Like many engineers and developers of that era, toiling away in their garages and quietly building the future of computing, the young Chris Avellone used the work of other creators as a basis.
“One method I tried was to analyze existing game engines,” he recalls, “more like the structure of an adventure game, and then look for ways to change the level of content to create the game. But these attempts rarely compiled without a stream of errors.”
moment of brilliance
However, every failure was an opportunity to learn, and like his experience of sharing stories with friends in Dungeons and Dragonsthey taught him a number of lessons that would serve him well later in his career. In our interview, he returned again and again to the “player first” mentality that is at the core of his design ethos.
First and foremost, the designer needs to “understand your players and understand why they're here,” Avellone said. “What is their power fantasy?”
Additionally, every player, whether in a video game or a tabletop role-playing game, should have the opportunity to be the center of attention.
“This shining moment is important because it gives everyone a chance to be a hero and make a difference,” he explained. “The best adventures are the ones where you can point out how each player played an important role in the success through the way they developed or played their character.”
And players should be able to get to this moment the way they want, and not the way it’s more convenient for you, the game master or the designer.
“Not everyone plays like you,” Avellone said, “and your job as a game master is not to dictate how they play or force them into a certain game mode. If the player is a mini-maxer who doesn't particularly care about the story, this shouldn't be an issue. If the player is an active role-player, they should have some meat to interact with. This is very much the case with digital game design. If players want to skip dialogue and plot points, that's where they choose to go.” how they play the game.” and they should not be severely punished for their style of play. This is not your story, this should be the shared experience of the developer and the player.”
