Me:
I'd like to start off by asking about your foray into computer game development, which began in the 1980's I believe? How was developing PC games in the eighties as opposed to now?
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| RPG Maker, one of the many game developing software tools that is widely available to amateur developers. |
Rebecca Heineman:
Developing in the 80s vs now is the difference between night and day. In the 80s, it was common for development teams to consist of a single person, with possibly one or two extra people. In the 80s, development tools were primitive and programmers had to write their own art/sound/asset tools. Today, tools are modern and free, giving the rise to a huge number of new developers who can create games with little to no knowledge of programming.
Me:
Next off I'd like to ask about the development team of the eighties/nineties versus the early 2000's/today and your thoughts on those (pros, cons?) Which did/do you prefer; small dev. teams or large development teams (pros, cons)?
RH:
Pros to the 80s, simple game design was required because of the limitations of the Apple ][, C64, etc. Games were simple and fun. Today, games have the production values of a major motion picture and require teams of hundreds. This causes budgets to go through the roof!
Me:
I forgot to mention this in question one, but how do you feel anti-piracy measures were handled in the eighties/early nineties? Do you feel like anti-piracy prevention has been perfected since then or still needs work?
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| The 80's and 90's combated piracy through inventive and sometimes obscure means which have been rendered obsolete by today's advances in reverse-engineering and hacking. |
RH:
Anti-Piracy in the 80s, and today is a rat race. There is no such thing as a fool-proof protection scheme. All you can do is delay the pirates from getting your game and that's all. Education is the key, where teaching the gaming public that piracy is stealing, and developers need to earn a living and they can only do that by the purchase of the game. Today, things like the Steam Sale and Humble bundle, have people buying games they don't play out of guilt because they pirated the game when it was just released. In my opinion, a sale price is better than no money at all. This idea of the "free-to-play" has made it really difficult for developers to survive because it costs money to make a game, and people shouldn't expact that for free. :(
Me:
I know you worked with EA back when it was Electronic Arts, how was your experience working for them back in the day and do you have any thoughts on their status in the gaming industry today as "EA games" and the criticisms drawn from the fans of their developers, particularly Bioware?
RH:
EA was very different back then than it is today. In the 80s, EA was all about "Electronic Art" and marketing the developer as a "rock star". While we at Interplay got some recognition for our work with Activision, it was EA promoting the Interplay brand name with the release of Bard's Tale, and then Wasteland, that got our company known. Today, EA only promotes their own brand, so firms like Bioware are only mentioned in passing, where the EA logo and brand is prominent
Me:
Ok. You worked on the Wasteland series of post-apocalyptic games...
RH:
Yes, I did the art tools and the animation system
Me:
and also Battle Chess (a personal favorite of mine from childhood <3) and did programming for some SNES titles as well.
RH:
:D
Me:
I'm curious how the programming/development of an SNES game differs from a PC game, if at all.
RH:
Programming on the SNES was like programming on an Apple IIgs. Same CPU and similar architecture. However, the SNES was using cartridges, so it mean the game had to be rigourously tested to make sure the game met Nintendo's standards of quality. On the PC, you can do updates.
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| Games are tests of skill or luck, and not "Shoot a few things, Play a cut scene" that's a movie. |
Me:
Which was your favorite company to work with; Electronic Arts (EA), Macplay, Microsoft or Ubisoft?
RH:
Each firm had their ups and downs, Microsoft was the best of that listed group
Me:
Do you feel that PC games (and Videogames in general) have been "dumbed" down today in order to appeal to a wider audience?
RH:
PC games have been turned into interactive movies. They are not games. Games are tests of skill or luck, and not "Shoot a few things, Play a cut scene". That's a movie
Me:
Do you have an opinion on "Skyrim"? It has amassed a huge cult following since it's release on 11-11-2011 and has recently been re-released as a 'Special Edition', do you have any thoughts on the game and its influence on the game industry?
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| An arrow to the knee of modern gaming, are games like Skyrim contributing to the decline of "intelligent" gaming and the increase of "casual" gaming? |
RH:
Not really. I've not played it
Me:
If Bard's Tale and Dragon Wars were to make a comeback in 2017, how do you think they would fare? Would they make it in the modern world against titles like World of Warcraft and Call of Duty?
RH:
They would have modest success. Look at the RPGs that have been kickstarted. They won't set sales records, but they are loved and make enough money to continue making them, as long as the budgets are under control and the quality is good
Me:
Do you think that Publisher/executive meddling would interfere much with your ideal vision of the game (i.e. projected launch dates, characters, DLC)?
RH:
Yes, too many times, publishers have no clue as to what makes a game fun. They only care about how to squeeze as much money out the the gaming public as they can, which is why they have this huge push to Downloadable Content and the Free-To-Play model
Me:
Would that be where smaller dev teams come into play; smaller dev team + kickstarter = more control and freedom over a project?
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| The Title Screen to Bard's Tale III |
RH:
Kickstarter is a double edged sword. Yes, you retain creative freedom, however you also obtain a fanbase who make demands on you, much like a publisher, because by pledging to your game, they demand a say in how the game is made. In some cases, their demands are just as weird as ones from a publisher
Me:
What do you think of world-building and lore-crafting for a game with the tools and marketing available today as opposed to the 80's/90's?
Would it have been any more restrictive back then simply because of graphics and text or is that inconsequential?
RH:
It's a lot easier to make a world today, because the tools available are so much better than what was made in the 80s. In the 80s, we had to create all of our own tools. Lore and worlds had to be tightly focused, because you only had 128K to 640K to work with
Me:
And only a 1-2 person development in some cases. I was wondering back in the day when you were working on the Bard's Tale and Dragon Wars games if you were aware of other titles such as Ultima, and Final Fantasy and if they were an influence or competition of sorts in any way.
RH:
I was aware of many other RPGs, like Wizardy, Might and Magic, etc. However, we focused on a game we wanted to play, and hoped gamers would like our way of play.
Me:
Sexuality and Gender roles. I know back in the day it was pretty 2 dimensional (like literally) and the norm was; "princess locked in a tower, brave knight comes to the rescue". Would it have been possible to have created a game with the same or equal amount of gender identity and sexual-orientation choices as say Dragon Age and The Sims back in the eighties with what was available? Would state of the art graphics be a must-have or could pixelated sprites and text suffice?
RH:
Yes, I did that in Bard's Tale III and Dragon Wars.
Both games were very inclusive. All it took was for someone (Me) to make the effort to realize that not everyone who played these games was white and male.
Bard's Tale III introduced female player characters and many pictures of heroes were people of color.
Me:
For me I like to roleplay similar to my own lifestyle, so when games like Fable II and Skyrim came out and you could be gay or lesbian and marry someone of the same sex that was pretty important to me, even though it was "just a game", not everyone wants to kiss the princess and not every princess wants the prince.
RH:
Exactly. Inclusiveness means you can play the game as straight, homosexual, male, female, white, black, brown, whatever. Don't put restrictions because the whole point of an RPG is to let the player make their own choices of their character and how to interact with the world.
Me:
Do you think that more inclusive marketing (i.e. showing more female characters, PoC, elves, etc) would lead to better sales? Do you think a big downfall in many games today is lack of inclusion in ads and marketing?
RH:
Yes, I would. I am turned off by seeing men on advertising. I rather would see a female character. However, like Mass Effect, choosing to play as either male or female is the best compromise
Me:
With that said, do you feel like you would be able to make a game (for any platform and/or PC); mold it into your ideal vision of a "good game" and have it be successful by today's standards? Do you feel like you would have to sacrifice quality for sales (casual gamers) or stick with your original concept? Do you think it would be successful enough to spawn a sequel or some other form of continuation (spiritual successor, prequel, etc)?
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| Tass Times in Tonetown included innovated features for its time (released in 1986). |
RH:
I'm able to make great games. It's getting the money to pay people for art, music and level design that's been my blocking issue. Unless I pitch a sequel to a hit franchise, no one wants to talk game funding at all.
Me:
Okay, and lastly do you have any advice for wannabe developers/people interested in entering the video game industry?
RH:
Make stuff. Build stuff. Show the world what you're capable of. If you want to get into the industry, make a game. Secondly, do not underestimate the power of networking. The adage of "It's not what you know, but who you know" rings very true.
Me:
Great, well thanks for your time it's been a pleasure interviewing a legend in the videogame industry :D
RH:
Follow "Burger Becky"
Next Time - "Is the game industry really dumbing down? What do the gamers think?"
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