Annie Carlson Interview

The gals over at GamerVixens have conducted an interview with Annie Carlson, who previously worked as a designer on Neverwinter Nights 2, Storm of Zehir, and Alpha Protocol.

What’s your favorite thing that you’ve worked on?

Tricky question… it often depends on the task, or the game, or the time and resources involved. I really loved helping out with the voice work for Alpha Protocol (I’m a complete sucker for VO), but I’m also a fan of writing. Getting to collaborate with Brian Mitsoda, the former creative lead for Alpha Protocol, on writing was really cool, but it was also a lot of fun (and a LOT of work!) to do the writing for Storm of Zehir. Eh… man. I don’t know. I try not to play favorites – I guess the thing I like best is learning new stuff. That first time when I was given free rein to make items in Neverwinter Nights 2 – that was my first big assignment, and it’s hard to beat the kind of thrill that was for me.

…

What has been your biggest challenge to date?

Tricky. I think probably working on Storm of Zehir – I’d been working on Alpha Protocol for a year previous, and was unfamiliar with the scripting and area design elements of the Neverwinter Nights 2 toolset. Coming onto the project not only entailed learning that as quickly as I could, but formatting the story and writing a majority of the script at the same time. On top of that, there was a design feature that I was willing to fight to have included, which entailed taking extra time to make sure it went in. Thankfully I was able to put in the hours necessary to see it finished – and I’m proud my labor of love is going to be available for everyone to see shortish (Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir comes out on November 18, kids! Tell all your friends! /shameless plug)

I didn’t even realize she was no longer with Obsidian Entertainment.