Chris Avellone

Well, !@#$#@$! great. Looks like Ferg will have to explain to LEC that we'll need to add another galaxy in peril.

Jedi: "Force, you don't write, you don't call..." The Force: "It's not you, it's me." Jedi: "But..." The Force: "Look, I love you, but I'm not *in* love with you."

I suppose we aren't even allowed to know who the publishers are? Exactly. In fact, it's so secret we don't even know who the developers are.

Thats the distant future. I'm talking about the pre cog abilities that Anakin has which the Jedi learn as part of their traing which makes them appear to move and react faster. Umm... precognition is the ability to divine the future... it does not let you move faster... I think you're getting your force powers confused In terms of reflexes (not actual speed), I got the impression from Episode 1 that Anakin's ability to predict the future a few seconds in advance (and react to it) is what made him such a good pilot and gave him his amazing reflexes. It's a shame, too, because that kind of cheapened his skill as a pilot for me. ("Oh, well, it's just the Force that makes him THAT good.") I never got the impression that he was actually concentrating on seeing the future - it was something he did instinctively while flying. Also, Anakin was also said to be able to see "things before they happen," according to his mother, and I'm not sure he was doing so intentionally in those instances, either - I don't think he even knew what he could do. Anyway. I think a Force user's ability to see into the future depends on the Force user.

We shipped yesterday, which means I can finally go home.

I have long wanted to do a high-school/junior high-school RPG, to be honest. I think it could have the potential to be a lot of fun - assemble your party of jock, geek, cheerleader, whatever and try to survive a year as a freshman through all the hurdles of high school life. Gain rep, complete homework assignments, avoid bullies, make gangs, join clubs, ostricize other cliques - I think it'd be awesome. My 2 cents.

Sorry, guys, if we could say anything, we would. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer.

We just love hiring people, to be honest. The interviewing process makes us feel all warm and cozy.

BTW, I think the impact of Fallout 1 would have been lessened if the actual gun manufacturer's names weren't mentioned. Not that that was a product placement situation, but there you go.

Personally, I'd say no, at least from the CRPG standpoint. It does create some limitations, but part of good game design is to work within the parameters given, whether it's the game system or the game world. You can still create a great story, great characters, great quests irrespective of whatever game system or campaign world you use. I think DnD has heavily influenced CRPG design for a long time and as a result, has introduced some pretty common gameplay cliches and expectations, but I don't think it's held us back from better game design.

"Run Like Hell" had some product placement with the Ballz caffeine drink, I think.* Interplay got crates of the stuff for months afterward. * It's true, but feel free to let the comments fly.

Rubber elf ears are cheap. And so is Frank. I hope you guys are letting someone else write the jokes for project X It's all us, baby! Get ready for comedy gold for hours on end!* We'll be here all week. * Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of Obsidian's consumer base, fans, detractors, or employees.

It's pretty typical for the Dark Side to take it "out of you," so to speak, making you look ravaged, dessicated, or whatever. Hell, by the time Palpatine becomes the Emperor, he's been using the Dark Side for a looooong time. They might as well have named him Darth Cadaverous.* Then again, judging by Yoda, using the light side a lot doesn't seem to help your complexion any. * Patent pending.

Rubber elf ears are cheap. And so is Frank.

A daring plan to be sure, but we knew the risks when starting Obsidian.

Way to keep a secret. Sheesh. I'm outta here.

I'm too busy reeling from Sammael's IWD2 gut-punch.

I will say for non-linear design, what usually happened on Interplay/BIS RPGs was that the "non-linear" aspects were just designed as a multitude of linear ones. If you need a more real version of non-linearity, you really have to throw in more engine-driven events and solutions rather than scripted quest or dialogue solutions (kind of like how Fallout handled explosives, for example, which allowed you to solve a number of puzzles just by using the demolitions game mechanics). If that makes any sense. Keeping track and testing all of them can certainly be a pain, but they are fun to design.

Great sticky!

hey chris, any plans for a pstish game in the future? Beats me, I'm living day to day these days. My gut reaction would be "no" if you meant an actual Planescape game, but I guess it depends on what you mean by a pst game. If you mean mechanics-wise, then at some point, I would like to do another game that uses some of the alignment tracking and richer companion options. But then again, I don't know the status of the Planescape license these days. I will say I would hate to revisit a game like that after 5-6 years and not be able to throw as much energy into it that I did when I could work utterly insane hours rather than the insane hours I work now.

Lots of caffeine. And Chris Parker looming over you like a shadow.

That's true of games, too. It's also good to know what plots, quests, etc, etc have been done a million times over and not do them again - or at least try to put a new spin on them. Although sometimes it's fun to take a traditional cliche, then do something else with it. It all depends. Execution matters a lot, too. If you take F1 and summarize the plot in two sentences, you'd probably roll your eyes. But the execution and the details are what makes it a classic. And then there's the whole Batman issue. Batman is a guy who dresses up like a bat and fights crime. His arch-enemy is a clown. Personally, that is the dumbest friggin' thing I've ever heard... until I see the Batman movie, or read some of the comics, and the execution makes up for it. Well, it does for some people anyway.

Maybe we should just change it to Project: Charade. It has a nice ring to it.

That guy's voice in Session 9 was creepy. I didn't think I get so freaked out just listening to someone getting interviewed. I don't know if it was as creepy as the Donnie Darko voice, but still.