Interview Alpha Protocol Round Table

[Jason]

Tags: Alpha Protocol; Obsidian Entertainment

<a href="http://www.obsidianent.com/">Obsidian</a> entertained the press earlier this summer with a round table discussion of <b><a href="http://www.sega.com/games/?g=282">Alpha Protocol</a></b>. Part of the Q&A covered why they chose the over-the-shoulder point of view:
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<blockquote>Since Alpha Protocol is set in a game universe more common to FPS titles, was there any consideration for developing Alpha Protocol as a first person RPG, similar to Elder of Scrolls IV: Oblivion, as nod to the plot theme?
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Chris: We actually looked at making an FPS for a long time. There’s certainly a lot of influence from other FPS games and obviously Oblivion. But we really felt that it was important to see your character because we have a lot of action elements in the game like: jumping, using cover, zip lining, talking to people. And we felt seeing Mike doing those things all the time was really important to feel what he was doing and understanding that interaction in the world. And so ultimately we went with a third person, over-the-shoulder camera.</blockquote>
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And what to expect from the combat:
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<blockquote>How twitch-based is the gunplay combat? Is it similar to, say, Splinter Cell where it’s almost FPS, or is it going to be more similar to how Star Wars Galaxies does it, where you click on the target and your stats or skills take over?
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Ryan: It is NOT like Star Wars Galaxies. It is very much twitch-based. We wanted to make sure that the player felt like they were involved with the combat as opposed to just their abilities. The abilities in the game basically enhance your shooting ability. Meaning if you have a level ten skill in pistols, you will do more damage with your pistol. So it doesn’t help you with your aim necessarily. You just maybe will get critical shots more often. But if you were level zero and you got a critical shot on a guy you could still kill him. We’re not changing it so that it won’t be fun anymore, but if you can’t aim you’re not going to hit the side of a barn anyway so we don’t have it going for or against you; we just have it enhance your skills. So basically it’s twitch-based.</blockquote>
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Read <a href="http://blogs.sega.com/usa/2008/09/04/alpha-protocol-round-table-discussion-part-1/">part 1</a> and <a href="http://www.obsidianent.com/news/alphaprotocol/ap-roundtable08-obsidian-20080904.html">part 2</a>.
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You can also check out previews at <a href="http://www.strategyinformer.com/ps3/alphaprotocol/preview.html">Strategy Informer</a> and <a href="http://www.xbox360achievements.org/news/news-1529-GC-2008--Alpha-Protocol-Preview.html">Xbox360Achievements</a>.

 

[ushdugery]

despite the actiony nature of this game I have more faith in the writing of obsidian than bioware. I played mass effect at some net cafe and was bored shitless, not because of the action elements but because I could not get interested at all in the characters.

 

[Unradscorpion]

And so my hope goes down the drain.

Maybe Alien RPG will be good?

 

[MaskedMan]

cinematic effects bring in that cinematic language to our game

lol

 

[Kingston]

Abia: Early on in production we really focused on making this game about playing as Michael Thorton. So some of the customizations we’ve focused on have been things that Thorton would be able to do. So we didn’t really focus on the traditional “make your face” type modifications. Instead, we really focused on how you can modify glasses, beards, hair etc. We tried to stay away from “choose your nose” or any type of plastic surgery type modifications. We tried to keep it based in the real world, what an agent would really do.

Ahh, yes.

Chris: The dialogue system is really an evolution of dialogue systems going way back on games that we have worked with or on.

 

[Texas Red]

More like devolution since you're not in actual control of your character which goes against the main point of RPGs.

 

[Xard]

Alpha Protocol will be awesome game and you know it :twisted:

More devolution since you're not in actual control of your character which goes against the main point of RPGs.

:


edit:

goddamn, now I know why I had Deja Vu

Anyway, it's awesome my question made it in


In Alpha Protocol you’ve admittedly searched inspiration from works like Syriana for gritty and “deep” aspects of the game but on the other hand you’ve also reached for the opposite of the spectrum with over the top abilities and characters. How are you going to bring these two aspects together?

Abia: To be honest we’re going to see how this all works out but the visual style we’ve focused on is Syriana and we feel like the cinematic effects bring in that cinematic language to our game. And when it comes to our story we have those hard hitting, gritty aspects. I think when you put the two together it definitely elevates the visual language that we’re going for with this game. When it comes to our characters we are going for some over the top characters. You’ve probably seen it in some of the concepts and other things that we’ve released already. We want to stay away from just guys in suits. It also helps gameplay wise when your bosses show some type of over the top characteristics. So those are the things that we’ve focused on for our visual style of the game.

 

[buccaroobonzai]

Gimme Deus Ex gameplay, and good plots & quests and it's a F'N sell.

 

[SimpleComplexity]

having some sort of superpower-type “magical” abilities, because Michael Thorton is a “super-agent”

There’s certainly a lot of influence from other FPS games and obviously Oblivion.

you can kind of make whatever you want and people just accept it as long as it looks cool, so you don’t have to be as convincing you just have to make stuff that looks really really rockin’

 

[mondblut]

Mourn not overmuch, mighty was the fallen.

 

[Oarfish]

Gimme Deus Ex gameplay

Skills affected your _aim_ in deus ex, rather than the Bethesda damage enhancement bullshit that ends up with you needing to put 300 arrows into a bandit. Stealth action games use one shot kills all the bloody time, having to put multiple shots into something because you are level one is just retarded. It was bad in bloodlines and that could pull the supernatural as an excuse.

How is having to get closer to someone to have a better chance of hitting them when your character is crap at shooting not immersive? Wobble the gun or use a bigger targeting reticle, instant immersion. What they fear is the wrath of teenage boys claiming the game is unfair because they were aiming at the bad guy and missed, therefore the character and game sucks.

 

[Lumpy]

I'd go for a probability distribution for aiming, the likes of this:

With higher skill causing a smaller spread.
Having variable damage for bullets is, of course, fucking stupid.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

True. I'd have been more happy with spread being smaller with guns and with damage adjustments and more moves when it comes to hand to hand combat. But still, I'll probably have hand to hand as the first combat/stealth playthrough. As long as stealth attacks are instagibs for the most part, I'm cool.

 

[buccaroobonzai]

you can kind of make whatever you want and people just accept it as long as it looks cool, so you don’t have to be as convincing you just have to make stuff that looks really really rockin’

Here is the full context that quote byte was snatched from:

"Because Alpha Protocol is an RPG based in the modern-day world setting, how challenging has it been trying to make the modern-day look “cool” or “exciting” compared to the traditional Sci-Fi / Fantasy settings of other RPG’s?


Chris: It’s been pretty tough for us. You know, making fantasy games or making sci-fi games you can kind of make whatever you want and people just accept it as long as it looks cool, so you don’t have to be as convincing you just have to make stuff that looks really really rockin’. So when we started making a bunch of realistic stuff we quickly realized that making realistic stuff isn’t nearly as easy as making fantasy stuff and then when you go really REALLY realistic people think it’s kind of boring so we’ve veered away from that over time. Like Abia was saying, our characters got a little more over the top to kind of spice them up a bit; we definitely embraced some cinematic styles that we saw or referenced from the movies that we thought were cool, and added a lot of emotional content to the areas we were creating. "

Certainly makes more sense doesn't it?

 

[denizsi]

So what they're basically a doing is a N.O.L.F series rip-off. Gotta make a 1:1 comparison between the series and AP when it comes out.

I should remember this when the game will come out.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

"Rip-off" isn't exactly the word. N.O.L.F. didn't invent this sub-genre.

But it'll make for a nice comparison to see which does better. :D

 

[denizsi]

"Inventing the sub-genre" is irrelevant. NOLF series, the last game (Contract JACK) being the latest, are fairly recent games with features that correspond to what Obsidian is promising with AP. That's why it will be a nice comparison, specifically with that series.