Queen's Wish 2: The Tormentor - Jeff Vogel Interview by Couchpotato

Playing queen's wish 2 at the moment & would recommend it (I wasn't that sold on the first one but the minor changes seem to work for me).

Always good to read Jeff's thoughts, it is genuinely insane how much content gets produced these days that it's really hard to imagine anyone playing. It's mind boggling enough on youtube & similar platforms where at least the up front effort investment (to make as well as consume the content) is minimal but it's insane for games that must have taken a real time commitment to produce even if they're terrible.
 
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I like that Jeff always has thoughtful answers, which makes his interviews a good read. After playing 11 of his games in the last 8 years, I think I'm going to need a break before getting around to Queen's Wish 2, but I am sure I will play it eventually.
 
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If you liked the interview check out his latest blog about the QW2 release.

We Released Queen's Wish 2: The Tormentor!
Queen's Wish will probably be my last all-new series.

Most of the rest of my career will be remasters.

I've written a lot of really good games that are old now. They don't run properly on newer machines. They look bad even by my standards. Each of them took around 1.5 years, and each needs at least a year to bring them up to the level I want to leave them at. Three years worth of work seems a real sweet spot for indie games.

I don't feel bad about this. Most creators reach a point where they have to say, "I had a finite number of ideas, and I've expressed them. I'm going to close out my career going on tour and playing the hits." There's no dishonor in it. It's a decent life.

Quentin Tarantino has said he plans to make ten films and retire. He's going to make one more. He never wants to crash and fail. He has honestly evaluated what he is capable of, and he's acting on it. I admire that a lot.

Similarly, I'm getting old. It's getting harder to churn out these huge games mostly by myself, and, honestly, my bag of tricks is getting empty. I may write other new games, but they won't be RPGs. I'd love to do a twin-stick shooter.
 
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Hastar, I suspect you'll have a great time with Geneforge: Mutagen. May all of your gaming be excellent!
Yeah, I played the original and of all 11 Vogel games I played, I'd say Geneforge 1 was his Magnum Opus. And I had played Avernum 1 and the Avadon trilogy at that point, so its not one of those "its the first game I've played from a developer" biases. I also think its on the RPGCodex top 100 rpgs of all time list.
 
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The Avadon Trilogy was my favorite series of Vogel games followed by Queen's Wish 1 and 2. I tried the newer Avernum games and didn't enjoy them as much due to differences.
 
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Has Geneforge 1 or the Avadon Trilogy been thru any sort of upgrade / refresh? Or would those be one on his list to refresh in his quasi retirement stage?
 
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Geneforge: Mutagen is a refresh of Geneforge 1 and in the Queen's Wish engine. Avadon has not been upgraded, as it was the the last trilogy Vogel wrote before Queen's Wish. Avadon 1 is also a great game. Probably my second favorite Vogel game. I don't actually think the Avadon engine looks any worse than the current one.
 
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Your welcome I was thinking of doing three more future interviews as well.

1. Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms
2. Achilles: Legends Untold
3. Colony Ship

Won't be till October or later though.
 
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Hey, good choices! :)
 
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