Geneforge 4 - An Interview with Jeff Vogel

[Dhruin]

We talk to Spiderweb's Jeff Vogel (http://www.rpgwatch.com//forums/../show/article&articleid=5) about indie RPG development and their upcoming game, Geneforge 4: Rebellion. Here's a snip:
RPGWatch: Do you see the player demand for more advanced technology making the successful indie development of cRPGs harder, or is that outweighed by better development tools, things like the rise of broadband and online distribution or more players disenfranchised with AAA offerings?

Jeff Vogel: That’s a very good question, and, if I knew more about marketing, I could give it the answer it deserves. But sometimes it’s a mystery to me why I sell so many games.
But I will say this. One thing that trumps most other factors is the simple lack of new, quality single-player RPGs in the marketplace. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion showed that there’s a desire. But most of the time, I’m one of the few people fulfilling it.
More information (http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/newsbit?newsbit=2320)

[Corwin]

Great Interview Dhruin and a nice way to launch the site!!

[Amasius]

Great Interview. Jeff Vogel has always something interesing to tell - it shows that he's a writer and not a PR-person. You have to love him (and curse the "marketplace") for comments like:

I’m just not brave enough to fight the marketplace.
or:
I don’t have a religious opposition to decent graphics.:cool:

[Arma]

Thank you guys, great interview. Brought some insight into the upcoming G4 ...

[roqua]

great interview. The new skill system sounds interesting.

[Bargeral]

The link "We talk to Spiderweb's Jeff Vogel " didn't work for me. The one at the top of the main page worked fine.

[txa1265]

Great things happen when two smart & funny people collide ... nice interview!

[Arhu]

Bargeral: Fixed, thanks.

[Unregistered]

FYI: I can't see the story when using Firefox. I can in IE.

[Unregistered]

Jeff really does an outstanding job at creating that sense of adventure and accomplishment in his games. The way I got hooked was by downloading the demos of his games and by the time I got to the point where I needed to register the choice was easy.. You get wrapped up in the story and the battles you have to have more.

Definitely try the Avernum or Geneforge series if you havn't yet!

[Elwro]

A good, interesting interview!

The screenshots are taken straight from Vogel's site and do not expand when clicked (Opera 9.02). Originally I wanted to say that Dhruin was lazy again (as with Avernum 4 review iirc), but only now I realised that he obviously didn't get to play G4 yet :-)

Anyway, keep up the good work! Covering indie games will hopefully make RPGWatch an interesting place to visit.

[Dhruin]

Thanks for the comments. :)

We had some issues with our image uploader, so I initially just stuck thumbnails in the article. In all the scrambling to go live, I forgot to link to the full screens. Yes, they're just from the site.

I might do a short followup and I'll ask for new screens then - if you have any specific or followup questions, pop them here and I'll put something together.

As for being lazy with Avernum 4...I couldn't get my screenshot grabber to work with it and wanted to get the article up quickly at the time. :)

[txa1265]

As for being lazy with Avernum 4...I couldn't get my screenshot grabber to work with it and wanted to get the article up quickly at the time. :)
Yeah ... because those graphics you *really* needed to see in-game to believe ;) :rolleyes: