Chris Posted September 17, 2016 Idle Weekend September 17, 2016:Alexis Kennedy on Writing the ZeeThe Weekenders are joined by special guest Alexis Kennedy, co-founder of Failbetter games (creators of Idle Weekend GOTY contender Sunless Sea), who came by to chat about writing good player-created characters, his work on Stellaris, and a bit about his new gig at BioWare. Also, he's a Farscape fan, which made Danielle an even bigger fan of his.Discussed: Sunless Sea, Fallen London, Stellaris, Farscape, Hamilton, Twin Peaks, Archer, HTC Vive, Con Air, The Vision: Little Worse Than a Man, Thunderbolt Fantasy Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted September 17, 2016 Oh mannnn I love Fallen London, can't wait to listen to this episode. When I saw he was going to be writing for the new Mass Effect... I don't think I can be more optimistic about that game, now. And he likes Farscape?! MAN. (PS Farscape Podcast when!) And you talk about THUNDERBOLT FANTASY?? Wuxia puppets?! This is gonna be a good episode. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gamebeast23456 Posted September 17, 2016 I don't necessarily think of it this way, but there's a lot of games I don't finish because I think I've gotten all I want out of them, and would only be soured on the game to play more. For example, I put about sixty hours into The Phantom Pain, but I did not finish the game, or even come close, if you count in all the extra missions and nonsense like that. I got the mechanical fulfillment I really wanted, and then I ducked out, and it left me with the opinion that it's one of the greatest action games I've ever played. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Athis Posted September 19, 2016 Excellent interview and discussion Your show is one of my faves Thank you Danielle and Rob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cbirdsong Posted September 20, 2016 Oh mannnn I love Fallen London, can't wait to listen to this episode. When I saw he was going to be writing for the new Mass Effect... I don't think I can be more optimistic about that game, now. Did something indicate it was Mass Effect? I would have assumed it's the next Dragon Age, since I imagine you'd want a writer to be involved in the early stages of a game. I suppose he could guest-write an add-on for Mass Effect Andromeda, but it seems like the real meat of Bioware writing is the characters in your party. Definitely a great interview, at any rate. With how well this went, I'd love more guests on Idle Weekend! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ahuttoftea Posted September 23, 2016 What a great discussion! I thought the discussion of gender was particularly interesting as it shows how such a small change can make so many more people included and feel comfortable. Did something indicate it was Mass Effect? I would have assumed it's the next Dragon Age, since I imagine you'd want a writer to be involved in the early stages of a game. I think it depends on their role; presumably he wouldn't be a story supervisor but he might be a scene writer in which case it probably doesn't matter too much when he jumped on board. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites