Fallout Tactics' lead says it was 'gutting' to watch the Fallout fanbase's reaction: 'fervent, passionate, and often horribly toxic.'

Fallout: Tactics was a unique series that came after the Black Isle originals and before Bethesda Fallouts. Tactics was a slightly offbeat spinoff created by an inexperienced group, which had to reverse engineer the source material. It was released in 2001 and received a decent critical reception but the cold shoulder of many fans.

Jeremy Peel spoke with Tactics' lead developer Ed Orman in a PCG interview that revealed more information about the game than any other. It was odd to see the dual reaction of fans who were angry about the hairy deathclaws.

Orman: "We had two windows to see how it was received." "There were two windows, one we should never have looked through and one we always do. It was well received both commercially and in terms how [Fallout: Tactics] is rated and reviewed. The journalists who played the game seemed to understand what we were trying, what our limitations were, and that we did more than we could have. I think we did, too. I think we made an awesome game that a lot of people enjoyed."

Many people didn't, or at least claimed they didn't. Fallout: Tactics was not only different from previous games, but it also suffered from the fact that it wasn't Fallout 3 (the Black Isle).

Orman says, "The other window was Fallout's existing fan base with its fervent, passionate and sometimes horribly toxic members." "I remember a small minority of people who said, 'Hey this is a pretty good game.' I like how they've improved these aspects of Fallout. But the majority of people said, 'This game isn't Fallout. This is not Fallout 3 You messed up the lore in these places. You put in hairy deathclaws, you're using charisma incorrectly and all those things. There was a lot of negativity among the fan base."

Even before they began working on Fallout: Tactics the team was part of this fanbase and as the game developed, became even more fans. The wounds were deep, perhaps because these were the people the developers hoped to please.

Orman says, "That was disappointing." "God, that was gutting. The art team was particularly gutted because they had worked so hard on the visuals for the robots, and other things, but were being criticized for not fitting in with the aesthetic. Visually, you could easily point out things and say, "This doesn't match the universe." They took it hard.

"It was a tough time. We put more emphasis on the fan base because we wanted to make them happy. You want to make your fan base happy. You want to make a second one. You want the people to like it. It was a gut-punch, yes.

"It didn't help the fact that there was a schism between Fallout 1 & 2 because they were completely different games. There was already a schism. Let's add a second game."

Orman was unaware that Interplay, the publisher, was in financial trouble. A Tactics sequel, while planned, would never be released. Interplay soon found itself in so much trouble that it sold the Fallout IP in 2004 to Bethesda, which then began working on the game now known as Fallout 3. This, in and of itself, gave Tactics a more lustrous shine.

Orman says that "over time, the negativity did seem to change." "Fallout 1, 2 and Tactics were packaged together, and people began to appreciate Tactics as it was.

"I wonder how much Fallout 3 solidified the group, as they said, 'Well that's not mine Fallout.' It might have legitimised our group a little bit in that area too."

Bethesda decided to make Tactics non-canon in the series, which Orman said "sucked" (PC Gamer). It is still one of the oddest entries of a massive series, and in many ways, it continues to influence the modern stuff. "Little bits and pieces from Tactics are now canon, just by the back door," says Orman. "And that's enough for me."

You can read the full interview with Jeremy Peel here: The Making of Fallout Tacttics.