Joshua Sawyer Formspring posts/2010

A collection of Formspring statements by Joshua Sawyer.
Posts
JESawyer 5 Apr 10
How do you pronounce Feargus Urquhart?
fur-guhs urk-hart
JESawyer 5 Apr 10
Forums or fora?
I usually write "fora" but say "forums".
JESawyer 5 Apr 10
Do you think computer roleplaying games can go back to the simpler and more focused style they had when Wizardry, Might & Magic, or Pools of Radiance were popular? Do you feel the kitchen sink approach has really stretched content and variety today?
I think that CRPGs are now defined heavily by how they allow the player to express the personality of their character(s) in meaningful ways throughout the game. In that sense, I don't think the genre will ever move back to the Wizardry/Might and Magic era. However, I do think that games with top-down/isometric combat (like the gold box games) can still be viable in some markets.
JESawyer 5 Apr 10
What is your alltime favorite album?
It's probably still Radiohead's OK Computer. I know that's a common answer, but it's the truth.
JESawyer 6 Apr 10
Baldur's Gate III, Van Buren, Aliens. All got canceled for various reasons. If somehow you got the chance to finish only one of them, which one would it be and why ?
I think it would have to be Aliens. We were doing some interesting things with character interactions and game play, and I think that the setting was novel for an RPG.
JESawyer 6 Apr 10
Are you good at Counter-Strike? [question asked by a Fallout fan who used to play CS]
I only played CS a few times and never really got into it. My favorite team-based multiplayer FPSs are Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Tribes (original), and Left 4 Dead.
JESawyer 6 Apr 10
Thief: The Dark Project came out in 1998 (!). Why d'you reckon that in the 12 years since, no RPG developer has been able to incorporate stealth mechanics to the same degree of success? Is this issue really as simple as player skill v. character skill?
Thief was a dedicated stealth game. Unfortunately, I believe most RPG developers either don't consider stealth to be worth implementing at all or only worth implementing in a minimalist fashion. It's a shame, because I don't believe that the fundamental mechanics of Thief are tremendously difficult to implement in a lot of engines.
JESawyer 6 Apr 10
What do you think of the Ultima series?
It rules, though I have a spotty playing history with it: I, III, V, VI, and that's it.
JESawyer 6 Apr 10
The lead designer of Deus Ex 3, Jean-Francois Dugas, stated "There weren't enough exciting, memorable moments [in the original]. It was aimed more towards a simulation rather than a game experience." What do you think of this as a game developer?
I think the original Deus Ex was made in an era when "big moments" (sorry if I'm simplifying too much here) were hard to portray in-game. Big moments can be nice rewards for players, and they are nice press/talking points, but they aren't game play. If a game has great game play and not a lot of big moments, to me that's a lot more acceptable than a game with bad game play and a bunch of big moments.
JESawyer 6 Apr 10
Are you still working on The Black Hound? If not, WHY?? If you are, how's it coming along?
No. The Black Hound project took up too much of my free time. It felt like working two full time+ jobs and I think it impacted the quality of everything I was doing.
JESawyer 6 Apr 10
How much humor have you found really needs to be put into a serious game to raise its quality?
If the game is fundamentally serious, humor should be thought of as seasoning. You have to be careful about how much you apply so you don't ruin the overall experience. Humor is a great way to relieve tension among characters and in the audience. That was one of the most notable things for me when I was watching a lot of Alien/Aliens. The former is decidedly a horror film. It feels claustrophobic and oppressive. There is very little humor between the characters, even at the beginning, and it drops to dead serious after *~ sPoIlErS ~* Kane dies. Aliens is more of a horror/action hybrid, and humor is used much more regularly to break the tension or lift the mood, even after everything starts going to hell. Without Hudson, I think Aliens would feel a lot different (worse).
JESawyer 6 Apr 10
What kind of budget are you aiming for, though? An ISO-TB RPG with the budget of Alpha Protocol probably isn't going to happen, but could you make a smaller game with a small budget, and build on its possible success? Indies manage with no money at all.
Ultimately I work on whatever projects the owners want me to work on. Budgets, budget limitations, and RoI aren't really part of what I do.
JESawyer 6 Apr 10
What do you think of Alastair MacIntyre's famous claim that postmodernism claims ownership over the objective perspective in order to deny that the objective perspective exists? (After Virtue, Whose Justice Whose Rationality_?
I don't think postmodernism explicitly denies that the objective perspective exists, but it implicitly neuters that perspective or effectively dismisses it as being beyond understanding or beyond usefulness to individuals. I believe postmodernism poses the following challenges to the legitimacy and value of defining an objective perspective:
* How is an objective perspective understood within a group of individuals?
* Of what value is an objective valuation or perspective to an individual who does not recognize that valuation or perspective as valid?
Postmodernism was not a philosophical movement that started out with the goal of denying the existence of an objective perspective, but it was, like many historical philosophical movements, a reaction to the perceived failures of the philosophies that preceded it. MacIntyre appears to be heavily influenced by Hegel and Kuhn, and clearly Nietzsche's work is extremely reactionary, so I hope he would not dispute my comments.
JESawyer 6 Apr 10
Following on to your academic discussions answer, is there a particular "common currency" you would recommend?
I think that if a term already exists to describe something within the realm of game development and is understood by the public, that term should be used over developer-manufactured terms. I sometimes get the impression that developers want to create vocabulary that is unique to game development because it "legitimizes" game development and sets it apart from other forms of entertainment media. I just want that process to be organic. Vocabulary develops out of necessity. The more we rely on common terms (when appropriate, of course), the more transparent the game development process can be when discussed with non-developers.
JESawyer 7 Apr 10
Why are you answering all these questions? Do you think of youself as someone important? Or maybe, all-knowing?
I think of myself as someone with vocational knowledge.
JESawyer 7 Apr 10
How much do you get into an RPG's world when you design it? For example, do you like thinking as the characters would so as to make them more believable? Carefully consider their actions, relations, inventory, residences, etc.? What about its economy? 1EK
I try to consider all of the above when designing individuals and organizations. Even if the thought processes behind the decisions are not obvious to most players, putting in the time required can help establish consistent patterns in the world that, over time, have an impact on the majority of players.
I think a world's economy is important to consider because the actions of many people and groups are often driven by very practical matters: they want jobs, they want resources, they want finished products. And while many people and groups espouse an ideology, the clash between ideological goals and economic realities can often produce interesting plot elements.
JESawyer 7 Apr 10
To what extent do your political or religious ideologies inform your design decisions?
It may be because I studied history in the postmodern tradition, but I'm not particularly interested in promoting anything other than, "Understanding things from different viewpoints is cool," or "People are complicated and do things for a lot of different reasons." I guess an extension of that is the idea that the player is the person who determines "validity", not the author.
JESawyer 7 Apr 10
Are you going to write a book at some point? If you are, what's it going to be about?
Let's get this "make a good game" goal out of the way first.
JESawyer 7 Apr 10
Which game had the best/most enjoyable combat in your opinion, ToEE or NWN2?
ToEE by far. Once the bugs are dealt with, ToEE's combat is more tactical, the AI is more reliable, and the experience is more fun, overall.
JESawyer 7 Apr 10
You don't think Icewind Dale 2 was a good game?
I think IWD2 was "pretty good", but it has a lot of significant flaws. I think I have the most satisfaction in IWD2 because it was made under duress and the developers really put a lot of cool things into it, but the experience was uneven or frustrating in a lot of places.
JESawyer 7 Apr 10
How do you honestly feel about games that fall under the jRPG category, such as the Final Fantasy series?
They don't appeal to me and, unless I'm looking at a specific mechanic in one, I don't play them.
JESawyer 7 Apr 10
You mentioned part of your job is number crunching on spreadsheets. I'm curious what kind of math and methodology is involved. Is there any relative bibliography you'd recommend?
The math is usually pretty simple. I use Excel and Excel formulae to see how RPG statistics scale over a given spectrum of levels, difficulty, etc. For example, if I'm creating an armor system, I might input different damage values against different armor values to see how high level damage vs. low level armor fares. I use the Excel formulae so I can change one number (variable) in one cell and see every other cell update based off of the variable.
In general, I don't believe that RPG mathematics should be overly "fiddly" or complex. I believe that the mathematics should be exposed or, if not exposed, the user should be able to deconstruct their basic operation through observation.
JESawyer 7 Apr 10
Many of the games you've worked on have never seen the light of day, but do you feel that things that you learnt, or resources you found/built allow your next project to get a head start?
Definitely. Failure is an excellent teacher.
JESawyer 8 Apr 10
Picking up on your comment re. the Aliens RPG: Why do you suppose that fantasy is such a dominant setting for RPGs (both PnP and CRPG)? What other settings (be it genres or even IP's) do you think would benefit from RPG "treatment," and why?
Fantasy was the style of most early tabletop RPGs, and early CRPGs mostly just followed suit. Ultima, Bard's Tale, Phantasie, Wizardry, and Might & Magic, were the big CRPGs that defined the genre in the early- to mid-80s and they were all high fantasy. In the late 80s and early 90s, there was more high-profile experimentation with different RPG genres (Wasteland, Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday), but even today non-fantasy CRPGs are still the exception rather than the rule.
Personally, I think that almost any type of setting could work for a CRPG. Western, transhuman future, whatever. As long as there are characters with whom the player can interact, meaningful choices to be made, and character development, it could work as a CRPG.
JESawyer 8 Apr 10
Do you believe that the cinema "auteur" theory applies to games?
I think games can have auteurs if the individual has enough control over development processes for a long enough period of time. The first person who pops to mind is Koji Igarashi (IGA, Castlevania series), though probably the most obvious would be Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear).
JESawyer responded to telryth 8 Apr 10
Could you expand a little on why JRPGs don't appeal to you? Can you give an example of a specific mechanic from a FF game that you thought was interesting enough to warrant you playing the game?
Generally speaking, the character personalities and designs do not appeal to me, there is an extreme emphasis on cinematic sequences, and the game play is often very linear and lacks meaningful player choice.
I thought Final Fantasy X's Sphere Grid was an interesting mechanic because it presented character advancement in an unconventional way. Plotting a course across the Sphere Grid became a game play element on its own.
JESawyer 8 Apr 10
I was a North American Fall Webworm in my past life. Those were the good old days... What were you in your former life?
An elm tree. Thanks a lot.
JESawyer 8 Apr 10
What's the deal with intellectual property rights and game mechanics? What can and can't be protected? How does it affect game development if at all? Would you change anything if you could?
I'm not a lawyer, but as far as I know, mechanics are not protected outright, though design specifications done for a company (like any documentation) are covered. That is, if you can re-create/reverse-engineer a mechanic in another game, I don't think there's any precedent for a company claiming that their rights have been infringed.
JESawyer 8 Apr 10
Which perspective do you prefer, as a designer and as a gamer respectively: isometric, third- or first-person? Is there any source proving a common belief that FPP is more immersive?
I doubt anyone's actually done a study on gaming perspectives and perceived levels of immersion. I think it's just that: a common belief.
For me, it depends on what you/the designer is trying to accomplish with the camera perspective. For a lot of games with tactical combat, an "iso" perspective makes the most sense because you want the player to be able to see and process a lot of information about the environment and combatants. The same applies to strategy games that span large areas (or don't really focus on a single character).
Close third-person cameras can work when you want the player character (often alone) to navigate the environment with climbing/platforming elements or when real-time melee combat is central to game play. I think it can also work well for some horror games (e.g. Resident Evil 4, 5, Dead Space) because it combines a limited view of the world (anxiety-inducing) with a close-up picture of the player character's vulnerability.
First person is probably the easiest to work with, but it's not useful for all types of game play. If a designer wants to effectively remove the player character as an entity and focus more heavily on the environment, first person is the way to go. Personally, I lose all sense of character in most first person games and that's usually a big negative for me.
JESawyer 9 Apr 10
That's a very thorough explanation of _how_ fantasy is the dominant setting in RPGs, but you didn't really touch on why. Is it just creative inertia? In your experience, have you found that fantasy lends itself better to the CRPG features you mentioned?
I tried to cover that in the first sentence because I thought it was self-evident: yes, it's creative inertia.
I don't think there's anything about fantasy that makes it any more appropriate for RPGs than any other common game setting featuring an array of characters with whom you can interact.
But this goes back to creative inertia. Audiences also have creative inertia; they don't want to move. I remember when the Aliens RPG was announced (and when its cancellation was announced), people were exasperated that anyone would make something as "dumb" as an RPG set in the Aliens universe.
The Aliens film series is about characters under duress, and some of the most memorable moments are the character interactions. It's as much about humans fighting each other as humans fighting aliens.
JESawyer 9 Apr 10
Do you consider FPS games that successfully incorporate RPG elements into the design (such as Deus Ex, the System Shocks, Strife, etc) to be full fledged RPGs or just a more complex FPS with some character advancement? Why/why not?
The ability to express the personality of your character in meaningful/influential ways throughout the course of the game is what makes a game an RPG to me. This usually happens through how you interact with characters and how the story/world updates based on the choices you've made.
Character advancement systems have been in other "genres" for years now. Castlevania games have character advancement, Devil May Cry games have character advancement, etc. It's in so many games now that it's a pretty weak leg for RPGs to stand on. I think that a game's combat style is a poor indicator as well for the same reason.
JESawyer 9 Apr 10
Follow up to auteur question: Do you think an individual SHOULD be the crux of design (and therefore have the game be a reflection of his/her own personality and opinions) or is the fairly standard collectivist "design team" process preferable?
Collectivist design processes arguably make the team feel "better"/more egalitarian, but I think the end product suffers for it. Everyone should be able to contribute, but those contributions need to work within an overarching vision.
Most people playing the game won't know anything about who made it. They just want a cohesive and fun experience. Think of it this way: if five people argue for different designs and the result is something that they all grudgingly accept with various concessions, how compelling can that really be?
And I don't really think the vision should be "about" the design director/lead designer/overlord. As with most stories, I think game stories work best when they are more about the audience's opinions and decisions than the author's opinions and biases. My biases certainly affect theme and subject matter, but I try to leave interpretations open to the player. Who wants to be lectured at by a game?
JESawyer 9 Apr 10
What are some of the unexpected pitfalls (i.e., not combat balancing issues) that you have come across when designing RPG systems from scratch as opposed to established rule sets like D&D or GURPS? Are you able to anticipate, and thus avoid, them now?
Tabletop RPGs are viewed through the rule books. The interface is one or three or ten books with 100+ pages. The player and GM are expected to sit down and absorb all of that stuff before and during game play.
CRPGs have manuals, but most players learn how to play the game through the GUI. How you structure and present information to the player is critical to their understanding of how the game works. It's great to have a ton of choices for the player, but presenting a large number of options in a clear fashion can be very difficult.
Hardcore gamers will struggle through bad GUIs to "get to the fun", but people who are a) new to gaming or b) new to RPGs can find a lot of information daunting or confusing. I do not think the solution is to remove options, but to carefully engineer how those options are presented to players.
JESawyer responded to JackofHearts 9 Apr 10
Have you ever played a video game and noticed something that gained your attention that as a designer you would notice but as a gamer you wouldn't? And if so could you give an example ^^.
All the time. I suspect a lot of vocations have a similar problem. I actually recently asked a friend of mine who is a massage therapist if how she looked at/understood human bodies had changed over time. After you have spent enough time looking at and working on something, it can cease to be recognizable as a singular entity. It becomes a collection of interlocked pieces. This is beneficial but also potentially dangerous.
For example, a character becomes a series of meshes, diffuse textures, specular/normal/environment maps, skeletons, linked animations with different blend rates, layers of secondary animations (cloth, hair, etc.), animation meta-data (footstep frames, hit frames, input windows), statistics, sound files, and so on.
Here's a specific example: in the original Xbox Ninja Gaiden, Ryu does not really turn to block attacks. Instead, he snaps. Secondary motion and particles create the illusion that he turns.
How it works: Ryu stands in a block animation idle with his sword up. His head tracks enemies within a certain constraint range based off of his heading. When an an attack comes in, Ryu is, in one frame, re-oriented to the direction of the attack. He plays a block hit reaction (recoiling a bit), a spark and displacement visual effect appears on the sword, and the scarf on his head trails behind him as though he had actually made the turn in real time. There is no "turn" animation. It is a very well-engineered illusion that makes him look incredibly fast without obviously "popping".
But here's the problem: ultimately, breaking down any subject matter into components can be dangerous because you can become oblivious to the thing as a whole. The whole is made up of components, but audiences care more about the whole than the pieces that comprise it.
JESawyer 10 Apr 10
You answered two questions about JRPG's, right? Do you cherry pick the questions?
Yes, and I delete a bunch of them, too.
JESawyer 11 Apr 10
What do you think of the Dragon Age: Origins game? Is it a traditional RPG, Or is it too out there to be considered a RPG game?
I don't think there's anything about DA:O that is "out there" by RPG standards.
JESawyer 11 Apr 10
What do you think of the Xbox live system?
As with many locations in this world, virtual or otherwise, it would be a great place if it weren't for all the people.
JESawyer 11 Apr 10
Have you enjoyed/played any Tactical RPG's?
Yes, though not recently. The last two I really enjoyed were Advance Wars and Front Mission 4.
JESawyer 11 Apr 10
How do you maintain perspective? After working on a game for months or years, how do you prevent only seeing trees instead of the forest?
I try to play the game regularly and in a natural fashion. A lot of what I look at, day to day, is done by popping into a test level, running a batch file or script and spot testing a particular asset or feature. To counter this tunnel vision, I set aside time to load in at a (mostly) random location and just play the game normally. It helps me maintain a better perspective on what it's like to experience the game as a whole.
JESawyer 11 Apr 10
What do you think about Russian vodka?
Russian vodka is the only beverage I was ever peer-pressured into drinking. I was 28 or 29 and in Moscow, so I gave it a whirl. Much like most hard alcohol, I didn't like it.
JESawyer 14 Apr 10
No Fallout or Bethesda questions--but any comment on G:SS? You mentioned that failure is an excellent teacher, and not to say that G:SS was a failure, but clearly things didn't work out there. What did you take from that experience?
If you're working for someone else, don't ever forget that the game you're working on does not belong to you.
JESawyer 14 Apr 10
I understand not having time enough to make The Black Hound the experience it deserves to be. Have you ever considered alternative solutions, like overseeing a crew of enthusiasts willing to work on it for free?
The underlying problem is still the same: not enough time. Managing people, especially remotely, takes a lot of effort.
JESawyer 14 Apr 10
If, and I say if there was a game that would allow you to play 3rd person, 1st person or the top view, which one would you choose?
It would depend on the quality of each camera implementation and the type of activity I'm performing. There are some games that have 1st and 3rd person cameras but no one uses one of the cameras because the game becomes practically unplayable.
JESawyer 14 Apr 10
What was your favorite game when you was young?
In the mid-80s, it was the original Bard's Tale on C=64. In the late 80s, Pool of Radiance. In the early 90s, Darklands. I've always really liked party-based games with tactical combat.
JESawyer 14 Apr 10
Do you think developers should ignore the demands of some hardcore fans to keep obsolete or inferior features in the sequel just because it was in the original?
I think developers should try to make a good game. While this means they do have to understand the expectations established by previous titles, they have to be willing to re-evaluate mechanics if they've demonstrably failed or caused problems in the past. I think its most important that they keep the spirit of a franchise/series/world alive. If they can do that while improving a mechanic, they should go for it. If changing mechanics radically alters the feeling of the setting and series, the cost has to be weighed very carefully.
JESawyer 14 Apr 10
I saw another person asking whether your political or religious beliefs affect your work and now I just can't get over it - What are your political and religious beliefs?
I do not believe in any higher power. I believe that many people living in modern republics behave in a fashion that merits being ruled by tyrants or aristocrats. I also believe that humanity will eventually scour most animal and plant life from the surface of the planet and suffocate the seas through overpopulation and the continued existence of large, consumption- and expansion-driven societies.
JESawyer 16 Apr 10
You've mentioned that Darklands is your favorite game. Given modern market forces, how much, if any, of that game's distinctive characteristics could make it into a commercially viable RPG? Or are we simple past that phase?
I think that Assassin's Creed 1 and 2 (despite its modern/sci-fi wrapping) have shown that people can really enjoy serious historical settings. There's also been more of an interest in historical thrillers in books and film in the past decade or so (Da Vinci Code, Brotherhood of the Wolf).
Personally, I think you could carry a lot of Darklands into a contemporary game. The one thing that might not fly is the presentation of cities and towns. In Darklands, communities were basically little bits of data that turned flags on and off and said what university, saints, etc. were there. It was all just text presented over generic (but nice) watercolor-style backgrounds.
I think it would be hard to convince publishers (and some gamers) that style of presentation is acceptable. However, I do think it could work if it were on a platform like XBLA, DS, or something similar.
JESawyer 16 Apr 10
Some dedicated PC gamers view console/cross-platform games as less sophisticated than PC exclusives. Have you found the design considerations between PC and consoles to be significantly different? As a designer, what system(s) do you prefer and why?
Design considerations are very different for a few key reasons:
Resolution is lower (practically speaking) on consoles because a large percentage of players hook up to standard definition televisions (~480 @ 4:3). This heavily affects how GUIs are designed, because font size, icon size, and "safe zone" borders always have to be accounted for.*
Most PC gamers will play games with mouse and keyboard. There are many input differences between that and a dual analog stick controller.
Console titles have to pass certification through the console manufacturers. This ensures the observation of standards that, while occasionally annoying, ultimately make the game better/more stable.
Each platform has its own pros and cons. PC development is easiest in many ways because you can work and test on the same machine. You can practically ignore anything approaching "standard def" resolution and you can utilize the latest and greatest PC hardware.
On the flip side, PC development is also much more difficult to troubleshoot because of the enormous number of OS + hardware + enduser software permutations that can interfere with how the game runs. Consoles give a fixed hardware and (with the proper XDKs/SDKs) software platform for testing and (eventually) release.
* For the record, I think it's disgraceful that some recent, very high profile console titles have gotten a pass on TCR/TRC requirements despite being completely illegible on SD displays.
JESawyer 16 Apr 10
What is G:SS? Didn't get the shorthand. Thank you
Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows.
JESawyer 21 Apr 10
What do you think of Nikola Tesla, and his inventions ?
I am glad that Nikola Tesla is getting a lot of recognition for his many contributions to science and technology. He was very forward thinking and contemporary societies owe a lot to him.
JESawyer 21 Apr 10
Recently Roger Ebert pissed off gamers by saying that video games simply cannot be art. http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/04/video_games_can_never_be_art.html What's your take on the artistic merit of video games?
I wish people would take all the effort they spend arguing about the definition of art and apply that to making art as they see it.
JESawyer 21 Apr 10
Do you think the industry is now more conservative than it was in the past (say the 90s or the 80s)? If so, why?
Yes, it is more risk-averse now than it was in the late 90s. The amounts of money being spent now are ten to twenty times as much as they were then. Additionally, there are not as many independent mid-sized studios left. Most of the major publishers are public companies, so they have to answer to stockholders (this is bad).
JESawyer 26 Apr 10
Do you have any particular approaches to NPC dialogue/chatter to help with immersivity and without them coming off as useless bots, taking up space, and never adding much lore or relevant information?
I am a believer in what Obsidian calls "barkstrings". Generic, rank-and-file characters in the world typically do not have full dialogue trees. Instead, they have a large list of reactive one-off lines that they will say either in passing or when you interact with them. As long as barkstrings react to things in a meaningful fashion, it's usually more satisfying than drilling generic characters for generic information through a dialogue tree.
Background characters should also be engaged in meaningful action. A world where people endlessly, randomly mill about feels like a world without purpose. Communities should have a focus and characters within communities should have roles that they fill.
JESawyer 1 May 10
A friend linked me to the concept art from Bioware's Dragon Age: Origins. In the concept art, the game has a more unique fantasy-punk aesthetic than the iconic look that Bioware ultimately went with. Would you have made the same decision?
I have worked on enough traditional fantasy games that the "iconic" look does not appeal to me personally. If I could work with artists to find a fresh look that appealed to audiences, I would prefer to go with that approach.
I want to make something clear, though: while I make games with a bias toward what I think is good/enjoyable, I do not make games for my own personal tastes. Few game developers working at mid- to large-sized studios have the freedom to drive a development process without catering to an idealized market.
JESawyer 1 May 10
What's it like working in a field where everything you put out is scrutinized by online fan groups, many of whom will trash or ooze about the game despite its faults?
You either get used to it or you don't. Some developers never get used to it and basically shut out/write off fan feedback entirely.
Throughout my career, I have felt that it is incredibly important to read and (when possible) respond to fan feedback. It helps professionally ground you and it forces you to defend your ideas to the enduser.
The challenge I sometimes face is getting past my initial aggravation at a person's tone to ask what their underlying concern is. But if I can do that, I usually find that they are reasonable—even if I don't think I can make them happy.
JESawyer 2 May 10
You spoke previously about how game developers are more risk-averse these days, can you see yourself breaking molds and genre-blending or would you prefer to build excellent games from tried-and-true formulae?
I don't think developers are risk averse; I think publishers are risk averse. It's relatively easy for developers to be cavalier with publisher money, but that's why publishers don't give developers money (usually) for "wacky" game ideas.
It's pretty rare for me to write up game proposals because most of the games I propose are wacky in some way. That isn't to say that people would enjoy them; they might be offensive/outright terrible. But I know and accept that the only way for me to really "do my own thing" would be to start my own company. I don't want to run a company (assuming I even could). I don't want to think about 401k programs or fire safety regulations in the office or deal with the anxiety of keeping 100+ people employed. I want to make games every day. I may not be good at it, but I have no other skills, no practical knowledge.
So whether I get to work on something groundbreaking or simply fun/enjoyable, either way I'm lucky to be making games and I enjoy it a great deal.
JESawyer 3 May 10
you sound really dorky, I expected more of a badass voice from you
Unfortunately, my voice naturally has a nasal tone to it. It's also problematic for singing.
JESawyer 4 May 10
How long did it take you to grow that sexy beard? How's the knee? How does working at obsidian feel vs your early start at iply? (was Fargo still the chief when you started?)
I think that was three weeks of growth. When I go on motorcycle trips during cold weather I grow my facial hair out for about a week. It's not exactly a woolen blanket, but it helps with wind chill.
My knee is doing better now. I've been working with a personal trainer to strengthen the muscles around the knee so the joint doesn't absorb as much impact when I run. I only run once a week, I wear a patellar tendon brace, and I only run on soft surfaces. I have a single speed with toe clips that I ride. I think it is less stressful on my knees than the tri/tt bike with Shimano clipless pedals/shoes.
Obsidian doesn't feel at all like Interplay/BIS to me. Even though some of the people are the same, it's really a completely different environment.
JESawyer 4 May 10
What kind of balance do you try to strike between player-driven events and plot-driven events?
Within the context of "Obsidian-style" RPGs, we tend to give the player a lot of options, but they are still designer-created events. These options can reward a player's investment or character choices, but ultimately it's just picking from a pre-defined menu.
Personally, I try to push our game play in directions that allow players to create their own stories. I want people to enjoy the stories and characters Obsidian creates, but I also want our game play to be compelling and dynamic enough that player stories overshadow our meager choose-your-own-adventure plots.
Reading through someone else's story can be entertaining and satisfying, but if you get the opportunity to create your own, that adds another layer of enjoyment.
JESawyer 4 May 10
Can a game tell a complex story mostly through environment and inference on the part of the player, or are exposition dumps inevitable?
Certainly. I actually prefer this kind of storytelling, but it can be tricky to pull off. If a developer were to establish hard and fast rules for presentation in a game, I'm sure they could have a rich, complex story with minimal exposition.
I think games like Ico show that developers are capable of presenting narrative in a lot of untraditional ways. I'd like to work on a game with no dialogue—or dialogue that's all spoken in nonsense/indecipherable language, with intonation and facial expressions being the player's only hints at what's being discussed.
JESawyer 4 May 10
Do you ever dream of striking off on your own and maybe even joining Annie and Brian over at Doublebear Studios? Or at least working with them or Iron Tower Studios in your spare time? RPG nerds everywhere would rejoice at your selflessness.
I don't want to be self-employed or run my own company. I have tried contributing time to freelance or side projects in the past and it burns me out pretty quickly.
JESawyer 4 May 10
Main plot, sidequests, character development, music, graphics, NPC dialogs. Chose only three for a game you would enjoy.
An interesting omission from this list is "game play", which I would take over any of the above.
JESawyer 5 May 10
For IW2, has anyone complained about the difficulty of the final boss fight in comparison to the rest of the game?
I'm sure there are, but I don't think the fight against Isair and Madae is surprisingly hard considering the difficulty of the rest of the game.
Of course, doing things in the Severed Hand can help make that battle much easier. If players skip that content, it can be a lot more challenging.
JESawyer 9 May 10
What happened to your knee?
I was training for a sprint triathlon and, in the week before the event, I started to experience a great deal of pain in my right knee. In addition to identifying a bunch of general IT band problems, various doctors told me that I had osteoarthritis in that knee. I was unable to do the triathlon and have not been able to run any serious distance since October.
I have been doing strength training in my legs, bicycling, taking glucosamine, and running intervals on a rubber-backed track to ease back into it.
JESawyer 9 May 10
How many and what are the tatoos that you have?
Twelve or so. Boring personal shit.
JESawyer 10 May 10
Is it true you're a gun nut- I mean, recreational shooting enthusiast?
I have three rifles (a .22LR Henry Lever Carbine, .357 Magnum Rossi 92, and a Russian capture Mauser K98k) but I don't think that qualifies me as a gun nut. I purchased the rifles because I wanted to understand what it means to be a gun owner in the United States and because I wanted to have a more practical understanding of how firearms are operated and maintained.
Because there are no outdoor ranges in Orange County, I can only use my Henry and Rossi (with .38 Special) at local indoor ranges. At some time in the future, I'd like to get an M1911 and a Ruger Vaquero, but that will probably require selling off a couple of the rifles I currently have.
JESawyer 10 May 10
Obsidian has a reputation for delivering strong plots and characters but weak or buggy gameplay. Personally I disagree and think that every Obsidian game has been a marked improvement over its predecessor, but how do you feel about that reputation?
I think we have often improved on game play while simultaneously making it buggier. That is, we have modified existing features or added new ones, but often shipped the product in a buggy state. Obviously, this is something we do not want to repeat.
JESawyer 10 May 10
I spent the morning reading about Scrum development cycles versus the traditional Waterfall strategy. How important is it for Obsidian to have a fully functional game at the early stages?
It's very important, but often difficult due to the (developer-inflicted) sprawling nature of RPG features. Though this may seem counter-intuitive, I think that the core game play features should be implemented prior to the character advancement systems. Ultimately, character advancement systems modify and reinforce the core game play. Designing and implementing features the other way around is backwards even though technically it will seem "MOAR RPG".
JESawyer 10 May 10
What is your connection to Germany/Bavaria?
Most (15/16ths) of my ancestors were German. My paternal grandmother lived near Kempten as a young girl. My paternal grandfather's family were Donauschwaben farmers from Apatin (then Hungary, now Serbia) via Eningen - and before that, Vienna.
My mother's side of the family came to the United States much earlier, so I haven't found Ellis Island records for them. Obituaries say they were from Saxony, Lower Saxony and Thuringia.
Southern Wisconsin is heavily populated by the descendants of German immigrants. Lots of Kregers, Schornstadts, Niemeyers, and so on. As a result, there's a heavy emphasis on German-American (specifically Bavarian/Donauschwaben) culture in that area. I'm sure any actual Germans reading this will find this hilarious:
http://www.gdays.org/page.asp?content=0.asp
The German language is the only other language I can converse in (slowly), and in college, the focus of my history study was witch-hunting, mostly in the Holy Roman Empire/Germany. Despite all of this, I have never been to Germany. It's something I hope to remedy in the next few years.
JESawyer 11 May 10
Why is your website named after a man who masturbated in front of dogs?
Diogenes owned.
JESawyer 11 May 10
It seems like a lot of humanities or liberal arts types wind up in game design. Is this something you've noticed? If so, why do you think it is?
Liberal arts programs typically emphasize critical thinking, which is arguably the most important skill a game designer uses on a daily basis. Humanities courses are not focused on vocational skills, but the construction, analysis, and deconstruction of ideas. Another way to look at it would be to say that critical analysis *is* the primary vocational skill for all humanities-related fields.
While there are job-specific proficiencies that designers develop over time, there really is not much about my job that someone off the street could not do. Judgment is ultimately what helps designers produce quality work.
JESawyer 13 May 10
What do you think about Bioware's comments about Final Fantasy 13 and whether or not it's an RPG? If you agree that it's not, are all jRPGs not RPGs, or do games like Persona 4 that emphasize expressing the character's personality get to be RPGs?
I think Final Fantasy XIII is not an RPG for precisely the same reasons Daniel Erickson stated. I have not played Persona 4, but if it allows the player to define and meaningfully express their character's personality with tangible in-game consequences, then I would consider it to be an RPG.
I never have cared about "RPG" trappings like character advancement, statistics, inventory, tactical combat, and other mechanics that tons of "not RPG" games (e.g. various Castlevanias, Resident Evils, etc.) have. Lots of games can have those things, whether people consider them to be RPGs or not. They're certainly fun aspects of game play, but they aren't unique to RPGs.
The origins of the RPG genre are in tabletop gaming, and the allure of the tabletop RPG environment isn't in spec-ing out characters (though that is fun). If that's all you want to do, play Warhammer 40k, Confrontation, or any other war game you like. People play RPGs so they can make a unique character and play that character as they see fit. That is why I always use that specific capability as my criterion for classifying contemporary games as RPGs.
Once you talk about games in the mid-90s or earlier, I don't think many would qualify. Character choice RPGs are really a western, late 90s+ phenomenon. There are a few earlier examples where morality/reputation came into play (Ultimas, Darklands), but often they were designed to be inherently punitive to "bad" players. That is, the game punished the player instead of the world.
JESawyer 13 May 10
What are you, politically? Do you belong to any kind of ideology, and if so is it something mainstream or something more exotic?
I don't belong to a specific ideology. However, I do believe that the American people are collectively so willfully ignorant, myopic, and generally thoughtless that the republic will eventually collapse through its own dysfunction.
JESawyer 15 May 10
Do you watch TV? If so, what shows? Your answer to the politics question makes you sound like one of those people who doesn't watch TV and makes sure that everyone knows it.
I watch Mad Men, Antiques Roadshow, World's Dumbest, and all flavors of Law & Order.
JESawyer 15 May 10
Are gameplay and the ability to express your character's personality in meaningful ways in the game world two different components for you, or is the latter a possible component of the former? I'm not quite sure what you think from reading your answers.
The latter is part of the former. It's essentially (at its best) a form of strategic game play.
JESawyer 15 May 10
When designers talk about introducing less granularity, what do they mean?
Granularity is a way of describing subdivision of units on a given scale. If something has fine granularity, the units on the game's scale are small compared to the whole. E.g. one point on a one hundred point scale. Assuming a linear scale, a one point increment would be virtually impossible to notice.
Coarse granularity might be something like a four point scale with one point increments. Each increment is 25%, so it's easy to notice changes even if you can't see the numbers.
Fine granularity allows for a smoother transition and it can make point investment more flexible (e.g. 100 unit skills), but it's practically impossible for players to notice changes without having the numbers right in front of them. In many cases, small changes on a fine scale do not actually impact game play in any practical way.
JESawyer 15 May 10
What do you think of vegetarianism and veganism?
If people voluntarily choose to consume fewer resources and they aren't harming themselves or other living things in the process, that sounds good to me.
JESawyer 15 May 10
Do you think that game designers are generally liberals? I always get frustrated when the good/evil scale often turns out to be more liberal/conservative, like how the Sith were Randian in KOTOR and the Jedi were socialists.
It's hard for me to judge game designers worldwide. I live in an urban, coastal area of SoCal so a lot of the people around me, game developer or otherwise, announce themselves as democrats or liberals of some sort.
JESawyer 15 May 10
You've answered a lot of questions about RPGs, but what do you think makes a game an "adventure" game? Insofar as I can tell it just seems to refer to any game that doesn't easily fit into another genre.
Answer the following questions:
* Does the game allow you to develop and use tactics?
* Does the game allow you to develop and deploy a strategy?
* Does the game allow you to resolve conflicts in multiple ways?
If you answered "no" to all of the above, you're playing a "pure" adventure/puzzle game. If you answered "yes" to one or more of the above, it may be another sort of game, one that is still currently made.
JESawyer 16 May 10
How can I unsee the little on your face in interviews? It's really distracting and it makes me think that your skin is sad. 
From now on, I'll see if they'll interview me on my right side so it won't be as distracting.
JESawyer 18 May 10
Do you think we will be playing purely single-player RPGs in 20 years?
I don't know what we'll be playing in one year, much less twenty.
JESawyer responded to PaxtonW 18 May 10
Have you ever wanted to draw/write/help with a comic or book? (If you haven't already, that is.)
Yes, very much so, but I'm pretty cut off from people in that industry. I wouldn't know where to start.
JESawyer 18 May 10
How do publishers and developers interact in the world of game design? Is it usual for publishing companies to get residuals, or are they usually just funded and compensated for development?
Publishers take the majority of profits. Developers are paid on a milestone basis with some bonuses or royalties (usually) negotiated into the contract, but said bonuses/royalties are usually contingent on some strict criteria (shipped on time, 85%+ rated, X million units sold, etc.).
In the 11 years I've been in the industry, I've received one royalty check for one game: Icewind Dale. Some very successful companies have a lot of bonuses and royalties flying around, but they are the exception.
JESawyer 19 May 10
As a "hardcore" RPG developer, Obsidian could make a mint releasing budget hardcore RPGs on Steam that focus more on story than graphics and take less development time or resources. Does this interest you at all?
Story vs. graphics isn't actually an antagonistic relationship in my opinion. I don't think I've ever had an experience during development where I've thought, "If only this game could get by with lower fidelity graphics, then I could tell the story I really want to tell."
What lower budget titles offer to developers and publishers is lower loss potential. If a project "only" costs $1–3 million to make, even if it sells zero copies, the publisher is only out $1–3 million. Compared to the operating project budget of most publishers, that's relatively minor.
Lower loss potential can possibly be negotiated into "wacky game idea time". So if you want to make a game that has really niche or experimental game play, a non-traditional setting/set of characters, etc., a lower budget game is probably the place you're going to do it—if anywhere.
As a side note, I am not primarily interested in telling stories. I am a game designer and my primary interest is in making games. I always want the stories in the games I work on to be good, but that is secondary to ensuring that the game play is enjoyable. If I were fundamentally concerned with telling stories, I would become a writer.
JESawyer 19 May 10
Why is it that efforts to unionize tech work, whether it's game design or computer janitors, always seem to fail miserably?
To be honest, I am not sure. For game development I would guess it may have something to do with the following factors:
* Game development is a competitive business that is done entirely with skilled (trained or otherwise) labor.
* Game developers are typically motivated more by a desire to make good games than to achieve a financial goal.
* Game developers may believe that unionization would make them less competitive in the global game market. This may be especially true with American developers, as our work force is typically very productive but inefficient.
* Game development is not physically hazardous (though some environments are arguably psychologically hazardous).
* Game developers make reasonably good money.
Again, these are just guesses.
JESawyer 20 May 10
So you've made it pretty clear that you're more interested in developing games than writing the stories in those games, despite your company's reputation. Do you at all resent that so many people keep focusing on Obsidian's writing?
Not at all, but I think people should have higher standards for game play. Slapping "RPG" on a game should not give it a free pass for clumsy or poorly balanced mechanics. Additionally, I believe that an RPG with a "great story" that does not mechanically work well with player choice might as well not be an RPG.
A lot of RPG designers fixate on telling the player a story instead of giving players tools to make *their* stories unique and reactive.
JESawyer 20 May 10
How come your cheeks are so big?
I don't really think they are... ???
JESawyer 20 May 10
When defining an RPG, what about abstracted mechanics? IMO, a greater degree of abstraction that explicitly expresses or rewards a player's choices should be part of the definition, would you agree or disagree?
Agree, and I think it can apply to any/all aspects of game play: conversation choices, skill choices, weapon choices, etc.
If have two weapons available to me, make them tactically different, then present me with situations where their tactical differences matter. If I make a strategic decision to invest in one skill/faction/"alignment" over another, be sure to reward me for my choice and also remind me what I am missing out on because of that same choice.
JESawyer 20 May 10
You seemed to dismiss the idea of working on smaller-budget titles. As a video game designer, do you view big projects with corporate backing and a marketing campaign to be more prestigious, more fun, or just more lucrative? Does it make a better game?
The only reason I dismiss it is because I don't think publishers are interested in it. I would certainly work on a small budget title if that's what a publisher/Obsidian wanted. This has not happened as far as I know.
JESawyer 20 May 10
Do you ever have one of those days where you take one look at the news, see two exxon-valdez level spills, Justin Bieber winning a BET award, Israel expanding settlements, etc and just want to start screaming and never, ever stop?
Be calm; the human race will be over soon enough.
JESawyer 20 May 10
Is it racist when fantasy writers or the designers of fantasy video games use ethnic stereotypes as short-hand for different 'races', or is it merely lazy?
It's hard to gauge intent without context, but it doesn't exactly create riveting characters in my opinion.
JESawyer 20 May 10
You mentioned the importance of "giving players tools to make *their* stories unique and reactive". What do you think of games like The Sims that are pretty much nothing but toolsets that revolve around player-created stories?
They are cool.
JESawyer 20 May 10
Brian Mitsoda says that he thinks that certain companies have undeserved reputations for good writing and even though good gameplay is more important it'd be nice if they tried to live up to them. Do you think gamers have lowered standards w/r/t writing?
After decades of industry evolution, our subject matter and thematic delivery are still juvenile. Count the number of games that have established and reinforced a consistent theme through subtext. In the rare case when a game story has a clearly discernible theme, it is delivered with the subtlety of a claw hammer to the skull.
I don't see many gamers noticing this, much less complaining about it.
JESawyer 20 May 10
Tropico 3's been called the twenty-first century version of The Landlord's Game. Do you think that videogames, or entertainment in general, should be "socially responsible", or even tied to Social Activism like The Landlord's Game was?
It is my belief that social responsibility means discussing ideas openly and in an ethically fair environment. Games that explore themes with the objective of reinforcing the author's beliefs do not meet the afore-mentioned criteria. Players are captive to rules that have been arranged to systemically produce data/results in line with the author's expectations.
JESawyer 23 May 10
Every Obsidian game has some kind of Reputation or Influence system. What makes that heavily abstracted, numerical system preferable to, say, tracking specific statements or actions that can have a more concrete effect on a relationship?
I don't think these sorts of systems need to be used for every character and group. In some cases, the number of inputs is so small, and their impact so large, that using quest variables makes more sense. Abstracted, finely granular systems make the most sense when the player has a lot of ways to influence a character's or group's opinions. If a character speaks to you often, or if you have many opportunities to perform actions that can influence the character's opinion in small ways, using a reputation/influence score is easier, more flexible, and generally less of a headache.
JESawyer 23 May 10
Do you think that the view of video games as low art, or not art at all, might stem from the fact that despite being mass-produced, their media value is entirely Cult as opposed to traditional art which is non-mass produced with high exhibition value?
When a person classifies something as art (or not art) of any grade, the reasons are arbitrary. I don't find any value in speculating on the source of those reasons or attempting to argue against them.
Ultimately, I would rather spend my time making something new that a another person may or may not consider art than argue with them about why they definitely should consider what I've made before to be art.
JESawyer 23 May 10
Connecting to the reputation/influence question, Obsidian's games always had a visible feedback, e.g. the '+1 reputation with XXX' pop-up in Alpha Protocol. Some would argue that this breaks immersion, what's your opinion about it?
People have different expectations of feedback clarity/immersion. Because character/faction influence often builds over time and cannot show immediate results, letting the player know when small increments are being made is a way for the game to indicate that yes, something changed based on what you just did.
Health bars can also break immersion, but being able to see health bars helps the player make tactical decisions. Some players would rather see the health bars and lose the immersion. Others would rather lose the health bars and retain the immersion.
Because I believe that game play should be the primary focus of a game, I will always push for more clarity/certainty if the mechanics of the game are inscrutable to the player.
JESawyer 23 May 10
You lamented about the lack of serious themes in video games earlier. Why do you think the quality of writing is dependent on establishing and developing a theme? Wouldn't an entertaining plot and characters be more important for the player's enjoyment?
A lot of RPGs are long, certainly longer than the average film. If there is not some thematic thread running through all of that time and much of the dialogue, the experience as a whole can fall flat. Taken as snapshots, characters and plot elements may stand on their own, but they are essentially reduced to one-offs with very little connective tissue binding them together.
We already have plenty of examples of well-written characters in video gaming. Writing consistently entertaining dialogue requires skill, but I believe the best writing in any genre combines well-written characters with an interesting exploration of theme. Video games don't do that very often, overtly or subtextually.
"Entertainment value" and "depth" are not intrinsically linked. Many people are entertained by things that have very little depth. Some of the most popular "western" RPG characters, I would argue, have very little depth and are not connected to any consistently established theme.
So, when I'm asked if I think gamers have lowered their standards for writing, I honestly have to ask, "What standards?" From what I see and hear people discussing, those standards stop at entertaining dialogue and an interesting plot. In my opinion, that is a very low bar to reach—and I write this fully aware that I do not write the most entertaining characters or plots. I just think that with all of the good writers in the industry, we can do much better than we have.
JESawyer 25 May 10
have you read this? http://www.cracked.com/article_18571_5-reasons-its-still-not-cool-to-admit-youre-gamer.html And what is your opinion on what is being said here?
I just read it now and do not care.
JESawyer 25 May 10
you look like your high on shrooms on your profile picture
Cool story bro.
JESawyer 26 May 10
You've probably seen the chart that shows what percentage of gamers finish games, based on steam statistics. Does the fact that video game writing lacks coherent themes and is shallow help explain why so few people feel invested enough to finish?
I think it's more likely that the cause is run-of-the-mill boredom. If a game/film/television show doesn't quickly grab your attention, it's very easy to turn it off and do something else.
According to some tracking statistics, a lot of players don't even get fifteen minutes, much less an hour, into a game before shutting it off and never playing it again.
JESawyer 26 May 10
Is dancing with the stars a sign of the decay of our society into the kind of thing that dystopian authors from the mid twentieth century wrote about?
Probably Huxley more than Orwell, but sure.
I think the most harmful elements of modern society are egoism and short-sightedness in equal measure: people who either do not care about or do not recognize how the confluence of individuals' myopic self-interest can produce a systemic collapse of capital-driven societies and the mechanisms/environments driving them.
In short, the individual's head is so far up his or her ass that it is impossible for him or her to understand his or her role in the mechanisms of society and what he or she can—much less should—do to sustain their operation.
To this, layer on a burning drive to be right, or to win, rather than a desire to understand truth, and you have a recipe for willful ignorance and extreme dysfunction.
Cf. the collapse of the American housing market, our imminent energy crises, etc.
JESawyer 27 May 10
Have you visited some other countries? May be countries with developing economies/third-world countries? If you think that USA/western capitalist society is collapsing you really need to travel a lot.
Please share your worldly experiences in such a fashion that they illuminate the sustainability of the United States' current domestic and foreign policies with regard to the following:
a) Being the nation with the largest debt in the world, 66% of which is owned by foreign nations as of 2010.
b) Continuing to export the vast majority of manufacturing jobs to countries with undervalued (in some cases, by fiat) currency and lax labor laws.
c) Government/fed promotion of consumption culture and personal indebtedness, which leads to virtual wage slavery and feeds b).
d) Continuously waging war in one nation while indefinitely sustaining peacekeeping efforts in another—and funding warlords and/or favored nations (e.g., Israel) to hold our mutual enemies at bay.
My statements were not about standards of living; they were about sustainability of function.
JESawyer 28 May 10
Is it even desirable for a game to have good writing or to consistently establish and reinforce themes? Isn't that straying too far into games-as-art as opposed to games-as-good-games?
I think of it as "content-as-something-that-isn't-worthless-garbage". If you're going to bother putting something into your game, put a little effort into conceiving it.
The best concept artists I have worked with have a *concept* behind their concept. It's goofy that I have to call this out, but a lot of artist don't. If you bother thinking about why you're making content choices—the marks on a drawing, the words in a conversation, the choices in an advancement system—it tends to help create the feeling of cohesion. Elements are rooted in the fictitious place and time you have created.
If it matters for visuals (and I believe it does), it matters for dialogue.
JESawyer 28 May 10
Now, we all know that Obsidian has developed some pretty buggy games in the past, especially considered that they weren't developed from scratch (they were both sequels). Now, I'm pretty sure that wasn't the intention, so the question is : how it happened
Poor planning, poorly phased implementation of content, poor scope management in general.
JESawyer 28 May 10
Regarding your criticism of subtext in games, what is your opinion on Bioshock's thematic delivery? I think most of it went over gamers' heads because a large portion was conveyed through subtext: Marxist imagery in Atlas posters, Bible smuggling, etc.
I think Bioshock did a fantastic job, personally. While I think Bioshock's game play/choice mechanics weren't super compelling (this criticism is directly mostly at the late game), I think their environments and theme were executed very well.
And while I do think there is a lot of subtext in Bioshock, there's also a lot of overt discussion of theme. It doesn't get much more overt than locking you in a bathysphere and playing a video that's a direct critique of modern American, Soviet, and Christian societies.
I think that was the right way to do it: immediately introduce the player to the central philosophical idea behind Rapture and convey many of its various strengths and shortcomings through subtext over the course of the game.
JESawyer 28 May 10
What is your opinion on the various game development programs offered in colleges? Is it actually worth taking one as your major instead of something more traditional?
It depends on the quality of the game development program. I have worked with a number of people who have degrees from various game development schools. The recurring opinion seems to be, "You get out of it what you put into it."
Personally, for programming or art, I would recommend some training outside of a game development school as well. If a game development program is connected to a larger university system, this may be relatively painless.
Art, programming, design, and audio all require good teamwork and critical thinking skills, but especially in the case of art, it's important to establish fundamental skills and good habits early on. I recommend an atelier or dedicated fine art program for this reason.
JESawyer 28 May 10
How do you feel about DLC and online content? Shouldn't a game be able to stand up on its own merits as it is sold without these things?
1) DLC is fine as long as its presentation is not jarring or irritating to the player.
2) Yes.
JESawyer 28 May 10
I'm pretty sure you won't answer this, but how do you feel about the reception Alpha Protocol received so far? I don't remember if you actually worked on it or not, though.
I worked on the CQC/martial arts system.
It is interesting that the response is so varied. Different reviewers obviously focus on different things, but I don't think I've seen anything that's an unreasonable critique.
JESawyer 30 May 10
Where are the isometric party RPGs with tactical combat? There's a starving market for them and they are (by my guess) cheaper to make than most modern games?
It is hard for me to penetrate the inscrutable minds of publishers, but I'll give it a shot. Many publishers are publicly traded. They are primarily interested in two categories of games, both of which generate a large return on investment (ROI): big budget/big sellers and shovelware. ROI is what matters, because ultimately they answer to a sea of faceless, uncaring investors who want their $4/share investment to turn into $100/share in two quarters. Absolutely everything else is subordinate to that. Everything.
The "lovingly-crafted mid-budget niche game" doesn't fit into most publisher strategies. For the same reasons that they are considered niche games, they must be marketed in a different way, pitched to retailers in a different way, and most publishers don't want to deal with it.
The exceptions to this trend may include digital distribution only, since retailers/cost of goods are out of the picture, and platforms where the hardware is relatively low tech (cell phones/Nintendo DS/Sony PSP, etc.).
JESawyer 30 May 10
Do you believe a game such as Arkanum (or similar game we're not supposed to mention!) would have been possible to develop if you were expected to implement modern features (full voice acting, AAA level graphics, physics, dynamic lighting, etc)?
With time and money, a lot of things are possible. Could it have been done for the same amount of money in the same amount of time with all of those features? No, but I think that's just common sense.
JESawyer 30 May 10
Most skill-based rpgs I've played put every ability on the same scale of importance when it comes to leveling, yet it's pretty clear that combat is the core gameplay mechanics and that a character without a combat skill is simply 'wrong'.
There isn't a question here, but I think I understand where you're going with this.
It can be hard for designers to consistently support non-combat paths for game play—whether that's an actual path through a level/quest or simply a level of support in an area. Once combat mechanics are in place, it's relatively easy to throw hostiles in an area as obstacles and call it a day. If, to that, you have to look at lighting for stealth, conversation options for speech-y characters, etc., well, eventually all designers run out of time. In the best of all possible worlds, designers allocate their time well and dedicate equal time to all potential ways of approaching a level.
In cases where the content does not support the system, a designer can do one of two things: change the content or change the system. Changing the content means that you go back to all of those "run out of time" levels and put more effort into the non-combat routes. On projects with a lot of content, I like to keep people moving relatively briskly from area to area, establishing an alpha level of quality early and returning to it later (in a dedicated alpha stage) for revisions. Working in this fashion allows the designer to survey all of his or her work over the course of a project and bolster the things that really need help—as opposed to carrying an area's work from milestone to milestone and pushing the schedule out.
Some character advancement systems deal with the combat vs. non-combat problem by having a separate point pool for combat skills. I.e., all characters gain a certain number of points (or ranks, or whatever you want to call it) per level that can only be spent in combat skills. This ensures that all characters have some combat capability of one type or another. This really only makes sense in games where characters are guaranteed to be in combat regularly.
JESawyer 30 May 10
YOU UGLY AS HELL
oic
JESawyer 30 May 10
Shave Your Beer Sweetie , Looks Really Nasty And Get Lips Injection , Cause Boo Boo Your Lips Are Thin Ass FUCK!
I don't think my lips would look better if they were larger sorry if I have shattered your male beauty standards.
JESawyer 30 May 10
UUUGGGGGHHHH QUIT YOUR JOB YOUR TERRIBLE AT IT!
That may be true but I am worse at everything else!
JESawyer 30 May 10
nice work making your page totes irrelevant by answering dumb stuff
*fart*
JESawyer 31 May 10
Bro, I hate to tell you this but if a zombie apocalypse happened MCA would be the only one I would rescue. Sorry, but I'd have to leave you behind. You're not mad, right?
Why should I be mad? I'm the one with all the guns.
JESawyer 31 May 10
Apologies if this has already been asked. Who are some of your favorite writers of books (as opposed to, say, video games, television, or movies)?
A lot of people have asked questions about my favorite media, so I'm going to turn this into a colossal "fave media" blitz in the hopes that it will answer a bunch of questions at once.
Books: I generally do not read fiction. I read history and language books. The ones within reach at work are Jane's Guns Recognition Guide (Ian Hogg), The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco), Angurgapi (Magnús Rafnsson), The Druids (Stuart Piggot), 501 Portuguese Verbs (Nitti and Ferreira), and Wall and Piece (Banksy). My all-time favorites are The Name of the Rose, The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster), Smith of Wootton Major (Tolkien), and The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci (Jonathan Spence).
Comics: I don't like most comics. I am very slowly working my way through Preacher (just finished Salvation). I really enjoyed League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I still have a soft spot for Usagi Yojimbo.
Films: I love many different types of movies. Brazil and Miller's Crossing are still my favorites. Other top films: The Mission, Road Warrior, The Thing, The Duellists, Escape From New York, A Very Long Engagement, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, Orlando, Blade Runner, Alien, Aliens, and Dancer in the Dark.
Music: I also enjoy many types of music, but my favorites tend to include non-mainstream American/Canadian/European female vocalists. My favorite artists include Björk, Fever Ray (Karin Dreijer Andersson), (Leslie) Feist, David Bowie, Boards of Canada, Joanna Newsom, Amon Tobin, Cat Power (Chan Marshall), Mogwai, PJ Harvey, Erykah Badu, (Alison) Goldfrapp, Bat for Lashes (Natasha Khan), Radiohead, Imogen Heap, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Aphex Twin, Dead Can Dance, Calexico, Justice, Morphine, and Phil Ochs.
Artists: My father is a bronze sculptor and my girlfriend of six years is a painter and art teacher, so I have been around artists my whole life. My tastes in art are fairly pedestrian. My favorite traditional artists are Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Alphonse Mucha, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Tamara de Lempicka, John Everett Millais, Jean-Léon Gérôme, John Singer Sargent, John William Waterhouse, Maxfield Parrish, and J.C. Leyendecker.
JESawyer 2 Jun 10
Why don't you read more fiction, given the setting of most (all?) Obsidian games as fictional fantasy/scifi settings with a plethora of good reads to take inspiration from?
Reality is more fantastic than fiction.
JESawyer 2 Jun 10
why would you go out with someone for 6 years and not propose?
We have no use for the ceremonial aspects of marriage and I think the civic recognition of marriage should be abandoned.
JESawyer 2 Jun 10
Do you have aspergers syndrome?
Not as far as I know.
JESawyer 2 Jun 10
What are your thoughts on legalizing dueling? Wouldn't the world be a better place if we were allowed to defend our women and honor as gentlemen via civilized sword or pistol duel to the death on the streets?
Dueling was traditionally classist and, as such, was far from an egalitarian method for resolving disputes.
However, I do think highly of Studentenverbindungen that continue the Mensur tradition. It's still classist, but at least it's voluntary.
JESawyer 2 Jun 10
Alpha Protocol has mouse smoothing on PC even though PC gamers hate mouse smoothing. Games still use escort missions even though people hate escort missions. Can you comment on why developers use things they know most gamers dislike?
Sometimes they think that games don't really (in any significant volume) dislike that thing. Other times they believe that gamers only dislike that thing because it hasn't been done "right".
On occasion, they are correct. Usually they are dead wrong.
JESawyer 2 Jun 10
arachronox is a game i really want to finish but i cant stand the turn based combat they used for it, yet i keep coming back, but only because of the setting and story. have you had a similar experience?
Honestly, no. When a game has bad game play, I stop playing it. I like good stories in games, but as seasoning, not the main course.
JESawyer 2 Jun 10
Do you game? A lot of designers say they don't have the time. If you do, what games are you looking forward to in the next year or two?
When I have time, I do play a lot of games. I currently have a back log of fourteen games that I can't get to until work slows down.
I can't even think about what's coming out in the next year or two; I still have last year's games to play through.
JESawyer 2 Jun 10
Isn't having too much or too firm of a 'concept' in mind when approaching concept art a danger? The initial character designs for Deus Ex: Human Revolution provoked a huge backlash because the New Renaissance concept had overtaken good taste.
It is better to be talked about than ignored. I believe the following:
If you enter into creative endeavors cautiously and conservatively, you will create things that are cautious and conservative.
If you enter into creative endeavors aimlessly, you will create things that feel empty and disconnected.
I think it is best to be passionate but flexible, to consider mainstream tastes and expectations, but not to be bound by them.
JESawyer 2 Jun 10
You're taking a lot of abuse on this Q and A site, and I can only imagine it's far worse on forums that discuss the games you played a part in making. I'm sure it's not personal, but how do you not let it get to you?
If you devalue pride enough, humiliation doesn't have much effect.
JESawyer 3 Jun 10
Do you still keep in contact from coworkers/buddies from Interplay - Black Isle (i.e. Leonard Boyarsky) ?
Leonard had already left Black Isle by the time I arrived. I try to keep in touch with members of the old crew when I can. Not all of them are in the industry anymore, but if they are, I bump into them every few years. As large as gaming has become, the industry is still surprisingly small.
JESawyer 3 Jun 10
You mention that you like history books. Which period exactly, also biographical or more of memoirs (i.e. "Band of Brothers" or Alexander the Great biography)?
I am most interested in European history from about the 11th to 18th centuries. I especially like social and religious history. I enjoy reading primary sources as well as secondary overviews of historical trends and aberrations. Most interesting of all are books that cover cross-cultural confusion and miscommunication.
Some favorite books on these subjects include The Cheese and the Worms (Il formaggio e i vermi) by Carlo Ginzburg, The Night Battles (I benandanti, also by Ginzburg), The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci (Jonathan Spence), Angurgapi by Magnús Rafnsson, and The Perfect Heresy by Stephen O'Shea.
JESawyer 3 Jun 10
How come so many RPGs lately have minigames in place of simple skill checks? Do they really add anything worthwhile to the game?
They add player challenge. Whether or not you consider that to be worthwhile depends on your point of view (and probably the quality of the mini game). Simple skill checks only reward (or punish) your strategic choices. Outside of manipulating the character's skill rating, there is nothing the player can do to influence the outcome.
JESawyer 3 Jun 10
Out of all the games you've worked on/are working on, which would you consider the most fun to play?
Of the games I've shipped, Icewind Dale II.
JESawyer 4 Jun 10
Who punches harder? Your Dad, or mine?
I don't think I can make a reasonable guess, but my dad is in his 60s and I still would not want to be punched by him. He grew up doing a lot of punching and taking a lot of punching. His nose was broken so many times that he's had breathing problems since he was a young man.
JESawyer 4 Jun 10
You always talk a lot about role playing video games, which is normal, really, working on them it's your job, but what about tabletop? Do you like them? Any favorite ruleset? Some memorable moments you'd like to share?
I'm currently in a 4th Edition D&D campaign. I've been playing D&D in one form or another since about 5th grade, starting with the red book Basic Set. Of the D&D editions, I like 4th the best so far, but I haven't done any high level play.
Generally speaking, I think most tabletop RPG systems are crummy. It's very telling that the latest edition of D&D in many ways resembles an MMO rule set more than a traditional tabletop RPG rule set. By their very nature, games on a computer can be systemically tested much more quickly than they could be by hand (or on tabletop). This process tends to separate the wheat from the chaff at a rapid pace.
When I play in a tabletop game, it's usually because I like the setting/GM/players. When I GM, I adapt or modify the existing rule set or create my own. Setting-wise, my favorite is probably Delta Green. I also really like Al Amarja (Over the Edge), Mythic Europe (Ars Magica), Dark Sun, and Cadwallon.
JESawyer 4 Jun 10
You look like a vegan. Am I right?
Wrong.
JESawyer 5 Jun 10
What's your opinion on full voice-over for games, especially, you know, role playing games? Do you think they're a necessity? Do they hinder development in your opinion (you know, like 'I can't write a dialogue so long because the budget doesn't let us!')
It's expensive and can be hard to coordinate. It doesn't really have much of any impact on how we write, though.
In eleven years of making CRPGs, full voice over/lack of full voice over has honestly never factored into how I have written dialogue, structured a quest, etc. I have also never had someone come to me with a writing problem involving full voice over or lack thereof.
JESawyer 5 Jun 10
You look like a vegetarian who really likes cheese, am I right?
Yes.
JESawyer responded to elpinkogrande 5 Jun 10
I'm curious about the divergence between the systems used in tabletop RPGs vs those used in CRPGs- it seems to me that mechanics regarded as outdated in tabletop are regularly used in CRPG's, such as classes, levels, and HP. Why do you think that is?
Mainstream tabletop games use many of these things and so do mainstream CRPGs. In Nomine and Everway players may consider classes, levels, and hit points to be outmoded conventions, but the ratio of them to D&D players is about 1 to 1,000,000.
JESawyer 5 Jun 10
You said that you have multiple games sitting on your shelf waiting for you to play them (some of them even from the last year). What are these games? =)
Demon's Souls (only a few hours in)
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (same)
Brütal Legend
Uncharted 2
Valkyria Chronicles
Mass Effect 2
Bioshock 2
Battlefield: Bad Company
Bayonetta
Metro 2033
Dirt 2 (need to play more)
STALKER: Call of Pripyat (need to finish)
Red Dead Redemption
... and a few others.
JESawyer 5 Jun 10
Are you addicted to social networking?
maybe???
JESawyer 5 Jun 10
Would you rather create your own IP or work with a license?
I would rather create my own IP, but I'm sure the general populace would rather play something that's licensed.
JESawyer 5 Jun 10
A main problem reviewers have with Alpha Protocol is that it looks like a shooter, but its mechanics are that of an RPG. Do you agree a game should play like it looks on the surface? Is there still a place for stat mechanics in real-time action games?
You shouldn't confuse or irritate the player. Please also see Brütal "Not an RTS" Legend. Note: challenge can occasionally produce some irritation, but is ultimately followed by satisfaction, not angry exhalations of consternation.
There's certainly a place for stat mechanics in real-time action games. Just don't make it feel crappy. Castlevania games have been consistently using stats for about thirteen+ years now, so I think it's pretty viable to marry stat progression/character advancement with real-time action.
By this point in time, I think we have enough examples of games that get it right and games that get it wrong that we shouldn't be re-treading the same mistakes.
JESawyer 7 Jun 10
How come you have all the time to go on formspring and answer questions? Hopefully this means that a certain game is already finished.
During crunch I work between 10 and 13 hours a day. I usually answer formspring questions when I wake up or before I go to bed.
JESawyer 7 Jun 10
You said in regards to minigames: "Simple skill checks only reward (or punish) your strategic choices." Isn't that sort of the entire point of having stats in an RPG? Isn't that the entire point of the RPG genre (on a fundamental gameplay level)?
No, because most interesting aspects of game play in RPGs still require tactical decision making.
Imagine if every battle in an RPG were resolved based solely on the statistics of your character. That is, you had no tactical input at all—not where your character moved, not how your character attacked, not what special abilities/powers/consumables were used, etc. The battle would simply start and play out based on how you built your character prior to the battle starting. It would be much like watching a Gold Box game with every character set to (Q)uick.
The mixture of strategic and tactical game play is what makes games like the old Gold Box and Infinity Engine games enjoyable. You build your characters a certain way and then make decisions with those characters "in the moment" to determine success or failure. Even in a real-time combat system like Oblivion, you still have to make tactical decisions to make the most of your strategic character and equipment choices.
When a mini-game is well-executed, it's very enjoyable—though some may argue that at a certain point, it stops being a mini-game and instead becomes a stand-alone method of game play. I would much rather play with stealth in Oblivion than in any Infinity Engine game. Though Oblivion's perception AI and states are not as robust as Thief's or Splinter Cell's, it's still (to me) much more enjoyable than pressing a "hide" button and making a bee-line through an area with die rolls determining success or failure.
JESawyer responded to zhandao 7 Jun 10
I'm on my second playthrough of AP, and t's obvious that you had to make compromises between stats and "twitch" skill. How did you decide on where the lines were drawn?
The only system I worked on was martial arts/CQC. I decided that martial arts should start good and get better. At low ranks, it's more of a close-quarters emergency method of dispatching enemies and a stealth kill aid. At higher ranks, it is a pretty viable method of dealing with most enemies as long as you can get close to them.
In some environments, martial arts can be used consistently through a whole level to take out enemies. In others, it has to be used in tandem with stealth or only when enemies rush Mike.
JESawyer 7 Jun 10
'because most interesting aspects of game play in RPGs still require tactical decision making'.. isn't that a point AGAINST minigames? I've yet to play a minigame that requires tactical decision making, they're mostly just busywork... shouldn't this kind
You're arguing that because minigames you have seen do not require tactical decision making, minigames cannot require tactical decision making. This is reasoning through induction.
Practically speaking, many minigames could be made tactical by introducing a resource that can be optionally spent to facilitate completing the minigame more easily.
For example, if the hacking minigame in the original Bioshock allowed you to spend a found/purchased resource to temporarily pause the flow of water, you would have a tactical decision to make: complete the puzzle in the alloted time under the pressure of the clock, or use a consumable to do it more easily.
In turn, this causes tactical decisions to feed into strategic game play. Frequent use of the consumable may eventually result in a shortage, making subsequent hacking attempts more difficult. A player who wants to rely on the resource may sacrifice more to have it. A player who goes without may find the challenges more difficult, but is able to spend his or her resources elsewhere.
JESawyer 7 Jun 10
By the way, your example strikes me as 'let's make this minigame as unfun as possible, so that the player will be forced to choose between busywork or wasting resources.' I don't see how that resolves the problems the Bioshock hacking minigame had.
I'm not trying to address your personal problems with the Bioshock minigame—because you didn't state any. I'm addressing your assertion that the lack of tactics in specific minigames is an argument against the existence of any/all minigames.
A hacking minigame can be tactical, just as stealth game play can be tactical (it isn't in most RPGs) and combat can be tactical. Whether individual aspects of game play are or not is a) based on the design/content of the individual element and b) separate from whether or not it is interesting/fun.
An argument that "developers/designers should aim to do more interesting systems than busywork" won't meet with any debate from me, but I think it's wrong to suggest that minigames inherently = busywork.
JESawyer 8 Jun 10
Would you rather go back to the old Black Isle days or would you rather stay with Obsidian?
I prefer to move forward while minding what's behind me.
JESawyer 8 Jun 10
Which do you believe is a more important factor in creating a good game: having a strong story and dialogue, or having strong gameplay?
Having strong game play. I think when Lord Gamerson invented games, the best thing he did was put the word "game" in the term "game play".
JESawyer 8 Jun 10
What do you think of 'metaplots'? (IE the Old World of Darkness's fiction continuity, world events in MMORPGs, etc) Do they eliminate player choice by backgrounding them, or create the illusion of a deeper and more dynamic world? Or both?
Old World of Darkness fiction... continuity? Good one.
Player choice involves what the player is directly involved in. I think the stature and significance of the player's actions has to be measured in the context of other things that are going on.
If mountains are being moved in comparison to what the player is doing, the player's actions may seem insignificant. If the player's actions start out small but then grow in importance and become directly involved with what was previously a high-profile background plot, I think it can create a believable sense of growth and importance.
In any case, I think that presenting an advancing "world" narrative that is reflected in the environment is a good thing.
JESawyer responded to samthedeathclaw 8 Jun 10
Then you'll play a game even if it's story is worthless, but it's gameplay is good? *My response to previous question*
Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) is one of my favorite games and it has a less-than-good story, so yes.
JESawyer 9 Jun 10
Do you people read those "IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS" threads? If so, do you consider those ideas? If not, why not? I feel like they're pointless at times, because devs don't even reply to those mostly. Feels like lots of people writing for nothing sometimes
I read many of them but do not usually respond.
JESawyer 9 Jun 10
In your metaplots answer you warn against the player feeling insigificant, but do you feel that that is necessarily a bad thing? Are games forced into being a Dick Fantasy for players? Even in Silent Hill you're still "The Only Guy Who Matters"...
It is only a bad thing if the world's narrative is what is making the player feel insignificant. A game that focuses heavily on one character's personal struggle can be intensely focused on just that, with very little background narrative, and I think that's fine.
If the world puts a lot of attention and emphasis on big things happening in the world and you're not really part of it, I think that can be problematic.
I think Assassin's Creed 2 did a good job of balancing big world events with the secret assassin/templar world of Ezio. The things Ezio does are intertwined with (and in some cases cause) the major events of the setting, but ultimately Ezio is driven by a very personal motive: revenge.
JESawyer 9 Jun 10
you must change your appearance often, you look different every time i have seen you
Not really. When I go on motorcycle trips I usually don't shave for about 3–4 weeks but otherwise I keep my hair/overall appearance pretty similar/plain.
JESawyer 9 Jun 10
Did you work on Mask of the Betrayer? One of Obsidian's best games. (technically an expansion but who cares)
I only helped out with a little combat balance, which was very hard with a 20th+ level D&D game. All of the writing, quests, and other stuff (that people really liked about MotB) was done by other people.
JESawyer 9 Jun 10
Let's say that, hypothetically, someone offered you a job at a proper studio instead of Obsidian. Would you take it?
Hypothetically they would have to start out by not denigrating the people I've spent the majority of my career working with.
JESawyer 9 Jun 10
Is it true that it never rains in southern california? I've often heard that kind of talk before.
It is extremely uncommon, only about 15" a year, on average.
JESawyer 10 Jun 10
What do you ride a hog or a crotchrocket?
I ride naked standards. So far I've had a '99 Ducati Monster,
'06 Triumph Bonneville T100, '74 BMW R60/5, '73 Honda CB350, '69 Honda CL350, and a '67 Honda CL160.
JESawyer 10 Jun 10
Which Obsidian game released so far are you most proud of?
Mask of the Betrayer.
JESawyer 10 Jun 10
A friend of mine who used to work in game design says that the biggest problem with roleplaying game stories is that developers mistake writing more for writing better and that other genres are better suited for interactive storytelling. What do you think
If the central narrative is meaningfully interactive, I would classify it as an RPG. That is, I consider interactive storytelling to be the primary defining characteristic of RPGs.
I don't disagree that some designers write too much, but I think that's an indictment of specific content, not the fundamentals behind the genre.
JESawyer 10 Jun 10
Bioware gets a lot of flack for recycling the same plot structure a lot. Do you think it's a creative vice to recycle that much, or is it alright to reuse the plotting so long as the dialogue, characters and worldbuilding are fresh?
I approach storytelling from the perspective of theme and conflict first and work backward from that. I have been criticized for developing plots that do not meet players' basic expectations for tempo/pacing/structure, so I may be the wrong person to listen to when it comes to such things.
The way I look at it, you have to try to satisfy your audience and hopefully yourself along the way. If you can get up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror, and earnestly believe that you're doing the best you can to meet both of those goals, keep going.
JESawyer 10 Jun 10
http://fallout.bethsoft.com/images/vault/diaries/06.08.10-team-B.jpg Is the guy all the way on the left(standing) Russian?
No. He is an American of Eastern European (but not Russian) ethnicity.
JESawyer 10 Jun 10
Are you more on the "photorealism" or the "cartoony" side when it comes to graphics in computer games? Why?
I think that the visual aesthetics of a game should be driven by what you're trying to accomplish with them. Heavy Rain is really trying to present a very grounded, subdued world where subtlety can carry a lot of weight. Okami creates a fantastic painted world because it's rooted heavily in myth and abstracted imaginary landscapes.
Use your fundamental concept of the world and game to visualize the world you are going to create, consider how your characters fit into and move through that world, and let that vision—even if it is indistinct—drive the visual aesthetics.
JESawyer responded to zhandao 11 Jun 10
On your comment on interactive storytelling: You would not consider old dungeon crawlers as RPGs, then? And do not many adventure games center around interactive storytelling?
I would consider them RPGs by the definitions of their time. If someone were to make Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord today, I would not consider it to be an RPG.
JESawyer 11 Jun 10
Have you read anything about Deus Ex: Human Revolution's "Verbal Combat" system? If so, what do you think of it based on what you've heard?
I have not, and Google is not turning up any matches. If it's something that turns conversation into a game that is a) not mundane and b) requires some sort of tactical or strategic thought beyond "pick the right response", I will probably like the basic idea.
JESawyer 11 Jun 10
Serious question tyme! Who would win in a boxing match between a Dinosaur and Charlie Chaplin?
Dinosaurs don't follow rules very well so I think they would be disqualified pretty quickly.
JESawyer 11 Jun 10
What's your opinion on first-person RPGs like Ultima Underworld or FPS/RPG hybrids like Deus Ex and System Shock? Do you feel like RPGs should only be done in the third-person or isometric perspectives or does it not matter?
I think it matters for the specific game, but I don't think perspective is a defining characteristic of RPGs. Perspective is something that should be considered in the context of what you are attempting to accomplish or achieve.
JESawyer responded to zhandao 11 Jun 10
Can you elaborate on why contemporary RPGs are defined as interactive narrative? IMO RPGs have always been the same - dependent on the player's development of a character's stats. E.g. AP would have been enhanced as an RPG if there were dialogue skills.
Would you consider Castlevania: Symphony of the Night to be an RPG? How about Devil May Cry 4? Ninja Gaiden? Call of Duty 4? All of these games feature the gaining of experience points (or equivalent) to unlock new abilities.
Advancement of character abilities is not unique to RPGs—certainly not in the 21st century, anyway.
Most of the criticisms of AP have to do with the elements that aren't role-playing related. Personally, I don't think the DSS system would be improved with the addition of dialogue skills.
JESawyer 11 Jun 10
How come you and the guys at Obsidian never bother to correct all these journalists who keep crediting Obsidian designers as the "creators of Fallout". None of the creators work there, you guys shouldn't steal their credit.
They usually don't say "the creators of Fallout" but something like "some of the creators of the original games", which is true for Feargus, Avellone, Menze, ScottE, Aaron Brown, and Chris Jones.
JESawyer responded to zhandao 11 Jun 10
I would consider the xp aspects of the games you mentioned to be RPG systems, yes. But they are first and foremost action games, as your twitch-skill trumps the strategic planning from developing stats. Whereas in a "true" RPG, this is not the case.
Would you classify Oblivion and Mass Effect as "true" RPGs? Both are games in which your ability to actually aim attacks and time input are the primary determining factors in landing hits/doing damage.
JESawyer 11 Jun 10
You said you've done writing for games too? Didn't know that, I always assumed you weren't a story designer since I've never heard anything about your writing (no offense intended). So what games have you done writing for and what parts did you write?
I've done writing for Icewind Dale, Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter, Icewind Dale 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, and a little for Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir. The only two major characters I've done have been Isair and Madae in Icewind Dale 2, and they weren't particularly good.
JESawyer 11 Jun 10
In response to your Oblivion/Mass Effect question, I don't know why we have a black and white view of it. Do you think there can be a gradient scale of "RPG-ness" on which Morrowind would be more of an RPG than Oblivion, but both are RPGs.
They don't have to be black and white views, but if you're going to classify things based on criteria, those criteria should be consistent. The previous question declared, pretty emphatically, that Castlevania: SotN, DMC4, et al. were action games with RPG elements. Given Mass Effect 1/2s primary reliance on player skill in combat, what makes those games RPGs and not action games with RPG elements?
JESawyer responded to zhandao 11 Jun 10
I see ME as it's classified, an Action RPG. Course, there's a very blurry gradient between an ARPG and an action game w/RPG elements. But it's clear (to me) what the RPG elements are. Oblivion, diplomatically speaking, is not very good at being an RPG.
Overlapping the mechanics of Mass Effect and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, what are the elements of ME that make it an RPG and R6V2 not an RPG?
JESawyer responded to zhandao 12 Jun 10
I think you misunderstood. As ARPGs are a hybrid of two elements, it's NOT easy to classify one. As such I *don't* classify ME as a "true" RPG. However it does have *more* RPG elements as R6V2 has equipment stats but no character stats and skills.
I don't have any difficulty classifying them because I don't intrinsically link styles of combat with the RPG genre. I classify games as RPGs based on their interactive storytelling. More specifically, if you have the ability to define and express your character(s) personality in a way that significantly alters the development of the story, it's an RPG. If you don't have that ability, it's not.
Where does Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare fall on the RPG scale for you? It has stat-heavy equipment, XP, levels, classes, unlockable classes, and perks.
JESawyer responded to zhandao 12 Jun 10
How are games such as D2 (and 3 coming up) ARPGs, then, as they do not have interactive storytelling? What about Oblivion and Morrowind, as they do not allow storytelling or personality choices? You can do well easily in COD4 without unlockables. Not ME
I don't consider the Diablo games to be RPGs. They are action games with character advancement and equipment upgrading. It doesn't make them better or worse games because of how I classify them.
JESawyer responded to zhandao 12 Jun 10
Furthermore, while it is necessary to be clear in classifying what constitutes as an essential element of a genre, actual implementation usually combines multiple genre elements and thus need not be easily classified. Popular example: Action-Adventures.
I think "action-adventure" is one of the broadest/least clear genre classifications. I may just be dense, but when someone tells me that a game is an action-adventure game, it gives me no clear idea of what to expect.
JESawyer responded to Fstam 12 Jun 10
What the hell is with this rhetoric? So you're telling me that if stats are not exclusive to RPGs then they are not necessary if the story is "interactive"? The average text adventure has a more "interactive" story than the average RPG. What about that?
Text adventure games typically don't allow you allow you to define and express your character's personality in a way that meaningfully changes the development of the story. An interactive story, to me, means more than just going through it via player input.
JESawyer responded to Fstam 12 Jun 10
Would that mean text adventures are RPGs? And to be clear RPG=stat system and dice rolls. But stat system =/= RPG so please stop using Castlevania or whatever else game which doesn't even have a proper stat system or dice rolls in defense of your point.
There are RPG systems that don't use dice to resolve conflicts. Most notably, Amber uses straight statistic comparisons. Marvel Universe uses bids of resources to resolve conflicts.
A lot of the more recent (starting with Symphony of the Night) Castlevania games have a full array of "basic" stats (Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, Luck, Attack, Defense) in addition to purchased/leveled spells/powers/familiars. I don't know if that constitutes a "proper" stat system to you, but has always seemed well fleshed out to me.
JESawyer responded to Fstam 12 Jun 10
Seriously, this is embarrassing to read. To be clear: Interactive storyline is not IN ANY WAY essential to RPGs.
I don't share the same opinion and I don't see why that's such a big deal.
JESawyer 12 Jun 10
So, you consider a game an RPG if it lets you define your pc's personality in a way that "significantly alters the story". There must be very few games you call RPGs then, since most only offer the illusion of choice and the story stays the same.
Yes, not that many. I think that offering the illusion of choice is bad for any game. I'm fine with being put on rails in games. Please just don't give me ten ways to be redirected into the same outcome.
To be clearer, I think it's fine if RPGs plot lines wind up in a similar place. But many RPG plot lines are made up of a lot of little relationships, small quests, and character conflicts that you can resolve as you see fit. That is what I think is interesting and find rewarding.
JESawyer responded to zhandao 12 Jun 10
Well, the general audience considers the Diablos to be ARPGs. If that's not the subject, then we have come to an impasse in the argument. I'd say MY criteria, though, for an RPG, is asking whether I can win without leveling up (or a similar mechanic).
I will certainly not argue that the general audience considers the Diablo games to be ARPGs. I've only been trying to advocate my position; sorry if it came across wrong.
JESawyer 12 Jun 10
You once said you were interested in a Fallout spin-off based during the resource wars. Does this idea still interest you? Because it sounds like it would be awesome.
Yeah, I think it could be really cool, especially if the focus was on the European/Middle Eastern conflicts. Maybe that's just me, though.
JESawyer 12 Jun 10
Since we're on the subject of what makes an RPG or not, what do you think of games that have role playing options but force the player to use the developer's own protagonist instead of letting us make our own (like Planescape Torment, or Alpha Protocol)?
Personally, I prefer RPGs where I have some control over my character's appearance, sex, and (if I'm lucky) voice. But if I'm stuck with a pre-defined appearance, that can also work.
JESawyer responded to nathanarthur 12 Jun 10
who do u think is going to win the world cup
Hmm. I know Brazil is the top-ranked, but I'm thinking... Spain? Depending on how they move out of the group stage, they could wind up playing each other as early as the first round of stage 2.
JESawyer 12 Jun 10
To be clearer with that question: AP for example gives us a lot of role playing options but Mike's personality is often that of a sarcastic guy regardless of our dialogue picks and the player isn't able to change that. So would you still call that an RPG?
Yes, but I can understand the criticism.
JESawyer 16 Jun 10
Are you on of the few Americans who actually know something about football, or are you jumping on some world cup bandwagons, PS good game last week, USA played well, even if they did draw due to a bit of a fluke
I know a bit about football, but I don't regularly follow clubs. I am a bit of a bandwagon jumper when the World Cup comes on.
JESawyer responded to Fstam 16 Jun 10
The big deal is that you're basically denying the RPG classification to a huge number of games while potentially giving it to others that have nothing else besides "interactive storytelling".
You already think I'm an embarrassing idiot, so why do you care how I classify anything?
JESawyer 18 Jun 10
You used to be cool. What happened?
I was never cool sorry.
JESawyer responded to Nimdok 18 Jun 10
Any idea why game companies seem to dislike hiring writers?
Many professional writers approach games as though they are films. The limitations that apply to films do not apply to games and vice versa. Writing for games requires a level of vocational knowledge that many professional writers (in my experience) are not willing to develop. There are exceptions, of course (e.g. Rhianna Pratchett).
JESawyer 18 Jun 10
E3. What impressed you? What didn't? Both as a gamer (that doesn't have time to play) and as a developer (who spent all his time doing interviews, I'm going to assume).
The only game I saw at E3 was Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. It looked interesting, like an evolution of the college campus favorite "Circle of Death" assassin games. Otherwise, all I did at E3 was give presentations and interviews.
JESawyer 18 Jun 10
Why do so many games have characters with gigantic ugly shoulder pads on their armor? I don't get it.
I can't answer the aesthetic concerns, but large shapes help define easily distinguishable silhouettes for characters. Silhouettes that read well at a distance are often an important element of developing distinctive characters. It's also useful for game play since it helps the player quickly identify characters in an environment.
JESawyer 18 Jun 10
Where can I get the NCR T-shirt you wore at E3?
Putting this on FB and Twitter since so many people are asking me: unfortunately, I don't know. The shirts were provided by Bethesda.
JESawyer 18 Jun 10
how often do you go to moldytoaster.com ?
Zero times per infinity.
JESawyer 18 Jun 10
How do you feel about gamers' tendency to give all credit for a game's success to one designer instead of the whole design team (e.g. MCA for Planescape: Torment, Warren Spector for Deus Ex, etc)?
It's bad/almost assuredly factually incorrect. In some cases the game being lauded may have turned out well in spite of the worst efforts of the most high-profile person associated with it.
JESawyer 19 Jun 10
Does formspring have death penalty for ignoring pointless questions? Or what actually get shown is just the tip of an iceberg?
I have 474 unanswered questions including this one. This tally excludes ones I have already deleted. You be the judge.
JESawyer 19 Jun 10
Do you tuck in your t-shirts?
I do not tuck in t-shirts or shirts with straight hems. I tuck in shirts that have dress shirt hems because I am not a barbarian.
JESawyer 19 Jun 10
A lot of games have dialogue trees where to return to talk about another topic, you say "I want to talk/ask you about something else". Why do that? No one talks like that. When people want to talk about something else, they just bring the topic up.
Short version: it's an organizational convention.
It is much easier, structurally, to do this than it is to a) load up every node with all possible questions or b) guess at what the player might want to talk about in any given node.
Dialogue trees are fundamentally oriented around two types of data: nodes (or topics) and replies. Beneath any given node, the designer will typically place replies that are relevant to what's being discussed. These are sub-topics or branches of that topic. At the root level are the major topics. To help the player navigate (by preventing an enormous list of potential topics), designers will typically allow the player to go two or three node layers deep with two to four options per node layer.
If the player wants to talk about something else (especially if it is completely off-topic from what's currently being discussed), the player will include an option like, "Let's talk about something else." This will move to a main question/master question node with the root topics. The player can then delve down into those basic topics and branch off.
JESawyer 19 Jun 10
Which system do you prefer for skill checks: direct comparison (I've always called it threshold) or dice rolls?
In a computer/console environment with reloading, direct comparisons always.
JESawyer 19 Jun 10
Do you feel that it's forgivable for a RPG to be worse at a gameplay element than another game more dedicated to it because it's a RPG and does other things? The question partially applies to other genres as well such as FPS's with poor vehicle combat.
It can be marginally worse, certainly. It just shouldn't feel bad. It can also be "worse" in breadth but just as good in depth, which I think is also perfectly reasonable.
Let's say a game wanted to have most of the stealth elements of Thief. It has the AI, the light, the sound (including audio occlusion), but it doesn't have extinguishable lights, water arrows, rope arrows, moss arrows, or any of that jazz. If the AI, light, sound, etc. are well executed, the goodies that are missing really aren't that big of a deal—in my opinion, anyway.
JESawyer 25 Jun 10
You said writers in the industry require a level of vocational knowledge. I know that I want to become either a video game writer or game designer someday. Can you tell me a little more about what you mean, and how you'd recommend acquiring these skills?
Computer/video games allow user input and user interaction. This can change many aspects of the narrative, including plot sequence and pacing. In most Black Isle/Obsidian games, it also means that the player can take the story in different directions. They can kill characters, change the outcome of a quest, skip steps in the storyline, etc. It's important for writers to understand the mechanics players use in games and how they experience the story. It's different from the typical movie's two hour captive audience experience.
Playing games, especially RPGs, is a good first start to understanding how games work. Additionally, I would recommend that anyone who is interested in doing game writing should try making a very small mod. In addition to doing the basics of level layout and game play, script interactive conversations or cutscenes. Not many, just a few.
Because of the scope involved and the learning curve, I would recommend using Oblivion's/TES4's editor. The conversation tool can be daunting if you try to make the conversations too complex, but it will give you a good idea of how interactivity / choice / different outcomes can create difficulties for how you write and script things.
JESawyer responded to zhandao 25 Jun 10
I thought a bit more on our discussion. I think I argued more on what *is* considered an RPG while you argued what you think *should* be an RPG. Then, I'm interested in why you consider an interactive narrative in an RPG. Thanks =)
I think what tabletop RPGs (D&D, specifically) introduced that was revolutionary was the ability to make your own character. This does included "statty" stuff, but was building upon/expanding rules from Chainmail, a war game.
Tabletop RPGs allow you to make a character, define his/her personality, and express it during game play in whatever way you see fit. DMs adapt and change the story based on the outcome of the player's actions.
Through the 80s and early 90s, all CRPGs could do/did do was simulate the war game and character advancement aspects of their tabletop counterparts. Ultima games started to experiment with player choice and morality around Ultima IV. I may be forgetting some important precursor, but I believe the original Fallout was the first RPG that allowed the player a "judgment-free" way to play the game as anything ranging from a saint to a horrible monster—with appropriate reactions to that behavior. I believe this was the point where RPGs started to emulate the underlying character / personality mechanics of RPGs in addition to the stat / advancement / combat mechanics.
Moving out of the 90s and into the 00s, western RPGs focused increasingly on player personality, interactions with companions / NPCs, and ways in which the player can alter the outcome of the story based on those interactions and choices. Concurrently, other "non-RPG" games (e.g. Castlevania) started leaning more heavily on traditionally "RPG" character stat / advancement mechanics. By 2010, character stats / advancement are far from exclusive to the RPG genre, but companies like BioWare, Black Isle, Obsidian, Troika, and Bethesda, have put an enormous amount of focus on making games where character choices have a directly supported / scripted effect on the story (in contrast to something that is more abstracted / systemic like The Sims or GTA).
Don't get me wrong; I like character statistics and advancement. I think they should be part of all sorts of games, and I appreciate it whenever I can get it. But when it comes to the sort of games I help make that are going to be called "RPG", it's important to me that we always do our best to actively support the player's ability to the sort of character they want to make—with a heavy focus on personality reactivity.
JESawyer 25 Jun 10
What's your favorite Joanna Newsom song?
Hmm. That's a hard question to answer. Esme may be my current favorite. Other contenders are In California, Good Intentions Paving Company, Emily, Sadie, Sawdust and Diamonds, and En Gallop.
JESawyer 26 Jun 10
Can you give some insight on how much input the "worker bees" have on the creative process in game making? Is it like the movies where a grip or cameraman just follows orders, or does everyone within Obsidian contribute to the creative genesis of a title?
Everyone can contribute, either by offering new ideas or by giving critiques on what we're making, but there is still a hierarchy to how decisions are made. The source of inspiration or feedback should not have much, if any, impact on how it is evaluated.
JESawyer 26 Jun 10
What's your least favorite Joanne Newsom song?
Probably Three Little Babes/The Wife of Usher's Well—which is actually a traditional folk song. I love folk songs, but I don't like that recording. I think my dislike for it is due to it being mostly in her upper register, where she is constantly straining and practically yelling through the entire song.
My favorite recording of The Wife of Usher's Well is German countertenor Andreas Scholl's on his folk song album, Wayfaring Stranger.
JESawyer 29 Jun 10
As seen on your formspring, you're always mentioning D&D and the d20 System. What do you think of White Wolf's Storytelling/Storyteller RPG System (if you've played any games using it, or maybe looking at it from the outside)?
It's a pretty bare-bones system, mechanically. I understand that's sort of the point, but I always felt it had balance issues in part because it is so abstract.
Also, I'm fundamentally not a fan of dice pool/successes-based systems like Storyteller/Shadowrun/L5R (RPG, the original). Probability is obfuscated for a lot of people and you're still rolling a boatload of dice. As a GM, it can be hard to tweak probability with dice pools because of the math involved.
JESawyer 29 Jun 10
When was the last time you were hungover?
I've never been hung over, never been drunk.
JESawyer 30 Jun 10
How do you feel about NPCs straight out lying to the player?
I think it's totally fine, though it is nice to allow the player to see through it if they a) run through the story in a way that allows them to see through the falsehood immediately or b) have a special perk/statistic that allows them to catch the person in the lie.
JESawyer 30 Jun 10
Do you think that it's possible for a return to old-skool, 3D isometric RPG games like the classic BIS games with the advent of mobile gaming like on the iPhone or the DS/PSP?
I'd like to think so, though I'd guess the only handheld platform that has significant overlap with fans of those games is the mobile phone.
That is, I'm sure you could make a lot of those sort of games on handheld platforms, but I'm not sure that the audience is there.
JESawyer 30 Jun 10
Hi. How do you perceive difficulty in RPGs? Is it just a matter of fights, hard levelling up? Or is it mainly a matter of complexity of relations between NPCs, hard moral decisions, logic puzzles and other non-violent aspects?
I think difficulty and agony are two separate things (or should be) in games. Combat and "contested" game play should be oriented around challenge, of which difficulty is an important element. The focus is on figuring a way through a problem. This can be a puzzle, logical or otherwise, through which there are a finite amount of designed paths, or it can be something like combat, with a theoretically infinite number of strategic and tactical approaches.
When it comes to making moral decisions, ethical decisions, or character decisions with NPCs, I believe the focus should be on agony in the classical sense. The struggle is to make the choice, not to succeed or fail. If you're guessing blindly, success and failure aren't particularly interesting. In many cases, it's boring or infuriating.
The reason why stories like Antigone and the Oresteia are interesting (to some) is because their characters are trapped between two equally good (and bad) choices. Orestes makes the choice to avenge his father's death by murdering his mother, but in doing so is pursued by the Furies for his filial betrayal.
JESawyer 11 Jul 10
Okay. Let's say you're writing an RPG with a traditional 3-6 member party, a camp or stronghold area, all that stuff. How do you do companion dialogue? Player-intiatiated at camp? Any time in the field? When triggered by environment or quest? Or a mix?
When it's appropriate and not irritating to the player. I think it helps when companions initiate conversation based off of something the player is also experiencing. If the character just launches into a topic at an inappropriate time, it can annoy players and distract them from whatever subject the companion is talking about.
JESawyer 11 Jul 10
Do you think it's hypocritical for western developers to bash Japanese games for being highly linear when the trend in western games, even western role-playing games, is towards linear, low-choice cinematic games?
I do not think that is the trend in western role-playing games, so no.
JESawyer 11 Jul 10
Do you actively seek out creative work as source of inspiration for a particular project, or do you follow your own outside interests and be pleasantly surprised when they become useful for your RPGs? -Hombre Gato
When doing research, I generally read non-fiction because I find that it's more inspirational and interesting than genre fiction. I'm more concerned with understanding how things work (or don't work) than I am with understanding what people are familiar with, if that makes sense.
JESawyer 11 Jul 10
Could you explain a little your hostility towards institution of marriage?
Ultimately marriage vows are ritualized promises. I don't personally find any value in rituals or promises, but if other people do, I don't begrudge them for indulging.
That said, I don't think civic institutions should have any part in legitimizing or invalidating legal contracts between any number of healthy, consenting adults. I.e. I believe marriage as a legal concept should be dissolved and adult citizens should be allowed to draw up contracts between themselves granting each other the same sorts of legal rights that would normally be provided by marriage. Why should any government regulate such things beyond ensuring that all participants are doing so free from coercion and mental distress?
JESawyer 11 Jul 10
I don't know if you can answer this, but still, why Obsidian, a relatively little developer, with a not-so-relatively troubled history, continues to focus on two teams with two games at a time instead of doing the (natural imho) choice of simply focusing
Publishers pay us to staff with a given number of employees. That number is typically a lot less than the full developer roster at Obsidian. Additionally, tying yourself to a single project means that you are effectively at the mercy of that single project. Milestone payments, publisher relationships, etc. all rise and fall with the fate of that game. Publishers also know this, and can leverage that vulnerability to the detriment of the developer.
By working on multiple games with different publishers, milestone payments are staggered, there is more flexibility in moving employees around, and the individual publishers have less leverage over the company's daily operations/fate.
JESawyer 11 Jul 10
Does your girl friend think the same about marriage as you?
We're not part of a mind-meld, but her opinion is pretty similar.
JESawyer 11 Jul 10
Whats it like having a wiki dedicated to yourself?
Fine I guess though I wish someone would update my picture since Icewind Dale II was a while back.
No pressure.
JESawyer 12 Jul 10
You know that you could update the picture on wiki yourself, can't you?
Internet bushido.
JESawyer 12 Jul 10
Do you work a 5 day week?
I usually work a 6 day week, though lately it has been bumped to 7.
JESawyer 14 Jul 10
While I in general agree with the idea of largely disolving the outmode institution of marriage, I still see benifit to having a institution recognizing such a relationship. Largely because not all of us can afford lawers.
I'd argue that if you can't afford a lawyer you probably can't afford anything other than a plain civic wedding. And if you eventually get a divorce, you're going to need a lawyer anyway.
JESawyer 14 Jul 10
Videogame Cover Art. Is it better to be artsy, like Ico's de Chirico inspired cover, vaguely abstract like Dragon Age and Alpha Protocol, or to be more quasi-literal like Gears of War?
It completely depends on the market and the message you're trying to send about the product. I know that's a vague answer, but it really does depend on what you're trying to accomplish.
Ico was a very unique game in its time, so its cover art (at least the Euro/Japan art) was appropriately distinct in its style, composition, and content. It immediately told the viewer, "This game is different from the other games on the shelf."
JESawyer 14 Jul 10
Are Brian Mitsoda's criticisms of VG voice acting from his RPS Vampire: Bloodlines interview (that nonsensical dialogue, a lack of direction, and a lack of context make it difficult for actors to produce a strong performance) accurate in your opinion?
Those factors can definitely make it very difficult for voice actors. Our writers, especially Chris Avellone, work very hard to ensure that voice actors have as much context and direction as we can give them. Honestly, a lot of this has to do with adhering to writing standards (making sure designers always provide pronunciation guides, inline emphases, directions) and ensuring that dialogue is exported in a format that includes antecedent lines and flows in a logical fashion.
JESawyer 14 Jul 10
7 days a week? Does that include overtime?
I (like most developers) am on salary, so overtime doesn't really apply to me. During the week, it means starting between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m. and going home somewhere between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. On the weekends, it's closer to a six or eight hour day.
JESawyer 14 Jul 10
What is your favorite David Bowie song?
I can't pick one. Depending on my mood, Space Oddity, Subterraneans, Modern Love, Oh! You Pretty Things, or As The World Falls Down.
JESawyer 15 Jul 10
What's the most hardcore, punishingly difficult CRPG you've played?
Probably The Magic Candle. Maybe I was just terrible at it, but I remember having difficulty getting anywhere in the game.
JESawyer 15 Jul 10
What are your thoughts on hiring a "big-name" composer or musician to score your games? If it's something you've considered, who specifically would you approach?
I have no problem with big-name, small-name, any-name composers as long as they can do a good job scoring games.
I've always been very impressed with the musical range of Amon Tobin and I thought his soundtrack for Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory was really fantastic and original.
JESawyer 28 Jul 10
So you don't meat, but get a leather wrist band?
Meat and leather are different products that are produced and consumed in different ways. I have no problem with hunting animals or raising them for slaughter. It's the conditions of the meat industry and the recent human trend of consuming meat seven days a week that caused me to stop doing it. At this point I've abstained from eating meat for so long that there's really no reason for me to seek out humane sources for occasional meals.
JESawyer 28 Jul 10
That shirt you wore on G4 was awful. It didn't suit you at all and it looked even worse on the set they were using.
Cool.
JESawyer 28 Jul 10
Why are you the one that always gets interviewed?
I'm not. Larry, Chris Avellone, and Feargus have also been interviewed.
JESawyer 29 Jul 10
What's your personal preference: stealth boy, diplomacy boy, or action boy? metaphorically speaking,of course.
Stealth boy, usually.
JESawyer 3 Aug 10
Every time I start thinking you're the epitome of cool, you say something really uncool and disappoint me. First it was your weird marriage philosophy(and you never answered about cultural traditions of marriage), then vegetarianism, now dislike of beer..
I'm not sure why the activities I abstain from matter so much to anyone.
Cultural traditions have no inherent value to me. Our societies have retained and discarded a lot of them over time. Marriages used to be arranged a lot more than they are now. We also used to have dowries. For good or ill, I don't see a lot of people complaining about abandoning those traditions.
Speaking of hard-dying marriage traditions, sati was particularly difficult to end in British India. General Napier of the occupying force, no stranger to terrible customs, had this oft-paraphrased observation to make, "You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."
Our societies tend to use traditions as blunt instruments and discard them when they become inconvenient or otherwise unpopular. There's really nothing special or sacred about marriage considering how much it has changed over time.
JESawyer 3 Aug 10
Does Starcraft 2 prove that a real PC game made for that platform can succeed still in 2010? Or are Blizzard just amazingly immune to what supposedly keeps the platform on the back-burner for AAA titles?
Blizzard has an infrastructure (battle.net) that allows them to effectively monetize Starcraft 2. Without battle.net, you're not on the ladder, you don't have matchmaking, and you're otherwise cut off from some of the main attractions of the game. None of this would be matter if Starcraft 2 were anything but spectacular, but since it is, their infrastructure allows them to ensure that people are paying.
Blizzard shut down bnetd for a pretty obvious reason: battle.net is Blizzard's DRM. If people don't need battle.net, they don't need valid CD keys. If they don't need valid CD keys, they don't need to pay to play. When you get down to the basics, between making a great game and enforcing payment, it really is as simple as that.
JESawyer responded to Chelawhita 3 Aug 10
Do you think video games should be considered "art"? If so, who is the "author"?
I don't care if people think games are art or not. Frankly, I don't care if people think paintings are art or not.
I think it's a waste of time to argue about what word any given person should use to categorize what I'm making. I'd rather spend my time working and taking feedback on substantive issues.
After using something I've made, do you feel (in some way) that you are better off than you were before? If yes, mission accomplished. If not, I failed. If we aren't, in some fashion, discussing that topic, I don't care.
JESawyer 3 Aug 10
What do you think of these new kinds of dialogue systems we've been seeing (like in Mass Effect, Alpha Protocol)? Do you think they're an improvement or do you prefer the regular dialogue tree that let's us know exactly what our character will say?
Since there's going to be full text either way (even if it's only displayed after selection), I would like to see "verbose" options in the menu for people who like more detail.
I don't think being surprised by what your character says is consistently a positive experience. Being more explicit ahead of time helps mitigate that, but I understand why some games have abbreviated summaries.
JESawyer responded to AlbanC 4 Aug 10
There is growing interest for "Narrative Intelligence" from academics and AIGame developpers. Are you are interested by that? How would it work for cRPGs according to you? Could it allow game makers to reach the "open story" goal? @Alban_
When academics deal with people who are part of a creative industry, they have to understand that many of us are actively attempting to solve problems that are right in front of our face. These problems are usually based on practical logistics, not a shortage of ways to generate stories or interesting characters. Similarly, while I believe that many gamers would find the idea of narrative intelligence interesting, it is not something that I have seen many gamers requesting, much less demanding.
I am sure that research into narrative intelligence must be immediately relevant to some industry, but I do not believe that many developers or publishers will invest a great deal of time or money into it in the near future.
All that said, I don't think there is anything all that special about our brains. If we don't destroy ourselves, I'm confident we will someday be able to generate AI that can dynamically generate stories that react to our actions in ways that support great reactive game play. If that day comes within my lifetime, so be it. Until then, I'll keep trying to do it the old fashioned way.
JESawyer 24 Aug 10
Sati in India was practiced by a tiny minority and understood as reprehensible and backwards by the vast majority of Indians, but became prominent largely as a rationale for British imperialism and moral superiority. Similar to footbinding in China.
I believe that any practice undertaken solely because it is "traditional", regardless of its potentially deleterious effects, should be examined with critical scrutiny—whether it is widespread or marginal.
As a side note, true imperialists need no greater rationale than the acquisition of resources. It's the public along for the ride that needs the comfort of moral superiority.
JESawyer 24 Aug 10
About General Napier... Not a very good example of admiring customs. I really like to look at you when Indian occupant forces come to US and then some Indian general force YOU to admire theirs customs. Something like "burn US citizens alive"
I'm not admiring General Napier. Please read the end of that post: all societies use "custom" and "tradition" as bludgeons to get what they want. When those customs and traditions become more trouble than they are worth, they are abandoned by whatever group holds power.
JESawyer 24 Aug 10
With the rather big exception of the project you're working on, it seems that Obsidian has almost made it a design tenet to make maps in their games as small and devoid of exploration as possible. Is it just because those were sequel to Bioware games or?
We like making larger levels that support exploration. When we don't, it's usually because of engine constraints.
JESawyer 24 Aug 10
Has the massive influx of Continental-Influenced philosophers into English, History, Art and Sociology Departments in the sixties eroded the separation between Philosophy and those discplines in yr opinion?
Yeah. I'm only speaking from my experience with history, but I'm not sure if there's a compelling argument to suggest otherwise. I'm sure someone, somewhere, is making it.
Basically the only history professor I ever had who wasn't PoMo as heck was a very traditional professor of (primarily) English history named William A. Chaney. He lectured, held salons, and generally conducted himself in a fashion that was markedly different from the 30-40 year-old professors.
My focus in history was witch-hunting, which is an orgy of postmodernist delight. Language, power, sex, gender, sexuality, class—it has it all!
JESawyer 24 Aug 10
Does nationality have a substantial effect on creative output in the globalized world? Is this output important on works that have multiple creators? For context: this question is coming out of a fight a friend and I had about Azarello's run on Hellblazer
On creative output? No. However, I do think it has a large impact on productivity over a large scale. Put three or four people in small office and their passions and capabilities will dictate what they produce. Put sixty people in a large office and the company's culture will dictate what they produce.
Culturally, Americans would rather sprint until our knees explode than consider slowing down. We cut corners and burn ourselves out to get the most stuff done as quickly as possible. It isn't efficient, and it often isn't as good as it could be, but boy it sure gets done in a hurry.
JESawyer 1 Sep 10
Does focus testing serve any real purpose in game design/balancing or does it stifle creativity?
It's a useful tool, but you have to weigh the feedback appropriately. If you really want everyone from grandmas to babies to enjoy playing your game, you have to be willing to really alter the experience a lot. If you're making Elitist Cool Guy Video Game 2010, then you're probably going to a) focus test a very specific group of people b) ignore a lot of negative feedback if it goes against a different goal than "making people happy". If you're really not interested in audience acceptance, focus testing probably isn't necessary/important at all.
I mean, would Duchamp's "Fountain" be more successful with focus testing? Who cares?
JESawyer 4 Sep 10
Do you think intertextuality in videogames is desirable, or is it just wanking about how brilliant the developer is?
Being learned and being brilliant are two different things. Overt intertextuality usually reveals more of the former than the latter and reveals readers' tendencies to conflate the two.
E.g., Umberto Eco is brilliant, but I believe that the intertextual references in Name of the Rose feel more more natural and appropriate than those in Foucault's Pendulum. Foucault's Pendulum is generally lauded as being a better book despite having, in my opinion, serious issues with pacing and being marginally less obscurely referential than Gargantua and Pantagruel.
In video games, much of what the player sees and hears comes from other characters. If the game is set in the real world, overt intertextuality can make sense for certain groups or individuals. We are always building on the foundations of those who have come before us.
JESawyer 20 Sep 10
What's your feeling on Silent Protagonists? Some people say it's more immersive and better not to put words in the player's mouth, some people say that Silent protagonists are inevitably too passive.
Personally, I prefer voiced protagonists. I feel more of an attachment to the character that way. I also like seeing my character in normal game play, so I prefer third person perspectives.
But I think this is something that comes down to person preference. You can't objectively quantify "immersion".
JESawyer 20 Sep 10
In VtM: Bloodlines Troika uses stuff like bizarre phone designs and juxtaposition of dated and advanced technology to create a sense of alternity without being too alien. How come so few games reach for that kind of subtler middle ground?
Because accomplishing something through subtlety is more difficult than smashing someone over the head with a familiar hammer.
JESawyer 20 Sep 10
Do you think that we could remedy the problem of RPGs having terrible fantasy settings incrementally? Like now we are on average in the Elizabethan era but with elves. Maybe in five years we could be on average in the Regency with elves?
The flaws in fantasy settings usually have to do with their fundamental premises. If the premise is that it's a traditional fantasy setting TURNED ON ITS HEAD / WITH EDGE!! then you've just booked a one-way ticked to Dullsville.
That said, a lot of the perception of a setting is reliant on how it is presented. A single setting interpreted and presented in three different ways can be received very differently even by the same audience.
Finally, I'd say that the setting is just that: a place where things happen. A compelling story within that setting is necessary for the player to retain long term interest in what's happening outside of the moment to moment game play.
JESawyer 20 Sep 10
For a specific example of intertextuality: Bioshock basically sets itself up as a sequel to Atlas Shrugged that nullifies Galt's Gulch. Is this brilliant, learned, or clumsily batting at an ideological opponent that can't fight back?
At the very least, it is quite clever. As for batting at an ideological opponent that can't fight back: we're talking about Atlas Shrugged here. One good turn deserves another. The world has more than enough objectivists to critique Bioshock.
JESawyer 21 Oct 10
Has Obsidian considered the possibility of working on smaller and more focused project? No offense, because I REALLY like your games, but it's painfully clear at this point that you don't have the manpower and expertise to work on AAA projects.
I'd love to work on smaller games, but ultimately I don't determine what projects the company undertakes.
JESawyer 21 Oct 10
Happy Birthday Josh! May New Vegas be your most successful project ever! That said, there's something I wanted to ask: does your reputation (as in Obsidian's) as 'great writers but poor programmers' feel like a burden on your shoulders?
I think our programmers often have to deal with incredible stress and very difficult problems for which there often are no easy solutions. They also often get blamed for bugs that are not their fault, which is even worse. They aren't recognized for the work they do and they are blamed for work for which they were never responsible. That's pretty crummy.
JESawyer 21 Oct 10
How old were you when you engaged in your first romantic relationship?
15 I guess... ?
JESawyer 21 Oct 10
So I'm reading the Bioware forums during the delay of their DLC and the rage, anger and horribly offensive statements are just amazing. As a developer I'm sure you are at the receiving end of similar things, does it effect you at all? Can you read it?
It doesn't affect me much. I've heard it all by this point. What's true is true and what isn't doesn't matter. If someone blames a developer for something erroneously and it would be problematic to attempt to correct it, or if someone makes personal attacks on you or the people you work with, the best you can do is shrug your shoulders and try to address the underlying concern.
JESawyer 21 Oct 10
How extensive is the editorial process for video game prose? It seems pretty shoddy, especially on continuity. For instance Jack from Mass Effect 2 was raped three times according to dialogue and barkstrings because no writer checked another's work.
It varies a lot. For RPGs, it can be difficult due to the sheer volume of text being created. ME2 had a huge number of writers, so I would imagine it was hard to wrangle everything.
JESawyer 21 Oct 10
Just curious, but what do you think about California's candidates for the Governor seat?
California is inexorably becoming a failed state, so I think the candidates are irrelevant. I don't agree with everything Schwarzenegger tried to do, but he sure tried to do a lot and didn't get much done. Between Prop 13, ballot initiatives, and the populace voting on them, the state couldn't correct its financial problems with the lab-grown genetic blend of J.D. Rockefeller, William Randolph Hearst, and Andrew Carnegie as governor.
JESawyer 22 Oct 10
Rockpapershotgun made a pretty personal attack on Obsidian in their (terrible) New Vegas review. It's just one example of poor gaming journalism which in my mind is pretty rampant right now in this industry. As a dev, does it concern you?
Not really. I guess there are really two things to examine in the review. The first are the implications of laziness and/or incompetence. Those implications are irrelevant; Fallout: New Vegas is what's being reviewed, not Obsidian. Additionally, I and the other people on the team know what level of effort we put into the game. People not involved with the development of the game, whether reviewers or endusers, do not.
The second issue is the state of the game. That is the point of the review and the reviewer's comments seem as fair as anyone else's.
JESawyer 23 Oct 10
The writing in New Vegas is truly exemplary, kudos to you and your team, but that seems to not get mentioned in many reviews. I posted some forum comments to that effect and was basically told writing doesn't matter to a lot of people in games. Agree?
Writing absolutely does not matter to a lot of people playing games. This is something I've accepted for a long time. For a lot of RPG players, game mechanics really don't matter. They will gladly march through a game that they hate if they enjoy the writing and story.
JESawyer 25 Oct 10
Whoever did Vault 11 should win an award. I found no real treasure, no big, difficult fights, but it still stands out as the single best gaming experience I've had in years.
Eric Fenstermaker designed Vault 11.
JESawyer 25 Oct 10
Who wrote Yes Man?
John Gonzalez.
JESawyer 25 Oct 10
Who did the writing for Veronica? She's my favorite companion by far and quickly becoming one of my favorite female characters in gaming, period.
Eric "Hollywood" Fenstermaker.
JESawyer 25 Oct 10
Who did the writing for Arcade Gannon?
I did.
JESawyer 26 Oct 10
I'm curious (and I mean this question in a very basic way) about how you develop on three platforms at once (PC, PS3, and 360). When it comes time to test a 'build', I imagine that you can just launch the PC version. What do you do to run it on 360/PS3?
We have proprietary tools on the PC that allow us to transfer local or remote builds to the 360/PS3 dev kits. This transfer copies over any platform-specific data as well as any current user data (plug-ins/local design overrides) to test content. Once it's transferred, we (developers) launch the game from the console's dashboard or remotely from the tool.
Testers do something similar but may be running under optical drive emulation or off of an actual burned DVD depending on what they are testing.
JESawyer 30 Oct 10
fartz
lol!!!!
JESawyer 30 Oct 10
What a great game. The writing is absolutely phenomenal. And the whole faction mechanics, the complicity and importance to story and character feedback, is a new landmark in storytelling in video games. Who did the writing on Rose of Sharon Cassidy?
Thanks. Chris Avellone wrote Cass.
JESawyer 30 Oct 10
Why are a disproportionate number of FO:NV's human companions gay or bisexual? Perhaps "disproportionate" isn't quite right, as it implies a culturally mandated norm. But if 9/10 people are straight or straight-acting, 3/4 gay/bi characters seems high.
There are many things about the human companions that are statistically atypical, but there are only four of them, so it shouldn't be surprising that they don't break down along probabilistic lines. If designers strictly followed what was probable in companion design, there would likely never be gay or bisexual characters at all given the relatively small pool players are choosing from in any given game.
Ultimately, the companions who do express their sexuality (of any sort) do so as an aside and usually only when being directly asked about themselves by the player.
JESawyer responded to LimeHalloran 30 Oct 10
I hate to break the rule above, but after hearing the Fallout-ized country songs you did on the game's radio, an idea struck me. What would you think of an adaptation of "Oklahoma!" set in the world of Fallout?
Call it "Glow-klahoma: The Rise and Fall of West Tek".
JESawyer 30 Oct 10
big words, lol
lmao
JESawyer 30 Oct 10
so who did the writing for Caesar in New Vegas, and who decided he should give an overview of Hegelian dialectics?
John Gonzalez wrote Caesar and I asked for Caesar to present his rationale in the framework of Hegelian dialectics.
JESawyer 1 Nov 10
Hey! My dad wanted me to tell you that the encounter that Fenstermaker put at the end of Vault 11 reminded him of the BGII Tactics Mods. He said it was too easy though because you could game it with C4. This isn't really a question tho, so w/e.
C-4 is made for situations like that, so your dad is Good At Video Games(tm).
JESawyer 1 Nov 10
My Dad says that the problem is that C4 is overpowered and increases the effectiveness of metagaming (IE trapping paths you know the AI will cross) over actual tactical skill or skill at the game's primary mechanics. He also is looking over my shoulder.
C-4 is a limited resource but fundamentally isn't much different than a big pile of frag mines. Using C-4 or frag mines or equipping pulse grenades ahead of the end of the scenario are all meta-gaming. Really once the "big reveal" is done, either you get through the fight or you reload. Once the reveal has happened , meta-gaming about the scenario that follows on a reload is sort of inevitable.
JESawyer 1 Nov 10
The Caravan minigame is a great idea, but it was exploited soon after release via 1. the initial discard mechanic and 2. a stacked deck of 7s, 9s, and 10s. Do you have any ideas for improving/fixing the minigame, and d'you think we'd see these in a patch?
The biggest flaw in the current AI (a known bug) is that the enemy AI will never play face cards against the player. High-value decks like 7/9/10 or 8/10/K don't work very well against an opponent who can play jacks or kings against you. You wind up spending a lot of time recovering from nuked 16/20-value cards or a busted caravan sitting at 40 that forces you to jack your own high-value cards or destroy the caravan entirely.
JESawyer 1 Nov 10
I think my dad is just kind of hung up on the Infinity Engine games and finds any tactical thinking to be immersion-breaking in shooter-ish games because for him tactical combat is about isometric views, tiny men, and turn-based-combat.
The IE games feature some of the most meta-gamey post-reload combat in any RPG. Your father should search his heart until he realizes the truth of these words.
JESawyer 4 Nov 10
Tell whoever designed the ammunition crafting system to craft themselves a .22 and use it on their own head in the shower. What on earth were you thinking? Did the design have a million more guns at some point or what?
That's a vague critique so I don't know how to respond other than to say, "That's a vague critique."
JESawyer 4 Nov 10
What kind of work did you do in New Vegas? Specific things like any important locations or characters?
I implemented and tuned all of the weapons, designed the perks, all of the system and combat design modifications, and wrote Chief Hanlon and Arcade Gannon. I also did the high-level concept design for all of the areas, but didn't do any core area design or implementation myself.
JESawyer responded to iHasRabies 8 Nov 10
Who did the script for the guy who makes neon signs on the Strip called Michael Angelo? His character is very different from other folks in New Vegas.
Jorge Salgado.
JESawyer 8 Nov 10
Would Obsidian ever consider, and I mean within the near foreseeable future, using a whole different engine for the next Fallout game? Perhaps this is a question better aimed at Bethesda, but the Gamebryo engine just seems to have far too many limitations
That is a question for Bethesda, as it is their franchise.
JESawyer 8 Nov 10
Who designed the White Glove Society questline (Beyond the Beef)? Hands down one of the best quests I've seen in an RPG.
Eric Fenstermaker.
JESawyer 8 Nov 10
Who wrote most of the dialog options? To be totally honest, I think they are a slight step down from Fallout 3 in terms of wit and humanity. Nonetheless, the rest of the game and its characters are just as good as its predecessor.
Dialogue writing was shared by a number of designers. A few designers focused heavily on writing while others split writing responsibilities with area design and implementation.
JESawyer 8 Nov 10
Hey I recently beat Fallout: New Vegas and i saw u wrote some songs in the game in the ending credits. and i was wondering what it was like making those songs and also how it was like being a lead designer on one of the best games ever made?!
We had to make the songs pretty quickly toward the end of the project. For the guitar songs, the guitarists (Nathaniel Chapman and James Melilli) had to learn the pieces in an hour or two. There wasn't any time to transpose anything, so I had to sing the songs in whatever key we had guitar tabs for. For side content, I think they turned out pretty well.
JESawyer 8 Nov 10
What do pen & paper RPGs still have as an advantage over computer RPGs? Do you think CRPGs will ever achieve those things?
Tabletop RPGs allow a range of expression and improvisation that isn't currently possible with CRPGs because everything is happening through the medium of the computer.
JESawyer 8 Nov 10
What, exactly, is a "Fenster". I'll take my answer off the air, thanks.
A window.
JESawyer 8 Nov 10
Who did the writing for the Cassidy girl? "Shhh ... We're hunting shitheads" is a p. cool line.
Chris Avellone.
JESawyer 8 Nov 10
Was it you who thought of fisto?
That was Robert Lee.
JESawyer 8 Nov 10
Is Obsidian open to being bought like Arkane Studios or Bioware or do you guys value your independence too much? I can imagine you being the "Fallout guys" for Bethesda or the "Western RPG" guys for Square/Enix and having a lot of success with that.
That's a question for the company owners.
JESawyer 15 Nov 10
HUMP ME
@__@
JESawyer 15 Nov 10
How early was the anti-cheating device at the tables deemed necessary and who came up with the timer? I think it was a brilliant addition, even though I still saved and reloaded after a few crappy wheel spins.
Before we designed any of the gambling mini-games I had already talked to programming about implementing some form of anti-save-scumming feature.
Randomized gambling, especially for games with such a fast turnover, like roulette and slots, would have been kind of pointless without a disincentive to save-scumming.
JESawyer 16 Nov 10
I'm a bit annoyed by all the discussions of who are the "good" guys in NV when there clearly isn't one. Can you put this issue to rest, right here, right now?
I am a product of my LIEberal arts education and consequently, a moral relativist. This means not only am I not willing to put the issue to rest, but do not believe it is possible for me to do so.
JESawyer 16 Nov 10
Where did the witty/expansive dialogue go that was in the previous Fallouts? The conversation in FNV, despite being leagues above F3 in terms of writing and moral ambiguity, seemed to still be a tad superficial and not as in-depth as F1 or 2's. Why?
I don't think I can answer this because I don't know what you consider "depth".
JESawyer 17 Nov 10
To expand on previous question by someone else - in Fallout 1/2, player could say some really long lines of dialogues. This is not existing in NV. Is it (yet again) engine limitation? Or console one?
Part of that was a mandate from me that the writers not shove words into the player's mouth with basic dialogue responses. Generally speaking, the more the author defines what the player says, the less freedom the player has to maintain his/her character concept. I call it "emotional/intent loading". The exceptions to this are for stat-, skill-, or perk-based unlocks since they demand a higher level of specificity.
JESawyer 17 Nov 10
As far as "depth" in dialogue, I think that dude might mean literal depth, as in really deep trees with lots of nooks and crannies since that's what people mostly mean. tbqh it DOES feel like there are fewer of those outside of the Legate Conversation.
Without doing a side-by-side comparison to F1/F2, I think F:NV has a large number of deep dialogues. Off the top of my head, Caesar, Mr. House, and many of the companions have extensive dialogues.
JESawyer 17 Nov 10
Doesn't refusing to put the issue to rest and citing moral relativism in fact put the issue to rest insofar as people who subscribe to authorial supremacy are concerned?
Not everyone believes in authorial supremacy. Some people/schools of thought ignore authorial intent entirely.
JESawyer 17 Nov 10
I started playing New Vegas as a "might makes right" character expecting to follow the Legion, but it ends up they have a strange moral code that doesn't really fit with, so I went independent. What is a one sentence character summary for a Legionnaire?
True to Caesar.
JESawyer 19 Nov 10
As of "emotional/intent loading", you ended up making PC's dialog really characterless and it's hard to care about a generic character. I understand if you don't want to over develop PC, but not developing it is not an answer.
It certainly is an answer; it's just one that you don't like. The lines with specific intent were ones that didn't have to do with run-of-the-mill queries. I think you risk alienating a lot of people by adding secondary tone to basic questions and statements. It does give character to dialogue, but there's no telling if any given player will like the character that's being given. And if the only way you can ask an NPC what should be a straightforward question is to pick a line you don't like because it has a side-order of sass the author decided to throw in for chuckles, it can get irritating.
JESawyer 19 Nov 10
One of the depth problems is the fact that a lot of quest-related dialog options reside amongst first set of choices, negating any need for investigative approach. NPCs loose depth from their blind belief in PC and from PC having less incentive to explore
Forcing players to wade through dialogue they may not be interested in doesn't make that dialogue more compelling; it just makes it mandatory.
If you're interested in details and background information, explore the dialogue trees. If you're not, don't.
JESawyer 19 Nov 10
Do you think it's possible for narratives within games to ever achieve the level of nuance present within the milieu of certain cinema, or TV shows like 'Mad Men'? Moreover, do you think there will be a sustainable market for these types of games?
Yes but I have no idea if there will be a market for it.
JESawyer 27 Nov 10
I think you got a bit too carried away and self-indulgent with the whole Roman aesthetic for Caesar's Legion. They were more like a big parody instead of an intimidating takes-no-BS army with some Roman culture influences. I couldn't take them seriously.
ok
JESawyer 27 Nov 10
"The game's design philosophy is that if you have line of sight to a character, the player must be able to kill that character (excepting children) using standard game mechanics." Wasn't making Lanius unkillable in Veni, Vidi, Vici a violation of that?
General Oliver and Legate Lanius both violate that, but disallowing player control during those sequences seemed preferable to putting them behind a bulletproof glass wall. Allowing the player to kill them during a sequence where they've already elected to support that faction also seemed pointless.
JESawyer 27 Nov 10
Are you gonna make plasma weapons stronger like they are suppose to be?
Some plasma weapons have been made more powerful for the patch.
JESawyer 27 Nov 10
Why weren't more games like dice or poker included? Especially since there are 'out of order' tables at every casino. Is this a cheap ploy to add more games via DLC, or was a game like poker to complex to implement in the time constraints?
Craps and Texas Hold 'Em are both relatively complex games in different ways. The craps tables are present as decoration only.
JESawyer 27 Nov 10
Does it bother you that F:NV is considered Fallout 3.5 even with large structural differences as far as quest design and exploration go? Which by the way, a lot of players seem to have noticed judging by the complaints and praise on the official boards.
Not at all.
JESawyer 27 Nov 10
The art design in New Vegas feels really inconsistent when it comes to weapons. Most of them seem really grounded in terms of visual design, but the 10mm and 12.7mm guns seem really incongruous. Is this something you thought about?
The 10mm and 12.7mm guns are some of the only "future guns" and both take their basic design cues from Fallout 1/2 weapons: the 10mm Pistol (slightly different design) and the 14mm Pistol.
If you look at a Browning Hi-Power, Desert Eagle, and a Ruger Blackhawk, you're going to see a lot of different design elements going on, but those are all weapons that are currently used in our world.
JESawyer 27 Nov 10
The fact that they're in older games, or that the inconsistency was in previous games, doesn't really matter. In FO1/2 it wasn't as apparently because there were only a handful of world map sprites (small pistol, big pistol, etc)
I disagree. It's a world with sawed-off shotguns, missile launchers, power fists, and plasma rifles. From F1 to F:NV, it's always been a grab bag of weapon styles and I think that's one of the appealing things about it.
JESawyer 30 Nov 10
Do all the terrible mods on the Nexus sites make you angry? I don't understand why some people think playing with a character that looks like a barbie doll with a ridiculously over the top hair style is cool. Never mind all the pedophile mods.
My tastes are not the tastes of the average gamer, and there are obviously gamers that have very specific tastes that are even more different. I may not like the aesthetic or mechanical changes that people make, but it's hard to really get worked up about what people do in mods. It's their game and they've put in the effort to make it more to their tastes.
JESawyer 30 Nov 10
David Gaider of Bioware says in Gamepro this month that RPG are games where "the player has a significant effect on the story." Do you agree that is an acceptable definition of a genre now very eclectic and diluted?
David's definition is not too far from my own. I believe that RPGs must allow the player to define and express the personality of his or her character in a way that changes the story "meaningfully" (pretty arbitrary, but it's my definition so...).
In most games where you can change elements of the story, you have the ability to do this through the the character in a way that makes it an expression of personality, so functionally the definitions are pretty similar.
Also it doesn't really matter what we think or say, just what we do and what players accept. BioWare and Obsidian both make games where you can define and express the personality of your character(s) in a way that changes the story meaningfully. We call these games RPGs, they're marketed as RPGs, and people buy/review them as RPGs.
There are games made by other companies that don't fit this definition but are still described/marketed/sold as RPGs, so it's really an ongoing war of defining/redefining these conventions as we choose.
JESawyer 1 Dec 10
never put obsidian and bioware in the same sentence (this is an exception). they know how to make good games that dont GLITCH EVERY FUCKING MINUTE.
oic
JESawyer 1 Dec 10
Who designed Crazy, Crazy, Crazy? It was a pretty simple but well-designed quest, with some of the most fun combat of the game.
Jesse Farrell
JESawyer 2 Dec 10
Were the songs you wrote intended to be played on the radio in Fallout NV, or just for the Tops shows?
Just for the Tops shows, though I think some folks internally talked about having them on the radio. Personally I think they disrupt the feel of the "legit" recordings on the radio, so I'm fine with them being Tops-only.
JESawyer 5 Dec 10
If you had the opportunity to actually make Van Buren, disregarding the public purely how you'd like to play it , would you opt for the original top down gameplay, something along the lines of New Vegas or another to best suit the game you wanted to make?
Van Buren was conceived as a top-down 3D game and that's how I would personally like to play it.
JESawyer 5 Dec 10
Who had the brilliant idea of making 'Return to Sender' a quest with oh-so-many endings and incredibly brilliant writing an incredibly tedious and incredibly long FETCH QUEST? And what was his/her reasoning?
I did. The ranger stations are located around interesting areas, so the primary gameplay enjoyment was intended to be derived from the exploration required to reach them. If you've already discovered all ranger stations and done everything around them (not likely), that's a problem. But then again, if you've already discovered the stations, you can fast travel to them.
JESawyer 5 Dec 10
Do you agree with the sentiment that giving players the ability to create incredibly powerful, nigh unstoppable characters (MoTB) is less important than staying true to rulesets and rulebooks? (DnD)
I don't think either is especially virtuous. Rules exist to give the player a framework for playing the game. The goal is for the game to be fun. For most people, being unstoppable gets boring pretty quickly. RPGs often allow people to eventually reach that point, especially if min-maxing, but if it's near the end of the game, that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
If a min-maxed character is capable of taking out end game opponents and challenges with ease, it's probably still a challenge for the non-min-maxer. As long as people are enjoying the game and feel rewarded for the character choices, I think it's fine.
Also, a lot of licensed rulesets are flawed or even outright terrible in their original forms. Staying slavishly devoted to an already bad ruleset when it gets translated into a completely different medium is a bad idea.
JESawyer 5 Dec 10
What are your thoughts on players "min-maxing" and using all kinds of tricks and maybe even exploits to create more or less game-breaking characters in RPG's?
That's part of the game. It's the system designers' job to make that rewarding without resulting in severe imbalances between the min-maxers and more casual players. Completely removing the ability to min-max (or the power of min-maxing, which amounts to the same thing) can lead to the player's choices feeling unimportant, which I think is bad in games in general and especially in RPGs.
JESawyer 5 Dec 10
your songs also suck.
cool
JESawyer 7 Dec 10
What is more important in an RPG: real choices with real consequences, or engaging, fun gameplay?
Engaging, fun game play should be the bare minimum expected in any game. If you're making an RPG, it should have that AND the ability to define/express a character's personality in a way that significantly changes the development of the story.
JESawyer 7 Dec 10
Who wrote Caesar and the Legate?
John Gonzalez wrote Caesar and Chris Avellone wrote the Legate.
JESawyer 7 Dec 10
You said that it would be hard to balance Explosives with Lockpick if you could blow up locks with Exlposives. Wouldn't explosives breaking stealth and having a high chance of destroying the contents of containers be enough for Lockpick to stay viable?
This assumes you care about being detected. If this is the case, you probably wouldn't have specialized in a weapon group that, by its very nature, is extremely noisy. Also, "chance" for a stand-alone randomized check effectively leads to save-scumming and isn't a viable solution in my opinion.
JESawyer 7 Dec 10
whos the homo that insisted on being so heavy handed with the gay dialogue and references in the game?
Alarm at the presence of homosexual dialogue topics is pretty interesting considering the majority of them only appear if you voluntarily take a perk that identifies your character as homosexual.
JESawyer 7 Dec 10
You've answered about other characters in Fallout New Vegas but not Craig Boone. His companion quest was compelling. Who wrote his story?
Eric Fenstermaker wrote Boone's dialogue and implemented his companion quest.
JESawyer 8 Dec 10
Confirmed Bachelor is considered a homosexual perk? Neither the name, the art nor the description gave any indication of that.
Confirmed Bachelor is a euphemism for a gay man. The icon art shows Vault Boy giving a massage to a naked Vault Boy with a heart floating over his head. I'm amazed that people look at that and sincerely come away thinking, "Hey, looks like a couple of bros just having a good time and giving a friendly massage."
JESawyer 8 Dec 10
Do you think it's plausible that, even if his people are tribals, Caesar would have been able to keep them oblivious of the fact that he's just copying ancient Rome and not divinely inspired?
Plenty of leaders have convinced thousands, if not millions, of people over history that they are, if not living gods, divinely chosen or appointed. There's nothing special about the people of the future.
JESawyer 8 Dec 10
Where do babies come from?
FEV.
JESawyer 8 Dec 10
Are you prepared to admit that you and the rest of the team behind New Vegas made a massive mistake in terms of the damage that energy weapons do?
No, because some Energy Weapons do great damage. A lot of them don't do enough—most importantly, the ones at the low end of the spectrum—and that is fixed in the upcoming patch.
JESawyer 10 Dec 10
Who did the writing for Chief Hanlon? His dialogue combined with Kris Kristofferson's voice acting is an outstanding combination.
I did.
JESawyer 10 Dec 10
As we head into a likely all-digital future, do you feel as a creator there is something lost when your game never has a physical version? I could imagine my work being on a shelf somewhere giving me a tad bit more pride.
I think humanity creates enough physical objects and am totally fine with most of our information media moving to a digital format. It's impermanent but so is everything (other than plastic).
JESawyer 10 Dec 10
I didn't really have any fun with FONV, but it's my 3rd favourite game ever. Why do you insist fun is a minimum when depth, writing, satisfying world immersion and adventure are more important than pedestrian combat? Maybe you should define fun.
Because you're playing a game, not reading a book. The time spent between reading cool dialogue should be spent doing something that isn't a tedious chore.
JESawyer 10 Dec 10
Do you think the reason we only see RPGs with world changing plots rather than something smaller scale is due to risk aversion on the publisher level? Do you think there is a reasonable sized market for a game that focuses just on a village or town?
Way of the Samurai did this pretty effectively. I don't think risk aversion is the issue; I think most developers want to create larger and more varied environments.
JESawyer 10 Dec 10
You seem willing to answer the most jaded and rude questions directed at you. How do you manage to not let all the negativity get to you? Or are you just a masochist?
Opinion and truth are not intrinsically linked.
JESawyer 10 Dec 10
Why limit sections of the map to players in the beginning with Deathclaws, Radscorpions and Cazadores? I understand the wasteland is treacherous, but at times it's discouraging even at max level with powerful weaponry.
Because if you see a difficult obstacle and make it past that obstacle on the first try, the obstacle wasn't that difficult and you didn't really accomplish anything. When the player surmounts difficulty in our game, I want them to feel like they met a challenge and put some genuine effort into overcoming it.
I use my own experiences at the deathclaw lair in F1 and Sierra Army Depot in F2 for comparison. Those are challenging areas, especially if approach at low level, but the game allows you to overcome them if you plan well. Especially when it's an optional objective or side path, I think it's good to bump up the challenge.
JESawyer 10 Dec 10
Obsidian, Bioware and Bethesda are the only North American developers that make RPGs (action RPGs are different) in recent times. Most other titles come from Europe. How do you view this development?
North American developers have high development costs and are focused on cross-platform (mostly console) development. Additionally, since RPGs have such specialized development requirements, I think it's difficult for new companies to spring up here. European companies, even if they have a large staff, often have lower development costs and often develop only for the PC. Since my roots are in PC gaming, I really enjoy seeing all of these new European RPGs and quasi-RPGs.
JESawyer 11 Dec 10
You said you liked European RPGs... what did you think of The Witcher? It's one of my favorite RPGs of the last 5 years.
I only played the EE but it owns.
JESawyer 11 Dec 10
Does Dungeon Siege III own? I need an answer ASAP.
Yah p. much.
JESawyer 11 Dec 10
During the ending of New Vegas about the Fiends, the voice over sounds familar to whom did the voice for Killian Darkwater in FO1. Is this the same voice actor or did I need to get my ears checked?
It's not the same actor. Richard Dean Anderson did the voice in F1. Motor-Runner's voice actor did the end slide for the Fiends. I don't remember the actor's name, but it wasn't RDA.
JESawyer 11 Dec 10
Fallout: New Vegas is tied with Fallout 3 for my favorite game, but my question is why didnt you guys add Area 51 to the game world considering how close it is to the Air Force base? I'm hoping that it will be a DLC because you guys could do a great job.
It really isn't that close and there's not a lot going on in the land between Las Vegas and Area 51.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sou...6.410231,-115.427856&spn=2.157308,4.22699&z=9
Also, Area 51 is most closely associated with (in popular culture, anyway) aliens, a subject Bethesda dealt with in Mothership Zeta.
JESawyer 15 Dec 10
I'm really digging how well set up the start of the game is. It's almost a perfect 20 degree rising slope, very good balance, very good timing of events, very good quests, was this a design goal or did you end up with this completely by accident?
Thanks. We spent a lot of time having ordinary enduser-type people playtest the beginning of the game. I think we still made a few mistakes early on, but the designers did a good job working around those issues.
JESawyer 15 Dec 10
ur so homo
oh word?
JESawyer 15 Dec 10
What's your take on the whole "achievements show only half of players finish a game so we're going to make them shorter" thing?
While I don't think we should design games to be unappealing to people, I also don't think we should cater to folks who stop playing. Our goal should be to make the experience more compelling so that fewer people stop. In some cases that may mean having less content so what's there is more well-polished, but I don't think we should cater to folks who generally don't get anywhere in games.
JESawyer 15 Dec 10
Why does it seem like you're writing these to yourself as an extremely roundabout way of telling people what you think about various topics?
I have over 1000 unanswered questions in this queue so I have a lot of options for selecting things I'd like to answer. If I just wanted to talk about a topic, I'd ENTER THE BLOGOSPHERE or something.
JESawyer 15 Dec 10
Why is their no option to make your character of Middle Eastern and Indian decent with 'Asian' meaning purely the mongoloid race
We just used the "races" that existed in F3.
JESawyer 15 Dec 10
Why was the 9mm SMG based on a scaled-down Grease Gun instead of the highly-underrated Swedish K (or its American clone, the S&W M76)? Filmmakers love the K (see: The Omega Man, Pelham 1-2-3, The Dark Knight), but it's never been in a single game!
Because M3s rule and a tiny M3 is even cooler IMO.
JESawyer 15 Dec 10
Will that one Caravan bug be fixed? The one where the AI opponent won't play face cards on your caravans.
I believe that is fixed in the most recent patch.
JESawyer 15 Dec 10
If the Kings are an entire gang of Elvis impersonators, why do only Pacer and The King do the voice?
Everyone else sucks at it.
JESawyer 15 Dec 10
Were you honestly expecting such a negative reception for Caesar's Legion?
I don't really think there has been a tremendously negative reaction to Caesar's Legion. Some people really hate various aspects of the Legion but most people either don't seem to care or like the Legion. I'd rather have people show strong opinions about a well-defined enemy than have everyone shrug their shoulders at Generic Bad Dude Faction #825.
JESawyer 15 Dec 10
Whose idea was Searchlight? I like the backstory a lot, particularly the pre-war part.
I wrote the basic high-level design documents for all major locations in the game. For Searchlight the high-level design for the back story was essentially "Guys carrying waste from San Onofre stop in Searchlight when war breaks out, local police tell them to park the trucks in the fire department, one takes off for Cottonwood Cove hoping to get as far away from the blast centers as possible."
Denise McMurry did all of the actual "for real" area design for Searchlight including writing all of the logs for the area.
JESawyer 15 Dec 10
Not to sound dumb, but why have a war over oil when everything is powered by small nuclear devices? A single nuclear unit in the home would take care of all power and heating needs.
Nuclear power still requires fuel and new fuel sources require new infrastructure. If we were to find a fantastic new source of fuel tomorrow, it would be a long time before diesel and gasoline internal combustion engines were off the road.
Additionally, petroleum is used in so many different products that even if we completely switched over to non-petroleum-based fuels we'd still be quite dependent on it.
JESawyer 15 Dec 10
Who made up all of the energy weapons?
I tuned all of the EW stats (too low for a lot of them, unfortunately), but the EWs were modeled and textured mostly by Mitch Ahlswede, Paul Fish, and Aaron Brown.
JESawyer 15 Dec 10
Doesn't your answer kind of implies that Caesar's Legion is "non-generic" bad guy faction? It kinda clashes with your promises of moral grayness.
Caesar's Legion is positioned as a faction that regularly does brutal things with the belief (Caesar's belief, anyway) that it will eventually lead to a much better, more stable, future. NCR is positioned as a faction that regularly does good things but systemically "loses" causes and pushes people around through neglect, bureaucratic inefficiency, and petty jealousy/spite.
The player's first encounters with each group are intentionally "bad guy"/"good guy" to set up an expectation that changes over time. While it well may be that people end F:NV believing that Caesar's Legion is the best solution to the problems in the Mojave Wasteland, I don't think many folks walk away thinking, "Misogynist slaver tyrants are really cool, good folks."
And honestly, what I say outside of the context of the game doesn't really have any bearing on what you think or what any player thinks. In the game, you're given the option to fully support the Legion's conquest of New Vegas/the Mojave Wasteland.
JESawyer 16 Dec 10
Who designed Come Fly With Me? It ended up being one of my favorite quests.
A number of designers worked on it, primarily Jesse Farrell and Akil Hooper.
JESawyer 16 Dec 10
Why is 12.7mm, 45-70 Gov't, and 40mm grenade ammo so hard to find?
Personally I never got the impression that 40mm Grenades were hard to find, but the 12.7mm and .45-70 Gov't ammunition types weren't showing up properly at some of the merchants (most notably, Gun Runners). That has been fixed in the most recent patch.
JESawyer 16 Dec 10
its funny how you worked on the earlier fallouts i think but fallout 3 made by new people was way better and you guys suck
cool
JESawyer 16 Dec 10
Why does a low INT character suddenly start talking like a caveman at Helios One, but not anywhere else?
There are a lot of perks, skills, and abilities that allow dialogue unlocks and unfortunately a few (like Low INT and Terrifying Presence) didn't have consistent coverage.
JESawyer 16 Dec 10
If Mr. New Vegas is an AI, how does he hold interviews with No-Bark and the new sheriff of Primm?
Obviously with the help of a team of talented, discreet field agents.
JESawyer 16 Dec 10
So this is a rather obtuse question, but I was wondering how much influence Bethesda exerted during development? Did you have to get shitloads of things approved by them, or were they more of a exterior presence, not really considered most times?
They mostly just asked us to avoid using certain groups or subjects for a variety of reasons. Though Bethesda reviewed everything we did, it was extremely rare that they asked us to change something.
JESawyer 17 Dec 10
you realize that "cool" "oic" "okay" laid back thing you got going on doesnt make you cool.
yeah it does it makes me really cool
JESawyer 18 Dec 10
Does Obsidian or Bethesda have any plans for GECK patches? It feels like the tool becomes more and more buggy with every release and nothing ever gets fixed.
GECK bugs go into the same pool as other bugs, though they might be given higher priority at times since it's what we have to use to make content. Personally, I haven't had many problems using GECK. There are a few "magic behaviors" that will (and have always, AFAIK) cause a crash, but I'm not regularly tripping over major issues.
JESawyer 18 Dec 10
Doesn't getting around 1400 caps and Pew Pew at the end of The Legend Of The Star kind of ruin the moral?
I don't think so, because the initial disappointment is what's important (and what most players appear to experience before finding Pew Pew). Also, everyone hopefully realizes that Pew Pew and those caps are quest rewards placed by game designers and obviously not the intended reward put there by the Sunset Sarsaparilla folks.
JESawyer responded to ThomasTinkletit 18 Dec 10
Another 12.77mm question, why are the weapons rare?
Most high-end weapons are rare in a general sense because they only appear when you're pretty high level. And when you're high enough level for them to start appearing, only the really tough dudes are going to be using them. The 12.7mm Pistol is considered a "tier 4" weapon and the SMG is a "tier 5" weapon. You should see more of the former than the latter, and earlier in the game. Even so, only certain enemies will carry them and only the Gun Runners will regularly sell them.
JESawyer 18 Dec 10
What would you say was the major lesson you took away after the development of FNV to apply (if possible) to future projects at Obsidian? Something you guys really got right, or wrong, for instance?
Use less complex scripting in quest scenarios and stage the development of quests in a more progressive fashion. I.e. start by implementing the A-priority, bare-bones, 100% solid scenario for everything first. Only after everything is in at A-priority does mad experimentation begin. The advantage to this is that if your mad experiments turn out to be completely idiotic experiments, you still have an A-priority path that, if arguably a little bland, still works as designed and isn't going to blow up in the player's face.
Starting with a scenario that is a complex Fabergé egg sets up a difficult task. If anything goes wrong, you're stuck with a non-functional scenario that's reliant on something that you can't immediately resolve. Both backing up or pushing forward can result in more problems and potentially wasted time. And if it somehow magically gets working, you really won't know how robust it is until it's tested thoroughly, which may be months away.
JESawyer 18 Dec 10
What's the matter? You can answer some fool throwing racial epithet but you can't answer people's many carefully worded questions?
Yes, I cannot answer the 996 answers currently in my queue because I don't really have time to.
JESawyer 18 Dec 10
after watching the fallout new vegas dev diaries, somehow it made me wonder if you posed for this photo - http://epicbattleaxe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/alpha_protocol_dated.jpg ?
No. I just look like every generic white guy with short dark hair.
JESawyer 18 Dec 10
Why did the Hunting Rifle go from being a pretty weak, low level weaon in Fallout 3 to a decent, mid-level weapon in New Vegas?
It did change calibers between the two games, but personally I thought the Hunting Rifle was a great weapon in F3 as long as you didn't try to use it in a firefight. I used it/Ol' Painless a lot for mid-range sniping.
In F:NV, the Hunting Rifle is positioned between the Cowboy Repeater and Trail Carbine/Sniper Rifle. The DAM difference between the CR and HR may not seem that significant, but when executing Sneak Crits, it can make a big difference, and the ability to use AP .308 ammo is also very important.
JESawyer 18 Dec 10
Ok this my......3rd question I believe about the desert rangers r u guys going to go deeper in their story bcos even tho tycho goes into the rangers a little u really don't c any more of them besides the statue and r we gona c them in a DLC or their armor
It is a mystery.
JESawyer 19 Dec 10
Your opinion about transparency in game mechanics is well-known, but what is your opinion about transparency when it comes to the game's story/branching? Should choices be obviously choices or more subtle?
I think those should obviously be significant choices as well, though the effects of those choices don't need to be immediately obvious. A lot of the end states for groups and characters in F:NV are based on choices you make much earlier in the game. But something that initially seems good for a person or group may turn out to be terrible.
JESawyer 19 Dec 10
Why can't the Lakelurks attack while underwater? All they do is give you a creepy stare and wait till you get to land to start fighting.
For whatever reason, nothing can attack while in deep water. It's something that was set up a certain way in F3 and we didn't change it.
JESawyer 23 Dec 10
Did you do any work on Dead Money?
I only worked on the weapons and a few of the perks.
JESawyer 23 Dec 10
You said before part of your job was weapon balancing. Does that extend to the DLC pack as well? Did you have an active hand in designing any new weapons? I think the weapons are tuned quite well and I'm worried any new ones might throw off the balance.
Yes. I tuned (and re-tuned for the patch) all of F:NVs weapons and all of the weapons in Dead Money. The weapons are designed to be effective in the DLC and weapons that you can find a use for in the core game. I try to avoid making weapons that are inherently superior to the best core weapons in F:NV.
The Automatic Rifle is very powerful but it has a few limitations (mag size and accuracy) that can make it less appealing in certain circumstances. A fully upgraded Holorifle does huge damage, but it is not quite as accurate as a Gauss Rifle and has a relatively slow projectile.
JESawyer 23 Dec 10
lol you played fallout 3 but yet you suck big balls at trying to replicate it with new vegas.
hmm yes yes keen insight
JESawyer 23 Dec 10
Which is your favorite game of all the Fallout series?
Fallout.
JESawyer 23 Dec 10
Which is your favorite game of all the Fallout series?
Fallout.
JESawyer 23 Dec 10
yea thats right just look at the metacritic scores bitch. fallout 3 did way better. 93 to 84 (360 metacritic)
oic
JESawyer 23 Dec 10
my name is josh sawyer.i am really gay and my favorite thing in the world is to make really stupid games and talk to people on formspring because im lonely. i also like people who masturbate in public. the end.
sweet
JESawyer 23 Dec 10
my name is josh sawyer i also take stupid closeup pictures of myself with absolutely no expression whatsoever because i think it's uncool to smile
rad
JESawyer 23 Dec 10
This has been bugging me for awhile, what's the Hunting Revolver based on? The only revolver that comes to my mind is the BFR as it's the only I can think of chambered for 45-70 Government.
It's not really based on any real-world weapon since I can't think of any double-action revolvers firing .45-70 Gov't. There may be one, but we didn't base the Hunting Revolver/Ranger Sequoia on a specific real-world revolver. The BFR is single-action and so is the Bison Bull (which is, by total coincidence, made in my hometown).
JESawyer 23 Dec 10
Did Bethesda do the QA on Dead Money?
We have a small internal QA staff, but Bethesda handled/handles the majority of QA for F:NV and its DLC.
JESawyer 23 Dec 10
You're inevitably going to get this question in multiple parts anyway, so who worked on the major writing portions of Dead Money? I'm especially interested in the companions, they actually managed to top the (quite well done) ones from the core game.
Chris Avellone wrote the Dead Money companions.
JESawyer 24 Dec 10
you son of a bitch think you can rip off your customers on their platform of choice by not releasing dlc on their console you jackass.
Developers (such as Obsidian) do not determine the platforms upon which content is released, nor when that content is released. Those choices are up to the publisher and platform companies (Sony, Microsoft, Valve).
JESawyer 24 Dec 10
Surely you receive many legitimate questions, so why bother validating the purile "questions" that attempt to insult you? For every troll you humor with "cool" or "rad" you could be responding to a more constructive or informative query regarding Fallout
Or I could not answer any questions at all!
JESawyer 24 Dec 10
I'm aware the BFR is single action, I figured if it were based on that revolver it might have been made double action for balancing or some other reason. But why choose the 45-70 Gov't cartridge, instead of the .45 Colt?
The bullet sizes and weights are similar, but .45-70 Gov't can be loaded to much higher power than .45 LC due to the longer case.
I picked a progression of three rimmed and three rimless dual-use cartridges: .357 Magnum/.44 Magnum/.45-70 Gov't and 9mm/10mm/12.7mm (which is essentially .50 Action Express) for revolvers/lever-actions and handguns/SMGs, respectively.
I wanted the power progression to be something more-or-less indisputable; no one's REALLY going to argue that .44 Magnum is less powerful than .357 Magnum in normal revolver/lever-action rifle loads. I could certainly foresee plenty of arguing about .44 Magnum and .45 LC. No one's going to argue about .44 Magnum vs. a serious modern .45-70 Gov't cartridge.
There are also aesthetics to consider. .45 LC and .44 Magnum are very similarly sized/proportioned unless you do a close comparison. .45-70 Gov't brass is huge next to .44 Magnum brass. This means the cylinders are bigger, the lever-action loading gates are bigger, and the loaded cartridges/ejected brass is very distinctive. I think it's important for players to see visual differences between equipment even when they're upgrading in the same "class".
JESawyer 24 Dec 10
Why don't you take damage from standing on top of a fire in New Vegas? I'm not entirely sure but I think you used to take damage in Fallout 3 and I know for a fact you did in Oblivion, why not New Vegas?
It's irritating and AI doesn't deal well with it, making it more irritating.
JESawyer 24 Dec 10
If 12.7mm is suppose to be like .50 A/E, than why not name it as such? Also, was the BHP chosen for the 9mm pistol out of personal preference or another reason? I gotta say it's nice seeing a dev. who's very knowledgeable about firearms and ammunition.
.50 AE is already a pretty niche cartridge and I didn't want non-gun people to be confused by .50 MG (essentially BMG) and another .50 round. It also keeps the "serious" handgun/SMG ammo in millimeters and the revolver/lever-action ammo in inches, which is nice for consistency.
In my opinion, the BHP is a timeless design and its form is quite distinctive when compared to Fallout's 10mm pistols. Also, since I knew we weren't going to implement an M1911-style .45, the BHP-based 9mm design gives an extremely similar aesthetic (so similar that a lot of people assume it IS an M1911) while fitting into the 9mm/10mm/12.7mm semi-auto handgun progression in F:NV.
RE: wildcat cartridges: I think F:NV already introduced enough niche/weird ammunition subtypes to keep the heads of non-gun people spinning for a full 100 hours of gameplay. I think wildcats go a big step beyond that. That said, Justin, Frank and I did engineer the ammo system to support a very large amount of specialty ammo types. I've seen people make 40mm buckshot and .50 MG Raufoss, so on the PC, it's very easy for modders to go nuts with .22 Cheetah or whatever other super niche stuff they want to do.
Category:Out-of-game source texts