Tim Cain and Chris Taylor on Fallout 3

[Tagaziel]

Both lead programmer/producer/original mastermind Tim Cain and lead developer Chris Taylor have pre-ordered Fallout 3 and reluctantly share a few thoughts. Edge did a short interview with Tim Cain (thanks Ausir), regarding his opinion on Fallout 3:<blockquote>"I do like what I've seen about Fallout 3. I've talked to those guys at Bethesda about it. It's their IP now and they've gone in a certain direction and it's very intriguing.

"It's not necessarily the direction I would've gone, but I can tell you I have my Fallout 3 pre-ordered. I want my life-sized Pip-Boy. I'm going to be playing that at the end of the month."
(...)
"I've hardly thought about [what I'd do different] with Fallout 3," said Cain, "but I have thought about the online version. I've also talked to the guys at Interplay about Fallout Online.

"The biggest problem I have with expanding the game is that the original games were designed to make you feel like you were one of the last people left on Earth. And with Fallout 3 and the online version, I'm curious about how they'll handle making the game not feel too crowded--making it feel like there's not much life left out there after the war."</blockquote>Over on the Interplay forums, Chris Taylor is even more reluctant to comment, other than admiring the marketing.<blockquote>Personally, I have the deluxe edition of FO3 on order from Amazon. I can't wait for my PIPBoy clock... ^_^ I think Bethesda has done a tremendous job with the marketing, and, frankly, I'm jealous of what resources they have put into FO3.

As for the game itself, I'm reserving judgment until I get a chance to play it. Videos and images aren't enough for me to make a decision about gameplay... I need a hands-on experience. I am looking forward to playing FO3 as soon as it comes out.</blockquote>

 

[MrBumble]

I want my life-sized Pip-Boy

I can't wait for my PIPBoy clock... ^_^

As much as I love these guys ( I mean REALLY love ), I can't help but think : wtf ?

Well I guess they are probably the ones who are the more interested in what Bethesda has done with their franchise. If I were them I would feel very weird right now. Not sure how I would like it, especially when you see how mehish FO3's design seems to be.

And with Fallout 3 and the online version, I'm curious about how they'll handle making the game not feel too crowded

It seems that Bethesda forgot about that "detail" accoring to the Swedish PC Gamer review.

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

Well that should give the Bethesda strawmen a boost in moral.

I wonder, should I see Tim Cain now like George Lucas?

 

[Brother None]

Well that should give the Bethesda strawmen a boost in moral.

How so? Both are basically reserving judgement (which is just good manners, you're not going to burn on your colleagues before a game is even out) and Cain expresses some concerns and specifically notes this isn't how he'd do it.

 

[rcorporon]

I wonder if they actually have the game pre-ordered, of if they're just being politic.

 

[shihonage]

They like this game like James Cameron liked Terminator 3. He had to praise it, otherwise he would've looked small.

 

[taag]

I want my life-sized Pip-Boy

I can't wait for my PIPBoy clock... ^_^

As much as I love these guys ( I mean REALLY love ), I can't help but think : wtf ?

They were there when the PipBoy was created for FO1 and now, 11 years later, someone's making a real-sized replica of it. I would be excited about it as well. And let's not forget their nerdy side.

Man, Tim Cain grew old. I too found out how to grow old fast, start a private business

 

[MrBumble]

I wonder if they actually have the game pre-ordered, of if they're just being politic.

They do have it preordered. At least, Chris Taylor has it. I recall one of his posts here when Bethsoft announced the Survival Edition saying that he cancelled his preorder of the collector for the Survival one.

 

[Mad Mantis]

Good for them that they preordered the game, but do you really expect them to tear into the game if it is bad? At most I'm expecting a lot praise, some veiled criticism and a lot of "I don't know if I'd have on the same".

 

[Pope Viper]

It's interesting how they seem to be more excited about the clock than about the actually game

 

[goffy59]

I think they both are being well mannered. If they completely bashed it, they would look bad themselves. I'm pretty sure they have a lot more to say on the subject. They basically bought visiting rights to their son that was taken away from CPS. Only thing that truly bothers me is they didn't even comment on the fact that its even called Fallout 3. I still wanted to have a continuation of the series, not a damn face-lift. And I'm not talking about Bethesda's game design. But the fact they called it Fallout 3, when it really has NOTHING to do with it. Its a spin off to be frank.

I just wanted to be in the middle of the conflict when NCR/Vault City/BOS all duked it out. But whatever. I decided a VERY long time ago that I was being let down by Bethesda. It doesn't bother me anymore.

I'm just waiting for Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. Thats really all I look forward to. Also the new WOW expansion would be nice, and possibly Warcraft 4. Pretty much, anything from Blizzard is golden in my eyes. Blizzard has NEVER let me down as a consumer. They always deliver, with no bullshit or gimmicks. I wish I could say the same about other game companies.(Well most, not all)


I recently got a hold of Mass Effect; and EA games fucked the release up on the PC. It crashes all the time. I can run the game on full settings with no lag or framerate issues. But it crashes and I blame EA for rushing the release and not giving me a quality release. Fuck EA! I was getting excited with Mass Effect and enjoying the amount of dialog and gameplay options, but then; BAMMMM... computer crashes and then I have to restart.

I know they just published it, but it seems they forced Bioware to give it an early release on the PC without more beta testing/etc.

And Its not my computer. I can run Crysis (and the expansion), Assassins Creed, Call of Duty 4, Stalker/Clear Sky, and many other games.


On a side note; I've never read an interview where Tim Cain insulted anyone like a lot of us were expecting. So this response is pretty normal if you think about it. I hope to hear more on what he(and Chris) thinks when he(and Chris) finally gets to play it.

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

Well anyway, while I do understand Tim's and Chris's response it still feels like a slap in the face.

 

[aenemic]

true, they'd look really small if they would straigh out tear it apart. but if they didn't like it at all and didn't want anything to do with it, they'd simply not do the interview or skip that question. why would they lie about pre-ordering and pretend to be excited about it?

 

[Brother None]

true, they'd look really small if they would straigh out tear it apart. but if they didn't like it at all and didn't want anything to do with it, they'd simply not do the interview or skip that question. why would they lie about pre-ordering

Exactly true. They have no reason to lie or fabricate about this kind of stuff, and all you nuts 'n bolts implying or saying that they might be are being numbnuts. Just take what they say at face value: they're curious about the game and withholding judgement until they play it. Anyone who feels disappointed by that attitude just needs a reality check.

and pretend to be excited about it?

Uh sorry what? Where do either of them say they're excited about the game?

 

[ookami]

That sounds respectably diplomatic and professional of them. I'm actually surprised they aren't getting complimentary copies in the spirit of old school PR cred. Seems like some people at Bethesda could take a lesson or two (but probably more than that) from Cain and Taylor.

 

[Mutoes]

Their opinions matter more than propably any game crtitics or players (at least to fans of the older games) and they arent even paid for commenting stuff like that so i very much understand them for beeing polite and wait until they have played the games themselves.

 

[Casual Gamer]

true, they'd look really small if they would straigh out tear it apart. but if they didn't like it at all and didn't want anything to do with it, they'd simply not do the interview or skip that question. why would they lie about pre-ordering

Exactly true. They have no reason to lie or fabricate about this kind of stuff, and all you nuts 'n bolts implying or saying that they might be are being numbnuts. Just take what they say at face value: they're curious about the game and withholding judgement until they play it. Anyone who feels disappointed by that attitude just needs a reality check.

and pretend to be excited about it?

Uh sorry what? Where do either of them say they're excited about the game?

He's slightly overplaying something you're slightly underplaying. It's semantic really. The facts are as stated: Tim likes what he's seen and is intrigued. Chris is looking forward to playing it. Both of them have already purchased the game.

They may be less than excited, but they are obviously more than curious.

 

[Seymour the spore plant]

I think this here might be the most important part of that Edge interview:

To be honest, I'm looking forward to Fallout 3 as a consumer, not a developer. I just want to play it and enjoy it

Still, can't say I'm not disappointed by this. Not because I expected him to spew bile all over the game, something that would obviously be unprofessional, but because I really thought that designers as good as him would be more demanding consumers.

What hope is there for the industry to improve its standards if even its exponents consider good design secondary when buying a product?

 

[taag]

What hope is there for the industry to improve its standards if even its exponents consider good design secondary when buying a product?

As a gaming industry veteran I don't believe Tim considers good design secondary. He's just looking forward to playing the game first. I don't see why he should praise or bash the game before that.

 

[Brother None]

but because I really thought that designers as good as him would be more demanding consumers

Really not their job.

I've privately spoken to a few Fallout developers on Fallout 3 (not Cain or Taylor, note) and some like the way it's shaping up and others hate it, but neither group would say so publicly before release because it's just unprofessional. And even after release I wouldn't expect too much of it, and that's a good thing. You don't want an artistic community where people are constantly looking over one another's shoulders, because you get petty squabbling and irrelevant nonsense making the papers (just look at the Dutch literary circles for an example).

Quality control of other people's games should never be a responsibility put to developers, it should be up to us journos. The fact that many of us fail at that task does not mean it should be transmitted to others who really are not responsible for it.