Questions for Chris Avellone II

[Roguey]

Didn't he enter in mid-production and try to "salvage" the game?

Yeah, he had to rewrite nearly the entire thing by himself because Mitsoda quit when Chris Parker decided all this serious stuff wasn't working and it needed to be far more ridiculous.

 

[Fairfax]

Given total freedom, what genre would he be most interested in pursuing?

Hypothetically, if he got to make a game, isometric, first person or third person.

These two were part of a question I asked him a while ago, and it was one of the few he didn't answer. I may ask something similar again, but considering how he's been teasing a "pet project" in some interviews, I think he's saving that for said project.

Who would he like to work with if he was going to come up with a Big Idea for a game?

He's answered similar questions a few times. IIRC he usually says Ken Levine.

Which writers (or other positions he'd like to talk about) are currently some of the best in the industry.

Answered in this interview:

George Ziets has an excellent sense of capturing a genre without diminishing it and he has excellent pacing for character reveals and character arcs (he helped me considerably during Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer and companion work on New Vegas).

Travis Stout, who I worked on a number of projects at Obsidian, is another writer I admire – although limiting the praise to just writing does him a disservice, since his skill set encompasses almost all areas of design, we considered him a “jack of all trades” designer at Obsidian. He’s clever, quick, and certainly had a better sense of how to deliver a compelling menu-driven dialogue than I do. He’s also funnier than I am; if you laughed during Fallout New Vegas: Old World Blues, it was probably something Travis wrote. Also, the range of appliances inside the Sink (homebase) in Old World Blues is a perfect sample of the range that Travis can write.

Some more: Dave Maldonado, who worked on Torment, and Steve Bokkes who I worked with onTorment and Icewind Dale – both had a great sense of style and knowing the genre they were writing for. Mark O’ Green, who I worked with back at Interplay, did amazing talking head dialogues for both Fallout 1 and Fallout 2. Adam Heine (the lead designer of Torment: Tides of Numenera) is a better writer than me. And he can program. And he lives his life to make the world a better place, so he wins in three arenas I fail at.

Others I’ve worked with – Colin McComb, Nathan Long… the list goes on. And on. And on.

Plus, there’s non-narrative designers at work who write better than me. Tyson Christensen, one of our level leads, is excessively humble, but he wrote some of the best sections of Alpha Protocol. I don’t know if he believed me when I told him, so I’m saying it publically here.

Outside of personal work experience, I feel the Telltale game writers excel at their craft (and make narratively brave decisions), and a number of the narrative and systematic pacing decisions in theBioShock series were equally important and brave, especially in re-examining what a boss encounter could be/should be. I’ll resist the urge to fire too much praise Ken Levine’s way, but… well, there’s a lot to say there. I loved Mike Bithell’s narrative for Thomas Was Alone because it made me care about colored blocks. Colored. Blocks. And not just that, he made me see them as fiercely independent people and heroes and in addition, gave them a sense of camaraderie and human-ness (including the surly character of the bunch, appropriately named Chris).

I fanboy over Mary DeMarle, Susan O’Connor, Richard Dansky, Steve Jaros, and David Gaider, and many of them are friends as well – after I approached them awkwardly at conventions first, so I thank writing for introducing me to some damn cool folks. Ricardo Bare (Arkane) is also a writer I enjoy, and aside from being a very pleasant person, his prose is great (check out Jack of Hearts if you get the chance, great pacing and an awesome take on dwarves).

There’s other folks I’m forgetting. I hope they don’t kill me. And I’m sure there’s many more out there I have yet to cross paths with, and I hope life gives me the opportunity to meet them.

What's his exercise routine and how much does he lift?

He said in a couple of interviews that he uses a rowing machine while watching shows or films.

Didn't he enter in mid-production and try to "salvage" the game?

Yes, he left Aliens: Crucible for it, because "a lot of people at Obsidian liked to wash their hands". This ended up being the reason he was only able to join Fallout: New Vegas relatively late in its development.

 

[Roguey]

Fairfax is to Avellone what Roguey is to Sawyer.

 

[Sensuki]

Not quite. Indirect/non-engaging vs direct/engaging.

 

[Cadmus]

I don't understand why doesn't he simply answer the questions in this thread? He posts here from time to time and that would be the best format for us anyway. Just schedule a thread with Q&A for 1 week from now and he'll come here and answer questions live. Alternatively, just make a Q&A Avellone thread and he can pop in any time he feels like it and answer some questions. Don't be a little bitch, Chris Avellone

 

[Fairfax]

Roguey you don't talk to Sawyer? Even Infinitron does.

 

[Abu Antar]

I don't understand why doesn't he simply answer the questions in this thread? He posts here from time to time and that would be the best format for us anyway. Just schedule a thread with Q&A for 1 week from now and he'll come here and answer questions live. Alternatively, just make a Q&A Avellone thread and he can pop in any time he feels like it and answer some questions. Don't be a little bitch, Chris Avellone

No shitposting inbetween and more focused, I would presume.

 

[Sizzle]

Roguey you don't talk to Sawyer? Even Infinitron does.

Roguey's probably in the "never meet your heroes" school of thought.

Besides, can you imagine how that would turn out?

~ The Great Roguey-JSawyer Codex Interview ~

Roguey: "I noticed you no longer have that poster that used to hang in your living room..."

JS: "Oh, that one. Yeah, I did a little bit of remodeling."

R: "Yes, on February 12th."

JS: [balanced silence]

R: "Soooooo.... can I have it then? I know you didn't throw it out, I go through all your trash. And can make it out to 'Keep on Rogueying, signed Pallegina'?"

JS: "You liked her?"

R: "No idea, I'm still waiting for patch v7.6 to come out so I can play the game."

 

[Fairfax]

I don't understand why doesn't he simply answer the questions in this thread? He posts here from time to time and that would be the best format for us anyway. Just schedule a thread with Q&A for 1 week from now and he'll come here and answer questions live. Alternatively, just make a Q&A Avellone thread and he can pop in any time he feels like it and answer some questions. Don't be a little bitch, Chris Avellone

He's done that a couple of times. It's not like he's against it, it was just a request.
Q&As like that and proper interviews are very different, each with its pros and cons. What I like about interviews is that you can have interesting follow-up questions and some dialogue. A Q&A is less predictable and can cover a wider variety of topics, but they lack natural follow-ups, direction, research, etc.

Most MCA interviews are poorly handled (not Radek's, his was pretty good), thought that's an issue with game devs in general, not him in particular. Devs often reveal interesting information and opinions that get no follow-up, and the same old questions are asked all the time.
Ken Levine's recent Rolling Stone interview had so much wasted potential that it made me ask him for an interview as well, and "how did you get into the games industry?" has been asked so many times that even MCA's jokes about the story are repeated.

Anyway, I thought I'd give it a shot myself and see how it goes. Hopefully it won't be boring, at least.

 

[vivec]

What kind of mechanics for combat does MCA prefer? I suspect TB, but it pays to ask.

 

[purpleblob]

What is his definition of "perfect RPG". Is there any released RPG that came closest to his definition of perfect RPG? If not, which aspects of current release RPGs fits into different "criteria" to meet his definition of perfect RPG (e.g. writing of PS:T, music of IWD etc etc)

 

[Fairfax]

What kind of mechanics for combat does MCA prefer? I suspect TB, but it pays to ask.

Here's what he had to say about TB x RTwP in a 2014 interview:

Torment: Tides of Numenera and Pillars of Eternity will use different combat systems. Do you think that turn-based and real-time combat can be equally absorbing? Considering these two games, what might the strength of each system consist in?

Both can be equally absorbing, although I do get more adrenaline spikes from real time. I feel like with turn-based I’m playing a gambling game, where I’m pulling the slot machine lever with every attack (Wasteland 2), and I don’t think that’s a bad thing, either. It gives me a chance to carefully plan my moves. I’m fine with either real time (as long as I can pause it) or turn-based, I’m not wedded to either one, it depends on the feel you’re shooting for. WL2 came from turn-based roots. I also found that in X-Com: Enemy Unknown (as with the original), turn-based made me even more anxious and terrified what the aliens were going to do.

There’s one thing, however, that Torment is doing to elevate turn-based which appeals to my narrative instincts. The combat is part of a broader turn-based system called Crises, which include other types of actions like repairing devices or even having a brief conversation. Getting the right feel for a sudden conversation in the midst of a pitched battle is harder to do with real time combat. The ways in which they’re looking at designing the narrative to interweave with the combat in ways like this is really promising.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Will this interview comes out before or after iron tower's colony ship game?

 

[Lady_Error]

When will he work on his own dream projects, eg. The Wire RPG?

This probably comes up in every MCA interview we do, but is there any chance he will get sick of freelancing and consider heading the development of a game he wants to make?

Why don't you have some company buy the Planescape license and have you create another game in that setting, just to annoy Fargo?

 

[HoboForEternity]

When will he work on his own dream projects, eg. The Wire RPG?

This probably comes up in every MCA interview we do, but is there any chance he will get sick of freelancing and consider heading the development of a game he wants to make?

Why don't you have some company buy the Planescape license and have you create another game in that setting, just to annoy Fargo?

Is it part of wizard of the coast and beamdog license though? They will never give it up

 

[Jaesun]

When will he work on his own dream projects, eg. The Wire RPG?

With how long you have been here, you should already know his DREAM cRPG is a High School cRPG....

 

[Lady_Error]

When will he work on his own dream projects, eg. The Wire RPG?

With how long you have been here, you should already know his DREAM cRPG is a High School cRPG....

:whynotboth:

 

[Infinitron]

When will he work on his own dream projects, eg. The Wire RPG?

With how long you have been here, you should already know his DREAM cRPG is a High School cRPG....

Not anymore. He gave up on that idea after playing Rockstar's Bully.

 

[Tito Anic]

Which of Bethesda's rpg games is your favorite and why?
Did you play Gothic rpg series, which is your favorite?
Which of upcoming pc/console games are you waiting for most?

 

[J_C]

Which of Bethesda's rpg games is your favorite and why?
Did you play Gothic rpg series, which is your favorite?

If he says that he didn't play Gothic but likes Elder Scrolls, I will murder someone.

 

[Abu Antar]

Which of Bethesda's rpg games is your favorite and why?
Did you play Gothic rpg series, which is your favorite?

If he says that he didn't play Gothic but likes Elder Scrolls, I will murder someone.

We better hide!

 

[Roguey]

If he says that he didn't play Gothic but likes Elder Scrolls, I will murder someone.

After seeing the way he handled wolves in Arcanum do you think he got or could get anywhere in Gothic?

 

[Sigourn]

If Obsidian was given the chance to make another Fallout game, would you jump ship and collaborate with Obsidian again (asuming they give you the chance)?

What's your honest opinion on Fallout 4? What did you really like and what did you really not like?

How much wood would a woodchuck chuk if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Would you play a woodchuck RPG?

 

[Raziel]

How much if at all did Zeb Cook help with PS:T?

Was Yemeth's backstory intentionally made similar to TNO's?

Who's Morric?

What can change the nature of wolves?

 

[Fairfax]

Asked Chris if he was allowed to talk about a few specific topics, and if there's any topic that makes him uncomfortable.
His reply:

People can ask anything, and if I can't answer it, I'll say so - it usually won't be because I wouldn't want to, I just couldn't for legal reasons (unannounced project, NDAs, etc.).

Nothing makes me uncomfortable. I was born in discomfort, I shall die in discomfort.

There you have it, folks. Permission to do a fully Codexian interview.