Todd Howard Breaks Down His Video Game Career | WIRED

[Diggfinger]

OK I bravely made it to the 0:38 seconds mark and I'm already pissed.

He claims Terminator: Skynet was THE FIRST 3D shooter to use free mouse look.

I mean...didnt System Shock do that, and much more, already in 1993? (Skynet came out in 1995).
That game felt like a flight simulator trapped in a human's body (partially due to the engine they used).

 

[MerchantKing]

Spoiler; do not click!

And it's all a lie

 

[Faarbaute]

It's hard to not like the guy tbh.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Todd Howard's Career:

Spoiler

- Try to create a game that combines the first person 3D perspective and interactivity of Ultima Underworld with the open world of U7: The Black Gate. Instead create a boring dungeon crawler.
- Increase the boring dungeon crawler above by a thousand times using procedural generation.
- Switch from procedural generation, and instead create a giant world with human developers who are so bad, their content resembles procedural generation.
- Lie
- Lie
- Lie
- Lie about next gen RadiantAI™ which turns out to be some random stand alone scripts that like 2 NPCs use when the player isn't even around.
- Lie
- Create boring dumbed down version of the boring game from item 3 above, and replace the only thing it had going for it (unique setting) with cookie-cutter fantasy world.
- Lie
- Lie
- Destroy a great franchise by taking it over
- Lie
- Muh Dragons
- Lie
- Lie
- Create Fallout 4 and 76, which are so bad, even lies refuse to be associated with them
- Lie
- Lie
- Starfilth, which is so bad, it was shat upon by the doritos media and the brainwashed bethestards in a year where games featuring ursine sex reigned supreme.

Perhaps it's time for Todd to retire and find something to do at which he is actually good.

 

[Cologno]

Getting a little tired of hearing about the guy, TBO. He's an executive, not a game developer. He's tired and the world he came up in doesn't exist anymore. Then the acting like a celebrity thing. It's a weird juxtaposition to me. Its all ephemeral, no real reason to give a shit about the guy and when he leaves his job he'll be quickly forgotten.

 

[Tyranicon]

Bethesda has 450 people.

So does Owlcat.

This is a weird coincidence.

 

[Butter]

Bethesda has 450 people.

So does Owlcat.

This is a weird coincidence.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/208288/starfield/credits/windows/?autoplatform=true

3903 credited professionals, but this includes all sorts of things that Todd probably isn't counting, like VA for various languages.

 

[Tyranicon]

Bethesda has 450 people.

So does Owlcat.

This is a weird coincidence.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/208288/starfield/credits/windows/?autoplatform=true

3903 credited professionals, but this includes all sorts of things that Todd probably isn't counting, like VA for various languages.

Contractors, voice actors, agency marketing, etc aren't usually counted towards a studio's employee count. Bethesda clearly has more resources than Owlcat, but I found it weird that they have the same listed number of warm bodes.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Not gonna lie, if I had 450 minions to help me make my dream game, it would be like Fallout 1 + PST + Gothic + Deus Ex + Ultima Underworld + Sex + Chocolate + Sex in chocolate.

 

[*-*/\--/\~]

More like "Lie, cheat, bullshit, bamboozle, scam and lie and cheat some more.".

Just launch him into the Sun already.

 

[Gargaune]

He claims Terminator: Skynet was THE FIRST 3D shooter to use free mouse look.

I mean...didnt System Shock do that, and much more, already in 1993? (Skynet came out in 1995).

Not technically what he said...

It's one of the first full 3D shooters. When you look at controls today, with mouselook controls and using WASD, this is the first PC game to ever do it.

Emphasis mine.

On another note...

[It was] not what our audience we'd had at the time, from Daggerfall and Arena, reall wanted from us when it came to the Elder Scrolls.

Gee, Todd, I wonder whether that might be applicable to any other game you've made since...


I still like Todd, he's a nice guy and I like the games I've played from him so far, Oblivion through Fallout 4. But as much as this video's clearly covert Starfield marketing, it also feels like the man's getting close to drawing a line on his career. If he does see The Elder Scrolls VI to completion, I think he's retiring after that.

 

[Halfling Rodeo]

Sex + Chocolate + Sex in chocolate.

Hulk Hogan would not be pleased with you friend.

Not usually one for react content but I'm looking forward to someone responding to this with proper research. Pausing the video every line to debunk Todd's bullshit would be funny. If Boogie can get it, why can't Todd?

 

[The Wall]

Diddler Toddler has diddled Elder Scrolls and Fallout enough. Banish him to retirement at Epstein Island

 

[NecroLord]

Tell me lies
Tell me sweet little lies

 

[The Wall]

BTW: Fuck Elder Scrolls, Fallout, D&D, Pathfinder, Warhammer etc. We should NEVER be captives of settings that can change hands and mutate into abomination Fallout is today. Todd Howard has never had monopoly on creativity. Nothing stops us from creating our own Elder Scrolls-like universe

"AI!
Make picture of Todd Howard being fucked by Super Mutant at the table of his highschool chess club"

 

[NecroLord]

BTW: Fuck Elder Scrolls, Fallout, D&D, Pathfinder, Warhammer etc. We should NEVER be captives of settings that can change hands and mutate into abomination Fallout is today. Todd Howard has never had monopoly on creativity. Nothing stops us from creating our own Elder Scrolls-like universe

"AI!
Make picture of Todd Howard being fucked by Super Mutant at the table of his highschool chess club"

Thankfully, Todd had absolutely nothing to do with the development of Fallout 1 and 2. Those prestigious games were made by different people.
I would say that Morrowind is truly his first great "hit".
Everything after that is dubious and you can clearly see the bullshit starting to appear all over...

 

[Gregz]

Graceful of him to accept the fact that it's completely over.

 

[Gregz]

BTW: Fuck Elder Scrolls, Fallout, D&D, Pathfinder, Warhammer etc. We should NEVER be captives of settings that can change hands and mutate into abomination Fallout is today. Todd Howard has never had monopoly on creativity. Nothing stops us from creating our own Elder Scrolls-like universe

"AI!
Make picture of Todd Howard being fucked by Super Mutant at the table of his highschool chess club"

Loyalty to any franchise has never ended well.

 

[Halfling Rodeo]

BTW: Fuck Elder Scrolls, Fallout, D&D, Pathfinder, Warhammer etc. We should NEVER be captives of settings that can change hands and mutate into abomination Fallout is today. Todd Howard has never had monopoly on creativity. Nothing stops us from creating our own Elder Scrolls-like universe

"AI!
Make picture of Todd Howard being fucked by Super Mutant at the table of his highschool chess club"

Loyalty to any franchise has never ended well.

Made even worse now franchises never die and lumber on as corpses.

 

[Serious_Business]

Video game career, eh?

 

[Tyranicon]

Loyalty to any franchise has never ended well.

Franchises are just corporate money vehicles. Veteran devs working in these companies are just corporate assets. That's why these games are shit. The gaming industry has fallen prey to the same insidious forces that killed movies and tv.

 

[luj1]

For me he is a scumbag

Intentionally releasing unfinished games (so budget can go into marketing campaign and hollywood voice actors - that makes sales)

Fans will fix the games for free anyway with the toolset. And after a few years he can reap game rewards he didn't deserve

Clever man but a scumbag nonetheless

He also butchered the art aspects in games. Never forget he was against weird stuff in Morrowind

 

[Just Locus]

"The Elder Scrolls III"

 

[Desiderius]

A little late

Career itself already took care of that.

 

[Butter]

For me he is a scumbag

Intentionally releasing unfinished games (so budget can go into marketing campaign and hollywood voice actors - that makes sales)

Fans will fix the games for free anyway with the toolset. And after a few years he can reap game rewards he didn't deserve

Clever man but a scumbag nonetheless

He also butchered the art aspects in games. Never forget he was against weird stuff in Morrowind

It would be a drop in the bucket for them to just fix their games. "Oh hey, we're releasing Skyrim for the 69th time. Let's get a couple programmers to go through the unofficial patch changelog and add some of these things into the official product." It's pure laziness and cynicism. They think they can release any trash and modders will always swoop in to make it a playable and fun experience.