[warcrow]

I'm fortunate enough to be attend E3 next week for the 3rd year in a row and couldn't be more excited! I'll scheduled to see some really really cool games, however another reason I'm excited is because I'll be interviewing some very talented people. Most notable are these folks:

Todd Howard - Skyrim, Game Director and Executive Producer at Bethesda Game Studios
Harvey Smith - Dishonored, Lead Designer
Max Schaefer - Torchlight 1 & 2, Runic Games co-founder and CEO

It's worth mentioning I'll be getting hands-on time with Skyrim's DLC Dawnguard and Dishonored too.

Anyway, what questions should I ask them? What would you ask them? It could be about their specific games, game design, game theory, or whatever else is might be interesting.

[homerdog]

Ask Todd if they ever plan to make another sp Elder Scrolls game, or if they will commit the franchise to MMO Hell for all eternity.

Well maybe you can word it differently but I would like to know.

You should ask Harvey how many hours of offline rendering it took to make that trailer. =D

[Grall]

Todd Howard: ask him regarding their reasoning and thoughts behind launching Skyrim with so many game-breaking, fatal bugs and quirks (and the AWFUL awful menu system.) Also, what they'll do to prevent their ES MMO from...not succeeding. It's not exactly a secret that every western MMO launched after WoW hasn't done all that great.

Max Schaefer: ask about what they've done to distinguish TL2 from the big bad wolf that is D3, his thoughts about being forced to launch after D3 rather than before, and roughly when we might expect a Mac version of the game! Also, what system requirements will be for the game (both PC and Mac versions, if possible...) Oh, and same thing regarding TL MMO as Todd: how not to get steamrollered by WoW and related thoughts.

[green.pixel]

Tell Harvey not to let Bethesda streamline Dishonored's mechanics for the masses.

[almighty]

Ask them why Skyrim is multi-threaded when consoles have PC more then enough threads for it not to support it.

[Arwin]

Originally Posted by almighty

Ask them why Skyrim is multi-threaded when consoles have PC more then enough threads for it not to support it.

Let me ask you first if you can rewrite that sentence ... it's a little too multi-threaded, sentences in the English languages should as a best practices be written in one single, logical thread (and with less double negatives ... )

[Cyan]

Originally Posted by Grall

Todd Howard: ask him regarding their reasoning and thoughts behind launching Skyrim with so many game-breaking, fatal bugs and quirks (and the AWFUL awful menu system.) Also, what they'll do to prevent their ES MMO from...not succeeding. It's not exactly a secret that every western MMO launched after WoW hasn't done all that great.

Max Schaefer: ask about what they've done to distinguish TL2 from the big bad wolf that is D3, his thoughts about being forced to launch after D3 rather than before, and roughly when we might expect a Mac version of the game! Also, what system requirements will be for the game (both PC and Mac versions, if possible...) Oh, and same thing regarding TL MMO as Todd: how not to get steamrollered by WoW and related thoughts.

I am very interested in Max Shaefer response, especially to some of the questions.

They openly admitted they weren't afraid of Diablo 3, and now that I played Torchlight 2 I understand why they are right on their assertion.

I would love you to ask him if he doesn't feel betrayed and riped off his unique talent knowing what Blizzard -after Blizzard North have disappeared and Activision bough it- have done to the Diablo series.... which he contributed so much to transform into a masterpiece.

[I.S.T.]

The only person I want to see interview Todd Howard is, IMO, L233. God, the stuff he'd say about Todd in the FO3 thread here was wonderfully funny.

As for Max Schaefer, can ask him what's been an influence on him and his designers since Torchlight 1 came out?

[Grall]

When can we hope to see those interviews, please?

[warcrow]

Guys, this is bananas! My interview with Max Schaefer has now been linked to by The Verge, gameindustry.biz, tom's hardware, ausgamer and a bunch more--wow! I've never ever had something actually gain this kind of momentum and get bigger and bigger. usually interest piques by day 2. :P

Anyway, just figured I'd share the good new with you folks 'cause I you.

[Grall]

Congratulations! That's awesome to hear.

Oh, btw... Did you get to interview Todd Howard? If so, could you link to it please, because maybe I missed it?

[warcrow]

Originally Posted by Grall

Congratulations! That's awesome to hear.

Oh, btw... Did you get to interview Todd Howard? If so, could you link to it please, because maybe I missed it?

Hi Grall, and thank you!

There was a last minute change and something came up with Todd so I ended up chatting with Matt Carofano, the Lead Artist in Skyrim. It can be found here:


http://eat-games.tumblr.com/post/259...arofano-skyrim

[warcrow]

Guys!

I interviewed Rafael Colantonio, co-creative director on Dishonored about: Non-lethal gameplay, Analog AI, Viktor Antonov, if Dishonored has multiple endings and a leveling system, targeting limbs, Neo-Victorian Steampunk, possessing a fish and sliding under tables.

It seems to me designing the controls for a game like Dishonored would be incredibly difficult. On one hand you want to make the game accessible to those who are new to the genre and interested in the game. On the other hand you have the core audience who’ve been playing these types of games for a very long time, and you certainly don’t want them to feel like they’re making unnecessary concessions. How on Earth are you guys approaching this?

Oh that’s a very very smart and insightful question, and it lies at the heart of our challenge really. The game has a lot of depth and it’s very hardcore by nature, but at the same time we don’t want it to be inaccessible. So we’re constantly putting a lot of effort into making sure the mechanics [are playable] for anyone, without losing the depth this type of game needs. You know, depth and accessibility are not enemies. It is possible to make games that have depth and are accessible. What you don’t want is complexity. So there’s a lot of effort on our part to make the right tutorial and expose the right options to the player at all times.
So yes, to answer the question, it’s a very difficult challenge and we don’t believe we’re betraying the hardcore while bringing it to the masses.

http://eat-games.tumblr.com/post/266...nio-dishonored


Hope you like it! Worked hard on this one.