Click to enlarge

No Mutants Allowed has posted a new interview with Tim Hume, the man responsible for the Mac version of the original Fallout RPG. Among other things the Q&A covers the difficulties involved with porting the game to the Mac, and Interplay's lack of interest in the project.

What was Interplay's attitude towards the port? Did you have proper time and support to work with?

Interplay didn't seem too concerned. (This was when Apple was at its low point -- it was during the period they were allowing Mac clones.) Tim Cain said that he was almost never asked by the higher-ups how the Mac version was progressing. So, Interplay wasn't pressuring me, but I was pressuring myself to get the Mac version done at the same time as the PC version. Trying to keep up with all the PC programmers was tough. Most Mac games come out months after the PC version, and I didn't want that to happen with Fallout. I wanted to the Mac to benefit from the same initial excitement that the PC version would have. I ended up getting the Mac version done one week after the PC version. Of course, that was due to a bug that was crashing the Mac, but wasn't showing up so bad on the PC. I don't think the Mac version sold well though. I don't remember Interplay even publicizing it.
While I was finishing Fallout, I had to start looking for another job. Interplay was basically abandoning its Mac development and viewed me as just a Mac programmer. My Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence from UC Irvine didn't matter to them. So, I was going to be out of work after Fallout was done. I'm thankful to Feargus Urquhart for letting me know ahead of time so I could get another job lined up. I ended up starting my new job before Fallout was done. I had to finish it in the evenings as a contractor. That was pretty hard, emotionally. I had worked a lot of extra hours and a lot of weekends, and then I was going to be out of a job. Not much of a "Thank You."

NMA: Fallout's Tim Hume Interviewed

Search for other Mac games news stories or browse our Mac Games News Archive.