Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel Developer Q&A

We've been lucky enough to have spent a good deal of time with Interplay and Micro Forte's upcoming Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, which will be published by 14 Degrees East later this year. As a result, we've become quite familiar with the game, which is evidenced by our exhaustive preview coverage. Wanting to get the deepest, most incisive perspective, though, we finally went straight to the developer--Micro Forte--and we came back with the most candid words spoken about the game yet. We spoke to a number of members of the team: Ed Orman, lead designer; Tony Oakden, producer; Karl Burdack, lead programmer; and Parrish Rodgers, lead artist. Needless to say, these guys are the biggest Fallout fans we've ever met, and their devotion to keeping the series' flavor intact is unquestionable. We got them to talk about the game's story, its mechanics and systems, their personal motivations, and the future. Our prognosis? There isn't a group of individuals more worthy of working on the Fallout series, and we can't wait to see their final product. Fallout 3 may be a long time coming, but Micro Forte and 14 Degrees East intend to help tide you over. If you're interested in the goings-on of the Wasteland, this team seems to be one to keep an eye on.

GameSpot: What can you tell us about the game's story? Aside from the mutants, who is the Brotherhood up against?

Ed Orman: The story was one of the things that evolved a lot over the first few months of the project. What we really needed was a storyline that fit into the Fallout universe but also provided us with the ability to develop tactical gameplay. That's part of the reason why we chose the Brotherhood of Steel as the main protagonists. They're a well-organized, enigmatic military group.

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Because we were sending this new faction of the Brotherhood east, it followed on pretty quickly that they'd encounter the super mutants who were driven out of the area portrayed in Fallout1 and 2That let us have them as an enemy, but we never wanted them to be the ultimate opponent. So we included a batch of new enemies for the BOS, such as the reavers, as well as the nemesis of the story, whom I guess we won't be talking about just yet.

GameSpot: Who are the reavers, and what role do they play in the game?

Ed Orman: The reavers are actually similar to the BOS in a lot of ways. They're originally from prewar survivor stock, and their particular group came through with a lot of technological knowledge intact. But they lacked the driving force to keep them going and suffered some major setbacks early on. Eventually, they degenerated into more of a knowledge-worshiping society, where they treat the technology like a religion. They understand it, but they also revere it.

The problem with these guys is that they have technological know-how, but they've taken a different path, so that puts them at odds with the BOS. And, as with all conflicts, they're convinced that their way is the only way. That sets them up for some nifty conflicts later on.

However I do want to stress that neither the reavers nor the super mutants are the main bad guys.