Ken Levine, creator of the famed BioShock series, recently spoke to Game Informer about how he is working to make interesting characters for his new studio’s upcoming title.
“The whole system that I came up with and that we’re developing is based upon the fact that to make an interesting character, you have to have a character who has a bunch of passions, wants, and needs,” says Levine about the still untitled game. “The player now has the ability to facilitate those wants or needs or go against those wants or needs or ignore those wants or needs. The reason I think the system is going to work is because it’s a very organic way to look at a character.”
Levine explains that the way players interact with non-playable characters will have drastic effects on NPC’s perceptions of the player. “In the new game, you have very fluid relationships with the characters.” Levine said. “They have a spectrum of feelings about you based upon what you do and if you help them or go against them. That changes dynamically, and you can end the game with a character absolutely despising you or somewhere in the middle.” He goes onto say the game may potentially have thousands of outcomes in regards to character relations and wants.
Levine’s former studio Irrational Games, the developer behind such titles as System Shock 2 and BioShock Infinite, closed down in February 2014 leaving him and small team to begin work on a new game. When asked by Game Informer about the new studio, Levine says the studio now has a name and that, “We’re very excited about it and we’re getting all the materials together.”
Stay tuned to Gamespresso for more news on Levine’s new studio and game.