Leonard Boyarsky interview

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Computer Games Magazine has interviewed Leonard Boyarsky, who along with Jason Anderson and Tim Cain founded Troika, on the closing of their development studio. The interview has some very interesting information, definately worth a read by any Troika fan.<blockquote>Computer Games - Before closing down, Troika was reportedly working on a post-apocalypse themed RPG. What can you tell us about this project?

Leonard Boyarsky - Not much, we didn’t get further than a tech demo and pitch doc. We also had a forest level running in the engine to show for more of a fantasy setting that looked fantastic.

Computer Games - In your letter to No Mutants Allowed, you hinted that this may not be quite the end for Troika. Is it possible that you and other members of the team might start a new developer with the Troika name attached?

Leonard Boyarsky - Tim, Jason and myself are trying to decide what we’re going to do next and at the moment, none of us really has any idea what we want to do. While I’d like to believe Troika will come back, I doubt it will actually happen.

Computer Games - As you know Bethesda Softworks is now working on the next official Fallout game. Have you or any of the other Troika team members been contacted by BethSoft to work on the game and if not would you be interested in such an offer?

Leonard Boyarsky - As far as I know, none of my team members has been contacted by Bethesda. Tim, Jason, and I have definitely not been contacted. We’d be very interested in working with Bethesda on Fallout…</blockquote> The possibilities... at least in the mind of a Fallout fan.

Link: Leonard Boyarsky interview at Computer Games Magazine.

Spotted at Blue's News.
 
Good interview. Though; I wish Troikians would stay away from Betehsda's FO3. Bethesda is gonna butcher FO3, and I'd rather not have them be a part of said butchering...
 
Volourn said:
Good interview. Though; I wish Troikians would stay away from Betehsda's FO3. Bethesda is gonna butcher FO3, and I'd rather not have them be a part of said butchering...
Ah yes, the obvious bullshit argument. You don't know what Bethesda will do with Fallout, they haven't decided on much yet (or at least not told anyone), and there is no way that you can know what will happen with Fallout 3.

As for the interview, it is a sad thing that they will probably never get Troika back up and running. The only semi-positive thing I can see is that this might mean that a part of Troika might still work on Fallout 3.
 
"Ah yes, the obvious bullshit argument. You don't know what Bethesda will do with Fallout, they haven't decided on much yet (or at least not told anyone), and there is no way that you can know what will happen with Fallout 3."

I've played enough Bethesda games to know their games are crap.

Bethesda = crap.

Period.
 
Volourn said:
I've played enough Bethesda games to know their games are crap.

Bethesda = crap.

Period.
Their games, until now, have not been all that good, no. But that does not mean that they will definitely mess up Fallout 3, because things do change. Their track record may be poor, but doing nothing but saying 'Bethesda suck, they will never create good games' is just plain silly.
 
i don't think the troika should join bethesda, because i'd imagine there'd be a lot of contention. They'd be poster boys, and there'd be alot of ressentiment with clashing of what bethesda wants and what ideas troika has. like, when bethesda says "we want something bla bla way" and troika disagrees and beth gets their way, it'd feel pretty pissy. likewise the other way around. troika wants and beth disagrees, troika gets way. beth would feel ressentiment over the idea of entitlement. "oh, so just because they're the poster boys they get their way, huh?"
 
Computer Games - The fans of the first two Fallout games are very vocal and have followed your team since leaving Interplay and forming Troika. How does it feel to have that loyal of a following to your team and to a game series that you made several years ago?



Leonard Boyarsky - It’s very gratifying and helped us through some of our dark periods. It’s always nice to hear from people that they appreciate what you are doing. And we’re extremely happy that there’s a huge Fallout community, as that game, being the first that any of us were in charge of, was really a labor of love for us.

I would use this in the newsbit, it`s the most interesting part, together with their interest on working with Beth. Someone beeing happy that there is a Fallout community is almost a first :)

Listen to him Fergus, listen to him...
 
It's the truth. If Tim, Jason and Leonard got to work on FO3, the game could only get better.

Take this scenario for example. Bethesda decides that no matter what, the game is going to be First Person and Real-Time.

The fans go into an extreme uproar, and boycotts start happening.

But with Tim, Jason and Leonard there, they might somehow be able to salvage the Style, Dialogue, Story, History, and Theme.

That is assuming Bethesda goes Real-Time and First Person.

Maybe they'll go Turn-Based and First Person. Think of the experience they would gain from Tim, Jason and Leonard. These guys have been working with Turn-Based games, their whole lives.

and if by some miracle Bethesda decides to make a Turn-Based Isometric view game...

With Tim, Jason and Leonard there. This could be the one and true FO3 we've always wanted.


Now these ARE all hypothetical situations... but it's pretty much all in one favor. Tim, Jason and Leonard can only help FO3.
 
http://www.duckandcover.cx/content.php?id=66

Todd Howard:
Are there any plans to have contact with developers who have worked on the franchise before, for consultation on the Fallout universe or any other aspect of development of Fallout 3?
Yes, that's already occurred. There's a lot of passion from everyone to see Fallout return.

Computer Games - As you know Bethesda Softworks is now working on the next official Fallout game. Have you or any of the other Troika team members been contacted by BethSoft to work on the game and if not would you be interested in such an offer?

Leonard Boyarsky - As far as I know, none of my team members has been contacted by Bethesda. Tim, Jason, and I have definitely not been contacted. We’d be very interested in working with Bethesda on Fallout…

Well that does not bode well... Assuming Bethseda is not lying they must have talked with some of the other FO developers.
But why not go the the 'experts'? Especially since they did FO1, and that is supposedly what Bethseda is aiming for.
 
Maybe they're contacting other people... Maybe that insufferable Feargus?

But Having Tim, Jason and Leon on the team as consultants, that would be awesome.
 
Volourn said:
I've played enough Bethesda games to know their games are crap.

Bethesda = crap.

Period.
I enjoyed Terminator: Future Shock. It was also a very early "real" 3D game. The only thing that truly concerns me is that Bethesda really seems to be specialized in a way that doesn't fit my image of Fallout. Also, Morrowind was somewhat dull in many aspects.
 
That interview on DaC seems awfully positive... almost as if he's trying to say the right things... anyway it that's true, i'm actually looking forward for that game... just look at this:

What's your opinion of the Fallout fanbase?
The response we've gotten from everyone has been incredible. It seems like almost every gamer and press guy is a fan of the original, and are really looking forward to what we're going to do with it, and really looking forward to seeing Fallout return to a new era of gaming. I think the hardcore fans are incredibly misunderstood, and frankly, have been mistreated in the past. We've been reading the forums a lot and much of our thinking on Fallout 3 is just listening to experiences people had with the other games, like how those games made them feel, what they liked and disliked about every Fallout game.

The reason we wanted to make a Fallout game in the first place, was just how much we loved the first game. But we weren't the ones online posting all the time about a game from 97. Think about that...8 years later and they still haven't gotten a decent Fallout RPG, and people keep shoving crap at them. I'd be pissed too. I'd be wary of the new guys from Bethesda too. Hopefully when they see our game they'll give it a shot.


Sander said:
Volourn said:
I've played enough Bethesda games to know their games are crap.

Bethesda = crap.

Period.
Their games, until now, have not been all that good, no. B

Am i the only one to think Troika's games weren't the hottest shit ever? Sure, they're better then mormonwind, but c'mon, saying bethesda would butcher while implying troika would do an absolutely outstanding job on it is stupidity.

At least Beth seems to be showing with the new engine the kind of technical competency always missing from troika... And besides, if troika ever got the FO license, they would either find no publisher, or have to make it some kind of frankenstein's creature, trying to keep the "spirit" up while attending to every whim from their publisher. At least if the guys at Beth choose to, they can do whatever the fuck they want (not that they're going to make the game TB or anyting like that, i hold no false hopes)
 
saying bethesda would butcher while implying troika would do an absolutely outstanding job on it is stupidity

We're still talking about FO3, right?

It is not stupidity at all to think that Bethesda could butcher FO3, while Troika would of made an outstanding one.

This is the general consensus, actually.
 
Lost Metal said:
saying bethesda would butcher while implying troika would do an absolutely outstanding job on it is stupidity

We're still talking about FO3, right?

It is not stupidity at all to think that Bethesda could butcher FO3, while Troika would of made an outstanding one.

This is the general consensus, actually.

I have to agree with Lost Metal here... but at the same time disagree. I actually enjoyed the Morrowind series. Blood Moon was much better in my opinion than the 2nd expansion. Still, I do think Bethsoft has the potential.

Now saying the fans will not support FO3 by Bethsoft is just a bit extreme. I think plenty will be forced to try it out. Then judge; however, I agree that having the core dev's of the old FO's would be a VERY prosperous decision by Bethesda. Those guys would secure the deal that people would purchase this game upon its release. It could be a pile of crap but we would still buy it... Of course, we would then have another IPLAY on our hands... and, heh, who would want that? eh?
 
Macaco said:
Am i the only one to think Troika's games weren't the hottest shit ever? Sure, they're better then mormonwind, but c'mon, saying bethesda would butcher while implying troika would do an absolutely outstanding job on it is stupidity.
Troika's games have been RPGs, I can only speak of Arcanum and Bloodlines, but those two games have been the highlights of RPGs of the past years. Bloodlines was too linear to show that they could make a good Fallout 3, but the linearity was the only thing in the game not worthy of Fallout 3 (besides the bugs that always seem to plague Troika).
Arcanum was, quite simply, excellent. The only complaint I can have about Arcanum (besides again, the bugs) is the combat system (which did suck huge donkey balls), and the fact that it took too long to complete. It got boring near the end.
In short: Troika's games may not have been perfect, but they're the only developer I can think of who have shown over the past years that they might be competent enough to develop Fallout 3.
 
I think people expect too much from sequels, generally. The industry would have us believe that it is possible to have your favourite games "continued" by someone making a Sequel, and then another sequel.

Some of the best games are good because they're experiences. You can't "repeat" them, and you can't "elongate" the story after it is concluded. Not without writing a NEW story.

Of course, publishers have their own way of thinking about this. You "acquire the rights" to "a franchise", exploit its value, and make sure its value stays high for future exploitation. And if that's not possible, the rights gets sold to someone else. Oh well.
 
Backfired said:
I think people expect too much from sequels, generally. The industry would have us believe that it is possible to have your favourite games "continued" by someone making a Sequel, and then another sequel.
Some of the best games are good because they're experiences. You can't "repeat" them, and you can't "elongate" the story after it is concluded. Not without writing a NEW story.
Of course, publishers have their own way of thinking about this. You "acquire the rights" to "a franchise", exploit its value, and make sure its value stays high for future exploitation. And if that's not possible, the rights gets sold to someone else. Oh well.

Wow man, that`s gotta be right up in my top 3 F3 opinions ever. A rather sad way of interpreting the whole thing but hey, what i`d REALLY want is to play F1 again, but this time - so that it would be my first time.
 
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