Branding in The Outer Worlds

I talk about how the companies and their products and slogans were created for The Outer Worlds, as well as what were the influences on those creations.

[@abrahambruins5568]

I absolutely loved the absurdity of the products in The Outer Worlds. Really fun to listen where some of the ideas came from! The one that gets me every time: dehydrated water.

[@CainOnGames]

That product was inspired by the novel "The Night Land" by William Hope Hodgson.

[@AbtinX]

Hahaha! I remember that, dehydrated water. Ah man 😅

[@gargamellenoir8460]

My favorite moment in Outer Worlds was the discussion with Martin. Especially with Ellie egging him on. More characters and interactions like that would have made the game a lot greater.

[@ThatImmo]

Yeah, the whole dialog about his Moon Man helmet is both hilarious and horrifying. #FreeMartinCallahan P.S. Try talking with him WEARING the Moon Man helmet yourself.

[@lepersonnage371]

Well, the game has a lot of that as it is, companion often talk during dialogs with other characters

[@gargamellenoir8460]

@@lepersonnage371I'm not just talking about characters interacting with each other. I'm talking about an especially memorable moment. Can you think of an equivalent in other games of that particular interaction? Because I can't.

[@lepersonnage371]

@@gargamellenoir8460 No i agree. I was saying that Outer Worlds has enough of that kind of moments with companions, because at the end of your comment you implied that there is not enough of those moments in OW

[@kaptenteo]

Started replaying Outer Worlds just the other day, to finally tackle the expansions. Glad to say I still love this game!

[@dedmin6119]

It's good af. Playing it for the first time now and loving it

[@tetraphobie]

Reading through product descriptions and looking at all those elaborate 3D models was one of the best The Outer Worlds memories for me. I really loved the tone of the corporate paraphernalia. Seeing Auntie Cleo products made me go "they didn't just bring Mom into their game?!" 😂 Stellar work!!

[@PostapocMedia]

All branding and visuals in The Outer Worlds (used in loading screens, etc) makes me think of Arcanum and Fallout right away. Good stuff!

[@Esteban_907]

"Its not the best choice, its spacer's choice" "Zero gee brew, its an ail that good for what ails yah" Love these

[@psyrolz1626]

The Spacer's choice jingle is still on loop in my head. A friend of mine heard it once and replayed it with his piano. You totally nailed it with the Futurama vibes. Outer World's products are my favorites alongside Fallout's and GTA: San Andreas'

[@indigochiever]

i really enjoy outer worlds, the constant criticism involving transhumanism, globalism and corporatism are amazingly well put together, the passage where clarke is hiding his key in a book "since nobody is reading anyway" is funny but also very frightening, since so many things in this game could be applied to our world today (retirement program, lifetime employmend program,...). thank you and i am looking forward to the sequel!

[@LeadHeadBOD]

These videos remind me of when Sandy Petersen talks about games he worked on. What a time to be alive - I can listen to the masterminds behind my all time favourite games talk about how stuff came to be.

[@tinyprints5423]

Loved hearing about this. I did a playthrough once where I meticulously recorded for myself all of the item stats, the descriptions, prices, etc. for every single item in the game. It was brilliant, and there were so many interesting little details that on previous playthroughs I had ignored in favor of shoving my player full of boarst and tripicale pasta all the time.

[@C.A.A93]

Great video, loved hearing about your old passion for the trading cards and how they influenced everything. Reminds me of my favourite Spacers choice product. “Dehydrated Water Tablets, JUST ADD AIR”

[@ShiningEyeBrigade]

Thank you for sharing these experiences and insights, so interesting. As a lead on creative projects, I have worked on that balance, or art, of allowing team members to “run with it” and have ownership, but also guiding the work to support some unifying vision, so that the sum is greater than the parts. Your strategy of creating tangible examples of the vision, rather than just describing the vision, makes a lot of sense. I still sometimes try to get away with not doing that, because it can be a lot of work, but I’m usually sorry.

[@BlueBeetle1939]

love the outer worlds so much and this is one of the reasons its like our current capitalist system turned all the way up to 11 where even the religion is about maintaining corporate work culture good stuff

[@evgenyivanov6311]

Hello, Tim. Could you talk a little bit about your involvement in the making of Fallout 2 and what you thought about the game and how it compared to the original? Thank you. Love your channel so much, please never stop.

[@CainOnGames]

I will add that to my list of topics. It's a big list now.

[@reuvengritters2983]

Oh man, my gaming club recently played The Outer Worlds and one of the things we universally loved was the branding and companies present. We were also huge fans of the advertisements and we had fun guessing the different inspirations for the posters and propaganda present throughout Halcyon. I'm really enjoying these videos, Mr. Cain. Thank you for taking the time to make them!

[@weenis2876]

your club sounds so fun

[@jtaco4101]

What the hell is a gaming club

[@weenis2876]

@@jtaco4101 probably a club they joined at a college? im assuming they pick games to play throug, like how a book club picks books to read and discuss together

[@reuvengritters2983]

@@jtaco4101 Indeed - as surmised by @weenis2876, it's basically a book club, but with video games instead of books. We select a game to play, play it individually, then discuss collectively. It's fun!

[@moskaumaster1594]

Your videos about Outer Worlds have persuaded me to play it. More effective marketting than Obsidian ever did lol.

[@mikeyreza]

I've downloaded about 5 games (Fallouts 1, 2, and New Vegas, the Outer Worlds, and Arcanum) since I started watching Tim's videos. I don't even like RPGs that much, or at least I didn't like them before, but the way he describes all of the features and setting and lore of every game just draws me to them.

[@EyefyourGf]

​@@mikeyrezaYou dont like rpg's oh man you dont know what you are missing out.I dont know will you read this,but i have some recomendations,besides games Tim worked on(which are freaking awesome)mostly games i enjoyed playing,some multiple times,and here they are,in no particular order: Knights of the Old Republic Mass Effect Dragon age Origins Fallout 3 Fallout new Vegas Witcher 3 (its a premade character,some people do not like that)but imho wonderfull game Wasteland 2 Wasteland 3 I have more in my notes,but this will do i think😁

[@EndyHawk]

I must applaud your team's work in this arena. Every time my partner and I saw a Borst ad, we retched! Truly, good job!

[@falloutnuevomexico]

Dude it's so cool to see you uploading all these videos!! Thank you so much for sharing all this with us!

[@neptronix]

It had slipped past my radar that you were involved in the outer worlds. I remember being elated with the game because it carried the original spirit of Fallout.. now it all makes sense! Are you going to be the designer of the sequel?

[@caseyhuber1630]

Watched many of your videos, long time fan of your work! I had a couple questions. At what point in working on a project do you really know when it's done? What effectiveness does black comedy/dark humor have with your work? I see it as something of a consistent through-line for much of your work. Thanks for the awesome content!

[@CainOnGames]

Well, games never really feel done. You always want more content, more features, and fewer bugs. So rather than done, games are eventually just shipped. Humor seems to slip into everything I do: computer games, table top games, conversations, facial expressions, etc. My siblings and I share a similar sense of humor, so it's just something in our nature, I suppose. It does drive some people crazy, and when I get super serious, that can spook some people too.

[@maracourier6718]

I love the jingles too. Overall the music of the Outer Worlds is amazing!

[@TylerMcVicker1]

I have thousands. FYI - If you have the RATZ card from 1969; it's a massively expensive card.

[@Ruskad]

Can't believe I'm just now finding these videos! Also can't believe I never knew you guys were part of the dev team, as an old Fallout fan. No wonder I was so enamored with The Outer Worlds when I got it - did 4 full playthroughs at launch and loved all of it! These are amazing and fun stories. Can't wait to watch more!

[@VishnuZutaten]

same here :P

[@nomoremrniceguy8828]

Спасибо вам, Тим.

[@CainOnGames]

пожалуйста

[@tenediadawnchaser8387]

I just played Outer Worlds and all DLCs my first time through. Thank you! It was hilarious and good stories. Yes I remember collecting Wacky Packs. lol

[@OscarGiudici]

Always interesting listen to you!! Tim are you involved in the development of The Outer Worlds 2?

[@CainOnGames]

Yes I am!

[@OscarGiudici]

@@CainOnGames thx for the answer! Can't wait!! Every your games are pure gold!! You are one of the pillars of this industry!

[@IMBREISGAU]

@@CainOnGames this comment almost got me screaming Allah-u Akbar man 😭 now I can sleep soundly.

[@fafofafin]

Outer Worlds is so much fun. I love jumping around dodging green goo from the raps and helping Parvati on her dates. The anti-capitalist part is funny most of the time, but sometimes it just makes me wonder how far we are from some of those examples not being funny anymore. Amazon fulfillment center vibes.

[@Kyudong69]

Love how you wore shirts that represent the title of the video. Haven't you found yourself in a hard position when deciding the parts that won't get shipped? Like if by letting people on the team work on their own bits but the final form wasn't ideal enough.

[@CainOnGames]

Yes, that’s always hard, especially when you know they worked hard on their part. But my teams have seen me cut my own content, so I think I was always fair and even handed about it.

[@IMBREISGAU]

Can we get Leonard to speak about how he design stuff with you?

[@CainOnGames]

I will ask him.

[@DoctorRevers]

I’m finally playing TOW. Love this. That cystipig idea is brilliant and hilarious.

[@Schizm1]

Tim, since you've said about semi-retired from game dev. Who's game director of the Outer Worlds 2? I can't really imagine that game without you and Leonard Boyarsky:(

[@Kira-ji2ft]

He's said he's working on it as a contractor. He might not be able to disclose who's directing it.

[@DylanHutto]

I actually have a few patches from that Wacky Packages series! They're called Kookie Patches

[@dmitriysergienko]

Красивая футболка) я думаю важно, чтобы человек с возрастом сохранил в себе ребенка, который все ещё любит что нибудь из своего прошлого. Очень круто, когда удаётся преобразовать своё детское развлечение в форму искусства. В детстве я очень любил Lego. Сейчас я испытываю подобную радость, когда создаю какой нибудь коллаж. Для меня это такой же конструктор. Просто форма другая.

[@CainOnGames]

Thanks. I express that sentiment as "be child-like but not childish".

[@Deadforge]

I love the Outer Worlds products and world. I still need to beat it.

[@renaigh]

the modified foods sound more ethical than what we have now.

[@Adept_Wigger97]

As a long term fallout fan I have to say I absolutely enjoyed the heck outta the outerworlds. I beat it that many times i had to purchase the dlcs. The world builiding and lore you and the team have done for a single game is absolutely out of this world (bad pun I know) and i really look forward to see where the series goes.

[@LandBark]

Would love to hear more about ToW. (planning to do KILL EVERYTHING playthrough) Was something planned for tOw, some work was put into it but sadly it had to be cut and unfortunately it couldn't even get in DLCs?

[@CainOnGames]

Yes, all sorts of things, from character generation to combat and dialog mechanics. But since they might show up in TOW2, I cannot give you details.

[@LandBark]

@@CainOnGames Having my fingers crossed for TOW2 🤞

[@gryzman]

love Outer World's. I played it first time on Nintendo Switch. Wish more games like this were made for Switch

[@madara1616]

Now i gotta play The Outer Worlds

[@IMBREISGAU]

Yes you should! It’s good :) (don’t buy the latest edition, it’s a farce from publisher)

[@Lyle-qc8ld]

love the daily blogs from you. Played fallout 1 and 2 as a kid and its great to hear behind the scenes stuff

[@therealmichaelmontes7135]

Hi Tim I have two questions How would you feel if there was a remake of the Fallout stories? Me and a friend have been living in a pipe dream of remaking some of the Fallout lore, especially adding to the Pre War lore How come there isn’t a lot of Pre War Lore? I get that it’s not as important since we’d be playing in the aftermath, but it would be cool to see how we got there

[@OverUnderhill]

Great post again Tim! Really enjoying this! This is wisdom, and I’m learning so much about the many features of game development - and loving it! So interesting, thank you!😄✌️

[@mortiz20101]

Did you have many issues with legal and team members coming up with brands that were a bit too close to real brands?

[@CainOnGames]

I don't remember a single incident of anyone, legal or not, saying that one of our fictional brands was too close to a real one. Even when it is REALLY obvious what real brand we are spoofing.

[@edwardkenyway8066]

Hi Tim. I’ve read/heard somewhere that Fallout was supposed to be a game about time travel, cultists, dragons and killing first human-monkey. Were there ever a possibility of such a game? Or it’s always been just a GURPS-thought experiment. Thanks a lot

[@bagthebag8049]

He's talked about this in one of the many talks uploaded to youtube. Iirc the first idea (or one of the earlier ideas) was to make a time travel rpg that had dinosaurs in it but that was before Fallout was concieved, so Fallout itself was never had time travel planned like that.

[@BuzzKirill3D]

I recommend watching Tim's GDC "Fallout post-mortem", he talks about this and other stuff.

[@Banefane]

I wasn't alive in the 70's but I've heard great stories like the tv series Dallas... to be honest I think my parents loved it. They talked about it at least sometimes. But I have to say part of my childhood was great considering the cartoons I watched when I was young.

[@stonemcquark2805]

Outer worlds is low key incredibly dark. Not to spoil, but when they get to the bottom of the "plague" is a huge moment. Great ideas in that game.

[@Cheyne_TetraMFG]

You’ve already talked about the original music for Fallout but I’m curious about the choice of licensed music in Fallout, the Ink Spots and beyond. I think what’s interesting is that Bethesda took the idea of pre-60s music and made that the aesthetic and in-universe music for all the games going forward, but what was the reason for choosing the Ink Spots in the first game? Did you see it as a purely aesthetic choice or was it also to imply something about the world of Fallout? Do you think people within the world of Fallout were listening to that kind of music? Just curious. Thank you for sharing all of this information. Truly appreciate you and all that you’ve brought to gaming. (Btw I’m aware that your team originally wanted “I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire” and it was replaced with “Maybe” due to licensing issues but it’s curious you kept with the Ink Spots rather than finding another song with a more related theme or title, though I think in retrospect “Maybe” still works)

[@liamwaddleton]

I've always wondered about this - thanks so much for making this video and others like it! Sidenote: I thought that Mom from Futurama was an influence on Auntie Cleo, glad that was the case

[@TheEvanBennett]

I love this game as well! I am slowly crushing all of your videos, thanks again for the hard work and keeping it up! These are vakuable game history for us geeks and I fucking love it! Hopefully.....one day...Tim Cain will heart one of my posts. Also doing this to feed the algorithm so more people find your stuff!

[@occono3543]

Magic: the Gathering is still a thing, but it's completely unaffordable and they recently sent Pinkerton goons to someone's house for getting some cards earlier than they were supposed to be released so, not a great time for it.

[@CainOnGames]

Oof, that sounds bad. I was never really into MtG. For card games, I am more of a Cards Against Humanity player.

[@roccomorocco7646]

@@CainOnGamesPersonally I prefer Tragic card game

[@deonmurphy6383]

I love how the KZbinr Oxhorn is still ribbed about his reaction to cystipig.

[@snowhawkthorne630]

I didn’t know Wacky Packages started as cards! Our local video rental store (yes we still have one!) sells Wacky Packages that are little models. Grabbed several for my family last Christmas. Now I want to go get some more

[@dospulgasenunperro]

Obsidian just did a Spacer's Choice version of Outer Worlds and i find that hilarious i dont if its planned as an inside joke

[@renaigh]

my favourite branding was the loading screen art, big props to whoever did that. Red Menace propaganda and it's style fascinates me.

[@jdmathys1]

I knew Outer Worlds was going to be better than Star Field years before starfield came out. Id rather travel to planets with cities than planets with literally nothing to do.

[@JonathanRossRogers]

I'm not surprised that Firefly was a significant inspiration for The Outer Worlds. However, I don't remember many corporations from Firefly. There was Blue Sun, but the primary authoritarian threat was from the Union of Allied Planets. In any case, the corporate branding in The Outer Worlds was fun. I'm still craving some purpleberry punch and I'm not sure what a purpleberry is.

[@E2wqpXcGGnLtJHbVXDhS3]

I also have a handful of wacky packages stickers I have the camel cigarettes one the marshmallo fluff and the rama-a-liar and the best part is i found them on the side of a road no less. I had no clue that THE tim cain had a significantly large collection of them!

[@Eldrick_]

I wish there were an option you could toggle for "brand loyalty" Where items toggled off would be automatically added to the junk category. I know it seems weird but makes it easier for role playing where you only want to use Spacers Choice items or something.

[@jagosa8834]

Tim is the man!

[@chompette_]

Oh never occurred to me that the leather boa was modified for resources, just thought it was a piece to sell the alien world some more!

[@bsherman8236]

Those packages were bugging me for such a long time

[@midnightpizzagoblin]

Magic the Gathering is indeed still a thing, despite Wizards' best efforts

[@spark556]

Great game

[@BreakdancePeach]

The focus on writing checks out. I love the writing on the brands and consumables. However, in gameplay ehhhhh. I have a lot to say about the gameplay, but MOST of the 100+ consumables were simple rarely-useful number boosts (a lot identical too), so they all blended into each other. It made for really uninteresting gameplay. Maybe being generic is thematically appropriate for brands, but: - They took up a bunch of inventory UI space, despite mostly being the same. This loot was just clutter - Every time I thought I found an item with a new or interesting name, it was just another generic useless consumable - It never felt worthwhile to loot for these things, and they already accounted for like 80% of the loot, which in turn made exploring & looting (which is really major!) feel notably less fun.

[@tr1umph]

Do you know any stories about Descent to Undermountain's development?

[@redwes1]

How much direct influence or interference did Bethesda have on the development of New Vegas?

[@empire_tw570]

Better than nature

[@kuoyulu6714]

those sounds like real world products lol

[@Rig0r_M0rtis]

I love how absolutely stupid and catchy those jingles were. Especially the C&P. I have this pet peeve with a corporate slogan "more than". It's the least imaginative and most popular slogan and I despise it so much. "JADI. More than shoes" and they only sell fcking shoes, nothing more than shoes. Another company "more than just welding supplies" well guess what they only sell welding supplies. Once you start noticing it's really annoying. Like this is how much effort you put in your brand?

[@a-j6798]

Shame on me. I only recently started playing The Outer Worlds.

[@pnastysavage5510]

You've tried the best ! Now try the rest ! Spacers Choice !

[@SCARaw]

Outer worlds was my biggest gaming let down absolutely sad experience

[@DoctorRevers]

That sounds a bit hyperbolic. Feel horrible for you if true though. I’m having plenty of fun with it myself.

[@pentiplays]

Oh yeah, Outer Worlds... Did you have any say in the writing direction? That game was very preachy. It felt like the player character was being talked down to on the regular. Told what to think and what to feel. Also the character design was really bizarre. A good deal of characters looked androgynous. Was that intended?

[@drifterax7731]

That was kind of the point, the Halcyon colony are slaves to the board and constantly told what they do and think So everyone you meet is vastly confused why the main character is so curious and free

[@WooBino.]

I really tried to like Outerworlds but I felt majorly boxed in and the chracters sucked...everyone of them.

[@BlueBeetle1939]

"the characters sucked" I don't get the point of these nonsense vague critiques like how is someone supposed to improve on "suck" it's completely meaningless?

[@callmezak7515]

cool!