Todd Howard's declaration that your Fallout game is non-canon: 'It was awful'

Fallout 3 isn't the third Fallout. Fallout Tactics is a Brotherhood of Steel tactical role-playing game developed by Micro Forte. It was released in 2001, a few years following Fallout 2. The game was well-received by critics, but the way it diverged from its predecessor caused it to be criticized by fans.

Ed Orman, the lead designer, told us that things got pretty heated. "There was a small minority that I remember seeing there who thought, 'Hey it's a good game.' I like how they've improved these things in Fallout. But the vast majority 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 fanbase."

Bethesda also faced similar criticism from diehards as it tackled the creation of Fallout 3. You might have thought that Micro Forte would be a kindred developer, another developer who had gone through a similar experience. This was not apparent when Todd Howard, in 2007, essentially threw out Tactics along with the 2004 ARPG Fallout Brotherhood of Steel.

"For our purposes," said he, "Fallout Tactics or Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel never happened."

Orman says, "It was awful." "You don't like to be told what you've done was non-canon. By the time he told me that, I was a long way from this and it wasn't gut-wrenching or heart-breaking. It was just, "Oh man." You didn't need to say it. We could have existed in a weird quantum state, where it was part of the things. The way things are going, with the reinterpretation and retelling stories, and especially the creation of TV shows, where they're taking liberties, and they may need to make adjustments to fit that universe for TV, a lot of ideas will get shuffled. Over time, you can see that there are little bits and pieces from Tactics that have become canon. That's enough for me. "I don't want anything more."

The Prydwen airship, as seen in Fallout 4 or the Fallout TV show, was one of the things that got through the backdoor. The Prydwen was created by Bethesda, but its zeppelin design is so similar to the Brotherhood's zeppelin from Fallout Tactics that it can't help but be influenced by it.

Orman says that they are a logical addition to the universe, particularly for the Brotherhood. "If they aren't just flying vertibirds it makes sense that they have a sort of aircraft carrier thing. You can't travel on the road." I think that an airship is a logical choice for the universe. Maybe that's how they came up with the idea. But I'll sit here and quietly think, "Yes, we had them in Fallout Tactics, and I'll happy."

A Fallout Tactics 2 was originally planned, but poor sales killed its future. Orman would like to see the original get a new lease of life. "I would love to see it retold. If someone did a remake in Fallout 4 engine, they could just adjust some things and fix a few lore issues, I'd be fine with that. It's not sacred to me if it brought it into line." He's happy to know that Fallout Tactics, in some way, is still alive. "It's nice to see that they still use that background every time these things make a leap. "And that Tactics just holds on, being interpreted in some way."

Watch for our full interview where we dive into the making Fallout Tactics.