创作者访谈 (CREATOR INTERVIEW)

Narratives with emotional beats and meaningful choices have always been at the heart of BioWare, one of gaming’s biggest juggernauts. And as a doctor-turned-developer, BioWare’s co-founder has been responsible for some of the best AAA games ever made. Dr. Greg Zeschuk spearheaded most of BioWare’s highly-ambitious projects, from the enduring Baldur’s Gate to the revolutionary Mass Effect.

ñarratives情绪的节奏和有意义的选择一直在BioWare公司，游戏最大的神像之一的心脏。 作为一名由医生转变为开发人员的人，BioWare的联合创始人负责了一些有史以来最好的AAA游戏。 格雷格·泽舒克(Greg Zeschuk)博士率领了BioWare大部分雄心勃勃的项目，从持久的博德之门到革命性的质量效应。

While Larian Studios is at the helm of the next Baldur’s Gate release, BioWare is hard at work on the next entry in the acclaimed Dragon Age franchise (and I hope they’ve got a secret Mass Effect game in the works). We had the privilege to speak with Dr. Greg Zeschuk recently. He is a man whose enviable career is as varied as it is remarkable. In this wide-ranging interview, we touch on everything from lessons learned making some of the industry’s biggest games right through to the joys of starting a brewery.

虽然Larian Studios掌管着下一个Baldur's Gate的发行，但BioWare仍在努力工作在享有盛誉的《 龙腾世纪》系列的下一个作品中(我希望他们能创作出一部秘密的《 质量效应》游戏)。 我们最近有幸与Greg Zeschuk博士交谈。 他是一个令人羡慕的职业，他的职业千差万别。 在这次广泛的采访中，我们涉及了从制作一些行业最大的游戏的经验教训到开办啤酒厂的乐趣等所有方面。

超级跳跃 (SUPERJUMP)

I have always seen games as flagbearers of change. And with the renewed focus on equality across the world, I’m curious to see how video games will adapt to better represent race and gender without the black/white cookie-cutter representation of the past. As someone who has worked on RPGs and memorable characters that gamers across the world love and adore, how do you see this shift manifest in the gaming space?

我一直将游戏视为变革的旗手。 随着人们对全球平等的重新关注，我很好奇看到视频游戏将如何适应更好地代表种族和性别的情况，而无需使用过去的黑白饼干模样。 作为从事过RPG和令人难忘的角色的工作的人，全世界的游戏迷都喜欢和喜欢它，您如何看待这种转变在游戏空间中的体现？

格雷格 (GREG)

I see this as a very, very slow shift but fortunately, we’re seeing some real progress. There’s an inherent tension between the commercial aspect of games (particularly the big blockbusters) which tend to be very conservative and drive safe choices, and a more progressive stance that is more inclusive of broad race and gender representation. Commercial powers have always driven to make the safe choice of a white male protagonist and actively pushed against deviation from that. In pop culture, I feel that the massive commercial success of the movie Black Panther completely shattered the belief that you need white protagonists to have mainstream appeal. Why put any restriction on role-playing? It would be incredibly enlightening to role-play different roles and genders in realistic situations to see what it’s like to live in another person’s skin. I think we’re seeing some of this progress now and I’m pretty sure it will continue.

我认为这是一个非常非常缓慢的转变，但幸运的是，我们看到了一些实际进展。 游戏的商业方面(尤其是大片)之间存在着内在的张力，它们往往非常保守并推动安全的选择，而更加进步的姿态则包括广泛的种族和性别代表性。 商业力量一直在推动安全选择白人男性主角，并积极反对这样做。 在流行文化中，我觉得电影《黑豹》取得了巨大的商业成功，这完全打破了人们的信念，即您需要白人主角才能获得主流吸引力。 为什么要限制角色扮演？ 在现实情况下扮演不同的角色和性别，看看生活在他人皮肤中的感觉，这将令人难以置信。 我认为我们现在看到了一些进展，并且我很确定它将继续下去。

超级跳跃 (SUPERJUMP)

In an industry where collaboration and teamwork are an absolute necessity to craft polished masterpieces, how do you see game development progress as it grapples with the effects of an unforeseen pandemic?

在一个行业中，协作和团队合作是制作精美杰作的绝对必要条件，您如何看待游戏开发在应对不可预见的大流行影响的过程中取得的进步？

格雷格 (GREG)

Based on what I’ve seen work in games I know that game developers are incredibly adaptive creatures. It’s natural for them to adapt and change, and honestly, if you gave most of them the opportunity to work from home they would jump at it. But, as you note, you still need teamwork to make the tough decisions. I think that the ongoing maintenance of online games and tweaks to existing games where you don’t need extensive decision making will flourish in the current environment (e.g. for online game services) but new development that needs agile decisions by groups of people will be hampered to a degree. Video meetings work, but wow do they ever get boring after a while!

根据我在游戏中的工作经验，我知道游戏开发人员是难以置信的适应性生物。 对他们来说，适应和改变是很自然的，老实说，如果您给他们中的大多数人提供了在家工作的机会，那么他们会欣喜若狂。 但是，正如您指出的那样，您仍然需要团队合作才能做出艰难的决定。 我认为，在线游戏的持续维护和对不需要大量决策的现有游戏的调整将在当前环境中蓬勃发展(例如，对于在线游戏服务)，但是将阻碍需要一群人做出敏捷决策的新开发。到一个程度。 视频会议可以工作，但是哇，一段时间后它们会变得无聊吗！

超级跳跃 (SUPERJUMP)

Baldur’s Gate I and II brought D&D to life with compelling characters and a fully-realized world in a way that set the industry aflame. And with the mantle of responsibility being handed over to the incredibly talented developers at Larian Games for Baldur’s Gate III, what feature would you like to see brought back from the beloved franchise as they further sharpen the blade molded by BioWare?

Baldur的Gate I和II以引人注目的角色和全面实现的世界使D＆D栩栩如生，从而引燃了整个行业。 随着责任的责任移交给了Larian Games的Baldur's Gate III出色的开发人员，当他们进一步锐化BioWare成型的刀片时，您希望看到从心爱的系列产品中获得的什么功能？

格雷格 (GREG)

I’d hope they continue innovating in the complex character interactions that were a hallmark of the Baldur’s Gate series. Of all the things that we did, I feel that was the most important aspect that made those games special.

我希望他们继续在复杂的角色交互方面进行创新，这是Baldur's Gate系列的标志。 在我们所做的所有事情中，我认为这是使这些游戏与众不同的最重要方面。

超级跳跃 (SUPERJUMP)

BioWare is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to crafting branching narratives that consist of meaningful choices in tandem with real repercussions to the player’s actions. While there is no silver bullet when it comes to creating a fluid story that responds to the player, what lessons did you learn as you worked on sprawling games that dealt with choice and circumstance?

当制作分支叙述时，BioWare是一支不可忽视的力量，分支叙述包括有意义的选择以及对玩家行为的真实影响。 尽管创建流畅的故事来回应玩家并没有灵丹妙药，但是您在处理涉及选择和情况的庞大游戏时学到了什么？

格雷格 (GREG)

Complex story branching with extensive game world impacts is a true exercise in organization. We specifically chose the non-sandbox route for our games, with custom content (dialog, voice, etc…) for every possibility. This is a finite approach as we could never model and design every outcome. The other way to do this is with a more system-driven approach where the game world responds to actions in a more general way and adjusts behaviors of the world (e.g. via faction systems), but the downside of this is that it’s not very personal. In retrospect, it would have been nice to have a blended approach where the world responded in a general way to player action while also having lots of custom content to still give that personal touch. Sadly I’m not making games anymore so I won’t be doing that.

具有广泛游戏世界影响力的复杂故事分支是组织中的真正工作。 我们为游戏特别选择了非沙盒路线，并为每种可能性提供了自定义内容(对话，语音等)。 这是一种有限的方法，因为我们永远无法对每个结果进行建模和设计。 另一种方法是采用系统驱动的方法，即游戏世界以更一般的方式响应动作并调整世界的行为(例如通过派系系统)，但是这样做的缺点是它不是非常个人化的。 回顾过去，最好采用一种混合方法，让世界以一种通用的方式对玩家的行为做出React，同时拥有大量自定义内容，从而仍然具有个人风格。 可悲的是我不再制作游戏了，所以我不会那样做。

超级跳跃 (SUPERJUMP)

Imbuing games with emotion has always been among the cornerstones of BioWare’s philosophy. But most games that approach the scope of Mass Effect or Dragon Age’s sprawling worlds often get there through acts that stir negative emotions like shock or rage. Do you think there’s a way out of this pigeonhole? An acclaimed fantasy experience where (almost) everyone lives happily ever after?

充满情感的游戏向来是BioWare哲学的基石。 但是，大多数接近《质量效应》或《龙腾世纪》庞大世界的游戏通常都是通过激起负面情绪(例如震惊或愤怒)的行为而到达那里的。 您是否认为有办法解决这个问题？ 广受赞誉的幻想体验，使每个人(几乎)从此过着幸福的生活？

格雷格 (GREG)

I think you always need some type of conflict in games in order to create interest. The conflict doesn’t always have to be “fighting” but you do need something to create tension and challenge in the world. In a sense, it’s a perpetual challenge for all stories: how to engage the person experiencing it? I think the key thing is to never be cheap or contrived when you do create that emotional conflict; it has to feel natural. You can certainly have everyone survive, but for it to be a good story it has to be really difficult along the way.

我认为您在游戏中总是需要某种类型的冲突才能引起兴趣。 冲突不一定总是要“打架”，但您确实需要一些东西来在世界上制造紧张局势和挑战。 从某种意义上说，这对所有故事都是一个永恒的挑战：如何吸引经历它的人？ 我认为关键是在制造这种情感冲突时，永远不要便宜或做作。 它必须感觉自然。 您当然可以使每个人都生存下来，但是要想成为一个好故事，在发展过程中一定很难。

超级跳跃 (SUPERJUMP)

What’s the most complicated feature in a game that the team at BioWare had to put in crunch hours to implement, for it to pay off brilliantly in the end?

BioWare团队必须花一些关键时间来实施游戏中最复杂的功能，才能最终获得丰厚的回报？

格雷格 (GREG)

One set of features that comes to mind is the Mass Effect combat system. With about 4 or 5 months before launch, we completely scrapped and redid all of the combat in Mass Effect. As you may expect this caused a major freak out with our publisher at the time (Microsoft) but fortunately we managed to get it done, tested, and delivered. The rest is history. We felt the change was required as it would make a much better game, so we took the jump!

想到的一组功能是质量效应战斗系统。 在发射前约4到5个月，我们彻底取消并重做了《 质量效应》中的所有战斗。 如您所料，这在当时与我们的发布商(微软)引起了很大的反响，但幸运的是，我们设法完成了它，进行了测试并交付了它。 剩下的就是历史了。 我们认为需要进行更改，因为这样才能使游戏变得更好，所以我们跳了下去！

超级跳跃 (SUPERJUMP)

How did the acquisition of BioWare by EA go? Were you able to double down on what set BioWare apart from its peers or was your vision altered in any manner after coming under new leadership?

EA如何收购BioWare？ 您是否能够在使BioWare与众不同的原因上加倍努力？或者在新领导下您的愿景有任何改变？

格雷格 (GREG)

It may sound strange but in many ways, the acquisition of EA by BioWare was somewhat uneventful. Our prior acquisition by Elevation Partners set the stage for the deal, and we had already figured out our path forward. Acquisition by EA was a continuation of that path. We did have to do some serious rejigging of projects as part of EA as we didn’t get the scope of budget we wanted, but in retrospect, it was a good outcome as it allowed us to double down on Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age, and that was ultimately good for our trajectory as a studio. Years later I’m still pretty happy how that all went.

听起来可能有些奇怪，但是从许多方面来说，BioWare收购EA的过程都有些顺利。 我们之前由Elevation Partners进行的收购为交易奠定了基础，并且我们已经找到了前进的方向。 EA的收购是这条道路的延续。 作为EA的一部分，我们确实必须认真地对项目进行重新调整，因为我们没有获得所需的预算范围，但是回想起来，这是一个不错的结果，因为它使我们能够将《 质量效应2》和《 龙腾世纪》翻倍，这最终对我们作为工作室的发展轨迹是有好处的。 几年后，我仍然很高兴一切顺利。

超级跳跃 (SUPERJUMP)

What’s the most interesting incident that you’ve had the fortune/misfortune to experience as a doctor?

您有幸经历过作为医生的不幸经历的最有趣的事件是什么？

格雷格 (GREG)

That’s an interesting question as my doctoring days seem to be such ancient history. I don’t think about them very much, but I certainly did have a lot of varied experiences. Perhaps the most perplexing (to me at least) was the response of my patients when I noted I would no longer be working in the family medicine clinic where I initially started practicing. People were genuinely unhappy I was leaving! It sounds strange in retrospect as I didn’t really think I was doing anything special in my work as a doctor but I now realize how important it was for the patients to have regular contact with someone they could trust. I just thought of it as a regular job without realizing it was something more. My only regret in leaving medicine was leaving those patients.

这是一个有趣的问题，因为我的就医时代似乎是如此悠久。 我不是很想他们，但是我确实有很多不同的经历。 当我注意到我将不再在最初开始执业的家庭医学诊所工作时，也许最令人困惑(至少对我而言)是患者的React。 人们真的不高兴我要离开！ 回想起来，这听起来很奇怪，因为我并不认为自己在做医生的过程中做了什么特别的事情，但是我现在意识到，与患者经常性接触可以信任的人是多么重要。 我只是认为这是一项常规工作，而没有意识到这是更多的事情。 我唯一留下药物的遗憾是离开了那些病人。

超级跳跃 (SUPERJUMP)

As a writer at AskMen and the host of your very own beer-driven TV show, you are a testament to the fact that passion is ever-shifting and fluid in nature. How did you go about transitioning from the videogame sphere to that of alcoholic beverages?

作为AskMen的作家和您自己的啤酒驱动电视节目的主持人，您可以证明一个事实，即激情在不断变化，而且本质上是不断变化的。 您如何从电子游戏领域过渡到酒精饮料领域？

格雷格 (GREG)

I like to joke that I had drinking as a hobby so it was a very natural transition. The truth is a little more complex than that. As I was transitioning out of gaming I knew I needed something to do to keep busy. While I was living in Austin, when we made Star Wars: The Old Republic, I actually did visit a lot of breweries as they were starting up and thought it would be great fun to tell the stories of entrepreneurship of these crazy startups (i.e. thus the beer show). After I got home, I was looking to do something back in my hometown of Edmonton. I then realized that all the interviews I did with start-up breweries gave me the blueprint (and passion) to follow in their footsteps, so I started my own brewery. I’ve had the great fortune to be able to follow my passion in my careers so I’ll just keep riding that wave as long as I can.

我喜欢开玩笑说我嗜好喝酒，所以这是很自然的过渡。 事实要复杂得多。 当我过渡到游戏之外时，我知道我需要做一些事情来保持忙碌。 当我住在奥斯汀时，当我们制作《星球大战：旧共和国》时，实际上我确实参观了许多酿酒厂，他们认为讲这些疯狂的创业公司的创业故事非常有趣(例如啤酒秀)。 回家后，我正想在我的家乡埃德蒙顿做些事情。 然后，我意识到我对初创啤酒厂所做的所有采访都为我提供了跟随他们足迹的蓝图(和激情)，所以我创办了自己的啤酒厂。 我很幸运能够追随自己的职业热情，所以我会尽可能地继续努力。

超级跳跃 (SUPERJUMP)

With an uncertain future ahead of us, what principles do you think a game studio needs to embody as they traverse the realm of video game development?

面对不确定的未来，您认为游戏工作室在穿越视频游戏开发领域时需要体现哪些原则？

格雷格 (GREG)

Adapt, adapt, adapt! As I noted in an earlier question, adaptation is a natural habit for videogame studios and developers. I don’t know of any industry that has seen such a transition of technology in the last 25 years through console transitions, networked gaming, mobile gaming, and now VR/AR. The key in the gaming business is you don’t really have any control over transitions but to survive you do need to roll with them. It’s like perpetual forced evolution. It’s really exhausting but also exhilarating. Change is normal for videogame development.

适应，适应，适应！ 正如我在前面的问题中指出的那样，适应性是视频游戏工作室和开发人员的自然习惯。 我不知道有哪个行业在过去25年中通过控制台过渡，网络游戏，移动游戏以及现在的VR / AR经历了这种技术过渡。 游戏业务的关键是您实际上对过渡没有任何控制权，但要生存，您需要与过渡保持一致。 这就像永无休止的进化。 这确实很累，但也令人振奋。 对于电子游戏开发来说，变化是正常的。

SUPERJUMPWe’d like to thank Greg for generously making time for us. And best wishes to BioWare for their upcoming projects.

我们要感谢格雷格慷慨地为我们腾出时间。 并对BioWare即将进行的项目表示最良好的祝愿。

Stay tuned to SUPERJUMP, we’ve got a whole slate of awesome interviews planned so make sure to check back regularly and keep watching our social media as well!

请继续关注SUPERJUMP，我们计划了一系列很棒的采访，因此请确保定期进行检查并同时关注我们的社交媒体！