Chris Roberts Answers Your Questions
Undefined Undefined NoneContent
English
Last week we asked everyone to suggest questions for Chris Roberts, which we would narrow down to five to pose to him. The good news is that the community came up with over two hundred interesting questions… the bad news is that with the crunch for the October 10th announcement going on, there just wasn’t time to answer more than a few. To that end, here are five which seemed to come up time and again along with a solemn promise: this is only the first of many times you will be able to interact with Chris in the coming months! (Please keep in mind that we couldn’t address questions that would give away too much about the new game… but you’ll be hearing all about that soon!)
Do you think it’s possible to bring space sims back into the mainstream? If so, how?
YES! I feel like the appeal of Space Sims has never really gone away, it’s just that people stopped innovating and pushing the boundaries of what you could do. For me, games are all about immersion into a world. I think that’s what the Wing Commander series was best at and that was what I was aiming for when designing Freelancer. But I feel that other genres – the FPS and 3rd person action adventure – have taken this mantle and ran with it. If you look at a FPS game built in 2002 it’s a pale comparison to the sophistication of one built today. I haven’t seen the same progress in space sims. Freelancer still looks as good as most of the newer space sims. I also think that every genre needs a champion that’s passionate about pushing the genre. In FPS you had Id, Infinity Ward, Bungie and DICE, in 3rd person cover-based shooters, Epic and BioWare. Action Adventure you had Naughty Dog and so on. Since I took a break from the industry, outside of CCP’s work, space sim’s haven’t had a high profile developer to push the boundaries. I hope to change that with my new project!
How do you feel about modern games; which of them have interested or inspired you?
I think there’s a lot to be admired about games today – the level of graphical fidelity and sophistication is mind blowing in comparison to when I was last making games. Games that I played, finished and loved in the last few years have been the Uncharted series by Naughty Dog – possibly the most cinematic games ever made (yet!) , Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3 (love the whole team aspect, playing with your friends and the destructible environment), Mass Effect series (great cinematic story telling), StarCraft 2 (E-Sports!), Fallout 3 (great, deep FPS RPG) and finally Demon’s Souls – possibly the most frustrating yet rewarding game I’ve ever played. I’ve never put 200 hours into a game before but I did on Demon’s Souls. There’s some great design in the game, and I also think it harkens back to the old days of gaming where beating a level meant something. With too many of today’s games the difficulty is dumbed down so everyone can finish. Problem with this is that it’s just not as rewarding for the player. In most shooters I just charge in blasting in the single player campaign as I know if I die I will respawn a few seconds earlier. My play style is sloppy. But with Demon Souls I had to think, I had to be careful and the sense of accomplishment form beating the game was much more than I have gotten from a game in a long while.
What was it that frustrated you about game development that prompted you to take this break?
It was a combination of the increasing development length – Freelancer had been in production for 4 years when I sold Digital Anvil to Microsoft, frustration with the technology being able to realize the full vision I had in my head and the sense that Microsoft (and the rest of the industry) was becoming more interested in console than PC. Once you mixed in the politics that come with any large organization), it had gotten to the point I had lost my sense of fun when making games …
The Wing Commander games didn’t allow much content creation, but Freelancer continues to flourish because of mods. What is your position on user-created content?
Absolutely for it! I love what the Freelancer community has done, and I’m impressed what other communities like the Skyrim or Team Fortress achieve with good tools. There’s a lot of talent and creativity out there and I fully intend to enable it and support it in my new game.
How did the finished version of Freelancer differ from your original vision? What did you imagine that you wish could have been included?
I think it turned out pretty well, which is down to Phil Wattenbarger, Jorg Neumann and the rest of the team that finished the game after I left. Having said that, it definitely lost some its personality and flair in getting it out the door. As the team realized the sheer amount of content that was needed to build out the universe, a lot of specific content plans were lost in favor of more generic encounters / locations. The final mouse controls, while good, weren’t the ones that I saw in my head (I imagined the game being like a FPS, but in space and having the same level of shooting precision). Finally I regret not getting to follow through on the grander vision – the dynamic economy and the ability for players to all exist in a shared persistent universe.
Do you think it’s possible to bring space sims back into the mainstream? If so, how?
YES! I feel like the appeal of Space Sims has never really gone away, it’s just that people stopped innovating and pushing the boundaries of what you could do. For me, games are all about immersion into a world. I think that’s what the Wing Commander series was best at and that was what I was aiming for when designing Freelancer. But I feel that other genres – the FPS and 3rd person action adventure – have taken this mantle and ran with it. If you look at a FPS game built in 2002 it’s a pale comparison to the sophistication of one built today. I haven’t seen the same progress in space sims. Freelancer still looks as good as most of the newer space sims. I also think that every genre needs a champion that’s passionate about pushing the genre. In FPS you had Id, Infinity Ward, Bungie and DICE, in 3rd person cover-based shooters, Epic and BioWare. Action Adventure you had Naughty Dog and so on. Since I took a break from the industry, outside of CCP’s work, space sim’s haven’t had a high profile developer to push the boundaries. I hope to change that with my new project!
How do you feel about modern games; which of them have interested or inspired you?
I think there’s a lot to be admired about games today – the level of graphical fidelity and sophistication is mind blowing in comparison to when I was last making games. Games that I played, finished and loved in the last few years have been the Uncharted series by Naughty Dog – possibly the most cinematic games ever made (yet!) , Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3 (love the whole team aspect, playing with your friends and the destructible environment), Mass Effect series (great cinematic story telling), StarCraft 2 (E-Sports!), Fallout 3 (great, deep FPS RPG) and finally Demon’s Souls – possibly the most frustrating yet rewarding game I’ve ever played. I’ve never put 200 hours into a game before but I did on Demon’s Souls. There’s some great design in the game, and I also think it harkens back to the old days of gaming where beating a level meant something. With too many of today’s games the difficulty is dumbed down so everyone can finish. Problem with this is that it’s just not as rewarding for the player. In most shooters I just charge in blasting in the single player campaign as I know if I die I will respawn a few seconds earlier. My play style is sloppy. But with Demon Souls I had to think, I had to be careful and the sense of accomplishment form beating the game was much more than I have gotten from a game in a long while.
What was it that frustrated you about game development that prompted you to take this break?
It was a combination of the increasing development length – Freelancer had been in production for 4 years when I sold Digital Anvil to Microsoft, frustration with the technology being able to realize the full vision I had in my head and the sense that Microsoft (and the rest of the industry) was becoming more interested in console than PC. Once you mixed in the politics that come with any large organization), it had gotten to the point I had lost my sense of fun when making games …
The Wing Commander games didn’t allow much content creation, but Freelancer continues to flourish because of mods. What is your position on user-created content?
Absolutely for it! I love what the Freelancer community has done, and I’m impressed what other communities like the Skyrim or Team Fortress achieve with good tools. There’s a lot of talent and creativity out there and I fully intend to enable it and support it in my new game.
How did the finished version of Freelancer differ from your original vision? What did you imagine that you wish could have been included?
I think it turned out pretty well, which is down to Phil Wattenbarger, Jorg Neumann and the rest of the team that finished the game after I left. Having said that, it definitely lost some its personality and flair in getting it out the door. As the team realized the sheer amount of content that was needed to build out the universe, a lot of specific content plans were lost in favor of more generic encounters / locations. The final mouse controls, while good, weren’t the ones that I saw in my head (I imagined the game being like a FPS, but in space and having the same level of shooting precision). Finally I regret not getting to follow through on the grander vision – the dynamic economy and the ability for players to all exist in a shared persistent universe.
German
Letzte Woche baten wir alle, Fragen an Chris Roberts zu stellen, die wir auf fünf beschränken würden, um sie ihm vorzustellen. Die gute Nachricht ist, dass die Community über zweihundert interessante Fragen gestellt hat.... die schlechte Nachricht ist, dass mit dem Crunch für die Ankündigung vom 10. Oktober einfach keine Zeit war, mehr als ein paar zu beantworten. Zu diesem Zweck gibt es fünf, die immer wieder auftauchen zu wollen scheinen, zusammen mit einem feierlichen Versprechen: Dies ist nur das erste von vielen Gelegenheiten, in den kommenden Monaten mit Chris zu interagieren! (Bitte bedenke, dass wir keine Fragen beantworten konnten, die zu viel über das neue Spiel verraten würden.... aber du wirst bald davon hören!)
Glaubst du, dass es möglich ist, Weltraumsimulationen wieder in den Mainstream zu bringen? Wenn ja, wie?
JA! Ich habe das Gefühl, dass der Reiz von Space Sims nie wirklich verschwunden ist, es ist nur so, dass die Leute aufhörten zu innovieren und die Grenzen dessen, was man tun könnte, zu überschreiten. Für mich geht es bei Spielen darum, in eine Welt einzutauchen. Ich denke, das ist es, was die Wing Commander Serie am besten gelungen ist und das war es, was ich bei der Gestaltung von Freelancer angestrebt habe. Aber ich glaube, dass andere Genres - das FPS und das 3rd-Person-Action-Abenteuer - diesen Mantel übernommen und mit ihm gelaufen sind. Wenn man sich ein FPS-Spiel aus dem Jahr 2002 ansieht, ist es ein blasser Vergleich mit der Raffinesse eines heutigen Spiels. Ich habe nicht den gleichen Fortschritt bei Weltraumsimulationen gesehen. Freelancer sieht immer noch so gut aus wie die meisten neueren Weltraumsimulationen. Ich denke auch, dass jedes Genre einen Champion braucht, der leidenschaftlich daran interessiert ist, das Genre voranzutreiben. In FPS gab es Id, Infinity Ward, Bungie und DICE, in 3rd Person Cover-basierten Shootern, Epic und BioWare. Action Adventure, du hattest Naughty Dog und so weiter. Seitdem ich eine Pause von der Industrie gemacht habe, außerhalb der Arbeit von CCP, hatten Space Sims keinen hochkarätigen Entwickler, um die Grenzen zu überschreiten. Ich hoffe, das mit meinem neuen Projekt zu ändern!
Was hältst du von modernen Spielen, wer von ihnen hat dich interessiert oder inspiriert?
Ich denke, es gibt heute viel zu bewundern an Spielen - das Niveau der grafischen Treue und Raffinesse ist atemberaubend im Vergleich zu dem, was ich zuletzt gemacht habe. Spiele, die ich in den letzten Jahren gespielt, beendet und geliebt habe, waren die Uncharted-Serie von Naughty Dog - vielleicht die filmischsten Spiele, die je gemacht wurden (noch)!), Battlefield Bad Company 2 und Battlefield 3 (liebe den ganzen Teamaspekt, spiele mit deinen Freunden und der zerstörbaren Umgebung), Mass Effect Serie (großartiges filmisches Geschichtenerzählen), StarCraft 2 (E-Sports!), Fallout 3 (großartiges, tiefes FPS-RPG) und schließlich Demon's Souls - vielleicht das frustrierendste, aber lohnendste Spiel, das ich je gespielt habe. Ich habe noch nie 200 Stunden in ein Spiel investiert, aber ich habe es bei Demon's Souls getan. Es gibt ein großartiges Design im Spiel, und ich denke auch, dass es an die alten Tage des Spiels zurückreicht, in denen das Erreichen eines Levels etwas bedeutet. Bei zu vielen der heutigen Spiele wird der Schwierigkeitsgrad heruntergedrückt, so dass jeder das Spiel beenden kann. Das Problem dabei ist, dass es einfach nicht so lohnend für den Spieler ist. In den meisten Schützen führe ich nur eine Sprengung in der Einzelspieler-Kampagne durch, da ich weiß, dass ich, wenn ich sterbe, ein paar Sekunden früher wiedergeboren werde. Mein Spielstil ist schlampig. Aber bei Demon Souls musste ich denken, ich musste vorsichtig sein und der Sinn für Leistung, das Spiel zu schlagen, war viel mehr, als ich von einem Spiel in einer langen Zeit bekommen habe.
Was war es, das dich über die Spieleentwicklung frustriert hat, die dich dazu veranlasste, diese Pause einzulegen?
Es war eine Kombination aus der zunehmenden Entwicklungsdauer - Freelancer war seit 4 Jahren in Produktion, als ich Digital Anvil an Microsoft verkaufte, Frustration darüber, dass die Technologie in der Lage war, die volle Vision, die ich in meinem Kopf hatte, zu verwirklichen, und das Gefühl, dass Microsoft (und der Rest der Branche) mehr an Konsolen als an PCs interessiert war. Sobald du dich in die Politik gemischt hast, die mit jeder großen Organisation kommt), war es so weit gekommen, dass ich meinen Sinn für Spaß beim Spielen verloren hatte.....
Die Wing Commander-Spiele erlaubten nicht viel Inhaltserstellung, aber Freelancer floriert weiterhin wegen der Mods. Wie steht ihr zu benutzerdefinierten Inhalten?
Absolut dafür! Ich liebe das, was die Freelancer-Community getan hat, und ich bin beeindruckt, was andere Communities wie die Skyrim oder Team Fortress mit guten Tools erreichen. Es gibt viel Talent und Kreativität da draußen, und ich habe die Absicht, es zu ermöglichen und in meinem neuen Spiel zu unterstützen.
Inwiefern hat sich die fertige Version von Freelancer von Ihrer ursprünglichen Vision unterschieden? Was dachten Sie sich, was Ihrer Meinung nach hätte aufgenommen werden können?
Ich denke, es ist ziemlich gut ausgegangen, was auf Phil Wattenbarger, Jorg Neumann und den Rest der Mannschaft zurückzuführen ist, die das Spiel nach meiner Abreise beendet hat. Allerdings hat es definitiv etwas an Persönlichkeit und Flair verloren, als es aus der Tür kam. Als das Team erkannte, wie viel Content für den Aufbau des Universums benötigt wurde, gingen viele spezifische Inhaltspläne zugunsten generischerer Begegnungen / Orte verloren. Die letzte Maussteuerung war zwar gut, aber nicht die, die ich in meinem Kopf sah (ich stellte mir das Spiel wie einen FPS vor, aber im Weltraum und mit der gleichen Schussgenauigkeit). Schließlich bedauere ich, dass ich die große Vision - die dynamische Wirtschaft und die Fähigkeit der Spieler, alle zu spielen, existieren in einem gemeinsamen, beständigen Universum nicht verwirklichen konnte.
Glaubst du, dass es möglich ist, Weltraumsimulationen wieder in den Mainstream zu bringen? Wenn ja, wie?
JA! Ich habe das Gefühl, dass der Reiz von Space Sims nie wirklich verschwunden ist, es ist nur so, dass die Leute aufhörten zu innovieren und die Grenzen dessen, was man tun könnte, zu überschreiten. Für mich geht es bei Spielen darum, in eine Welt einzutauchen. Ich denke, das ist es, was die Wing Commander Serie am besten gelungen ist und das war es, was ich bei der Gestaltung von Freelancer angestrebt habe. Aber ich glaube, dass andere Genres - das FPS und das 3rd-Person-Action-Abenteuer - diesen Mantel übernommen und mit ihm gelaufen sind. Wenn man sich ein FPS-Spiel aus dem Jahr 2002 ansieht, ist es ein blasser Vergleich mit der Raffinesse eines heutigen Spiels. Ich habe nicht den gleichen Fortschritt bei Weltraumsimulationen gesehen. Freelancer sieht immer noch so gut aus wie die meisten neueren Weltraumsimulationen. Ich denke auch, dass jedes Genre einen Champion braucht, der leidenschaftlich daran interessiert ist, das Genre voranzutreiben. In FPS gab es Id, Infinity Ward, Bungie und DICE, in 3rd Person Cover-basierten Shootern, Epic und BioWare. Action Adventure, du hattest Naughty Dog und so weiter. Seitdem ich eine Pause von der Industrie gemacht habe, außerhalb der Arbeit von CCP, hatten Space Sims keinen hochkarätigen Entwickler, um die Grenzen zu überschreiten. Ich hoffe, das mit meinem neuen Projekt zu ändern!
Was hältst du von modernen Spielen, wer von ihnen hat dich interessiert oder inspiriert?
Ich denke, es gibt heute viel zu bewundern an Spielen - das Niveau der grafischen Treue und Raffinesse ist atemberaubend im Vergleich zu dem, was ich zuletzt gemacht habe. Spiele, die ich in den letzten Jahren gespielt, beendet und geliebt habe, waren die Uncharted-Serie von Naughty Dog - vielleicht die filmischsten Spiele, die je gemacht wurden (noch)!), Battlefield Bad Company 2 und Battlefield 3 (liebe den ganzen Teamaspekt, spiele mit deinen Freunden und der zerstörbaren Umgebung), Mass Effect Serie (großartiges filmisches Geschichtenerzählen), StarCraft 2 (E-Sports!), Fallout 3 (großartiges, tiefes FPS-RPG) und schließlich Demon's Souls - vielleicht das frustrierendste, aber lohnendste Spiel, das ich je gespielt habe. Ich habe noch nie 200 Stunden in ein Spiel investiert, aber ich habe es bei Demon's Souls getan. Es gibt ein großartiges Design im Spiel, und ich denke auch, dass es an die alten Tage des Spiels zurückreicht, in denen das Erreichen eines Levels etwas bedeutet. Bei zu vielen der heutigen Spiele wird der Schwierigkeitsgrad heruntergedrückt, so dass jeder das Spiel beenden kann. Das Problem dabei ist, dass es einfach nicht so lohnend für den Spieler ist. In den meisten Schützen führe ich nur eine Sprengung in der Einzelspieler-Kampagne durch, da ich weiß, dass ich, wenn ich sterbe, ein paar Sekunden früher wiedergeboren werde. Mein Spielstil ist schlampig. Aber bei Demon Souls musste ich denken, ich musste vorsichtig sein und der Sinn für Leistung, das Spiel zu schlagen, war viel mehr, als ich von einem Spiel in einer langen Zeit bekommen habe.
Was war es, das dich über die Spieleentwicklung frustriert hat, die dich dazu veranlasste, diese Pause einzulegen?
Es war eine Kombination aus der zunehmenden Entwicklungsdauer - Freelancer war seit 4 Jahren in Produktion, als ich Digital Anvil an Microsoft verkaufte, Frustration darüber, dass die Technologie in der Lage war, die volle Vision, die ich in meinem Kopf hatte, zu verwirklichen, und das Gefühl, dass Microsoft (und der Rest der Branche) mehr an Konsolen als an PCs interessiert war. Sobald du dich in die Politik gemischt hast, die mit jeder großen Organisation kommt), war es so weit gekommen, dass ich meinen Sinn für Spaß beim Spielen verloren hatte.....
Die Wing Commander-Spiele erlaubten nicht viel Inhaltserstellung, aber Freelancer floriert weiterhin wegen der Mods. Wie steht ihr zu benutzerdefinierten Inhalten?
Absolut dafür! Ich liebe das, was die Freelancer-Community getan hat, und ich bin beeindruckt, was andere Communities wie die Skyrim oder Team Fortress mit guten Tools erreichen. Es gibt viel Talent und Kreativität da draußen, und ich habe die Absicht, es zu ermöglichen und in meinem neuen Spiel zu unterstützen.
Inwiefern hat sich die fertige Version von Freelancer von Ihrer ursprünglichen Vision unterschieden? Was dachten Sie sich, was Ihrer Meinung nach hätte aufgenommen werden können?
Ich denke, es ist ziemlich gut ausgegangen, was auf Phil Wattenbarger, Jorg Neumann und den Rest der Mannschaft zurückzuführen ist, die das Spiel nach meiner Abreise beendet hat. Allerdings hat es definitiv etwas an Persönlichkeit und Flair verloren, als es aus der Tür kam. Als das Team erkannte, wie viel Content für den Aufbau des Universums benötigt wurde, gingen viele spezifische Inhaltspläne zugunsten generischerer Begegnungen / Orte verloren. Die letzte Maussteuerung war zwar gut, aber nicht die, die ich in meinem Kopf sah (ich stellte mir das Spiel wie einen FPS vor, aber im Weltraum und mit der gleichen Schussgenauigkeit). Schließlich bedauere ich, dass ich die große Vision - die dynamische Wirtschaft und die Fähigkeit der Spieler, alle zu spielen, existieren in einem gemeinsamen, beständigen Universum nicht verwirklichen konnte.
Chinese
Last week we asked everyone to suggest questions for Chris Roberts, which we would narrow down to five to pose to him. The good news is that the community came up with over two hundred interesting questions… the bad news is that with the crunch for the October 10th announcement going on, there just wasn’t time to answer more than a few. To that end, here are five which seemed to come up time and again along with a solemn promise: this is only the first of many times you will be able to interact with Chris in the coming months! (Please keep in mind that we couldn’t address questions that would give away too much about the new game… but you’ll be hearing all about that soon!)
Do you think it’s possible to bring space sims back into the mainstream? If so, how?
YES! I feel like the appeal of Space Sims has never really gone away, it’s just that people stopped innovating and pushing the boundaries of what you could do. For me, games are all about immersion into a world. I think that’s what the Wing Commander series was best at and that was what I was aiming for when designing Freelancer. But I feel that other genres – the FPS and 3rd person action adventure – have taken this mantle and ran with it. If you look at a FPS game built in 2002 it’s a pale comparison to the sophistication of one built today. I haven’t seen the same progress in space sims. Freelancer still looks as good as most of the newer space sims. I also think that every genre needs a champion that’s passionate about pushing the genre. In FPS you had Id, Infinity Ward, Bungie and DICE, in 3rd person cover-based shooters, Epic and BioWare. Action Adventure you had Naughty Dog and so on. Since I took a break from the industry, outside of CCP’s work, space sim’s haven’t had a high profile developer to push the boundaries. I hope to change that with my new project!
How do you feel about modern games; which of them have interested or inspired you?
I think there’s a lot to be admired about games today – the level of graphical fidelity and sophistication is mind blowing in comparison to when I was last making games. Games that I played, finished and loved in the last few years have been the Uncharted series by Naughty Dog – possibly the most cinematic games ever made (yet!) , Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3 (love the whole team aspect, playing with your friends and the destructible environment), Mass Effect series (great cinematic story telling), StarCraft 2 (E-Sports!), Fallout 3 (great, deep FPS RPG) and finally Demon’s Souls – possibly the most frustrating yet rewarding game I’ve ever played. I’ve never put 200 hours into a game before but I did on Demon’s Souls. There’s some great design in the game, and I also think it harkens back to the old days of gaming where beating a level meant something. With too many of today’s games the difficulty is dumbed down so everyone can finish. Problem with this is that it’s just not as rewarding for the player. In most shooters I just charge in blasting in the single player campaign as I know if I die I will respawn a few seconds earlier. My play style is sloppy. But with Demon Souls I had to think, I had to be careful and the sense of accomplishment form beating the game was much more than I have gotten from a game in a long while.
What was it that frustrated you about game development that prompted you to take this break?
It was a combination of the increasing development length – Freelancer had been in production for 4 years when I sold Digital Anvil to Microsoft, frustration with the technology being able to realize the full vision I had in my head and the sense that Microsoft (and the rest of the industry) was becoming more interested in console than PC. Once you mixed in the politics that come with any large organization), it had gotten to the point I had lost my sense of fun when making games …
The Wing Commander games didn’t allow much content creation, but Freelancer continues to flourish because of mods. What is your position on user-created content?
Absolutely for it! I love what the Freelancer community has done, and I’m impressed what other communities like the Skyrim or Team Fortress achieve with good tools. There’s a lot of talent and creativity out there and I fully intend to enable it and support it in my new game.
How did the finished version of Freelancer differ from your original vision? What did you imagine that you wish could have been included?
I think it turned out pretty well, which is down to Phil Wattenbarger, Jorg Neumann and the rest of the team that finished the game after I left. Having said that, it definitely lost some its personality and flair in getting it out the door. As the team realized the sheer amount of content that was needed to build out the universe, a lot of specific content plans were lost in favor of more generic encounters / locations. The final mouse controls, while good, weren’t the ones that I saw in my head (I imagined the game being like a FPS, but in space and having the same level of shooting precision). Finally I regret not getting to follow through on the grander vision – the dynamic economy and the ability for players to all exist in a shared persistent universe.
Do you think it’s possible to bring space sims back into the mainstream? If so, how?
YES! I feel like the appeal of Space Sims has never really gone away, it’s just that people stopped innovating and pushing the boundaries of what you could do. For me, games are all about immersion into a world. I think that’s what the Wing Commander series was best at and that was what I was aiming for when designing Freelancer. But I feel that other genres – the FPS and 3rd person action adventure – have taken this mantle and ran with it. If you look at a FPS game built in 2002 it’s a pale comparison to the sophistication of one built today. I haven’t seen the same progress in space sims. Freelancer still looks as good as most of the newer space sims. I also think that every genre needs a champion that’s passionate about pushing the genre. In FPS you had Id, Infinity Ward, Bungie and DICE, in 3rd person cover-based shooters, Epic and BioWare. Action Adventure you had Naughty Dog and so on. Since I took a break from the industry, outside of CCP’s work, space sim’s haven’t had a high profile developer to push the boundaries. I hope to change that with my new project!
How do you feel about modern games; which of them have interested or inspired you?
I think there’s a lot to be admired about games today – the level of graphical fidelity and sophistication is mind blowing in comparison to when I was last making games. Games that I played, finished and loved in the last few years have been the Uncharted series by Naughty Dog – possibly the most cinematic games ever made (yet!) , Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3 (love the whole team aspect, playing with your friends and the destructible environment), Mass Effect series (great cinematic story telling), StarCraft 2 (E-Sports!), Fallout 3 (great, deep FPS RPG) and finally Demon’s Souls – possibly the most frustrating yet rewarding game I’ve ever played. I’ve never put 200 hours into a game before but I did on Demon’s Souls. There’s some great design in the game, and I also think it harkens back to the old days of gaming where beating a level meant something. With too many of today’s games the difficulty is dumbed down so everyone can finish. Problem with this is that it’s just not as rewarding for the player. In most shooters I just charge in blasting in the single player campaign as I know if I die I will respawn a few seconds earlier. My play style is sloppy. But with Demon Souls I had to think, I had to be careful and the sense of accomplishment form beating the game was much more than I have gotten from a game in a long while.
What was it that frustrated you about game development that prompted you to take this break?
It was a combination of the increasing development length – Freelancer had been in production for 4 years when I sold Digital Anvil to Microsoft, frustration with the technology being able to realize the full vision I had in my head and the sense that Microsoft (and the rest of the industry) was becoming more interested in console than PC. Once you mixed in the politics that come with any large organization), it had gotten to the point I had lost my sense of fun when making games …
The Wing Commander games didn’t allow much content creation, but Freelancer continues to flourish because of mods. What is your position on user-created content?
Absolutely for it! I love what the Freelancer community has done, and I’m impressed what other communities like the Skyrim or Team Fortress achieve with good tools. There’s a lot of talent and creativity out there and I fully intend to enable it and support it in my new game.
How did the finished version of Freelancer differ from your original vision? What did you imagine that you wish could have been included?
I think it turned out pretty well, which is down to Phil Wattenbarger, Jorg Neumann and the rest of the team that finished the game after I left. Having said that, it definitely lost some its personality and flair in getting it out the door. As the team realized the sheer amount of content that was needed to build out the universe, a lot of specific content plans were lost in favor of more generic encounters / locations. The final mouse controls, while good, weren’t the ones that I saw in my head (I imagined the game being like a FPS, but in space and having the same level of shooting precision). Finally I regret not getting to follow through on the grander vision – the dynamic economy and the ability for players to all exist in a shared persistent universe.
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- 13 years ago (2012-09-24T00:00:00+00:00)