The 16 Month Crunch Why Half of Dragon Age 2 Was Cut
David Gaider the lead designer of Dragon Age revealed that 50 percent of Dragon Age 2 content which had been planned for development was eliminated before the game launched. BioWare imposed a 16 month production cycle on the team which caused them to shift from developing a large sequel toward creating a smaller project.
The development team planned to build a sequel that matched Dragon Age Origins through the skills of its experienced team members. The 16 month deadline stopped all of their development plans permanently. Gaider reported that the team dedicated four months to production work under the belief they were creating a complete epic until they discovered the schedule was unattainable.
To meet the shipping date Gaider had to manually review all planned content and discard nearly 50% of the game’s narrative assets. This included
- Main Story Quests The team shortened critical narrative paths or eliminated specific critical storytelling paths.
- Side Content The team eliminated all optional missions which showed more of the world beyond their main missions.
- Ambient Quests The team cut all small tasks which players could find through their normal gameplay time.
The writers needed to follow strict rules because of their fast work schedule which required them to measure twice before cutting once. The team considered all narrative choices and quest elements to be final after they completed their initial development work. The team had to write their fastest possible speed because of the pressure which made them accept their first draft as complete work to finish their projects on time.
Dragon Age 2 introduced multiple technical changes for the series when it launched in 2011. The sequel introduced a single main character named Hawke who had predetermined background stories unlike the first game which allowed players to select their own character origins. The game allowed players to pick their gender but Gaider stated that players' criticism stemmed from the game offering too few locations and quests which should have been more variated.
BioWare encountered difficulties when it tried to convert its expertise in creating long RPGs into the needs of small games which required to be completed within a 16 month period. The core team produced a playable sequel despite the extensive content cuts but the project showed how strict deadlines in the gaming industry could change the entire design of a game.
