Dragon Age, Neverwinter Nights and Reflecting on a Decade with BioWare: Brent Knowles Exclusive Interview
“As a long time Dungeons & Dragons fan, having something of mine integrated into an official D&D product was, not to be overtly cliche, very close to a dream come true.”
Brent Knowles is a writer and game designer. From his BioWare history, to his thoughts on Baldur’s Gate 3 and his tendency to, “like the stranger characters”, Brent discussed a variety of topics in this interview.
What were your first impressions of BioWare?
“I was very excited by it. It seemed like a big studio and I was intimidated but everyone was as interested (or even more interested than I) about making video games. I felt very lucky to be at the studio during such a formative time in its development. There were always cool conversations — whether about gaming, or solving a technical problem, or debating which monsters in D&D were more powerful than other monsters. It was a great place to work.”
On Baldur’s Gate 2
Baldur’s Gate was released nearly a year before you began your BioWare career. As you didn’t work on the original Baldur’s Gate, how did you catch up with what had happened, as you worked on it’s sequel?
“If I remember correctly, after I accepted the offer they gave me a copy of Baldur’s Gate to play before I could start work. I’m pretty sure I got through it all prior to my first day.”
During your involvement in Baldur’s Gate 2’s development, one particular quest in the game was heavily influenced by yourself. An original story of your own titled: Skin Dancing, played a major role in the creation of a quest, where players investigate a mysterious murderer skinning his victims. How do you reflect on this? What was it like, to see your previously created story, brought into life and added into the game?
“At the time it was very cool. I had not yet been able to sell any of my short stories at that point (I have been writing since… forever). While that would change, technically I think this became my “first story published” albeit in a very bizarre way. I really appreciated the effort of, I think, Luke Kristjanson and Kevin Martens to make the various subplots connected to this story work well together. As a long time Dungeons & Dragons fan, having something of mine integrated into an official D&D product was, not to be overtly cliche, very close to a dream come true. I had previously sold an article to Dragon magazine, but this was next level — those characters and that plot were now a part of D&D. That was — and still is — something that is very important to me.”
What did you like about working on Baldur’s Gate 2?
“It was Dungeons & Dragons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Honestly, the team was amazing and we were all pretty new to the industry so we were all on equal footing. Everyone just wanted to make something really fun to play. Because it was an established engine we had more time to focus on the design, art, and story aspects… so it was more about content than just getting the technology to function. That’s always more enjoyable for a game designer — on new engines you might wait years before you see your ideas come to life, on an established engine, you can begin playing around with content right away. There was always something interesting going on and everyone was great to work with.”
Brent Knowles reflects on his BioWare departure, Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age.
You were the Lead Designer on Neverwinter Nights. Can you recall how that decision came about?
“Honestly, I’d probably have to go back and read my own notes about this to remember correctly! Time is passing. What I believe happened is that I moved onto the Neverwinter Nights team and started to get along well with everyone there. It was a fun project, and everyone working on it were fantastic to work with.
I think my technical skills (more so than my creative abilities) were useful because Neverwinter was such a challenge — especially with the toolset. Building tools for the designers (and end users) is a huge undertaking. I can’t believe Neverwinter Nights is still so popular twenty years later but a lot of its longevity is because of the effort we put into it way back then. We really needed something rock solid and versatile. And we built that.
I think at a point, it just made sense that I transition into more of a lead role. It was such a huge project and the design team had grown so much that more “hands on deck” were needed to help steer the teams. James, Rob, and I all shared different aspects of the “lead designer” portfolio among us.”
How did you cope with the jump from being a junior designer working on Baldur’s Gate 2, only a year previously, to this new position? What new challenges did this role entail?
“I kept organized. I’ve always been pretty good about self scheduling (keeping track of tasks and progress and communicating the state of my work). I just needed to figure out how to expand that to include other team members.
Every role on the Neverwinter Nights team was challenging — what we were building was impossible. Every new system and tool needed to be carefully thought out and we were constantly challenging the programmers to make things more open ended. Which is a hassle, because the more open a system is, the harder it is to avoid bugs and scheduling delays. And sometimes we overdesigned systems, which made them take even longer to be created and used, which in turn, pushed back the date when designers would actually be able to use the tools for authoring the campaign we needed to ship.”
As a Lead Designer and Creative Director on another BioWare title, Dragon Age, how did you find the experience of working on Dragon Age? What new challenges were there to overcome, compared to your previous role on Neverwinter Nights?
“Neverwinter Nights was a technical puzzle that needed to be solved — how do we do all these things in the time frame we have available? Dragon Age, for me, was quite different. I was off / on the project for the first couple years but once I was fully assigned to it, and especially once I was creative director, it was more about steering a large and very capable team that knew what they wanted to do and (eventually) had the tools to do it.
I had less duties regarding planning and maintaining the technical tools — there were talented designers tackling that sort of design work — but I was more involved with the writers, artists, cinematics and other elements. Again, in a coordination role, but trying to make sure Dragon Age stuck true to what its original intent had been, and that the various areas and characters all felt part of the same game. A super talented team made most of that pretty easy, but we did have hurdles. Ultimately, I’d say I had to be a better communicator and do a lot more communication, period — I did very little hands-on implementation work but numerous hours were spent playtesting and being involved in review and adjustment meetings.”
When BioWare was first acquired by Electronic Arts, what was it like? What was the inside reaction?
“Some of us were very surprised! But we had previously been sold to a venture capital firm, so we had been through this once before. Ray & Greg (the BioWare founders) did a fantastic job of supporting us and having “fought through the trenches” with them many times, I was confident that they would get us the best possible deal… and I feel they really went above and beyond to do so.
I was concerned about EA itself. I felt they had gobbled up some of my favorite developers and ruined their legacy. I was worried about the same happening to BioWare, which I was very attached to (perhaps too much so). I also dislike unnecessary paperwork & hassles and was worried that we might see more bureaucracy thrown at us.
In reality, nothing I was worried about happened while I remained at BioWare. For the most part the only visible difference was that some of us received pay raises and different titles and I occasionally had to talk to EA folk about football.”
You spent a decade at BioWare. As a long-time BioWare employee, how difficult was it to eventually part ways? How do you reflect on your decision eleven years later?
“It was an incredibly difficult decision. My health ended up suffering — I was in and out of emergency a few times that year. A significant part of my sense of self was tied directly to BioWare (which really wasn’t healthy, but it is what it is). And most of my social network remained at BioWare — I did not have a large social group outside the company. And when I left BioWare, I had very little contact with most of them for a long time afterwards.
Eleven years later? Knowing what I know now, I may have made a different decision then.
I am happy with where I am, but the road getting here has been difficult and I’ve definitely missed the team at BioWare. But I am glad that I have had several interesting adventures since departing. And for the past couple years I’ve been preparing to work on my own project and am poised to begin another new big adventure. Overall, I’m grateful for the many opportunities I have had because of my time with BioWare.”
You’ve also worked with Beamdog. What is Beamdog’s culture like?
“Beamdog was more relaxed than BioWare when I was there — generally a mix of veteran game developers and newcomers. I worked with some familiar faces there, and lots of new and talented up-and-comers. When I departed, they were still trying to figure out where and how to launch themselves in other directions beyond the fabulous refurbishing they’ve provided to the old BioWare titles (and our work on Axis & Allies). I am excited and hopeful for wherever they end up.”
General Questions.
From the games you’ve worked on, who are your favourite companions or characters?
“Honestly, I do tend to like the stranger characters like Minsc & Boo or Deekin from Neverwinter Nights or HK-47 from Knights of the Old Republic. I think that’s primarily because they tend to have one-liners that remain memorable over time. I remember Morrigan and Sten from Dragon Age fondly as well. And I’m sure many others but there were so many games and so many characters!
In the Baldur’s Gate series, I enjoyed most of the characters but was primarily focussed on the combat aspects so I would swap them out as needed tactically. I guess I was more mercenary in that game.”
What’s your favourite (in-game) Baldur’s Gate 2 memory?
“Honestly, I struggle to find a single specific memory. It was very long ago! But I do remember really connecting with the party members in Baldur’s Gate 2 in a way I did not with the original game.
The quality and depth of the party members was staggering — they were more engaging and more involved in the plot. I felt that I truly had companions with actual personalities traveling along with me. What they wanted suddenly became important to me, in a way that I had not experienced with many games. I wanted to complete their quests with them and discover more about them — and I felt awful when I failed them — whether accidentally or because I had to make a difficult choice.
It just felt like what a real, experienced set of players might have made unfold at the table while actually playing Dungeons & Dragons. I remember during one of my playthroughs becoming very invested in Nalia’s subplots and rushed to help her liberate her family home from trolls. There was lots of interesting combat encounters in that area, with fire or acid being needed to kill the trolls… and I believe this is where you collected and assembled the pieces for the Flail of Ages. There was just so much to do and so much flavor built around her and her family. Made it all feel more real.
On a related note, I always enjoyed playing through other designer’s sections and we also tried to help each other, with suggestions and tweaks. However, there was maybe also a bit of rivalry when it came to boss battles. Some of those encounters went through dozens of iterations.
For example, the fight with Firkraag, a red dragon, was very frustrating to try to make it challenging enough for everyone. It went through many, many iterations, but no matter how difficult we made it, someone would also wander over and tell us how they were able to defeat it in just a few rounds and to please make it tougher. And then other people would wander over and beg us to make it easier, because it was impossible for them!
That’s a thing about combat encounters I learned. There are some players who thrive on min/maxing their combat builds and overcoming challenging encounters. They enjoy trying out many different character builds / party combinations, even just to overcome a single combat encounter in the game. Others… not so much!”
What are your thoughts on Baldur’s Gate 3?
“Honestly, I’ll try it out some day. But with all my various projects, as well as a dayjob, playing D&D, and taking care kids, I hesitate before diving into a big game nowadays. It looks very interesting though and I’ve enjoyed Larian’s other games. I’ll probably buy it for my kids and watch them play while I’m writing.”
On writing and being an author.
What does Brent Knowles’s reading list look like?
“I am reading the Commonwealth Saga by Peter F Hamilton right now. I am also rereading one of the first fantasy trilogies I ever read — The Videssos Cycle by Harry Turtledove. And I have a couple of Drew Karpyshyn’s books to catch up on. And then I have a stack of about 200 unread books that I’d like to get through one day… including my long running subscriptions to several fantasy and science fiction magazines, such as On Spec and others!
I also have most of the 5e Dungeons & Dragons books and am constantly reviewing them. Over the past few years, I’ve really dived back into running D&D campaigns (and writing them again), which I find very enjoyable. One of my groups is about halfway through former BioWare designer’s James Ohlen and Jesse Sky’s Odyssey of the Dragonlords campaign… we are having a blast with that even after a year and a half of play.”
The Lazy Designer is a book series written by yourself, on game design. How much time did it take to write? What influenced it’s creation?
“The last year or so at Bioware was largely spent giving advice to others. I knew I had a lot of experience to offer, so figured a book would make the most sense. I had actually negotiated a book series with a well-known publisher, but they ultimately pulled out because they wanted me to write a book from a programmer’s perspective. They didn’t think anyone was really interested in game design (the content side of things). I don’t remember how long they took to write — maybe a few months for the first one, the others are larger and took more time.
I have been rereading the books lately, because they relate to some new projects, I am engaged in. Some parts need updating — the game industry has really changed — so I’m currently releasing the second book through my newsletter, but with updates. I imagine this will be a process I have to go through every few years.”
How has being an author improved other aspects of your career? Likewise, how have other parts of your career influenced you as an author and writer?
“As a writer, I cringe when I receive feedback on what I write. I believe everything I put to paper is terrible. So, it took me a long time to be able to even request feedback. I think understanding that this is how I feel when I write, made me more sensitive to how I provide feedback to writers (and visual artists…) Content creation can be very personal, even when you are generating content for a large game. Having it insulted or dismissed can hurt. More practically, being a writer, and having published an article in Dragon Magazine, helped me get the job at BioWare.
On the other hand, being surrounded by the amazing writers at BioWare helped my own writing. I have spent a lot of time watching how they put together interesting companions and branching, complicated plots. I think some of that has filtered into my own writing — making me better. When I do edit my own work, I admit I try to see my writing through the lens of a couple former coworkers.”
Who are your writing influences?
“Honestly, Dungeons & Dragons was my first real exposure to fantasy. I also read many of the standard fantasy fare of the 80s and I am sure most of it had influence on my early writing as well. Particularly the Dragonlance series… but then into suspense and horror and science fiction. I eventually branched out quite a bit and read broadly — from classics to books on religion and philosophy and even technical howtos (I was into robot building for a time..)
Generally, I wouldn’t single out particular authors as influences… I don’t tend to stick to one or another… I am more focussed on particular series or stories. I did read most of what Stephen King was writing and I am sure that influenced some of my short story work. As well I really enjoyed Charles de Lint’s urban fantasy which had a direct influence on a couple stories of mine (including A Ragman’s Vow). I met Kevin J Anderson a few years ago (having been a fan of his early Star Wars books) and I really appreciate the time he spent giving me advice. Robert J Sawyer is also a recent new favorite of mine, but I am a few books behind…”
How do you feel about negative reviews, or hate comments?
“Negative reviews with truth in them hurt but can help an author grow and improve. Hate comments just suck, but I haven’t really been exposed to that much.”
What are you currently working on? Can you reveal any details?
“I am transitioning out from my dayjob doing research at a technical university and am moving back into the games industry in a couple different ways. Primarily I am now available for contract work and am quite busy on a project. Secondly, I am working on a personal project in the tabletop roleplaying space but I’m not quite ready to go into details yet. But expect an announcement in the next couple months.”
Signing off
Where can readers keep up to date with you and look for upcoming announcements?
To learn more about my upcoming projects, signing up to my newsletter is probably the most effective. I’ll also be sure to make any announcements on twitter: https://twitter.com/Brent_Knowles”
Thankyou for your time on Covering Baldur’s Gate. It was an absolute pleasure to interview you. Before we sign off, is there anything you would like to communicate to the readers?
“I appreciate the opportunity to reach out to past, present — and maybe future — fans of the Baldur’s Gate series. It is always fun to dive back into the older games I worked on — especially Baldur’s Gate 2, since it was the first videogame I was ever involved with. And I am always happy to chat with fans out there. I hope all is well, take care!”
