Brian Fargo Interview Questions Needed.

[zapiy]

[align=center:1rrvll8r]

Again I am blown away, we are please to announce Brian Fargo has agreed to an interview with us, Brian was the founder of Interplay where he and his team developed Bard's Tale, Wasteland, Fallout, and many other games like Mindshadow and Battle Chess.

Brian eventually left Interplay and started InXile Entertainment who had a fantasticly succesfull Kickstarter campaign for Wasteland 2. Below is a list of all the games Brian has been involved with.

The Adventures of Rad Gravity     1990     Designer/Programmer
Tales of the Unknown: Volume I - The Bard's Tale     1985     Writer
The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight     1986     Writer
The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate     1988     Director
The Bard's Tale Construction Set     1992     Executive producer
The Bard's Tale     2004     Designer/Executive producer/Writer
Battle Chess     1988     Producer
Battle Chess II: Chinese Chess     1990     Producer
Battle Chess 4000     1992     Executive producer
Blood & Magic     1996     Executive producer
Borrowed Time     1986     Writer
Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space     1993     Executive producer
Clay Fighter 2: Judgement Clay     1994     Executive producer
Castles     1991     Designer (assistance)/Producer
Castles: The Northern Campaign     1992     Executive producer
Castles II: Siege and Conquest     1992     Executive producer
Clay Fighter     1993     Executive producer
Claymates     1993     Executive producer
Demon's Forge     1981     Designer/Programmer/Writer
Dragon Wars     1989     Producer
Fallout     1997     Executive producer
Heart of the Alien     1994     Executive producer
Hunted: The Demon's Forge     2011     Executive producer/Writer
Interplay's 10 Year Anthology     1993     Executive producer
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I     1990     Executive producer
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. II: The Two Towers     1991     Executive producer
Mario Teaches Typing     1992     Executive Producer
Line Rider     2007     Executive producer
The Lost Vikings     1992     Executive producer
Mario's Game Gallery     1995     Executive producer
Neuromancer     1989     Designer/Director
Of Light and Darkness: The Prophecy     1998     Executive producer
Out of This World     1994     Executive producer
Rags to Riches: The Financial Market Simulation     1993     Executive producer
RoboCop Versus The Terminator     1993     Executive producer
Rock 'n Roll Racing     1993     Executive producer
SimCity Enhanced CD-ROM     1993     Executive producer
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary     1992     Executive producer
Star Trek: Judgment Rites     1993     Executive producer
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy     1997     Director (project leader)
Stonekeep     1995     Executive producer
Swords and Serpents     1990     Producer
Tass Times in Tonetown     1986     Director
Torment: Tides of Numenera     TBD     Director/Producer
Total Recall     1990     Programmer
Track Meet     1991     Designer/Producer
Wasteland     1988     Director
Wasteland 2     2014     Director/Producer
Wild Wild Racing     2000     Executive producer

Please post your questions. [/align:1rrvll8r]

[TrekMD]

Questions to get the ball rolling:
1.  How did you decide on the name Interplay for your company?
2.  You worked on three different Star Trek titles (25th Anniversary, Starfleet Academy, and Judgement Rites).  Are you a Star Trek fan or was this just a great opportunity you chose to grab?
3.  You've funded various projects through Kickstarter in recent years.  What made you decide to go this route?

[zapiy]

Nice one fella.

[TrekMD]

Come on guys, someone else has to have questions! 

[zapiy]

Can you tell us what it felt like to be the head of a company you formed that had hit after hit?

Can you go into any detail about the Titus take over of Interplay?

Lots of industry leaders started their careers under you, you must look back and feel proud of your part in making the industry what it is today and a story that perhaps needs to be shared more?

[Ben]

1.  Mario Teaches Typing ended up being one of the best received and well remembered educational games of all time, generations of kids learned typing from it.  Today there are open source clones and there were many derivatives, such as Typing Of The Dead.  Do you feel the same about the success and legacy of educational games in the way that you do about games created mostly as entertainment, or is it different?
2.  Rock n' Roll Racing often makes be best/underrated games lists and is received very well today by retro gaming enthusiasts; is there another title that you feel never got its' due (whether it was a hit or not) when released that you think gamers need to give another look?
3.  You worked with noted illustrator Garth Ennis of Preacher on Loaded; is there another illustrator you would have liked to have work on a game if given the opportunity?
4.  We often hear stories about games with tremendous potential that were never finished and were left to the dustbin of history, short of a leak.  Were you involved with any unfinished games that you'd like to mention, or was that something you avoided in your career?

[zapiy]

Great questions Ben...

Keep them comeing people

[AmigaJay]

Battlechess is still my favourite version of computerized Chess, is there any chance of porting the classic first version to IOS or Android, the touch screens would work a wonder on this type of game (along with making quicker decisions than my Amiga back in the late 80s!)

[zapiy]

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, can you tell us how your career in the games industry started, how did you land your first big job?

How did you decide on the name Interplay for your company?

Can you tell us what it felt like to be the head of a company you formed that had hit after hit?

How did you manage to create the games and run a company at the same time?

Can you go into any detail about the Titus take over of Interplay?

Do you have any stories you can tell us about working in the industry back then? Good and Bad.

You worked on three different Star Trek titles (25th Anniversary, Starfleet Academy, and Judgement Rites).  Are you a Star Trek fan or was this just a great opportunity you chose to grab?

You've funded various projects through Kickstarter in recent years.  What made you decide to go this route?

Lots of industry leaders started their careers under you, you must look back and feel proud of your part in making the industry what it is today and a story that perhaps needs to be shared more?

Mario Teaches Typing ended up being one of the best received and well remembered educational games of all time, generations of kids learned typing from it.  Today there are open source clones and there were many derivatives, such as Typing Of The Dead.  Do you feel the same about the success and legacy of educational games in the way that you do about games created mostly as entertainment, or is it different?

Rock n' Roll Racing often makes be best/underrated games lists and is received very well today by retro gaming enthusiasts; is there another title that you feel never got its' due (whether it was a hit or not) when released that you think gamers need to give another look?

You worked with noted illustrator Garth Ennis of Preacher on Loaded; is there another illustrator you would have liked to have work on a game if given the opportunity?

We often hear stories about games with tremendous potential that were never finished and were left to the dustbin of history, short of a leak.  Were you involved with any unfinished games that you'd like to mention, or was that something you avoided in your career?

Battlechess is still my favourite version of computerized Chess, is there any chance of porting the classic first version to IOS or Android, the touch screens would work a wonder on this type of game (along with making quicker decisions than my Amiga back in the late 80s!)

Do you still maintain relationships with friends or contacts from that time period? If so, how often do you all get together or discuss ideas and things from back in the day?

Questions sent.