Avellone, Tim Cain, Nuka Break Series Interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDOBp5ukZ3s

A little bit of pining over days of yore mixed with a bit much focus on the web series, but still fun to watch. Nice to see Cain and Avellone together.

This part in part2 immediately reminds me of DS3.

There was one part of the interview which made me cringe - but sadly is just a sign of the times - and that was when Tim Cain mentioned in response to a question on whether a really good idea was enough to get a publisher's interest: "I don't know if a good idea is enough anymore. I've been fortunate enough that twice I had an opportunity to make a game based on an idea, with no business plan, no demographic studies, anything like that." He then continues to say that Fallout 1 was made partly because Interplay didn't want a new RPG in yet another fantasy setting that would compete with their own DnD based games. So they - the publishers - actually wanted a creative game that was unique, rather than follow the "flood the market, being creative is too 'risky' and doesn't fit demographic_X" strategies of today. Obviously, the business side of things is a necessary evil that must be taken into account to at least some degree, but I wish there was a less rigid system in place for developers to strike a balance between business necessities and creative freedom.

Also interesting: Tim looking back on Fallout 1's development, where according to Tim, Interplay didn't even look at what they were doing for the first 2 years of the 3 that it took to develop. No publisher interference? I wonder why it was such a creative, incredible game…

Originally Posted by Nerevarine
Also interesting: Tim looking back on Fallout 1's development, where according to Tim, Interplay didn't even look at what they were doing for the first 2 years of the 3 that it took to develop. No publisher interference? I wonder why it was such a creative, incredible game…

If I'm right (and I may be remembering incorrectly), Tim was alone the first year, coming up with the basis of Fallout; that's not to say he wasn't responsible for other work, however…