The making of Fallout 1 & 2: Tales from the early days of Black Isle Studios

Disclaimer: Travel and accommodation for this trip was provided by Paradox Interactive.
Chris Bratt sits down with Feargus Urquhart, Leonard Boyarsky and Tim Cain to talk about their work on the original Fallout 1 & 2.
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[@2Cerealbox]

These guys have such great chemistry together, no wonder they managed to put together such a long-lasting game.

[@ricoco7891]

The guys seemed almost sad to end the interview, you can see the appreciation they have for fans who are interested in their games and how they came together. Great video, always happy to learn more about Fallout :)

[@davidovics92]

totally agree, they seemed very enthusiastic throughout the whole interview. they are still passionate about fallout

[@dragonslayerornstein2834]

May Obsidian continue the legacy of this legendary company.

[@gabrieleriva651]

With a New Vegas 2. Or an Arcanum 2. Or a Vampire Redemption 2.

[@TheDweller77]

they will most likely make the next Fallout and it could never be a New Vegas 2

[@dlux7357]

Obsidian would need to start making good games for that to happen. Pillows of Eternity was a complete bore fest.

[@TheDweller77]

mefit1 New Vegas was amazing though. Did exceedingly better then 3 and 4 and didn't even take half the time to make

[@taomahNEGEV]

Fallout 2 Remake.

[@frmol1]

i remember playing Fallout 2 in 1999, there was nothing even close .. it was like playing MMORPG but offline back then nobody had internet or it was super expensive.. still my favorite game of all

[@ytanonymity3585]

And the game have fun campaign

[@Sund4nc3]

these guys were the leading devs on the most influential game ever for me and i will never stop being grateful to them for this

[@CureOptimismForHumanity]

That time-travelling Dinosaur RPG pitch kinda sounds like the Super Mario Bros movie.

[@_rpaqp_]

Ну ты почти угадал...

[@gabrielteixeira7564]

The only problem with this interview is that it ends. I could listen to those guys for hours.

[@slothbro2740]

In the past year or so Tim Cain has made a youtube channel and talked a lot about of what I assume they go over in this and still this video is just so interesting. Also great overlay and way to have gameplay of the game and the interview

[@adam908]

“My idea is to explore more of the world and more of the ethics of a post-nuclear world, not to make a better plasma gun.” - Tim Cain Damn shame Pagliarulo and the other folk at BGS missed the memo.

[@White_Tiger93]

true, very true. I'm glad Emil changed his position at bethesda, wishing someone could fill the new lead writer at bethesda for their next game.

[@Ravix0fFourHorn]

Chris Avellone is a freelancer now. ;)

[@AlchemistOfNirnroot]

Gameplay's very important. The problem with Fallout 4 was simply story and choice; it seems the lacks of coordination during production and their publisher had a lot to do with how the game went south.

[@dzikripratama3776]

@@Ravix0fFourHorn he hates Bethesda...

[@NikolaAvramov]

@@dzikripratama3776 Surprised he doesn't hate Obsidian even more, having been sabotaged and robbed by them.

[@simiolonga]

Bethesda should really watch this video and give Fallout back to Obsidian. Bethesda has NO FUCKING IDEA what made a Fallout game S.P.E.C.I.A.L

[@simiolonga]

-Captain- I'm counting Obsidian as if was Black Isle (which they kind of are)

[@LeandroBarbksa]

They don't care, their games sell, in fact they'll probably dumb it down even further because if you look at the charts, that's what people like. Fallout died, and that's good, hopefully Obsidian will create a new franchise as good as old Fallout, but with a more contemporary approach.

[@simiolonga]

Jardeson Barbosa mmm a spiritual successor to Fallout by Obsidian? That actually sounds fantastic.

[@SloulDesTucs]

They bought it, they own it. They make tons of money out of it. Sure they will give it away just like that... If they were selling, Obsidian could not even afford it. If Obsidian bought it, they would do shit with it. Because Obsidian don't have a tenth of the talent that Black Isle and Troika had (sadly). Pillars was meh. Tyranny was utter shit.

[@EkkieEkk]

+mefit1 Someone's uneducated. Fallout had to be sold off because interplay was going down and taking black isle and fallout with them. Also Obsidian is doing pretty well. Some of the most successful kickstarters of all time, a major factor in the revival of classic RPGs, theyve got their own original IPs... how are they going bankrupt again?

[@nervous711]

So it was actually Leonard Boyarsky came up bunch of craziest ideas in Fallout 1? Damn! I love him!

[@ryan8401]

That was great. Amazing to think how the current industry has built itself up to this point on the backs of a few truly ingenious, creative and passionate people.

[@noisemarine561]

Invention's come from a garage, not a corporation.

[@MrFredstt]

Fallout and Fallout 2 are not only the best Fallout games, but they are also one of the best games period.

[@NeWx89]

Jesus Christ, I came in and saw the video was 50 min long and thought to myself "I will never watch the full clip, but I'll check it out a bit"; as I haven't played the first two fallouts. But look and behold, suddenly I'm 35 minutes in and almost done.

[@Uzur9]

FO1+2 are fantastic. Same with PlaneScape: Torment & Baldur's Gate (if ye haven't played 'em before)

[@nibernator]

I did the same thing. Just finished the video.

[@Pintkonan]

it is highly recommend to play them, the experience is unique and unlevelled IMHO. you are missing out on sth here! and it helps you to understand better, why its ( 1& 2's) successors suck ^^

[@pistooth]

There needs to be a short film or short game or something about that time travel dinosaur story pitch because that sounds super rad.

[@CJ-yg2xi]

NoClip Documentary on Fallout development Pls.

[@Jaarnofolkki]

Phenomenal! Thanks so much for this Eurogamer. Fallout 1 is my favorite game of all time, it just totally sparked my imagination.

[@kummakummakummakummakummac8606]

I always said Fallout 1 & 2. They always felt perfect to me or as good as a game could be.

[@demonspawn5164]

Same

[@gabrieleriva651]

24:30 I remember back in the day when videogame magazine giving PATCHES on CD was A BIG thing...

[@ayethe4603]

1&2 were the best

[@kummakummakummakummakummac8606]

You have very good taste in games.

[@possessedslig]

New Vegas wasn't bad either

[@_Juan_226]

👌

[@peterosipov400]

They still are

[@suzysuzuki8865]

New Vegas is my favorite but currently doing a play through of 2 having just beat one again for the umpteenth time

[@nightcatarts]

Fascinating stuff. I love the sheer number of random little events that helped shape the games. You can't spreadsheet creativity.

[@carpemkarzi]

That was fantastic Chris. It brought back so many memories of when those games landed, seeing them in the store, seeing the ads etc. Cool history.

[@eurogamer]

Thanks! Credit goes to the folks at Obsidian for being so generous with their time. -Chris

[@carpemkarzi]

Eurogamer I just have this feeling that if you got them into a bar then started this interview we would have soooooooooo many more stories. Thx again Chris and congrats on getting the access.

[@Skorpys365]

Carpe Mkarzi I have to admit that I got Fallout 1 and 2 free with a PC Gaming magazine. I was quite doubtful at first, buy they became the first games I became completely addicted to, love and still are the games I've replayed the most. I loved the humour, the stories, the world - everything! It wasn't my first RPGs, but they WERE the ones that made me fall in love with the genre. 😁 I know they don't read this, but I still want to thank them for making my childhood better and giving me a love of RPGs that continue to this day!

[@carpemkarzi]

Skorpyz very cool story. Hell I remember getting 3.5" floppys with demos and games with the magazines. We all come to this hobby from somewhere and it should unite us in a love for games.

[@Briosafreak]

Now this is awesome. Really. Thanks Chris, what a treat for the really old Fallout fans like me.

[@8Paul7]

Why did you have to stop it in mere 50 minutes? I could listen to these guys for hours :(

[@RemiStardust]

Great job getting this interview! Very cool to have this documentation-video, you know, for the fans, who want to know how it started and what they were thinking. Good choice to show video of the original game in the background instead of just guys talking!

[@JonathanRossRogers]

This contradicts the idea that Fallout was originally conceived as a sequel to Wasteland. It seems that it probably was for the best that they were forced to make it a completely new game. As similar as the Wasteland and Fallout series are, it's good that they've remained distinct.

[@reshypoo9447]

Great sit-down chat, hardly seemed like an interview. Wish it could have gone on longer, would have loved to hear some of old Troika's stories about making bloodlines.

[@fretzil]

AHHHH this is awesome. Thank you Chris

[@goattm2]

I have a feeling that with all this Obsidian stuff in the gaming press recently that they are going to make a pretty big announcement soon. Their publisher wouldn't fly out Eurogamer to the US on a whim. There is deffinitely something interesting coming from them.

[@moonscript4675]

georgetm2 if you count a year later as soon, The Outer Worlds just got announced

[@hildeheart]

those guys are so nice and their games are awesome !

[@SANDMANN517]

Awesome interview! That team made one of the most influential and underrated PC games of all time.

[@JunktownGuard]

This is a great interview.

[@Marandal]

omg this was great. thank you soo much for this review! ❤

[@Wladislav]

Oooh, nice one Eurogamer!

[@suttaaurchai6910]

Awesome interview... Loved it

[@TheShorty751]

This video is a gem.

[@michaelgriffis6450]

I knew I was calling the Deathclaw a Tarrasque for some reason! Awesome story!

[@smartbluecat]

Great job, Chris. :) Cheers.

[@cortexavery1324]

Thks for the interview. I personaly would have liked the game to be in a little screen and the interview to be in a bigger screen. But thanks again.

[@kaptenteo]

Thanks for this!

[@Sashik]

I want Fallout back and in a isometric style

[@Sashik]

Or something new from these guys. I genuinely love them

[@fancy-payne]

Sashik Pro How about as a spin off???

[@kummakummakummakummakummac8606]

Sashik Pro - We should get there new game this year. I doubt Fallout will go back to isometric style but I'd settle for a Fallout that's a rpg and not a shooter.

[@JockoJonson17]

@@kummakummakummakummakummac8606 Just spin off a separate Fallout series like Fallout Tactics.

[@bulanet271]

@@JockoJonson17 I wouldn't mind if fans would remake New Vegas in Fallout 2 style. They did a few amazing fan games in Fallout 2 engine already, and there will be a Van Buren remake. Hype.

[@MrGareth1973]

Great video! Keep them coming :)

[@viniandrade163]

It's great to hear about how fallout came about from some of the guys behind the decisions. Thanks for the video!!

[@streetfighte6]

you guys are all legends!!

[@pb19111]

No disrespect to Steve Jackson or GURPS, but you guys were definitely right to do your own thing. That execution scene at the beginning of Fallout 1 sets the tone for the whole franchise.

[@domlocke3845]

Wonderful interview, very interesting to watch. I love Fallout, and I don't think I'd be into RPGs if it wasn't for this series as it is really difficult for me to like something in a medieval fantasy setting, which most RPGs are set in. Seems kind of limiting if you ask me, but that is beside the point.

[@liquidmodernitytasteslikeu2855]

maybe a smaller gameplay screen and a bigger interview screen would be better? just my opiniom

[@johncoffey88]

18:52 on the gameplay screen the information monitor tells the player about his surroundings and mentions the GECK, interesting because its Fallout 1

[@dawidjagusiak]

Absolutely fascinating!

[@bzaina2]

Hey Chris, good job. However, I wish you'd have asked them about Troika and VtMB/Arcanum in particular. Would really like to see an indepth descussion like this from the devs about those two games.

[@dzikripratama3776]

VTMB and Arcanum were big, ambitious but always rushed...

[@CihanSan]

Thank you so much guys, you are the best! I hope Obsidians secret project is Fallout game. Bethesda and Obsidian please make this happen.

[@conway-jr4ce]

yeah i hope so too since 4 was a disappointment for me.

[@CihanSan]

Yasin Okat did they say that? I didn't get that at all. Well a new IP is also exciting.

[@CihanSan]

conway 4590 yeah Fallout 4 had its own flaws, but they did some new cool stuff as well. Hope Bethesda announces soon their own project, there is a rumor floating around that they want to release a yet unannounced game in 2017.

[@highestsettings]

Don't get your hopes up dude, Bethesda hasn't licensed a game out for like 8 years or so. Maybe 1 game in that time. If they were going to do that, it would be Fallout to Obsidian, because of the history of it. But, Obsidian has said it's not going to happen too. I'd love that to happen. But don't expect it is all I'm saying.

[@CihanSan]

Johnny Torpedo thanks 👍 I will keep that in mind bro

[@boogiemeister9581]

Damn, this channel is really good.

[@KimHarderFog]

A shame it was only 50ish minutes. Could listen for hours about this stuff.

[@MrLemonwolf]

What a beautiful video.

[@casperhobbs6475]

24:12 "Your game is never finished until you ship" Wish the people who shipped Dayz would think that too

[@shallex5744]

not what he said, he said "your game is never finished, it's only shipped"

[@mabec]

This is the Fallout we want a sequel to

[@yusofplayed]

Thank you for doing good videos and journalism. Eurogamer rules.

[@gabrieleriva651]

A good Fallout fangame is Fallout 1.5. Reccomended.

[@MrDeejayjfx]

I can't believed I missed this.

[@1812madjack]

Crazy that something so iconic to the Fallout series started out as art for the game's manual. Guess that wouldn't happen today?!

[@Gdub33]

So insightful! I wish these guys were working on Fallout 5!

[@neithealebor]

Legends..

[@thedatatreader]

I really need to update my game. I had to set down my copy of Fallout 1 after that timer caused me to lose on account of how hard it is to find the settlements when playing for the first time.

[@benzosbenchmarks8145]

Excellent interview and video

[@vladurban6036]

An interesting version, which is shown here. It is clear that this is HD mod, but I have never seen such green numbers on the HP and AC counters.

[@late_privktorian_era]

Yo i'm in Miami and still have no fucking power in my house but i just burned through my entire phones battery watching this bad boy and it was WORTH EVERY SECOND.

[@marcelogonzalez8547]

I have to ask. What version/mod of fallout are you playing in the background? It looks different.

[@Pintkonan]

the GECK reference at 18:52 =)

[@yoshz5389]

These are the guys that make me wanna become a game dev

[@JonathanRossRogers]

2:25 In all the times I've played Fallout, I don't think I've ever targeted a rat's groin. Is there any particular advantage?

[@kummakummakummakummakummac8606]

I always thought that if you target the groin, or the eyes, that if you hit you do more damage. But I don't know if this is correct and I don't remember what made me think it in the first place.

[@Pan_Z]

Hitting the groin gives a chance for the target to reel in pain, losing their turn.

[@araara4099]

The Dinosaur concept is interesting

[@pkeod]

I never played a build without the timer...

[@thewastelandarchitect9000]

That dinosaur game actually sounds good and quite clever but I’m glad they went with fallout instead 🤣 amazing interview, fallout is my favourite game series and it’s good to hear all the back stories to how it was made, thanks!

[@averagegecko6145]

those were the days.

[@johnnycamine]

Now is the Tim Cainaissance

[@dw053408]

What version of F1 is being played in the background? The hud and a few other things are different.

[@dw053408]

@Godot well there is the Fallout Restoration mod, as well as many other mods/patches to the game, so that's just not the case. So back to the original comment, anyone know what version of F1 is being played?

[@StarMarshal]

I was using Fallout Fixit at the time.

[@captainstrangiato961]

QA guys: "Man, we are really doing fast." Tim Cain: "Play better."

[@captainstrangiato961]

16:07

[@Tommy-qc4rj]

I'd love to just sit in a room and talk to them, they're the mad bastards that have made me fall in love again with storytelling in games, i want them to humour me with cool questions

[@brianwolf5752]

I'm pretty sure the band confirmed that "Fallout Boy" is in fact a reference to "Vault Boy".

[@sarsmask]

Oh my heck!!

[@mina7572]

The volume is alllll over the place.

[@occono3543]

I wonder if anyone can pinpoint the exact Simpsons moment that may have given Tim the War Never Changes eureka moment.

[@marcelogonzalez8547]

To think I played the game with BOTH timers, the one you could see and the one you couldn't.

[@starfox300]

Why did you stop there at the end? It looked like they wanted to keep talking much more.

[@Regna]

fallout 2 still the best rpg i ever played

[@iknowme]

Holy shit that's Spectre's gameplay lol I've been watching his videos

[@Massupossu]

@13:16 You didn`t get the shotgun!!!

[@jaroslavprokop2408]

fallout 1/2 is masterpiece

[@Glassandcandy]

I love New Vegas more than anyone should but fallout 1 and 2 are literally perfect games. It’s a shame we never got van Buren- fortunately there are dedicated fans working on remaking it in fallout 2’s engine. God speed you wholesome warriors

[@yuc5609]

Why there's no sub title... :'(

[@ZeDitto3]

20:11 “I had no plan whatsoever” Hahaha 🤣 these guys are absolute clowns (the endearing kind of clown). Love hearing them talk.

[@Lapinsky]

God bless `em all.

[@Dmitrii-Buryackoff-83]

Old school...

[@mutoneon]

Obsidian needs to do a proper revision to Fallout 4.

[@taomahNEGEV]

I would rather see a remake of Fallout 2.

[@neithealebor]

Obsidian = Pure Quality.

[@violet9082]

hehe Leonard losing it while Tim is telling the time travel game story :D

[@wecareaboutprivacy8351]

Voice audio level too low

[@Ykowzyx]

😭😭😭

[@spookywizard1265]

n i n e a g i l i t y ?

[@janveidt2700]

RIP Fallout 1997-2003.

[@overusedmeme7799]

He's talking about Fallout that was actually good.

[@cheappyv5156]

Chris Taylor not of gas powered games?

[@gabrieleriva651]

Personal ranking of the Fallout games. 1.Fallout New Vegas 2.Fallout 2 Restored 3.Fallout 4.Fallout 2 vanilla 5.Fallout 3 ... ... ... ... 99.Fallout 4

[@neithealebor]

Fallout 4 is NOT a Fallout game.. Mindless Shooter..

[@vladurban6036]

Man i totally agreed about first 3-4 paragraphs. NV overall is even better than F2 because it mixes good things for both generations of Fallout fans. Maybe i'll switch 3) and 4) here... But i disagree about last one. With Fallout 4 you actually at least knew beforehand what you will be dealing with. And Fallout 3 after 10 years of waiting was a COMPLETE disaster and disappointment. Personally i'll put F3 lower than Fallout Tactics in ranking list. For me it stays on same level as 04' BoS game.

[@simonbirch3459]

Gabriele Riva I liked fallout 4, it was by far the worst fallout game, but as far as post apocalyptic games go it wasn't bad.

[@LordMarlle]

Fallout 4 is quite a bit better than 3, if you forget about the randomized quests

[@ricoco7891]

You're giving Fallout 3 too much credit in my opinion, there should be at least a 10 place gap between Fallout 2 vanilla and Fallout 3.