RockPaperShotgun Feargus Urquhart Interview

[C2B]

First Part. Future of RPG's.

 

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/02/15/obsidians-urquhart-on-the-future-of-rpgs/

Edited February 15, 2013 by C2B

[C2B]

So the contract for the new game was signed in december.

 

It's also nice to hear Obsidian's doing well!

 

 

Congratulations developer bros!

Edited February 15, 2013 by C2B

[C2B]

Considering I just mistook Penny Arcade for RockPaperShotgun I REALLY need some sleep.

 

Edit: No, mistook RockPaperShotgun for Penny Arcade. What the hell is wrong with me.

Edited February 15, 2013 by C2B

[Flouride]

That new contract is some excellent news! Happy to see them doing well with South Park, Eternity and whatever the new project is

[Aoyagi]

I pray for AP2 or a new Fallout. But it will most likely be something entirely new . . . which is also awesome!

[C2B]

Three hints by the way (Originally written on the PA forums)

 

- The Art Director at Obsidian mentioned that he bought blueprints for a new project (November)


- They are currently hiring two artist positions (3D Artist and
Enviroment) mentioning the need for *highly realistic* ingame-results
(December)


- An Obsidian artist was twittering about Cryengine 3 documentation (November)

 

3 is just a random tweet, BUT considering both postings in 2 were released on december 21 suggests that they are related to this project (as it makes sense for Obsidian to hire people in reaction of the contract being signed). And *highly realistic* does sound Cryenginy.

 

Game in Spirit of AP?

 

Speculation time *Buahahahahhah*

Edited February 15, 2013 by C2B

[WorstUsernameEver]

Good news. Hopefully it's something that appeals more to my tastes than South Park, but I guess it'll take a while before we get a glimpse of what it is.

[Undecaf]

Good news for bros at Obsidian; and another game for us to look forward to revealing.

 

What ever the new contract is, I do hope it does not involve fantasy.

Edited February 15, 2013 by Undecaf

[C2B]

Good news for bros at Obsidian; and another game for us to look forward to revealing.

 

What ever the new contract is, I do hope it does not involve fantasy.

 

The ordered blueprints do suggest a real-life setting.

[C2B]

Checking out the rpg codex thread for the interview just made me realize that its likely Warner Bros is the publisher for this (They argued a Batman game)

 

Why?

 

Well, in the Knights interview mentioned the following companies they have talked to

 

- Ubisoft (After the South Park change, Feargus mentioned they had to make their contacts at Ubi first)

- Lucas Arts and Bethesda (Lucas Arts we know what they have pitched and Bethesda was also mentioned)

Edited February 15, 2013 by C2B

[WorstUsernameEver]

Turns out the Batman game they've announced for 2013 is developed by Obsidian! Do you want to be Adam West Batman, Frank Miller Batman or Nolan Batman?

 

P.S. : I'd say "it's a bit grasping at straws, isn't it?" but then I remember this company is about to release a South Park RPG.

[Aoyagi]

Turns out the Batman game they've announced for 2013 is developed by Obsidian! Do you want to be Adam West Batman, Frank Miller Batman or Nolan Batman?

 

P.S. : I'd say "it's a bit grasping at straws, isn't it?" but then I remember this company is about to release a South Park RPG.

 

Is that a wild guess or something you can source?

 

I'd want Jim Carrey as Batman.

[Zoraptor]

Sarcasm bro, do you want to be Bourne, Bauer or Bond? stylee. As for Batters, why they'd order blueprints for a game famously set in a fictionalised city is a pretty big question.

 

Hey, maybe it's Deus Ex: New Vegas, they've worked with Squeenix, the people who made DXHR are (theoretically, for all that has been seen and said) making Thi4f though on the very limited information given Beta Protocol/ Omega Methodology or even Mass Effect -4 are about as likely as anything.

Edited February 15, 2013 by Zoraptor

[C2B]

Sarcasm bro, do you want to be Bourne, Bauer or Bond? stylee. As for Batters, why they'd order blueprints for a game famously set in a fictionalised city is a pretty big question.

 

Hey, maybe it's Deus Ex: New Vegas, they've worked with Squeenix, the people who made DXHR are (theoretically, for all that has been seen and said) making Thi4f though on the very limited information given Beta Protocol/ Omega Methodology or even Mass Effect -4 are about as likely as anything.

 

Thats very unlikely

 

Warner Bros is possible because Feargus mentioned the companys they talked to in the Kotaku interview and its the odd one out.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Is that a wild guess or something you can source?

 

I'd want Jim Carrey as Batman.

It was an Alpha Protocol joke as Zoraptor noted. If I actually had a credible source on Obsidz' next project I'd newspost it on GameBanshee and then link it here

[Aoyagi]

Makes sense. I still miss the joke though and I find that disturbing after 3 playthroughs of AP :D

I also have no idea why would you post on GB first. All I know about you (or think I know) is that I saw your name or Codex.

 

Yes, I'm socially awkward.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Because I work there.

[HoonDing]

All that talk about sword fightan makes it clear to me the new game will be WET 2: Wetter than Wet

 

[Zoraptor]

C2B, on 16 Feb 2013 - 10:13, said:

Thats very unlikely

 

Warner Bros is possible because Feargus mentioned the companys they talked to in the Kotaku interview and its the odd one out.

Unlikely, certainly, at this stage though everything is by default unlikely as there's so little info- there's a better than even chance that it isn't anything that has been suggested. To be honest I'd suspect that WB is looking to a similar system to the alternating Treyarch/ IW CoD releases aimed at annualising the Batman games, so I'd also suspect anything coming out will follow the safe and profitable formula, not take a detour into RPG land. I could of course be wrong, and it would be potentially very good news for Obs if I am.

[C2B]

 

C2B, on 16 Feb 2013 - 10:13, said:

Thats very unlikely

 

Warner Bros is possible because Feargus mentioned the companys they talked to in the Kotaku interview and its the odd one out.

Unlikely, certainly, at this stage though everything is by default unlikely as there's so little info- there's a better than even chance that it isn't anything that has been suggested. To be honest I'd suspect that WB is looking to a similar system to the alternating Treyarch/ IW CoD releases aimed at annualising the Batman games, so I'd also suspect anything coming out will follow the safe and profitable formula, not take a detour into RPG land. I could of course be wrong, and it would be potentially very good news for Obs if I am.

 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting the Batman franchise. I'm merely suggesting WB as a publisher due to process of elimination. It is more likely on account of what Feargus said than Square Enix.

 

What would speak against Batman is the highly realistic part in the job postings. IMO, I consider them (the job postings) to be the most credible of info we have so far, the timing's just to perfect.

Edited February 16, 2013 by C2B

[Humanoid]

Hopefully the blueprints help make the interior layouts less headache-inducing than New Vegas.

 

 

 

Drawing a very long optimistic bow: blueprints totally mean top-down turn-based tactical-squad game.

[Enoch]

Hopefully the blueprints help make the interior layouts less headache-inducing than New Vegas.

 

Hey, buildings that are larger on the inside than they are on the outside make for the best houses!

[WorstUsernameEver]

"Highly realistic" when coupled with artist position postings, likely only means that they're shooting for a realistic/semi-realistic art style on a next-gen platform.

[C2B]

"Highly realistic" when coupled with artist position postings, likely only means that they're shooting for a realistic/semi-realistic art style on a next-gen platform.

 

Yep, and that's why I said it makes Batman less likely. It's a bit weird if a highly realistic graphical style is specifically a need for a Batman game, isn't it?

 

And again, I'm not talking in absolutes here. Just making an observation.

Edited February 16, 2013 by C2B

[WorstUsernameEver]

Yep, and that's why I said it makes Batman less likely. It's a bit weird if a highly realistic graphical style is specifically a need for a Batman game, isn't it?

 

And again, I'm not talking in absolutes here. Just making an observation.

I really don't see it as an indication of anything, and I can see how some people in the industry might even describe the exaggerated style of the Arkham game as "highly realistic". And that's not necessarily an art style Obsidian would have to follow if they had to work on a Batman game, which to be honest, I still can't quite see as feasible. But who knows!