'How About Fallout?' - Brief History of How Iconic RPG Got Its Name
RadStorm, Nuclear Summer, Vault 13 - one of these titles could have belonged to the iconic Fallout. Tim Cain recalls what the process of finding the perfect titles for a post-apocalyptic RPG was like.
The name Fallout is unambiguously associated by gamers - with the iconic post-apocalyptic RPG series created by Interplay Entertainment, and since the third game developed by Bethesda Softworks.
However, in 1996, when the first Fallout was still in development, the choice of the perfect title was not so obvious.
Tim Cain, one of the lead designers of the first installment, decided to dig into his old notes and tell fans the story behind the choice of this particular name.
Titling the game, or how to do it right
Tim's interview was published on YouTube. It reveals what the feverish search for the title was like in 1996. - just a year before the game was released.
"It is very, very difficult to come up with a name for a new game - with new mechanics, a new setting and new characters. You'd think there was a whole team of creative people working on it who could just say, 'Yes! That's the title'... well, it doesn't work that way," says Tim Cain
Tim stressed that a good title must meet four conditions:
- be fresh - not previously used to avoid confusing customers or litigation over name rights;
- be free of connotations - so that it is not associated with topics that may cause controversy, such as religious or political;
- reflect the nature of the game - the main theme, the tone of the story (light/heavy), the atmosphere;
- have a well-thought-out structure - so that players do not abbreviate it in a way that could have negative overtones (e.g. Fallout Online and FoOl).
"Vault," "Warriors of the Apocalypse" or "Nuclear Summer?"
Initially, the code name was Vault 13.exe and was a reference to one of the main locations in the game world. Tim recalls that in a conversation with one of his employees, he criticized the idea of titling the game this way.
"I said: 'We can't call this game Vault 13, because what would the title of the sequel sound like? Vault 13 2? Vault 14? More Vault 13? This is a bad idea, we need to come up with something better.' I asked people to come to the conference room and just throw ideas around," Tim recalls
This led to a list of potential titles. The ideas were varied: Warriors of the ApocalypseRadStorm, Nuclear Summer, Hiroshima Revisited and finally Fallout. In total, slightly more than 30 suggestions were collected.
"How about Fallout?," asked Brian Fargo
Initially, the name Fallout didn't appeal to Tim.
"My programmer's mind looked like this at the time: 'Fallout? There is no fallout. The game is set 80 years after the nuclear war - back then this kind of radiation was no longer present,'" admitted Tim
However, he changed his mind at the urging of Brian Fargo - founder and president of Interplay.
"Why not just call it Fallout? Great name, probably won't even be shortened," Brian Fargo said
Tim asked for time to think. He made his decision the next morning.
"Fallout is a really good name. I suggested it to the team... boom - everyone loved it. You say Fallout and you immediately think, 'Well, it's probably a post-apocalyptic game. And it's probably not a fun post-apocalyptic game.' That's why Fallout fits perfectly - that's where the whole series got its name," Tim said
The Fallout series is already 25 years old. It's hard to imagine it being titled, for example, RadStorm or Warriors of the Apocalypse. And you, if you had the opportunity, what would you call this acclaimed series? Let us know in the comments section.
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Author: Jakub Tarchala
He started by producing content on YouTube in 2020, but eventually found out writing was his real jam. He set up a modest blog where he published video game reviews, and two years later combined his work with his hobby and started writing for Gamepressure. He loves Terry Pratchett's offbeat sense of humor and the philosophical mysteries of the universe embedded in Stanislaw Lem's novels. He enjoys watching comedies and horror movies. He has a profound affection for the Stalker universe (electronic, written, and pasted). In his spare time he plays guitar and collects Marvel cards.
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