General:Powerplay Magazine: Bethesda Software Interview

Powerplay Magazine: Bethesda Software Interview
(link)
Medium/Format	Physical Magazine
Date	July 1994
Interviewee(s)	Vijay Lakshman Christopher Weaver
Interviewer(s)	Brenda Garno
Hosted By	Powerplay

[UESP Editor's Note: This a machine translation of the original magazine interview, which was in German. All rights to the content belongs to Powerplay magazine.]

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When it comes to company philosophy, willingness to experiment and a diverse product range, Bethesda differs significantly from most development companies. We spoke to designer Vijay Lakshman about future software highlights as well as the joys and sorrows of being a game maker.

While other development teams mostly stayed in their own small genre niche and perfected it, Bethesda Software focused on versatility and variety early on.

Founded in 1986 on a blend of Japanese culture, US television and hardcore computer technology, Bethesda has gained laurels in a wide variety of genres over the years:

The product range is extensive and wide-ranging: the range of products on offer ranges from “Terminator Rampage” to “Wayne Gretzky Hockey” to the dungeons and medieval scenarios in “The Elder Scrolls Arena”. With the soon-to-be-released games “Delta V” and “Parasite,” Bethesda’s developers hope to gain a foothold in the field of simulations and horror role-playing games.

Chris Weaver, CEO and founder of Bethesda, sees it this way: "An entertainment software company must be able to react flexibly to new trends and immediately implement the ones that capture the audience's imagination, even if that means jumping into the deep end."

Weaver can bring to bear the experience he gained as an assistant director for NBC News and as a technology forecaster for ABC.

During the numerous meetings in the preparation phase of a new game, authors, designers, programmers and artists work closely together. The story, background, graphics and timelines are put together in a kind of "pre-script" and each individual has the task of defending their ideas against the others." These regular discussion rounds have the purpose of motivating the participants and their beliefs to consolidate the new product.

"Our first meetings on a new project run the gamut from cool presentations to uncontrolled emotional outbursts, depending on the project and the people involved," says Vijay Lakshman, producer and designer of "Delta V " and "Arena". "Some development teams are very interested in planning the individual phases of the game, while others are quite happy with a "general idea". In my experience, the first group has the most heated discussions, but the schedules are adhered to more closely. You get along better with the second department, but there is always the danger that the project will get out of hand."

"Delta V", for example, was originally planned as a multiplayer program, in which up to six players could challenge each other via modem. A wonderful idea that unfortunately could not be realized in the targeted time frame. Consideration is now being given to releasing this version as an upgrade.

Vijay: "Perhaps you can imagine from this example how nerve-wracking it is to program and release a game: About a week (!) before the release date, we realized that we could forget the idea of the direct neural interface or what whatever new craziness the programmer has just come up with."

Even "The Elder Scrolls Arena" wasn't the fulfillment of every designer's dream. Although the sheer size of the game has left some rival companies wondering, the graphics engine always seems to be an important point in player acceptance, sometimes being a rip-off of "Ultima Underworld" and not the breakthrough that the industry and players were expecting.

Nevertheless, the development team of "Arena" is quite satisfied with the reactions to this game and was and is open to suggestions for improvements for another part. This is simply part of the working atmosphere at Bethesda. Through his criticism and his suggestions for improvement, the player becomes part of the team. While Lakshman and his people are working on ironing out errors in "Arena", Ted Peterson is already writing a sequel with the working title "Daggerfall" and is trying to incorporate as many suggestions as possible.

Lakshman: "I think one of the basic requirements of working as a designer is accepting that you can never have all the answers to all the questions. You just need the feedback from the team and I consider it one of the most interesting parts of my daily work, myself to deal with the reactions."

Although his time is quite limited due to meetings and discussions with the writers and programmers, Lakshman tries to stay in touch with his audience. He takes calls, reads letters and works his way through a mass of emails. Freshly connected to "CompuServe", Lakshman immediately found not 20 or 30 but a whopping 271 new messages - a daily bread in what is never a normal working day for a game designer and producer.

PP: Vijay, what is your daily routine at Bethesda?

VJ: I come to the company between half past eight and half past nine and first prepare the "timetable" for that day. This depends heavily on how far into a development phase we are. As a producer, sometimes you have to be a true chameleon: one day I'm an author, the next an art critic and the third maybe a game tester. In any case, my working day is never monotonous; there is always something new coming up.

Occasionally we just chat about games we currently like, ideas we have and how we could use them in our own projects. My working day ends somewhere between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.

VJ: A very positive thing about Bethesda is that there are no hard and fast rules for how to design a game. The method is almost entirely left to the designer and team leader. This has a very positive effect on the creative process, as there is no "right" way to design a game. All you can do is hope that your own method will change your thoughts. that you have in your head can be communicated to people in a sensible way.

When I came to Bethesda there wasn't really a concrete concept, everything was left to the teams that were forming at the time. This helped enormously with the things that were really doable, not necessarily the things that should be doable. I don't think I can answer whether that has something to do with the Japanese influence in the company... What I do know for sure is that no two games are produced in the same way and that has a positive effect on team spirit as well as the development process.

PP: With "Arena" did you believe from the beginning that the game would "work"?

VJ: I don't think anyone can predict something like this, although of course everyone hopes for success. I was pleasantly surprised that so many people were willing to accept a roleplaying game from a company that had no experience in the field. This also motivated our people to start a sequel.

PP: And how has “Arena” been received by the experts?

VJ: Actually excellent for our first role-playing game. It recently won the Golden Triad Award from Computer Game Review magazine. I hope people will like the sequel too.

PP: Like many other games, Arena had to struggle with bugs in the first few weeks after its release, but you got it under control surprisingly quickly. How does Bethesda test a game?

VJ: The testing procedure is probably no different than that of other companies: first we check the engine and then change the gameplay aspects until we think it's really fun. However, we are very careful to stay in touch with our customers, look at the relevant messages on the boards and then try to work as quickly as possible with “patches” that will hopefully solve the problem quickly.

PP: You are extremely open to constructive criticism, especially when it comes to the boards. How important is that for your work?

VJ: The opinions of the players are very important to us. After all, people should have fun with the programs. We have collected a lot of comments on “Arena” and will include these suggestions in the sequel.

PP: What is different or even better about "Arena" than "Underworld" or other 3D games?

VJ: I wouldn't necessarily say that Arena is a better game than Underworld, but it speaks to other aspects of roleplaying. For example, I didn't want to be too realistic with the food rations etc. because I think that distracts from the actual gameplay. The opinions we have heard confirm that we give the necessities of everyday life a second place to the actual games and fun. We will also make the upcoming game much more interactive; you can do even more with the objects in this world. "Arena" covered a specific niche in the role-playing game market. Now we want to expand the scope and perfect the game.

PP: What goals did you set for yourself in the “early stages” of “Arena”?

VJ: I actually wanted everything! I wanted to bring all the fun and vibrancy that I had experienced during my 14 years as a paper and pencil role-playing game developer. The situation in front of the computer is of course completely different, that doesn't really need to be mentioned, but I still wanted it to feel "real".

PP: And which things “fell off the table” afterwards for time or design reasons?

VJ: We wanted to create a literal "arena" where players could compete against NPCs and win prizes and money along the way. For example, we also wanted the option to be able to play with several people via network, a party made up of different players with all the negotiations, recruiting, firing, etc. Of course, not all of that could be accommodated.

PP: "Arena" doesn't just rely on the graphics alone, but also sets strong accents when it comes to the story. Was that a design consideration?

VJ: I wanted to base "Arena" more closely on my almost lifelong experiences with other role-playing games. Many of the computer role-playing games I knew just seemed too linear to me; I wanted to give my game a more open ending. Of course, this required a lot more text so that you don't always hear the same thing on your travels. Ted Peterson, who wrote much of the text in "Arena," was a big help.

PP: The character generation in Arena is very well done because it incorporates the player's personality and creates really realistic and detailed character profiles. Why was that a focus for you?

VJ: For me personally, putting together characters, apart from getting promoted, is the most fun part of a computer role-playing game; I have developed a certain routine in all games. My goal in Arena was to see myself in an environment where I would enjoy going on adventures.

PP: Is that behind the "What would you do?" questions at the beginning of the game?

VJ: I thought that the method of developing a psychological profile would be very suitable for the game. As I worked on the questions, I tried to give answers that were all "correct" only that they approached the problem from different angles, which I classified as "courageous," "logical," and "cunning." Now that I had these variables, I distributed different percentages of them to the different characters. A knight, for example, is 90% "courageous", 10% "logical" and not a bit "cunning". Of course, with a thief things are completely different. So after you have answered the questions, you will receive a corresponding assignment that fits your personality and that you should be able to cope with. Afterwards, however, I realized that someone might not want to be "San Martinque, the monk", so the player has the opportunity to change if he thinks the personality profile is a mistake. But all in all I think we solved the whole matter quite elegantly; the player has the character traits well in hand and can identify with the characters.

PP: Do you want to change anything about character generation in the future?

VJ: We are still discussing it at the moment. We agree on the point that the classes and the questions will be retained. Perhaps we will also introduce a system that is based on certain skills such as "lockpicking" or "spelicasting" and works with bonus and penalty points, but that is not certain at the moment. If we decide on this option, we will announce it in good time.

PP: Do the questions actually have a direct influence on what happens in the game?

VJ: I would look at it like this: They have an impact on the character's chance of survival. Let's assume that you chose the "courageous" path in each of the questions and were recommended to become a knight, but you decide to become a magician. Your character's chances of survival in this case would be extremely slim, as a lower level mage is simply not equipped for direct combat.

PP: When you look at the game, you get the impression that you played according to the motto: "Don't mess, just make a mess." 400 cities, 2,500 magical items, 18 character classes - did you consciously create such an extensive role-playing game?

VJ: We simply had the opportunity to do it and so we took it. It wasn't that much additional effort. We also knew from the start that "Arena" was supposed to be the precursor to several games. So it made sense to leave some space that we can work out later.

PP: Is there any other news about the "Arena" successor?

VJ: There will be significant improvements, both in terms of the engine and the story. Bear with us and we will release the game with all the improvements as soon as we can.

PP: What stage is “Delta V” at and who is working on it?

VJ: Delta V was released for the American market in mid-April. I was a designer, but of course it's the result of good teamwork: Greg Kreafle was the team leader and "main programmer", Bryan Brossart was the lead artist, Scott Ramsay also had a large part in the programming work and Marc Evans wrote the manual. Without the collaboration of this great team, "Delta V" would not be what it is today.

PP: "Delta V" received enthusiastic reactions at Winter CES. What went through your mind when it was first introduced to the public and what did the audience say about it?

VJ: We were very pleased with the response from our audience at both shows. The correct expression might be "elated that it was received so positively" and "relieved that it wasn't thrown in our faces."

PP: And how will "Delta V" develop after it is officially on the market?

VJ: If people keep in mind that we didn't want military simulations with scenarios in Bosnia or the former Soviet Union and instead produced a flight adventure that was supposed to be fun and easy to learn, "Delta V" will be good arrive, I think. It's fast, extremely entertaining and you don't need a phonebook-sized manual or pilot's license to play it. I think the game combines the best aspects of a good action game with those of a flight simulator and I'm sure the audience will appreciate that.

PP: What makes “Delta V” different from other flight simulations?

VJ: We wanted to bring back the fun of flying with this game and focused on the elements that we found most exciting: the movement of the plane, the world around it, aiming to blow an opponent out of the sky. We paid less attention to the technical details that only distract from the actual game.

PP: How do you celebrate a newly released game?

VJ: When Terminator: 2019 came out, Bethesda rented the biggest limo they could get on the East Coast. We then took this thing on a “tour through the community”. The chauffeur had all our addresses and delivered us safely to our home.

PP: What's next in the "Terminator" direction?

VJ: “Terminator Rampage” has just been released and we will certainly continue to work in this direction, but there are no concrete plans yet.

PP: What do you consider to be the best and most annoying parts of your job?

VJ: I really love my job as a game designer and have done it in one way or another my entire life. That's why there are actually no "annoying" sides for me. If there is something that is just annoying, it is situational and will pass at some point. But as far as the “chocolate side” of this work goes: I still find it fascinating to see how the things I have in my head become reality. That's a great feeling!

PP: What was your career path? Did you always want to become a game designer or how did that happen?

VJ: I've been playing, designing or writing games for as long as I can remember. I was a huge fan of board role-playing games and took every opportunity to write creatively in college. I took seminars such as "The Arthurian Legends" or "J.R.R. Tolkien in comparison with C.S. Lewis" and of course the writing seminars for four years. It almost feels like I've always been working towards this job. The only difference between what I used to do and what I do now is that I have a word processor at my disposal and that I work with artists and programmers. What I do is a form of communication and that has always fascinated me.

PP: What was your first game?

VJ: A role-playing game called "The Bladesmen" that was based on the "Rolemaster" series. It was a world unto itself and it was here that I first realized how difficult it is to "invent" and populate such a world without being influenced by the players who wander through this universe. I was 14 years old at the time and played the game until three or four o'clock every night for a year, much to the chagrin of my parents who thought I should concentrate on my school subjects. But like all good parents, they never seriously forbade me from pursuing my interests and it paid off.

PP: Word is Bethesda wants to expand its development team?

VJ: For a games company, Bethesda is doing very well right now we will actually scale up where others have to scale down. So at the moment there is a real possibility of starting with us as a producer, designer or programmer. If someone thinks they have the creative potential and would like to work with us, they are welcome to send us their documents. (We have a telephone number. The editor.)

PP: What would you recommend to people who want to pursue your career path?

VJ: I would recommend that they learn to write first and foremost. Good ideas and creativity are important, but if you can't "get them across" in print, your chances are poor. Additionally, it's good to play a lot. What you like or dislike will have an impact on your later work, and it helps to avoid mistakes if you look at where other games have failed.

PP: Finally, the infamous "desert island" question: Which three games would you take with you or would you rather leave the computer on the mainland?

VJ: I would take a computer with a good word processor so that I can continue writing - the greatest adventures are still waiting in my head.