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| So Tim Cain quit his job at Carbine Studios and married a man. by Good for him. 07/24/2011, 3:44am PDT | ||||
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For those not familiar with Tim, he was lead programmer/designer on the first Fallout, and the guy whose face replaces the Vault Boy for the Fallout icon when you set your desktop to Use Large Ones of Those. In celebration of his contributions to gaming, here are just three of the things I love about Fallout: 1. Original setting The world of Fallout was nothing if not derivative. However, it was derivative of such diverse and under-exploited sources that it's hard to find fault. Fallout's very specific post-apocalyptic retro-future may be old hat today, but at the time, there really wasn't anything quite like it in video games. 2. Non-linear main quest with no artificial barriers Hidden somewhere in the wasteland are two active nuclear devices. The game ends when both have detonated. You can set them off at any time and in whichever order you please. If you know exactly what you're doing, it's possible to "beat" Fallout in under ten minutes. Can you imagine if a modern CRPG included an achievement for finishing in less time than it took to create your character? "4/10 worst game I have ever played or ever will play" --IGN.com 3. A ticking clock that's actually ticking You have 150 days to retrieve a water chip, or everyone in your vault dies. After 88 days, one of the game's small number of settlements will be overrun and its occupants slaughtered, whether you've visited there or not. The game's antagonist doesn't sit on his hands waiting for you to level up and come get him; you have 500 days before he finds your home - less if you're stupid enough to tell anybody where it is - so you'd better act like you give a shit if you want to get out of this alive. Fortunately, since Fallout's clock runs in real time (one minute of game time equals... one minute of real time), you never feel rushed - instead, you're merely required to smartly manage the time you spend resting or travelling around the world map (almost as if time were a strategic resource instead of a complete irrelevance). Also, you can time your activities so that you're always playing at sunset, which is a feature I wish all games with day/night cycles allowed. I'm going to stop now or we'll be here all day. The point is, best of luck to you in all your future endeavors, Mr. and Mr. Tim Cain! |
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