Brian Fargo
Brian Fargo
Uqahs You want to create another game (new Torment) with the help of your fans. Does that mean that inXile Entertainment is now focusing on fan funded RPGs only? Do you consider yourself as the last bastion of oldschool RPGs?

Brian Fargo I would very much like to continue this new relationship with the fans of RPG in which we remove publishers and distributors from the mix and focus on the elements we know are important. When we make game via crowdfunding it allows us to further cater the experience to that of the more hard core RPG. I don’t have the need to concern myself with how we might sell to some audience that doesn’t get what we are trying to do. Clearly there was a huge pent up demand for this more reactive kind of RPG experience. It has been a blast to help usher in this kind of RPG but I would not say I am the only one. Certainly the guys at CD Projekt and Obsidian are right there with me.

Uqahs In your Kickstarter's videos there's a kid who symbolises modern game industry. His ironic role points out the most important faults of the game publishers. Bethesda Softworks as a big corporation fits pretty well into this allegory. Do you think their Fallout 3 is a victim of that games simplification fashion? Although they've changed isometric, turn-based game into first person shooter, that turned out to be a good business. How to reconcile this urge to earn money with staying original and loyal to your ideas?

Brian Fargo I try to focus on the things we do well without disparaging the efforts of others as each of us have a different approach and perspective. My biggest concerns I see in the industry is the use of IAP and their potential abuse. No doubt there are legitimate uses but there is a lingering doubt to its intent when the user has been charged to buy the game. This has not gone over well with the gamer and it can kill the immersion that players love so much in an RPG. Again crowd funding allows development to stay more pure. The vast wealth that has been created in games over the last decade has changed quite a few things.

Uqahs As for the father of Fallout, which Fallout is your favourite and which one is the most important?

Brian Fargo I would have to say the first Fallout is the most important one as it said the look and style for the entire series. It was a brilliant mix of violence mixed with the innocent and hopeful vibe of the 50’s. One of the most challenging things to do in a game is to set a style that is unique and the team really dreamed up that concept. I give them the full credit for that.

Uqahs It must be interesting to work with the same people you worked 25 years earlier, when the first Wasteland was made.

Brian Fargo In reality I never stopped working with many of the same folks from years past. Both my people at inXile and the ones I work with at Obsidian have been working with me for over 20 years. Although I do admit that it was a trip to re-visit the storyline and characters from a game that is over 20 years old. It brought back so many memories.

Uqahs You've put a little easter egg about Wasteland 2 in the original Wasteland. Was it just for fun or maybe you had serious plans about the sequel at that time?

Brian Fargo I had always planned on working on a sequel though I didn’t know it would take this long to get made. Although the sequel was in the game which takes place in 2087 so at least I beat that date!

Uqahs And what about the cancelled Meantime which was planned to be another game set in the Wasteland universe. Chris Avellone said the end story of Meantime sounds like "Video Killed the Radio Star". Looking back, do you think Meantime could have been finished?

Brian Fargo Meantime was a very ambitious game from a design perspective as it tried to tell a story that involved time travel. Reactivity is key in RPGs so you can imagine all of the issues one has to try to account for if the player is travelling through time. I do believe that the game could have been completed had I known what I know today. We spent too much time trying to get the writers to think too logically for every state up front and needed to cater the design cycle differently for each.

Uqahs Wasteland 2 seems to be a much lighter game for its creators than every next Fallout because it doesn't have to carry that historical burden made by it's numerous ancestors. Is it better to have designers strictly tied to the world's canon or maybe they like to have more freedom and detailed universe is an unnecessary limitation?

Brian Fargo Well each approach has its merits and our job is to surprise the player regardless of their knowledge or expectations. With Wasteland we are working with a canon but it lighter in detail that Fallout but that is mostly due to the era in which it was made. We didn’t take the world sense as serious as we do today. I find that all users of entertainment are more discerning as times goes on and we have to rise to meet those expectations.

Uqahs You've briefly mentioned social features that will be included in Wasteland 2. Have any of that ideas been yet cristallized?

Brian Fargo Yes that concept got me more user comments than our 16 page vision document. Our fan base reacted quite negatively to that concept so we have not spend any effort looking into it. Our first order of business needs to remain making this the BEST single player game possible and all efforts are on that for now.

Uqahs And the last question. How is the work going at the moment? And how much needs to be done before we could see "Brian Fargo presents" again? Will you make it until the end of the year?

Brian Fargo I’m very pleased with the amount of detail we have in the game so far and we still have quite a ways to go. By summer we should be in full iteration stage and will open it up to a few select people before putting out for full beta. So far we are good on the schedule with the main risk being that we have quite a big game to test and nailing down all the inconsistencies and bugs takes time. Fortunately we have no technical risks and it just comes down to polishing it well. It is going to be an exciting day when we launch Wasteland 2. And I’d like to end this with a big thanks for the incredible support from our Polish fans. You guys rock and you sure know a good RPG when you play it.



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