Fallout Co-Creator Tim Cain Shared A Rare Look Into the Development Process on YouTube
A peek behind the digital curtain.
Getting a look at what goes on inside game studios isn’t easy. Developers and publishers tend to keep information about in-development games under lock and key, and even after those games are published, things like concept art and prototypes usually never see the light of day. That’s what makes it so remarkable that Tim Cain, co-creator of Fallout, has shared an unprecedented look at an early version of The Outer Worlds.
Cain served as The Outer Worlds’ director, and he’s currently consulting with developer Obsidian on its sequel. In the meantime, he’s been regularly updating his YouTube channel, a treasure trove of information on all aspects of game development from an industry legend. This week, Cain shared a video titled “The Outer Worlds Vertical Slice,” in which he walks viewers through a crucial part of the design process, then shows actual footage from The Outer Worlds as it existed one year into its development.
The Outer Worlds director Tim Cain shared a rare look at a playable vertical slice from the game.
As Cain explains, a vertical slice is “a playable map that looks and acts like you expect the game to when you ship it.”
A vertical slice can be one level or map, or in the case of The Outer Worlds segment he shows off, an open-air map with a few smaller indoor maps connected to it. A vertical slice is distinct from a prototype, which would be in much rougher shape and intended to test mechanics without any concern for aesthetics or how they’ll fit into actual gameplay as a whole. If you’ve played The Outer Worlds, the vertical slice Cain shows off should look pretty familiar.
“This vertical slice was so good that rather than just throw it away, we made it a shipping map in the game,” Cain says. “It’s Roseway.”
The Outer Worlds team had a playable segment of the game ready just one year into its development.
Clocking in at about eight minutes long, a video clip of the vertical slice shows a more or less complete version of the exterior map of Roseway and the inside of its secret lab. In the gameplay demo, systems like combat, stealth, and conversation are already in place, though user interface elements are missing. Otherwise, though, it looks similar to the finished project.
Nothing shown in the vertical slice is exactly mind-blowing. The interesting part is how it came to be and the fact that it’s being shown off to the public at all. According to Cain, the demo was created just one year into development, with two years left to go before release. Given that the team was creating The Outer Worlds from scratch and doing it in an engine they hadn’t used before, the idea that something so seemingly far along in development could already be produced is remarkable.
Cain’s reveal of an in-development look at The Outer Worlds is extremely rare in an industry obsessed with secrecy.
Now that it’s been shared by Cain, the vertical slice also represents a look at a stage of game development almost no one gets to see. Studios tend to be extremely wary of releasing anything that doesn’t show their games in the best light. That’s especially true of revealing any part of an unfinished game, as that could lead to players without knowledge of the development process making assumptions about a game based on something they were never meant to see.
Yet being more open about how development works might be the only way to actually get players to understand what goes into their favorite games. Doing so could — if we’re thinking extremely optimistically — help prevent the kinds of misunderstandings that make studios wary of sharing their work in the first place. The Outer Worlds vertical slice might not change public perceptions on its own, but it’s still a great look into a little-understood part of game development. If it’s stoked your interest in learning more about how games are made behind the scenes, Cain’s YouTube channel is a great place to start, along with Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai’s channel, which is set to end later this year.
