Interview The Golden Age of BioWare's storytelling

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: BioWare; Mass Effect

"<a href="http://au.gamespot.com/news/6197755.html">Senior writer Mac Walters joins senior cinematic designer Paul Marino on how the Mass Effect maker has evolved its storytelling methods in recent years.</a>"
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<blockquote>According to the duo, "cinematic design" is one of the biggest changes at the company in the last five years. Simply put, cinematic design is a way for game makers to create interactive stories by using tried-and-true filmic precepts. To better explain this point, the pair launched into an analysis of narrative, saying first that game companies other than BioWare finally seem to be coming around to the fact that narrative can no longer be ignored, as it gives players a compelling reason to play a game.
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Breaking down BioWare's process of cinematic design, Walters noted that it is built on six fundamentals. The first is writing, which provides the dialogue as well as narrative in general. Audio--which encompasses voice work and music--then provides another immersive layer, followed by setting, or key locations in a game. Camera, which provides a filter for the scene, is an integral tool in conveying emotion, and digital actors provide yet one more layer of cinematic design, thanks to their ability to express emotion through their faces. A hallmark of BioWare storytelling, player choice rounds out the design philosophy, as it allows players to choose the parts of the narrative they want to pursue as well as how it will unfold.
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The Renaissance transitioned into the period which the industry is currently in: The Golden Age. For BioWare, this period is defined by the "push" and "pull" forces, both of which are balanced on the fulcrum of the studio's six basic tenants outlined above. The pull is exerted by players, while designers and writers provide the push, a concept which the duo clarified through a variety of examples.</blockquote>
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I want my Renaissance back. And yes, just in case it wasn't clear, the article is a load of wank.
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Thanks <b>Topher</b>! Next time, include a link to the article though 'k.

 

[Korgan]

So Biowhore is now known for ME instead of BG2. They brought this on themselves, lol.

 

[Schauman]

I want my extreme cinematic version of world war II.

Obersturmbannführer Skorzeny: So this is the famous Russian general? How did your kind ever defeat us?
Stalin: I may be drunk, reich scum, but you're ugly. And tomorrow I'll be sober.
Obersturmbannführer Skorzeny: Sober and dead.
*bang!*

And then Otto was a commie.

Where in ME do they use this cinematic buzzword for a good effect? I can't remeber a single interesting cutscene or dialog sequence, even after playing it through about 7 times. (Obsesive compulsive Charm-Intimidate min-max disorder) Most of the scenes are either huge vistas to show you fancypancy eyecandy (ruined by LOD popping) or blury, extreme close-ups with Saren, his lackeys or Shepard going extra-extreme. (ruined by LOD popping)

Unless it's that linear railroading I keep hearing about. We can fool around the carts, pop at the dining car for a side-quest but no matter what you do, the train will dump you off at Ravensbrück.

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

Sometimes i think Game Developers should have more video interviews because I want to see these guys talking. They seem all deep and sophisticated while in real life they are giant slugs with a chin that sticks out to their feet.

 

[Ogg]

I thought that, etimologically, Renaissance was some kind of rebirthing of the Golden Age. And not the inverse.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Sometimes i think Game Developers should have more video interviews because I want to see these guys talking. They seem all deep and sophisticated while in real life they are giant slugs with a chin that sticks out to their feet.

Chris Avellone is pretty handsome.

 

[J1M]

Well this explains why in the Dragon Age stuff we have seen the camera keeps zooming in on the shitty lip sync of the characters. Bioware might want to look up a concept called secondary animation, because right now their "digital actors" are basically sock puppets.

 

[Volourn]

"I can't remeber a single interesting cutscene or dialog sequence, even after playing it through about 7 times. (Obsesive compulsive Charm-Intimidate min-max disorder)"

I call bullshit. I'm a so called BIO fnaboy yet I have never played any of their games 7 times. L0L

And, you played the game 7 times anbd can't remmeber an 'interesting' cutscene? I clal Buttfuck Codex Wannabe Cool Points.

Sorry, you aren't cool just because parrot what you think a site - any site - wants to hear.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Sometimes i think Game Developers should have more video interviews because I want to see these guys talking. They seem all deep and sophisticated while in real life they are giant slugs with a chin that sticks out to their feet.

Chris Avellone is pretty handsome.

Which is another reason why the Codex gives him so many blowjobs.

 

[Topher]

I made news... yay for me!

Anyway, I enjoy Bioware games and will continue to purchase them. While Mass Effect did feel more cinematic then previous Bioware titles I wouldn't say it was a better game because of it. If they could make games more cinematic without compromising gameplay then I would be all for it but I am not sure most studios are given the time or budget to do so... let alone the raw talent needed to make a good game in the first place.

 

[Wyrmlord]

"I can't remeber a single interesting cutscene or dialog sequence, even after playing it through about 7 times. (Obsesive compulsive Charm-Intimidate min-max disorder)"

I call bullshit. I'm a so called BIO fnaboy yet I have never played any of their games 7 times. L0L

And, you played the game 7 times anbd can't remmeber an 'interesting' cutscene? I clal Buttfuck Codex Wannabe Cool Points.

Sorry, you aren't cool just because parrot what you think a site - any site - wants to hear.

Actually you are not a Bioware fanboy. NWN fanboy, maybe. Seeing that you dislike a few of Bioware games and don't think too highly of some of them (I believe you criticised BG to some extent) whereas appreciated some Troika/Black Isle/Obsidian games that are otherwise not too well-liked, I suppose it just makes you a guy with very very very different opinion.

 

[Volourn]

"Actually you are not a Bioware fanboy."

Umm.. Don't claim this loudly... people will want to beat you up for such heretic thoughts...

P.S. I like BG a lot; but it's annoying when (fellow) BIO fnaboys think because the game is great that it means it is great at everything.

ie. Anyone who thinks BG is better at role-playing than BIO's later games is simply delusional.

 

[Warden]

ie. Anyone who thinks is not Volourn

 

[Schauman]

Buttfuck Codex Wannabe Cool Points.

Ohnooes, I got Vollyed.

It only took about 4 runs to gimp my Übermensch Shepard for freebie 24 points with Lorik Quin along getting the Ally archivements. Toss in 2 runs for complete Paragon / Renegade run with male Shepard and a bonus one for the dlc Bringing down the WMD. ME is damm short when you speed run it.

As for the cinematic desing, ME still goes the route Bioware has been using for a while. You come to a puzzle, scene of crime or Saren stroking his ego and you get either a) dataterminal which explains everything b) NPC whom floods you with details of no gameplay value or c) codex entry which you never check.

The only honest location with "more emotion and less exposition" was Ilos, for me atleast. No datapads, no terminals telling you why the planet is dead, why there are dead people stuck on chairs or why that place is The Macguffin. And then you run into Virgil who kills the mystery with his 9mm plot exposition. Virmire was a slighty cool as well, brainwashing and super-soldier cloning, the mystary, the details! And then you run into that asari Dr. I'Spoil, followed by even more from our favorite Cthulhu-on-a-ship and even moar from Saren.

Peak-15 is the worst, all that buffo and hype for the second coming of Aliens gone wild at LV-426. No gore, no bodies. Just Rachni using the Doom 3 closet tricks with few random Geth and Mrs.VI explaining everything once you restore the power. There was that one Salarian corpse and his final recording but again, no blood or anything to tell you about his demise. My guess was that he died from old age since Salarians have the life expectancy of 40 years but rest of the party went and proudly exclaimed the case closed on the basis of suicide. Bioshock and HL2 did those on style, a corpse, a pool of blood and gun? No text, just three objects telling the story of deceased Captain Emo. (Fine, Bioshock does toss you with tapes that explain the situation at hand and in EP2 the Vortigaunt laments about humanity when he spots the shotgun facelift)

Can I has cracker nau?

 

[DefJam101]

Wow. A game (unintentionally?) emulating B-movies is advancing narrative in videogames.

I liked Mass Effect, but this is pretty :wat?:

 

[Deleted member 7219]

So Biowhore is now known for ME instead of BG2. They brought this on themselves, lol.

BG2 is better than ME, how?

Oh wait, isometric. Ok you win.

 

[sportforredneck]

Speaking of which, should I give BG another chance and play through that to send the character to BG2, or just play BG2? Or neither?

 

[Topher]

Play BG and import to BG2 it's the only way to play the games in my eyes.

 

[sportforredneck]

Play BG and import to BG2 it's the only way to play the games in my eyes.

But what I've played of BG it is incredibly boring. Let's wander this large empty area with grass, trees, and some creatures. It just seems like it will be unpleasant.

 

[yes plz]

The Tutu mod makes it slightly more bearable and the wandering aimlessly decreases the further you get into t he game.

 

[Skankster]

You don't have to wander BG. There are little quests dotted around the landscape, but nothing big. Just head in the direction that you want to go and avoid aimless wandering if that is your thing.

 

[Topher]

Yeah, there are little mini-quests scattered around and some unique monsters to battle. There is even a small town off the beaten path that I don't think you ever see following any normal missions.

It isn't any different from wandering around town in BG2, at least it felt the same to me.

 

[Warden]

But what I've played of BG it is incredibly boring.

I enjoyed BG1 more than BG2, in fact I enjoyed it very much... oh memories.. when I was a high school teenage gay boy. And I was so beautiful..