News: Interview with warren spector

March 05, 2007, 11:49 AM

by brandon, via warren spector -
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I did an interview with Deus Ex creator warren spector a bit ago, and it's gone up on gamasutra now. It's one of my favorite interviews in a while, probably because it focuses so heavily on story and narrative - and how nobody's very good at it. There's also some MMO bashing, which I appreciate. Here's an excerpt: "Deus Ex was driven, in part, by the statement of “what happens when you drop James Bond into a world that's shades of gray?” James Bond is a character who knows what's right and wrong. What happens when you drop that character in a world in which it's not clear what's right and wrong? That's one of the lynchpins, and I think that's an issue that people should be thinking about more because so many people think they know what's right and wrong now."

And another: "There's an assumption in what you're saying that deeper simulation and more player control must equate more realism, which isn't the case. You can simulate a fantastic world that has nothing to do with the real world out there. It's important to remember that. We don't have to strive for greater realism, we can strive for more a iconic, stylized or fantastic approach as long as it's internally consistent and the player can reason with the simulation and figure out how to interact with it. My guess is that players will feel more on an emotional level about their characters in Spore than they ever have, or maybe ever will, about a human character in any other game ever. I don't think we have to focus on creating a realistic world, I want to move away from that."