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- Tell us a little about yourself, what have you accomplished in life?
I grew up in Grosse PointePark, Michigan and started playing computer games at a very young age. My parents bought an Apple II+ and eventually a IIGS in the 80s and they were my platforms of choice until about high schoool when they started to fall off the map. I mostly played Infocom games, as well as RPGs like the Ultima and Might and Magic series. They are the ones that got me interested in working on games. I was also a huge adventure game fan, playing nearly all of the Sierra and LucasArts games at one time or another. As far as what I've accomplished, I've been lucky enough to work with some fantastic people on games that have been well-received by fans of the RPG genre. I like to think that I've had a part in making some people's lives more entertaining.
- What are your favourite computer games/board games and why?
My favorite computer game of all time is Cliff Johnson's The Fool Errand. Sadly, it is not very well known despite being one of the greatest puzzle games ever created. It uses an old-school Mac-like menu interface to provide access to individual puzzles that all have part of a story behind them. As you finish puzzles, more locations become available, and clues to a huge overriding uber-puzzle are revealed. The art style is is gorgeous, with locations using a hand-drawn silhouette style that I've never seen in another game. It's just a very satisying experience, if a bit difficult at times. I've never been much of a board game player, so I have to reach back in my memory for one that I really enjoyed. I seem to recall really liking Talisman from Games Workshop quite a bit.
- What hobbies do you have besides computer games?
I tend to watch a lot of movies and read a good deal. I also work out, which isn't so much a hobby as it is a routine, but I still enjoy it sometimes.
- What are your favourite bands/artists (music)?
I've got a pretty large music collection; everything from 80's New Wave to Cab Calloway to Rush. I think my favorite band at the moment is probably The Shins since I can't stop listening to their new album. Ween is also pretty high up on the list. I've also got a soft spot for nerd rock like Devo and They Might Be Giants.
- Tell us a little about your role in the making of Fallout 1/2/3 (Van Buren)/Tactics?
Fallout and Fallout 2 were both developed concurrently with Planescape: Torment, on which I was the lead programmer. Near the end of each of the Fallout game dev cycles there was a lot of scripting that needed to be done and very little time to do it. I was pulled from Torment for about two months on each of them to do area scripting. I don't really recall all of the work I did on Fallout 1, but I know I reworked pretty much all of the Hub. On Fallout 2 I scripted all of Vault City and the bulk of Broken Hills and Navarro. In addition, I did a bit of design work in Broken Hills which probably felt really out of place. I came up with Mickey the midget treasure hunter, the Professor and the scorpion, and running over the ghoul with your car. The area was pretty sparse near the end of development and something needed to go in there, so I did what I could with my programmer brain.
Fallout 3 was a different beast. After Baldur's Gate 3 fell apart, we started to work on Fallout 3 with that engine. I wasn't on the project for long before I left Black Isle, but I was programming on it rather than scripting. At the time, I'm pretty sure I was working on a status effect editor that would allow designers to set up various states on a character, permanent and timed, and parent them in certain ways for lifetime management. Not very interesting stuff, especially as it was originally written for BG3 which needed a far more robust effect management than Fallout would due to D&D spell complexity. I also built the path searching system for BG3, which would probably have been rewritten for Fallout 3.
- What's your favourite Fallout memory?
Probably the Fallout 2 launch party at Triangle Square in Costa Mesa. It was fun having all of those people around that really enjoyed the work we were doing. I've still got the VIP badge to prove how awesome-cool I am.
- What specifically inspired Fallout for you? What were the biggest influences?
The biggest influences I had were the people making the game. This was especially true on Fallout 2 where I worked closely with Chris Avellone to get Vault City running. When you're working with people that are passionate about a game it's easy to be inspired to work as hard as you can to make it great.
- Pop Culture played a big role in Fallout, what pop culture influences you?
I'm mostly influenced by other great games that I've played. Any game that has a deep exploration aspect usually appeals to me, and I like to work on games that have that aspect. I'm also influenced by movies and TV shows that are a bit off-center like Twin Peaks, Arrested Development, Barton Fink, and Jacob's Ladder.
- How was it to be a part of the Fallout team?
Although I didn't work very long on either project, I still felt very close to the teams. Pretty much everyone was very friendly and wanted to make a great game. The downside was largely the stress of the rush to finish the games and the amount of work it required. It was definitely worth it, though.
- Were there things that you wished you had added to either Fallouts?
I wish the main plot of Broken Hills could have been fleshed out more, but our VO recording for Marcus was already done and we couldn't add anything more for exposition in dialogue. I seem to recall I ended up having to put an important bit of information in a note of some sort that would show up as a floater when read. That was a bit disappointing.
- What were you favourite places in fallout and why?
I was always partial to the Vaults in their various incarnations. They really embodied the sort of 1950's view of future technology that helped make Fallout's setting so unique. I'm also pretty partial to Vault City since it was probably the most complicated area I scripted.
- What is your hope for future Fallout games? Would you like to be a part of a future Fo team?
My hope is they won't suck and they will be respectful of the previous games. I'm a big fan of Bethesda's work, so I expect Fallout 3 is in good hands. I'd love to work on a Fallout game again, but I'm not sure that's going to be in the cards.
- Who would you bring with you in a future Fallout team and why?
Any Fallout project needs to have at least one person at the helm that really understands the game world. Tim Cain and Chris Avellone would be on the team without a doubt. Those guys are Fallout as far as I'm concerned. I also think Josh Sawyer really gets it too, so I'd want him there as well. And no Fallout game is complete without Scott Everts!
- In your opinion, what are the key ingredients that every RPG should have?
I think all of the ways you can increase your character's power should be useful and have a noticable affect on gameplay. Tweaking one stat upwards by two points and not seeing any change in how the game plays is not as satisfying to me as having new or substantially improved skills to work with. I also like games that have a large area to explore and a reason to fully explore it. When coupled with a great auto-mapping system I'll be addicted.
- Where do you see computer RPGs going?
Sadly, at the moment I see them becoming fewer and further between, if that's even possible. However, the overall quality of each of them will probably be better than if we were drowned in PC RPGs. I think you'll see some really great games from the big players like Bioware, Bethesda, and (plug) Obsidian, but it's likely many of these will not be PC exclusives. I expect to see more small companies making great classic-style RPGs like Spiderweb Software does, and there's a good chance that digital distribution will allow these to find a larger audience than they might otherwise see.
- How does the fan base hinder/help the projects that you've worked on?
They definitely help encourage us to strive to make better games, especially when we're working with D&D. Good ideas that come from the community are sometimes used in the games we make. At the same time, though, the vocal minority can sometimes be a detrement to team morale if they persist in spewing bile. I know sometimes when I read the message boards I get pretty angry, and that doesn't make me any more likely to build a good game.
- When planning the story how do you go through the process of integrating themes and story with the constraints on software?
Since I'm a programmer I'll abstain from this question.
- If you could make any computer game that you wanted, which would it be and why?
I'd love to do an old-school RPG like Lands of Lore or Might and Magic that has first-person step-by-step movement and turn-based combat. That sort of methodical RPG where you carefully map out dungeons on graph paper always appealed to me. I'd do it on the PC at a low resolution because pixel art rocks!
- Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
With any luck, still at Obsidian working on RPGs, whatever they turn into over the next decade.
- Any last word to the Fallout fan base?
Keep playing the games and showing them to others who haven't seen them. Keep the series alive.