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Tags: Damien Foletto
The fan boys (and girls) at Winterwind have interviewed Damien 'Puuk' Foletto of Black Isle Studios fame. In the interview, Damien discusses his humble beginnings, the influences that lead him to pursue game design as a career choice. His biggest influence? Fallout.
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Here's his take on Fallout Tactics, which I'm sure a lot of us here can agree with:
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<blockquote>WW: The last game you worked on as a QA Tester was Fallout Tactics. Had you played the Fallout games before working at IPLY or was your first exposure research while working on FOT?
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DF: I had played through Fallout about ten times by the time I started working on FOT. I was very familiar with the Fallout universe, which was good and bad, depending on your perspective while working on FOT. It was good because I knew what fit in the Fallout world and what didn’t. It was bad because I knew what fit in the Fallout world and what didn’t.
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WW: FOT was not well received by the FO fanbase. What was your impression of the game during it's development?
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DF: I knew FOT was not a PCRPG from the get-go, so I approached it as purely a strategy game when we started working on it. I enjoyed FOT tactics for what it was up until about mission 11 – that’s when I think the whole robot scenario started and did not let up until the end. I grew to hate robots in just about any game after that. However, before mission 11, I actually thought, overall, FOT was a decent, but not a great strategy game. It was not Fallout, I’ll say that up front, and I’ll say it because a lot of the retro ‘50’s feel was left out of the game’s atmosphere. Hum-vees, endless robots, etc. solidified the miss on the atmosphere, in my opinion. But my biggest disappointment was that FOT was being done instead of Fallout 3, and that, also in my opinion, doomed FOT from the get-go. </blockquote>
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Amen to that. Here's one more good quote:
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<blockquote>WW: Are there any specific people, either alive or dead, that you would have dreamed of working with?
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DF: Wow, that’s a loaded question. To be truthful, I do not hold anyone on a pedestal in the industry. This isn’t out of personal arrogance, but more about knowing that no game is ever made by just one person. A lead designer or project lead/director may have an overall vision for a game, but it is the collaborative effort of everyone involved that makes a game truly great. </blockquote>
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I guess the interview is interesting even if you don't care about the guy and the game's that he's worked on in either QA or design, you've got to admit that he's got some solid opinions. You can read the first part of a two part interview by clicking <a href=http://www.winterwind-productions.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=41>here</a>.
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Thanks for the heads up, <b>Saint Proverbius</b>.
The fan boys (and girls) at Winterwind have interviewed Damien 'Puuk' Foletto of Black Isle Studios fame. In the interview, Damien discusses his humble beginnings, the influences that lead him to pursue game design as a career choice. His biggest influence? Fallout.
<br>
<br>
Here's his take on Fallout Tactics, which I'm sure a lot of us here can agree with:
<br>
<blockquote>WW: The last game you worked on as a QA Tester was Fallout Tactics. Had you played the Fallout games before working at IPLY or was your first exposure research while working on FOT?
<br>
<br>
DF: I had played through Fallout about ten times by the time I started working on FOT. I was very familiar with the Fallout universe, which was good and bad, depending on your perspective while working on FOT. It was good because I knew what fit in the Fallout world and what didn’t. It was bad because I knew what fit in the Fallout world and what didn’t.
<br>
<br>
WW: FOT was not well received by the FO fanbase. What was your impression of the game during it's development?
<br>
<br>
DF: I knew FOT was not a PCRPG from the get-go, so I approached it as purely a strategy game when we started working on it. I enjoyed FOT tactics for what it was up until about mission 11 – that’s when I think the whole robot scenario started and did not let up until the end. I grew to hate robots in just about any game after that. However, before mission 11, I actually thought, overall, FOT was a decent, but not a great strategy game. It was not Fallout, I’ll say that up front, and I’ll say it because a lot of the retro ‘50’s feel was left out of the game’s atmosphere. Hum-vees, endless robots, etc. solidified the miss on the atmosphere, in my opinion. But my biggest disappointment was that FOT was being done instead of Fallout 3, and that, also in my opinion, doomed FOT from the get-go. </blockquote>
<br>
Amen to that. Here's one more good quote:
<br>
<br>
<blockquote>WW: Are there any specific people, either alive or dead, that you would have dreamed of working with?
<br>
<br>
DF: Wow, that’s a loaded question. To be truthful, I do not hold anyone on a pedestal in the industry. This isn’t out of personal arrogance, but more about knowing that no game is ever made by just one person. A lead designer or project lead/director may have an overall vision for a game, but it is the collaborative effort of everyone involved that makes a game truly great. </blockquote>
<br>
<br>
I guess the interview is interesting even if you don't care about the guy and the game's that he's worked on in either QA or design, you've got to admit that he's got some solid opinions. You can read the first part of a two part interview by clicking <a href=http://www.winterwind-productions.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=41>here</a>.
<br>
<br>
Thanks for the heads up, <b>Saint Proverbius</b>.
