Interview with Chris Avellone. English version of Interview
17 Июля 2010What do you think what is the best RPG of all time? People choose between Planescape: Torment, Fallout, Baldur's Gate and Deus Ex. What is your opinion?
Chronotrigger and Fallout are my two top choices, and I lean more toward BG2 than BG1.
So, how had you become a games developer? How did you get you current position in Black Isle\Interplay? Where did you work before? What do you think about your work in Black Isle?
I used to write for pen-and-paper role-playing games (Champions, a superhero role-playing game), and when a position opened up at Interplay's D+D
Division (Dragonplay at the time, would eventually become Black Isle), my editor recommended me for the position, I went out there, and got the job. Working at Black Isle were some of the longest, hardest, and best days of my life.
Is it true that the last years of Black Isle’s existence the studio was developing Baldur's Gate 3?
They worked on it for quite a while before Interplay lost the license, then most of that team switched over to Van Buren (Fallout 3), which was also cancelled because Interplay didn't believe in the PC market for the game (or so I heard, I had left for Obsidian before it was cancelled).
These days RPG developers employ high-quality graphics, delightful plots and characters, big and deep worlds and many quests in their games. Do you think that today making an isometric RPG is a suicide?
Depends on the platform. On hand-held consoles, no. On any other platform, it is a challenge to sell that to a publisher, yes.
How much time do you spend playing games for relax, for your pleasure, not for work? What of recent games do you like most? Please, enumerate your favorite games and platforms.
The last game I played for fun was The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, I usually play games for research purposes, not for pleasure, but I still enjoy them anyway. The games I've recently played are Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, and Fallout 3, Fallout 3, and more Fallout 3. I also play the Fallout New Vegas build as much as I can.
Did you visit E3 2010? What are your feelings about the exhibition? What do you think about The Witcher 2 and Rage?
I was there, working the Bethesda Booth for almost the entire time except for an hour. Rage looks incredible. And it looks incredible on the XBox. I didn't get a chance to see any other game at the show that wasn't at the Bethesda booth, unfortunately. 
How much do games and their development distract you from your private and home life? What do you do besides game development?
My life is generally 8am to 9pm at work, then gym, then work for a little while longer or play the build until I can't look at the screen anymore, and then I go to bed. My hobbies are working out and reading comic books until I pass out, on the plus side, my normal work job is pretty much my hobby.
As we could know, many Troika Games developers work for Obsidian Entertainment. Did you have a chance to get Leonard Boyarsky, Timothy Cain and Jason Anderson who worked at Interplay and created Arcanum that was one of best role-playing games ever made?
Probably not. Tim's heading up the charge on Carbine's new project, Leonard's doing great at Blizzard, and Jason's doing great at InXile. They're all in good spots right now, I doubt they'd leave their current positions, even though I'd love to work with those guys on anything. Fallout 1 changed my entire perspective on computer RPGs.
What can you say about Alpha Protocol sales volume? Do you think of making a sequel?
Haven't gotten any sales figures, and I don't know if I care all that much compared to getting critiques, which are more important. Sequel - I'd do one, although I'd prefer to be on the start of the game this time rather than come in in the middle.
When Dungeon Siege 3 development was started? Please, tell about your role in development of the game.
I am not involved with Dungeon Siege III except in a Creative Director capacity (looking at documents, discussing a few story elements, going to build critiques), although we've been working on it for some time before its announcement at E3.
Many Thanks for your answers! All the Best. GameStar.ru Team.
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