Brent Knowles | |
---|---|
Born | Canadian |
Alma mater | University of Alberta |
Occupation | Video game designer |
Brent Knowles is a writer, programmer, and game designer currently working at Beamdog. He worked at the role-playing game studio BioWare (Baldur's Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Dragon Age) for ten years, during most of which he was a Lead Designer/Creative Director. [1]
As a designer, he feels that party control and tactical combats should be huge factors in a role playing game. Dragon Age II's departure from that made him realize that he would not be satisfied with what it would be. [2]
Brent eventually left BioWare in September 2009, to pursue writing. He has been published in a variety of magazines including Neo-Opsis, Not One of Us, On Spec, Perihelion Science Fiction, Tales of the Talisman and Through Blood and Iron. He has had articles published in Dragon Magazine and Pyramid. [3]
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zeschuk. Since 2007, the company has been owned by American publisher Electronic Arts.
Neverwinter Nights is a third-person role-playing video game developed by BioWare. Interplay Entertainment was originally set to publish the game, but financial difficulties led to it being taken over by Infogrames, who released the game under their Atari range of titles. It is the first installment in the Neverwinter Nights series and was released for Microsoft Windows on June 18, 2002. BioWare later released a Linux client in June 2003, requiring a purchased copy of the game to play. MacSoft released a Mac OS X port in August 2003.
Dragon Age: Origins is a 2009 role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. It is the first game in the Dragon Age franchise. Set in the fictional kingdom of Ferelden during a period of civil strife, the game puts the player in the role of a warrior, mage, or rogue coming from an elven, human, or dwarven background. The player character is recruited into the Grey Wardens, an ancient order that stands against monstrous forces known as "Darkspawn", and is tasked with defeating the Archdemon that commands them and ending their invasion. The game is played from a third-person perspective that can be shifted to a top-down perspective. Throughout the game, players encounter various companions, who play major roles in the game's plot and gameplay.
Minsc is a fictional character in the Baldur's Gate series of Dungeons & Dragons role-playing video games developed by BioWare. He originated from the pen-and-paper Dungeons & Dragons sessions held by the lead designer of Baldur's Gate, James Ohlen, and was expanded upon by the game's lead writer, Lukas Kristjanson. His video game debut was in Baldur's Gate as a companion character who can join the player's party. He also appears in the sequel, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, the expansion, Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, the 2015 game Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, the 2023 game Baldur's Gate 3, as well as in promotions relating to the titles. Minsc is voiced by Jim Cummings in his original video game appearances, and by Matt Mercer in Baldur's Gate 3.
Jade Empire is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare, originally published by Microsoft Game Studios in 2005 as an Xbox exclusive. It was later ported to Microsoft Windows personal computers (PC) and published by 2K in 2007. Later ports to macOS (2008) and mobile platforms (2016) were handled respectively by TransGaming and Aspyr. Set in a world inspired by Chinese mythology, players control the last surviving Spirit Monk on a quest to save their tutor Master Li and defeat the forces of corrupt emperor Sun Hai. The Spirit Monk is guided through a linear narrative, completing quests and engaging in action-based combat. With morality-based dialogue choices during conversations, the player can impact both story and gameplay progression in various ways.
Mythic Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Fairfax, Virginia that was most widely recognized for developing the 2001 massively multiplayer online role-playing game Dark Age of Camelot. Mythic was a prolific creator of multiplayer online games following its establishment in the mid-1990s.
Drew Karpyshyn is a Canadian video game scenario writer, scriptwriter and novelist. He served as a senior writer for BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and lead writer for the first two Mass Effect video games. He left BioWare in 2012 to focus on his Chaos Born novels, and returned to it three years later in 2015. On March 9, 2018, he announced he was leaving BioWare once again to pursue his independent work.
James Ohlen is a video game designer. He was Senior Creative Director of BioWare where he worked for 22 years prior to starting the publishing company Arcanum Worlds in 2018. In 2019, Ohlen became the lead of a new internal development studio Archetype Entertainment under Wizards of the Coast to develop new intellectual property and video games for the company.
Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne is a fantasy novel written by David Gaider, released in March 2009. It is Gaider's first novel, as well as the first novel set in Thedas, the setting of BioWare's Dragon Age role-playing video game franchise. The Stolen Throne serves as a prequel to the BioWare role-playing game Dragon Age: Origins. Set thirty years before the events of Origins, this novel tells the backstory of characters important to the game, such as Loghain Mac Tir, as well as how the kingdom of Ferelden, the setting of Origins, achieved independence from the neighboring nation of Orlais.
Dragon Age II is a 2011 action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts (EA). It is the second major game in the Dragon Age series and the successor to Dragon Age: Origins (2009). Set in the world of Thedas, players assume the role of Hawke, a human mage, rogue, or warrior who arrives in the city of Kirkwall as a lowly refugee, and becomes its legendary champion over a turbulent decade of political and social conflict. In the game, players explore and engage in combat from a third-person perspective. Players encounter various companions, who play major roles in the game's plot and gameplay. Depending on players' decisions and dialogue, a companion will either recognize Hawke as a friend or a rival.
David Gaider is a Canadian narrative designer and writer. He was the lead writer and creator of the setting for the role-playing video game series Dragon Age.
David F. Nalle was an American political writer, game author and type designer. He was active in the early history of the development of the internet. Nalle was at one time Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus, a group that promotes libertarianism within the Republican Party, Senior Politics Editor at Blogcritics online magazine, and was the CEO of Scriptorium Fonts.
Patrick Weekes is an American author. They are a writer at BioWare who has written for both the Mass Effect and the Dragon Age writing team. In 2015 Weekes replaced David Gaider as the Lead Writer for the Dragon Age franchise.
Anthem is an online multiplayer action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released worldwide for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on February 22, 2019.
Adam Phillips, also known by his online alias Chluaid, is an Australian filmmaker, animator, and former freelancer. He is best known for his animation work, consisting of flash animation compositions published on his website, Bitey Castle, and on the flash portal Newgrounds. His animation work on the latter has over 16 million views, making him one of the most-viewed artists on the site. Phillips created the fantasy animation shorts series, Brackenwood, the first of which was posted on Newgrounds in March 2004.
Archetype Entertainment is an American video game development studio established as a division of game developer and publisher Wizards of the Coast, itself a subsidiary of Hasbro. The Austin, Texas-based studio was created by Wizards in April 2019 to develop new intellectual property outside of Wizards' existing Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering franchises. Archetype is notable for having drawn talent from BioWare; Studio Head, James Ohlen, who had previously worked on Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games such as the Baldur's Gate series among other titles along with Chad Robertson and Drew Karpyshyn.
Cremisius "Krem" Aclassi is a fictional character in the 2014 video game Dragon Age: Inquisition. He is a former soldier in the Tevinter Imperium's military forces, and is currently a member of the Bull's Chargers, a mercenary company led by the Iron Bull. He was created and written by Patrick Weekes. Canadian-American voice actress Jennifer Hale voiced Krem in Inquisition.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is an upcoming role-playing video game being developed by BioWare and to be published by Electronic Arts. The fourth major game in the Dragon Age franchise, Dreadwolf will be the sequel to Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014).
Mike Laidlaw is a Canadian video game developer best known for his work at BioWare as the creative director for the Dragon Age fantasy role-playing video game franchise, and the lead designer and director on the first three games.
Jennifer Brandes Hepler is a video game developer, author, and scriptwriter. She first came to attention for her time at game developer BioWare, in Edmonton, Alberta, where she worked as a senior writer for eight years, with much of her work centered on the Dragon Age fantasy role-playing video game franchise. Hepler's notable works after she left BioWare in 2013 include the mobile strategy video game Game of Thrones Ascent, and the 2018 point-and-click adventure game Unavowed.