Interview Vince D. Weller and Mark Yohalem RPG Mega-Interview by Chris Picone

[CSH Picone]

Correct, but if VD doesn't know whether or not the inquisition game will be party-based, he's unlikely to be able to answer your question about party creation, no?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Correct, but if VD doesn't know whether or not the inquisition game will be party-based, he's unlikely to be able to answer your question about party creation, no?

That I do know - you won't be able to create your own party in our full-scale RPGs (tactical spin-offs are a different story though assuming we manage to make it work financially).

ERYFKRAD

 

[Blakemoreland Hybrid Boss]

Delterius, hype this from the ITS forum:

It should be a blend of three worlds:

- the zero-magic 'normal' world filled with God-fearing people and focused on political intrigues, the Dukes of Hell's agents subtly manipulating the Spanish Grandees and pulling their strings, playing them against each other as if it were a chess game.

- the low magic world of occultists seeking power or knowledge, serving the Dukes of Hell in low capacity, and obsessing over relics

- the high magic world of real 'magic users' who can undo you with a word and can manipulate the fabric of reality

Sort of like three interconnected circles.

As for the rest, there's definitely room for neutral seekers of knowledge and all kinds of damned (The Wandering Jew is probably the best example of proper damnation), but I'd be hesitated to go over the top there, so no vampires or werewolves, most likely. There will be necromancers and the undead of the non-generic variety. That which cannot die should be a very dangerous enemy not the most mundane one.

(...)

The way I see it, neither Lucifer nor the Dukes of Hell would want or need to create monsters. They are way too powerful for that and they fight a different war (against God by corrupting not killing his creations). Thus monsters are a domain of human occultists, those who need such servants to shield them from harm (the Inquisition, brigands, rivals, etc). Reanimating corpses is a cheap and easy way (no shortage of corpses, is there?). Creating a true abomination is much harder. Summoning and binding a lesser demon would be something that only a true master of the dark arts could manage.

Burn heretics, burn!

 

[Delterius]

My hype burns stronger than one thousand auto de fés.

 

[Black Angel]

On subject of Fear and Sanity mechanic, and how well it can be done in practice given the player-character dichotomy, I think one prime example of such implementation of the mechanic will be that of Corruption mechanic in Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising. Basically, you as the player has the option to do things (or not do things) which would results in character's Corruption meter rises. As the meter rises, a character can gain new, different (and nasty) traits/abilities. Eventually, a consequence to this is that one of the more powerful character will abandon your party, and based on how far the meter rises, you get different endings. While this particular execution isn't exactly what I would expect to see in RPGs, I think the concept is something that can be improved and tweaked to suit the genre.

There's also the upcoming Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones, of which I haven't tried the demo but fingers crossed it will implement Fear and/or Sanity mechanic that's done well for an RPG.

 

[hivemind]

literally who
?

 

[hivemind]

btw will TNW follow same release structure as AoD?

I mean like
combat demo > teron demo > maadoran EA > full release
?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Yes.

 

[hivemind]

Let’s say you’re a talker accompanied by three brutes waiting for your nod to crush your enemies. The problem is that unless your brutes get a regular workout, they won’t be very skilled. So you’re mostly talking your way through the game, your brutes won’t get regular workouts and will never be as skilled as a combat-focused party. They might be able to get you out of trouble but you won’t be able to fight your way through the game.

actually this kind of party seems to me to as having potential to be the most fun
if judging by AoD full combat approach will be too easy for all but the most optional parts while a hybrid build that actually requires you to approach even early situations differently because you can't cross spend quest EXP as in AoD will be like next level minmax fuel requiring tactical optimization in every fight since you will be behind the curve, I wonder how hard jack builds will actually end up being

 

[Blakemoreland Hybrid Boss]

On subject of Fear and Sanity mechanic, and how well it can be done in practice given the player-character dichotomy, I think one prime example of such implementation of the mechanic will be that of Corruption mechanic in Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising. Basically, you as the player has the option to do things (or not do things) which would results in character's Corruption meter rises. As the meter rises, a character can gain new, different (and nasty) traits/abilities. Eventually, a consequence to this is that one of the more powerful character will abandon your party, and based on how far the meter rises, you get different endings. While this particular execution isn't exactly what I would expect to see in RPGs, I think the concept is something that can be improved and tweaked to suit the genre.

There's also the upcoming Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones, of which I haven't tried the demo but fingers crossed it will implement Fear and/or Sanity mechanic that's done well for an RPG.

Don't forget Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, for Game Cube. When your sanity bar is low you have all kinds of alucionations, from hearing the crying of children to blood in the walls.

 

[SCO]

Eternal Darkness is 2lovecraft4me. Especially the part where you have to finish the game 4 times to see the 'true' ending (one for each elder god route + 1 at the end iirc). Talk about futility of the struggle, even if the good ending exists, it exists for repugnant nerds willing to debase their lives for it.

 

[Quantomas]

I love the law, and I've probably never been better (certainly never been adjudged better) at anything in my life than being a lawyer. If I wasn't a lawyer, I'd probably want to be a teacher (in fact, I went to law school after being unable to get a job teaching English). Making games full time doesn't really hold that much allure to me. The ability to walk away makes everything about it that would otherwise be exasperating fairly trivial.

This explains a lot. It was a mystery why someone who has an outstanding talent for the creation of worlds and fiction would prefer the dry subject of law.

It seems you believe that you can have a greater impact by following that path. If law only were as venerable as in the Heimskringla. A world in which the law and inalienable rights would guide the people and judges be respected for their wisdom.

But the world we live in is different, our society is biased towards the executive and law is regarded as a tool, not least because the lawmakers have a political agenda.

If you believe in law, it means you believe that it will ultimately assert itself and restore reason to a society that is driven by excesses today. However, since WW2 the people who hold the keys, the big money, control of the media and nowadays a secret surveillance state, have ceaselessly fought to increase their power and deprive the people of their rights in ways that escapes the law.

Interestingly, there are people who believe that video games are the ultimate frontier, a battle for the minds of the people. The powers that be believe that they can control the game, but ultimately the technology might prove too complex, digital distribution, crowdfunding and successful indies are a sign.

That is the theme and setting for a game about law, its ultimate purpose, not so much its minutiae.

 

[MRY]

It was a mystery why someone who has an outstanding talent for the creation of worlds and fiction would prefer the dry subject of law.

That's very generous to say, but, again, based on objective indicators, I'm probably a better lawyer than fantasist. Whether I have an "outstanding talent" at either is dubious.

It seems you believe that you can have a greater impact by following that path. If law only were as venerable as in the Heimskringla. A world in which the law and inalienable rights would guide the people and judges be respected for their wisdom.

I guess I should clarify what I mean by "I love the law." You've focused on part of it, which is that I love the ideal of the rule of law. But I also just love grappling with the complexities of the law as a mental exercise. And I enjoy legal writing and argument. I take pleasure in part because I think doing a good job with reading, writing, and arguing the law helps advance the Law, but even if all my legal work took place in a weird simulation without any practical consequences, I would still enjoy it.

I also think you have an overly rosy view of the past and an overly grim view of the present. The law was not venerable or even widely venerated in the era of the Heimskringla -- indeed, the whole point of Njal's Saga is that Njal is largely a vox clamantis in deserto. There may have been past times where the law was more pure or more powerful, but I think we're still living in an era where the law is both purer and stronger than it has been in many other eras. Of course it could be better, but a world in which the rule of law could exist in its purest form would be a world in which the rule of law would be unnecessary. The very premise of why we need the law (i.e., men are men, not angels) establishes that the law will always be infected by human weaknesses -- not just affirmative abuses in the name of greed or will-to-power, but also frailties, like shortsightedness, weariness, forgetfulness, sloppiness, ignorance and unwillingness to admit ignorance, etc., etc. The system will always be imperfect, so it is good to have Catos and Jeremiahs to scold the system and the people who participate in it (and idealists to urge them on in positive terms).

 

[Quantomas]

That's very generous to say, but, again, based on objective indicators, I'm probably a better lawyer than fantasist. Whether I have an "outstanding talent" at either is dubious.

The way you brought TTON's meres to life is outstanding. The vision of the village and its inhabitants in Matkina's mere and the more abstract environment in the cave would bring honour to any established SF writer. And you had to deal with the reactivity and the complexities it adds on top of that. If anything, you have a knack for the creation of worlds and settings that resonate with the reader. That is no small skill.

What I have seen so far of Primordia is also top-notch. Not to forget the short story you wrote to accompany it, Fallen. It's a worthy read even for a jaded SF fan.

And I have read a good deal of what you have said about Fallen Gods so far. It sounds promising and I am curious to see how it turns out. This interview confirmed its substance. I am looking forward to it just as much as to Vault Dweller's The New World.

Not to mention your outstanding writing and prose of TTON's Inifere, plus the world Inifere occupies including the cultists, the Sorrow and whatever lives behind the gate. I understand that you found writing Inifere demanding, but the theme is absolutely mature. It deals with the question whether to leave one's comfort zone, a major theme that is of central significance for the society and people we find today in the US, and a question that possibly will make or unmake the US one way or another.

I also think you have an overly rosy view of the past and an overly grim view of the present.

You are right, we would need to go a long way into the past to find a society and people who genuinely fought for an ideal law, possibly as far back as to Athens and Sparta before the Greek civil war.

Law would never be unnecessary, individuals will always require law as a tool for arbitration or a method to resolve how to proceed. Lawyers might not be necessary in a perfect world, though.

More than anything lawlessness is a state of mind, people who do not respect law. And that is the reason why I am not so optimistic about the present. We are currently on a trajectory that maybe already in 2025 a hundred million Chinese researchers will work fulltime on tech that could be our future and the myth that the West is innovative will be dispelled. The West has hardly had any real scientific breakthrough in the last fifty years, almost everything we have today is based on incremental engineering advances with the highlight being flatscreen displays, and even this work was done in East Asia. What the US is unsurpassed at is rolling out products for mass markets on a global scale. And often these are flawed products, which ironically allow the multinationals to earn even more money. This works as long as there are no products that are better and give consumers a real choice.

What will the establishment in the US do once they see the Chinese rocketing ahead? Will they simply say, we have fucked up royally and are sorry, from now on we spend only 50 billion a year on defense and the other 650 billion go to our infrastructure, education and research so that we once again become the most advanced nation? Possibly. But I doubt it. Lawless people can do anything.

That's the reason why I believe that the real battle is for the minds of people, leaders inclusive. Leaders with high ethical standards are rare, at present only Jeremy Corbyn comes to mind.

Your grand-aunt Virginia's The Inheritors is a great work. But it is mostly a reflection on the surface of the mind. To explain what I mean, something like Luke Skywalker's fight with Darth Vader, or JC Denton's missions in Deus Ex, or the struggle of Neo in The Matrix is always with me on a visceral level. It's there, I can feel it and identify with it.

We need a video game that is the fusion of these ideas. On the other hand it cannot be born from the treadmills of the large corporations.

Indie developers have moved forward a good deal in the last years and in a way Fallen Gods and The New World can be worthy stepping stones which bring us a step closer.

In a way, this wall of text says little more than any sound effort to advance the state-of-the-art is worth the toil. And that I can see merit in it.

 

[MRY]

Truly, is there any heavier chain to hang around a man's neck than undeserved praise? I will do my best to live up to your hopes for Fallen Gods, but I fear it will disappoint even more modest expectations from less fervent fans.

 

[Quantomas]

Ah, this was intended to give the chain some weight. But the praise is not undeserved. And I doubt Fallen Gods will disappoint me.

 

[baud]

From one of the linked interview

I wound up working with Infinite Interactive, Nikitova Games, TimeGate, Bioware, S2 Games, and inXile—maybe a couple others along the way.

On which games did you work for those companies? On your MobyGame page, there's only S2 Games (Heroes of Newerth), inXile (TToN) and TimeGate (Axis & Allies, Kohan II).

 

[MRY]

Infinite Interactive: Warlord IV (promotional fiction).
Nikitova Games: Blazecrafters (story/dialogue), an F-Zero type game that AFAIK was never released. (But I was paid, and met Andrei Pozolotin, a remarkable man whose story and advice was, if not life changing, at least very stress/shame-inducing due to my failure to let his guidance change my life.)
TimeGate: Axis & Allies; Kohan II; unreleased MMO; several super early pre-production concepts.
Bioware: Dragon Age: Origins (an unused origin story module for a Human Barbarian; a few other small characters; some general setting/story feedback). This was to be a full-time senior writer position, but they decided that having me offsite was too difficult and I declined to move to Edmonton (which would've required quitting law school, etc.). I suspect if I'd been writing GOAT dialogue, they would've found a way to make long-distance work, though.
S2 Games: Savage 2 (promotional fiction; unit, building, skill descriptions; barks); Heroes of Newerth (similar); unreleased MOBA and RTS games (setting, story, etc. at a more conceptual level, and a few full missions).
inXile: TTON, and some high-level story feedback on Wasteland III. They kindly offered me a chance to work on Wasteland III, but being one of many writers on a big RPG was something I enjoyed once, but probably only once, and I doubted I could make useful contributions given the demands on my time.

Then there's Infinity, the Gameboy Color RPG that was my first paid job ($5,000 for the script) back when I was in college. Never finished, alas. And I swear there were some other things along the way where I wrote a small amount of text for someone for a small amount of money, but without going back and looking at tax returns I probably can't figure it out.

 

[baud]

Infinite Interactive: Warlord IV (promotional fiction).
Nikitova Games: Blazecrafters (story/dialogue), an F-Zero type game that AFAIK was never released. (But I was paid, and met Andrei Pozolotin, a remarkable man whose story and advice was, if not life changing, at least very stress/shame-inducing due to my failure to let his guidance change my life.)
TimeGate: Axis & Allies; Kohan II; unreleased MMO; several super early pre-production concepts.
Bioware: Dragon Age: Origins (an unused origin story module for a Human Barbarian; a few other small characters; some general setting/story feedback). This was to be a full-time senior writer position, but they decided that having me offsite was too difficult and I declined to move to Edmonton (which would've required quitting law school, etc.). I suspect if I'd been writing GOAT dialogue, they would've found a way to make long-distance work, though.
S2 Games: Savage 2 (promotional fiction; unit, building, skill descriptions; barks); Heroes of Newerth (similar); unreleased MOBA and RTS games (setting, story, etc. at a more conceptual level, and a few full missions).
inXile: TTON, and some high-level story feedback on Wasteland III. They kindly offered me a chance to work on Wasteland III, but being one of many writers on a big RPG was something I enjoyed once, but probably only once, and I doubted I could make useful contributions given the demands on my time.

Then there's Infinity, the Gameboy Color RPG that was my first paid job ($5,000 for the script) back when I was in college. Never finished, alas. And I swear there were some other things along the way where I wrote a small amount of text for someone for a small amount of money, but without going back and looking at tax returns I probably can't figure it out.

Thank you !

GOAT dialogue

What does it mean?

 

[MRY]

Greatest Of All Time.

 

[Abu Antar]

Infinite Interactive: Warlord IV (promotional fiction).
Nikitova Games: Blazecrafters (story/dialogue), an F-Zero type game that AFAIK was never released. (But I was paid, and met Andrei Pozolotin, a remarkable man whose story and advice was, if not life changing, at least very stress/shame-inducing due to my failure to let his guidance change my life.)
TimeGate: Axis & Allies; Kohan II; unreleased MMO; several super early pre-production concepts.
Bioware: Dragon Age: Origins (an unused origin story module for a Human Barbarian; a few other small characters; some general setting/story feedback). This was to be a full-time senior writer position, but they decided that having me offsite was too difficult and I declined to move to Edmonton (which would've required quitting law school, etc.). I suspect if I'd been writing GOAT dialogue, they would've found a way to make long-distance work, though.
S2 Games: Savage 2 (promotional fiction; unit, building, skill descriptions; barks); Heroes of Newerth (similar); unreleased MOBA and RTS games (setting, story, etc. at a more conceptual level, and a few full missions).
inXile: TTON, and some high-level story feedback on Wasteland III. They kindly offered me a chance to work on Wasteland III, but being one of many writers on a big RPG was something I enjoyed once, but probably only once, and I doubted I could make useful contributions given the demands on my time.

Then there's Infinity, the Gameboy Color RPG that was my first paid job ($5,000 for the script) back when I was in college. Never finished, alas. And I swear there were some other things along the way where I wrote a small amount of text for someone for a small amount of money, but without going back and looking at tax returns I probably can't figure it out.

Thank you !

GOAT dialogue

What does it mean?

 

[Bohrain]

Correct, but if VD doesn't know whether or not the inquisition game will be party-based, he's unlikely to be able to answer your question about party creation, no?

That I do know - you won't be able to create your own party in our full-scale RPGs (tactical spin-offs are a different story though assuming we manage to make it work financially).

ERYFKRAD

Business idea: make party size dependent on insanity instead of charisma and make the other party members your inner demons.