Hard Light Productions Forums
General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: General Battuta on February 15, 2011, 02:07:39 pm
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I am in touch with, and have gotten the opportunity to interview, FreeSpace 2's lead writer, Jason Scott.
Please tell me what you'd like me to ask him.
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Why did the Command dude follow Alpha 1 even when he was an exchange student among the Vasudans?
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Why did the Command dude follow Alpha 1 even when he was an exchange student among the Vasudans?
DENIED :hammer:
next
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Would the Shivans have been defeated completely in FS3 (or, the last game), or just driven off, or something else?
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What was the larger problem that the shivans was a symptom of, a bigger "master" race for the shivans?
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Who allowed Admiral Bosch to escape and enter the Nebula? Was it GTVA or just some Terran officers friendly to Bosch's cause?
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not entirely story related but how much does [V] know at the moment, especially the writing team, about the various campaigns that have been made for FS, especially creative ones like Transcend? Would any of them influence design choices if FS3 were to be made?
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Have you looked at the stuff the community did with the universe you created?
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Is Bosch alive, and if yes, what did the Shivans do with him and why?
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Did you have a completely written storyline ready for FS3 when you finished FS2, and/or do you have one today.
Has the community-made content changed the way you think FS and/or will it have any influence on FS3, story-wise and in general.
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Have you looked at the stuff the community did with the universe you created?
Now THAT's an interesting question. +1 for that one.
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If there was a rough estimation, how much would have been the time gap between the events of FS2 and the following game?
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How did they plan to end the FS story - the motives of shivans, the purpose of Capella destruction, what happened to Earth in isolation etc.. Thats assuming they had a specific story in mind from the start, and not just amalgamating sci-fi tropes.
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All these "FS3" related questions are just going to get non-specific answers if any at all...
I'd be interested to know what story elements got cut from the final FS2 plot or what challenges they faced when trying to envision how FS2 would continue on from where FS1 left off.
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So far I've got
FreeSpace 2 story
-What did you have to cut from FreeSpace 2, story-wise?
-What was it like working with Ronnie Cox and Robert Loggia? Were they awesome?
-How did you arrive at FreeSpace 2's story from FreeSpace 1? What were your inspirations, what did you want to fix and improve or just change?
FreeSpace 3 Story - well aware you probably can't answer many of these, but nothing ventured, nothing gained!
-Was there a plan post-FS2?
-If FS3 had ever been made, how much time would have elapsed since FreeSpace 2's cliffhanger ending?
-Why did the Shivans destroy Capella?
-What happened to Earth during its isolation? Did you have plans for it in a notional FreeSpace 3?
-What happened to Bosch? Did the Shivans kill him, or was there truth to his monologues about the future of humanity lying in an alliance with the destroyers?
-We were told the Shivans were a symptom of a 'bigger problem.' Any more light to shed on that?
-I spoke to a FreeSpace 2 modeler recently who indicated the Ancients were planned to make some form of return; what's up with that?
-Any idea of what there was past the third Knossos in the binary star system?
-Would the Shivans have ever been defeated? Would their motives have been revealed? Or were they more effective as an unknown - 'never show the monster'?
-Did you have an ending in mind?
Community
-Have you (as a group) followed the things the community has done? Both the SCP as a whole, and the user-made stories and campaigns?
-You once said that heterodoxy was good and FreeSpace could support many narratives in its mythos. What do you think of campaigns which tell very different stories from FreeSpace's cog-in-the-machine military tales? Existential horror, for example? What do you think of campaigns with speaking protagonists and more extensive characterization?
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Is this topic related to this one (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,74580)?
[/columbo]
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Not in the slightest.
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Have you looked at the stuff the community did with the universe you created?
This is a very Smart question. :yes:
I'd really like to know what :v: thinks about the stuff that's out there.
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-Would the Shivans have ever been defeated? Would their motives have been revealed? Or were they more effective as an unknown - 'never show the monster'?
+1
-Have you looked at the stuff the community did with the universe you created?
+1
I am having a hard time coming up with questions for some reason because I want to make them good.
I stumbled on this old interview conduced before FS2 shipped. He seems like a cool guy.
http://www.volitionwatch.com/interviews/js_interview.php
Might be good to avoid questions in that interview, or perhaps ask questions that can only be asked in a current interview such as: '10 years later how do you see Fs2' or something like that. Maybe a 'what are you and other members of the Fs2 team up to nowadays' kind of question.
I would like to know where his inspiration for the NTF came from and how he got such a big character as Admiral Bosch fit into a series which previously had little character development. (Unless you see the GTD Galatea as a character)
More generally, how does one balance story with gameplay, specifically in a fs2 campaign. How do you introduce just enough story in the right way to compliment the game without interfering with it? Modders want to know!
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Why did the Command dude follow Alpha 1 even when he was an exchange student among the Vasudans?
:lol:
I lol'd way more then I should have
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It's sent.
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I may have missed the deadline on this, but what the hell.
The nodemap liked in THIS (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,74507.0.html) thread is said to be an actual Volition-made one, and while its layout suggests FS2, the systems listed as contested or captured don't correspond to the FS2 storyline. Did it originate from a dropped storyline?
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It's sent.
Best 12,999th post ever.
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Pity I missed this.
- What exactly was planned for the Colossus in Their Finest Hour? The mission has obviously been altered from the original plan for how the Colossus would die.
- What exactly did Kappa 3 see that terrified him so much? The Sathanas fleet?
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Well thats a shame. I would have asked if, assuming there were any plans in the slightest, and assuming they had looked at the community work out there, which of the User-made campaigns fit most with what they had envisioned FS3 being?
DISCLAIMER: This is not a "which mod is best" question. That would be irrelevant. It's a (I hope) crafty way of getting some info on what their plans may have been, assuming they had any.
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Ah! How did the GTVA dispose of the Sathanas that killed the Colossus?
(Quit derailing my curiosity with your statements of "post-deadline" and such!)
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It's sent.
Wow, that was a short window. :( FWIW...
What process did you go through to develop the story for Freespace 2? How much control did you have, and what external factors affected your decisions?
Where did you draw inspiration and ideas from?
If you could redo any part of the Freespace story, what would you change?
What are your favorite / least favorite plot elements?
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It's sent.
WTF dude. :wtf: You really need to allow at least a 24-hour window for important threads like this. And really, several days would have been best.
Assuming he'll accept follow-up questions or amendments, here's the post I was composing:
All these "FS3" related questions are just going to get non-specific answers if any at all...
Well, there is this, from an old interview (http://www.volitionwatch.com/interviews/mku_interview.php):
FreeSpace 2 ended with the destruction of the Capella star. Will we ever learn what happened at Capella? Is there hope yet for the FreeSpace series?
If you catch Jason Scott wandering the streets clutching a bottle of scotch screaming wildly into the night... eventually you'll learn. Hope? There is hope. Will there be satisfaction? I don't know.
I'd be interested to know what story elements got cut from the final FS2 plot or what challenges they faced when trying to envision how FS2 would continue on from where FS1 left off.
Mmm, yes. And on a related note, I'd be interested in what was planned for the mission disk content for FreeSpace 2. Apparently one was planned and in development, but was cancelled when FS2 failed to sell well. In some ways I'd consider this an even more intriguing question than the ones about FS3.
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What do YOU want to ask FreeSpace 2's lead writer?
Why was FS2 story so much worse than FS1?
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What do YOU want to ask FreeSpace 2's lead writer?
Why was FS2 story so much worse than FS1?
oh you ;7
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Well thats a shame. I would have asked if, assuming there were any plans in the slightest, and assuming they had looked at the community work out there, which of the User-made campaigns fit most with what they had envisioned FS3 being?
DISCLAIMER: This is not a "which mod is best" question. That would be irrelevant. It's a (I hope) crafty way of getting some info on what their plans may have been, assuming they had any.
I doubt he'd give you an answer, assuming he still feels like this:
Because FS2 takes place three decades after FS1, players will have lots of room to explore, create, and elaborate. I love the fact that it's impossible to speak of the FreeSpace universe monolithically. The mythos expands with every story and mission that players create. Heterodoxy is a good thing.
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If V could remake Fs1 and Fs2 using current gen technology, would they make any changes? Beam weaps in Fs1, capital ship shields, bigger and more epic battles etc. And would they have made any changes to the story in light of this?
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I missed the boat on this one, I would've asked if the concept art matched his original visions of cap ships and fighters. :)
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+1 to the other on if he checked out all the work FSO has done, though i'd ask if he has played FreeSpace with the mods and if so what his favorite is
also, from a friend who doesnt have a HLP account (yet anyway):
"I'd probably want to know what bosch's plan was in giving the shivans that tech, whether as a ruse to get them to supernova their own fleet, or if he went traitor to the human race, or what his motivation was in doing so."
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Well Bosch explained his motives pretty clearly.
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edit: seems the window was short. :( Maybe I can find him somehow through linkedin and use my charms. What I had:
Since this is a golden opportunity, here goes:
* There was mention of Shivans having even larger ships. Would these have been colonies or even hives where the Shivans were housed?
* Was there any discussion that the Shivans have some sort of 'queen bee' who is in charge? Typically, in FS1, such a matriarch being present on the Lucifer?
* Was there a concept drawn up about the Shivan homeworld? If so, are the Shivans terrestrial, or are they an entirely spacebourne species who for example lived in nebulae?
* Do Vasudans originate from Earth? They share a lot of similarities with humans not only physically, but their social interactions are also very similar (similarity through vocal communication, culture, concept of religions, etc). In other words, do we share the same genetic building blocks with the Vasudans?
* Did Aken Bosch really set events in motion which would have influenced the course of history, or was he merely a coincedental factor which temporarily peaked Shivan curiosity?
* Are Shivans xenophobe for any specific reason? Does this xenophobia relate to our use of subspace travelling, or to something the ancients set in motion? Or do the Shivans simply consider themselves the 'master race', hellbend on destroying any alien species they encounter?
And ofcourse:
* What really happened at Capella? Was there a strategy at making the star go supernova, rather than pushing on the invasion? Or did the Shivans create some sort of portal, sinkhole or another kind of anomoly for an intended reason?
Fun to ask:
* Scott, have you ever tried the Freespace Open Project, what do you think of the years long products many die-hard fans have made over the last decade?
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I got most of those covered, no worries.
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Did the team know that Interplay was screwing up the marketing and that they probably were not going to be able to make a sequel anytime soon, if ever?
Feel free to decline answering this question.
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I'll be waiting for his answers ;)
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Any answers any time soon?
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He told me he'd be getting back to me this upcoming week as he was spinning a lot of plates at once.
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Spinning plates could be a very dangerous act. Hopefully they are metallic or plastic plates, as to avoid cuts that would surely result from the accidental fumbling of ceramic dishware of any kind.
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god help him if it's glass.
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Dont sneeze