I'm back this week with part three of my interview with Neal Hallford, designer of Betrayal at Krondor. In this installment, we chat about why Ron Gilbert's Cavedog company failed followed by a discussion of Neal's book Swords & Circuitry, the best-ever guide to creating your own computer role-playing games.

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Sadly, Neal's Thief of Dreams kickstarter failed, but a third party has emerged to back him anyway.

In my second installment of my interview with Neal Hallford, we chat about his masterpiece, Betrayal at Krondor. Famous among CRPG aficionados for its epic story and superb writing, BaK is set in the fantasy world of Raymond E. Feist. Unfortunately, Neal did such a great job mimicking Feist's style that many people wrongly assume that it was Feist who penned the game script! The interview also covers why a proper sequel to the game was never made.

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This week's Matt Chat features the first slice of an interview with fantasy author and game designer Neal Hallford, best known for his work on Betrayal at Krondor, Dungeon Siege, and Planet's Edge. He talks here about his roots and inspirations, which include Cinematronic's Space Wars arcade game. We also chat about his time at New World Computing, where he worked with Might and Magic creator JVC. There's lots of great stuff here for retro fans to enjoy.

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You can support Neal's new Kickstarter project for his fantasy novel here.

I'm back this week with a retrospective of Larian Studio's Divine Divinity, a 2002 release. It's a brilliant take on the Diablo genre, with immaculate artwork and one of the best soundtracks ever.

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Support the Divinity: Original Sin kickstarter--3 days left!
Buy Divine Divinity from GOG.com using this link. No extra cost to you, but the show gets a kickback!

Hi, all! I'm back this week to chat with Swen Vincke, the founder of Larian Studios, a Belgian outfit. Swen is a hilarious and passionate dude, so this is a riot even if you're not a big fan of Divine Divinity. The new game is definitely worth checking out, though, since it's a big move from action to turn-based battles. They've also got some great ideas for item combining and co-op concepts. This is one where I really want them to not just hit the basic goal, but start getting into their stretch goals. Check out their Kickstarter and see this thing; I'm sure you're enjoy it if you're at all into RPGs. Their kickstarter video has a genuine LOL moment that will have you in tears.

Download the video here.

Joel Billings is back for one final time (at least for this interview series!) to tell us about the decline and fall of his one great company. Why isn't SSI with us today? Then there's the great What-ifs--What if Trip Hawkins had been at the meeting with EA? What if SSI had held off just a bit longer before selling out to Mindscape? Enjoy!

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This week, I'm pleased to present a very special guest: Richard "Lord British" Garriott, the father of computer role-playing games. I'm sure this man needs no introduction with you guys. We talk mostly here about his Shroud of the Avatar kickstarter, which you definitely don't want to miss if you're a fan of Ultima and Ultima Online. The game will offer some really neat innovations, including a scalable multiplayer option and tons more interactivity than we've grown accustomed to. I'm in at the $125 tier for the box and cloth map.

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After days of planning and hours of editing, I have finally completed my Kickstarter announcement video. Please pledge right now to help me reach my funding goal of 100 million dollars in 30 days. That may sound like a large sum, but when you hear this pitch and what I'm planning, I think you'll agree it's well worth taking out a second mortgage on your home.

Download here. More details about the game below.

This week I'm joined by distinguished designer and id co-founder Tom Hall. In this first 20 mins or so of a 60+ minute interview, we chat about Tom's Kickstarter project Worlds of Wander. An ambitious platform game creator tool, WoW has unfortunately not done well, raising only $45,000 of a $400,000 goal. Tom's obviously disappointed and bit disheartened, but we still have a good chat about platform gaming in general and some of Tom's picks for exemplars that aspiring designers should study.

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