Interview with Chris Abellon (Obsidian Entartainment).

I stumbled upon him, it seemed curious, translated.
The result can be seen below 🙂
Yes, I warn you that I translated freely. And in a couple of places he was one hundred percent, so do not hesitate to correct. And somewhere frank gag, yes.

Some time ago I managed to talk with the great Chris Avellon(E does not seem to be read -. translator) Personally, who attached their hand to such a famous series as Fallout and led by critics Planescape: Torment. We talked about almost everything that only comes to mind at the mention of RPG and the Fallout series. Enjoy!

You can tell our readers about yourself – who are you and what you are doing?
(The question on duty in almost all such interviews. Warming – approx. translator)

I am Chris Abellone, Creative Director in Obsidian Entertainment and Project Director of the majority of DLC to Fallout: New Vegas: Dead Money, Old World Blues and Linesome Road. The position of Creative Director refers to control of all our projects in terms of design, the passage of builds of all games produced (again and again-which, in general, is not bad), supervision of the designers department, tracking the level of our games and their preliminary verification and evaluation (what needs to be corrected, what is not needed,.P – approx. translator), Testing and interviewing with us to work, as well as work with designers to create a single standard for all our projects.

What are your favorite games and why? What games are you playing now?

Well, it is difficult to highlight the TOP-3, and therefore without numbering-Fallout 1 (for the device of dialogs and a lot of ways to solve quests), System Shock 2 (generally for everything, this game is a real textbook for the designer) and Chronotrigger (for narrative mechanics and the possibility of changing the plot, by the way, excellent).

From what I am playing now/playing recently: Portal 2, Amnesia: The Dark Descent (the best $ 20, what I spent, this game scared me to the shitting, I recommend it to everyone), Puzzle Queest 2, League of Legends and I play DLC for Fallout: New Vegas(now in Linesome Road) and Dungeon Siege III at work. In general, if I have free time, I try to spend it on the passage of the builds of our games in order to have time to finish as many points as possible to the release. Well, sometimes in short breaks I have time to play in Dungeon Raid.

How it is to work on important RPG projects for so many years, while the genre has undergone significant changes? What do you feel due to changes/evolution of the observed in the genre?

This is quite curious, now the technologies and resources used in the gaming industry on a much more impressive impression than I once expected (all these voice recognition, tracking movements, acting voice acting). So far, we are still far from Kholodek from Star Wars or virtual reality, but the matter is going to this.
(Tried to get away from the slippery topic: 3 – approx. translator)

Some time ago there were quite large seetches on the Internet about the statement of Matt Findley (developer Hunted: Demon’s Forge, as well as an ex-interpreter), who claimed that the old RPGs “always thought out as action games at a heart.»You agree with this statement? Can you, as a person who also worked on InterPlay, say that some of the games you worked on were developed as action?

I think that Stonekeeper definitely conceived as an action-RPG (Ultima Underworld. But I do not think that Baldur’s Gate could become this and remain Baldur’s Gate (at least with such a number of Sopartians), the same with Torment and Icewind Dale. But I must say that although there were ideas on the InterPlay regarding the EChN-RPG versions of Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape (not Torment, but an action-tag like King’s Field in this universe), only one arpg: Dark alliance was released as a result.

Do you think the elections in games work www.7gold-casino.uk in which the player’s decisions do not affect the plot component?

If they affect at least something, the plan of the gameplay component, or somehow, then yes. In addition, it depends on the genre of the game – in some genres of game games there are so few (what, I can fulfill the tasks in the order in which I want?) that even a small choice like the above can cause a lot of sensations, even despite the fact that he provides a player with very few options for action. Many years ago, a lecture was held on the basics of Splinter Cell – I can’t find it now, otherwise I would definitely quote the very situation and context, but the essence was that the choice in this game, which technically leading to the same result, was so new in this game genre that this players really clinging.

Dialog box against traditional lines of the text. What do you think is the choice of two of them serious consequences for RPGs? Is it easier to wipe the role when you choose only by basic principles or, conversely, more complicated, since you do not know what your character will say?

I prefer text lines (Peasant! – approx. translator), Because then I see for sure what my character will say, and not a kind of “essence” of what he will say, while I will passively watch how he does it. It is probably strange to hear from the scriptwriter of the game, but I do not like emotional epithets at Alpha Protocol, even despite the fact that I consider some parts of that dialogue system excellent.

Still, I do not really like the RPG of the game in which my character shove a voice – but these are only my cockroaches. It sometimes works (Mass Effect), and sometimes it seems to be a fifth wheel on a cart and an empty waste of time … although it depends on your type of play. If you play a certain character (which may sound strange in context wig) (Peasant X2 – approx. translator), Then the voice fits perfectly. But if you are allowed to create your own character, I prefer the lack of voice.

But, again, all this can be a whistle of the old-school holder, so perceive what has been said with a share of skepticism.

Listen, let’s talk a little about Fallout. You can tell us your beloved/most remembered story or choice in dialogue in the games of the series?

In Fallout 1, the choice in the final conversation with the master – the use of pumped speech and the evidence found was truly an epic moment.

In Fallout 2, it’s hard to say. I gladly outwitted Miron, with my character pumped to science, came into confrontation with Cassedi with his tribal showdowns in Vault City … And if you have good relations with Lizette, you can force the Vault City captain to return Cassedi back.

In Fallout 3, Ashur from DLC The Pitt was an interesting character, with its curious philosophy (or, one might say, working ethics), the very structure of this city (forcing you to plunge into its culture) perfectly worked on creating a name. It was a conscious decision of the developers (I read dizdoki) and I think it worked perfectly.

In Fallout: New Vegas (^_^ – approx. translator), I liked to talk with No-Bark and the vulpa, to use Barter when talking with a legate and Oliver (I always believed that this skill was used little) and telling Oliver that you would smash his entire battalion at the time with your army of securityitrons. And, thanks to Charlie Staplza, our leftist designer, for making the scene where you ask the securitron to throw the body of Oliver from the lady of Hoover.

Van Buren was a project that initially had to become the third part of the series. Despite the fact that he never came out, his elements can be seen in Fallout: New Vegas. How did you decide what you need to discard, and what to bring to life?

Well, we just took and chose those elements that could still work and which we would like to resurrect. This was not just a formal process, we tried to return the particles of the past back to life (DLC to FNV Old World Blues especially – I always wanted to see Big Empty, who returned to life in a computer game).

As far as we know, New Vegas means the end of your Fallout franchise in the near future. What do you feel about this?

This is sad, but listen, I already parted with a series when I worked in Black Isle and this time it will end with a large explosion in the form of Linesome Road … if you want. It is very pleasant that there is an opportunity to put an end to the end.
(If I do not play in this DLC for Fallout: New Vegas, I eat my shoes – note. translator)

Fergus Urkhart said ten years ago that you do not want to think about Torment 2. Come on clean: you still continue to think so? Can you imagine yourself returning to this game, or to other old projects?

Torment 2 – no, Planescape 2 – Yes. I always liked to work with Fallout, and the development of Icewind Dale was always fun, because no one perceived the game too seriously, even the campaign setting was somewhat easier than the rest of Forgotten Realms. ICEWIND DALE 2, especially, was absolutely chokktuy, from the point of view of Level Design and Passing, but designers from Black Isle rejoiced, creating a game … We adopted this principle to Fallout New Vegas: Old World Blues to see how people would react to this and, it seems to me, everything worked. There is a whole scattering of locations for finding and research.

Some time ago you talked about creating a convincing image, as well as the importance of elections and their consequences. How to balance these two things?

They do not need to be balanced-the very fact that your decisions are changing something at the global/state/fractional level creates a convincing image.

The creation of a world that seems alive and reacts to the player’s actions is a very difficult task. What lessons or techniques did you learn from those days when you came up with adventures on the Dungeon & Dragons system?

The bottom line is that the response should not be a big event – it just should be clear, simple and clear. In Fallout 1, even the fact that one guard pays attention to the choice of Killian instead of Gizmo in Junktown, is enough for the world to appear alive – and these are only two lines. I think that the more this can be connected to the game mechanics (as the reputation of the factions in Fallout: New Vegas, depending on the player’s solutions), the better.

There is a moment made in computer games worse and poorer, compared to board RPGs or what elements from the dwarfs you would like to see in computer games?

I would like to be a non -interpretation of players. There was a special report in Me2, which coped well with a similar function (in general, such measurements are irreplaceable for developers), and Twitter helps … True, sometimes strange.