Tim Cain

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Tim Cain
Timothy-cain-gdc2010 cropped.jpg
Cain on the GDC Online 2010
Born
Timothy Cain
NationalityAmerican
Education University of Virginia (BSc)
University of California, Irvine (MSc)
Occupation(s)Programmer, designer, producer
Employer Obsidian Entertainment
Known forCreator of Fallout series
Spouse
Robert Land
​
(m. 2011)​

Timothy Cain is an American video game developer and YouTuber best known as the creator, producer, lead programmer and one of the main designers of the 1997 video game Fallout . [1] [2] In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game creators of all time. [3]

Contents

Early life, family and education

Cain attended college at the University of Virginia, followed by graduate school in California. During this time, he helped a friend, programming a card game, Grand Slam Bridge, for CYBRON Corporation which was released in 1986. [4] In 1989, he received a Master's Degree in Computer Science at University of California, Irvine. [3]

Career

Interplay Entertainment

Cain began working at Interplay in 1991. [5] For a couple of months in 1994, he served as the only employee working on a game that would later become the post-apocalyptic role-playing video game (RPG) Fallout . [4] He laid out the basic concept based on the GURPS system and began programming the isometric game engine. He took over the producer role from Thomas R. Decker who had to supervise multiple other projects at the time. [5] With a development cycle of three and a half years, Fallout was released in 1997. During this time, he was also a programming consultant on Stonekeep (1995) and helped with coding for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (1997). [6]

In an interview, he criticized the bigger influence from sales/marketing department during Fallout 2 development, saying, "We were losing part of the game to a larger group who had bigger plans for it." [7] Cain corroborated further in May 2023 that he left the company bitter after he was forced to work on Fallout 2 and did not get the bonus pay that was agreed upon after completion of the first game. [8]

Troika Games

Tim Cain (middle) with the two other co-founders of Troika Games, Jason Anderson (left) and Leonard Boyarsky (right). Troika Games' Founders (left to right) Jason D. Anderson, Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky.jpg
Tim Cain (middle) with the two other co-founders of Troika Games, Jason Anderson (left) and Leonard Boyarsky (right).

Cain was among the founders of Troika Games in 1998. [5] His next game reunited him with Thomas R. Decker, the original Fallout producer. As project leader and lead designer he produced within 20 months the Dungeons & Dragons game The Temple of Elemental Evil for publisher Atari in 2003. While he loved making the game, he was disappointed that it did not result how he wanted it to be. [9]

After Bethesda Game Studios secured the Fallout license from Interplay Entertainment in 2004, Cain expressed disappointment.

I was hoping that Troika would get the license, but we were massively outbid. But in the end, they made a good game. [10]

Cain had mixed reactions to Fallout 3 , praising Bethesda's understanding of Fallout lore as well as the adaptation of "S.P.E.C.I.A.L." system into a first-person shooter role-playing video game (FPS-RPG), but he criticized the humor and recycling of too many story elements from the earlier Fallout games. [9]

He helped out programming the last Troika game, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines , a horror RPG for Activision in 2004. He also worked on a post-apocalyptic roleplay game for which he could not convince any publisher to fund. As consequence he had to lay off most employees in late 2004 and shuttered Troika Games in February 2005. [11]

Carbine Studios

Cain joined Carbine Studios when it was formed in 2005 [12] as its programming director working on a fantasy MMO game for NCSoft. He was promoted to design director October 7, 2008. [12] Cain left Carbine Studios in July 2011. [13]

Obsidian Entertainment

In 2011, Tim Cain joined Obsidian Entertainment as senior programmer. [14] He worked on Pillars of Eternity , which was funded through Kickstarter. [15] He was also a co-director for The Outer Worlds . [16] Since June 2020, Cain is no longer employed by Obsidian as a full time employee, but still works for them on the sequel to The Outer Worlds as well as for two other companies on a contract basis. [17] [18]

Personal life

Cain is affected by hereditary color blindness, stating in a Gamasutra interview that he "[can now] see less than half the spectrum of colors". He enjoys cooking, particularly Japanese and Chinese cuisine, and his favorite dishes are garlic chicken fried rice and chicken karaage. [19] Cain came out as a gay man in the early 2000s after concealing his sexuality throughout much of his early career. [20] He married his husband Robert Land on July 14, 2011. [21]

Games

YearTitleRole(s)
1986Grand Slam Bridge [22] Programmer
1991 The Bard's Tale Construction Set Designer, programmer
1993Rags to Riches: The Financial Market SimulationProgrammer, additional design
1995 Stonekeep Programming consultant
1997 Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Programmer
Fallout Creator, producer, designer, lead programmer
1998 Fallout 2 Designer, additional programming
2001 Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Project lead, lead programmer
2003 The Temple of Elemental Evil Project lead, lead designer
2004 Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines Programmer
2014 South Park: The Stick of Truth Programmer
WildStar Additional design, additional programming
2015 Pillars of Eternity Programmer, additional design
2016 Tyranny Programmer
2019 The Outer Worlds Director
2025 The Outer Worlds 2 Creative consultant

References

  1. ↑ Dransfield, Ian (October 3, 2018). "The History of Fallout". Retro Gamer (186): 21.
  2. ↑ Green, Jeff (October 2005). "The Bard's Tale", Computer Gaming World (255): 76.
  3. 1 2 "IGN - 85. Tim Cain". Games.ign.com. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Matt Chat 66: Fallout with Tim Cain, Pt. 1". YouTube. June 27, 2010. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 "Fallout Developers Profile - Tim Cain". nma-fallout.com. No Mutants Allowed. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Reboot Develop 2017 - Tim Cain, Obsidian Entertainment / Building a Better RPG: 7 Mistakes to Avoid". YouTube. June 7, 2017. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Matt Chat 67: Fallout with Tim Cain Pt. 2". YouTube. July 4, 2010. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
  8. ↑ Cain, Timothy (May 26, 2023). "Why I Left Fallout 2". YouTube. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  9. 1 2 "Matt Chat 68: Arcanum and More with Tim Cain". YouTube. July 11, 2010. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Duck and Cover :: View topic - DAC Interview with Tim Cain". Duckandcover.cx. Retrieved June 5, 2011.[ unreliable source? ]
  11. ↑ Hoffman, Erin (December 26, 2006). "The Escapist : The Rise and Fall of Troika". escapistmagazine.com. Archived from the original on August 30, 2011. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
  12. 1 2 "Carbine Studios Names Tim Cain Design Director". carbinestudios.com (Press release). Carbine Studios. Archived from the original on October 16, 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  13. ↑ Meer, Alec (October 12, 2011). "Most Able: Fallout's Tim Cain Joins Obsidian". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  14. ↑ "Fallout Creator, Troika Co-Founder Tim Cain Joins Obsidian". Gamasutra.com. October 12, 2011. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  15. ↑ "The People Behind Fallout And Planescape Are Making My Dream RPG". Kotaku.com. September 14, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  16. ↑ Hall, Charlie (December 6, 2018). "Obsidian's new RPG, The Outer Worlds, has echoes of Mass Effect and Fallout: New Vegas". Polygon.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  17. ↑ Cain, Timothy (May 29, 2023). "Frequently Asked Questions". Timothy Cain. Retrieved February 21, 2025– via YouTube.
  18. ↑ Cain, Timothy (April 30, 2023). "Semi-Retirement". Timothy Cain. Retrieved February 21, 2025– via YouTube.
  19. ↑ "Will Ooi's Blog - Unmasking the Gamers: Tim Cain – Industry Veteran, Programmer, and Original Creator of Fallout". Gamasutra. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  20. ↑ Jackson, Claire (June 2, 2023). "Fallout Creator's Coming Out Story Hits Harder This Pride Month". Kotaku. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  21. ↑ Harper, Todd; Adams, Meghan Blythe; Taylor, Nicholas, eds. (2018). Queerness in Play. Springer. p.  64. ISBN   9783319905426.
  22. ↑ "My First Professional Game" on YouTube
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