Tim Cain Loves Oblivion

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Fallout and Tim Cain were featured in "The Vault" section of this months PC Powerplay. I don't have a scanner for the article so I'll just type out some of Tim's quotes.

On Fallout :

• We set out to make a non-linear game, which today would be called a sandbox game. We wanted the player to make any kind of character and then go off into the wilderness in any direction and still be able to finish the game. Naturally, some characters would be harder to finish the game with than others, but that was our main goal.
  
  We knew we were making a dark game, based on the horrors that 1950's science had predicted for a future apocalyptic world. So we balanced that with humour, by poking fun at those same predictions in a way that would amuse a modern player.
  
  Once we had settled on a post-apocalyptic setting for our world, we debated over all the different types we could choose. I remember debating modern futurism, like alien invasion or cyber warfare, and even the possibillity that there had been no war at all and this was all an illusion or a facade, but in the end, we felt that the Cold War era had the most visceral appeal of all these settings, and most easily opened itself up for humour.

On development :

• In our early design sessions, we all agreed to steer clear of elves and magic, just because we wanted to do something fresh, and also to possibly appeal to people who were tired of, or just not attracted to the fantasy setting. We also really liked The Road Warrior and Mad Max movies that were still pretty recent back then. But in the end it was the adventuring possibilities of a post-nuclear setting that we liked so much.
  
  Most of the development team had played and loved Wasteland. We wanted to make a game that would be just as fun as that one, but with the additional capabilities that modern technology allowed. We wanted to show the gritty realism of a post nuclear future and not just imply it.

On Fallout not being isometric :

• It was a little unusual compared to the other isometric, tile-based engines of the time like X-Com or Crusader. Instead of 45 degrees, we rendered our art to 60 degrees, which meant it was really a cavalier oblique engine than an isometric one. This change let us move the creatures on a hex grid - required by the GURPS system - that would match the wall directions, so it simplified pathing a great deal.

On GURPS :

• At the time I started programming the core isometric engine that would become Fallout, the D&D license was unavailable, or so Interplay thought. So I went after the RPG system that I liked, which was GURPS. At the time I was running a weekly GURPS game, and I thought the system was flexible enough to let me make any kind of RPG setting I wanted. Plus, I had already worked with Steve Jackson Games, who'd let me use the GURPS Space license on some freeware I had written in my spare time. They seemed like a good bunch of people to work with.
  
  After Interplay picked up the D&D license, they almost cancelled Fallout right then so as not to be working on multiple products that would compete with one another. But I pointed out that the setting was so different from orcs and goblins that there would likely be no overlap in the target audience. Marketing believed me, and Fallout was saved from termination.

On SPECIAL :

• Kudos to Jason Suinn for pointing out that the stats could be arranged to form the word SPECIAL. I was calling the system ACELIPS. True story.
  
  I could make all kinds of statements about character construction and ease of use, but really, Chris Taylor and I were deperately trying to make a replacement for GURPS that would work with out existing and completed combat engine. The first round of stats, skills and traits did just that, and Chris's brilliant idea for perks was the icing on the SPECIAL cake.

On Fallout 3 :

• After playing Oblivion, I have high hopes for Fallout 3 being an awesome open-ended experience. Bethesda obviously has good people working there, so I don't want to insult them by offering any advice that might sound like a pronouncement. I just want to play the game like any other fan, which means I will be surprised and delighted by the plot twists and turns and also that I reserve the right to complain about any deviation from the Fallout canon.

Here's the awesome, open-ended experience Bethesda is going to offer up, Tim.

On a related note, they did a similar feature on Arcanum a few months back where Leon revealed that Bloodlines had started out in pre-production as a sequel using the Source engine. It was going to be called "Journey To The Centre Of Arcanum."

Bethesda obviously gave him free blowjobs to say that.

For all of timmies legendary status 'round here, he's always been easily influenced by the major players in the industry.

I find it interesting that the one thing that really comes across in these snippets is that he's really just a random shmoe who was fudging his way through a project. acelips indeed.

I have high hopes my girlfriend will bring home Halle Berry for a hot ménage à trois, I don't realistically expect it to happen, but I really don't want to burn any bridges

Oh my....

If any of you have read plenty of Tim Caine's interviews, posts, etc, you will see how subtle he can be.

When was the last time he ripped someone a new arse? Thats never been his style. Caine has always seemed to be Mr Pleasant to everyone. Its the last line of everything that you need to read.

"I just want to play the game like any other fan, which means I will be surprised and delighted by the plot twists and turns and also that I reserve the right to complain about any deviation from the Fallout canon."

If 'Like any other fan....surprised and delighted....' Use your brains.

And he reserves the right to say what he thinks after playing it. He knows what many fans think of Bethesda getting the license. He probably cackled his head off when he said it.

Remember how pissed he was when the Fallout license was going and he couldn't afford it? I think he is just playing his usual subtle game.

WTF is he up to now anyway? Has he gone back to his marketing company or something? What is Anderson up to? Boyarsky?

IF ONLY!

Tim Chain loves Oblivion, so what? Thomas Biskup (the guy behind ADOM) is a Fable fanboy:

Whatever, I think that both Fallout and ADOM are overhyped. However, that Tim Chain guy was involved in the development of Arcanum, too? THAT is shocking!

ADOM owns crap like Warp Rogue. :twisted:

Well, I agree
At least for the moment.. :twisted:

Yep, I definitely got a veiled sentiment expressed there. Also, he doesn't exactly compliment Oblivion but says he's looking forward to Fallout 3.

I don't know about Cain or Anderson, but I'm pretty certain Boyarsky is doing art at Blizzard of all places.

I remember someone mentioned here that Cain was getting or had gotten a professorship at a college somewhere, and Anderson left the state and got into arizona or something.

Boyarsky is at Blizzard, and Anderson left the industry. Cain is still in the industry, but I'm not sure where. I do know that he's keeping a low profile wherever he is. He said he doesn't want any more attention. He just wants to make games.

Well, it's true that ADOM's better, but I liked WR. I think I'll try to play more of it when I have time. I was looking for a game with this kind of atmosphere and setting.

This gave me a little anxiety attack. Even though it wasn't cancelled the mere mention of people once talking about cancelling it makes me squirm.

Well, the guy probably wants to get work at some point.

You can't just say "Fuck all those motherfucking morons!"

Which is why Cain agreed to do an interview for a print magazine! On the otherhand, its an Australian magazine, so how big coulds its distribution be? Anyways, I'd love to know how he plans on making games while keeping a low profile. The industry seems to be a pretty small community. And its not like he work anonymously behind the internet. Unless... VD, do you actually know everyone working on AoD?

If these were the kind of decisions management wanted to make its kind of obvious why Interplay went under.

It's not against the law to be sarcastic in an interview.

Didn't you post to the nethack newsgroup saying you're done with developing Warp Rogue and done with gaming in general? Change of heart?

Yes, but have never posted to the "nethack newsgroup". I guess you mean rec.games.roguelike.development (the nethack newsgroup is rec.games.roguelike.nethack)

This is the first time I'm actually glad that Bloodlines turned out the way it did. There's no chance in hell Sourcecanum would have worked for me.

Anyway, I don't think Tim was being sarcastic about Oblivion and Fallout 3. He always came across like (let's see how to put this nicely) an extremely open minded guy, who barely ever actually hates anything. Quite frankly, I don't give a fuck about what he likes and dislikes as long as he doesn't feel the need to imitate.

I have a small hope that Bethesda may hire him or at least contact him to do Fallout 4 or 5. Todd Howard is too young and stupid and has still much to learn before he can design a game with a minimum of decent gameplay, much less something that compares to a classic like Fallout.