#133 - Erik Wolpaw Interview (Half Life:Alyx, Portal 2, Portal 3, Valve, Writing, Dialogue etc.)

Erik Wolpaw is a writer at Valve and has worked on franchises such as Half Life and Portal. He recently worked on Half Life:Alyx and Aperture Desk Job

 

SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER - @wolpaw

 

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:25 - Being A Database Programmer Before Being A Writer

01:00 - Procrastination/Psychonauts

03:10 - Coming Up With Names Is Easy/Keeping Up Energy Is Hard/Jokes Being Cut

04:50 - Erik Doesn’t Like Writing

05:55 - Erik’s Ideology In Terms Of Writing For A Game

07:50 - Time Between Portal & Portal 2/Don’t Write Yourself Into A Corner

08:25 - Erik Wants To Work On A Portal 3/Valve’s Corporate Structure 

10:01 - Portal 3 Might Not Happen/Why Valve Doesn’t Release Many Games

11:45 - Valve’s High Quality Bar/Development Cycle

12:20 - Portal 2 Almost Didn’t Happen/Portal 2 Project Cycle

15:45 - Games Are Terrible Until Near The End

17:04 - Struggling With Ideas For Portal 2 Until Wheatley Idea Came About

19:14 - Working With Stephen Merchant On Wheatley/Writing To An Actors Strengths

23:30 - People Involved In Directing An Actor In The Studio

25:00 - Working With Rhys Darby On Russell/Meeting Rhys Darby In L.A.

27:45 - The Original Writing For Half Life:Alyx Didn’t Work/Writing Half Life:Alyx

31:47 - Original Ending Of Half Life:Alyx And Tweaking It

34:15 - Connecting Half Life:Alyx Ending To Half Life 2

38:10 - Gabe’s Involvement/Erik’s Relationship With Gabe

39:45 - Writing With Jay Pinkerton

41:22 - Erik’s Easiest  Character To Write Is The Institution Voice In Portal 2

42:36 - Writing Something And Thinking Its Horrible When Said Aloud

43:40 - Nate Bargatze Struggled With The Word Turret On Aperture Desk Job

44:08 - Convoluted Lines Of Portal 2

45:00 - Erik Appreciates The Work It Takes To Write Something Good/God Of War Caused Erik Stress

46:00 - Erik Is Always Stressed/Erik Hates Letting People Down

47:45 - Comedic Obsessions With Writing/Erik Wants To Improve On His Writing

49:40 - Re-Purposing Dialogue

50:10 - Erik Respects The Valve Artists/Picturing An Image Well Writing

53:00 - Jay Pinkerton Is A Good Designer/Comics

54:09 - Erik Wants To See A Sunset Overdrive 2/The Game Industry Is Quite Small

55:50 - Why Erik Left Valve & Became A Contractor Instead

56:50 - Erik’s Son Being Born During The End Of Portal 2’s Development

1:00:15 - Where To Follow Erik Wolpaw

1:02:09 - Petition To Gabe Newell To Start Portal 3