Avellone blogging

[Starwars]

Just in case anyone missed it, Chris Avellone put up a blog post that talks a bit about Alpha Protocols production cycle. Pretty interesting: http://forums.obsidian.net/index.php?autom...p;blogid=1&

[Pidesco]

This is the sort of stuff on game development I'd like to see more often. Kudos to Avellone for doing this out of the kindness of his heart.

 

I'd love to see a special edition of AP with this sort of detailed info on how the game was made.

[Oblarg]

This is really cool stuff.

 

120 hours of dialogue? Holy ****.

Edited November 30, 2009 by Oblarg

[Oner]

Very nice.

[Sannom]

Really cool post, kudos to Avelone. Although is it me or do they refer a lot more to Brian Mitsoda now when it comes to the DSS? They cite his names at least once by paper now, he seemed barely mentioned before

[Starwars]

I've wondered sometimes if Mitsoda (and later Annie Carlson) left OEI because they were maybe unhappy with the changes and rewrites to Alpha Protocol, and the many mentions of them in interviews is Avellone and co being diplomatic.

 

Complete and pure speculation of course, but hey, it's the internetz.

[kreese12]

Ya I wondered what was up as well. My personal guess -- and it's only a guess, I haven't really read too much on it -- was that it was an amiable parting of ways, and Brian just wanted to work on other stuff and most of the writing and his work on the game was done when he left.

 

Edit: Oh ya: great blog post. Thanks for writing that Chris. It's great to see an insider's report on something, especially on narrative design, which is a fascinating subject.

Edited November 30, 2009 by kreese12

[kirottu]

Kudos to Avellone for doing this out of the kindness of his heart.

 

Long ago Avellone sacrificed his heart to the two gamer gods: Just-one-more-turn and ****-I-have-to-reload-and-I-haven

[Dark_Raven]

That Avellone is a swell fellow.

[Oner]

When can we have our Avellone plushies?

[mkreku]

Even the editors over at Eurogamer are calling out for Chris now:

 

"Actually, I think I've just discovered why the tree spirits told me to write this piece. It's for you, Chris. I know Alpha Protocol has been delayed, and I hope you're taking every minute of those extra few months to make a villain that blows Kreia - and Planescape's Transcendant One, for that matter - out of the water."

 

Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/born-und...bad-sign?page=3

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

If Avellone manages to top Kreia in terms of character I will make a golden statue of him and dedicate a new cult to his holy writings.

[Oblarg]

Even the editors over at Eurogamer are calling out for Chris now:

 

"Actually, I think I've just discovered why the tree spirits told me to write this piece. It's for you, Chris. I know Alpha Protocol has been delayed, and I hope you're taking every minute of those extra few months to make a villain that blows Kreia - and Planescape's Transcendant One, for that matter - out of the water."

 

Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/born-und...bad-sign?page=3

 

The guy who wrote that article actually understands Kreia as a character. It's nice, as BioWare's description of her on their webpage is so terribly flawed. I see so many KotOR fans simply dismissing Kreia as an evil witch who wanted to kill the force. It's refreshing to see that at least some people read the dialogue in KotOR2. I fear that the new KotOR MMO will cut out a lot of the character depth made in KotOR2, though somehow I don't think the KotOR fanbase as whole minds it too much.

 

Enough ranting, though. I seriously doubt Avellone can top Kreia, but if he does I will be extremely pleased. I've always loved Avellone's writing, though, so I have no doubt the villains in Alpha Protocol will be good (well, perhaps "villain" isn't the proper term as it has been revealed that many characters can either be allies or enemies).

[Oner]

If Avellone manages to top Kreia in terms of character I will make a golden statue of him and dedicate a new cult to his holy writings.

Nameless One?

[Oner]

^Somewhat related:

I think I was too harsh on NWN2 before when I said it didn't have any themes. 'Heroism' probably is the theme of the game - it's just not developed very well.

 

Let's think about all the heroes we've seen in this game. Can you name them all?

 

There's one very obvious candidate (us) and then there are a couple of others as well: the Guardian, Ammon Jerro. But dig a little deeper and they start popping out all over the place: Lorne and Cormick from West Harbor; Zeeaire was a legendary Sword Stalker of the githyanki; Nasher was a former adventurer; Garius was arguably the 'anti-hero' of Luskan; Casavir defended Old Owl Well from the orcs; Bishop and Shandra had heroic origins; Batha united the lizardmen of the Mere; even Daerrad and his troupe are heroes of a sort. And you can even delve into the backstory for heroes: Torim and King Loudram of the Ironfists; Gith and Zerthimon from githzerai legend.

 

The key is that they're all flawed heroes. Not "flawed" as in 'he doesn't like snakes' or 'he's very volatile' but "flawed" as in 'you are a bad hero, please stop'.

 

The Guardian was corrupted by the Shadow Weave. Ammon Jerro killed more innocents than he did undead. Lorne became a thug, Cormick fell into middle-management. Zeeaire was tempted by the power of the shards. Nasher retired. Garius overreached himself. Casavir was running away. Bishop failed to rise above his beginnings. Shandra was murdered by her grandfather. Batha was misled. Daerrad was a fool. Loudram was a coward. Gith and Zerthimon, the most important after Calliope, the Guardian and Ammon, couldn't stay united long enough to establish their new race on the Planes; Gith became crazed with bloodlust and lost herself in the Hells... and if you want to know about Zerthimon, perhaps you should ask Dak'kon's opinion on the matter.

 

Someone at Obsidian was intent on taking a sledgehammer to the concept of heroism. My only complaint is that I wish they had finished the job.

 

What I don't understand is why we don't screw up. All these other heroes messed up or are inappropriate in some way, but we just bounce around, happy as lambs, saving the day with no worries at all. We never had to make the hard, practical decisions that Ammon did. We never had to choose between leaving Illefarn undefended and submitting ourselves to the Shadow Weave. Why is it that we're the perfect hero and everyone else is such an abject failure? Why are we here berating Ammon instead of the other way around?

 

I would have accepted something as trite as "true spirit" or "courage" or something... but as it is, it's this big empty question that hasn't had any thought put into it at all. You just have to make it up - and not in the good "makes you think" way, because it's simply never addressed at all.

Interesting read if you ask me.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

If Avellone manages to top Kreia in terms of character I will make a golden statue of him and dedicate a new cult to his holy writings.

Nameless One?

Haven't played Planescape: Torment, but I guarantee I prefer KotOR 2. I'm just a fanboy like that.

[lord of flies]

The blog link is very long. Can anybody sum it up for me?

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Chris Avellone > you.

[Oner]

xD

 

 

It says making AP is fun.