Chief Editor GameMAG.ru Mikhail Shaginyan (ACE) chatted with the game designer Tim Kane and the head of the production department Obsidian Entertainment Eric Demilt about The outer worlds before her going on Nintendo switch and the state of the role-playing genre as a whole.
GameMAG.com conducted an interview with Tim Cain and Eric DeMilt from Obsidian Entertainment. An English version of the interview will follow after the Russian version down below.
Good afternoon! My name is Mikhail Shaginyan. I am the editor-in-chief of the first Runet video game portal Gamemag.ru. We were founded a year before the first Fallout – in early 1996. We really love your games. Most of us grew up on Interplay projects. And Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines has long been my favorite game. On behalf of the editors and readers, I want to thank you for all those great projects that you developed at Black Isle Studios, Troika Games, and Obsidian Entertainment!
Tim Kane: Thanks for the kind words, Michael! You really can be called a real fan!
As an industry veteran, could you share your perspective on the genre? What is most important in a proper RPG? What has changed especially in the development of games in your opinion over the past 25 years? Did you take into account any trends when creating The Outer Worlds, or did you make the project based solely on your personal preferences? And where do you think the role-playing industry is moving? What to expect from projects in the near future?
Tim Kane: Wow, I’ll try to answer all this. If we discuss in detail all these issues, here we will get material for the whole book.
Firstly, I believe that the most important element of a role-playing game is the ability to create your own character. I do not want to enter the role of some nameless avatar, and play exclusively for him. In Interplay, such a position turned into a whole lot of controversy, since in Stonekeep and Planescape the situation was just that – you had a ready-made character with your past in your hands, but I did not like it.
Secondly, with regard to changes in the production of games over the past 25 years, it seems to me that the most noticeable leap is observed in the expansion of the development staff by a number of new specialists. When we worked on the original Fallout, the team consisted of programmers, artists and designers. Now there are graphic programmers, game programmer, interface programmers, interface artists, texture artists, animators, modelers, narrative designers, level designers, mechanic designers, and many others. And a person like me, who is passionate about design and programming at the same time, seems to many modern developers to be somewhat alien.
Thirdly, The Outer Worlds was the rare exception where I did not immediately state “I like this option, and I hope that people will like it too.” Instead, together with Leonard Boyarsky, at the very beginning of the development, we sat down and discussed several important points – what exactly does the audience prefer, how to present the material in an interesting and understandable way, what bright, unique features can be added to the game? That’s what we started from, we wanted to make a project that a variety of users can enjoy – from those who are new to role-playing games and just looking for a good adventure, and to those who are interested in deep, thoughtful mechanics.
And the last one. It is impossible to predict in which direction role-playing games are developing today. I like that the classic RPG elements are starting to appear in other genres. For example, perks and active abilities in shooters. This is a good indicator that role-playing games are more popular today than ever before.
The Outer Worlds received an excellent press and exceeded the publisher’s sales expectations. As an author, how satisfied are you with the final result regarding the game itself and its performance on the market? What did the team do best, what are you proud of, and what, in your opinion, could be done better or somehow changed? Perhaps in the development process and after the release of the game you had ideas for the next project?
Tim Kane: I am extremely pleased with the condition in which The Outer Worlds reached the end customers. In the development process, I went through it 16 times. The game turned out to be exciting, it worked stably, brought new ideas with it and was built on classic, fundamental solutions. And, as you rightly noted, the press and the players welcomed her very warmly. Programmers and our quality control department should be praised for the project’s performance. For gameplay and characters – designers. And for the amazing extraterrestrial worlds, I express my gratitude to the artists.
In the future, you can still work on various mechanics. For example, a camouflage system and a more simplified use of objects. Plus, create something new, like a system of negative qualities of a character that everyone liked so much. Ideas literally swirl!
How did different platforms and their audiences show themselves? Where was The Outer Worlds particularly popular? What do you expect from the Nintendo Switch version?
Eric Demilt: We were impressed with how The Outer Worlds showed itself on a variety of platforms and in a wide variety of regions. We hope that on the Nintendo Switch the game will experience similar success. Our game offers quite unique impressions inherent in Obsidian role-playing projects, which should appeal to Switch fans, and in general this platform is ideal for games where everything is built exactly on your own choice.
How difficult or easy is it to make 3D role-playing games for the Nintendo Switch? Especially after buying a Microsoft studio. Do you interact with Nintendo somehow? How good is the game on the hybrid hardware of the console?
Eric Demilt: Nintendo Switch is a great system. I will not say that the porting process was “easy”, but I can assure you that we did not have to make any compromises regarding the content of The Outer Worlds. The process of transferring an existing game from one platform to another always goes hand in hand with unique difficulties. And in order to overcome these difficulties and make sure that the final result will live up to expectations, we went for cooperation with the Virtuos team, which previously showed excellent results when working with this console. We are very happy with how everything turned out, and we are eager to see how the fans of Nintendo Switch will meet the game.
From the standpoint of an ordinary player and a big fan of Nintendo, I was very pleased to be able to visit the Nintendo of America office and personally present them with a working demo of our project. It was a pleasant and fascinating experience. But usually, all relations with Nintendo are maintained by our publisher Private Division and personally developers from Virtuos.
Will there be any unique features of this version of the game? Or is it a simple port? What to expect from resolution in portable and stationary modes, frame rate and download speed? Will there be help in aiming with a gyroscope, HD-Rumble, or maybe touch-screen functionality?
Eric Demilt: Having worked hard, we were able to adapt The Outer Worlds to the Nintendo Switch. Players can expect a resolution of 720p when playing in portable mode and an increase in resolution to 1080p when connected to a TV. In both cases, the game runs at 30 frames per second.
But in addition to this, we were able to implement several unique features, including edits to the gameplay and its general availability. For example, aiming assistance, cursor accuracy adjustment and support for motion control were added.
What do you like most about playing Switch? In portable mode or stationary?
Tim Kane: Personally, I go through The Outer Worlds (like all my games on Switch in principle) exclusively in portable mode. It seems to me that this is how they begin to truly shine!
What are the future plans for the studio after the release of the Switch version?
Eric Demilt: Now we are preparing for the launch of the DLC, on which we worked a lot. As well as the launch of Grounded, the first project created after our joining the Xbox Games Studios team, which will be included in the Early Access program and Game Preview on July 28th.
Could you say something to your fans from Russia on GameMAG.ru?
Tim Kane: Thank you for all the love and support over the past 25 years!
Eric Demilt: Thank!
Good afternoon! My name is Mikhail Shaginian. I am the editor in chief of the first media outlet about video games in Russia – Gamemag.ru. We were founded a year before the first Fallout was released, in early 1996. We love your games. Most of us grew up on Interplay projects. A Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines has long been my favorite game. On behalf of the editorial staff and readers, I want to thank you for all the great projects that you developed at Troika Games, and Obsidian Entertainment!
Tim cain: Thanks for the kind words, Mikhail! You really are a long-term fan!
As an industry veteran, could you share your perspective on the genre? What is the most important thing in a proper RPG? What do you think has changed most significantly in game development over the past 25 years? Did you take any trends into account when creating The Outer Worlds, or did you only make the project based on your personal preferences? And where do you think the role-playing game industry is going? What can we expect from projects in the near future?
Tim cain: Wow, let’s see if I can tackle these. You know, these questions alone could need a book-length answer.
First off, I think the most important thing in an RPG is that the player gets to make his own character. I don’t want to be handed someone, especially a nameless someone, and told to play them. This opinion of mine caused HUGE arguments at Interplay, because both Stonekeep and Planescape handed you a premade character, background and all, and I didn’t like that.
Second, I think the biggest change in game development over the past 25 years is specialization. Back on Fallout, we had programmers and artists and designers. Now we have graphics programmers, gameplay programmers, UI programmers, UI artists, texture artists, animators, modelers, narrative designers, level designers, mechanic designers and so much more. And the idea of someone like me, who likes to do design and programming, is just alien to many modern development teams.
Third, The Outer Worlds was one of the few games where I didn’t say “here’s what I like, I hope other people do too.” Instead, Leonard Boyarsky and I sat down at the beginning of its development and asked “what do people like? What is fun and easy to understand? What are some new features we can add that are fun and different? ”. And we went from that foundation to make a game that we thought anyone could enjoy, from people who play very few RPG’s but want to experience a fun interactive adventure, to people who like a rich set of mechanics to explore.
Lastly, it’s anyone’s guess where RPG’s are going. I do like that I see RPG elements in other genres, like skills or perks in FPS games. That tells me that RPG’s are more popular and mainstream than ever before.
The Outer Worlds received excellent press and exceeded the publisher’s expectations in terms of sales. As an author, how happy are you with the final result of the game itself and its performance on the market? What did the team do best, what are you proud of, and what do you think could have been done better or changed in some way? Maybe during the development process and after the release of the game, you have new great ideas for the next project?
Tim cain: I really like The Outer Worlds we shipped. I played it start to finish 16 times before it went out. It was fun and stable and had both new ideas and old foundational ones, and like you said, it was received well. I think we need to laud the programmers and QA for its rock-solid stability, the designers for the fun gameplay and enjoyable characters, and the artists for the beautiful alien worlds we got to explore.
I think next time we can improve some mechanics, like disguises and consumable usage, and also add new mechanics, since Flaws seem to be popular. The ideas are already flowing!
How did different platforms and their audiences perform? Where was The Outer Worlds particularly popular? What do you expect from the Nintendo Switch version?
Eric DeMilt: We’ve been impressed with how the Outer Worlds has resonated with players on all platforms and all territories. We’re hoping for the same success on the Nintendo Switch. We think The Outer Worlds offers a unique “Obsidian RPG” experience that Switch players will really enjoy and that the platform is a great fit for a game that really embraces player choice.
How difficult or easy is it to make 3D role-playing games for Nintendo Switch? Especially after Microsoft acquired the studio. Do you interact with Nintendo in any way? How well does the game feel on the console’s hybrid hardware?
Eric DeMilt: The Nintendo Switch is a great piece of hardware, I wouldn’t say the port was “easy”, but we did not have to make any compromises to the player experience to bring The Outer Worlds to the Switch. Porting a game to any new platform always brings unique challenges. To help overcome these challenges, and ensure that the Switch version was good, we worked with a team at Virtuos who has a strong track record of Switch development. We are very happy with the results and are looking forward to seeing what Switch consumers think.
As gamers and longtime Nintendo fans, we were excited to have the opportunity to travel up to Nintendo of America with the PD team and demo the game, still in development at the time, for Nintendo when the port was kicking off. That was fun and nerdy but most of the day-to-day interactions with Nintendo are handled by our publishing partners at Private Division, or by the development team at Virtuos.
Will there be any unique features of this version of the game? Or is it a simple port? What can we expect from the resolution in portable and stationary modes, framerate, and loadings speed? Will there be assistance in aiming using a gyroscope, HD-Rumble, or maybe touch-screen functionality?
Eric DeMilt: With a lot of hard work by the team at Virtuous we have been able to port the full Outer Worlds experience to the Nintendo Switch. Players can expect 30 FPS with 720p in handheld and 1080p docked.
In addition to a full-featured Outer Worlds experience we were able to make some unique changes on the Switch to improve gameplay and controllability. We introduced new features like aim assist, and support for motion aiming, and exposed more controller sensitivity values to the user.
How do you like to play The Outer Worlds on Switch the most? In portable mode or stationary mode?
Tim cain: I play The Outer Worlds (and in fact, all of my Switch games) in portable mode. I think that’s where it shines the most!
What are the studio’s plans for the future after the release of the Switch version?
Eric DeMilt: Next up for The Outer Worlds team will be launch of the DLC that we’ve been working on. For Obsidian our first game as an Xbox Games Studio, Grounded, will be going into Game Preview and Early Access on July 28th.
Could you say something to your fans from Russia and on Gamemag.ru?
Tim cain: Thank you for all of the love and support for almost 25 years!
Eric DeMilt: Spacebo (Thx)!
The Outer Worlds enters the Nintendo Switch on June 5th.
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