{"video_id":"9vUF6UvHAxk","title":"The Wolf Among Us by Telltale Games - PAX 2013","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2014-05-07T14:53:29Z","duration_s":419,"segments":[{"start_s":0.04,"end_s":6.04,"text":"Linus Tech tips coverage of pxs 2013 is brought to you by Western Digital Intel","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":4.6,"end_s":10.92,"text":"and steel Series so we're here with Nick Herman","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":8.559,"end_s":15.08,"text":"co-director of a Wolf Among Us also The Walking Dead and apparently a million","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":12.88,"end_s":19.4,"text":"other things is that correct uh yeah I guess we make a lot of games if someone","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":17.8,"end_s":25.76,"text":"said it it must be true and it's on the internet right sweet yeah oh yeah totally a million games so give me the I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":23.16,"end_s":29.32,"text":"guess give me the 30 to 60c pitch for how why you want a gamer to invest in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":27.92,"end_s":33.16,"text":"the experience you guys are delivering here yeah um I mean uh with The Wolf","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":31.32,"end_s":38.84,"text":"Among Us uh we sort of you know we're following up The Walking Dead and um I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":36.2,"end_s":43.239,"text":"think a lot of people are sort of putting the pressure on us to make this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":40.28,"end_s":45.76,"text":"good and I and I think we uh instead of you know taking this really dark and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":44.64,"end_s":50.64,"text":"really serious I mean the game actually is really dark and serious so what am I saying we wanted to push it in a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":49.0,"end_s":53.96,"text":"different direction it's not it's not about you know it's they're two","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":52.76,"end_s":58.76,"text":"different characters right two different stories Lee's you know a story of uh","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":56.16,"end_s":62.519,"text":"sort of redemption and sort of um being someone's Savior and and this game I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":61.079,"end_s":69.119,"text":"think is is a little bit about redemption in the fact that Big B wolf who's the sheriff of fabletown you know","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":66.4,"end_s":73.24,"text":"he he used to be the big battle wolf and now he's sort of in charge of protecting","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":71.0,"end_s":76.64,"text":"everyone and it's and it's sort of up to the player to figure out how they want","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":74.88,"end_s":80.84,"text":"to do that like the the the problem with him is he's got all this power right and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":78.759,"end_s":84.68,"text":"you have to choose whether or not using that power is worth it and and if when","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":83.079,"end_s":89.32,"text":"you do what how that affects you know the people around you and what people think of you and um I think it's really","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":87.799,"end_s":93.079,"text":"interesting and I mean with this game too you can look at of the art and it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":91.36,"end_s":96.52,"text":"looks so different the game feels different it's a different story so I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":94.88,"end_s":100.96,"text":"think people should just be excited for something new and yeah now I played a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":99.0,"end_s":104.36,"text":"10-minute demo of it here in the booth and the thing that I noticed more than","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":102.32,"end_s":108.119,"text":"anything else is looking from my screen to the guy next to me is we were playing","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":106.28,"end_s":112.92,"text":"the same 10-minute demo and he had completely different stuff on his screen","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":110.32,"end_s":117.52,"text":"whether it's down to um an option in the combat or whether it's down to um","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":115.68,"end_s":121.399,"text":"driving away in the car versus falling out of a window on top of the car it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":119.439,"end_s":125.759,"text":"felt like the choices I was making were having we're having a huge impact on how","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":123.6,"end_s":128.679,"text":"the story was progressing I mean you guys obviously have a branching","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":127.039,"end_s":133.239,"text":"structure to it but are there you know 101 endings or is it pretty linear yeah","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":131.84,"end_s":139.2,"text":"I mean I would say it's it's closer to The Walking Dead I mean we don't have I mean with episode one we don't have you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":136.319,"end_s":142.28,"text":"know 40 endings but um I think a lot of the things we're playing around with are","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":140.4,"end_s":146.72,"text":"just giving the player more Choice more often um letting them sort of uh choose","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":145.319,"end_s":151.4,"text":"how they want to play on on a more of a micro level a lot of the times and um","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":149.92,"end_s":156.04,"text":"something we're playing with too is is sort of the sense of time so uh even in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":154.16,"end_s":159.76,"text":"the demo when you're talking to Mr toe downstairs you can leave the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":157.64,"end_s":163.28,"text":"conversation early in favor of sort of getting to figure out what's going on or","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":161.64,"end_s":166.44,"text":"you can sort of drill them a little bit more and get more information and and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":164.8,"end_s":172.28,"text":"that comes into play in a much bigger way later in the episode too fascinating","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":169.319,"end_s":177.68,"text":"I mean speaking of sense of time um the combat was felt very frantic felt very","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":175.159,"end_s":181.879,"text":"urgent but didn't feel very punishing because whenever I made a mistake I was","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":179.44,"end_s":186.36,"text":"able to go back to about you know 3 to 5 seconds ago and and get a do over so","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":184.68,"end_s":189.879,"text":"what does that say about the experience you guys are trying to deliver here yeah","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":187.959,"end_s":193.04,"text":"I mean with with a combat specifically it's really about I mean we're not we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":191.959,"end_s":197.239,"text":"don't want to punish people for not being able to play an action sequence I think most people play our games for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":196.08,"end_s":202.92,"text":"sort of the narrative and the characters in the story and and getting to make","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":199.48,"end_s":204.36,"text":"these decisions and um yeah I think I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":202.92,"end_s":207.76,"text":"think it's really about in the fight sequence just sort of creating Your Own","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":206.0,"end_s":212.28,"text":"Story I mean we now we have this a branching fight sequences really just to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":210.36,"end_s":215.799,"text":"let the player Express themselves more like I was saying more on a micro level","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":214.12,"end_s":220.239,"text":"and um even if you get the kicked out of you it's still fun to watch right","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":218.08,"end_s":223.04,"text":"it's still it's still something it's an exciting experience and there's only you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":221.72,"end_s":227.76,"text":"know a few death States in that in that fight but um it's really about creating","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":225.84,"end_s":231.159,"text":"narrative I mean one of the things I noticed is during the fight okay so when","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":229.84,"end_s":236.0,"text":"you're talking to people you really have the option to be a total or to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":233.599,"end_s":240.0,"text":"just be very passive or to be very helpful you you can go one of even in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":238.239,"end_s":244.12,"text":"the fight you have an option to throw them and you can decide what to throw","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":241.36,"end_s":247.4,"text":"them against um how does that affect who how you're building yourself out as a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":245.319,"end_s":251.28,"text":"character yeah I mean it's it's funny that that there's a you know there's a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":249.84,"end_s":254.599,"text":"couch you can throw them into and a lot of people are like well I threw him into","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":253.159,"end_s":258.84,"text":"the couch because you know like I wanted to be kind of soft on them but you know","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":256.519,"end_s":263.16,"text":"just you like they just sort of you know read into it more than than we even","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":261.6,"end_s":268.28,"text":"expect sometimes and that's that's sort of the fun part of it um and I think in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":266.199,"end_s":271.0,"text":"in that fight specifically there's uh it we're sort of just teaching you the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":269.24,"end_s":274.199,"text":"mechanics but but later on there's going to be ramifications for how you treat","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":272.4,"end_s":278.08,"text":"people in those types of situations that's absolutely very very","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":276.639,"end_s":281.88,"text":"cool I really enjoy the demo and I'm really excited to see this when it's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":280.199,"end_s":287.08,"text":"available for me to buy Yeah well yeah it'll be available uh early or late SE","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":284.479,"end_s":292.08,"text":"September early October yeah sounds great thank you so much thank you we're","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":289.56,"end_s":296.8,"text":"here with Pierre shet lead writer of a Wolf Among Us well at least episode one","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":294.96,"end_s":301.52,"text":"anyway hopefully episode two assuming things go really really well with this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":298.12,"end_s":303.8,"text":"one tell me about how how challenging is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":301.52,"end_s":308.919,"text":"it to write for a character like Big B wolf when the charact or the the player","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":306.68,"end_s":311.8,"text":"gets to make a lot of the decisions and you just kind of have to make sure that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":310.4,"end_s":318.319,"text":"everything makes sense regardless of what they do luckily for us um Big B","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":315.24,"end_s":320.919,"text":"comes from fables the uh Bill Willingham","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":318.319,"end_s":324.96,"text":"comic book um he's a dynamic enough character that the range that you have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":323.199,"end_s":330.24,"text":"with him the way you'd want to swing this character um emotionally whether","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":327.6,"end_s":335.639,"text":"you want to play the role of the enforcer the the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":333.12,"end_s":339.12,"text":"law-abiding Sheriff of fabl town or you want to be the guy who kicks a door in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":338.08,"end_s":345.0,"text":"and gets answers all that still fits in with who","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":342.199,"end_s":349.56,"text":"Big B is and allowing people to sort of choose who their Big B is is still","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":347.56,"end_s":354.88,"text":"possible even with a character that U many people know and love okay so I mean","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":352.8,"end_s":359.639,"text":"if that if that's not the big challenge of writing for a for a game like this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":357.68,"end_s":363.4,"text":"then what what were the things that you were sitting around the table or","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":361.96,"end_s":368.199,"text":"discussing or sitting at your desk tearing your hair out well","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":366.479,"end_s":374.72,"text":"figuratively that's that must be where it all went so um tell me what was so","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":371.56,"end_s":376.599,"text":"difficult it was definitely giving the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":374.72,"end_s":384.199,"text":"game and giving The Wolf Among Us an identity that is different","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":379.96,"end_s":386.039,"text":"and sort of sticks out from what The","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":384.199,"end_s":391.8,"text":"Walking Dead has done not trying to relive the same beats not trying to have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":388.96,"end_s":395.72,"text":"similar characters is it's its own thing it's it's based on fables it's a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":393.56,"end_s":400.44,"text":"Fantastical world and just being true to that and giving it its own feel and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":397.759,"end_s":403.919,"text":"atmosphere and tone and dialogue uh was probably the biggest challenge from a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":401.639,"end_s":408.44,"text":"writing standpoint thank you so much I really appreciate you taking the time","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":405.28,"end_s":410.8,"text":"Pierre and uh hey good luck thanks","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":408.44,"end_s":415.24,"text":"thanks nice talking to you so guys don't miss any of our packs Prime 2013","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":413.68,"end_s":420.52,"text":"coverage remember our trip to the show here is powered by Western Digital Intel","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":417.199,"end_s":420.52,"text":"and steel series","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"Linus Tech tips coverage of pxs 2013 is brought to you by Western Digital Intel and steel Series so we're here with Nick Herman co-director of a Wolf Among Us also The Walking Dead and apparently a million other things is that correct uh yeah I guess we make a lot of games if someone said it it must be true and it's on the internet right sweet yeah oh yeah totally a million games so give me the I guess give me the 30 to 60c pitch for how why you want a gamer to invest in the experience you guys are delivering here yeah um I mean uh with The Wolf Among Us uh we sort of you know we're following up The Walking Dead and um I think a lot of people are sort of putting the pressure on us to make this good and I and I think we uh instead of you know taking this really dark and really serious I mean the game actually is really dark and serious so what am I saying we wanted to push it in a different direction it's not it's not about you know it's they're two different characters right two different stories Lee's you know a story of uh sort of redemption and sort of um being someone's Savior and and this game I think is is a little bit about redemption in the fact that Big B wolf who's the sheriff of fabletown you know he he used to be the big battle wolf and now he's sort of in charge of protecting everyone and it's and it's sort of up to the player to figure out how they want to do that like the the the problem with him is he's got all this power right and you have to choose whether or not using that power is worth it and and if when you do what how that affects you know the people around you and what people think of you and um I think it's really interesting and I mean with this game too you can look at of the art and it looks so different the game feels different it's a different story so I think people should just be excited for something new and yeah now I played a 10-minute demo of it here in the booth and the thing that I noticed more than anything else is looking from my screen to the guy next to me is we were playing the same 10-minute demo and he had completely different stuff on his screen whether it's down to um an option in the combat or whether it's down to um driving away in the car versus falling out of a window on top of the car it felt like the choices I was making were having we're having a huge impact on how the story was progressing I mean you guys obviously have a branching structure to it but are there you know 101 endings or is it pretty linear yeah I mean I would say it's it's closer to The Walking Dead I mean we don't have I mean with episode one we don't have you know 40 endings but um I think a lot of the things we're playing around with are just giving the player more Choice more often um letting them sort of uh choose how they want to play on on a more of a micro level a lot of the times and um something we're playing with too is is sort of the sense of time so uh even in the demo when you're talking to Mr toe downstairs you can leave the conversation early in favor of sort of getting to figure out what's going on or you can sort of drill them a little bit more and get more information and and that comes into play in a much bigger way later in the episode too fascinating I mean speaking of sense of time um the combat was felt very frantic felt very urgent but didn't feel very punishing because whenever I made a mistake I was able to go back to about you know 3 to 5 seconds ago and and get a do over so what does that say about the experience you guys are trying to deliver here yeah I mean with with a combat specifically it's really about I mean we're not we don't want to punish people for not being able to play an action sequence I think most people play our games for sort of the narrative and the characters in the story and and getting to make these decisions and um yeah I think I think it's really about in the fight sequence just sort of creating Your Own Story I mean we now we have this a branching fight sequences really just to let the player Express themselves more like I was saying more on a micro level and um even if you get the kicked out of you it's still fun to watch right it's still it's still something it's an exciting experience and there's only you know a few death States in that in that fight but um it's really about creating narrative I mean one of the things I noticed is during the fight okay so when you're talking to people you really have the option to be a total or to just be very passive or to be very helpful you you can go one of even in the fight you have an option to throw them and you can decide what to throw them against um how does that affect who how you're building yourself out as a character yeah I mean it's it's funny that that there's a you know there's a couch you can throw them into and a lot of people are like well I threw him into the couch because you know like I wanted to be kind of soft on them but you know just you like they just sort of you know read into it more than than we even expect sometimes and that's that's sort of the fun part of it um and I think in in that fight specifically there's uh it we're sort of just teaching you the mechanics but but later on there's going to be ramifications for how you treat people in those types of situations that's absolutely very very cool I really enjoy the demo and I'm really excited to see this when it's available for me to buy Yeah well yeah it'll be available uh early or late SE September early October yeah sounds great thank you so much thank you we're here with Pierre shet lead writer of a Wolf Among Us well at least episode one anyway hopefully episode two assuming things go really really well with this one tell me about how how challenging is it to write for a character like Big B wolf when the charact or the the player gets to make a lot of the decisions and you just kind of have to make sure that everything makes sense regardless of what they do luckily for us um Big B comes from fables the uh Bill Willingham comic book um he's a dynamic enough character that the range that you have with him the way you'd want to swing this character um emotionally whether you want to play the role of the enforcer the the law-abiding Sheriff of fabl town or you want to be the guy who kicks a door in and gets answers all that still fits in with who Big B is and allowing people to sort of choose who their Big B is is still possible even with a character that U many people know and love okay so I mean if that if that's not the big challenge of writing for a for a game like this then what what were the things that you were sitting around the table or discussing or sitting at your desk tearing your hair out well figuratively that's that must be where it all went so um tell me what was so difficult it was definitely giving the game and giving The Wolf Among Us an identity that is different and sort of sticks out from what The Walking Dead has done not trying to relive the same beats not trying to have similar characters is it's its own thing it's it's based on fables it's a Fantastical world and just being true to that and giving it its own feel and atmosphere and tone and dialogue uh was probably the biggest challenge from a writing standpoint thank you so much I really appreciate you taking the time Pierre and uh hey good luck thanks thanks nice talking to you so guys don't miss any of our packs Prime 2013 coverage remember our trip to the show here is powered by Western Digital Intel and steel series"}