Dishonored devs keen on player-designed exploits

Arkane Studios has won my heart forever by admitting that the team quite likes it when players find ways to break the game.

"We have lots of powers, gadgets, and spaces, so there's a lot for the player to do. The first time we saw someone jump off of a huge building and possess someone right before they hit the ground, we were like 'that is awesome'. No one had thought of that before," lead technical designer Ricardo Bare told CVG.

"Or the first time someone used double jump and the blink ability to totally bypass a security system, we were like 'there went 30 minutes of gameplay in like 2 minutes', but the player doing that is gonna feel proud they did it, so we don't wanna shut that exploit down. We want the player to be able to express themselves through the gameplay."

The supernatural assassin sim throws a lot of possibilities at the player, but Arkane wants players to be able to think their way through the sandbox.

"You have to have a world that is rich with interactivity, and that is very coherent. Then you have to give the player a good set of tools to allow for deep gameplay. The player has to come into a situation, look at it, make a plan, and say 'This is how I'm going to do it,'" Bare added.

"The rules have to operate in a predictable way. These moments can be sublime. Something you're proud of because you thought of it and implemented it, and it worked within the game's systems. That's what we want you to feel."

Dishonored is due on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in October. There's probably something wrong with you if you're not excited. Just sayin'.