The thread, it liiiiiives.
I'll ask....what is the strangest inspiration you've gotten for something of past games? I recall reading about Dave's oddball inspiration off of a BBC show for HK-47.
CBC, not
BBC . Arty-farty answer, No inspiration is strange if it takes you somewhere new. Newish, even. But I've taken elements from old tabletop games, sitcoms, oscar winners. Side plots have tiny bits of everything because they are moments.
I read somewhere in the KotOR script (dev files) that Korriban was supposed to have a maze/tunnels connecting the tombs.
The original narrative plan that Dave wrote assumed a more dungeon-like path. No specifics because it was never implimented, just bendy with more rooms, etc. An example of a design assumption that got lost somewhere. It happens, and it's expensive. No department wants that.
Who drew the (DA) map and did you have any inputs?
Dave sketched the original DA map on a scrap piece of paper. No one was more surprised than he when they actually used it as the base for the real thing. He positioned things according to some rough ideas of national conflicts, so I suppose proto-plots were concurrent with the proto-map. Both were later expanded and polished.
Obviously, areas had to be cut for whatever reason in games. Sleyheron for instance in KotOR... Did it hurt to cut it - where cool ideas lost? Did you cut any areas in Dragon Age (so far I've only heard about the different Origins)
Cuts always hurt, but they are necessary and you suck it up and shelve your precious word-babies for later use. Sometimes the idea is unique to the moment and gets lost, but more often it is simply worked into something else. Features like Interrupt came from dead things, as did some new conversation functionality you'll see in Inquisition.
In Origins we cut the Landsmeet. Then uncut it. Then cut it again. Then uncut it. Then cut it again and, obviously, uncut it once more. Somewhere, somehow, Mary just shivered. That was an example of continually weighing a BIG chop versus sudden leaps in process that freed up resources and people.
Who came up Taris' destruction?
Don't know. Probably James Ohlen, as whomping a city in someone else's IP takes some high-level bargaining. Even back then when pretty much all that existed in that time period were a few Dark Horse comics.
Do you have a list (of voice actors) available somewhere (ideally for KotOR and DA:O)
Not available, no. Some actors do dozens of small parts, maybe only one or two lines each, so I suppose "additional" is a necessary catch-all. But despite not getting the "name" characters, actors who can bust out tons of little roles are highly valued.
Also, I'm a big fan of your concept arts. You should take the time to share them and/or game documentation after release. I get that you aren't always allowed to talk about certain stuff but still. Who can enjoy them if they are locked in a vault?
I couldn't agree more. There are some crazy things that I wish we could show, but some are creeping out for DA with the World of Thedas lorebooks.
I always wondered what individual developers from Bioware considered to be their favorite side-quest or companion style quest (non-main plot) were from games prior to the ME and DA franchise. From such ones as BG, Kotor and NwN...
It wasn't one of mine... I don't think it was one of mine, maybe Dave's. In BG2. A young group of adventurers come to you with a story of a minor threat in some cave. You can tell them to take care of it for you. They come back with a harrowing tale of struggle and heroism, and having to cast *gasp* magic missile! You pay them. And then, like every group of adventurers ever, they take a shot at killing you. You turn into the Bhaalspawn and obliterate them. The game fades to black, a line says x group "reloads", and then, fade-up, everyone is alive again. They sheepishly take their money and run for the freaking hills.
Best. Plot. Ever.
For the most part I remember characters better than plots. Kang was a lot of fun. Sir Roderick Ponce von Fontlebottom THE Magnificent Bastard of course. Small things in BG2 were great, just because sheer volumn meant you had to try new things. Lilarcor was fun. Writing Minsc's answers for riddles. Oh, there was one jerk I did for BG1 where I had a ridiculous option the player could choose to rant at him because they were sick of fetch quests. Portalbendarwinden. Man, was I tired by that point. I also had a lot of fun writing the thief-only stuff with Narlen Darkwalk and Rededge. They spoke in "thieves' cant" sourced from the
1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Obnoxious, I must have been a translator's nightmare.
What's the cafeteria/eating situation like in the Edmonton office?
Fruit and such in the mornings, bagged from the store, not laid out like a buffet or anything. Coffee machines through the day because NEED. Supper is brought in when there's crunch hours. That varies from "awesome" to "I'll bring my own." But it all beats the different-pizza-every-day for months during the BG days before Ray and Greg hired someone to make better life choices.
Also, probably more on topic... what type of differences do you find writing for DLC's versus writing for core game content?
Not really a functional difference, unless you have constraints like needing to slot into the main plot, or pass variables to it. Which, of course, you often do. But the tone is mainly different because you're in a different place as a designer. Sometimes you're just really tired and punchy because DLC is effort above and beyond the already monumental task of the main game, and all these puns just come out of nowhere and suddenly Varric is surrounded by ghastholes and whose fault is that really?
And sometimes it's a farewell, because you're likely never writing those characters again. Remember, we've been with these stories sometimes years longer than you guys. Can feel like putting down a pet.
Personally, I liked working on the self-contained stuff like Leliana's Song or (slightly less contained) Mark of the Assassin and Legacy. All let me expand on characters in ways that weren't available in the main game. MotA and L essentially had 5 new followers, because in addition to Tallis, the siblings were back, and I did Carver and Bethany's Act2/3 Templar/Warden/Circle mage writing very different. It let me answer some things in their voice. I also really liked branching the ending of Legacy with Act 1 still around mom, or the later memory of mom that can only speak how you remember her. Subtle things. Too subtle. Subtle can be a bad word.
Modifié par Lukas Kristjanson, 23 août 2013 - 08:47 .
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