![]() ![]() ![]() That’s just the way we like to make games. Did you take this account when developing the game and how did you expand on it during development? Rather, it seems to be an opportunity for players to reflect on themselves and what approaches they could take. One thing that excites me about Firewatch is that it doesn’t seem like a game where the player can win or lose or net the “best” result. Sean Vanaman: It’s not a choose your own adventure in that regard but everyone who plays the game has a totally different experience - their relationship with Delilah is unique - they learn their own things about the story (rarely all) and there is, actually, a very peculiar secret ending I suspect only a few people will see (it’s not “the right ending” or “the good ending” it’s just the consequence of an interesting choice.) Will Firewatch have multiple endings and branching storylines depending on the decisions you make in-game? We think about it around every choice and we’ve done it for so long, now, that we never think about failure or success…" "That’s just the way we like to make games. The same was true on The Walking Dead - you couldn’t say CRRAZZZZZY stuff as Lee (which would’ve varied him up a lot!) - you can say the stuff that exists within his brain, thus, molding him and learning about him (and yourself). Sean Vanaman: It’s less important for me, as a writer, to make them hyper-varied but instead to make them representative of the possibility case of the main character (Henry). What range of dialogue options will players be faced with when interacting with Delilah? How much time did the development time put into making these interactions as varied as possible? You’re not walking through a place where a story happened, discovering it - the story is happening to you! It’s about exploration and discovery and making choices to advance the story. Sean Vanaman: Firewatch is more of an adventure game with systems (physics, traversal, a meaty relationship system, e.g.). Could you tell us about some of the mechanics and how your average player would go about progressing in-game? There have been a number of first person “walking simulators” in recent years but Firewatch seems to be different. We just had to have confidence and do what we knew how to do. Sean Vanaman: We definitely learned a lot from our experiences on that game and already had a short hand (and trust) that we could just do that (make emotional decisions and a good relationship come out of the screen) without talking about it or worrying about it too much. How did the experience of Jake Rodkin and Sean Vanaman, who worked on The Walking Dead, help when it came to crafting the emotional decisions and relationship that the players can build in-game? I assume the same could be said by anyone on the team. I’ve never learned so much or grown so much in my life. Sean Vanaman: That’s actually not 100% accurate - Jake and I (Sean) had the setting and kernel of the idea while living together and then upon meeting Olly he did the sketch that kicked the whole thing off! The journey has been really remarkable - we started off not really knowing how to do anything in regards to running a studio, using Unity, anything and now we’re a month away from shipping on Feb 9. How has the journey – from setting up Campo Santo to developing Firewatch – been for the entire studio? We’ve heard about the inspiration for Firewatch coming from a painting by artist Olly Moss. "It’s less important for me, as a writer, to make them hyper-varied but instead to make them representative of the possibility case of the main character." GamingBolt had a chance to speak to designer and writer Sean Vanaman about the project, including its inspiration and how it differs from other first person adventures released recently. Is everything as simple as preventing forest fires though? Not quite and that only makes Firewatch all the more interesting. ![]() Campo Santo’s Firewatch isn’t your typical Monkey Island or Leisure Suit Larry though – it’s a first person adventure which takes place through the eyes of a fire lookout in the Wyoming forest. It may not seem like it but adventure games weren’t always as plentiful in the late 90s as they are now. ![]()
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