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Interview Yet Another Chris Avellone Interview

Crooked Bee

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Tags: Alpha Protocol; Chris Avellone; Obsidian Entertainment; Planescape: Torment; Torment: Tides of Numenera; Wasteland 2

Instead of drawing the long-promised Codex trolls, Chris Avellone is busy doing interviews left and right. Last time it was a Russian interview, this time it's a Polish one. Thankfully it's also available in English, so here's a snippet on just how many projects Obsidian is currently trying to pitch and what else Chris is doing at the moment (spoiler: anything to avoid drawing the Codex trolls), as well as on Chris' sadness about the lack of italics in video games:

Hi, Chris. We’re glad that you found a moment to answer our questions. Last year you once again became a human stretch goal; you also got involved in another demanding cRPG project. What has been taking up most of your time recently?

Chris Avellone: I got drafted for creative design on the next slate of Obsidian projects, and there’s a lot. We’re pitching several new games at Obsidian now that titles are wrapping up, and I was enlisted into that process. We have about at least nine proposals in the works, some with multiple stories and story arcs, which is challenging, but in a good way, it’s just a lot to juggle. It’s largely Feargus (our CEO) and I doing the initial proposals, and then senior folks get moved on to them as their time frees up. It gives me new respect for what Feargus has to juggle with projects and contracts. Things should settle down once we have the next slate of projects good to go.

In my off-duty time, I’m playing the Wasteland 2 beta and writing the Wasteland novel, doing nation design for the Accursed RPG, both of which are nice changes of pace from my game writing. Working on the FTL Enhanced Edition (which I did for free because I love FTL) was also a fun experience – Tom Jubert and Justin Ma and the devs were really fun and open to work with. I also liked a lot of the new plans they had for the game and the expansion of the lore.

I’m also slated to add narrative muscle to the Legend of Grimrock series by Wayside Creations (they did Fallout: Nuka Break and Red Star), and I’m looking forward to that since I’m a Legend of Grimrock fan.

Games are not literature – you’re bound to work within the limitations of mechanics. Which important elements of modern technology tend to be the most limiting for writers? What kind of devices do you lack the most?

The limitations I see the most are just financial and resource hurdles. Often, game companies can’t afford to hire editors (it’s almost impossible to justify that expense) and editing and proofing are such an important part of the process it shouldn’t be left to chance. I will add, that from a tech standpoint, the amount of games that don’t have the ability to display italicized text is sadness. Italics communicate so much in tone.​

For more MCA wisdom (including his answers to a few Planescape: Torment-related questions), read the full interview here.
 

Karm Veland Morelake

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annah_2.jpg
 

Athelas

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I think it's time for a permanent 'Chris Avellone interviews/podcasts/intercontinental phone chats' thread.
 
Self-Ejected

theSavant

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Chris Avellone plays a game
Chris Avellone talks Russian
Chris Avellone takes a dump
...


Feel free to spread the news.
 

Rahdulan

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Game design involves certain sacrifices. The final form of the writers’ vision is highly influenced by the framework of time and budget. Which of the interesting concepts and elements of the games that you worked on were never included in the shipped versions?

Two additional romance arcs in Alpha Protocol (that I’m grateful got the axe, there was already too much romance in that game). I fought hard to get one of them removed, and in the end, it was still partially there when I’d have preferred it be cut out entirely.

Ever a hero. :hero:
 
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Excidium

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Which woman can't you bang in the game besides Sis?

Hm...Albatross does look like a homo.
 

Seerix

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Italics, huh? Now that I think about it there was only one font for note system in Fallout 3: New Vegas and indeed it could help a lot if you could at least have curved font for all the notes and texts you find that were hand written. Big improvement in atmosphere even if it still would look off compared to having a separate menus to read actual books, notes, etc.
 

Hormalakh

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doing free work for FTL instead of drawing the trolls OR playing Arcanum both of which they got paid for? And people call me a heretic for calling Chris Avellone a washed-up has-been. Like I said, he lost his M a long time ago....
 

throwaway

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This is actually one of the better interviews he's given in a while.
Some points:

I got drafted for creative design on the next slate of Obsidian projects, and there’s a lot. We’re pitching several new games at Obsidian now that titles are wrapping up, and I was enlisted into that process. We have about at least nine proposals in the works, some with multiple stories and story arcs, which is challenging, but in a good way, it’s just a lot to juggle
Crazy number, didn't realise that SouthPark (am I missing something else) freed up so many resources.

When working on Numenera, I feel very much Iike I’m doing a game version of a Gene Wolfe Book of the New Sun novel, which is pretty cool. Or Roadside Picnic, except fantasy-based.
I'm probably overoptimistic but given that Stalker and Torment are amongst my favourite entries of their respective mediums this line got me extremely excited.

[on the circle of Zerthimon]
I did include the hint of a possible unreliable narrator so it wouldn’t be considered canon if the TSR guys didn’t like it, though, but I don’t know if they ever considered any of the lore. I hope they did.
Heh. Didn't know that bit as meant to be undecided. I swear I remember people stating with certainty that the Circle was a trick by the pragmatic Incarnation, my memory is fuzzy though.

Spoiler: In the Vision Document for Planescape: Torment you’d included concepts for two alternative endings which eventually didn’t make it to the final game: there was a “bad” ending in which The Nameless One wakes up on a mortuary slab again and continues his sad cycle of life and death, and a “good” ending depicting the final triumph of The Nameless One over The Transcendent One. After all these years, do you think the player should have been given these alternative choices? Or did the game benefit from this turn of events?

I don’t think players minded. I would have liked to get them in, along with more planes, more dungeons, etc. but there was only so much time.
Glad someone asked him that. It may have been asked in the past, if it has I haven't noticed it. Shame he dances around the issue.

I will say I am proud of what we were able to get into our games: more companions for Mask of the Betrayer (Kaelyn almost didn’t make it) and companion dialogue with Torment (almost all of those could have been lost, including Dak’kon’s spells and the Circle of Zerthimon).
Take away companion dialogue from PST and you're left with a completely different game, not sure how such a risk was possible.

In general props to the Polish for doing their homework and exploring deviantArt.
 
Last edited:

Rake

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doing free work for FTL instead of drawing the trolls OR playing Arcanum both of which they got paid for? And people call me a heretic for calling Chris Avellone a washed-up has-been. Like I said, he lost his M a long time ago....
:mca:
Spoiler: In the Vision Document for Planescape: Torment you’d included concepts for two alternative endings which eventually didn’t make it to the final game: there was a “bad” ending in which The Nameless One wakes up on a mortuary slab again and continues his sad cycle of life and death, and a “good” ending depicting the final triumph of The Nameless One over The Transcendent One. After all these years, do you think the player should have been given these alternative choices? Or did the game benefit from this turn of events?


Glad someone asked him that. It may have been asked in the past, if it has I haven't noticed it. Shame he dances around the issue.
Pity the bad ending was left out. It sounds great. But the good ending doesn't belong to Torment:rpgcodex:
 

2house2fly

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Wow, Obsidian are pretty busy. There can't be that many independent developers around now who are about to get nine entire proposals rejected.
 

hiver

Guest
When working on Numenera, I feel very much Iike I’m doing a game version of a Gene Wolfe Book of the New Sun novel, which is pretty cool. Or Roadside Picnic, except fantasy-based.
I'm probably overoptimistic but given that Stalker and Torment are amongst my favorite entries of their respective mediums this line got me extremely excited.
That doesnt have anything to do with Stalker, The game. More to do with brothers Strugatsky works.


both of which are nice changes of pace from my game writing.
:hmmm:

What writing might that be Chris? When was the last time you actually designed a game? A whole game.
Not just thrown in a NPC concept or some basic details about some faction.
 

Sceptic

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Divinity: Original Sin
Heh. Didn't know that bit as meant to be undecided. I swear I remember people stating with certainty that the Circle was a trick by the pragmatic Incarnation, my memory is fuzzy though.
Yeah, I remember Practical himself hints that he made up the whole damn thing just to get Dak'kon to control Dak'kon. Though I don't think the game gives a straightforward answer at the end, which is maybe what he meant here.

Glad someone asked him that. It may have been asked in the past, if it has I haven't noticed it. Shame he dances around the issue.
Agreed. The "bad" one might've been nice to have if you fail in the Fortress (by dying too many times, losing the battle of wills against Practical, losing against TTO, etc). I remember reading about this years ago but I always felt that good ending just didn't belong in the game. The goal of the game after all was to become mortal again, with the logical conclusion this entails, and the current best ending is perfect. A "they live happily ever after" good ending would've gone against many of the themes that are central to the game.

Take away companion dialogue from PST and you're left with a completely different game, not sure how such a risk was possible.
Yes, and MotB is very similar in this respect. I'm genuinely surprised who thought taking away the NPC interactions in PST would've been a good idea - I sure hope it wasn't Fargo.
 

Infinitron

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Fargo would have been too high up to make that call.

Perhaps it was... Guido Henkel!! :eek:
 

Rake

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What writing might that be Chris? When was the last time you actually designed a game? A whole game.
Not just thrown in a NPC concept or some basic details about some faction.
Alpha Protocol :M
 

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