Wasteland 2: Obsidian’s Avellone to Help with Story, Design, Dialogue System

Chris Avellone is set to join in the development of Wasteland 2 by lending his expertise in storytelling, area design and dialogue—should the Wasteland 2 Kickstarter raise $2.1 million to enlist the aid of Obsidian Entertainment.

The project is currently working its way towards the new goal at 1.87m already pledged beyond the $900k required to get the game funded.

Avellone worked with inXile’s Brian Fargo while at Black Isle Studios and developed both Icewind Dale and the critically acclaimed Planescape: Torment.

“Currently, it’s just me, and I would potentially be assisting with narrative and area design, as well as conversation editor suggestions and structure,” he said in an interview with GameBanshee. Ultimately, we won’t know the final logistics for a short while longer, but we’ll keep folks updated – right now, it’s solely design content work, which is one of Obsidian’s strengths.”

Avellone stressed that while Obsidian would provide support in the form of RPG mechanics, metrics and layout suggestions for the game’s conversation systems, the programming would be the responsibility of inXile completely.

“Brian and inXile are running the show,” he said.

“While I’m sure they’ll listen and take feedback into account, nothing can kill a project’s momentum than too many cooks with equal say – the only thing you’re cooking up at that point is a recipe for disaster.

“In short, Brian knows Wasteland better than I, he knows the tone he wants to set. Obsidian’s job and my job is to provide knowledge from our experiences with RPGs and design, and help him realize his vision in a way that meets and surpasses player expectations (it’s the narrative/level designer creed and motto).”