Down the Wall with Vince D. Weller

Morbus

Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
That's right, Down the Wall has an interview with Age of Decadence's lead developer Vince D. Weller and it looks like another plate of RPG theory has just been served:<blockquote>DtW: How do you achieve player choice? How does that goal influence the narrative?

Vince:
I assume the first question should be read as “how do you insert a choice into a story without breaking it?”. The answer is by providing multiple solutions and story arcs, which, by the way, is more logical and interesting than set-in-stone events.

Let’s take The Witcher as an example. For storytelling reasons your character is arrested when he tries to enter the city and thrown in jail. In the jail your character is asked to kill a creature in the sewers where he meets an important NPC. That’s the drama- and twist-filled story. It works great in a book format where the reader is following adventures of the main character, but it’s too restrictive in a game where the player IS the main character.

A better design would have been to offer an alternative. Allow the witcher to enter the city via the sewers (after fighting the guards and escaping or after being warned about the ambush as a reward for developing relationship with the villagers) and then run into the above mentioned NPC who will offer you to join him to kill the creature. As you can see, it’s still the same overall story and direction, and the alternative doesn’t require new art assets and tons of development time. It reuses the same situations - the arrest, the creature in the sewers, the knight NPC, the same villagers, and the same sewers, but suddenly you get an important choice instead of a forced situation that you are unable to avoid.

That’s our design “philosophy”, for the lack of a better word. (...)

DtW: “Age of Decadence” is a huge world with multiple endings and over a hundred quests. How much of the game’s story can a player see on one run-through? How does this compare to other mediums for storytelling?

Vince:
No more than 60%. How does it compare? Well, many companies and publishers believe that most people will play a game only once, so they focus on making that single playthrough as memorable as possible, without worrying about replay value. Consider Knights of the Old Republic. First, the “OMG! I’m Revan!” surprise works only once and it tends to overshadow the replays. Second, there isn’t much to replay (unless you really love the story and want to experience exactly the same thing again). Keep in mind, we aren’t talking about the overall quality of the game here, we are talking about the replay value.

We designed the game with replayability in mind. You can replay the game 3-4 times taking different paths, discovering different things, arriving to different conclusions. Almost like playing several different games within the same story arc. Needless to say, we can’t rely on twists and surprises. Instead we focus on the player’s perspective, different ways to progress, and different storylines to follow.</blockquote>Link: "Age of Decadence" Developer Says Choice Defines RPGs @ Down the Wall
Spotted at: Age of Decadence Forums
 
Awesome interview! Wow! I love when great pieces of editorial content like this get published :)
 
I continue agreeing with 100% of everything he says.

I'm 30 years old, and the cliche standbys of what passes for RPG nowadays don't cut it for me anymore. I need MORE to make me feel immersed in someone's universe.

It's not so much about me actually replaying a game a dozen times, but about KNOWING that right now I could shoot that barkeep between the eyes or try to steal his shit, and the world would neither negate nor ignore my actions.

This gives meaning to my choosing NOT TO DO IT, and pursuing MY path in a game, however boring it may seem to some.

Because... a pacifist is NOT an impotent individual who walks the path of peace because he has no other choice. A pacifist is a person capable of inflicting great damage, who _chooses_ not to do so.

To an outside observer, a person choosing not to do damage and a person being railroaded through a game that WON'T LET YOU do damage may look very much alike. Except in one case you're allowed to play, and feel like a true pacifist, and in the other case, you're someone's impotent bitch.
 
Wow!
I finally found out what a TRUE sand-box RPG is:

DtW: How do you get the player involved in telling the story of “Age of Decadence”? Why is player involvement important?

Vince: Because that’s his or her story, not mine. I build the framework and lay down the paths and options, set reasons, motivations, perceptions. The rest is up to you, the player. You pick your path, you decide what to do, how, and why, and you even pick your enemies. There is no designated evil boss dude to kill in order to save the world, but there are plenty of people to piss off who will gladly put you on their shit list.

Bethasda's "sand-box" is a piss-pool compared to this one.
 
Vince's words are like a soothing ointment on my soul!
So far I have'nt disagreed with anything that he's said, and I'm truly looking forward to AoD, just hope that I don't have to buy it with a credit card, I'd rather send a check or do it the Cash on Delivery way.
 
If there is the option to buy it via Paypal, I'll do so :-)

I'm really looking forward to AoD. Keep up the good work guys, I really love what you're doing.
 
About the payment methods, Vince has said multiple times they'll do everything possible so that everybody who wants to buy AoD is able to do so.
 
Morbus said:
About the payment methods, Vince has said multiple times they'll do everything possible so that everybody who wants to buy AoD is able to do so.

Though from what I remember, it's not a finished deal, he might not opt for anything but credit cards if we're unlucky.
 
You could have insert a big Fucking Spoiler Alert here:
Morbus said:
Consider Knights of the Old Republic. First, the “OMG! I’m Revan!” surprise works only once and it tends to overshadow the replays.
I haven't finished the game yet.
 
I completely agree about The Witcher. While it wasn't terrible by any means, it's pretty sad that that's the best current-gen CRPG available.
 
Tortilla said:
You could have insert a big Fucking Spoiler Alert here:
Morbus said:
Consider Knights of the Old Republic. First, the “OMG! I’m Revan!” surprise works only once and it tends to overshadow the replays.
I haven't finished the game yet.

Even considering that, it barely qualifies as a spoiler since it's so fucking predictable.
 
Tortilla said:
You could have insert a big Fucking Spoiler Alert here:
Morbus said:
Consider Knights of the Old Republic. First, the “OMG! I’m Revan!” surprise works only once and it tends to overshadow the replays.
I haven't finished the game yet.

You won't want to know that Bastila is Malak, then.
 
Brother None said:
Tortilla said:
You could have insert a big Fucking Spoiler Alert here:
Morbus said:
Consider Knights of the Old Republic. First, the “OMG! I’m Revan!” surprise works only once and it tends to overshadow the replays.
I haven't finished the game yet.

Even considering that, it barely qualifies as a spoiler since it's so fucking predictable.

I really, really, really, really, hate to admit this, but...I had no idea until they actually told you. It made it very surprising and exciting for me. Should I think myself lucky for having been surprised and hence excited that way or lame for not being able to figure it out?

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
The Vault Dweller said:
I really, really, really, really, hate to admit this, but...I had no idea until they actually told you.
Same here. I was too young to have a clue...
 
The Vault Dweller said:
I really, really, really, really, hate to admit this, but...I had no idea until they actually told you. It made it very surprising and exciting for me. Should I think myself lucky for having been surprised and hence excited that way or lame for not being able to figure it out?

Wow

Were you surprised by Arcanum's plot twist too?

Must be a wonderful world you live in.
 
Brother None said:
The Vault Dweller said:
I really, really, really, really, hate to admit this, but...I had no idea until they actually told you. It made it very surprising and exciting for me. Should I think myself lucky for having been surprised and hence excited that way or lame for not being able to figure it out?

Wow

Were you surprised by Arcanum's plot twist too?

Must be a wonderful world you live in.


I was, but then I mostly played DOS games and Civ 2 before that :roll:
 
What the player experiences: You walk into a bar. The bartender greets you with a fine “Hello Stranger! Come and enjoy a pint of ale on the house!” At this point, you shoot an arrow through his neck…. he drops dead, the bar maid and most of the patrons freak out and run for the door… You laugh maniacally until you notice some guy in the corner (who happens to be the bartenders’ brother in law enjoying a pint himself) unsheathing his vorpal sword and coming after you with bloody vengeance in his eyes… You kill him too and take his sword. You search the inn and find a key underneath a bottle of whiskey behind the bar. The key opens a lockbox upstairs in his room where you find a map.

What Troika was thinking: Hey, what if I want to shoot the bartender? Yeah, I hate those stereo-typical jolly fat bartender guys. It’ll be more trouble, but we’ll make sure you can get the map some how. For the people in the room, we’ll have them check against your faction and skills, if you attack anyone, they will determine if they are scared, hostile, or unmoved by your actions. If they are scared they’ll run, hostile they’ll attack, and unmoved they will just sit there drinking a beer while all hell breaks loose. Yeah, we should put at least on guy in the bar who’s tough as nails. The tough quiet dude who calmly drinks his beer… The guy you DO NOT want to mess with. Yeah, and if you kill anyone in this inn, the cops in town will attack you on sight. The more neutral shopkeepers will still sell to you, but they will jack the prices up because even they think you are a cold blooded killer.

Vince D.Weller is TOTALLY right. I mean, what if I suddently snap and decide to shoot the bartender, just cause I want? A Real RPG allows the play to shoot who the hell he wants. Or you could follow the quest in the "normal" way, or maybe steal his maps using my l33t sneak/lockpick/steal skillz? Or maybe I could threaten him for it (give me the FUCKING map or DIE BLEEDING!!) and if he brought it, then he would give me the map and I would go out on my way. Maybe I'm REALLY threating him, or I'm just bluffing?
 
Did nobody notice this guy's name is Vince. D. Weller?
So V. Dweller? The VAULT DWELLER!!!

This is spooky...
 
DaMulder said:
Did nobody notice this guy's name is Vince. D. Weller?
So V. Dweller? The VAULT DWELLER!!!

This is spooky...
It's an alias.
 
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