RPGDot Interview with Jeff Vogel on 3-7-2001 Interviewer: Myrthos >1) To start the interview give us a few words about yourself and how you >came to be where you are now. Well, I'm 30 years old, I live in Seattle, and I've been running Spiderweb Software for seven years now. Spiderweb has three employees, counting me, and I really like working for myself. In my basement. >2) What can you tell us about Avernum 2? What's it about and where does it >take place? It takes place in Avernum. Avernum is this huge,m subterranean nation, all caves and tunnels. the Empire on the surface world used it as a dumping ground for all of their misfits and petty criminals, and now they're all stuck down there, struggling to survive. >3) Avernum 2 has three major quests. Do they all have to be completed in >order to end the game? And if not, do they lead to different endings? There are basically three parallel games, and you can play through one or two or all three. It's a neat system. if you don't have a huge amount of free time to play the game, you can just do one major quest. if you're really into it, though, you can do all 3 and experience a huge amount of gameplay. >4) With the 3 major quests and all subquests, how many hours of gaming do >you estimate Avernum 2 has? If you did everything? Lots. Maybe 100 hours. >5) How does the combat work in Avernum 2? Simple, straightforward, turn based play. Not real time. I'm a big fan of turn based games, and my fans really like that aspect. These days, it's not easy to find an rpg that works exclusively in a turn-based way. >6) Are there many creatures to fight? And tell us about your most favourite >one. Many, many. Over 100 creature types. The Doomguard is my favorite. When you hit it, it gets weaker and splits up. If you don't manage it carefully, you can turn one Doomguard into a horde of them. >7) How does Magic work? Can we learn it? Can we buy it? And tell us your >most favourite spell? There are 40 spells, but you can learn them at different levels. So when you learn a spell, it's at level 1, but you can train higher in it, and it gets more powerful. To learn a spell at maximum power, though, you need to find it or do a quest, which can be hard. My favorita spells are Capture Soul and Simulacrum. You cna make copies of practically any creature you meet and have them fight for you. >8) Avernum was based on Exile, Avernum 2 is based on Exile II. Why did you >choose to do that instead of recreating an entirely new game? The Exile series contains much of the best design I've ever done, but the archaic system and interface just didn't do them justice. I wanted to go back and do these games the way I wanted to originally but didn't have the skill. >9) Avernum has received some bad reviews that focussed completely on the >graphics which would not be 'up to the standards'. On the other hand it also >received good reviews, which focussed on the most important part of any RPG, >the gameplay. What's your opinion on the graphics/gameplay issue? My games are for people who prefer simpler graphics, either for aesthetic reasons or because they have an older machine that can't handle the new graphics (a group of people this industry tends to forget). I think reviews should take these people into account. I don't feel a review should start and end purely on the graphics of a game, period. >10) Avernum had almost no sound in it. Will Avernum 2 be the same? And if >so, why? Almost no sound? There's a hundred sound effects! Do you mean music? I've never cared for music in computer games. I think that the best music during gaming is the user's own CDs. >11) Avernum is a very addictive game. Will Avernum 2 improve on what it's >predecessor delivered? I hope so. It's a neat game, and a lot of my fans consider Exile 2 to be the Spiderweb's high point, from a storytelling standpoint. I like it a lot. >12) Do you target a specific group of players with the Avernum series? Nope. I have always had one role in this business: make the sort of game I want to play. When I ever have to make a choice (like, say, whether to include music), I always choose what I would presonally prefer. And if this is ever not what paying customers want, I'll quit this business and get a real job. >13) Are you the only one who is working on the development of Avernum 2? My employees help with dungeon layouts and graphics, and I use freelances for all of my art. >14) What is the estimated release date for Avernum 2? For Mac, it's out. For Windows, end of March. >15) After Avernum 2 there are two other games we know about. Avernum 3 and >Geneforge. What can you tell us about Avernum 3? How will it be different >from Avernum 2? It is a HUGE game, with a really interactive world. If you don't do anything, the monsters will tear the world apart. Some people move from town to town. Others die. The interface and game system will be similar, though. I have a hard time abaondonign something that my users have generally been very happy with. >16) What kind of game is Geneforge? It is a fantasy role-playing game with science fiction elements. It is real time when moving around, and turn-based in combat. The characters will actually be animated >17) In the game you are captured by someone trying to steal your powers. You >have either the choice to join him or to fight him. How will this be worked >out in the game? Is this a continuous battle between your good side and your >bad or is it a side you choose once? A continuous struggle. There are several factions you can work with and interact with. You can give in and let the bad guy buy you off, you can struggle for your people, or you can go off and try to start your own faction. It'll depend ont he quests you do and the choices you make. And, of course, who you decide to kill. I love giving choices to the player. It's a lot of work, but it's my favorite thing. And Genefoge will have lots of choices. >18) Will Avernum 3 and Geneforge use the same engine as Avernum 2? Avernum 3 uses the Avernum 2 engine. Geneforge's engine is completely new. >19) How do you cope with developing more than 1 game at the same time? It's a horrible, horrible headache, and it's driving me mad. I multitask poorly. But I will persevere. >20) You are an independent developer, wouldn't you like to work for a big >company on a game with a big budget? Yes. It would be wonderful to do it, and I could do a great job. Believe me, if I had to resource to do games with great graphcis and 3-D sound and all of that, I would. But there's no shortage of good designers out there, so I don't expect knocking on my door anytime soon. >21) Why did you found Spiderweb Software? To buy food and make payments on my house. >It also offers help to other >shareware games developers. Was this intended to be like that from the >start? I love shareware, and I love getting people involved in it. Shareware is a marvelous way to make your own software and get it out there. But Spiderweb is all about making a living. >22) Is helping out other developers becomming a substantial part of your >work? Nah. I'm far too busy. But I always give advice to people who write me. >23) What are your views on the shareware games market? Why is it important >that it exists and how do you think it will look like, five years from now? Games are getting bigger budget and the industry is getting tougher. The big companies are simply losing their ability to take chances and follow niches. And that is where shareware excels. Shareware developers can meet the needs of niche markets who aren't being provided for. When I started Spiderweb, there was no Black Isle, no Fallout, no Diablo. There weren't rpgs coming out. I jumped into that niche, and I was handsomely rewarded. A shareware developer would have to be mad to write rpgs now. The market is glutted. But there are other fields out there waiting for a skileld developer to jump in. (Cough. Adventure games. Cough.) >24) Give us your three best games ever, not including yours ;-). i. Ultima IV. ii. Baldur's Gate II. ii. Planescape: Torment. I just played Homeworld. Fantastic stuff. >25) Is live different as a Grumpy Gamer? Yep. Computer Games Magazine pays me every month for my column. Love it. (Grumpy Gamer can be read on cdmag.com.) >26) Is there anything else you want to share with us? Thanks in large part to to Black Isle, we role-playing gamers are enjoying a renaissance of creativity and good product unmatched since the glory days of Origin. Enjoy it! >Thanks for the time! And thank you. If you have a follow-up question or two, please let me know.