JE Sawyer Formsprings #10

Brother None

Brother None

This ghoul has seen it all
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If you're curious about who wrote what in New Vegas, J.E. Sawyer is answering those questions on Formspring.<blockquote>Whoever did Vault 11 should win an award. I found no real treasure, no big, difficult fights, but it still stands out as the single best gaming experience I've had in years.

Eric Fenstermaker designed Vault 11.

Who wrote Yes Man?

John Gonzalez.

Who did the writing for Veronica? She's my favorite companion by far and quickly becoming one of my favorite female characters in gaming, period.

Eric "Hollywood" Fenstermaker.

Who did the writing for Arcade Gannon?

I did.

What a great game. The writing is absolutely phenomenal. And the whole faction mechanics, the complicity and importance to story and character feedback, is a new landmark in storytelling in video games. Who did the writing on Rose of Sharon Cassidy?

Thanks. Chris Avellone wrote Cass.

I'm curious (and I mean this question in a very basic way) about how you develop on three platforms at once (PC, PS3, and 360). When it comes time to test a 'build', I imagine that you can just launch the PC version. What do you do to run it on 360/PS3?

We have proprietary tools on the PC that allow us to transfer local or remote builds to the 360/PS3 dev kits. This transfer copies over any platform-specific data as well as any current user data (plug-ins/local design overrides) to test content. Once it's transferred, we (developers) launch the game from the console's dashboard or remotely from the tool.

Testers do something similar but may be running under optical drive emulation or off of an actual burned DVD depending on what they are testing.</blockquote>Vault 11 is an awesome location, my favorite in New Vegas and one of my favorite Fallout locations of all time. And Veronica was a pleasant surprise. My hat's off to you, Eric Fenstermaker.
 
Yeah, so far I have done Vault 11 and Vault 22, and I have to say that they were both cool places to explore. Shame that Vault 11 only has, as far as I can tell, one quest involving it (Still in the Dark). Lots of people will likely miss it.
 
The Arcade Gannon question is from me. :smug:

Best companion in the game.

/Edit: And Cass too. But sadly, we can only take one human companion with us.
 
Hope Fenstermaker gets a chance at Lead Design/Lead Creative Design of a Obsidian game in the future
 
TwinkieGorilla said:
I <3 whiskey.
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No way, really?
I have yet to go to Vault 11 but I'm definitely going to try to get there asap on my next play session.
Also Fenstermaker is possibly one of the coolest names ever.
 
Some of the writing in this game is phenomenal. My favorite is the quest line with Chief Hanlon, and the end of it. SO well done.
 
Maybe what Hanlon says in his room, locked in. But the general quest with dialogues was bad.
 
Lexx said:
Maybe what Hanlon says in his room, locked in. But the general quest with dialogues was bad.
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Bad doesn't even begin to describe that quest. Structurally, that is one of the worst-designed quests I've ever played. Its contents are rote and nonsensical (why are they trusting me with this job?), and the actual tasks having you walk around ad nauseam is even worse. Horrible design.

But the final dialogue and speech are well brill.
 
Yeah, if you don't have fast travel markers at the various ranger posts (or don't use fast travel) doing that quest is kinda sucky. I didn't have any 'why are they having me do this?' moment myself, though - probably because I was already at the point where NCR people were commenting on my reputation with them, though, so it made a lot of sense - they can't send their own people both because they're short-handed and because their own people can't be trusted, so they send someone else who's highly trusted by the NCR upper-ups and couldn't possibly be the person who compromised the radios in the first place.
 
The idea of a military organisation depending on a civilian just because they "have a really good feeling about him" on a mission like delivering radio codes is ludicrous. I mean, this problem always comes up in RPGs, and generally you get away with it by generating the idea that the PC is the only one capable/available exactly because he's a civilian/in a special position. But for this? Send some rangers, you tards, that's what they're for.
 
There should have been the option to give the codes to the Legion. Then you could at least fuck their trust.
 
MutantDwarf said:
Yeah, if you don't have fast travel markers at the various ranger posts (or don't use fast travel) doing that quest is kinda sucky. I didn't have any 'why are they having me do this?' moment myself, though - probably because I was already at the point where NCR people were commenting on my reputation with them, though, so it made a lot of sense - they can't send their own people both because they're short-handed and because their own people can't be trusted, so they send someone else who's highly trusted by the NCR upper-ups and couldn't possibly be the person who compromised the radios in the first place.
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Actually, the fact that I didn't have fast travel markers at these outposts made that quest enjoyable for me. Got a reason to travel around and find some interesting locations in the progress. That I did it in the beginning of the game made the exploration all the more welcome. It's about the journey, not the destination ;)
 
This comes up a lot in BG2 but they handle it so smoothly. "We can't send someone of our own, they'd be recognized. We need someone who isn't well known in these parts. Hey, you're that guy who walks around in full metal armour 24/7 and waves a two-handed sword in front of you while chatting to nobles and children, aren't you? The guy who's been seen chopping his bloody way through every disturbance this city's had in the last few weeks? You'd be perfect." And then you go to infiltrate this thieves' guild chapter and they're like, "WHOA, ONE OF US."
 
Hooked fan since the original.

New Vegas is the best rpg experience in a fukcing long time.

Love most of the dialogue. Many features added, that create immersion like cooking, needing to eat, drink and sleep. Wonderful quests and locations, that offer twists and turns. Good to see a strong influence from many of the older fallout creators. Just love them using some of the older Fallout music too, which is in some cases sets the benchmark. Fantastic how the various political groups are not black and white, but all various shades of grey. Consequences...on some quests or decisions I've had to ponder over, tried to see it from the p.o.v. of my character and decide accordingly. Quests that were meant to have a certain effect, had other non desirable repercussions elsewhere. Just beautiful.

Two issues that marred the otherwise perfect experience, is inventory management (minor) and combat behaviour (major). In some cases you see enemies take cover, but in most cases - especially the final dam battle, enemies will charge in a suicidal manner right up to you with guns, that should be used at distance.

So many small things that add to the package: e.g. being able to create older characters. As a 42 y.o., I hated the concept of playing an 18 y.o. in Fallout3. Actually the intro made me stop playing it the first time. Gamers are getting older and want to be able to identify in some form with their characters. 100% voiceovers had me worried over content, but my fears where unjustified. The game is really huge.

I feel that this game represents the best quality rpg doable at the moment, taking factors in account such as: catering to a non-niche market, timelines and constraints on a AAA game, budget and having to cover other platforms.

Congratulations and a hearty well done. :clap:
 
Little_Robot said:
Is there any meaning behind the link in JE Sawyer's formspring?
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I think it's JE Sawyer's website. The picture itself is Diogenes the philosopher, who was said to carry a lamp in the day time because he was "looking for honest men". The img alt tag says, "keep looking".

Don't know if there's a riddle there or not. Probably this is just his personal server.
 
It's his website that is offline since a long long time.
 
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