Torment:ToN - George Ziets Interview P4

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Forbes interviews George Ziets, who is the lead area designer for Torment: Tides of Numenera. This is part four:

The George Ziets Interview Part 4: Writing For 'Torment: Tides Of Numenera', Writing The Game
George Ziets is the lead area designer for InXile's RPG Torment:Tides of Numenera. He graciously consented to devote a good deal of his time to this four-part interview about the video game writer's job and the special challenges and opportunities of writing Torment. The interview took place through email and has been edited for comprehension.

Ziets received a Masters degree in Cognitive Psychology with an emphasis on Human-Computer Interaction in 1999. (Disclosure. I was a member of his thesis committee.) In 2001 he took a job writing dialog for the MMO Earth & Beyond. Since then he has held various positions as a writer, designer or creative lead on games such as Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online, Neverwinter Nights 2, Elder Scrolls Online, Dungeon Siege 3, Fallout: New Vegas and Torment among others.

Minor spoilers follow.

Kevin Murnane: The writing style in Torment is rich and evocative in a way that complements and enhances both the visuals and the unfamiliarity of Torment's world. The game doesn't read like, say, a Wasteland or Pillars of Eternity game. Was that something that developed on its own or was it something the team set as an early goal?

George Ziets: That was a goal. We were aiming for the same writing style and richness as our predecessor, Planescape: Torment. For example, when I was writing dialogues, I would often play Planescape: Torment for a few minutes at the beginning of the day, just to keep the sensibilities of that game in my head. This was especially true in the early days, when we were writing our first dialogues and setting the tone for the rest of the game.

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