Avellone Interview On Edge
Avellone Interview On Edge
Interview - posted by Edward_R_Murrow on Wed 22 April 2009, 02:27:48
Tags: Chris Avellone; Obsidian EntertainmentPrestigious online magazine Edge has a two part interview/biography/thing with the man himself, Chris Avellone.
He soon got his chance, albeit on the sequel. After the critical drubbing Undermountain received, Avellone’s contributions to Fallout 2 – most notably the entire, Mafia-controlled city of New Reno, with its bountiful side-quests and other distractions – were warmly welcomed, even if some Fallout zealots considered them tonally out-of-step. “I’m very proud of New Reno,” Avellone says, “as I think there’s a lot of fun sandbox things to do there. I’m proud of Vault City’s design, too – I added a lot more quests there, along with little touches here and there. Overall, I think Fallout 2 is better scope-wise but poorer aesthetically. I don’t think there was a strong genre policeman overseeing Fallout 2, and it suffered for it.”
[...]
Around the same time Avellone was building New Reno, Interplay was given the mandate from Tactical Studies Rules to produce an RPG based on the D&D Planescape setting. With its multiple universes, geometrically impossible landscapes and shady rules on the nature of life and death, Planescape was incomprehensible unless you were well-versed in D&D lore. It was also, in Avellone’s words, “fucking amazing”.
[...]
“The company culture changed once Brian Fargo left,” Avellone sighs. “Whatever people could say negatively about Interplay under his guidance, he had a strong vision for where he wanted the company to go and he really put effort and playtime into Interplay’s games. The new guard displayed none of these qualities, and the company climate changed in unpleasant ways. When I resigned, they were more concerned about digging up dirt on other companies recruiting me – and bringing lawsuits against them – rather than figuring out the reasons people were leaving. When I tried to explain the issues with Baldur’s Gate 3, the HR director didn’t even seem to know what Baldur’s Gate 3 was – talk about fucked up! Baldur’s Gate 3 got cancelled because of an accounting error, and we lost the rights to the licence entirely. Having a project cancelled because the dev team is doing a shitty job is one thing, but having another department not check their math is something else.”Don't ya love Herve? Check it out here and here.
Thanks Tuomas.
Spotted at: Iron Tower Studio Forums
He soon got his chance, albeit on the sequel. After the critical drubbing Undermountain received, Avellone’s contributions to Fallout 2 – most notably the entire, Mafia-controlled city of New Reno, with its bountiful side-quests and other distractions – were warmly welcomed, even if some Fallout zealots considered them tonally out-of-step. “I’m very proud of New Reno,” Avellone says, “as I think there’s a lot of fun sandbox things to do there. I’m proud of Vault City’s design, too – I added a lot more quests there, along with little touches here and there. Overall, I think Fallout 2 is better scope-wise but poorer aesthetically. I don’t think there was a strong genre policeman overseeing Fallout 2, and it suffered for it.”
[...]
Around the same time Avellone was building New Reno, Interplay was given the mandate from Tactical Studies Rules to produce an RPG based on the D&D Planescape setting. With its multiple universes, geometrically impossible landscapes and shady rules on the nature of life and death, Planescape was incomprehensible unless you were well-versed in D&D lore. It was also, in Avellone’s words, “fucking amazing”.
[...]
“The company culture changed once Brian Fargo left,” Avellone sighs. “Whatever people could say negatively about Interplay under his guidance, he had a strong vision for where he wanted the company to go and he really put effort and playtime into Interplay’s games. The new guard displayed none of these qualities, and the company climate changed in unpleasant ways. When I resigned, they were more concerned about digging up dirt on other companies recruiting me – and bringing lawsuits against them – rather than figuring out the reasons people were leaving. When I tried to explain the issues with Baldur’s Gate 3, the HR director didn’t even seem to know what Baldur’s Gate 3 was – talk about fucked up! Baldur’s Gate 3 got cancelled because of an accounting error, and we lost the rights to the licence entirely. Having a project cancelled because the dev team is doing a shitty job is one thing, but having another department not check their math is something else.”
Thanks Tuomas.
Spotted at: Iron Tower Studio Forums
