Neal Hallford on The Making of Betrayal at Krondor

[vonAchdorf]

Nexon? Maple Story? Dungeons Fighters online? Unreleased F2P title?

 

[LESS T_T]

Nexon? Maple Story? Dungeons Fighters online? Unreleased F2P title?

You must have missed this thread: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...s-has-joined-nexon.108224/page-2#post-4687016

 

[LESS T_T]

Eleventh Krondor Confidential, Krondor hits the stores: http://nealhallford.com/post/153706987333/krondor-confidential-part-xi

I have to admit that I don’t remember the actual day that Betrayal at Krondor hit stores. Today major game releases are accompanied with signing events, and Twitter storms, and all kinds of pomp and circumstance, but we simply didn’t do that sort of thing in 1993. A publicity blitz back then meant hustling for magazine covers for months in advance, and making sure you had a big presence at E3. Maybe you could get a TV news program to cover you if you had some kind of exploitable current event connection. For our team though, release day was simply time off after nearly two years of extraordinarily hard work. Though we were pleased with what we’d done, we had no idea how it would be received. We’d broken a lot of the “rules” for making RPGs along the way, and the game was crazily ambitious for the time. The one thing about doing anything creative is that the creator is aware of the gap between what they had in mind at the start and the thing they ultimately produce. All of us had things we would have liked to have done better, or to have expanded further. We could have iterated until Doomsday, but the time came to push it over the wall and call it done and start work on the sequel. All we could do is sit back and wait to see how the world would react.

From the beginning, we knew our first and most important critic was going to be Raymond E. Feist. His name was, after all, sitting above the title of the game, and he’d forever be tied to the success or failure of it despite having only minimal input on its actual development. It had been important to me in particular to get it right because Dynamix had handed me the keys to his universe without his knowing who I was or what I would do with Midkemia. I owed it to Ray and I owed it to his fans, but more than any of that, I owed it to the company to make sure Ray would be on board with whatever we did. If he loved it, he could make a very big difference in our efforts to promote the game. If he hated it, however, the many risks that we had taken during development could end up being disastrous for everyone.

Although we’d kept Ray up to date about what we were doing throughout production, he only saw it for the first time at a trade show shortly before launch. In the author’s afterward of his hardback novel adaptation Krondor the Betrayal, Ray recounts seeing the game for the first time. “When I finally got a look at the finished game, it was at the Drake Hotel in Chicago before my first press interview on the game at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1993. It was a revelation. It was my world, but it wasn’t. These were my characters, but they weren’t. They came alive and ran around and fought and died and started over and fought again. When it came time to give the interview, I didn’t want to stop playing. ”

Ray continues, “The rest, as they say, is history. Betrayal at Krondor won awards, sat atop the Entertainment Weekly CD game best-seller list for six months, and is considered by many to be the best computer fantasy role-playing game ever created. And most of the credit goes to John, Neal, and the team at Dynamix.”

Knowing that Ray was good with the game was a gigantic weight off my shoulders, but I also knew he wouldn’t be an entirely objective observer. It was in his best interest for the game to do well since he’d get a significant chunk of the profits. The real test would come from releasing the game into the wild and seeing what reviewers and gamers had to say for themselves.

In the wild west days before Facebook or MySpace, fans flocked to sites like Compuserve, and Genie, and AOL to provide their reviews and input on games-in-progress or just shipped titles. Dynamix kept a careful eye on the Computer RPGs sections of Compuserve shortly after BAK’s release. Their comments were highly encouraging from the very beginning :

BigBad MaMa: “Krondor is spectacular in every way. The best combat interface I have ever used, terrific story, virtual reality graphics, tons of things to do and places to go…been playing for weeks and have barely scratched the surface…A much steeper learning curve than MM but well worth the effort. A close second to Crusaders in my book, and much better than the Underworlds.”

Eeyore/ModemGames to a fellow forum poster: “I heard from a *very* reliable source {Matilda, whose judgement I trust implicitly) that KRONDOR is the game to play this summer! That recommendation got me totally hyped to buy it YESTERDAY! Trouble is, when Matilda and mama told me, the game wasn’t out yet! <grin> So, I’m waitin’…….”

AR Schleicher: “I got the game today (standing in the first store in my area to get it as they opened the box with only three copies.) It’s great! I’ve been playing for about 7 hours now, ( a 1 hr break in the middle), and I’ve gotten into the sewers of Krondor…The combat system is wonderful, and the mapping/view system is great too! The music sounds great as well (on my Roland MT-32).”

Dave Land: “Dear Dynamix Inc. - just invested 16 hours or so into Betrayal…I think you guys have a winner on your hands. Looks great, feels great. If it makes any difference to you guys, I’ve played most all the current RPGs…some good, some bad, but I like this one.”

Doug Luke: “Here’s one vote for Krondor. This is turning into one of my favorite games of the year, and I haven’t even finished Chapter 1 yet!…Krondor is a unique design set in a brand new RPG world. It seems obvious to me that Krondor should be the Hot Topic.”

Lawrence Maggitti: “Let me add my voice to the chorus - great game! Is a sequel in the cards?”

Johnathan Edwards: “Here is yet another vote for Krondor. The best RPG I have ever played. Dynamix and Raymond Feist should continue teaming. I love the books, and I love the game.”

Charles Besecker: “I’m addicted to this game, it’s fantastic. Really a quantum leap forward in CRPGs. Fantastic job. The combat is especially realistic and the character development is outstanding. Must have been a labor of love.”

Jeff Kunkel: “This game has shot right to the top of my list of favorite CRPGs, and possibly to the top of my favorite computer games in general. All of this, and NO BUGS! <g>”

One fan comment in particular jumps out now in hindsight, knowing that it came from someone who would later becoming one of the leading game journalists in the years to come:

Geoff M Keighley: “I’m really impressed with Krondor, simply because it has a good story, and is fun to play. That is really important in an RPG, since players will be spending up to 100 hours in front of the screen playing the game. Congratulate the entire team on a fantastic job, and I’m ready to place my order for the sequel.”

For pages and pages and pages, the fan commentary was overwhelmingly positive, and game reviewers proved to be equally complementary in their praise in the months and years to come.

GOT IT COVERED - From early on in development, Betrayal at Krondor received a lot of attention from the traditional computer gaming media. This was the cover of Computer Gaming World from February 1993.


Computer Gaming World would be one of the first gaming publications to print a review, with Johnny L. Wilson saying, “Much of the Dynamix visualization of Midkemia is stunning, but Cutter’s team has established a solid corridor between the technological interpretation of the world and the literary interpretation of the world via a lavish use of text.” About our magic systems he said, “In a real sense, the magic system for the computer game seems very much in tune with the spirit of the magic system at which Feist hinted in the books, but did not detail.”

Ed Dille would would give it an overall rating of 97% in the June 1993 issue of Electronic Games, calling it “a grand adventure in every sense of the phrase. Players will swoon at the specter of Midkemia as Mr. Cutter has recreated it and appreciate the reverence attributed to the original work. Betrayal at Krondor shows some of the best work Dynamix has done to date.”

James Trunzo would write one of the most unreserved reviews of it, writing in White Wolf Magazine #38, “Betrayal at Krondor employs one of the easiest and most intuitive interfaces encountered, one that consistently handles all aspects of the game, from trading to casting magic spells to combat. Graphics and sound are top-notch, character development is logical and fair, combat is beautifully animated, and I have yet to find anything about the game that I don’t like. There simply isn’t any facet of the game that isn’t outstanding. If I had to buy only one adventure game this year, Betrayal at Krondor would be it.“

AWARD-WINNING FANTASY - Although I didn’t get into the computer gaming industry for the trophies, I’m not ashamed that we racked up a few for Betrayal at Krondor.


As the reviews continued to roll in, John Cutter, and I, and the rest of the team were utterly flabbergasted by the overwhelming positive tone of reviewers. It didn’t seem possible that people could love it as much as it appeared. That notion would be shattered one morning when I walked into my office to discover an award from Compute Magazine sitting on my desk, declaring Betrayal at Krondor the Best Fantasy Role-playing / Adventure Game of the year. (And it still sits on my desk to this day as a reminder that I’m not always the best judge of my own work.)

Before the end of 1993, Computer Gaming World would up the award stakes, declaring us not just the best RPG of the year, but naming us the Game of the Year period. Three years later they would list us as one of the top 50 games ever made, as would PC Gamer magazine the following year. In 2001, Computer Gaming World would tap Betrayal at Krondor with its greatest honor, inducting it into their Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame.

ELVES ON THE SHELVES - Two years after release, Betrayal at Krondor was still selling well at computer gaming stores around the country. This one was in a Software Etc. store in my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.


With so much love out in the world for Betrayal at Krondor, a sequel seemed absolutely assured. By the time we shipped I’d already begun to lay the foundations for a game that could easily have surpassed all we’d achieved with BAK, and had begun early conversations with Ray and the team about the project that we’d dub Thief of Dreams.

I had no idea at the time how prophetic that title would prove to be.

 

[Rhuantavan]

I'm really looking forward at the next part. I really want to know the details behind Thief of Dreams' cancellation.

 

[abnaxus]

How much is he allowed to say though.

 

[Rhuantavan]

After all this time, I believe he is free to talk as much as he pleases.

From Neal's FB:

Three(ish) more entries to come in the Krondor Confidential blog series, and then we change the name and jump back in time to start telling the story of my tenure at New World Computing. Really starting to seriously consider putting all of these into a memoir, but since I'm not famous, I have no idea who would actually pay money to buy the book. But that's a problem for later.

He's got my wallet.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

After all this time, I believe he is free to talk as much as he pleases.

From Neal's FB:

Three(ish) more entries to come in the Krondor Confidential blog series, and then we change the name and jump back in time to start telling the story of my tenure at New World Computing. Really starting to seriously consider putting all of these into a memoir, but since I'm not famous, I have no idea who would actually pay money to buy the book. But that's a problem for later.

He's got my wallet.

And what's left of mine, money included.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

From Neal's FB:

Really starting to seriously consider putting all of these into a memoir, but since I'm not famous, I have no idea who would actually pay money to buy the book.

 

[Rhuantavan]

https://www.patreon.com/posts/krondor-part-xii-7457335

 

[ERYFKRAD]

https://www.patreon.com/posts/krondor-part-xii-7457335

Patrons only men.

 

[Rhuantavan]

https://www.patreon.com/posts/krondor-part-xii-7457335

Patrons only men.

Ah, didn't realise.

 

[Infinitron]

Krondor Confidential Series Will Conclude EXCLUSIVELY on Patreon

If you’ve been enjoying the Krondor Confidential series of blogs this year, I hope you’ll show your appreciation by subscribing to my Patreon at http://patreon.com/nealiios . The final four (possibly five) installments in this series covering the rise and fall of the sequel, Riftwar Legacy: Thief of Dreams, will be exclusive to my subscribers there. Part XII is already live there. You can subscribe for as little as a $1 per post, and you can cap the number of posts you’ll support each month. In addition to the conclusion of the Krondor Confidential series, you’ll get access to other stuff including short stories, short films, and other cool stuff that I’m not sharing anywhere else. Your support is a way to ensure that I can continue to make cool stuff for you.

If you don’t want to hop over there, I’ll be back in the spring of next year to pick up a new blog series about my brief period of time at New World Computing where I worked on Tunnels & Trolls: Crusaders of Khazan, Might & Magic III: Isles of Terra, and Planet’s Edge (the first thing that I designed from the ground up). And in the meantime I’ll be posting here about a few other cool projects that are in the pipeline.

Peace and Merry Christmas!

 

[Rhuantavan]

Neal just published the next article talking about Thief of Dreams – the cancelled sequel to Betrayal at Krondor – and it is the best article in the series. Well worth supporting the man on patreon IMO. https://www.patreon.com/Nealiios/

 

[e-mailio estevez]

I should get around to reading the book series one of these days.

 

[Infinitron]

Neal Hallford talks: http://nealhallford.com/post/156571494013/happy-to-announce-that-ive-been-asked-to-speak

 

[Infinitron]

Krondor Confidential Parts I - XI: Master Index
Over the past year, I’ve had a special blog series called Krondor Confidential, unwinding the tale of the making of Betrayal at Krondor – the computer role-playing game I’m still best known for after a twenty seven year career in game development. For ease of discovery, here are the links to Krondor Confidential Parts I - XI in sequential order, covering the early planning phases in 1991 all the way through launch in 1993. Hopefully this will make it a little easier to follow for those of you who haven’t been watching my Tumblr from the start.

Part I
http://nealhallford.com/post/139535193483/krondor-confidential-part-i

Part II
http://nealhallford.com/post/139645366588/krondor-confidential-part-ii

Part III
http://nealhallford.com/post/139902738788/krondor-confidential-part-iii

Part IV
http://nealhallford.com/post/140280461033/krondor-confidential-part-iv

Part V
http://nealhallford.com/post/142703396483/krondor-confidential-part-v

Part VI
http://nealhallford.com/post/145141694293/krondor-confidential-part-vi

Part VII
http://nealhallford.com/post/145379907568/krondor-confidential-part-vii

Part VIII
http://nealhallford.com/post/149061813733/krondor-confidential-part-viii

Part IX
http://nealhallford.com/post/149955183368/krondor-confidential-part-ix

Part X
http://nealhallford.com/post/152466727953/krondor-confidential-part-x

Part XI
http://nealhallford.com/post/153706987333/krondor-confidential-part-xi

The Krondor Confidential posts covering the rise and fall of the unreleased sequel, Thief of Dreams, is available exclusively on my Patreon page at http://www.patreon.com/nealiios

 

[LESS T_T]

Neal Hallford talks: http://nealhallford.com/post/156571494013/happy-to-announce-that-ive-been-asked-to-speak

Audio records of the conference: https://archive.org/download/PDGCIITheDevsStrikeBack

“Krondor Confidential: The Making of an RPG Classic” is a snapshot look at not only the making of the hit RPG Betrayal at Krondor, but also of what it was like to be a developer in the early 1990s.

https://archive.org/download/PDGCII...Confidential The Making of An RPG Classic.ogg

“Writing for the Computer Gaming Industry” will delve into the world of interactive storytelling to explain what the job entails and why story in games is just as important as it ever was.

https://archive.org/download/PDGCIITheDevsStrikeBack/02031715 Neal Hallford - Writing For the Computer Gaming Industry.ogg

On the “Legends of RPG Panel”, I team up with Gregory A MacMartin, Greg Zeschuk, Rebecca Heineman, Richie Bisso, and Jason Fader to discuss all things role-playing.

https://archive.org/download/PDGCIITheDevsStrikeBack/02051732 Legends Of RPG Panel - Various.ogg

They will be also available on their Youtube later.

 

[Infinitron]

For the past month and a half, just for fun, I've been working on a 3D makeover of Eggley, a small village which appears in the computer game Betrayal at Krondor, a game that I co-designed back in the early 1990s.

Town life in Eggley revolves around The Stranger Inn, and because its a large and important structure, the vast majority of what I've been doing has been focused on creating this building and its contents. In this video, I'll take you on a tiny walkthrough of two of The Stranger's rooms and explain what I've been building.

Keep in mind that although I am a game designer professionally, I've never been responsible for creating any of the game art that you've seen in any of my games. This is essentially a self-training exercise to learn more about using Blender and Amazon Lumberyard.

I do want to make clear that this ISN'T a prelude to a full remake of Betrayal at Krondor. I don't have the time or the resources to remake the whole game on my own, and the rights to do it remain, as far as I'm told, somewhere in the murky depths of Blizzard's legal department, never to be found. In the meantime, I just ask that you enjoy this as a personal art project which just happens to be doing with a game engine.

Thanks!
Neal

 

[Parsifarka]

At 15:02 he says:

Of course, again, in the Middle Ages you are gonna have tons and tons of barrels and baskets and of course POTATOES because potatoes are a staple of life for this time period particularly if you're in, you know, Ireland or England or what have you.

With all due respect to his work, only a true kwanzanian would deliver such an embarrassing assertion with this degree of confidence; he should open a history book before attempting to depict a time before the discovery of America.

 

[Infinitron]

Neal has been posting lots of YouTube shorts for BaK's 30th anniversary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRj-UGvwzvI&list=PL2bVXcdUBb2AOvWRLSNptWg1TymIfhqwa&index=3



Also fan film challenge:



https://www.nealhallford.com/p/krondor-confidential-part-i

This will be the start of a “reprint” of an original blog series that I created for my Tumblr blog several years ago, which unfortunately never found a significant readership. Portions were copied to a sub-thread about Krondor on the popular RPG website RPG Codex - against my wishes (My point in creating this series had always been to entice people to come to my blog to read about the other stuff I was working on, so while the copy/pasting of my content was well-intentioned, it completely undermined the purpose of this series.)

 

[bandersnatch]

What's a fan film challenge? Do fans actually make films? Sort of like fan fic but more "Film Fic"? I can probably pull out my old camcorder and and grab my staff that I hand carved from a fallen tree in the backyard. Already got the white beard, so that comes in handy.

 

[nealiios]

What's a fan film challenge? Do fans actually make films? Sort of like fan fic but more "Film Fic"? I can probably pull out my old camcorder and and grab my staff that I hand carved from a fallen tree in the backyard. Already got the white beard, so that comes in handy.

That's exactly it, Bander. People can shoot with camcorders or film cams and lots of folks these days are even shooting whole feature film with their mobile phones. If you pop by the KrondorFFC.com website, we've got even more details.

 

[Tyranicon]

More devs should come here and hang out. Codex isn't really that bad.

-looks at Rogue Trader thread-

That's a notable exception.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

More devs should come here and hang out. Codex isn't really that bad.

-looks at Rogue Trader thread-

That's a notable exception.

Nah, we're fine as we are.

 

[sstacks]

nealiios was on the most recent Shane Plays episode which was, in his own words, "a VERY deep dive into the making of Betrayal at Krondor". He also talks about his BAK anniversary events this year, including the BAK Fan Film Challenge. A crazy story in here about how his old boss tried to pull some Machiavellian shenanigans on him re: the BAK sequel.

Podcast:
https://shaneplays.com/betrayal-at-...ary-neal-hallford-fan-film-challenge-podcast/

YouTube version (just audio, no video)