RPG Vault has conducted an interview with Jeff Vogel, who starts the interview off with explaining, why Spiderweb Software is developing Avernum 3 and Geneforge at a time, while consisting of only 3 members:
Jonric: To begin with, considering the Spiderweb Software team includes only three people, what possessed you to develop Geneforge and Avernum 3 simultaneously, and how has this worked out so far?
Jeff Vogel: It's a lot of work. We're getting pretty tired. Still, we saw the opportunity for a good, solid business push, and we took it.
The main thing that makes it possible is that Avernum 3 is a rewrite of Exile 3: Ruined World, not a whole new game. Each day, I write out specs for a town or dungeon or outdoor section. Then one employee spends the day porting the area to the new system and coding it and getting it running. Then I come back and polish it, add new special encounters and missions, and so in.
In the meantime, Employee 3 puts together Geneforge areas according to a layout I sketch on graph paper. I spend the rest of my time assembling Geneforge.
Add in my working on weekends, and it all comes together. |