#180

[@KIWITALKZ]

Support the bro Nate and buy his new indie game The Axis Unseen that he spent 3 years on as a solo dev! crazy talent! store.steampowered.com/app/1807810/The_Axis_Unseen/

[@justpurkeygames]

Thanks for doing the interview, it was fun!

[@PedroGomes-cx7ku]

Hey, just a follow-up question: can one make an Unreal Engine game as mod-friendly as they've made the Creation Engine? I ask because for the old fans it's one of the most important features in Bethesda's games, and we haven't really seen any comparable Unreal game with that same level of mod support. Is there a legal reason or something, or it's just that no one has ever tried?

[@justpurkeygames]

@@PedroGomes-cx7ku Honestly I haven't really looked into it. That's something I'd do if the game become successful enough to warrant the time investment into that. I doubt there's a legal reason since anyone can grab Unreal in its entirety.

[@KIWITALKZ]

FUN FACTS: I had waaaaay too much coffee before this podcast, so I was bouncing off the walls a little too much, my bad lol. Also listen out for Nate's cat throughout the interview lol. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:53 - Working At Retro Studios On Metroid Prime 3 02:25 - Why Nate Left Retro Studios 04:40 - Moving To Bethesda/Fallout 3’s Brown Colour Palette 06:15 - Fallout 4’s Vibrant Colour Palette/Fallout TV Show 09:24 - Nate Handed In Resignation To Bethesda On April Fools Day 10:46 - Bethesda’s Inefficient Management Style 13:23 - Unrealistic Expectations Of Elder Scrolls VI 15:21 - Game Developers Who Don’t Play Games 17:02 - Nate’s Relationship With Todd Howard 18:06 - How Nate Mastered Quantity & Quality 19:46 - Morons, Crunch & Insane Commutes 22:30 - Remote Work/Forcing People Back Into The Office 23:32 - Shadow Of The Colossus Influence On The Axis Unseen 24:57 - The Scope Of The Axis Unseen 26:50 - Timeline Of Axis Unseen 27:53 - Useless Meetings At Bethesda 30:45 - Being A Lead On Fallout 76 32:05 - Todd Howard Obssesses Over UI/Convincing Todd Of Things 33:59 - UI In The Axis Unseen 34:20 - Working With Different Gaming Engines 36:00 - Bethesda Should Migrate To Unreal Engine 5 40:20 - Nate Programmed The Edge Trimming For Fallout 3 41:30 - Working Within Constraints/Layoffs 44:10 - Q+A - Favourite Project To Work On 45:08 -Q +A - How Far Along In Development Would Elder Scrolls VI Be? 47:01 - Q+A - Game Development Differences Between Nintendo & Bethesda 50:38 - Fallout 3 Switch Port With Metroid Content 52:34 - Console Ports Of The Axis Unseen/Certification/Logos 57:09 - Vacations Aren’t Vacations With Bethesda 1:00:10 - How Pay Works At Bethesda 1:01:47 - Nate’s Blood Pressure Was Bad Due To Bethesda 1:03:00 - Final Thoughts

[@randomfootages9120]

36:01 As a game studio, trying to develop a game while updating the game engine software is like juggling two watermelons in one hand-impossible without dropping something! Updating a game engine demands a dedicated team, significant resources, and a ton of money, making it a Herculean task to simultaneously develop a game. Each endeavor requires unwavering focus and immense effort. It's wiser to tackle one challenge at a time!

[@jessyanderson]

Thankyou for getting my question in there about the development of TES:VI! Another great video. Thoroughly enjoy your interviews.

[@M4lkavian]

no, Bethesda should NOT switch to UE5 such large devs should stick with their in-house engines

[@BashPrime]

Yoooo axis unseen representation let's goooooo

[@timegentleman]

38:45 "I started making games when we literally didn't even have colour." Did I hear this right? Because this doesn't make sense! Nate has been making games since the early 70s?

[@Odisseia-hh2td]

Hey Nate! Love your Beth games! Please give Todd a call for TES6! 🤞🤞🤞 (also, f* the haters: Fallout 76 was fun at launch. I had a blast going through the main campaign and enjoyed the desolation feel of uncovering the story through holotapes)

[@jeremystone6433]

Unattainable expectations is why we will never get Half Life 3

[@asdfxcvbn746]

2:25 and this is why Nintendo is known for perfection while Bethesda is known for bugs.

[@Leee275]

4:03 They already take long enough lol.

[@iivin4233]

Had to add this in. 14:00 "The internet is not the nicest place" because of it's reaction to Fallout 76? Has there ever been a more justified reaction to fraud in gaming? It suprises me to hear about how much hand crafting went into recent Bethesda games. It would be unfair to say Skyrim felt generated. There were plenty of hand-placed detail in the overworld. But in the dungeons and buildings where you spent most of your time, and in terms of the weapons, amror, clothes, characters and quests--the things you interacted with most often--there was much glaring repetion. I don't blame the artists for this at all. I think this was an art direction issue. For example, there was probably more repetion in the Ayleid ruins of Oblivion, but at least they were all a part of a single civilization that fell all at once. Meanwhile, nordic ruins are described as being from any number of different civilizations and were abandoned at any number of different periods of time. That's not an artistic flaw. That's just the art direction being at odds with the story direction. Meanwhile, you'd suppose the vast tracts of overworld wilderness would instead be what came across as generated. After all, real world landscapes are proceedurly generated in a sense.

[@BradTheAmerican]

In regard to "the internet is not the nicest place" about Fallout 76, I would hazard a guess that things like death threats and childish name-calling were more common than genuine criticisms and constructive feedback. What was the fraud with Fallout 76? How were you deceived or bamboozled?