Mohammad Alavi (game developer)

Mohammad Alavi
Born Mohammad Alavi
Tehran, Iran[1]
Residence Greater Los Angeles Area, California
Nationality Iranian
Other names BadMofo
Education B.Sc. (Biology)
B.Sc. (Chemistry)
A.S. (Game Design and Development)
Alma mater Virginia Polytechnic University
Full Sail University
Occupation Level Designer
Years active 2004–present
Employer Infinity Ward (2004–2010)
Respawn Entertainment (2010–present)
Known for Call of Duty series

Mohammad "Mo" Alavi (Persian: محمد علوی‎) is an Iranian[1][2][3] video game developer who currently works at Respawn Entertainment.[4] He is best known for his work on the critically acclaimed[5] Call of Duty series at Infinity Ward.[4][6]

Personal life

Mohammad Alavi was born in the 1980s in Tehran, Iran[1] and left his homeland with his family after Iran-Iraq War occurred.[2] Alavi was raised in the United States and despite enjoying his life there and never returning to Iran since he left there, he calls himself "An Iranian inside his heart".[1] Alavi attended Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies in Richmond, Virginia. He then attended Virginia Tech, majoring in Biology and Chemistry before realizing his dream to become a video game designer after being credited for creating some of the best modded games in PC Gamer Magazine. Immediately, he applied to and attended Full Sail University.

He has two elder siblings, a brother and a sister, who are both physicians.[1]

Career

Entering video game industry

During college years, Alavi started to create Mods for Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Half-Life and Counter-Strike. and his hobby was to work as a mapper and texture artist for mods.[4] He later made quite a reputation for himself under the alias "BadMofo" when one of his works was published on an issue of PC Gamer.[4][7] Alavi later entered Full Sail University to focus on programming, and applied for a Programming job at Infinity Ward following his graduation. Considering his resume as a modder, the company offered him a job as a level designer, instead of a programmer.[3][4]

Call of Duty Series

According to Edge, Alavi "is responsible for some of the most intense and memorable campaign levels in Call Of Duty history".[4]

Alavi created his first professional levels for Call of Duty 2, including the potato-throwing grenade tutorial".[4]

The first level of Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare "Crew Expendable", which is set on a ship on a stormy sea is also among his famous designs. His design for the level was initially rejected by the leads, due to technical complexities. But Alavi stayed after hours and worked 18-hour days for three weeks to secretly script the rejected level. Once the leads became aware of his work and saw his not quite done work, they were convinced to include it in the game.[4]

His "tense and deliberately paced mission" called "All Ghillied Up" also was debuted in E3 2007.[4] In 2011, Now Gamer ranked the level the 20th on its "Top 50 Gaming Moments".[8]

Alavi’s script for AI in Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, ended up having value and formed the template next title of the series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.[4]

"No Russian" Controversy

Alavi was Designer of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's controversial mission called "No Russian".[9] The mission was described "Call of Duty’s most controversial moment" by PC Gamer[10] and GamesRadar named it "one of the 10 most shocking game moments of the 2000s."[11]

Games

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Ghassemi, Mani (January 23, 2010). "مصاحبه با طراح ایرانی سری بازی‌های Call Of Duty" [An Interview with The Iranian Game Designer of Call of Duty Series]. manilife.net (in Persian). Archived from the original on January 28, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Norouzi, Danial (July 9, 2012). "صاحبه با محمد علوی ،Level Designer سابق استودیو InfinityWard" [An Interview with Mohammad Alavi, Former Level Designer at InfinityWard]. Honar-e-Bazi Electronic Magazine, No. 15 (in Persian). Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hakimi, Arash (January 2011). "The Birth of a Game Developer: Mohammad Alavi". Bazisazi (Donyaye Bazi's Monthly Special Edition for Game Development) (Print). 1 (in Persian) (Donyaye Bazi) (11): 17–18. ISSN 2008-7810.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 "No Russian: the modder who went on to make Call Of Duty’s most controversial set piece", Edge (No. 250 ed.), February 2013, ASIN B00BH4U102
  5. ↑ metacritic
  6. ↑ Mobygames
  7. ↑ Respawn Entertainment
  8. ↑ "Top 50 Gaming Moments: 20. The ‘All Ghillied Up’ Mission In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare". Now Gamer. Imagine Publishing. Dec 5, 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  9. ↑ Kataku
  10. ↑ PC Gamer
  11. ↑ "The 10 most shocking moments of the decade". GamesRadar. 2009-12-29. Retrieved 2010-01-04.

External links