Basilisk Games Interview

Following their interview with Spiderweb’s Jeff Vogel, Inside Mac Games continues their holiday Q&A series by firing off several questions to Basilisk Games’ Thomas Riegsecker about intrusive DRM, working with digital distribution partners, his RPG development philosophy, and what’s next for the Eschalon series.

JC: What is your inspiration and philosophy behind creating old school style RPG’s? What is Eschalon’s unique take on the genre?

TR: The inspiration for our games has always come from classic computer RPGs from the 80’s and 90’s. These were games that truly engaged the player, forcing them to really think about character development, combat strategy and solving quests. Today’s modern RPGs spend way too much time holding the player’s hand, walking them through the game via abundant cut scenes and ensuring that they don’t make wrong decisions- usually by limiting the scope of their character’s development.

With Eschalon (and our future RPGs) we simply give the player a game world and some guidelines for building their character, and then we set them free to follow the storyline at their leisure. Yes, this might be overwhelming for the novice player, but for gamers who stick to it the end result is a rewarding game that provides a genuine feeling of accomplishment when completed.