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Half-Life 2 Writer On Plotting Freeman
Thanks to Planet Half-Life for their interview with Marc Laidlaw, writer on both the Half-Life games, who answers questions about Gordon Freeman's (and other less cipher-like NPCs') genesis, suggesting "...some of the character creation process is very analytical... but a large part of it remains intuitive", and goes on to point an admonitory finger at Joseph Campbell's Hero With A Thousand Faces: "I have great respect for Campbell, who never intended to create a boilerplate for insecure storytellers, but the mythological hero has been done to death." Above all, Laidlaw hopes you have a good time come Half-Life 2's September 29th appearance, saying: "I think the only sector of the audience likely to feel any disappointment are those fans who adored long-jumping between bits of floating rock on Xen."
"I think the only sector of the audience likely to feel any disappointment are those fans who adored long-jumping between bits of floating rock on Xen."
It was kind of hard to do, but still somehow neat, I think. The one letdown was that I didn't have 3d-glasses.
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
After being attacked by japanese hentai tentacle aliens and having his ass hunted down by the army, it's no wonder he's so silent. He's one tough mother, with the developers being so cruel killing all his temporary barney friends, even if they do all look the same... I'm suprised he doesen't cry everytime he makes a new friend who looks so much like his deceased allies...
It's strange that very few other games have tried this technique, as it seems to have worked very well.
It's not a game, but the Matrix did this. Neo only speaks a few dozen lines, all of them insubstantial (except for his final monologue).
As did Johnny Mnemonic, Speed and almost every other film where Keanu Reeves plays the central character... hey waitasec!