Unused GDC 1999 Roadtrip Presentation

I found a PowerPoint that I had made in mid-1999 to present at the GDC 1999 Roadtrip Conference in Austin, TX. I never gave this presentation, so here it is, a time capsule from 25 years ago.

[monkeeee]

That slide design is such a throwback lol

[MikeHolland-tz]

What a cool idea for a video! Interesting to see your thoughts versus where we stand now. I love an RPG that actively encourages you to play a completely different sort of character than you "usually" prefer. I feel like a lot of what I see right now is the attempt at balance by assigning essentially the same amount of advantages no matter what type of character you play. A better, more measured approach of allowing the player to discover unique advantages later in the game is catnip for me. Great channel and really appreciate being able to support it.

[aNerdNamedJames]

"RPGs finally leaving the D&D nest as I call it"

And I there's a decent argument that the original Fallout games are partly responsible for that -- like I think it said on one of the ads, it stood out as an RPG without "the faeries, spells, and other crap".

[berkkarsi]

This is the equivalent of presenting your slidehow homework to your teacher 30 years after it was due 😂 Love it! Fantastic video.

[Santi.Strange]

I did like it!! I love how you acted out like it was 1999, it was funny to see it from that perspective too. And what's funny is that just as it was starting, some of the concepts and issues sounded completely relevant for TODAY! So I was like "is this supposed to be about now?" It's curious how many things have evolved but others remain the same.

The part about "Realtime vs Turn Based" really hit me, took me straight to my experience playing Fallout 3 and really missing Fallout's turn based combat.

And the observation about character ability vs player ability finally put into words why I appreciate RPGs so much and can't get into sports, fighting, racing or FPSs games, and it's because I can't develop that level of skill to succeed, but with RPGs my character can :)

[TransmentalMe]

This presentation was so well done that I keep forgetting it was written 25 years ago. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[clifcorcoran]

Sounds like Tim knew where the industry was going 25 years ago. Neat little piece of nostalgia.

[ConsultingHumor]

Just watched a video of you at GDC - it feels like a very different version of you. I like the way your yiutube videos feel like youre talking to us 1 on 1 even the the audience here is way bigger than your gdc audience

[manfrombc]

Im currently replaying the Outer Worlds. You can really see so much of this presentation in that game.

[michaelridgaway]

Oh man, the time frame of this presentation paired with the mention of Batman having to be presented in a certain way took my brain back to the Bat Embargo of the early 00's. At least we got some really good episodes of Justice League Unlimited out of it that focused on different characters.

[KeiNovak]

I wonder how one would enable full reactivity to player actions in an MMORPG framework.

Imagine having typical reactivity in the game with thousands of players: A player gets a quest, then proceeds to do it. By on the way back, it disappears because someone else has done it (or more likely, the player walks all the way back to the NPC only for them to say "Oh, someone else helped me."
But if you try to lock it to one player, that player might never bother with the quest, potentially blocking all the other players from doing it.

And imagine if the world changes... not because of your actions, but because of others. Works in the real world (kind of) but would be a nightmare for a Game Designer to develop.

[Hjorth]

The past's vision for the future is both amazing and hilarious.
One of my university books about technical land surveying that was written in the early 90s concluded that GPS technology does hold some interesting potential for both navigation and surveying.
That one came true for sure 😂

[WastelandChef]

IMHO non linear greatly enhances the whole experience, as you get more attached to your character.

[electricVGC]

It is funny how few of these questions were answered. I think most AAA RPGs did not have deeper stories, mostly staying in the same variation of a lot to not very much story as they were in the 90s, and only a few notable exceptions trying for more - and often failing.
I would be interested to hear a retrospective on what you put together for the presentation

[grandaddyjesus]

OH hell yea! Manuscripts from the archives for inspiration! Thank you for sharing with us sir.

[marcbraun]

I had so many discussions about certain games and series being or not being RPGs. I saw that slide to late to use it so far, but I'm glad to have you on my side on that, Tim. ^^
It's basically my description, I'm especially stressing the third point "Action success based on character level not player ability" a lot, which for me is the deciding factor.

[SuperMetalmeltdown]

Loved the presentation and trying to trace paralells to where we're now!

I think a cool follow-up would be thoughts on how those topics actually moved on within the industry or the medium as a whole. Unexpected twists, unmet goals, new and old challenges, or any other form of analysis.

[zckhyd]

"Action success based on character level not player ability"--yes! perfect. the most perfect statement of what I want in a game, how I want to role-play, not participate in, action.

[DylanBradRamsey]

So cool haha you gave this presentation like you stepped back in time 25 years as your current self, but as I'd imagine you would have given it, as the you in 1999 would have. Definition of a fun friday

[johnharder]

This man is an adorable gem of knowledge