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Darren Monahan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Darren Monahan
NationalityAmerican
OccupationProgrammer
EmployerObsidian Entertainment
Known forRole-playing video games

Darren Monahan is the chief information officer and producer of Obsidian Entertainment and one of Obsidian's founders.[1][2] Monahan works in the game industry, having worked for Interplay Entertainment in various capacities, including as a senior producer for Black Isle Studios, manager of quality assurance, and a programmer on many of Interplay's titles. As a producer, Monahan managed the development of six published products, including the entire Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series.

Career

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Darren Monahan started out in the quality assurance department for Interplay Entertainment.[3] Monahan met Feargus Urquhart while working in QA on one of his titles.[4] Monahan then moved out of QA to become a programmer as part of Interplay's Tech Group.[4] Monohan worked on Redneck Rampage Rides Again, credited with the redbook, autorun, and miscellaneous programming.[5] Monahan later transferred to Black Isle Studios and became an associate producer on Icewind Dale.[4][6] Monahan was the producer for Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance at Black Isle Studios.[7][8] He also produced Icewind Dale II.[9][10]

Monahan was one of five developers who formed Obsidian Entertainment in June 2003, along with Chris Parker, Urquhart, Chris Jones and Chris Avellone.[11][12][13][14][15][16][4] The five friends held a brainstorming session at the home of Chris Parker, where Monahan, Urquhart and Parker decided that between the three possible names of Three Clown Software, Scorched Earth and Obsidian, they liked Obsidian the least, since it reminded them of Black Isle.[3] Monahan, Parker, and Urquhart used their credit cards to pay for most of the startup costs, with the total investment somewhere between $100,000 to $125,000.[4] Monahan was the executive producer on Neverwinter Nights 2.[17][18] Monahan, along with the other four company owners, was responsible for developing role-playing game titles including Fallout and Knights of the Old Republic II.[19]

References

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  1. ^ Greg Orlando (October 1, 2004). "Black Knights: Obsidian takes charge of LucasArts' golden goose". Xbox Nation. p. 60.
  2. ^ "The Knights of New Vegas: How Obsidian Survived Countless Catastrophes And Made Some Of The Coolest Role-Playing Games Ever". Kotaku. December 18, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Butts, Steve (2006-02-01). "Developer Profile: Obsidian. We chat with CEO Feargus Urquhart about the past, present and future of Obsidian". IGN. Archived from the original on 2024-01-18. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  4. ^ a b c d e Ramsay, Morgan (2012). Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play. New York: Apress. pp. 79–81. ISBN 978-1-4302-3351-0. Retrieved 2024-01-18 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ "Hickston Hog: Redneck Rampage Rides Again; 1998-04-01". April 1998.
  6. ^ "Icewind Dale. What do you get when you blend a touch of Diablo with a smidgen of Baldur's Gate?". IGN. 2000-04-10. Archived from the original on 2024-01-18. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  7. ^ Yans, Cindy (2001-09-05). "Baldur's Gate goes console. A word with the producer of Dark Alliance". Computer Games Magazine. Archived from the original on 2003-02-20. Retrieved 2024-01-18 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ Kujawa, Kraig (November 2001). "Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 148. p. 76. Retrieved 2024-01-18 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ^ Mayer, Robert (April 2002). "Interplay Rides Again? Black Isle strikes back with Icewind Dale II". Computer Games Magazine. No. 137. p. 37. Retrieved 2024-01-18 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ^ "Icewind Dale II Q&A. The sequel to the popular Icewind Dale has been in the works for some time. We talk to producer Darren Monahan to learn more about it". GameSpot. 2006-05-17. Archived from the original on 2024-01-18. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  11. ^ Barnes, Adam (December 2019). "World of Warcraft". Retro Gamer. p. 78. ProQuest 2847257596. Retrieved 2024-01-18 – via Internet Archive.
  12. ^ "Black Knights: Obsidian takes charge of LucasArts' golden goose". Xbox Nation. October 2004. p. 66 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ Costa, Richard (June 25, 2018). "From Shadow to Fire – 15 Years of Obsidian Entertainment". TechRaptor. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  14. ^ Obisidan Entertainment (June 12, 2016). "Obsidian on Twitter: "Today marks our 13 year anniversary of being able to make awesome RPGs! #HappyBirthdayObsidian! ..."". Twitter. Archived from the original on January 2, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  15. ^ Pratola, Giulio (May 2013). "Obsidian Heritage". Game Republic (in Italian). p. 39. Retrieved 2024-01-18 – via Internet Archive.
  16. ^ "The Will of the Council". GamePro. No. 190. July 2004. p. 34. Retrieved 2024-01-18 – via Internet Archive.
  17. ^ "Neverwinter Nights 2!". Virus (in Polish). Wydawnictwo Bauer. August 2004. Retrieved 2024-01-18 – via Internet Archive.
  18. ^ "Neverwinter Nights 2 Designer Diary #2 - Crafting Cinematic Worlds". GameSpot. 2006-08-28. Archived from the original on 2024-01-18. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  19. ^ Brandon, Alexander (2007-09-01). "A Day at Obsidian Entertainment: Building an Audio Department From Scratch". Mix. Vol. 31, no. 9. p. 64. ProQuest 196898185. Archived from the original on 2024-01-18. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
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