Tim Cain, one of the co-creators of the original Fallout title, has appeared in a 17-minute video on his YouTube channel talking about the potential for a Fallout remaster. This topic has come up in the wake of Oblivion Remastered, which has proven to be a rampant success for Bethesda Game Studios.
It has prompted gamers worldwide to clamour for a Fallout remaster of some kind, with many suggesting that the original game, released way back in 1997, should be the subject of a remaster project.
Tim Cain helpfully pointed out the intense array of ‘legal, technical, and subjective issues’ preventing anyone from making a Fallout remaster.
‘I Destroyed Every Copy of the Source Code’
To open his video on the subject of a Fallout remaster, Tim Cain explained that he obliterated every shred of Fallout code he had when he left Interplay, one of the companies behind the first Fallout game:
When I left Interplay, they said, ‘You better not have any copies of this.’ I destroyed every copy of the source code I had. I went so far to destroy it that I even destroyed early prototypes and libraries, which means I can’t even get some of my older, personal ‘toy projects’ that I was working on at home to compile anymore.
They reference a library that I destroyed the only copy of, when I destroyed Fallout and all the early code.
That’s not the end of all things, as one of Interplay’s founders, Rebecca Heineman, recently revealed that she has snapshots of Fallout’s code.
Tim Cain went on to walk through all the legal issues associated with a Fallout remaster. The list started with music licensing issues, with Cain mentioning that original licenses were secured without the consideration for an eventual remaster, because that just wasn’t a thing in 1997.
He also highlighted that in-game cutscenes and ‘movies’ were rendered in a proprietary format that might not be convertible, which means they’d need to be remade to some capacity. Cain also mentioned that the source code was compiled across a range of tools and software that are no longer available, which presents another modernisation issue.
Fallout was released with some major bugs, and Cain said that they’re still in the game now because it’s so tough to patch them out. It’s worth stressing that some modders have tried to iron out these core issues, but it would be difficult to rewrite code to cover everything in a remaster.
Cain wrapped up his video by suggesting that modern gamers wouldn’t gel with the original UI featured in Fallout, and that they’d need to overhaul what exists for a modern audience.
He said that some of the more complex mechanics of the game might need to be eradicated to make it more accessible, and eventually, he stressed that you’re making something that’s a new game rather than just a Fallout remaster.
Do you think it’s worth Bethesda Game Studios making a Fallout remaster? Let me know on the Insider Gaming forum.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
More from Grant Taylor-Hill
Sounds like they came pre-loaded with excuses