He’d be helping shape narrative, area design and the conversation system. The studio’s role, which is just Avellone for the moment, is ”solely design content work” - Fargo and inXile ”running the show.”
The Obsidian dev admits they ”won’t know the final logistics” for a while yet but the funding of the project continues to climb and now stands at $1,869,775 with 15 days left.
”I think it’s a refreshing example of what happens when publishers aren’t involved. It’s something we couldn’t do without a lot of red tape in a publisher agreement (if at all), but when it’s just two developers chatting about something that would be cool… well, there you go. Brian asked, I wanted to do it, so we decided to make it happen,” said Chris Avellone.
Will Obsidian itself be playing a significant role in Wasteland 2?
”Currently, it’s just me, and I would potentially be assisting with narrative and area design, as well as conversation editor suggestions and structure. Ultimately, we won’t know the final logistics for a short while longer, but we’ll keep folks updated - right now, it’s solely design content work, which is one of Obsidian’s strengths,” he continued.
Above all Wasteland 2 is Brian Fargo and inXile’s project and Obsidian would only be helping out. ”Brian and inXile are running the show. While I’m sure they’ll listen and take feedback into account, nothing can kill a project’s momentum than too many cooks with equal say - the only thing you’re cooking up at that point is a recipe for disaster.”
”In short, Brian knows Wasteland better than I, he knows the tone he wants to set. Obsidian’s job and my job is to provide knowledge from our experiences with RPGs and design, and help him realize his vision in a way that meets and surpasses player expectations (it’s the narrative/level designer creed and motto).”
Check out the full interview between Chris Avellone and GameBanshee. Right now Obsidian Entertainment is handling the South Park RPG but has also been in the headlines for laying off staff and canning projects. They stopped work on Project North Carolina which was a next Xbox title to be published by Microsoft.
Want to see Brian Fargo and inXile Entertainment get all the help they can get? Become a Wasteland 2 backer!
