Why InXile, Wasteland 2 are better off without a publisher

[WorstUsernameEver]

Gamasutra is offering an article-style interview with Brian Fargo which mostly focuses on the decision to go with Kickstarter to fund Wasteland 2 rather than the title itself. Snippet:<blockquote>"For Wasteland 2, the PC is the root of the product. The Fallout series, at least for now, is focused more at a console group, and for me, there's a major difference. There's a lot of people that loved Fallout 1 and 2, and Fallout 3 just isn't what they want. To me, Wasteland 2 is for those people," he said.

And since those nostalgic players are providing the funding for the game, Fargo said he's doing everything he can to ensure that their voices are heard. Fargo pointed out that Kickstarter backers won't have a final say on the game's content, but InXile wants to keep communication channels open so the team doesn't miss any key feedback.

InXile has already taken some cursory surveys about Wasteland 2, and Fargo said he's been surprised by what his backers are looking for.

"As an example, we asked fans what they'd like to see once we hit a certain funding level. More audio? A bigger world? And almost universally, people said, 'Please don't waste my money on audio.'"

Instead, players wanted InXile to include more text, giving the game a more robust, branching narrative. Adding voice-overs would only limit the game's scope, as dialogue trees would be bound by the game's audio budget. "It was an interesting thing to hear from [the fans], and I'm glad I heard that," Fargo said.</blockquote>Tangentially related, Michael A. Stackpole has a post on his blogs on his time designing the original Wasteland and his hopes for the sequel.

 

[egalor]

I just hope BF doesn't get 'Please don't waste my money on audio' too literary. I think the VO should be done at least to some extent, as _completely_ mute characters seldom make good and memorable personalities.

 

[Per]

I don't know, books contain some memorable personalities etc.

 

[C2B]

I don't know, books contain some memorable personalities etc.

While this is true. Spending your money at few, but excellent voice actors can have surprising results. I do remember the Voice Acting in Black Isle games quite fondly.

Not a partial voice acted game but the best example here: Kreia.

 

[Per]

I will grant this to be true in the case of SHODAN.

 

[Lexx]

Meh, I hate nothing more than voice over for the first sentence in a npc dialoge. And if you don't have unique things in the dialogues, like a talking head, then it also would just feel weird to have some npcs with voice and most of them without.

 

[Radman]

Meh, I hate nothing more than voice over for the first sentence in a npc dialoge. And if you don't have unique things in the dialogues, like a talking head, then it also would just feel weird to have some npcs with voice and most of them without.

You'd think talking heads wouldnt be too hard to do for a studio what with 3D modelling being what it is today.

No need for clay models when you can just build your head from scratch and render it on the computer - makes sense to me.

Doesnt the Mutant Rising Mod have talking heads?

 

[egalor]

I don't know, books contain some memorable personalities etc.

Books are not games. Sir!

Doesnt the Mutant Rising Mod have talking heads?

Gotta say, I didn't like too much the talking heads in Fallouts.

While the text could perfectly describe an NPC/PC, the skilful use of VO could bring him or her to life truly.

For example: Minsc, The Nameless One - they all would have lacked a relief without the VO, I think.

Ben from Full Throttle - VO made 60% of his personality for me.

Captain Bernhard from Dark Omen.

Heck, the Master in Fallout 1.

So, all in all, I would hate BF to omit the VO completely.

 

[FearMonkey]

I think the intro should have voice-overs at least. If the rest of the game has none, I'm perfectly fine with that. At the most, if they wanted key NPCs to have voices, I'd be okay with that too (e.g. Aradesh and Tandi in Fallout 1).

Side tangent: I have another grammar query.

Now that Fargo has a chance to make games for a niche audience, he believes he can satisfy players that have been somewhat ignored by today's latest and greatest titles. The original Wasteland RPG, developed by Interplay, released in 1988 and was published by EA. Wasteland's successor, the Fallout series, might still be going strong, but Fargo noted even that classic franchise has changed quite a bit to suit a broader audience.

Is it just me or is the statement in bold a sentence fragment? It's not reading right in my head.

 

[egalor]

Is it just me or is the statement in bold a sentence fragment? It's not reading right in my head.

Yeah, looks kinda like a caption under a WL1 screenshot, maybe.

 

[bloody hypocrite]

I think the intro should have voice-overs at least. If the rest of the game has none, I'm perfectly fine with that. At the most, if they wanted key NPCs to have voices, I'd be okay with that too (e.g. Aradesh and Tandi in Fallout 1).

Side tangent: I have another grammar query.

Now that Fargo has a chance to make games for a niche audience, he believes he can satisfy players that have been somewhat ignored by today's latest and greatest titles. The original Wasteland RPG, developed by Interplay, released in 1988 and was published by EA. Wasteland's successor, the Fallout series, might still be going strong, but Fargo noted even that classic franchise has changed quite a bit to suit a broader audience.

Is it just me or is the statement in bold a sentence fragment? It's not reading right in my head.

The original Wasteland RPG, developed by Interplay, was released in 1988 and published by EA.

I'm not really sure. It depends on what the writer is trying to convey.

 

[TheWesDude]

the and at the end rubs me wrong.

i think thats the problem.

its not a fragment, its just a busy sentance that is shorter than it seems it should be.

 

[tekhedd]

I think the intro should have voice-overs at least. If the rest of the game has none, I'm perfectly fine with that. At the most, if they wanted key NPCs to have voices, I'd be okay with that too (e.g. Aradesh and Tandi in Fallout 1).

Side tangent: I have another grammar query.

Now that Fargo has a chance to make games for a niche audience, he believes he can satisfy players that have been somewhat ignored by today's latest and greatest titles. The original Wasteland RPG, developed by Interplay, released in 1988 and was published by EA. Wasteland's successor, the Fallout series, might still be going strong, but Fargo noted even that classic franchise has changed quite a bit to suit a broader audience.

Is it just me or is the statement in bold a sentence fragment? It's not reading right in my head.

The original Wasteland RPG, developed by Interplay, was released in 1988 and published by EA.

I'm not really sure. It depends on what the writer is trying to convey.

It has to be a typo (or just poor grammar).

The original is only a sentence if "released" is a verb, which makes "Wasteland RPG" the subject, making the sentence effectively "Wasteland RPG released." You don't normally think of the program as releasing something (or itself); normally the publisher does that. It's not logical. The mind rebels! It's like getting a cramp in your brain.

Also, if "released" is the verb, then "and published by EA" is grammatically incorrect, as it is not attached to anything.

I'm not a language freak or anything.

[edit] Since the sentence is both nonsensical and grammatically incorrect, I declare it a typo, probably due to typing the sentence one way, then editing it into a different shape.

 

[Kyuu]

I dunno. I think some VO would be a fine use of the budget, though only in key parts while keeping most of it text to allow for more branching dialogue. Like how Grandia II, for example, only had VO during important scenes for the effect, but the rest was just on-screen text.

Or perhaps the obvious: talking heads for important characters ala Fallout.

 

[nemo00]

While it is true that partial VA in older games like F1,F2, BG, BG2 did add to the flavor of the game, these also contained the "seeds of the downfall" of future RPG's and that's why I hate VA . Hopefully this aspect will be kept to a minimum in Wasteland.
More audio means more money to voice actors, which of course means some fancy name , which means less money spent for developing content, which means some flashy game for idiotic people who are to lazy to fucking read.

Secondly voice acting doesn't really add shit to replay value at least not for me. If I replayed a game which usually had tons of VA i usually skipped most of it as it became boring and usually people read faster then listen.

 

[zioburosky13]

VO or Talking head for important NPC only. That is why when you get a talking head in F1 and F2, you know that NPC is one of the crucial elements in the game.

No one wants their M-4 assault rifle sounds like wasp-in-the-can.

 

[Lexx]

But this is not really true. Morpheus, as example, isn't really that important. Also I'd say that the sheriff in the Hub is rather important- though he has no talking head. Also originally there had been way more talking heads planned, but got cut because it was just too much work to be done in time.

 

[Bulletmachine]

Cassidy was pretty memorable for me despite having no voice, talking head and only being a generic bald leather armor character sprite.

If they provide some bits of background info on the characters I'm ok with only having a generic sprite and a name to look at.

 

[grayx]

Thanks for the news.

For a change, it's nice to see something wise from the game industry. I liked that "mythical mass market" phrase It's indeed mythical.

I like how this man thinks. It shows a lot of ups and downs, but that's necessary part of learning process. Overall enjoined reading this today.

About VO.
Words are very powerful way of conveying ideas and symbols. Some writers (and that can't do anyone, it requires a talent which is often lacking) can literally "speak" them in our heads, almost as we can hear them. It can be something related to our previous knowledge, the physical mechanism of reading or hearing in the brain itself or how those parts of the brain are connected. Or all above.

My point is, I don't mind text as far as it's skilfully implemented, although VO is (imo) necessary for all major PC's and NPC's (I have no doubt that it will be) as it is in some key moments of the game or if it somehow adds "extra punch" to some scene in the game. Making VO for a i.e game's glossary (as in ME3) it stupid and pure waste of money.


I'm glad to see he's aware what he wants and that fans are only a guidance in cases that not infringe his creative vision. It's good.


Man, for a long time, I'll finally have my own non-consolised UI in the new PC game

edit: tpo, tyo, typo!

 

[Jeyl]

I also hope he doesn't take the audio thing too literally. When it comes to mediums that have both sound and picture, SOUND DOMINATES PICTURE. There are no exceptions.