GB Feature: Wasteland 2 Interview

Over the weekend, I managed to convince Obsidian Entertainment’s Chris Avellone to answer a batch of questions about his newly announced involvement with Wasteland 2, and what it might mean for Obsidian’s current development timeline. Here’s what we can expect if the Kickstarter project reaches $2.1 million in funding:

GB: As someone who has worked on previous titles with player-created parties (notably the Icewind Dale series and Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir), how do you approach narrative design in a party-based game (Wasteland 2) vs. a single protagonist game (Fallout: New Vegas)? What are the primary areas that you need to get right in order to make the experience as fulfilling as possible to both story-seeking and tactically-oriented player types?

Chris: It’s a matter of how you design the conversation systems to allow for the inputs of individual characters and allow those individuals to make skill or experience-based contributions.

Equally important, you also want to allow for checks and conditionals where the person you’re speaking with can react to the actions of any individual within the group where it makes sense (Ex: (Hey, you there I see you got a sniper rifle… if you know how to use it, I have a job for you.)). This isn’t as hard to do as it may seem, although it’s a subject for larger discussion and often comes down to how you want to present that mechanic and reactivity to the player (I feel Storm of Zehir and Icewind Dale accomplished this, although Storm of Zehir felt more elegant to me – and to give thanks where thanks is due, we owe that to the design lead Tony Evans and the UI programmer at the time, Anthony Davis, who got that system in and working).

The short goal: As long as people feel that their individual party members matter, not just in the battlefield, but in other interactions as well, that’s what you’re shooting for.