Nah, it really is because of that that it became the game it is. The team behind it was passionate and they were left to do what they loved. More money can’t beat passion.
I remember that in your older "lectures" on the subject of FO you said the following: "If you find an egoless team, stay there." or something like that. This has been haunting me ever since and is not that easy to find.
Yep, me too. I'm in a team now (not games development though but software non-the-less), where we have a couple of egos and nobody really like this (well expect for the big egos.. maybe). It really hampens any productive meetings as they become grounds for airing frustrations about the power they have (or lack thereof) in the team, removing the focus on the practical matter in hand.
I remember watching the credits roll down in Fallout as a small kid (I was 13-14 years) and wondering who these people were, and what they were like. I think I remember recognizing the same names in some of the graveyards in the game, maybe thanks to the unusual name of Feargus Urquhart. I am now so happy to listen to these stories, and learn the atmosphere in which Fallout was made. They are also helpful tips and insights for my work life and future endeavors.
Shrek was also a B-tier project. Smash Bros was a B-tier project. Funny how when you remove corporate oversight and let creatives be creatives, good things happen 🤔
Tim - Your work has brought immense joy and fun to my, and my family's, lives. Thank you. In 2007 when my husband and I were dating, he knew I liked post-apocalyptic movies, gaming, and old music, and said "You gotta see this game I have. You'll like it. It has everything." He put on Fallout 2 for me and I was awed and in love. He was right. I'd sit next to him and watch him play the game until we got a PS3 and later played the Bethesda games together. Our son, who is now 15, loves Fallout and Fallout 2 and has played them repeatedly. Our whole family are fans. Thank you. I absolutely love watching your channel.
Everyone start crawling out from the woodworks once a project goes from "B-Tier" to "A-Tier". Suddenly people you've never even heard of are taking credit and want in.
Sometimes as a dev I fantasized about the companies I worked at setting up decoy important projects so the executives and marketers would be busy "helping" it, and we could do the real work efficiently.
Oh my god this reminded me of an incident when i was still sailing, we had some problems with the fuel purifying and pumping systems and the whole team scrambled to fix it asap. And the chief engineer was panicking a lot and screaming at everyone and was generally disruptive and causing the other crewmates to make mistakes in the moment. Luckily because i had more time on board than him, even if i was just a relatively newly promoted 3rd engineer i got an idea to make up some excuse that because i've dealt with the purifiers on this ship i know that sometimes some other problems can occur throughout the line and we should check them, and asked for him to follow me so i can have his more vast expertise at play in case we find wrong. While i was with him on the wild goose hunt, the others managed to work way more efficiently and quickly, and i just had to endure the constant swearing that was coming from the Chief. It's so fascinating how so many experiences can translate to so many different industries.
The story of a "problematic employee" requiring 3 days to finish an assignment and not be bothered until those 3 days have passed resonates with me hard right now. I try to adapt to my manager and engage in his short meetings, but I constantly feel the urge to tell him "which part of 3 days to finish did you not understand". Kinda funny how things don't change across countries, times and industries.
I feel it man, im a tradesman and had a similar discussion with my doctor the first time I met him. You would think stuff like this wouldn't even exist in other industries but no, sometimes its commplace and it blows my mind
this is what happens when society teaches you the "best" way to use humans as pawns instead of teaching you the humane and understanding means to reach maximum efficiency. Managers are a joke.
In a way, the way your team ended up put together is the definition of: "The rigtht man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world." - Half Life 2
Great, can't wait for tomorrow's video. But while you're at it, could you also talk a little bit about Fallout cutscenes. They are by far my favorite video game cinematics ever, but I've never heard anyone talk about who actually made them, and what was the whole process. Thank you very much.
Fallout was the defining game of my youth, thanks for everything Tim. I could barely read. All those pop culture references in the game had no meaning to me yet, so I spent the rest of my life having a-ha moments where I'd finally get the reference and think "That came from Fallout!" I'm turning 37 next week and still go back and play it every few years. You got something really beautiful out of the team, out of the time, out of the place, and it stands on it's own as a work of art.
The point about how Fallout would have turned out differently, probably worse, if not for the conditions of relative obscurity and freedom (from management) is really interesting and it makes me wonder if these kinds of opportunities/spaces still exist within the commercial games industry.
My first exposure to Fallout was the demo that was released in April 1997, the one where you can only play Max Stone and that's set in the first map of Junktown. You get to decide which side to pick in a gang war. I played that demo over and over as a kid. After that, Fallout was a first-day purchase when it finally released. What was the story there? Or was making a short gameplay demo just kind of standard practice for Interplay back then?
Demos were standard back then, and they were made for almost every game. I checked my notes on it, and this demo was made just 2 weeks after removing GURPS and replacing it with SPECIAL. It spent 5-6 weeks in QA before we released it at the end of April.
it took me forever, but I beat the demo 3 different ways - once for each side, and then I killed everyone. I had to steal that chain guns, which was no easy task, but murdering everyone in town was absolutely worth it!!
I wish more developers would do things like this. The history of gaming is fascinating, and we're fortunate enough to have these trailblazers still around. It's not like the movie industry where everyone in the early days is gone
Thank you guys so much for coming up with this World / IP / Game, it means a lot to me. The Fallout and Baldurs Gate series made me fall in love with the RPG genre. You are living legends.
Fallout& BG at 11/12 years old were an unmatched experience, imo. Maybe I'm finally turning into the old man yelling at the sky, but kids these days.. I mean, sure, Fortnite is fun to play - like a theme park is fun. Fallout & BG were like living inside of a good book. A book that almost from the onset felt so well read and loved, even though I was only partially through one of many, many, many playthroughs. I actually recently fired up Fallout for the first time in years, and chuckled to myself remembering how so many people trying it for the first time comment on its difficulty. ;)
@@claymang Exactly, seeing the vault dweller with the big 13 on their back alone makes me so happy. Those are legendary games man, i am so glad, that we grew up with those games. Maybe there will be a old man or women in 30 years, who thinks the same way about fortnight, who knows :D.
@@fyaunzaun yup.. they don't make em like they used to, truly. I've heard Divinity original sin 2 is really good... I tried it but was a little overwhelmed. Your thoughts on it? :)
Fallout will always be a special game in my heart. Even before i knew the background of the games development, i could feel the love and passion put into it.
I appreciate you sticking up for the "problematic" employees. Its nice to hear about someone appreciate their workers and be able to work with well.... how they work.
Epitome of the "dudes nerding out in a broom closet" dream team. i think this is how the best games are made: a handful of impassioned gamers/artists who by some miracle found themselves sharing a boat, sailing into the unknown together
The first time I heard about Fallout was on an IRC for an old Ultima fan club. The guy who was talking about it seemed really excited about it so I decided I'd pick it up when it came out. I still remember buying it from an independent PC game store that run out of an old post office. Years later EB Games would launch in my country and most of those places would close.
Your insight on how to manage people as individuals is really inspiring. I've had many managers in both the software and games business that either didn't or wouldn't accept that everyone has different needs at work.
You know you're at the wrong company when they get mad at you for making a good game. I'm so glad Fallout was a B project because you're right; it would've gotten muddied by beurocracy otherwise.
Damn, it's incredible to hear the origin story of this franchise I probably spent close to 1500 hours in and how close it came to not being. You underdogs are the real mvps. Never forget the value you brought into the world, be it recognized or not
I first learned about Fallout from one of those magazine ads. I loved the original Wasteland as a kid, and couldn't have been more excited. I was working on Might and Magic 6 or 7 at the time, and we were all playing Starcraft when Fallout came out. Suddenly all of us designers at NWC completely forgot about Starcraft and the only thing we talked about at lunch was Fallout. I'm so glad it didn't get canceled!
MM6+7 were great games. Pity nothing has really filled in their void. Grimrock feels kinda similar but that's more a combat-puzzle game where MM were open world adventure games. I especially liked the bouncing between the first person MM and strategy HOMM. MM, HOMM, Fallout, Deus ex, and BG. Those were the games I sunk most of my time as a kid.
God, describing how you deal with people, you sound like a great boss. Like, I'm sure you weren't perfect, because nobody is, but props to you for trying your best. I'm going to watch the "How to Build a Motivated Team" next!
Oh man can I relate to your story about the "Problem employees" or shall we say "problem managers". Thank the atom they locked the people they didn't like in the basement to make one of the best and most original franchises in gaming history! Lovely to hear your stories like this, thank you Tim! Fallout truly changed my life in many ways :)
Remember, I did say that one of the problem employees really was a problem employee. Making this a black-and-white "worker vs. manager" issue only makes it harder to fix problems when they arise.
Great history. Uneasy, yes, but great. As I wrote under other videos, thank you for your work for Fallout. It brings joy into my life. I actually finished it again last week :)
I wonder if your experience as a DM helped at all with your experience managing people? It sounds like you recognized all the different types of people on your team and were able to tailor your management style to work for them, which is a big part of trying to make a happy dnd group.
I really like these candid pieces. Very iintteresting. Fallout was the one game I always remmeber as giving me that endorphin rush that got get me addicted into computer gaming way back in 1997 and openeing up a wonderful hobby. Fallout was the one..i got into gaming late in life..im late 50's now and Im still gaming! Thanks! Dave Hendee even sent me some cool stickers in the mail (before all this digital stuff). I then bought fallout 2 at full pop insteads of waiting for sale like i do 98% of the time. I still have my original boxes and even receipts of purchase and all the cool manuals etc.
it makes me so happy to hear that you understood different types of people and their work styles!! I absolutely hate managers that see their team as something to wrangle with and whip into uniformity, rather than seeing them as a group of people with different ways of doing things. Much better to understand where everyone is coming from!
Thank you so much for you and your team's hard work to create Fallout, Tim. It's a series that brought so many of my friends together in middle school and was our foundation for a love of gaming to this day.
I literally remember seeing the ad in a gaming magazine and being completely dumbstruck. For weeks I would open the magazine just to look at the ad again and again
Absolutely love your videos Tim, only recently stumbled upon them. I'm a junior software developer and i've learnt so much and gained so much perspective listening to your videos
I definitely stumbled upon Fallout in the store and decided to buy it because the box art looked cool. One of the best random purchases I ever made. I spent the entire summer playing Fallout, and I took the manual with me on a family trip so I could read it.
Tim, have you ever thought about writing a book about all your experiences in game development? You've been a part of some of the biggest names in gaming, I think people would really learn a lot from you. Great video and I'm looking forward to binging all your content.
You spoke of different people needing to be managed differently. Some say it'll take 3 days and don't want to be seen for 3 days, and others want to be checked on regularly. It sounds like being Open-minded and willing to treat everyone according to their prefrences(check on them when they want you to), is the right way to lead a team; and part of why the Fallout team was soo motivated. You treated them respectfully & considered their feelings.
Hi Tim, I'm a game design student in the Netherlands and listening to your stories and your experiences has been so valuable to me! I could listen to you talk for hours! I'll be going into the industry soon and hearing how you managed your team has made me feel some hope that I'll get to work with someone as brilliant as you! Thank you so much for doing this! Keep up the good work!
Awesome channel that I just found today! It's awesome to see your viewpoints and experiences on Fallout 1 (One of my favorite games in one of my favorite franchises) and other games!
In general I've noticed that the people who really believe in a project are supportive early on so you need to please them and continue the relationship of respect. The people that don't help/hinder the project will latch on at the end for the glory if it goes well.
Thank you Tim for saving Fallout for us; it's the 1st time I learn that it was so close to being canceled, and as a huge fan of F and F2 for almost 20 years already I'm terrified by the fact that it could be easily scrapped. I literally don't know how my life would go without this game since it brought so many people into my life as I became part of a our local warm and friendly Fallout fan community. Cheers from Russia!
I've been silently enjoying your videos these past several weeks, so before I forget, I'd just like to take the time to show my appreciation with what you've been doing. I love all of these videos, it's really all quite interesting hearing your stories of your time making some of the many games you've helped create in your career. I think it's absolutely wonderful to have these videos to help give some insight into your creative process and history. I always love hearing stuff like this from the actual developers and designers who made the games, and not just some over-produced documentary that focuses mostly on the company and whatnot. These videos will most certainly be a treasure in the many years to come. Thank you so much for sharing! I look forward to continue hearing more :)
Team management - yes please! I'm really glad you've made such a great channel. I'm a gamedesigner on Caliber and your story about how the team is really motivated reminds me of my colleagues. Thanks again 🙂
Just wanted to say thank you for what you ae doing here, its incredible knowledge you're sharing. And thank you for all you have accomplished and given us.
I love these stories and it's cool to see you take advantage of the platform to clear up old misconceptions. What's more, you may have healed an old wound with Fred in this video!
I'm glad that you are able to give us this insider information on the processes of developing Fallout, as the franchise is my favorite of all time. Thank you for creating Fallout.
Thank you so much for this talk, I still remember going into a store w my folks to get my very first game. My best mate picked some of the older Baldur's Gate games, so when we were at his place we played that, I picked something different and that Fallout box was the one that caught my eye. I still remember playing it, and replaying it over and over again exploring all the possibilities and still being surprised many runs in. The attention to detail was superb for the time. If lighting could be caught in a bottle twice, I really hope that you and the team are there revitalizing cRPGs. Thank you again for all your work!
I just wanted to say that Fallout was one of my first ever PC game experiences and created so many wonderful memories and experiences since then (all the Black Isle / Troika golden years). Thank you so much for contributing so much to that. Really happy you made this channel. Cheers
I love that you were the lead on the fallout conception and I wish I had had the opportunity to work with you on his project. Sounds like a great time!
Hello Tim, thanks to you and yur team for one of my favorite games ever. I played the demo on a PC gamer disc and my brother and I fought to play it over and over and waited for release. Your game and team made me a fan of post apocalyptic settings before i knew what they were. Ive loved your other RPGs and pook forward to more.
These videos are so vindicating to watch, Tim. Not full of game design advice necessarily but just so calming and vindicating to hear of the problems other people have faced in teams, the politics of the industry etcetera. I love your brain and your way of telling stories, and as an aside Outer Worlds was great fun! I have autism and a lot of these stories of "problem people" remind me of people who labelled me a problem or "difficult".
You remind me of someone I used to work with; your mannerisms, your speech and intonation. It makes me feel like I've known you for years which make listening to you all the more enjoyable. It's like catching up with an old friend and I love hearing what you have to say. Thank you and your team for bringing us Fallout. ❤
Awesome video Tim, been a huge fan of your work for years. You can see the passion for fallout coming from you in this video. I hope that some day before you hang it up you can work on another Fallout game. The passion bled through very clearly in your work on New Vegas and shows the potential that could be in a future fallout given the budget and time to work on it. Good luck on your future games and I as always look forward to playing them!
Perfectly understanding everything you're saying here, Tim. A lot of it chimes with what Matt Colville says on his streams when reminiscing about his time in game dev and the difference between small good teams vs when a studio gets too big or the publishers/producers get too interested. "Rpg players buy multiple rpgs" I bought Fallout and Baldur's Gate literally on the same day lol As an aside (and I appreciate you may not want to get into it) Feargus being in charge of f2 and your favoured producer's paperwork being 'forgotten' lines up pretty well with some of the stuff Chris Avelone has been saying in his tell-alls.
What an awesome and inspiring anecdote. I encourage you to please continue posting on TH-cam, as you have SO MUCH [inspiration and knowledge] to offer creative up-and-comers. I myself am an audio engineer, so remember, you can stoke the fires of those outside of your direct industry, too.
I know it would probably never happen but i would genuinely give my left nut for another Fallout you made. Fallout is… I’m sitting here and i cant even put into words what Fallout is to me. And recently its gotten me interested in video game development, as previously i had never done anything software related and ended up creating my own mods for Fallout NV recently, and now I’m trying to learn c++. Im 23 and I’m at a point in my life where I’m trying to figure out what i want to do for the future (i know I’m pretty late to that) but it would genuinely be amazing to be apart of something that could potentially be so substantial to someone in the future like Fallout has been for myself. Thank you.
It’s really good to see people who r humble above it all and just strictly professional, you have to make a lot of really tough decisions that in the long run might have brought down the product to you or others at the time but it went onto be a classic n even where a lotta newer games they don’t even have half the complexity of a lotta things u put out. Just when u break down the circumstances u guys had so much against you I can totally rationalize every aspect of your steps along the way and it’s just so good to hear that one on one, the industry… the industry never changes XD
Thank you for being behind one of the games that marked me as a video game enjoyer (not a gamer) the most to this day. I was born a year after this game's release date but only 20 years later would I give it a shot and I absolutely fell in love with it. I've played every single entry in the franchise so far, except for 76 and that PS2 brotherhood of steel game, but if there is one game I always return to with the fondest of hearts, it would be Fallout.
I’ve been binging your channel so much since I got interested in game development and just want to say the honesty of your views and opinions are such a breath of fresh air.
Thank you so much to you and your team for making Fallout. I've been playing all kinds of games since the mid-1980s, and I don't know that any game ever felt as special to play for the firs ttime as this one. I still have the original box, and it's the only PC game box I still have. I could never throw it out or sell it for any amount of money. P.S. I am also holding in my hands right now the original spiral-bound manual for ToEE, one of the handful of PC game manuals I've held on to.
It always amazes me how many business managers are just Pikachu face when someone tells them to treat and manage people like they're people and not assets. I feel like every organization I have worked for just cycles through this behavior. Peter principle is so, so, so bad in most places. A heck of a lot of managers who were promoted there, actually do not have the skills for management. My best managers have never been technically the best skilled, or even the most productive people. My best managers have always been, solid all-rounders with very strong people skills, and were great empaths. Above all, they do ultimately favor logic above emotion, but are able to balance the nuances of working with real people, who have real (complex) emotions, and live real lives. I emphasize the real people part, because it is fascinating how many either ignore, or conveniently disregard this, when managing projects. It is refreshing to hear you talk about how you actually thought about; a) what traits from your employees you needed, b) how they (as humans) could fit into a project plan, and then, c) actually built a realistic project framework around this. These are the trademarks of a manager that I would want to work for/with.
I’ve never played Fallout but this was a fantastic look behind the scenes. Thanks for making this video. I wonder how many potentially great works, video games or otherwise, never came to fruition because their potential was underestimated.
i played fallout 2 for years without finishing it. i was just exploring around. best game ever. i played the first one later but same top top quality. big thanks to you
I saw a review in some PC game magazine in '97. A few screenshots and a bit of write up - but the isometric perspective reminded me of my then favourite game Shadowrun on the SNES. Gave it a shot based on that and 25 years later... Fallout (even Todd's) games are some of my all time favourites. Thank you Tim and Team. Fallout is the GOAT.
I never heard about Fallout until I randomly received Fallout 2 in a small stack of burned CDs from someone else, who didn't even know what it was themselves. Fell in love by the time I was on the character creation screen!
Fallout series was a massive influence on me when I was a kid and in a positive way, made me more curious about various subjects and I even dabbled in game development myself. Thank you for this awesome series. :)
I had only played 1 and 2 recently but I absolutely loved my time with them. I wish I got to experience fall out 1 when I was a little guy. I sincerely thank you for being part of something that made me have a lot of fun.
I played the demo - it came on a cd with some PC magazine, as was normal at the time. I played the heck out of that demo, and binged Fallout when I got it for Christmas!!
One of my favourite game franchises. Thank you for your effort in making this game. Passionate and creative people like you and your team is why gaming still protecting has a soul.
This history kinda reminds me of Shrek. Shrek, was actually a punishment project for Dream Works animators who were underperforming on other projects, getting put on Shrek even had a nicknamed, Shreked. Nobody thought it was going to as good as it was until after it came out and it was so low priority that very few people wanted to work on it in the first place.
It reminds me of a couple movies that were made by teams of people kicked off other projects who were left to do their own thing, Shrek and The Emperor's New Groove
![ทททททททท #27 [หลุยส์ เค โตมายังไง ณ สระบุรี]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/CaKoYw_Xmtg/mqdefault.jpg)
It insane that a B-tier project and something “not worthwhile” became one of the biggest video game series
Same with Shrek
Nah, it really is because of that that it became the game it is. The team behind it was passionate and they were left to do what they loved. More money can’t beat passion.
@@RedMartyrEntertainment more money more problem
@@necrosadotor nah bro, sometimes a good development team simply cant work without money
@@Chuked that's also true
I remember that in your older "lectures" on the subject of FO you said the following:
"If you find an egoless team, stay there." or something like that.
This has been haunting me ever since and is not that easy to find.
Yep, me too.
I'm in a team now (not games development though but software non-the-less), where we have a couple of egos and nobody really like this (well expect for the big egos.. maybe).
It really hampens any productive meetings as they become grounds for airing frustrations about the power they have (or lack thereof) in the team, removing the focus on the practical matter in hand.
I remember watching the credits roll down in Fallout as a small kid (I was 13-14 years) and wondering who these people were, and what they were like. I think I remember recognizing the same names in some of the graveyards in the game, maybe thanks to the unusual name of Feargus Urquhart. I am now so happy to listen to these stories, and learn the atmosphere in which Fallout was made. They are also helpful tips and insights for my work life and future endeavors.
No gravestones in Fallout 1 they are in Fallout 2
I was around the same age then and I also wondered who they where.
True story.
B-tier project that became the best rpg i've ever played. Thank you Tim.
Shrek was also a B-tier project. Smash Bros was a B-tier project. Funny how when you remove corporate oversight and let creatives be creatives, good things happen 🤔
Tim - Your work has brought immense joy and fun to my, and my family's, lives. Thank you. In 2007 when my husband and I were dating, he knew I liked post-apocalyptic movies, gaming, and old music, and said "You gotta see this game I have. You'll like it. It has everything." He put on Fallout 2 for me and I was awed and in love. He was right. I'd sit next to him and watch him play the game until we got a PS3 and later played the Bethesda games together. Our son, who is now 15, loves Fallout and Fallout 2 and has played them repeatedly. Our whole family are fans. Thank you. I absolutely love watching your channel.
Everyone start crawling out from the woodworks once a project goes from "B-Tier" to "A-Tier". Suddenly people you've never even heard of are taking credit and want in.
Sometimes as a dev I fantasized about the companies I worked at setting up decoy important projects so the executives and marketers would be busy "helping" it, and we could do the real work efficiently.
Ain't this the reality of like every corporate job? Middle managers desperately "middle managing" to justify their existence.
Oh my god this reminded me of an incident when i was still sailing, we had some problems with the fuel purifying and pumping systems and the whole team scrambled to fix it asap. And the chief engineer was panicking a lot and screaming at everyone and was generally disruptive and causing the other crewmates to make mistakes in the moment. Luckily because i had more time on board than him, even if i was just a relatively newly promoted 3rd engineer i got an idea to make up some excuse that because i've dealt with the purifiers on this ship i know that sometimes some other problems can occur throughout the line and we should check them, and asked for him to follow me so i can have his more vast expertise at play in case we find wrong. While i was with him on the wild goose hunt, the others managed to work way more efficiently and quickly, and i just had to endure the constant swearing that was coming from the Chief. It's so fascinating how so many experiences can translate to so many different industries.
There is nothing worse than managers and HR and marketers trying to help software development teams or IT engineers.
The story of a "problematic employee" requiring 3 days to finish an assignment and not be bothered until those 3 days have passed resonates with me hard right now. I try to adapt to my manager and engage in his short meetings, but I constantly feel the urge to tell him "which part of 3 days to finish did you not understand".
Kinda funny how things don't change across countries, times and industries.
I wouldn't even look in their eye, they don't earn it
I feel it man, im a tradesman and had a similar discussion with my doctor the first time I met him. You would think stuff like this wouldn't even exist in other industries but no, sometimes its commplace and it blows my mind
@@WoodDavers bonus points for Shambler profile pic
this is what happens when society teaches you the "best" way to use humans as pawns instead of teaching you the humane and understanding means to reach maximum efficiency. Managers are a joke.
its just capitalism
In a way, the way your team ended up put together is the definition of:
"The rigtht man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world."
- Half Life 2
Great, can't wait for tomorrow's video. But while you're at it, could you also talk a little bit about Fallout cutscenes. They are by far my favorite video game cinematics ever, but I've never heard anyone talk about who actually made them, and what was the whole process. Thank you very much.
Good question, and I think I can get answer to that in a few days!
I am also curious if the in-game assets and sprites were rendered from the same models that were used in the cutscenes.
Fallout was the defining game of my youth, thanks for everything Tim. I could barely read. All those pop culture references in the game had no meaning to me yet, so I spent the rest of my life having a-ha moments where I'd finally get the reference and think "That came from Fallout!"
I'm turning 37 next week and still go back and play it every few years. You got something really beautiful out of the team, out of the time, out of the place, and it stands on it's own as a work of art.
The point about how Fallout would have turned out differently, probably worse, if not for the conditions of relative obscurity and freedom (from management) is really interesting and it makes me wonder if these kinds of opportunities/spaces still exist within the commercial games industry.
My first exposure to Fallout was the demo that was released in April 1997, the one where you can only play Max Stone and that's set in the first map of Junktown. You get to decide which side to pick in a gang war.
I played that demo over and over as a kid. After that, Fallout was a first-day purchase when it finally released.
What was the story there? Or was making a short gameplay demo just kind of standard practice for Interplay back then?
Demos were standard back then, and they were made for almost every game. I checked my notes on it, and this demo was made just 2 weeks after removing GURPS and replacing it with SPECIAL. It spent 5-6 weeks in QA before we released it at the end of April.
@@CainOnGames Hey tim do you think there's a chance to find that version of Fallout with GURPS or it's already lost in time?
@Gront we're talking about a game that, infamously, the source code was lost. Gurps version would be cool though.
it took me forever, but I beat the demo 3 different ways - once for each side, and then I killed everyone. I had to steal that chain guns, which was no easy task, but murdering everyone in town was absolutely worth it!!
@@JustGrontlol
I wish more developers would do things like this. The history of gaming is fascinating, and we're fortunate enough to have these trailblazers still around. It's not like the movie industry where everyone in the early days is gone
Fallout isn't really the "early days" of video game history, though.
Thank you guys so much for coming up with this World / IP / Game, it means a lot to me. The Fallout and Baldurs Gate series made me fall in love with the RPG genre. You are living legends.
Fallout& BG at 11/12 years old were an unmatched experience, imo. Maybe I'm finally turning into the old man yelling at the sky, but kids these days.. I mean, sure, Fortnite is fun to play - like a theme park is fun. Fallout & BG were like living inside of a good book. A book that almost from the onset felt so well read and loved, even though I was only partially through one of many, many, many playthroughs. I actually recently fired up Fallout for the first time in years, and chuckled to myself remembering how so many people trying it for the first time comment on its difficulty. ;)
@@claymang hey, we still have good rpgs today. Disco Elysium was great, I'm sure it will also inspire future devs
@@claymang Exactly, seeing the vault dweller with the big 13 on their back alone makes me so happy. Those are legendary games man, i am so glad, that we grew up with those games. Maybe there will be a old man or women in 30 years, who thinks the same way about fortnight, who knows :D.
@@webdrivertorso9998 That game was awesome!
@@fyaunzaun yup.. they don't make em like they used to, truly. I've heard Divinity original sin 2 is really good... I tried it but was a little overwhelmed. Your thoughts on it? :)
Fallout will always be a special game in my heart. Even before i knew the background of the games development, i could feel the love and passion put into it.
I still remember getting the demo from a gaming magazine CD and playing it over and over. Fantastic design.
I appreciate you sticking up for the "problematic" employees. Its nice to hear about someone appreciate their workers and be able to work with well.... how they work.
Epitome of the "dudes nerding out in a broom closet" dream team. i think this is how the best games are made: a handful of impassioned gamers/artists who by some miracle found themselves sharing a boat, sailing into the unknown together
It's amazing how free pizza influenced the revolution in the RPG genre back then.
Great video. I'm intrigued by the spinning globe thingy behind you, what is that?
A magnetically suspended globe I got as a gift. It can light up too!
The first time I heard about Fallout was on an IRC for an old Ultima fan club. The guy who was talking about it seemed really excited about it so I decided I'd pick it up when it came out. I still remember buying it from an independent PC game store that run out of an old post office. Years later EB Games would launch in my country and most of those places would close.
Your insight on how to manage people as individuals is really inspiring. I've had many managers in both the software and games business that either didn't or wouldn't accept that everyone has different needs at work.
You know you're at the wrong company when they get mad at you for making a good game. I'm so glad Fallout was a B project because you're right; it would've gotten muddied by beurocracy otherwise.
Wish I had managers like you
Damn, it's incredible to hear the origin story of this franchise I probably spent close to 1500 hours in and how close it came to not being. You underdogs are the real mvps. Never forget the value you brought into the world, be it recognized or not
I first learned about Fallout from one of those magazine ads. I loved the original Wasteland as a kid, and couldn't have been more excited. I was working on Might and Magic 6 or 7 at the time, and we were all playing Starcraft when Fallout came out. Suddenly all of us designers at NWC completely forgot about Starcraft and the only thing we talked about at lunch was Fallout. I'm so glad it didn't get canceled!
MM6+7 were great games. Pity nothing has really filled in their void. Grimrock feels kinda similar but that's more a combat-puzzle game where MM were open world adventure games. I especially liked the bouncing between the first person MM and strategy HOMM. MM, HOMM, Fallout, Deus ex, and BG. Those were the games I sunk most of my time as a kid.
God, describing how you deal with people, you sound like a great boss. Like, I'm sure you weren't perfect, because nobody is, but props to you for trying your best. I'm going to watch the "How to Build a Motivated Team" next!
Oh man can I relate to your story about the "Problem employees" or shall we say "problem managers". Thank the atom they locked the people they didn't like in the basement to make one of the best and most original franchises in gaming history! Lovely to hear your stories like this, thank you Tim! Fallout truly changed my life in many ways :)
i recall a similar story involving Shrek
"The problem was the managers"
Every fuckin time
Remember, I did say that one of the problem employees really was a problem employee. Making this a black-and-white "worker vs. manager" issue only makes it harder to fix problems when they arise.
@@CainOnGames True, it's just all too common for issues to be traced back to the managers.
I found it when I went to a friend's house in 97 and he was playing - had no clue it existed - no ads, not talk.
Great history. Uneasy, yes, but great. As I wrote under other videos, thank you for your work for Fallout. It brings joy into my life. I actually finished it again last week :)
I wonder if your experience as a DM helped at all with your experience managing people? It sounds like you recognized all the different types of people on your team and were able to tailor your management style to work for them, which is a big part of trying to make a happy dnd group.
I really like these candid pieces. Very iintteresting. Fallout was the one game I always remmeber as giving me that endorphin rush that got get me addicted into computer gaming way back in 1997 and openeing up a wonderful hobby. Fallout was the one..i got into gaming late in life..im late 50's now and Im still gaming! Thanks! Dave Hendee even sent me some cool stickers in the mail (before all this digital stuff). I then bought fallout 2 at full pop insteads of waiting for sale like i do 98% of the time. I still have my original boxes and even receipts of purchase and all the cool manuals etc.
it makes me so happy to hear that you understood different types of people and their work styles!! I absolutely hate managers that see their team as something to wrangle with and whip into uniformity, rather than seeing them as a group of people with different ways of doing things. Much better to understand where everyone is coming from!
8:14 - I dunno why but I find the fact that you made that up to sound convincing is so funny to me. I'm glad you had such passion for the project.
The 90s was a crazy time for gaming. It was risks and rewards...and for those of us that lived through it...great memories.
These videos are gold dust. Great fro learning about game development and project management, and people management.
Thank you so much for you and your team's hard work to create Fallout, Tim. It's a series that brought so many of my friends together in middle school and was our foundation for a love of gaming to this day.
I literally remember seeing the ad in a gaming magazine and being completely dumbstruck. For weeks I would open the magazine just to look at the ad again and again
Absolutely love your videos Tim, only recently stumbled upon them. I'm a junior software developer and i've learnt so much and gained so much perspective listening to your videos
I definitely stumbled upon Fallout in the store and decided to buy it because the box art looked cool. One of the best random purchases I ever made. I spent the entire summer playing Fallout, and I took the manual with me on a family trip so I could read it.
Tim, have you ever thought about writing a book about all your experiences in game development? You've been a part of some of the biggest names in gaming, I think people would really learn a lot from you. Great video and I'm looking forward to binging all your content.
You spoke of different people needing to be managed differently. Some say it'll take 3 days and don't want to be seen for 3 days, and others want to be checked on regularly.
It sounds like being Open-minded and willing to treat everyone according to their prefrences(check on them when they want you to), is the right way to lead a team; and part of why the Fallout team was soo motivated. You treated them respectfully & considered their feelings.
Hi Tim, I'm a game design student in the Netherlands and listening to your stories and your experiences has been so valuable to me! I could listen to you talk for hours!
I'll be going into the industry soon and hearing how you managed your team has made me feel some hope that I'll get to work with someone as brilliant as you!
Thank you so much for doing this! Keep up the good work!
Good luck to you, man!
Same. Wish we both met what we deserves.
Awesome channel that I just found today! It's awesome to see your viewpoints and experiences on Fallout 1 (One of my favorite games in one of my favorite franchises) and other games!
These videos are amazing, I hope you know how inspiring you’ve been with these.
In general I've noticed that the people who really believe in a project are supportive early on so you need to please them and continue the relationship of respect.
The people that don't help/hinder the project will latch on at the end for the glory if it goes well.
Thank you Tim for saving Fallout for us; it's the 1st time I learn that it was so close to being canceled, and as a huge fan of F and F2 for almost 20 years already I'm terrified by the fact that it could be easily scrapped. I literally don't know how my life would go without this game since it brought so many people into my life as I became part of a our local warm and friendly Fallout fan community. Cheers from Russia!
I've been silently enjoying your videos these past several weeks, so before I forget, I'd just like to take the time to show my appreciation with what you've been doing. I love all of these videos, it's really all quite interesting hearing your stories of your time making some of the many games you've helped create in your career. I think it's absolutely wonderful to have these videos to help give some insight into your creative process and history. I always love hearing stuff like this from the actual developers and designers who made the games, and not just some over-produced documentary that focuses mostly on the company and whatnot.
These videos will most certainly be a treasure in the many years to come. Thank you so much for sharing! I look forward to continue hearing more :)
Team management - yes please! I'm really glad you've made such a great channel.
I'm a gamedesigner on Caliber and your story about how the team is really motivated reminds me of my colleagues. Thanks again 🙂
Looking forward to the talk about leading a happy team.
And what a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing.
I klove all these videos so much! The consistancy is great! You have been y lunch companion with amazing stories for a few weeks now!
Thank you so much for all you've done and continue to do. You've quickly become my favorite content creator on TH-cam.
Thank you for making these, such amazing insight to the origins of a personally beloved franchise
Just wanted to say thank you for what you ae doing here, its incredible knowledge you're sharing. And thank you for all you have accomplished and given us.
This retrospective was fascinating.
Thank you for putting things into perspective.
I love these stories and it's cool to see you take advantage of the platform to clear up old misconceptions. What's more, you may have healed an old wound with Fred in this video!
I'm glad that you are able to give us this insider information on the processes of developing Fallout, as the franchise is my favorite of all time. Thank you for creating Fallout.
Thank you so much for this talk, I still remember going into a store w my folks to get my very first game. My best mate picked some of the older Baldur's Gate games, so when we were at his place we played that, I picked something different and that Fallout box was the one that caught my eye.
I still remember playing it, and replaying it over and over again exploring all the possibilities and still being surprised many runs in. The attention to detail was superb for the time.
If lighting could be caught in a bottle twice, I really hope that you and the team are there revitalizing cRPGs. Thank you again for all your work!
I just wanted to say that Fallout was one of my first ever PC game experiences and created so many wonderful memories and experiences since then (all the Black Isle / Troika golden years). Thank you so much for contributing so much to that. Really happy you made this channel. Cheers
I love that you were the lead on the fallout conception and I wish I had had the opportunity to work with you on his project. Sounds like a great time!
Hello Tim, thanks to you and yur team for one of my favorite games ever. I played the demo on a PC gamer disc and my brother and I fought to play it over and over and waited for release. Your game and team made me a fan of post apocalyptic settings before i knew what they were. Ive loved your other RPGs and pook forward to more.
These videos are so vindicating to watch, Tim. Not full of game design advice necessarily but just so calming and vindicating to hear of the problems other people have faced in teams, the politics of the industry etcetera. I love your brain and your way of telling stories, and as an aside Outer Worlds was great fun! I have autism and a lot of these stories of "problem people" remind me of people who labelled me a problem or "difficult".
You remind me of someone I used to work with; your mannerisms, your speech and intonation. It makes me feel like I've known you for years which make listening to you all the more enjoyable. It's like catching up with an old friend and I love hearing what you have to say. Thank you and your team for bringing us Fallout. ❤
Awesome video Tim, been a huge fan of your work for years. You can see the passion for fallout coming from you in this video. I hope that some day before you hang it up you can work on another Fallout game. The passion bled through very clearly in your work on New Vegas and shows the potential that could be in a future fallout given the budget and time to work on it. Good luck on your future games and I as always look forward to playing them!
Perfectly understanding everything you're saying here, Tim. A lot of it chimes with what Matt Colville says on his streams when reminiscing about his time in game dev and the difference between small good teams vs when a studio gets too big or the publishers/producers get too interested.
"Rpg players buy multiple rpgs" I bought Fallout and Baldur's Gate literally on the same day lol
As an aside (and I appreciate you may not want to get into it) Feargus being in charge of f2 and your favoured producer's paperwork being 'forgotten' lines up pretty well with some of the stuff Chris Avelone has been saying in his tell-alls.
Love your videos, keep 'em coming!
What an awesome and inspiring anecdote. I encourage you to please continue posting on TH-cam, as you have SO MUCH [inspiration and knowledge] to offer creative up-and-comers. I myself am an audio engineer, so remember, you can stoke the fires of those outside of your direct industry, too.
These are so valuable. Keep sharing your thoughts and stories
I've watched your GDC presentation about Fallout. It's where you mentioned the pizza party. Love the videos.
I know it would probably never happen but i would genuinely give my left nut for another Fallout you made.
Fallout is… I’m sitting here and i cant even put into words what Fallout is to me.
And recently its gotten me interested in video game development, as previously i had never done anything software related and ended up creating my own mods for Fallout NV recently, and now I’m trying to learn c++.
Im 23 and I’m at a point in my life where I’m trying to figure out what i want to do for the future (i know I’m pretty late to that) but it would genuinely be amazing to be apart of something that could potentially be so substantial to someone in the future like Fallout has been for myself.
Thank you.
It’s really good to see people who r humble above it all and just strictly professional, you have to make a lot of really tough decisions that in the long run might have brought down the product to you or others at the time but it went onto be a classic n even where a lotta newer games they don’t even have half the complexity of a lotta things u put out. Just when u break down the circumstances u guys had so much against you I can totally rationalize every aspect of your steps along the way and it’s just so good to hear that one on one, the industry… the industry never changes XD
Thank you for being behind one of the games that marked me as a video game enjoyer (not a gamer) the most to this day. I was born a year after this game's release date but only 20 years later would I give it a shot and I absolutely fell in love with it. I've played every single entry in the franchise so far, except for 76 and that PS2 brotherhood of steel game, but if there is one game I always return to with the fondest of hearts, it would be Fallout.
this is FACINATING. I'm binging on your videos
I’ve been binging your channel so much since I got interested in game development and just want to say the honesty of your views and opinions are such a breath of fresh air.
Thank you so much to you and your team for making Fallout. I've been playing all kinds of games since the mid-1980s, and I don't know that any game ever felt as special to play for the firs ttime as this one. I still have the original box, and it's the only PC game box I still have. I could never throw it out or sell it for any amount of money.
P.S. I am also holding in my hands right now the original spiral-bound manual for ToEE, one of the handful of PC game manuals I've held on to.
It always amazes me how many business managers are just Pikachu face when someone tells them to treat and manage people like they're people and not assets. I feel like every organization I have worked for just cycles through this behavior. Peter principle is so, so, so bad in most places. A heck of a lot of managers who were promoted there, actually do not have the skills for management. My best managers have never been technically the best skilled, or even the most productive people. My best managers have always been, solid all-rounders with very strong people skills, and were great empaths. Above all, they do ultimately favor logic above emotion, but are able to balance the nuances of working with real people, who have real (complex) emotions, and live real lives. I emphasize the real people part, because it is fascinating how many either ignore, or conveniently disregard this, when managing projects.
It is refreshing to hear you talk about how you actually thought about; a) what traits from your employees you needed, b) how they (as humans) could fit into a project plan, and then, c) actually built a realistic project framework around this. These are the trademarks of a manager that I would want to work for/with.
You are a hero Tim! I LOVE these videos!
I would love to see that “how to motivate a team” talk!!
I’ve never played Fallout but this was a fantastic look behind the scenes. Thanks for making this video. I wonder how many potentially great works, video games or otherwise, never came to fruition because their potential was underestimated.
A video about how to motivate a team would be so cool thank you Tim Cain love the videos!
i played fallout 2 for years without finishing it. i was just exploring around. best game ever. i played the first one later but same top top quality. big thanks to you
This is pure gold. Thank you.
I saw a review in some PC game magazine in '97. A few screenshots and a bit of write up - but the isometric perspective reminded me of my then favourite game Shadowrun on the SNES.
Gave it a shot based on that and 25 years later... Fallout (even Todd's) games are some of my all time favourites.
Thank you Tim and Team. Fallout is the GOAT.
Thanks for sharing these stories!
I never heard about Fallout until I randomly received Fallout 2 in a small stack of burned CDs from someone else, who didn't even know what it was themselves. Fell in love by the time I was on the character creation screen!
Fallout series was a massive influence on me when I was a kid and in a positive way, made me more curious about various subjects and I even dabbled in game development myself. Thank you for this awesome series. :)
I had only played 1 and 2 recently but I absolutely loved my time with them. I wish I got to experience fall out 1 when I was a little guy. I sincerely thank you for being part of something that made me have a lot of fun.
Great video Tim!!! Keep em coming!!!!
I played the demo - it came on a cd with some PC magazine, as was normal at the time. I played the heck out of that demo, and binged Fallout when I got it for Christmas!!
That hinged lid thing you mentioned is one of those nostalgic things that I'm periodically reminded of, but no longer exists for the most part lol
Thank you for the story and for creating one of my favorite games to play aswell
Tom Cain seems like a great leader, it’s a valuable skill to identify workers different ways to handle tasks
One of my favourite game franchises. Thank you for your effort in making this game. Passionate and creative people like you and your team is why gaming still protecting has a soul.
So glad I came across this channel
This history kinda reminds me of Shrek. Shrek, was actually a punishment project for Dream Works animators who were underperforming on other projects, getting put on Shrek even had a nicknamed, Shreked. Nobody thought it was going to as good as it was until after it came out and it was so low priority that very few people wanted to work on it in the first place.
Great video for new managers thanks Tim!
Im excited to hear about Fallout 2, but I think this might end up being the more interesting story.
Tim, love the videos. Would you ever do another fallout game? or a spin off like tactics?
It reminds me of a couple movies that were made by teams of people kicked off other projects who were left to do their own thing, Shrek and The Emperor's New Groove