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Chris Avellone is a game designer who contributed to Fallout 2, Van Buren, and Fallout: New Vegas.

Background[]

Avellone joined Interplay Entertainment in 1995. He was a level designer on Fallout 2, as well as the co-lead designer of Van Buren, the canceled Fallout 3 project.[1] In 2003, Avellone left Interplay, joining Feargus Urquhart to found Obsidian Entertainment, where he became the new company's chief creative officer.[1]

At Obsidian, Avellone served as the senior designer on Fallout: New Vegas, and both project director and creative lead designer of its add-ons.[2]

In 2015, Avellone left Obsidian to pursue freelance work.[3][4][5] Avellone also criticized Obsidian's upper management, feeling they have a "lack of ethics" and "serious flaws that need to be addressed" because they attempted to restrain his ability to speak freely about the games he has worked on in the past. He also wished Feargus to have no financial gain.[6]

Notes[]

Employment history[]

FromToCompanyRole
January 1995May 2003Interplay Entertainment
Black Isle Studios
Lead Designer
June 2003May 2015Obsidian EntertainmentCreative Director
Chief Creative Officer
Co-Owner

Credits[]

Fallout series[]

YearTitleCredited as/for
1998Fallout 2Level Designer
2003Van BurenCo-Lead Designer
2010Fallout: New VegasSenior Designer
2011Dead MoneyProject Director
2011Old World BluesProject Director
2011Lonesome RoadProject Director

Other work[]

YearTitleCredited as/for
1997Star Trek: Starfleet AcademyAdditional Mission Design
1999Planescape: TormentLead Designer
2000Icewind DaleDesigner
2002Icewind Dale IIDesigner
2004Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith LordsLead Designer
2006Neverwinter Nights 2Creative Director
2010Alpha ProtocolLead Designer
2011Dungeon Siege IIIChief Creative Officer
2014Wasteland 2Highpool/Ag Center
2014South Park: The Stick of TruthChief Creative Officer
2016Torment: Tides of NumeneraWriting
2016Divinity: Original Sin IIAdditional Narrative Design
2018Pillars of Eternity II: DeadfireAdditional Writing
2019Star Wars Jedi: Fallen OrderStory and Writing Consultant
2022Dying Light 2Head Narrative Designer

Quotes[]

The biggest lesson [learned from Fallout 2] was if you give the player the ability to create a certain type of character, make sure that you honour the player's character build. What I mean by that is if you give a character to option to dump 500 points into speech, make sure they have an experience thats very cool and is appropriate for a speech based character. The same thing is true if you're a stupid combat monster, if you're a sneaky thief who no one ever sees... If you're allowing the players to build a character like that with the rule set, then make sure your content supports that experience.— Chris Avellone, Extrasode episode 61
There are issues with domesticating tribals and forcing them into one view of the world, there are issues with treating a wonder of the old world as nothing more than a bloody battleground, there are issues with propping old flags from Rome and California without a clear understanding of what those flags represent, and the long-range perspectives of many characters you'll encounter in the world have strong opinions about what's going on in the present, all born from the elements above. The question of the Old World making itself heard in the present - in the Mojave - is a core theme in Fallout: New Vegas, and whether overt or not, we hope it sinks in with the player as well.— Chris Avellone on the themes of Fallout: New Vegas, User blog:Willooi/Developer Diary and Reflections from Chris Avellone and John Gonzalez


Gallery[]

Videos[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Chris Avellone on linkedin.com (Archived)
  2. Chris Avellone linkedin.com
  3. Chris Avellone Twitter, 9 Jun 2015 (Archive)
  4. Chris Avellone Twitter, 16 Aug 2016 (Archive)
  5. Kickstarter campaign description: "To help shape and direct the existing narrative of System Shock, we've enlisted the help of Chris Avellone, who is best known for his work on a number of role-playing games, including; Fallout: New Vegas, Wasteland 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, Planescape: Torment, and Fallout 2. Chris will be working closely with Stephen Kick (our Creative Director) and Jason Fader (our Project Director and Senior Producer from Fallout: New Vegas) as well as several other key developers from Fallout: New Vegas to bring modern AAA quality into the world of System Shock."
    System Shock (Archive)
  6. TechRaptor article
  7. @AgentC1983: "Hey Chris, quick question, are you able to confirm if you voiced the character “Chris Avellone” in fallout tactics?"
    @ChrisAvellone: "I did not, no. To my shame, I had forgotten "I" was in there (and if I'd known, probably would have asked them to take it out)."
    Chris Avellone Twitter, 25 Apr 2015, (Archive)
  8. Vault City designer notes
  9. Begin Again sheet music credits
  10. All Roads credit page
  11. https://twitter.com/ChrisAvellone/status/1496968682110545924
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