Leonard Boyarksy @ GameBanshee

[Montez]

GameBanshee has posted an interview with Troika's Leonard Boyarsky regarding the post-apocalypse RPG they are currently working on. Here's a teaser:
<blockquote>GB: Are there any specific ideas or features you always wanted to include in the Fallout franchise that you now have the resources to add in this new post-apoc title? Also, are there any ideas you're trying to stay away from in order to differentiate the game from the previous Fallout titles?

Leon: There are quite a few ideas we’ve tossed around over the years for this type of game (ever since we finished Arcanum, actually) that we’d like to try. They were never really Fallout specific, just things that we think would be great for this style of RPG. We haven’t made any design/conceptual decisions about how close or far away from the style of Fallout this game will end up being yet. The strange thing about this is that the feel/environment/style of Fallout is basically our conceptual vision, unedited straight from our gut instincts, so if we were to do anything similar to Fallout in those ways we’d have to be very self conscious to keep from seeming too much like Fallout. </blockquote>
I've run out of witty catchphrases, so just click on the link and read it already!

Link: Leon @ GameBanshee
Thanks Briosafreak!

 

[Lost Metal]

Great article! This is how you give a respectable interview. Leonard told us everything he legally could, and his genuine thoughts on every question.

No scumbag, snake in the grass, Bethesda-style runaround.

Only thing that I wonder about is, aren't there other publishers besides Atari and Sierra that they can goto? Or do they have some kind of legally binding contract?

I hope those two publishers aren't Troika's only options. That would be a heavy creative hinderance on them.

 

[JavaTank]

They only need their permission if they wanna do another D&D game (Atari has the license) or a sequel to Arcanum (whose rights are probably owned by Sierra).

 

[Big T]

When did you first begin work on the new post-apocalyptic title, and where does it currently stand in the development cycle? Have you been tossing around any names for the game yet?

We’re very early in the dev cycle for the new game, and right now we’re just working on the engine basics that we’d need for any RPG we’d make with this engine, whether it be a traditional Fallout style RPG or a more action oriented title.

This line makes me slightly uncomfortable. I'm hoping it will just be an action slant on an RPG, not an RPG slant on an action game. There are too many action games with minimal "RPG" elements (such as levelling up) knocking about.

We have a few ideas for the name, but until we secure the rights to it we can’t reveal what it is.

Hmmm, does this mean they are trying to secure the rights to a franchise, or is he talking about some other rights they need to secure?
Could someone try to elaborate/inform on this?

 

[Radial]

Big_T_UK: I assume that they have to make sure a name doesn't violate any copyrights of other products before they can use it beyond a working title, and if it doesn't they can secure the rights to the chosen name. I might be way off though.

 

[Paranoid Jack]

I think you’re on target, Radial. Even one word in a title can cause problems or conflict with other copyrights.

But I must admit when I read the article originally I had a small flash of hope that this means they are in talks with Bethesda to do one of the possible three Fallout games they have rights to now.

Ah, I am always hopeful...

EDIT: It makes a lot of sense to me. Why not develope multiple Fallout titles. Besides depending on the design they most likely would not be ready to release simultaneasously.