WeAre GameDevs who designed the original Fallout universe Ask us Anything!

What do you think of the most recent iterations of the Fallout franchise?

I love them. Seriously, I think they did a phenomenal job. They really kept the world feeling distinctly "Fallout": Warring factions fighting over scarred ruins. Lots of exploration into the unknown. Quests with meaningful decisions. Worthy sequels.

Hey guys! Lifelong fan of the series here. Thanks for kicking it all off. The first two Fallout games are masterpieces.

What was your biggest creative inspiration when designing the Fallout world?

I think the biggest inspirations for fallout were The Road Warrior, the pencil-and-paper RPG Gamma World, and of course Wasteland. I still love all three to this day. - Scott

Would you like to do more work on the Fallout franchise?

Who wouldn't!? It's a fun universe to be creative in. Danger and Adventure around every corner! Lost technology, radioactive monsters, gun toting desert raiders. Come on! Who can you not love that? - Scott

Scott, I met you at Lock & Load this year only a month before Tactics went into it's very first part of backer access! It's come a long long way since then, and I want to say that it's been an incredibly experience following you guys and playing along with it as you've updated the game. Fantastic job, for the whole team.

Question time though, and for both of you!

You guys have been on some pretty big projects in the past, what resulted in you being at WMD? To the best of my knowledge, Tactics is the first game made by the studio, so it's a very fresh company. It'd be interesting to hear how it all started, both the company in general and the involvement with the Warmachine IP.

Rusty - I'll talk to my side of things and let Scott give a bit of the history of WMD as he is the co-founder of the company. Scott and jay came to me a bout 4 years ago and asked me about joining the team. Scott and I go back almost 23 years ago when I brought him on board at Interplay. As it was I was getting tired of playing some of the political games in corporation as well as jumping through hoops to do anything. One would think that 20 years and a bunch of hits would count for something but more often than not it was treated like it was your first rodeo. Going back to a small dev was really attractive to me. When I started at interplay they were still a dev and I was employee #26. OK enough rambling from me on this

I've heard that a lot lately, that for the enjoyment of the craft a lot of very experienced developers are going back to small studios rather than big brand-name ones. I hope it's a trend that pays off and starts showing the weaknesses of the wall-street video game mentality.

A few of my friends that though I was crazy because of the big pay cut that I took I told them that I would rather by happy than miserable and making a lot of money. - Rusty

Who gets into video games for the salary, right?

If you get into it only to get rich you're normally miserable and out within 2 years. After Doom was major hit all sorts of people hit me up on what it would take to even become a programmer for games so they could get rich like like the 2 Johns. So I'd ask you like math...No, you like phsyics... I hate it, how about symbolic logic.... What the hell is that? Ok you don't want to even try

WhiteMoon Dreams has been around since 2006 - and we've seen a LOT of action. We've helped a big company to develop their game engine, helped several companies in China and Taiwan with their MMOs and arcade games, and even worked for a certain theme park to make ghosts appear in their... ah... haunted house attraction. But yeah, Warmachine: Tactics is the first game we've released in the states - and definitely not the last. - Scott

For Warmachine, WhiteMoon and Privateer Press have been trying to get a game off the ground for, like 5 years now. We pitched it to EVERYONE. Seriously, think of a publisher and we pitched it to them. And, though they all were interested, the final answer was no. After a few years of this, we realized that we would need to be the ones to show the world how cool this game could be. So, we launched the Kickstarter. And as of this week, have launched on Steam. BAM!

What places do you want to see future Fallouts take place?

How about in Russia? Oh, Metro. Dang! How about the Australian Outback. Oh yeah, Mad Max. Hmm... lets see... So Cal, Vegas, DC - all taken... Canada! Hmm, no. Those would be the politest Mutants ever... Uh... how about Florida! Mutant aligators! Swamp hillbilly raiders on fan boats! The ruins of Cape Canaveral! Come on! It'd be awesome! - Scott

For me Naw'lins... Cajun Cannibals, incursions by the Alamo Brigade, the Disciples of Baron Samehdi, and nobody ever comes back from Shreveport

Hey, the fallout series has always been my favorite since the first one. No matter how old I get I'll make sure to have time to play the next installments. I read that the devs for fallout 3 were encouraged to read Cormac Cccarthy's book "The Road" to get a feel for the world. Have you read it and do you agree?

The Road was a good book. But in my opinion, not quite in the same category of Fallout. The Road was real. It was gritty and ugly and bleak. Fallout, though it has those elements, always leaned towards the "one hero can make a difference" side of things. Where the Road made you feel that you have no power over the forces of nature and the horrors of survival, Fallout had the mentality of "Yeah the world is crap, get over it buttercup!". The people in Fallout are tough - living and thriving in a harsh world. They're not moping about and shiving each other for a scrap of break (usually). They've banded together in communities, tries to make the best of a terrible situation. In the end Fallout, to me, is more about the triumph of human spirit than the cold realities of survival.

First of all thank you for that game, which got me started with this genre.

And here is the question:

Are there any easter eggs in the game that have not been discovered as of today?

Not only have they all been found - I think there were some that I never even KNEW about that made their way in. (That godzilla footprint was an awesome surprise!) - Scott

As a person who has never played Fallout or really been much of an RPG person, I don't have much expierence with them and the only one I really played was Skyrim. What is your favorite RPG of all time?

I think you've just played it. Skyrim, for me, is "Gamer Crack". I can start playing, glance at the clock, say to myself "OK, only 2 hours", play a little, glance at the clock again, realize that a day has passed, and say "Just two more hours..." - Scott

How do you feel about the direction Fallout has taken today? Meaning Fallout 3 + New Vegas compared to the first ones

As I mentioned elsewhere in this AMA, I think the newer Fallout games are great.

The first Fallout games were cutting edge for their time - good storytelling, meaningful decision-making, deep character creation, and tactical combat. The newer games keep the original themes while updating the gameplay for modern gamers.

The newer Fallouts, moving to FPS gameplay was a good move. I'm not saying I don't like tactics games! (Take a look at Warmachine http://warmachinetactics.com/) I am saying that there are far more players who enjoy FPS experiences and opening them to the Fallout universe was a solid move.

I'm Back - Rusty

Dear Rusty and Scott,

First of all, thank you for doing this AMA :) really appreciate it!

My question is:

I dreamt of being a game designer and working for Sony since the PlayStation 2 came out; now that I'm older and can now actually follow my dreams

How does one get into the game industry?

Which group at SCEA are you thinking about?

Well I live in Canada, and I was really hoping to join Naughty Dog or Sucker Punch.

Heck, even working for a 3rd party Dev on the PS4 would be a dream come true!

What portion of design? Naughty Dog will be a tough test. Sucker Punch not quite as brutal

• Rusty

I really do love level design :p just something about it can make me sit on the computer for hours :D making levels allll day would be great aha

Portfolio is what you need to work on. Not just making pretty but how you can keep it down in memory footprint without sacrifices, how to get the most bang for your vertex count, smart, efficient use of materials and shaders that look great but don't slaughter the gpu. Even with that you'll still have to do a test, but this should help you get in the door. - Rusty

My recommendation for this would be twofold: Grab an Unreal 4 subscription and burrow through the ever-increasing collection of tutorials there. You'll learn the nuts and bolts of level development using the same tool the professionals use. To develop your design skills, there are three books I'd recommend you read, in this order: Raph Koster's A Theory of Fun, Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design, and Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman's Rules of Play.

Following these two tracks of learning the practical elements of game development along with the theory of why game design works the way it does will get you started on a good footing.

Seriously, the best way to start in the games industry is to start making games. There are lots of good books to read, but seriously, nothing gives you experience faster than just downloading Unreal 4 and trying to make something. You'll get overwhelmed at the stuff you need to know, and then constantly frustrated as to why things don't work - but if you stick with it, young Padawan, you will achieve gaming enlightenment. - Scott

Why is it so hard to get match making right on mp games, ie cod aw? Also, why can't they allow people to create their own server on consoles like Xbox one? Servers with a certain games map rotation and enable custom rules and god mod. Why do they make us play mp by what they think we want instead of (like older online PC games) letting you choose the server and rotation/rules you feel like playing. Ultimatly allowing us to control how we play other people...

I hear you. I remember the old Counter Strike days where when you wanted to connect to a game, you had a titanic list of games in progress where you could browse pings, whose playing, etc. In modern days, Leaderboards and Achievements drive people to compete. But how do you make them fair? If you can connect to ANYONE, why not just have a game with a friend's account and win over and over? You'd get a huge win to loss ratio and laugh at all the people actually playing the game. The current solution is to matchmake with random people who you most likely do not know. That way, your position on the Leaderboard is actually earned. This does however create a problem. Diversity. The more match options you can choose, the more you fracture your player base. Even if you have 5 options, you now can only matchmake with 1/5 of your audience! With such a limited number of players, matching skill levels becomes challenging. - Scott

For Warmachine: Tactics, we decided on two types of online matches. A player can either "Host a Match" (choosing a map) or "Quick Match" matchmake into one. These games are considered ranked and update the player's profile. The second type of match is a "Private Match". With these, you can invite specific friends to join and have options as to how the game is played. Private matches are non-ranked, so friends can play however they want without ramifications. Simple matchmaking from the largest pool possible, plus being able to tweak many options in a match. The best of both worlds. BAM!

Two different problems. The first about not allowing local servers: Anti-piracy by forcing validation also reducing the risk of the creation of cracks, data mining for gameplay issues, and anti-cheating. The several of these I have lived the negative end. With Descent (using Kali to get the user numbers) there were 50% more users than actual sales of the game which is a bit frustrating for the developer to say the least. Cheating was also a huge problem, we actually ran out a bunch of patches to close holes in gameplay. My Favorite include someone figuring out a way to change the system clock speed so they could literally blow someone away with base weapons in less than 2 seconds. Next patch ignored everything part the first 15 packets per second. Wonderful to watch them screw themselves over draining al energy with no effect. :)

The annoying thing is that they could do a lot of what you are asking about for custom matches, they just choose not to do the additional support. The argument I see going on inside any major pub is "Will we get more sales if we do this?" "I believe so but we can't prove it." "Then no"

Arguing the value of intangibles is damn hard with any suit. their view of the world is "IF I can't see it, it doesn't exist." Not existing means no profit which means no features. :( - Rusty

Hey All - Stepping away for a few - Rusty

I think he just got challenged to a Warmachine Tactics game... Go Rusty!

What inspired you to join the industry? Did you play many games before joining it?

Love your guys' work by the way, it's all so awesome, I love all the fallout games, played through flOw and Flower.

The scary part is that I started computer gaming 39 years ago on my Dad's homegrown 8080 writing my own things because well pretty much nothing existed. I had seen some stuff his co-workers had done on the mainframes they worked on and it inspired me. Pretty much computers and games have been in my blood almost all my life. As to getting into the industry was random. The firm I had been working for had some seriously bed event happen with even weirder responses to them. They ran on old IBM AS400s and I knew the default login infor for field maintenance. Looked at the books and pretty much went "Oh Crap 9 months max till collapse". I started searching and answered an add in the paper that was Interplay. I loved Bards Tale 1&2 as well as Wasteland so I was excited to get in there. Didn't get the current position first time in. I called once a week and about a month in got another interview but this time with Brian Fargo. We ended up discussing several of the odder Easter eggs I found in Wasteland and then the virtues and vices of the gold box D&D games for 2 bloody hours. Good news is that got me hired and it has been a fun ride since - Rusty

Scott: What're your thoughts on Wasteland 2?

I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't played it yet. I know, right? Bad Scott! I've been a little busy trying to get our latest game Warmachine Tactics off the ground. From everything I've heard, though, Brian and his crew at inexile knocked it out of the park.

The fallout games are filled with easter eggs and pop culture references, what are some of your favourites?

Truthfully, I think my favorite ones didn't even make it into the game! There was the Irvine Utopia, the Sports Car that would never start, the other tribes of desert raiders... If you want a comprehensive list - gander at this article in No Mutants Allowed. It's a long read, but informative. http://www.nma-fallout.com/article.php?id=60785

What was the story behind Flower and flOw? They don't really fit the format of a traditional video game. Where did the concept come from?

Originally I started talking to thatgamecompany about Cloud. We both agreed that it was a bit of a challenge for them to make their first console title. I had also seen flOw which started out as a Masters Thesis for Jenovah Chen and we all felt that it could be an interesting first step. - Rusty More to follow

One of the things that I had been tasked with was to make PSN different from what the other guys were doing and try and bring in mom, dad, big sister and little brother as the hardcore were going to buy games anyways. So I started looking in different directions. After flOw was such a success Jenovah and crew came up with Flower and I had to do a One Line Pitch to executive management of "I'm a petal on the wind" Even with everything else I had done I got a look like I had broken a mainspring. This also lead to do games like Everyday SHooter, Datura, Linger in Shadows (not a game and was originally supposed to be a freebie) Sound Shapes and Unfinished Swan

Why isn't there more of a fallout expanded universe?

That's a good question! The post-apocalyptic genre is pretty much my favorite. Why? Because it is a crucible for what is is to be human. It brings out the very best - and the very worst - in humanity. An average cop can become a stoic Road Warrior - or succumb to the horrors and become a monster himself. Drama galore! - Scott

Have you kept up with/played any of the recent-ish wave of board games (Settlers of Catan, etc.)? Any favorites? Any novel mechanics you like?

I really like co-op games. Forbidden Island is one of the best. The whole race against a sinking island theme never gets old. I recently played an older game with a strange title, "Betrayal at the House on Haunted Hill". Its a board building game where the characters are exploring an evil mansion. It starts out co-op, but then, once the evil is awakened, one of the players becomes the villain, and the rest of the party must try and stop them. Not only is it hella fun, but there are like 50 different scenarios in the rulebook (based on how the evil was awakened). Great game. - Scott

First- I am a huge fan of the series, Fallout 1 and 2 are amazing and are great games even in 2014.

Second- What do you think of the Fallout modding community? What're some of your favorite mods?

I'm really looking forward to LoneStar. It looks like it's going to be TIGHT. - Scott

So, would you blow up Megaton too?

Nah - I kinda liked Megaton. I'd probably shoot the Sherrif, but I wound not blow up the town. :) - Scott

But would you shoot the Deputy?

Twice. - Scott

what are your thoughts on fallout 3 & new vegas? in which one do you personally like the most

New Vegas. Hands down. Why? The story. Fallout 3 was great, but the primary story was... lacking. Gus and the guys at Obsidian rocked it. The setting was great, the characters were great, the additions to the world were great. Yeah - good times. - Scott

Same for me too. My thing was that 3 felt like it took itself too seriously. New Vegas brought back the dark sense of humor that I liked in the first 2 - Rusty

Along the same lines as that question, do you guys have any favourite companions in 3/nv?

Dogmeat, of course! - Scott

Thanks for doing this!

Do you feel like games are being put out now before their fully ready? (COD, Destiny, Halo, Assassins Creed? All them were very flawed when they game out and have patches weekly.

What are your thoughts on DLC? Personally I feel like its kinda Scam move by the gaming industry. With many games having sequels and additions a year later. Why should consumers have to pay for content put into games after "completion"?

What is your favorite video game?

Ok going to bury you a little bit starting with the 90s: 90's PC: 4 way tie with Civ, Wing Commander(All), Ultima Underworld and Fallout Amiga: Lemmings SNES: Tie Super Mario World and Mario Cart Genesis: Tie with Road Rash and Shining and the Darkness N64: Mario 64 Playstation: 3 way tie Xenogears , FF VII, Monster Rancher

2000 PC: 3 way Tie Civ 4, WoW and Freelancer Dreamcast: Shen Mue Playstation 2: 3 way Tie Onimusha, Dynasty Tactics1/2 and GT3 GameCube: Eternal Darkness Xbox: Fable 2010+ PC: 3 way Tie Fallout: New Vegas, Bioshock, Boarderlands PS3: 3 way tie NFL Headcoach 2009, GT5, Terraria Xbox 360: 3 way Tie Overlord, Fable 2 and Fable 3 Vita: Tie Soul Sacrifice and Freedom War

OK I play way too many games

My gut and own experience is that they were most likely forced out by people that are not the developers. Fear of Wall Street and missing dates are a big problem for the major publishers. Look at the last few years for EA. Pretty disasterous between making Black Friday and Fiscal Year End.

My favourite video game is a tough one. It kind of follows era and platform better than anything else. Way too many great games.

Favorite games!? I have too many to list. However, here's a "If you were stranded on a desert island and only had 5 games, what would they be?" answer: The SNES Legend of Zelda, Skyrim, the new XCOM, Descent, and... hmm... a toss up between Archon and EA's Mail Order Monsters. - Scott

Xeno Gears- really one of the best RPGs

Yup and as far as I am concerned Square screwed up with the lack of support in marketing and PR. How can people not like Hong Kong Kung Fu, Giant Robots, and Hong Kong Kung Fu in Giant Robots or vs. Giant Robots

Finally, someone else who recognizes LTTP as the best Zelda

I have had a love affair with Zelda since the NES version. In fact, I even built a "Zelda Generator", an engine that creates a procedurally generated NES Zelda game. Yeah, I'm kinda a super fan of that game. - Scott

Where can we get this? :O

Funny story - long ago, we were pitching an idea to Nintendo at San Fransisco GDC. After the pitch, I couldn't help but show off the "Zelda Generator". There were nods and excited glances. A few days after we got back from GDC, we got a message from Nintendo: Miyamoto-san wanted to see it for himself. (SQUEE!)

Hi guys :)

I'm a young author from austria, writing on my second book (my first is still not released). I do know how hard it is to write down thoughts of a universe you have in your head. After finishing and while writing my books I began to write out a universe for those two books.

To my question: "What do you think is the hardest part of creating a universe and making it look real (as in logical)? Because that's still the hardest part for me.

I don't know if you know the book " Salmarillion" from JRR Tolkien but that's basically what i try to do, writing down a universe and making it .

Hope you guys have some good tips for me

AustrianAtheist

When I start on a project to create a universe, the first thing you need to understand is the scope you need to define. Are you just talking about a single town? A nation? A whole planet? A Galaxy? The larger the scope, the more diversity you need to weave into the world to make it plausible. You also need an idea of when your story will occur; what you want to happen, how the characters or world will change because of the actions in the story. From there, you need to build a history for your world. How did things get to the current state? How did these nations/cultures form? What were the points in history that changed everything? Who are the heroes of the past? In developing your history, you should also look into the future. How do you see these forces clashing? Who will win, or lose? Who will be absorbed? Who will back down and who will fight to the last man? Try to make as many connections from your past into your future - and then put your story right in the middle. - Scott

Scott nailed a lot of what I am doing. My task involves a 400 year history on a galactic scale with a lot of new culture interaction/encounters throughout it. Much pain but going to be worth it.

I'm actually going through the same exercise for a deep history for a universe I created for a game that ended up getting screwed up. Have to change some names but I was the only one with it as it was in my head. My thing is making sure that I have strong deep cultures w/ evolutions and strong personalities that show up throughout the history. Strong events are a given, but those give you a lot to work with. - Rusty

I'm a big fan of Tolkien, and I think the Silmarillion is actually better than the Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was the master at world building. - Scott

There is a concept called a "Distant Mountain". It's giving the player/reader a glimpse of something bigger in the world without actually needing to create it. For instance, if a group of villagers say, "Over that way are the ruins of the Khresh. You should stay away from there." Even if the player never experiences those ruins, they know that they exist in the world. Who are/were the Khresh? What are in the ruins? Why does no one go there? You don't need to know at the moment you write it. It becomes a Distant Mountain for you to explore later. - Scott

Thanks everyone for the great questions and the awesome support!

We're out! See you online! - Scott & Rusty

Would you want to see more top down isometric (fallout 1/2/tactics) or more like Fallout 3/New Vegas? Oh and also how long after the "great war" (years, decades, centuries)?

I think a throwback to the gameplay of Fallout 1 and 2, but with modern graphics and storytelling, would be crazy awesome. Kinda like Wasteland 2, actually, but maybe a little more 3D. Dang! Actually, like Warmachine: Tactics, but as an RPG in the Fallout universe! Snap!

I do really enjoy the FPS games too, but a game leaning more to the small unit tactics side of things would be bad-ass.

How many of you guys played Warmachine before beginning work with Privateer Press?

Before we had any conversations with Matt Wilson, I think I was one of two people in the studio who actually played a game of Warmachine. (This was, like, 5 years ago.) Since working so closely with the awesome guys at Privateer and hanging out with the legions of dedicated gamers all over the states, everyone in the studio has played the game. Some of us a LOT. When we hired Rob Ruud as the mechanics and level building designer for Tactics, we told him that every Thursday he was to go to Game Empire in Pasadena and play the game - all day. He did this for months! Needless to say, he got pretty good at the game too.

Are you guys, not just you two but any of the WMD crew, going to be bringing any armies to Lock & Load this year? I'd love to have a game with you folks.

Josh/gigarot777 from QA will be there playing!

Hey Scott! Warmachine excluded, what's a recent game you thought had a fresh and interesting idea?

You mean, BESIDES Goat Simulator?

I think Evolve has some very cool gameplay ideas. It takes me back to the days of Ogre (you know the Steve Jackson pager board game? Back in the late '70s? Maybe I'm old...) One player being the towering monster, and all other players simply trying to bring it down. Sign me up!

Are you doing this because you know something about Fallout 4? Because if so I will love you both forever.

Heh! I'm just like everyone else on this one - I'm in the dark, but I can't wait to play it. - Scott

Ive played Skyrim to death should i pickup Fallout?

The answer is yes regardless but, what fallout? Fallout 1 isnt like Skyrim at all. Fallout 3 is oblivion with guns

Word. - Scott

What were your biggest challenges during development for fallout? Why do you think it was so succesful?

Fallout was originally going to be a sequel to Interplay's Wasteland, which, back in 1985, was distributed by EA. We were also using Steve Jackson's G.U.R.P.S. Role-playing system for combat and character creation. Soooo... I remember just before Christmas break, after several months of story and concept development, when Interplay's legal council popped his head in the meeting room door and said, "EA still has the rights to Wasteland. Have a good Christmas!" And there went Wasteland. Later, after seeing the intro movie for Fallout, the guys at Steve Jackson games were greatly upset. They did not like the fuzzy TV image of the power-armored soldier shooting the guy in the head. If they were squeamish about that, they would definitely have an issue with the Heap Of Gore Technology (tm). Sooo... GURPS went away too. In game development, you have no other choice but to adapt. - Scott

Hi all sorry I was a little delayed - Rusty

1. Did you have any inkling of Fallout 2's plot when the manual for the first game was designed, or did you later decide to take advantage of the ad for the G.E.C.K.? Or was the G.E.C.K. always part of the conceived Fallout mythos to begin with?

2. One thing I noticed about the Bethesda Fallout games was that there was less of a specific goal at their beginnings. After you managed to escape from Vault 101, was anyone really forcing you to find your father? Tracking down Benny and exacting revenge might seem to be the logical thing to do, but what's the rush? By contrast, in Fallout (2), there were entire communities breathing heavily down your neck to retrieve the item necessary to save them, and therefore more pressure on the player to rush through exploration and side quests to find the thing they're after as quickly as possible. (And in the first Fallout, there was a tangible ticking clock.) Do you think the RPG experience is more fulfilling or enjoyable with a set, timed goal, or an atmosphere where you feel little pressure to tend to anything specific and take your time exploring the game world?

In Bartle's Taxonomy of Gamers, I consider myself firmly ensconced in the Explorer category, hissing at the Socializers and Killers to play elsewhere. I love the feeling of exploration - of discovering new stuff, uncovering mysteries. It's sublime. For Fallout 1, the time limit was a story element to keep the player constantly moving forward. It wasn't intended to prevent the player from exploring the world - just hanging around for too long before moving on. Even then, once the chip was recovered, the player then had the opportunity to go back and thoroughly explore the areas they came across. - Scott

I'm actually working on a novel, because a bunch of the professors I'm friends with have convinced (forced me) into doing so. I know game universe design is different from writing a novel, but I assume there's some similarities. I'm especially having trouble with making fantastical events and sequences seem.. Feasible in the universe I've created. How do you go about making things seem believeable in a highly fictional universe?

Also, thank you so much for getting the ball rolling with fallout. Easily one of my top 3 franchises of all time!

What kind of setting and maybe an example? - Rusty

How to make the fantastic seems believable? Tell it from the human point of view. Imaging that this fantastic thing is happening to you right now. Right outside your window! What is going through your mind? What feelings are you experiencing? Are in in awe? Horror? A strange sense of dreaminess? How is it reacting to your body? Your clothes? The world around you? Put yourself there, and you can make the audience believe that your characters are experiencing it too.

As far as feasibility, think of what is actually causing the effect. Is it technology using advanced science? Try to describe an effect similar to something you are already familiar with. If there is a lot of energy, think of yourself standing near power lines on a rainy day. A hiss and crackle to the air. That nervous feeling of all your hair standing on end. It doesn't matter what gives you the inspiration, just describe it in a physical context. Now with magic, things can get crazy. You have to have an understanding of how your magic system works. Where does the power to do these things come from? A god? Nature? the underworld? The collective unconsciousness? Give hints of this in your descriptions of the effects. A spell powered by the underworld could be black and leave a sulfuric smell. With a good description of the effects, the readers will believe it to be real.

Is there any chance of you working on new fallout game that's more in the style of the original game?

We'll get on that Kickstarter right away! :)