How Obsidian Designed Player Choice in The Outer Worlds

[@NoclipDocs]

Thank you for supporting this series. It was originally meant to be one single documentary but given what's been going on in the world we thought some folks might appreciate if we expanded it a bit more. Next month we'll be releasing our documentary on the history of Creative Assembly, and a massive project on the history of Arkane Studios. We hope you're all doing okay out there. Thanks so much for being part of our community, we really appreciate it.

[@nathanrogers8984]

Thank you for covering this wonderful game! You guys are great.

[@mgd8867]

I actually really enjoyed the documentary being broken up and having focused episodes!

[@Vimes86]

I can't wait for the creative and arkane documentaries. Is the creative one gonna talk about alien isolation also? In any case Danny thanks to your work and to your colleagues. This has helped my quarantine and your work is some of the best that can be seen on you tube

[@deathbefallsyou]

Can’t wait! Thanks for being one of the few sources of true gaming journalism, especially during these crazy times where people like us really need something to cling on to. Much love to Danny and the rest of the team, please stay safe!

[@vledermaus]

Can't wait for the Arkane videos, I've been a huge fan of them ever since Arx Fatalis :D Creative Assembly is nice as well though I've only played Shogun 2 and Alien Isolation of their games (oh and the Viking game which I stopped playing after 1h or so).

[@jon-umber]

6:30 - "It's fun!" This is so true. I'm always willing to stretch my suspension of disbelief for video games more than any other medium, if doing so will allow me to have more fun with a game's mechanics and systems. It's harder to do so with stuff like film, or literature, where the integrity of the laws of the fiction is so much more core to the experience.

[@kafe9972]

awh the series is over? damn was enjoying every part of it

[@NoclipDocs]

Thanks so much! We'll have some extra bits from the cutting room floor for Patrons in a week or so if you're interested. Otherwise we have docs on Arkane (Dishonored / Prey) and Creative Assembly coming in May. Along with a few smaller, fun videos.

[@CircusFreaks666]

If there any additional videos it will be so much fun. From the best series you did.

[@jimm.127]

Noclip Hell yeah, I loved Dishonored. Can’t wait for that one!

[@2Cerealbox]

The disguise system really was a good idea, but I wish there was more skill and tactics to it.

[@Starayo]

I've enjoyed this series nearly as much as I enjoyed the outer worlds. You've done another excellent job on it. Honestly, my favourite bit was probably when the outer wilds was addressed early on. Grinned a lot at that.

[@PS3GamingScotland]

These documentaries were brilliant.

[@username4570]

I can already (5 mins in) tell this video is going to make me aware of all kinds of things I completely missed in my playthrough. Like I didn't know that's what character's special moves were, if I had I might have actually invested in it

[@monkeylordofdoom14]

Same here!! Can't wait to play through again and put points in leadership!

[@username4570]

@@monkeylordofdoom14 Thing is I did put points in Leadership, just didn't care much about combat

[@ShellComics]

This series was awesome!

[@beefknuckles]

This series of docs inspired me to get the game and wow I loved it. I don't know why the devs call it a AA game instead of AAA. It's far far better than other RPGs in the same category. I can't wait until the come up with next!

[@ThadCastled117]

Ah yes, "How to make an open world RPG good, but still kinda fail on release" The Game. Classic modern game industry output, it's okay though because they patch it after launch. This, imo, just seems like some cookie cutter crap that Fallout series pre-New Vegas did, and did better. How many years ago were they released? Just be good enough.

[@MeatloafSwooshbear]

I thought the game was brilliant. Flawed, much like New Vegas and 3, but brilliant. Especially with the choice-based RPG drought we've been having

[@MeatloafSwooshbear]

Fantastic documentary series. It's not perfect but Outer Worlds is one of my favorite games from the past few years and I can't wait to see them expand on it

[@Snout007]

Badly would be my answer to the title. The most boring player choice I have experienced in years. Skill trees were also with 0 originality "5 + percent X" pretty much every skill. Basically fallout v0.5

[@Heyoka86]

I was truly hoping that this game would have the replayability value of games like Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines or Fallout New Vegas, but after completing it once I feel no desire to go through it again. I don't know why that is, as I actually enjoyed it overall, but maybe the permutations aren't as many as there are within VtMB or NV, or even Alpha Protocol (love the possible permutations in that game)...

[@superspartan112]

Loved the dynamic between them, you can tell that the younger lad sees him as someone to look up to. Can't blame him, this is Obsidian! Another amazin series by Noclip, thanks guys!!!

[@Mithrie]

Awesmoe videos, I like The Outer Worlds, so its great to see more behind the scenes for sure!

[@TheRadioSquare]

The roleplay opportunities and consequences of your actions in this game were severely lacking. You either play an ambiguous asshole or an angel. Gave up on this game shortly after the quest where you're supposed to get bandits out of an underground lab and you either help them or kill them. I wanted to trick them into coming out willingly only to kill/capture them but such an obvious option wasn't accommodated. Doesn't help that another quest in the area was "fetch my valuable" with generic "keep it for yourself, ransom or be nice" options.

[@Flippo___]

6:05 not to say anything stupid, but this was the disguise system in fallout new vegas, and it was PERFECT.

[@bluemooninthedaylight8073]

Yeah, I have to agree. The faction system was a lot of fun, added to the replay and even added a bit of a strategic wrinkle in the need to procure an outfit and have enough space to carry it.

[@jon-umber]

I made this comment on one of the previous videos too, but one of the areas in which the game succeeds most, in my opinion, is allowing for player agency in accomplishing the in-game goals the game gives you. While the narrative choices (especially the big ones) were a little too black-and-white for my tastes, I think the actual gameplay choices they provided for (eg. stealth versus open combat, speech versus sneaking, etc) were excellent. There are so many different ways to tackle objectives, it's so pleasing to go through portions of the game over again and make different choices. They really succeeded there, I think, and I can't wait to see how they evolve these systems in a potential sequel. This series has a really bright future imo.

[@oscarrodrigo1846]

I don't have the game and I suppose I will never play it but this videos show me that Obsidian has made a great foundation and I can't wait to see what they will do!

[@forsakensandor]

Perks were so goddamn boring in this game, they barely change anything. And the choices were obviously black and white

[@goobi7071]

The game has no complexity at all

[@White_Tiger93]

I guess Fallout New Vegas DNA really suppressing the upper hand in this game far better than imaginable although quite short and for some reasons Obsidian don't want the player to continue playing the game after you beat the main story mission just for a giggle and just to see how your action of choice affecting the consequences in the Outer Worlds universe !! :)

[@osobori]

The outer worlds is very long (40hrs) if you do everything in the game. The good thing is that you can make this game as long or short as you want

[@Professor_Utonium_]

Ah, thanks for reminding me that I need to get back to finishing this game.

[@monkeylordofdoom14]

You will not be disappointed!!

[@skullcrackersent]

This was by far my favorite series so far. Thank you, Noclip!

[@mercs7849]

Wow, I didn't know that game actually had player choice. Not to be rude, Obsidian, but there's way more talk here than actual substance. How do mechanics of the game support an idea of a character I want to create? And what kind of opportunity does the game give me to go forward with actual choice that character would make? This game only simulates choice, kinda like Shadowrun Dragonfall, but worse, because here you can't even fail, all the paths are so obvious it hurts the experience. By the way, was "construction kit" released yet? No? I thought so. Very sad that in the end, this game was all marketing and pretty pictures. The game has all the basics needed to have working roleplay, faction gameplay, immersion, etc, etc, but NOT ONE of them is realized to even half of it's full potential. Fun, but shallow.

[@DefinitelyNotSade]

I love the idea of the holographic shroud, but it's so unbelievably overpowered. Even with a modest stealth and speech skills, it takes forever to run out. It's a great mechanic, I just think it needed another tuning pass or so to make it a little more tense when you use it.

[@Becks670]

Mediocre at best

[@plockator]

Is the background music that plays in the first 2,5 minutes of the video also from The Outer Worlds? What's the title?

[@Hoichael]

I always appreciate well made documentaries on video games, but the outer worlds just doesn't live up to the image of it portrayed within these videos. If you enjoyed the game, that's absolutely fine, and I won't try to take that away from you - but there are decade old games that do everything the outer worlds sets out to do, better than the outer worlds - measured by its own standards. I can't understand why.

[@arvid6682]

How can you make a unique character when all the perks are so bland and useless. 5 more armor, 10% more of that or 20% more of that! SO BAD!

[@MrMunnyT]

Arvid I understand your point and hope that any future projects they have they will expand on that system. Maybe because this was a smaller project and an initial entry game, those systems were basic.

[@RustlessPotato]

What ? But .. fine. I'm still mad at you. For leaving !... Seriously, you guys were exceptional with this series. Thanks for all the fish !

[@MiriusTube]

Great series! Keep up the good work folks - Series recommendation: Subnautica and Unknown Worlds entertainment. Probably the most amazing Half-Life Mod ever made Natural Selection, then a great sequel which is still one of my favorite games and now a masterpiece of a survival game

[@zipzeolocke2]

Don't pretend you are good Danny. We've seen you play Half-life and are aware of your evil tendencies in how you treat the poor Black Mesa scientists and Barney's!

[@iVilliain]

I just found this channel, and think its incredible how in depth the videos get to show you an interesting peek behind the curtain. I also love that you let the people talk and aren't overbearing. The outer worlds is one of my favorite games and thank you for breaking it into parts so that each idea gets its own long form discussion.

[@Andreeee75]

I fking love you for making these...

[@RetroGamesCouple]

Nice, but it was much better when you were putting out one full documentary on a game, instead of a series of small parts. It felt more like a full-on-documentary. 15-20 mins clips, feels just like that... KZbin clips.

[@sandelic1]

How Obsidian designed player choice? Badly.

[@MeatloafSwooshbear]

How? The player choice in this game is godlike

[@StirringStorm]

While I think they failed on most accounts (combat, story impact and perk systems especially ranged from bland but serviceable to a downright chore) and the game overall was incredibly simplified and generic, I can still see that there was a lot of heart and good intentions put behind the development of this IP. Wish them the best going forward and hopefully the success of this one will allow them to take more risks :)

[@hsapin]

I wish there was more opportunity cost. You can play both side so often and easily. It's a great game, but needs more of that new vegas magic for the sequel.

[@eenayeah]

TTD was originally supposed to be like Fallout's V.A.T.S... Interesting. Really glad they went this direction instead.

[@tzaneee]

i played on supernova difficulty ,companions were just a hindrance when it came to combat

[@chainjaw8013]

reminds me of the making of fallout new vegas but better in every way

[@davidskold8140]

All i know about this game is what i learned from the 6 minutes and 51 seconds i watched of this video, but i'm gonna watch it till the end and then go and buy it, if it's not released yet im gonna go ahead and board the hype train.

[@deadterrorrist]

The stealth was bad.. Never worked properly. I mean when you started killing

[@IRWPD]

Thank you for another awesome series.

[@MeatloafSwooshbear]

There's so much negativity in the comments and it saddens me because I thought this was a great game even if it didn't live up to New Vegas

[@steffchef830]

Thanks for the always great Content !!

[@Leonn9000]

5:55 I wonder if he was talking about Chris Avellone. 🤔

[@mononoke721]

Great series as always, I'm very much looking forward to the Creative Assembly docs!

[@thatRyzzle]

I love these deepdives into game devs and their games! Thank you for these documentaries!

[@perafilozof]

Fantastic video and series. Thank you for this great content mate! (And thank your team foe me too) i stopped watching GameSpot when you left.

[@schiiiei]

i really enjoyed this nice little game

[@MrMidasGames]

Danny documentaries are incredible really enjoyed this, I had very little interest in Outta Worlds prior but now it’s definitely on my to play list. Great job to No Clip team as always.

[@raintalbotts258]

Even though i got disappointed when I found out hwo similar a ton of choices are mechanically, they did do amazing job of making me feel like what I picked impacted the game (which I guess is the point?)

[@Cyrribrae]

Yea, it continues to astound me how people can watch this series and then decide that it would have been such an easy task to add in even more complexity and uncertainty and blah blah, when it was already so clearly challenging that they were aggressively cutting things. Gamers really don't appreciate how difficult it is to make good games. And I worry that if we continue to take game design for granted, we will crush the industry we love (or let the big companies do it for us). Another reason why I really appreciate everything no clip is doing to try to give us the context on the highs and lows of development. And how even the most successful projects often go through hell first.

[@switchunboxing]

I LOVED how this game respected those who don’t care for dialogue. Sometimes there would be a very intergral scene and a dialogue option is “Yeah yeah enough yapping” LOL. I will say though, all of the dialogue options you could unlock were disappointingly pointless. Most of the game, they were all unlocked already or they weren’t things I wanted to say anyway. Not much excitement in wanting to upgrade stuff to unlock dialogue options.

[@monkeylordofdoom14]

This is has been a great series on one of the greatest games to come out in the last decade!

[@TheRAINMan059]

I'm glad you enjoyed it but I personally wouldn't put it near any of the top 10 of the 2010s. It was a bit too short and closed off, definitely a $30-40 game.

[@christianhelgeson3712]

It's not the best choice, it's the Player's Choice!

[@qlnbd]

So leader is basically a buffer?

[@VladTheRad]

This is definitely on my wishlist! Too bad the Game Pass is not available in my country... Good thing I have a huge backlog so I can wait :)

[@Shige2213]

fantastic game and video

[@mattaustin7779]

Loved this

[@MikeIsNexciting]

Playing through the game for my second time -- first time on PC though and first time through the DLC. Love the game, but this time around the biggest standout is the soundtrack! And every time (like at 15:42 ) these videos on the game play some music, it's perfect.

[@kaname110]

Fantastic series! Congratulations, guys, best documentaries in the industry. I LOVE Obsidian, one of the most incredible studios in the world!

[@YouTubeCensors]

"Making rpgs is hard" and we appreciate this. Outer worlds made me an Obsidian fan and while I had played south park, that was a game based on a well known franchise and universe to draw from. Outer Worlds is their own creation.

[@jo_magpie]

Hope the game did well enough to warrant a follow up, but Microsoft purchase might have stopped that:(

[@buttonmash3645]

I absolutely loved this series! I had bought the game at launch, but I forgot about it until I started watching this. I'm about halfway through the game, and it's great so far.

[@DTNNooby]

I was always exciting to get a science weapon in this game... you just never knew how much money it would sell for as vendor trash :D

[@crimsonraen]

Thanks so much for making these videos! It was totally great seeing all of the work behind the scenes that went into this game!

[@MartinOckovsky]

I LOVE OBSIDIAN. Thank you for this :*

[@VergewaltigteSeele]

So Obsidian when do i get a The Elder Scrolls like Rpg from you?

[@philippossnortis2035]

Soon ;)

[@penttikoivuniemi2146]

Never.

[@alvingregorio1272]

Videos like these deserve more likes and views. Good job guys, please keep making more of these

[@simongreve]

I had no idea there were special moves for the companions, I didn't put any points in leadership I guess :P

[@kaptenteo]

Thanks for this documentary series! As always, your work is outstanding.

[@hugofrederico7054]

aNY NEWS ON DLC?

[@monkeylordofdoom14]

"Nuts a buts" lol

[@Coolman42night]

Nuts and Butts

[@artemis_lena]

Loved this series! Can't wait for the next one guys. :D

[@ZDY66666]

wow you guys REALLY like OUter WOrlds huh?

[@MeatloafSwooshbear]

Well, it is a documentary SERIES. And I'm thankful for it. Damn good game imo

[@oscarbarrios]

Tim has to be the best person to work with on the face of earth

[@karthik_silkroads]

gunplay here is slept on!

[@xapradnz]

I loved this series so much ;(

[@pownessg2116]

Love this series. Keep going! :)

[@Ashpkfmdmdmdmd]

Nice joke title noclip.

[@Filmwing]

Excellent

[@affandede6412]

Except they didn't.

[@wh1plash968]

Halo documentary!

[@stonaraptor8196]

choice? This game was linear af, laughable map size. Pretty disappointing.

[@Flippo___]

How about "the illusion of choice"? lmao, it was still a good game but def not in this department

[@Vertigo11]

It's funny how you forget a game even exists when it's only released to one retailer on a platform.

[@BigFootTheRealOne]

The game is also not that long. Half the planets in the solar system aren't even accessable.

[@Islandswamp]

I’m so pissed that outer worlds two won’t be on PlayStation.

[@billykotsos4642]

1st

[@MrDaedaluss]

first

[@Bass.sick.b1tch]

I can’t wait to watch the NoClip doc on Cyberpunk 2077!