Damien 'Puuk' Foletto interview, part 2

[Mr. Teatime]

<strong>[ Person -> Interview ]</strong> - More info on <a href="http://wikipocalypse.duckandcover.cx/in ... tle=Damien 'Puuk' Foletto">Person: Damien 'Puuk' Foletto</a> | More info on <a href="http://wikipocalypse.duckandcover.cx/in ... y">Company: Interplay</a> | More info on <a href="http://wikipocalypse.duckandcover.cx/in ... le=Fallout 3 (Van Buren)">Game: Fallout 3 (Van Buren)</a>

It's been a while since <a href="http://www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewt ... 0272">Part 1</a>, but <a href="http://www.winterwind-productions.com">Winterwind Productions</a> have put up <a href="http://www.winterwind-productions.com/m ... d=47">Part Two of their interview with Damien 'Puuk' Foletto</a>, formally of <strong>Black Isle Studios</strong>.

<blockquote><em><strong>WW: As every Fallout fan knows, the story
of Van Buren has the player falling asleep in one prison cell and
awaking in another, not knowing how or why they're there, and managing
to escape into the desert being pursued by robots. There was also a mad
goddess with a cult of worshippers. Can you tell us any more of the
story line? </strong>


<strong>DF:</strong> I'm sure I'll miss a lot, but I'll try. The overall story
involves the player discovering he is a carrier of a nasty virus that
if it does not kill you, it makes you sterile. After "escaping" the
prison because of a strange assault by what looks like NCR soldiers,
the player immediately has the freedom to go where they want. During
the course of his adventures, the player discovers that in order to get
the prison robots to cease their pursuit, the player must hunt down and
retrieve several escaped prisoners and return them to their cell, where
the prison computer checks off the prisoners from its list. The player
later discovers that returning the prisoners conveys to the computer
where the prisoners went to and how far the virus has been spread
throughout the wasteland. Once enough prisoners have been tallied, the
computer unlocks an orbiting nuclear missile station and begins a
countdown to "cleansing" the land. <strong>As it turns out, this is the
situation the main bad guy wants, because he wants to "cleanse" the
earth's surface (at least the American portion) so he can start the
human race anew.</strong> The player is then tasked with finding a way to the
orbiting station to stop the bad guy - or help him, if he so chooses.
I'm sure I forgot quite a few things. Oh, and the orbiting station
looks like the round, spinning 50's conception of orbiting stations and
the rocket that takes the player there looks like a cone-shaped rocket
with fins; very 50's as well. In fact, the concept art was based on
50's illustrations from pulp sci-fi publications from the time. No
space shuttles, to quell the sceptics.</em>

</blockquote>
I don't know the whole story, but to me that sounds awfully like the plot from <em>Fallout 1</em>.


Here's some lighthearted humour:

<blockquote><em><strong>WW: Between the closure of Black Isle and
your brief tenure at EA, you worked as a freelance designer with Silver
Style (in Germany) on their PA title The Fall. How did you approach
your work considering you didn't have to "go to the office" each day?

</strong>

<strong>DF:</strong> I started up my computer in the morning and worked on the
material SS sent me. I would catalogue my hours worked, turn it in at
the end of two weeks, and repeat. It was pretty easy, actually. Email
is a wondrous thing.


<strong>WW: What can you tell us about your contributions to The Fall?

</strong>

<strong>DF:</strong> I can only say generalities because of my NDA with them. It
was a very short period that I worked for them and, since I have not
played the game, I have no idea if they even used anything I wrote up.
Unfortunately, I cannot say what I did write up. Sorry.

</em></blockquote>
That sounds like the easiest job in the world. I'm currently unemployed and would love to work for <a href="http://www.silver-style.com">SilverStyle</a> as an external consultant. I have lots of good ideas for <a href="http://www.the-fall.com">The Fall</a>,
many of them involving mutants and a post-apocalyptic theme. I posted
on the Black Isle message boards for a short period of time before they
closed so as you can see I have ample qualification.

<em>
</em>
Overall it's an interesting read, just like the <a href="http://www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewt ... 272">first part</a>.<em>
</em><p>Spotted @ <a href="http://www.nma-fallout.com">No Mutants Allowed</a></p>

[Briosafreak]

WW: You're a known fan of MMORPGs (see the article Damien wrote for Winterwind on MMORPGs ). Herve Caen (having refused to let IPLY die with dignity) claims that IPLY will survive and develop/release Fallout Online (known affectionately as FOOL in fandom). What would your response be if Herve knocked on your door tomorrow and asked you to be the Lead Designer of FOOL?

DF: A swift punch to his face followed by hysterical laughter and letting my kitties use his face as a litter box – not that I’m bitter, or anything…

[Spazmo]

Another long article pissing and moaning about how great BG3 and Van Buren would have been. Let it go, folks.

[Sovy Kurosei]

The Herve remark is teh w1n, though.

[S4ur0n27]

It'S fucking old, get over it.