Tim, your kind words in this video mean the world to me. Meeting you was a highlight of my life, not just because of your accomplishments professionally, but because of how genuinely nice and kind you are. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to do that, and I hope to get the chance to do it again sometime. Using this video as a guide and booking a more comfortable chat area closer to your place will make it a breeze. Thanks again!

One of my favorite interviews you've done is the one Game Informer did. I revisit that from time to time just cause I like the back and forth with the 3 of you.

I always loved your discussion with Noclip in their Outer Worlds documentary series. I rewatched that series so often, and I love that so much of the series was actually split and focussed on many of the members of the team, not just you and Leonard. I don't know what the subject would be about these days, but I really do think another movie length/series of documentaries, with someone like Noclip who can get a good few members of the old teams onboard and really do some journalistic digging, could be a good way to really have some of those in-depth, balanced and nuanced discussions it might be hard to have just on your own.

This is my favourite interview question, I'm glad to see you answered it

That game informer interview is great. Highly recommend people seek it out if they haven't seen it already.

What I really love is when you talk about D&D stories, D&D based things you put in games, mechanics, board games you played and anything nerdy you did with people back in the day. I hope to see more of these coming :)

Thank you for the video Tim! It is such a privilege (at least for me) to have this kind of access to devs of seminal games for the genre I love! I truly appreciate the time you put on these! Speaking of questions you like to answer, you mentioned process stories and interesting bugs :) I see a promising video mini-series behind that like: "Funny bugs encountered during [game]'s production" or "5 bugs we fixed and 3 we didn't in [game].. you won't believe #2" :D Thank you again for answering our questions and have a wonderful day Tim! :)

Hi Tim -- thank you for the video! I'm curious about JOB interview questions. I'd be happy if you can share your experience on game design and programming questions in job interviews. It's interesting from both perspectives: interviewer and interviewee. Thanks!

Modding is a large part of the Fallout Community. Do you enjoy modding games or creating your own mods for games? Have you ever made mods for the newer Fallout titles or any other game. If so what mods do you prefer to see? Bug Fixes, Cut Content Restoration, Retextures & Replacers or Quest Mods?

Great video, Tim! You forgot the link below, though.

Zaftig is my new favorite descriptor for myself, thanks for that Tim!

Just a quick reminder for you, Tim, to put the link to the interview in the description as per your promise.

TIL your a giant santa claus. kinda fitting with how much joy youve brought the world. and ty for all these videos man really helps stay focused

Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere, but here's one very specific game related topic that came to mind to me today: One aspect of modern Fallout 1 inspired isometric RPGs like ATOM and Enclave that I think misses the mark is how outrageously over the top and dynamic the death animations in Fallout could get. It might seem like a small thing, but seeing an enemy dance around comically across several tiles when you set them on fire before dramatically crumpling into a pile of ash is so much more satisfying than just seeing some generic corpse falling animation when they die. Fallout using rendered sprite art instead of low poly 3D models like in the other two games I listed might be part of why they look so good. I honestly pick Bloody Mess as a trait every time I make a new character just so I can see more of these. Who was involved in conceptualizing and designing those incredible animations? Did you get any pushback on it being too violent or over the top? That and seeing raiders get shredded to swiss cheese when you land a crit with an SMG were some of the most memories of the original Fallout for me.

I've been following TK for awhile and it was obvious how nervous and excited he was for the interview, watched the entire thing when it came out and I'll probably go back and do it again! Really love both of your channels

The GameInformer interviewer was actually the first time I'd heard you speak, now we're all luckily enough to hear you daily I go back to it whenever I show someone the outer worlds the first time so they can get some base knowledge

Honestly, I was expecting you to go through job interview questions. 😂 Love the video all the same!

Love your vids

the 100 rapidfire questions with Joe Juba, you and Leonard was amazing. i had to go re-watch it. 😄 Now to re-watch the interview with you and TK

This videos are pure gold! the love you put into interviews shows your humility and passion for your work, forgive my spelling, how can a game be made like the original Fallout in 2023 with next gen graphics when censorship grows into certain games for different social and political topics?...i´d like to know please. Greetings from Mexico!

I miss the old days, back when interviewers would ask, how many levels, stages or missions the game at hand had.

The interview with TK was good. But you do interviews very well (dont think ive ever seen you do one poorly). You can tell Fallout has entertained mantis greatly.

Good morning Tim 🙂

Cooking question: How would a game implement cooking and food mechanics? In TMNT and Street Rage, you found food on the floor that restores some health, but in other games you have to buy food or cook youself. Another question: Aside from RPGs, what kind of game you would have liked to make? What twists would you have added? Las one: Have you ever talked with a fan of any of your games that knew something about that game that you didn't or you were wrong about? Like a piece of lore or a mechanic? Thank you, Tim. Your videos now are a part of my everyday routine.

I'd love to hear more fun stories about development and bugs. As a software developer it's super interesting to hear them but interviewers seem to only ask questions about the final product.

You're my favorite gamer. :)

The first time you made me laugh out loud Tim, when you called yourself stout and zaftig. Wonderful!

Vocabulary word of the day: "zaftig"

Hey, Tim! I love these videos - I just saw someone link to them on the classicfallout subreddit and I've just been devouring them. Thank you! My question is (and is super-relevant to this video): I interviewed you and Leonard for the Outer Worlds. It was my favourite interview I ever did for that outlet because of the constraints that were put on it, and it was also the *last* time I ever wrote for that publication (these things may or may not be linked). The interview was (I am very sorry to say) never published. I would love to show it you, just on the strength of this video, and to tell you the story behind it - but I don't want to throw anybody under the bus or stir up any old drama between me and my former employer in a KZfaq comments section. Could I send it to you? I've checked and I have the final version in Docs file, I still love it, and I would be able to give a very quick summary of what went wrong and why it was never published (although that might be clear enough once you start reading). I hope that's got you sufficiently intrigued! If you're looking for my contact details (as a memory-refresher or just to check I am who I say I am), it's possible you still have them in your inbox. We didn't e-mail directly, but the PR who set it up was Peter L. from Private Division and he got the questions (and probably forwarded them to you and Leonard) in April 2019. All the very best! Rich Wordsworth

Hey Tim. First I want to thank you for all of these interesting and insightful videos! I was wondering if you could talk about experience systems in the games you have worked on. Specifically the tension between experience from quests and combat. Especially in regards to the amount of combat in Arcanum, per-hit experience and consequently balance (viable/fun builds).

Hello Tim, I'm curious about the decision-making process for adding, removing, or altering features in a game. Are there specific metrics or player feedback channels that heavily influence these decisions? Perhaps you've encountered interesting scenarios where community input played a significant role? Love the content and cannot wait to see more in the future!

Tim, love your videos! I've been watching them all morning. I have a question for you. Have you ever known a video game designer not to have skills in programming? For instance, someone who started as a 3D generalist and also has project management skills? Could you share your thoughts on the requirements to become a game designer?

I went and watched that Game Informer interview - that was super fun, no wonder you found it memorable. To be honest though, it really made me sad that I am not gonna see you and Leonard work on a big game like that again, you guys work so well together. I googled Loren McQuade - wow, you were not kidding - he did HLSL and now works at Oculus.

I like the gamedev questions too, at least for videos.

I really liked what you had said about design pillars and their structure / goals, it reminded me a lot of the work I've been doing to create a PRD at work. Is there a big difference between the workflows of business programing compared to game programming, or does that have more to do with the companies themselves and the scale of the project?

Can you go into the origin and creation of Vault Boy as the mascot and icon of fallout? One of my first experiences with Fallout is seeing the juxtaposition of this smiley character on the Collector's Edition of Fallout 3 with the brutal harshness of the power armor cover for the Standard Edition of Fallout 3 and I've loved that tone ever since. If you can also go into the differences in naming of Vault Boy and Pip-Boy and the confusion that arose with the Fallout Bible, that would be great. Thank you so much for all of your videos, they've been an invaluable resource as a designer early in my career!

Part of the reason you are not asked about other people may be that the person asking can't be sure to what extent you/them would be comfortable mentioning/being mentioned without checking in first (specially when it comes to features/decisions that might be controversial, there's always a risk of causing some angry mob of gamers to direct vitriol at the person in question). That, and also it feels like you already do a good job of pointing out people that played important roles in any topic you happen to discuss.

Great video! Any general suggestions when making a cutscene system?

Hey Tim, so what are your top 10 game moments and how did they inspire you for future game development (not including games that you worked on)?

Hey Tim, I love your videos! I have a question. I've always wondered how game designers and the faces of a company (like a todd Howard or you to a certain extent) fill out their work day. Is it design meetings all day? Do you help out in other areas like programming? As the project nears completion, is it more/less or the same amount of work?

Hi Tim, you mentioned that the developer should know their target audience and design their game accordingly and also about efforts in the past to appeal to people who do not normally play your kind of games. I am someone who, with few exceptions, doesn't like RPGs and bounced off the first Fallout quickly. But I will try out Outer Worlds. Question: What methods did you use or learn along the way to appeal to players outside of your usual audience? Do you have examples contrasting Fallout 1 with Outer Worlds? I just wanted to add that even though your kind of games are not a good fit for my taste, I watch each one of your videos because I appreciate your smart and considerate approach when it comes to design and development.

Hi Tim, I'm curious - what other artistic disciplines do you think have the most to teach us about game design? And what did it teach you about game design? (Drawing, painting, writing, animation, dancing, making music, cooking, etc?)

Hello everyone , i would like to share one of the stories which my big brother has involving into during his interview back then . My big brother has got a job interview in one of the famous company in us and they gave him a test and some other things as first to make sure he is capable of doing his job . After that since they are going to pick a few applicants to that job , they asked him a general knowledge question and one of the question was in which countries involved into battle of the Waterloo and my big brother answer like between french and british empire , they asked him how did you learn that information ? he said back to them in Age Of Empires 2 :D . In that video of yours i just would like to first say that in Fallout 1 the Glow area i think it's the best fallout location in these frenchise :) the Glow itself has give the player about the history of the Fallout itself and kinda attaracts player's attention to wondering about in that place :) and also secondly just wondered after watching this video in that , you sir mentioned in one interview you interviewed with a person who has really good knowledge on Fallout games . Have you ever sir hired someone maybe not like this person you interviewed into but like you interviewed in a person has quite basic information about the job whom is applying into , but has quite huge interest into making video games and pationate about involving into games , soo you thought like this guy might not have enough knowledge on that job , but this person might be implemented into this job because of pations about video games ? Have a great day to you sir and to your loved ones .

Yeah it would seem answering questions from actual fans and people who aren't really interested makes a huge difference. When I get asked questions from fans it's usually really game specific mechanics which is something I'm interested in but when I get asked questions from magazines or podcasters etc I can usually tell whether they actually played the game or not etc etc. Edit: I wouldn't have put you at 6'1 either aha.

I find it's better to semi ignore the question and use it to just segue into something you want to talk about

Tim, I think I could ask 100 game-related questions that you've never been asked before honestly.

Well, on the topic of interviews. Could we get your view on the Half-Life documentary Valve just released? I would love to hear your feedback on, well, all of it. It would be great to have you break it down chapter by chapter over a few weeks and how that compares and contrasts to your lived experience and PoV. Thank you for the videos Tim!

Hello Tim, thank you for the content, I have a question about game development. I work in the games industry, mainly in the indie sector. And I was always wondering if you had any cases where people from indies came to AAA or vice versa. I always wanted to listen to different points of view on this matter, because I talked about it with different people and now I’m interested in your opinion.

Treading carefully around NDA stuff here: What KIND of games have you been consulting on? (Genres etc), and what KIND of stuff have you been contributing? Are they "big" clients, or does it span the gamut? (Indie to AAA)

Off topic what is your opinion on games that exercise perspective shift or dimension shift. Fez gives several angles of a 2d dimension and Super Paper Mario shifts from 2d to 3d in order to solve puzzles. I think it would be neat to explore multi dimensional space like in a Rudy Rucker novel. He explains 4th and 5th spacial dimensions and also 2 dimensional time in a way that is easier to comprehend than one would normally think

Hi, Tim. I have a question. How much does gameplay influence what stories are or can be told in video games? How does developers grapple with the tension of a story that wants to do one thing or go a certain way, while ensuring that the gameplay stays consistently fun and engaging throughout? Thanks for all the great content!

Hi Tim, I have a question about schematics in Arcanum. What was the thought process of making the description to sound like an ad ? I always loved the over-enticing and you-have-to-try-it tone. I've wondered if it was just a preference of the developpement team or was there a lore reason for it ?

Could you please tell us about the characteristics of the people you enjoyed working with, the characteristics of the people you felt helped you achieve the most? With out naming specific people, sharing with us the types of qualities, personalities, of the people that were enablers and do-ers. We all have worked with jerks and slackers, so we know what they are like, but we haven't all gotten to work with amazing people who support and enable others to succeed. Basically, what can we do and act to be better team members in a project?

Slightly different "interview questions" question: What questions do you like to ask when you perform job interview? And what questions do you like or dislike being asked?

I feel silly asking such a simple question but: What are 2 favorite things and 1 least favorite thing about each Fallout?

Got swerved because I thought this was going to be about job interview questions from your experience as both an employer and potential employee/contractor

In the Combat Coding video, you spoke a lot about the combat packets and various events that operate on these packets. Then in another video, and I can't remember which one, you said that the whole spell system was implemented mostly as one giant switch statement. Are these two very different systems, or is it the same thing, just different phases of a "spell" process? Could you talk more about the giant-switch approach, pros and cons, specifics? In a game with just a few spells / skills, I consider that the way to go, but if you have 100+ spells, maybe that's not ideal? What are you thoughts on this? Thank you!

11:12 Holy cow Tim you're as tall as me that's awesome!

Ok then a more specific question: for a smooth movement of the player and NPC actors, do you use a capsule collision for movement, and if yes, how do you prevent the player to het hung up on stair steps, while not making the collision capsule too wide, or is the capsule hovering above the ground?

I've been asking your opinions on level design. Honestly, I think you haven't answered because my questions are too vague and level design may be a too board a topic. Or, possibly it's just not part of your wheelhouse. You have talked about how the procedurally generated maps of Arcanum functioned and briefly mentioned those on your team that were really good at using the tools to generate levels. But, I'm curious how one goes about designing a level that is fun or challenging or has multiple paths or if are certain types of levels more challenging to design.

What's your behind the scenes knowledge or opinion of Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel? I realize it's not an RPG but it's a game in the series that is- ignored for the most part. And I think I've heard you mention playing 90's Xcom in another video.

Link to the interview please, Tim!

Overall do you enjoy consultation or development for games more? After retirement, do you plan to do either casually?

What you think about team size? What was the best team size for you?

Hi Tim!

Hi Tim - in another video you mentioned that you lost your father at age 24. The last time I saw my dad I was also 24. Could you elaborate on your relationship and feelings with your dad and how it has influenced your life and games? Thank you from Simon

And who was your favorite companion? The one that you didn't want to talk about?

Hello Tim, I am wondering if you have any thoughts on the impressive videos on KZfaq of Fallout 1 total conversions in Fallout 4? What do you think of the prospect of a 3D remake of that game?

Are there acceptable situations where you would split data of something up, putting it in multiple places? As an example, in Unity, I am trying to make a spell casting system. A spell like Fireball will have many variables pertaining to the spell of course, like "cooldown" which would describe how long a spell is supposed to cooldown for, but then you have cooldownProgress which keeps track of Fireball's current progress toward cooling down. If you want cooldownProgress to exist within the Fireball class, you essentially require that you always have a Fireball sitting around somewhere out of sight just for those kinds of variables. It might make more sense to segregate variables like that to put somewhere else, but then you are disorganizing your Fireball data.

Can we AT LAST talk about the dog in Arcanum?

Hello Tim, how is Test Driven Development handled for game development and at what stage is QA brought in to the work? How are the raised bugs categorized and handled? How are some bugs decided to be left in?

Have you done any game jams since you've found success in the games industry? Im learning game development on my own time and have one other friend whos down to clown with me and we want to sign up for Pirate Software's game jam in January. Any tips to not losing the plot/adding unnecessary tensions to fun projects

Tim, what’s your favorite bug that was either left in the game because it was fun/funny or was fixed because it was necessary to do so. Sorry if you answered it already.

Thought this was about job interviews. What’s your thought on JOB interviews!?

1:55 -- "People always ask me about characters and dialogue in my games and I don't know how many times I've said [that] other than Temple I didn't do any of those -- before I didn't do any of them because I didn't have time and that wasn't my role, and after Temple I didn't do it because I wasn't good at it." Commiseration to my fellow commenters who've also asked questions about dialogue or character writing without realizing the obvious contradiction against those previous statements from Tim 🤦

what's your opinion on a good(good meaning a good balance of productive and fun to work) engineering team composition - between the eloquent team player product minded guys and the sit in corner pumping out rocketship schematics not listening to anyone devs

Hey Tim, what is your opinion on the feasibility of making an RPG without a ton of money? That always bothered me that it seems like whoever has more money is at a massive advantage over the developer who has lots of skill but not much of a budget

Mr. Cain, what are your thoughts on the C# language? You've basically seen all; C, C++ and then, working with Unity, I guess you've used C#. I'm curious about your thoughts on it.

Ok I just looked up Tim's height and it is 1,88m and I was blown away. I thought Tim is ~1,70m and would be smaller than me but he is quite a bit taller than me! Is Tim an amazing illusionist?

Hey Tim! Speaking of interview questions, is there a way I can get in touch with you about possibly appearing on our podcast? 😅 I tried scouring your About page for an email but I couldn't find a way to get in touch directly.

Hi Tim, I'm a university student about to get my Bachelor's. I was wondering what advice you could give about finding a first job in the industry? I require an internship for my degree, but I'm also curious about how you would recommend searching for a permanent junior position.

I wonder how do you deal with burnouts? You mentioned that one of the reason of leaving fallout 2 was a burnout. But I think gamedev is in general a “burnout zone”, with all these crunches and more importantly long lasting projects. Some people don’t even work at the same company for 3-5 years, but in game dev it’s not just the same company, it’s the same project! :) I wonder how you manage this (if you do at all) and how others do about this issue. Or if it’s actually a barely solvable issue which turns into a big turnover and people leaving in a mid of development.

5:40 I mean, I get that the same old questions can get tiring. But what would you recommend to someone who wants to both a) be a competent game journalist, and b) ask your about your influences for a given game?

So, you like getting meta questions?

Hi Tim, I have a question. If Kickstarter had been a thing while Troika was alive, would you have tried to crowdfund and if yes, what?

If no one else will, I'm going to come right out and defend Fallout Tactics. The combat was good and the option to switch between real time and turn-based was better. Boom bugs, yellow nuka cola, it had a lot goin on for it. Sure it wasn't the perfect Fallout game, they took a few odd liberties and it had the most useless speech skill, but it mostly got the tone right, more right than most later Bethesda stuff.

FALLOUT MODS

As animator trying to get his firt job in the industry, thank you for this video !

4:36 ish forward lol

Cool story about Mantis, it’s a shame his subscriber base is pretty toxic

Whats 6 + 6?

I thought you were not tall, I have to say.

3.4k views 5 hours ago

Tim, are you Drog Black Tooth?