Wasteland 2 Interview with Chris Avellone and Brian Fargo at No Mutants Allowed
Wasteland 2 Interview with Chris Avellone and Brian Fargo at No Mutants Allowed
Interview - posted by Crooked Bee on Thu 12 April 2012, 08:38:52
Tags: Brian Fargo; Chris Avellone; Wasteland 2NMA's Brother None has interviewed Chris Avellone and Brian Fargo on all things Wasteland 2. One particularly interesting tidbit concerns the engine they plan on using for the game:
You can find the full interview here.
Are you looking to license the Onyx engine from them? Has inXile decided on an engine?
BF: We have narrowed it down to 2 engines (not Onyx) and are now running art tests to make sure it can accomplish the look we want. The other important factor is it needs to be set up so that we don't need high level programmers and artists to get the assets in. There will be SO many world states, quests and interactions for the player that we need to be able to throw enough scripters in to capture all the ideas and outcomes. This is critical.
Chris, share some memories of Wasteland. What influence did it have on you when working on Fallout 2, and later on New Vegas and its DLC?
CFA: Wasteland was the 1st post-nuclear RPG I ever played, and as much as its influence was felt on Fallout, it definitely affected future design decisions. In Old World Blues, in particular, when the goal of the DLC was to reach back into history and answer questions unexplained, I wanted to make sure we were saluting Fallout's roots as well, which is the reason for some of the content: (Giant) Robot Scorpions, Proton weapons, and more. Only a few of the fans saw the homage for what it was, but getting that nod in there and supporting our history was important to me.
Chris, can you tell us what this means for your own Kickstarter plans? Do you still want to go forward with it, and does this delay it in any way?
CFA: I still want to go forward with future Kickstarter plans. There are a lot of games I'd love to make, and this isn't an obstacle, this is a boost toward that goal in a number of respects, not just from a gaming standpoint but from a game development standpoint:
1. I want to support this publishing model. This feels like a better way to deliver to fans (myself included) who I feel get sidelined by the publisher model that doesn't allow for adventure games, turn-based iso RPGs, or even get a Shadowrun game rolling because of the return on investment. I miss those genres and worlds, I grew up with them, and I want to play those games so much so I'd pay (at least) 5x the cost of a triple A game to do it. Furthermore, I support Kick It Forward, and I want to encourage other companies to use this publishing model as well.
2. I want to learn from Brian. He positioned himself very well with Kickstarter, and he made a lot of smart decisions on how to approach Wasteland 2 and interface with fans. Working with Brian has been great, and when the time comes to announce a project of our own, I'd love to have Brian's help with it, he’s been really pro-active in this whole process.
3. Selfishly, I also wanted to work on Wasteland 2.
BF: We have narrowed it down to 2 engines (not Onyx) and are now running art tests to make sure it can accomplish the look we want. The other important factor is it needs to be set up so that we don't need high level programmers and artists to get the assets in. There will be SO many world states, quests and interactions for the player that we need to be able to throw enough scripters in to capture all the ideas and outcomes. This is critical.
Chris, share some memories of Wasteland. What influence did it have on you when working on Fallout 2, and later on New Vegas and its DLC?
CFA: Wasteland was the 1st post-nuclear RPG I ever played, and as much as its influence was felt on Fallout, it definitely affected future design decisions. In Old World Blues, in particular, when the goal of the DLC was to reach back into history and answer questions unexplained, I wanted to make sure we were saluting Fallout's roots as well, which is the reason for some of the content: (Giant) Robot Scorpions, Proton weapons, and more. Only a few of the fans saw the homage for what it was, but getting that nod in there and supporting our history was important to me.
Chris, can you tell us what this means for your own Kickstarter plans? Do you still want to go forward with it, and does this delay it in any way?
CFA: I still want to go forward with future Kickstarter plans. There are a lot of games I'd love to make, and this isn't an obstacle, this is a boost toward that goal in a number of respects, not just from a gaming standpoint but from a game development standpoint:
1. I want to support this publishing model. This feels like a better way to deliver to fans (myself included) who I feel get sidelined by the publisher model that doesn't allow for adventure games, turn-based iso RPGs, or even get a Shadowrun game rolling because of the return on investment. I miss those genres and worlds, I grew up with them, and I want to play those games so much so I'd pay (at least) 5x the cost of a triple A game to do it. Furthermore, I support Kick It Forward, and I want to encourage other companies to use this publishing model as well.
2. I want to learn from Brian. He positioned himself very well with Kickstarter, and he made a lot of smart decisions on how to approach Wasteland 2 and interface with fans. Working with Brian has been great, and when the time comes to announce a project of our own, I'd love to have Brian's help with it, he’s been really pro-active in this whole process.
3. Selfishly, I also wanted to work on Wasteland 2.
You can find the full interview here.
