Chris Abellon: "Developers should always listen to the players"
It's hard to say if he knows Chris Abellon , that some of his games acquired a cult status in our country, and fans Planescape And Fallout They are united in clubs, fan movements and are looking forward to continuing their favorite games. Abellon himself always eagerly talked with the players, never shy of the public and, as he himself admitted, believes that the opinion of the players when creating games should be determining.
An excess confirmation of these words was the consent of Avellon, engaged in Obsidian at once, answer questions from Russian fans, including our readers.
The online conversation was held at the Klatch St. Petersburg Bar, you can watch it in our news (in English). Well, in this text we collected the most interesting thing that Avellon managed to share for a month and a half conversation, and transferred to a great mighty.
Inteplay, the nineties and the work of the game designer already at the age of 19
“I started my career for the game designer at the age of nine, when my neighbor introduced me to DND And he explained the rules. Even then, I began to create my first card games, wrote rules, scripts, worked out characters – and, of course, sent all the fruits of my work to the publishers. When I was nineteen, they, apparently, were tired of my endless letters and published the first card game of my authorship. Here I realized that this craft does not bring money at all-with such an income I could hardly even feed myself.
I was a very young guy, I wanted a car, my own house and a lot more. Someone from the company that published my Sooper advised me to engage in computer games and talked about Interplay. Well, then everything was extremely simple-I arrived in California, completed a test task, received the position of a younger game designer and began to earn some fabulous money in my youthful representations. I remind me, there were only nineteen ".
► Industry of computer games in the nineties, of course, already stood tight, but the developers were still far from modern scope and budgets. And if now in the United States you can not only get a specialized education of a game designer at the university, but also defend a doctoral dissertation, then twenty years ago it seemed fantastic. Abellon was not afraid to do his favorite thing, and now it can already be said that the industry has grown thanks to enthusiasts like it as it.
About their own favorites
“I really like the Fallout series, because the Universe of the game gives great freedom for creativity. There is a real world and real life, there you can use the existing locations that exist, widely use modern slang and not limit yourself to anything. In fairness, I will note that the fantasy world Planescape almost never limited me. Another thing is the games of the series Star Wars , when there are some canons in the universe, from which you cannot retreat. It is important to consider every little thing here. The same situation with books on books ".
► We will not forget that at one time Chris Abellon was also a leading game designer Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2, which in many ways even surpassed the masterpiece first part.
About your attitude to Free-to-Play
“I am wary of virtual things for real money. As a developer, this idea is not to my liking. It is one thing when, say, the game "cosmetics" is sold-designed to embellish and diversify something. And quite another – when you need to pay in order to go on the game further or win. I do not like such games to put it mildly. By the way, I like what does Riot With League of Legends. And yes, I myself often play it ".
► Moba fans from Riot can flatter what Chris Avello himself among them.
Coffee, beer and other stimulants
“Now I am simultaneously busy with work on Torment: Tides of Numenera And Wasteland 2. These games require me different moods, and I can not always force myself to do something specific. In general, coffee and beer often help me in work. But now I do not have such loads as in the days of work on Planescape and Fallout 2. Then I had to work eighty, or even one hundred and twenty hours a week. I will not hide, I really liked it, but after such loads I felt myself … I did not go on a long vacation in the form and after passing the projects. I will not advise anyone to repeat my exploits ".
About the sources of inspiration
“I don't quite understand developers who draw inspiration in other games. This is a very narrow, limited approach. I myself try to diversify my leisure: I read a lot of comics, make bookmarks in them, then I return to some points, I immediately draw in the fields of illustrations. Books, cinema, travel – all this gives me creative forces and enriches me with ideas.
If we talk about the plot component of games, then from recent projects I will especially note The Walking Dead from TELLTALE, Bioshock Infinite And Gone Home".
On the influence of David Brin on Fallout New Vegas
“I will not even hide that something in Fallout: New Vegas Borrowed from the book "Postman" David Brin. To be honest, when we worked out Fallout 3 Back on InterPlay, we took from the book a lot of what seemed to us really important and resourceful. Here you can mention the "Mad Max" and the novel "Passion for Leibovits", the film "Guy and his Dog" and "Damed Valley".
► as expected, the number of readers about Fallout 4 Just went through the way. Abellon retorted them very quickly, saying that he knew about the game exactly as much as we. Here he probably was a little deceased, because, according to rumors, work on the continuation is in full swing in Bethesda in full swing. However, the eminent game designer hastened to assure everyone that he really liked the producer and marketing team Bethesda, and hinted that the future of the series in good hands.
About violence in games
“Everyone believes that there is a lot of violence in Fallout, and I, perhaps, is ready to agree with this. In general, this culture is developed in the USA, we love weapons, love to shoot. But recently, publishers are careful about such things, because age ratings directly affect sales. Say, in Australia, in this regard, very harsh laws, the same can be said about Germany. Sometimes we have to make several different versions of one game for different regions, since publishers do not want to incur losses ".
About new platforms
“I like how tablets modify games. With their appearance, we received many new mechanics and game forms. I can safely say that the tablets are now in the forefront of the industry and indicate the direction of its development. To be honest, I don't understand developers who are afraid to master new platforms and directions. You need to try everything!"
► Wasteland 2 developers, which belongs to Chris Abellon himself, plan to release the game not only on PC, but also on tablets.
About the capabilities of Kickstarter
“Kickstarter, of course, opens up new opportunities for developers. But the problem is that it is difficult for young and independent studios to attract attention to their projects. Many good games pass by us. https://sister-site.org/big-wins/ However, potentially with the help of the platform, large projects of the type can also be financed Call of Duty. However, while it is impossible to collect that kind of money.
Personally, I like to deal with players more than with publishers. This is an equal and interesting dialogue from which I get moral satisfaction and feeding. Another plus – we do not have to spend resources on a lot of unnecessary and unnecessary work, since we know for sure from the players what they want ".
► Players and Kickstarter helped Chris Abellon to realize the dream of Torment and Wasteland 2. In total, the creation of these two games did not regret seven million dollars.
About love for indie
“I like independent developers, and I am always ready to help them for free, because I enjoy it. I already helped the guys who did FTL. It is useful for all designers to engage in such things in order to test new ideas, keep yourself in good shape and not stop learning ”.
About the fate of Torment
“You know, we have a programmer Adam Hayner in our team. He writes scripts better than me, he is an excellent technical designer and location designer, and most importantly – he is an excellent programmer and knows how to realize all his plan. By the way, he worked on the original Planescape. You still have doubts about this game?"
About relations with fans
“I am surprised by developers who avoid communication with players. As for me, this is a huge mistake. I know cases when developers deliberately ignore the forums created by fans, do not read reviews. Personally, I believe that a strong community is the main component of a successful franchise. And the duty of the developers and publishers themselves is to widely support their fans and listen to their opinion ".
Feedback
Chris Abellon himself is always ready to directly answer your questions on your Twitter – https: // Twitter.COM/Chrisavellone. Feel free to ask questions about his new projects, show your work, ask his opinions about the results of your work, talk about your games and projects on Kickstarter. Chris promised to help! Well, most importantly – advise him a couple of good games from domestic developers – it turns out that he is not at all familiar with the products of our studios!
The editors of "Gambling.RU "sincerely thanks the organizers of the online meeting – Gleb Lubin and Evgeny Puzankov. Thanks for the interesting material guys!