Developer Interview: Dan Whiteside & Cori May
Profile by Jay Watamaniuk
Can you tell us what work you do at BioWare and what you are currently working on?
Cori: I am a technical designer; I am presently working on Jade Empire. Technical designers implement dialogue, puzzles, game balance, and some cutscenes.
Dan: I am presently writing for Dragon Age.
When did the development of Kingmaker start?
Cori: The development of Kingmaker started in July 2003, after my work on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was finished.
Dan: Mostly near the beginning. Maybe a little bit before that. :)
How did you find working together on this adventure?
Dan: Working with Cori was wonderful. She was very flexible and allowed me to change things on the fly and add or delete options to various quests. She only hit me in the head with a club a few times, mostly sticking to lightly veiled insults, small electric shocks, and repeated playing of adult contemporary music to torture me when I made changes. Most of the technical designers I have worked with are much crueler. All kidding aside, Cori and I had a good time working together as a small team.
Cori: It was one of the most rewarding experiences I've had at BioWare. Dan is a fantastic writer, and a very creative mind, and I truly enjoyed working with him. He created the characters, wrote the dialogue and much of the plot and area design, and it was my task to implement the story, dialogue and henchmen, create the area levels, balance the game, and script the puzzles and dungeon levels. Although some of the ideas are mine, I think it's safe to say that all of the best things in this module come from him.
There's also been quite a bit of work done by Keith Hayward and Rob Bartel since I left the project; they have implemented a number of new features to the module and changed it quite drastically, I understand, so their contribution should not be downplayed.
What do you think was the best part of the creation of Kingmaker?
Dan: The world building aspect was my favorite part. I didn't have to answer to anyone; I just came up with ideas and ran with them. I still ended up making changes based on QA comments, input from other designers, and such, but by the time we got to that stage, I had most of the building blocks assembled and it mostly made sense.
Cori: Being allowed the freedom of creating our own world, our own story; making the kind of module that I would want to play. It's more story than hack and slash, and the player has a lot of freedom in how he or she wants to play, and what path he or she wishes to take to meet his or her ends.
What makes Kingmaker different from other adventures?
Cori: I think the wide variety of adventures available to the player make it quite unique; there are many different ways to get to the end game, and the player can pick and choose what quests he or she desires, and how good or evil they wish to play.
Dan: Options, definitely. There are so many ways to complete the whole adventure that I lost track of them quite often. Somebody would say, "I love how you could do this to that character and then he would..." and I would squint and scratch my head and try to figure out what they were talking about.
What character is your favorite and why?
Cori: Trip, the wererat thief henchman; he's funny and very useful, as he keeps stealing things from NPCs in the world when you go into their rooms.
Dan: Trip, the wererat companion was the most fun to write. I spent a lot of time snickering as I came up with all his little thieving adventures. I also liked the magic weapon. I thought it was so cool when the scripting was done and he could be changed in so many ways.
What part should not be missed when playing Kingmaker?
Dan: Spend a lot of time talking to people before completing too many quests. There are loads of hints and clues about your origins, your weapon, and your enemy hidden throughout the game. If you rush through the quests, you can easily miss a great deal.
Cori: Personally, I love the Feran/Ellysia/Sir Becket love triangle, but also, one should never miss out on the Stan's quests. Also, talk to Momma Dane a lot.
Can we expect more adventures in the world of Kingmaker in the future?
Cori: I don't know; I hope so.
Dan: I certainly hope so. I had some pretty big plans for what would come next, but I guess we shall have to wait and see.
~
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