Neal Hallford on The Making of Betrayal at Krondor

[Neanderthal]

Fuck me, tha dunt beat about bushes does tha Neal? Nice to hear a straight talker an no marketing speak. Fucking loved BaK an its writing, even Kulgan Patrus, good luck man.

 

[felipepepe]

BTW nealiios , you mentioned some time ago that you were looking into an updated version of your Swords & Circuitry book... any news on that?

 

[nealiios]

BTW nealiios , you mentioned some time ago that you were looking into an updated version of your Swords & Circuitry book... any news on that?

We want to do something with it, but I'm not sure anymore that a book is the proper platform. Technical books are a very hard sell these days, particularly with so much e-learning moving to YouTube and other video platforms. What we're considering instead would be either be a rentable video series -- which we've got the gear to shoot -- or some form of online classes that are mated to a kind of writer's feedback circle. Potentially both. Which of those options would folks here be most interested in?

 

[felipepepe]

Hmm, I get that books of this kind have little appeal today, but those alternatives you mentioned also seems kinda dated... like very early 2000s...

Have you considered the Patreon path? Upload a few test videos on Youtube and ask for support via Patreon to make more. Most people will watch for free, but you'll likely get a core audience that pays a bit each month/video. Seems like the current way to go, even someone as niche as Matt Barton's "Matt Chat" channel gets about $500 per video: https://www.patreon.com/blacklily8?ty=h

 

[nealiios]

Because I am a stupid old man, what do the bird and the agenda things mean?

 

[Aenra]

Because I am a stupid old man, what do the bird and the agenda things mean?

That you're still sane and with a merit/worth compass intact. Ask not

Spoiler

think of it as an inner joke, will run its short course, after which we'll be back to normal. For now, consider the fluffbird as the equivalent of "i like this" and the agenda as a dubious/open to interpretations gimmick only """advanced""" users employ. Don't be advanced Neal.

 

[Siveon]

Because I am a stupid old man, what do the bird and the agenda things mean?

Every so often the powers-that-be likes to mess with our stuff, sometimes our like/brofist system. I believe 1-2 years ago we had a similar issue, but with a lot more icons. It'll blow over in about a week.

So, enjoy the parrots. Nice Codex blogging man, learned a lot more about the one of the BaK (a game which I can happily claim was the first RPG I ever beat that was made before '98) developers than I ever needed to. But still, cool stuff.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Which of those options would folks here be most interested in?

I'd pay for a pdf of the book boss. That said, there's possibly some merit in felipepepe's Patreon suggestion.

Also

And yeah, ignore them parrots and agendas for a while.

 

[Rhuantavan]

Nothing better than a nice and long read in the morning.

The Patreon route is really worth considering imho.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I can guarantee that the millisecond I put BAK Remastered up on Steam, I'd have a team of lawyers at my front door with a chainsaw endoscope ready to educate me on the fine points of copyright law

 

[mindx2]

And this is why I still LOVE coming to the Codex after all these years.

 

[Space Insect]

Good luck with both your book and the job applications, nealiios! I know that both I and a lot of other people would rejoice if you got them!

 

[nealiios]

Part IV of Krondor Confidential is now up on my blog if you want to check it out.

Krondor Confidential - Part IV: John's daughter, metaphors as game tools, and the search for a system.
http://nealhallford.com/post/140280461033/krondor-confidential-part-iv

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Quoting a choice excerpt:

John would go even further when he went home at night, and would often show her aspects of the interface to see how she reacted to them. The puzzle chest interface, the magic interface, moving around the world…all of them got the Autumn test first. If she wanted to grab the mouse, or she laughed, or she was otherwise engaged by what she was seeing, we felt we were on the right track. A yawn or general disinterest from her was a kiss of death. It didn’t really matter to us whether or not she understood what she was seeing, but what counted was whether or not at some instinctive level we were triggering the most primitive senses of fun. So there you have it. Absurdist as it might sound, our million dollar game based on the license of a New York Times Bestselling author was initially designed for – and focus tested by – a four year old girl.

Leagues better than Double Fine's "make a game my daughter'd play".

 

[Sceptic]

I got my first job at New World Computing because of a series of radio dramas I'd produced. I was also an electronic musician and brought with me a lot of knowledge of MIDI which came in handy when were first starting to develop music for the MT32 sound module.

So as if I needed yet another reason to love you, I now find out that you're responsible for MM3's soundtrack.

Oh Neal

 

[Neanderthal]

Gameplay that a four year old found fun though, could be too challenging for modern audience eh?

Ouch i've cut mesen on all that edge i'm showing.

 

[nealiios]

I got my first job at New World Computing because of a series of radio dramas I'd produced. I was also an electronic musician and brought with me a lot of knowledge of MIDI which came in handy when were first starting to develop music for the MT32 sound module.

So as if I needed yet another reason to love you, I now find out that you're responsible for MM3's soundtrack.

Oh Neal

Wait. No. Back up. I didn't do the soundtrack for M&M III. I just worked closely with Todd Hendrix, the guy who was responsible for implementing the sound FX and music. He didn't have a lot of experience with MIDI at the time, so I provided feedback on how it worked with offboard musical gear. The Fat Man did all the music for M&M III and also for Planet's Edge.

 

[Sceptic]

Wait. No. Back up. I didn't do the soundtrack for M&M III. I just worked closely with Todd Hendrix, the guy who was responsible for implementing the sound FX and music. He didn't have a lot of experience with MIDI, so I provided feedback on how it worked with offboard musical gear. The Fat Man did all the music for M&M III and also for Planet's Edge.

You had something to do with it. Good enough for me

Reading your BAK reminiscence is a joy.

 

[nealiios]

I've invited John Cutter to potentially step in for a "guest" blog on Krondor Confidential to address the combat "puzzles", the moredhel chests, and the magic system. I had input on all of them, but those were all pretty much John's babies, and I'm sure he has insights on their inspirations that are more than I recall. I'll letcha know if he bites.

 

[Rhuantavan]

From neal's fb:

Owyn in BAK Remastered, with actual game level behind him. Ultimately I'll be replacing the head shot art with an actual 3D model, but concentrating on getting systems functional at the moment.

---

UPDATE: After a few weeks of highs and lows learning the Lumberyard Engine, happy to announce that the dialogue and keyword functionality of BAK remastered is functional. It's like going home again...except in a souped up hot rod. Video of it in action coming later this week. Pictured below, the original game, followed by my reworked version as it appears in the new demo. ‪#‎Amazon‬‪#‎Lumberyard‬‪#‎BAKRemasteredTechDemo‬

 

[ERYFKRAD]

 

[Space Insect]

I would totally

 

[Neanderthal]

Thats just biggest cock tease i've ever seen, i'm gonna hav to reinstall BaK now.

 

[nealiios]

I reiterate, becaause I know people are getting excited about it -- all I'm working on is a tech demo of the first zone, first chapter. Full stop. And please, no one pester Ray about this. He kind of gets irritated with me when people go bug him about giving me the rights to do a remake, sequel, etc. To do a serious remake justice, I'd have to do what the guys at Obsidian and inXile did and raise a million bucks to hire a team. And that wouldn't even be counting the license, which would more than double that fee in all likelihood. But as I've pointed out before, the point here is that I'm rebuilding the core systems, and I can use it both as demo for companies who want to know if the dinosaur still knows what he's doing, and also as a possible platform for building an original title. But I really, really, really do appreciate all the love you guys have for BAK.

 

[Rhuantavan]

I reiterate, becaause I know people are getting excited about it -- all I'm working on is a tech demo of the first zone, first chapter. Full stop.

Some of us would get excited even if you'd just mention working on some remotely game-related project, let alone anything BaK related. So you see, there is nothing you can do about us going all fanboy on you, save perhaps you stop doing what you love doing.