Interview with Tim Cain

 This interview was done with u/timcain on reddit on the 29th of September 2022, who, based on the official AMAs done by obsidian entertainment, which the account u/timcain participated in, is the real Tim Cain, the creator of the Fallout Series and producer of the first game. 

https://twitter.com/Obsidian/status/796387386666061824

https://twitter.com/Obsidian/status/257891280661663745

The following exchanges have been edited slightly, simply for the sake of formatting, as originally all of the questions were asked in one message from me and answered in one message from Cain, making them rather difficult to parse, other than that, and the occasional clearly delineated comment, no changes have been made.

Me: Hello, I've been writing a paper about the philosophy of the Fallout games for school and I was wondering if you'd be happy to answer some questions about the ideologies present in the series for me?

Cain: I can do that, as long as you’re only expecting me to answer about the ideologies of the first Fallout. A lot of things were added to the second one after I left Interplay, and I’ve didn’t work on the other ones at all.

Me: Would you say Fallout has any 'base assumptions', as in, ideological or political positions the game wouldn't really make sense without?

Cain: When we made Fallout, we assumed that people will always have conflict. It's inevitable. And while some conflict is over necessities, most of the conflicts are over subjective things: ideas, views, hierarchies. It's sad, and sadness is at the root of Fallout.

Me: Do you think your contribution to Fallout 1's writing, 'war, war never changes' is emblematic of the ideology behind the game?

Cain: Yes. I was trying to summarize the game in as brief a statement as possible. War never changes. People will always fight.

Me: Are there any factions in fallout you consider to be particularly commendable or reprehensible, and if so which ones?

Cain: Not especially. Shady Sands and the ghouls in Necropolis seem "good", but they are mostly minding their own business. Give them power and they'd be as bad as anyone else. (This is an especially noteworthy comment as Shady Sands, once it became powerful in Fallout 2, grew into the NCR, and is currently the capital)

Me: Do you have a favourite Fallout character? If so, who?

Cain: I always loved Dogmeat. But I am partial to dogs.

Me: Which aspects to Fallout do you consider essential to the story outside of dialogue? I.e. the visual design or the difficulty of the combat

Cain: The ability to solve quests and problems in multiple ways is the core of the Fallout experience. And then being held responsible for any outcomes of your actions. Those are two sides of the Fallout coin. Or bottle cap, I suppose.

Me: Did you and the other creative leads behind Fallout have similar political/philosophical views?

Cain: We seemed to. We were mostly idealistic 20-somethings when we made it, so I don't know where everyone is now.

Me: Do you think the Master's beliefs are inherently flawed or that they only fall apart because Super Mutant sterility makes his goals impractical?

Cain: I think using violence to impose your ideals is an indication that your ideals are wrong. If the Master was right, people would line up to be dipped in the Vats.

Me: Is Vault Tec's prominence in Fallout's iconography indicative of the game's attitude towards corporations and capitalism?

Cain: We liked making fun of corporations (and any large institutions) back then...and we still do, if The Outer Worlds is any indication. Ultimately all large institutions (corporate, political, religious) become corrupt. Power always corrupts.

Me: Brilliant! These are really helpful answers, thank you very much for your time!

Cain: I hope you get an A+

Me: Thank you, fingers crossed!