Chris Avellone
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| | For the Fallout character, see Chris Avellone (Fallout). For the Fallout Tactics character, see Chris Avellone (Fallout Tactics). |
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Christopher Frederic Avellone (born on September 27, 1971) is a video game designer who has worked on Fallout 2, Van Buren (the canceled Fallout 3 by Black Isle Studios), and Fallout: New Vegas. He has also compiled the Fallout Bible.
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Career
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Before Interplay
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Avellone is a descendant of Sicilian immigrants. After receiving his high school diploma at the renowned Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, he attended the College of William & Mary in Virginia (with Todd Howard) and completed with a Bachelors in English. During that time, he wrote short stories and scripts for role-playing games, some of which were published in the Dungeons & Dragons magazine Dragon.
Through Bruce Harlick, then editor with Hero Games, he received the chance to write a book for the role-playing game Dark Champions. After several publications with Hero Games, he decided that game design was a career option.
Black Isle Studios
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Steve Peterson, one of the founders of Hero Games, provided Avellone an interview with Interplay, a large game publisher at the time. His knowledge of role-playing games and his ideas impressed Interplay, and he was offered a position as a game designer. Around 1997 or 1998, Avellone moved to Orange County, where Interplay was located.
Avellone got involved with the Fallout series when production was started at Black Isle Studios on Fallout 2. While many feel that his "feel" for the Fallout canon was lacking, the design of New Reno has been praised by just as many. Later, he became the lead designer of a project codenamed Van Buren, which was canceled in 2003 and revealed to have been Black Isle's attempt at developing Fallout 3. He wrote the Tibbets Prison design document.
Aside from Fallout games, Avellone was also the lead designer of Planescape: Torment.
Obsidian Entertainment
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After leaving Black Isle Studios, Avellone, together with Feargus Urquhart, founded Obsidian Entertainment. At Obsidian, Avellone has worked on such titles as, Neverwinter Nights 2 and its expansion, Mask of the Betrayer, and was lead designer on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and Alpha Protocol. He also wrote All Roads, a prequel to Fallout: New Vegas, and has also written a few Star Wars comics such as Unseen, Unheard for the Star Wars Tales series of comics and a few issues of Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures comic series, such as Heroes on Both Sides and Impregnable, all of which have been published by Dark Horse Comics. He was a writer on Fallout: New Vegas and lead designer on New Vegas add-ons. He also co-wrote the lyrics for the song "Begin Again" featured in Dead Money add-on.
Notes
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When you fight alongside Marcus the Broken Hills sheriff he will yell out "Chris Avellone loves you!!" before attacking.
Employment history
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| From | To | Company | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 2005 | Interplay Entertainment/Black Isle Studios | |
| 2005 | now | Obsidian Entertainment |
Credits
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Fallout series
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| Year | Title | Credited as/for |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Fallout 2 | Designer |
| 2003 | Van Buren | Lead Designer |
| 2010 | Fallout: New Vegas | Senior Designer |
| 2011 | Dead Money | Project Director Writer |
| 2011 | Old World Blues | Project Director |
| 2011 | Lonesome Road | Project Director |
| ? | Fallout Bible | Writer |
| 2010 | All Roads | Writer |
Other work
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| Year | Title | Credited as/for |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Planescape: Torment |
Videos
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- Chris Avellone's Early Days
- Planescape Torment with Chris Avellone