The second episode of Matt Barton's interview with Leonard Boyarsky is dedicated almost entirely to the development of Fallout. Much of this will be familiar to our readers - the story of how Leonard got on the Fallout team, how he came up with its 50s-flavored setting and aesthetic, the creation of the Vault Boy, and the dispute with Steve Jackson that led the replacement of GURPS with SPECIAL. More interesting is Leonard's discussion of how he became involved in writing and design despite his official role as art director. According to Leonard, it's precisely his lack of a background in writing that may have allowed him to design scenarios with convincing and naturalistic choice & consequence.


Another interesting bit is Leonard's claim that the original Wasteland had very little influence on Fallout. Apparently he only played Wasteland for the first time quite late in the game's development, and the only Wasteland references in it are minor easter eggs like Tycho's background as a Desert Ranger. The interview ends with the story of how he, Tim Cain and Jason Anderson left Interplay to form Troika, but more about that in the next episode.