7/27/99

Scott Warner is stepping in on update duties today, folks. Oh, and yes... he can keep his job. :) -Colin ======================== Hello everyone, My name is Scott Warner and I am a relatively new designer/scriptor on Planescape:Torment. On a daily basis, my tasks generally include placing creatures within the game, setting up traps and item containers in their respective areas, writing movement/behavioral scripts for npcs and critters, and creating the occasional dialogue. Generally these tasks are split between several people who specialize in one thing or another, but I decided that it would be in my best interest, as the BIS "newbie", to get a feel for several different avenues of game development and determine which ones I would enjoy and be the most productive at. So far, it has been a wonderful experience; the Planescape team is full of incredibly talented individuals, and working with them is both challenging and rewarding at the same time. Planescape first came to my attention when I was working as a tester on Fallout 2. A friend of mine at Black Isle mentioned that we had acquired the license to TSR's Planescape, and that a number of the Fallout 2 team had been working on a computer interpretation of it for some time. While I had been a big fan of AD&D growing up, computers eventually became available to me and soon my role playing experience was confined to likes of Ultima and the SSI Gold Box series. So, when I discovered that we were making a game based on a world I knew little or nothing about, I rushed out to the local hobby store to pick up any Planescape material I could get my hands on. After my initial reading of the introductory guide to Planescape, I was convinced that this was a game that I had to be involved with in some way or another. Instead of the standard "meander through the forest/dungeon looking for things to kill," here was a setting that would allow designers to draw upon their imaginations to come up with a truly unique game world. There is nothing typical or standard-issue about the Planescape setting, and it is such a refreshing change to be allowed to work within an environment that doesn't encourage using tried and true role playing ideas or worn out crpg designs. The very notion that, in Planescape, thought has the ability to shape the world around us, should provide you with some insight into some of the imagination that exists within our game. Of course, all of this would be immaterial if the guys using the setting were just your average people, but that is far from the case. Chris and Colin have put together a story that is far more engaging than any of the more generic games I've played in recent years. In particular, the dialogue is easily the most literate and detailed I've come across in a title to date (especially in regards to your party and having them become more than just an extra weapon on the battlefield.) It's all very exciting, and at the same time it can be a nerve-wracking process simply because I am surrounded by these amazing people and constantly have to think "Is this good enough?" "Am I interpreting your vision correctly?" "How can I improve here?" As Colin mentioned last week, when I'm not working on Torment, I spend a lot of time running the official Internet presence of the band Underworld. Without getting into the sort of gushing admiration that I've just spilled out for you about the Planescape team, I'll just say that Underworld are a great band and if you don't know them and/or would like more information about them, you should check out our website at www.dirty.org. Underworld are actually part of a larger design collective called Tomato, one of the most respected firms of their type in the world today (they have hundreds of commercials, advertisements, films, videos, art installations, etc. that you've probably seen several of and didn't know it.) In any case, I had the opportunity to spend the day with Graham Wood, the big cheese and filmmaker at Tomato, back in November of 1998, and during our rounds of L.A. we got on the topic of computer and video games. At that time, while I enjoyed playing games just as much as I ever had, I lamented to Graham about how I didn't think it was possible to be truly original within the world of game design anymore. Graham replied to that by saying "That's nonsense!" and preceded to tell me that it didn't matter whether your project was a video game, hamburger, or toaster oven_ if you really set your mind to it and were had the ambition to create something out of what you perceived was stagnant, vacant, or otherwise artistically void, you could do it. Working with team Planescape has proved those comments to be undeniably true. I look forward to each day that I get to come into this office and be surrounded by people who are working together to create something very, very special: a game that is not only a incredibly fun romp through a world yet envisioned for the computer, but also a shining example of great storytelling and clever self-expression. So, can I keep my job here? :) Scott Warner swarner@interplay.com

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