Display MoreEmil Pagliarulo, the lead designer of Bethesda's upcoming space RPG Starfield, has posted a thread about the inspirations that help shape the direction of the his current project. There are several classic Origin games on his list, including 2400 AD, Space Rogue and Privateer. Starfield is due out next year and looks very promising, and it's nice to see how Wing Commander games continue to influence the industry! You can see the full list with other great space sims on it here.
Time to talk about other (more) deserving folks. It's been impossible for me to work on Starfield for so long without constantly thinking about the devs and games that have served as so much personal inspiration, for so many reasons. Long, and long overdue post incoming.Origin Systems' 1988 gem 2400 AD. My God, I lost an entire summer to this game. One of the first real sci-fi computer RPGs I ever played. It informed a lot of who I am as a designer.
Another Origin game, this time from 1989 - Space Rogue. So much Love. But, holy hell, in finding the images for this tweet, I learned it was designed by none other than Paul Neurath of Looking Glass. How did I not know this?! Hi Paul! And thank you! Wow.
Next, Origin's and Chris Roberts' 1993 Privateer. I was a Wing Commander fan because I had a PC and a pulse, but it was Privateer that truly captured my heart. Grayson Burrows was my perfect protagonist, a cool ginger badass. And that gameplay! Timeless.
The Grayson Burrows comment is interesting. It's nice to see that bit of lore has started to propagate, but it's also a retcon codified by Star*Soldier in 2007. Of course, back in 1993, he was just us - or "Brownhair."
