2014-04-07 : On Planning to Move Away
Quoth Caitlynn, here:
Oh, also! You've done a lot with permutations of the Apocalypse World rules lately (Murderous Ghosts, Sundered Land, now this) - do you plan to eventually move away from that? Like, are there any ideas kindling around in your head that you feel you'd need something non-AW-ey to work with? Or do you feel you've found something very stable and quality with the Apocalypse World ruleset?
This question is hard for me to answer!
I expect Apocalypse World to be by far the biggest influence on my game design work in this decade, at least. I think that every game I design from 2010-2020, and possibly beyond, you'll be able to look at it and see how Apocalypse World laid the foundation for it. You can look at Spin the Beetle, for instance, and see how it's a development of certain moves from Apocalypse World.
At the same time, I don't expect Apocalypse World to hold back my game design work at all. It's building on Apocalypse World that allows me to make games like Murderous Ghosts and Spin the Beetle, radical departures from the far more conventional rpgs I designed before Apocalypse World.
1. On 2014-04-07, David Bowers said:
I see that. Makes total sense. It's like evolution.
2. On 2014-04-07, Adam said:
Well said ? I think the framework you've put forward in Apocalypse World is a total revelation, and that throwing out the innovations the engine's known for may open up new avenues for generating fiction, the potential of the Apocalypse Engine (and the style of games it creates) is only just being realized.
3. On 2014-04-08, Chris said:
The AW framework isn't close to being mined out.
4. On 2014-04-08, Caitlynn said:
What is it that Apocalypse World gives you that's so influential to your design?
5. On 2014-04-14, Vincent said:
Caitlynn: Maybe just a solid starting place? It's hard to explain.
Can I ask, why do you ask?
6. On 2014-04-16, Caitlynn said:
I like picking the brains of my favorite designers. I've asked similar questions of other famous indie-folk, and they've all given me fantastic answers!
The real blood-and-guts behind-the-scenes stuff is fascinating to me. When someone who I consider a smart, talented designer starts introducing trends and common ideas throughout their work, I like to find out what it means to them and what it does for them.
I don't know, I suppose! You know, like, when someone asks you, "Why did you make your game this way?" and you just kind of shrug and go, "I guess that's just how I wanted it?" and you don't really have an answer because it's like asking an artist where they get their ideas from? I'm the person asking the question in the first place!
7. On 2014-04-22, Vincent said:
Caitlynn: Here's an image that came to me. It's like the trunk of a tree, right, starting at the ground, and then I take one branch, then another smaller branch, then another, then another, then another and so on out to the single leaf that is Apocalypse World. Or cluster of leaves, really. But anyway I look back at the branches I took and the branches I passed by, and they give me a sense of the size and shape of the whole tree, and it feels huge to me. More potential games than I could create if I devoted my whole career to it.
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