound asset list were created, in Microsoft Word and Excel, respectively.

He was referring to a design document specifically for the sound. Amazing priorities, Obsidian.

I recall Avellone or maybe someone else even saying that Alpha Protocol didn't even have a lead designer. It had Mitsoda as creative lead, but no one actually in charge of gameplay.

 

[commie]

So many smarmy haters here...how ironic that it's Urquhart's Obsidian that has just pocketed 4 million to make a game and they've been in business for a decade yet the cage rattling hators have only a lifetime of squeezing zits from their faces in their parents' basements to look forward to.

Poor Roguey...

 

[Scruffy]

"just a few months ago, major publishers were knocking on their door: Urquhart told me he's been talking to Bethesda, Ubisoft, Warner Bros., and LucasArts."

i wonder how many months ago. i wonder if it was AFTER the kickstarter. i wonder if the kickstarter campaign had publishers understand that players want developers to do their thing the way they know how to do it and in due time, instead of rushing out half assed "games" in pre-beta stage and with retarded popamole bullshit to appease to retarded kids who should be playing other stuff anyway. Just wondering.

 

[Infinitron]

"just a few months ago, major publishers were knocking on their door: Urquhart told me he's been talking to Bethesda, Ubisoft, Warner Bros., and LucasArts."

i wonder how many months ago. i wonder if it was AFTER the kickstarter. i wonder if the kickstarter campaign had publishers understand that players want developers to do their thing the way they know how to do it and in due time, instead of rushing out half assed "games" in pre-beta stage and with retarded popamole bullshit to appease to retarded kids who should be playing other stuff anyway. Just wondering.

My impression is that this is all pre-Kickstarter.

In fact, I think Feargus would be afraid to launch the Kickstarter if he wasn't sure the company had other sources of revenue coming in.

 

[Stinger]

pronounced "FUR-gus URK-heart"

His name would be cooler if it were actually pronounced "Feer-gus".

 

[villain of the story]

"We actually talked to him about doing sort of an action-RPG Star Wars game, which I always thought would be cool to do—like a little party-based action-RPG, with first-person lightsabers and R2D2. It'd be fun. I still think it'd be cool to do," Urquhart said.

Thank fuck they didn't. I am absolutely positive that they would have fucked it up. They don't know shit about producing action games, as can be seen from Alpha Protocol, so a 1st person SW game would most likely be full of suck.

 

[Scruffy]

"just a few months ago, major publishers were knocking on their door: Urquhart told me he's been talking to Bethesda, Ubisoft, Warner Bros., and LucasArts."

i wonder how many months ago. i wonder if it was AFTER the kickstarter. i wonder if the kickstarter campaign had publishers understand that players want developers to do their thing the way they know how to do it and in due time, instead of rushing out half assed "games" in pre-beta stage and with retarded popamole bullshit to appease to retarded kids who should be playing other stuff anyway. Just wondering.

My impression is that this is all pre-Kickstarter.

In fact, I think Feargus would be afraid to launch the Kickstarter if he wasn't sure the company had other sources of revenue coming in.

well then that's a shame

 

[Infinitron]

I could be wrong. Roguey, what's your opinion

 

[villain of the story]

Many of the game's issues have since been patched, but for fans paying $60, New Vegas was unforgivable.

Fuck you, Kotaku. It was only as bugged as Fallout 3.

 

[Broseph]

Many of the game's issues have since been patched, but for fans paying $60, New Vegas was unforgivable.

Fuck you, Kotaku. It was only as bugged as Fallout 3.

If anything, less bugged when fully patched. Only issues I still get are Radscorpions clipping through terrain.

 

[IronicNeurotic]

Here's an answer by George Ziets

I think Feargus is referring to the high-level vision documents, representing the major “pillars” or core features of the game.

In my experience, these documents tend to be especially important when you’re designing a new game from scratch. On Obsidian’s earlier projects (before AP), the core gameplay had already been established, and the company‘s job was essentially to build new content within an existing framework. On KOTOR2, they were tweaking the original game’s systems and implementing a new story. The same could be said for NWN2, and it was certainly the case for Mask of the Betrayer.

We had plenty of design documents for those games, but we didn’t have to define our target audience or determine what the player actually *does* and why it’s fun. That requires a more sophisticated process of up-front planning and documentation that was needed for a game like AP - and DS3, as it turned out.

So, it seems to be a core gameplay specific vision document.

That actually makes sense now. Back at Interplay Black Isle built on Biowares Baldur's Gate/D&D for most of their games and Fallout was originally based on GURPS. The transition there came more or less unplanned as we know. (Fallout itself wasn't exactly the most planned out thing) Also Dark Alliance for Dark Alliance 2.


May also partly explain why TORN had such difficulties.

 

[Infinitron]

I was right.

 

[Moribund]

Infinitron, you scumbag. Because you are such a fucking crybaby you can't hear people state the obvious I am now redirecting to rpgwatch.

I guess this place really is dead now, no real discussion allowed at all, just a bunch of limp wrist sissies. Pretty sad when RPS has more integrity than you, guess I will have to go back there.

 

[IronicNeurotic]

It's a christmas miracle!

 

[Cosmo]

The Grinch decided to just go fuck himself !

 

[J_C]

Infinitron, you scumbag. Because you are such a fucking crybaby you can't hear people state the obvious I am now redirecting to rpgwatch.

I guess this place really is dead now, no real discussion allowed at all, just a bunch of limp wrist sissies. Pretty sad when RPS has more integrity than you, guess I will have to go back there.

Feel yourself at home at Watchwitz.

 

[Hormalakh]

So glad they screwed up with AP before PE... At least they learned that mistaken then. I wonder what mistakes they're going to learn from with P:E.

Also, Josh Sawyer is making sure everyone knows that they're Pikmin on Twitter.

 

[tuluse]

The combination of the bug tracking and lack of design document for AP really paints a bad picture for Obsidian's management. Looks like it wasn't just a coincidence that all their games feel unpolished (or unfinished in the worst cases).

 

[Lord Andre]

Ubisoft the dog fuckers won't let Obsidian make a Might & Magic game. They're probably not done raping that corpse yet. Although, I'd rather have a Heroes of m&m by Obsidian. Avelone can write the story and Sawyer can design the combat. I'd pay good money to see that happen. And it has to be done in 2d.

 

[LundB]

If this thread is really what he got redirected for, and not something else, that's... quite troubling.

 

[Infinitron]

It's okay, he still has an alt to post with.

 

[Roguey]

So many smarmy haters here...how ironic that it's Urquhart's Obsidian that has just pocketed 4 million to make a game and they've been in business for a decade yet the cage rattling hators have only a lifetime of squeezing zits from their faces in their parents' basements to look forward to.

Poor Roguey...

Just so you know, smarmy means disgustingly ingratiating. Kind of a pet peeve of mine when people assume it's a synonym for smug.

Fuck you, Kotaku. It was only as bugged as Fallout 3.

On release, the robots at the end of Vault 11 were accidentally flagged as part of New Vegas's faction, so once you destroyed them and went back to the strip, the securitrons would attack you. That kind of sloppiness is inexcusable.

Here's an answer by George Ziets

lol Absurdian. So absurd. If it wasn't for Josh I'd write the whole place off.

 

[Hormalakh]

I sort of think that since they never bothered to make design docs (whatever you want to call them) they never realized how important it was? That's the vibe I'm getting from Ziets (about how DS3 also needed it "as it turned out"). If DS3 as a sequel became a better game because of the design doc, then clearly it helps make a better game. As much as I hate to admit it, I think Roguey's right - it's a little absurd. But I'm not a game dev, so my opinion counts for nothing - although I have worked in software development before.