Bethesda Blog does an Inside the Vault on Obsidian clan chief Feargus Urquhart with their usual riveting standard of questions.<blockquote>Since founding the studio, how do you think your role has changed?
The biggest change in my role is that I spend less time doing very specific things on the games we are working on. What I mean is that I don’t do things like edit data files or get art into the game.
Even though that’s the case, I do try and spend as much time on working on the games as possible. For example, on Knights of the Old Republic 2 we were on a pretty tight schedule and budget, so everyone needed to pitch in. I became the guy who put art props (beds, chests, lamps, etc…), creatures and characters into the game.</blockquote>Chris Avellone is interviewed on Eurogamer about how much he loves Fallout 3. Oh and some other stuff too (thanks Ausir).<blockquote>Eurogamer: So what did you think of Bethesda's take on Fallout 3, given you worked on the original attempt?
Chris Avellone: I enjoyed it quite a bit. Some of the things I really liked about it were... Well, in Fallout 1 and Fallout 2, a lot of the special skill structure they had for the game system actually either ended up being only useful in special cases, like Repair. That, or they had a time limit involved with them, like Doctor. Doctor worked in Fallout 1 because the game had a time pressure, and it was faster to use the skill than buy Stimpaks. But when they took the time limit away in Fallout 2 - and they did the patch that removed it from Fallout 1 - that skill wasn't really balanced anymore. I like very much how Fallout 3 took a lot of skills that had issues before and made them relevant - like, Repair is pretty damn important in Fallout 3!
The only drawback I can think of so far is that I made the mistake of starting out with a four-strength character during my first playthrough, and the amount of stuff you need to carry around ... I was constantly using mailboxes to store stuff, and hopping back and forth between Megaton and my little safehouse to sell it all! I wish I'd made my strength higher.
(...)
Eurogamer: Do you think Bethesda carried on in the spirit of the series?
Chris Avellone: Yeah, absolutely. I guess my critique would be that Bethesda's always gotten the openworld game mechanic down pretty well. They have a tradition of it; they understand the design mechanics involved with that, and I believe very much that the Fallout world, by design, all the way from the first one, was always intended to be a go-anywhere-you-want-and-do-anything open world. And I think that Bethesda's design methodology and the Fallout world have always been pretty complementary.
(...)
Eurogamer: The RPGCodex would be pretty cross with you, Chris.
Chris Avellone: I think they're going to be cross with me no matter what I do, and I've learned to live with it as long as they provide me with detailed critiques, because past all the profanity they'll spit out, they've actually got some good information on why certain systems are broken, and which ones aren't. Those are actually worth paying attention to, so I value those guys.
Eurogamer: So you read it, then?
Chris Avellone: Oh, yeah, sure. The two sites I usually follow are RPGWatch and RPGCodex. And there's one other site I follow, but it escapes me right now ...
Eurogamer: Eurogamer?
Chris Avellone: [Silence.]
Eurogamer: Right. Well, anyway, so here's a big one: what defines an RPG these days? It seems to change a lot.
Chris Avellone: Well, I have a personal definition. Of the RPGs I've played recently, I'll be honest: I've been pretty much immersed in Fallout 3. But it seems to me that the most important parts of an RPG are that, in terms of all the character-building you can do in the opening screens, all those skill choices and background choices need to matter in the gameworld.
That may sound kind of self-evident, but there's a lot of game balance that needs to go into making sure that each skill, trait, and attribute score is valuable, and an RPG has to deliver on that. If you're going to give the player a chance to specialise in or improve a certain aspect of their character, there needs to be value for that in the gameworld.
The other thing that's important is that there has to be a lot of reactivity to the player's actions within the environment, either in terms of quests, faction allegiance, even physical changes in the environment. The player making an impact is incredibly important.</blockquote>We love you too, Chris. Also, what a weird interview. Read on to find out how MCA can't talk about his role on New Vegas. PR barriers a mile high, people.
The biggest change in my role is that I spend less time doing very specific things on the games we are working on. What I mean is that I don’t do things like edit data files or get art into the game.
Even though that’s the case, I do try and spend as much time on working on the games as possible. For example, on Knights of the Old Republic 2 we were on a pretty tight schedule and budget, so everyone needed to pitch in. I became the guy who put art props (beds, chests, lamps, etc…), creatures and characters into the game.</blockquote>Chris Avellone is interviewed on Eurogamer about how much he loves Fallout 3. Oh and some other stuff too (thanks Ausir).<blockquote>Eurogamer: So what did you think of Bethesda's take on Fallout 3, given you worked on the original attempt?
Chris Avellone: I enjoyed it quite a bit. Some of the things I really liked about it were... Well, in Fallout 1 and Fallout 2, a lot of the special skill structure they had for the game system actually either ended up being only useful in special cases, like Repair. That, or they had a time limit involved with them, like Doctor. Doctor worked in Fallout 1 because the game had a time pressure, and it was faster to use the skill than buy Stimpaks. But when they took the time limit away in Fallout 2 - and they did the patch that removed it from Fallout 1 - that skill wasn't really balanced anymore. I like very much how Fallout 3 took a lot of skills that had issues before and made them relevant - like, Repair is pretty damn important in Fallout 3!
The only drawback I can think of so far is that I made the mistake of starting out with a four-strength character during my first playthrough, and the amount of stuff you need to carry around ... I was constantly using mailboxes to store stuff, and hopping back and forth between Megaton and my little safehouse to sell it all! I wish I'd made my strength higher.
(...)
Eurogamer: Do you think Bethesda carried on in the spirit of the series?
Chris Avellone: Yeah, absolutely. I guess my critique would be that Bethesda's always gotten the openworld game mechanic down pretty well. They have a tradition of it; they understand the design mechanics involved with that, and I believe very much that the Fallout world, by design, all the way from the first one, was always intended to be a go-anywhere-you-want-and-do-anything open world. And I think that Bethesda's design methodology and the Fallout world have always been pretty complementary.
(...)
Eurogamer: The RPGCodex would be pretty cross with you, Chris.
Chris Avellone: I think they're going to be cross with me no matter what I do, and I've learned to live with it as long as they provide me with detailed critiques, because past all the profanity they'll spit out, they've actually got some good information on why certain systems are broken, and which ones aren't. Those are actually worth paying attention to, so I value those guys.
Eurogamer: So you read it, then?
Chris Avellone: Oh, yeah, sure. The two sites I usually follow are RPGWatch and RPGCodex. And there's one other site I follow, but it escapes me right now ...
Eurogamer: Eurogamer?
Chris Avellone: [Silence.]
Eurogamer: Right. Well, anyway, so here's a big one: what defines an RPG these days? It seems to change a lot.
Chris Avellone: Well, I have a personal definition. Of the RPGs I've played recently, I'll be honest: I've been pretty much immersed in Fallout 3. But it seems to me that the most important parts of an RPG are that, in terms of all the character-building you can do in the opening screens, all those skill choices and background choices need to matter in the gameworld.
That may sound kind of self-evident, but there's a lot of game balance that needs to go into making sure that each skill, trait, and attribute score is valuable, and an RPG has to deliver on that. If you're going to give the player a chance to specialise in or improve a certain aspect of their character, there needs to be value for that in the gameworld.
The other thing that's important is that there has to be a lot of reactivity to the player's actions within the environment, either in terms of quests, faction allegiance, even physical changes in the environment. The player making an impact is incredibly important.</blockquote>We love you too, Chris. Also, what a weird interview. Read on to find out how MCA can't talk about his role on New Vegas. PR barriers a mile high, people.
