Tim Cain facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tim Cain
Cain on the GDC Online 2010
Born	Timothy Cain
Nationality	American
Education	University of Virginia (BSc) University of California, Irvine (MSc)
Occupation	Programmer, designer, producer
Employer	Obsidian Entertainment
Known for	Creator of Fallout series
Spouse(s)	Robert Land ​ (m. 2011)​

Timothy Cain is an American video game developer and YouTuber. He is famous for creating the 1997 video game Fallout. He was the producer, lead programmer, and one of the main designers for the game. In 2009, IGN named him one of the top 100 game creators ever.

Early Life and Education

Tim Cain went to college at the University of Virginia. Later, he attended graduate school in California. While studying, he helped a friend program a card game called Grand Slam Bridge. This game was released in 1986. In 1989, he earned a Master's Degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine.

Tim Cain's Career in Gaming

Starting at Interplay Entertainment

Cain began working at Interplay in 1991. For a few months in 1994, he was the only person working on a game. This game later became the popular post-apocalyptic role-playing video game (RPG) Fallout. He created the main idea for the game. He also started programming its isometric game engine.

Fallout took three and a half years to develop. It was finally released in 1997. During this time, Cain also helped with programming for other games. These included Stonekeep (1995) and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (1997).

Cain later shared that he felt disappointed during the making of Fallout 2. He said that sales and marketing teams had too much say in the game. He left Interplay feeling upset. He did not receive a promised bonus after the first Fallout game was finished.

Founding Troika Games

Tim Cain (middle) with the two other co-founders of Troika Games, Jason Anderson (left) and Leonard Boyarsky (right)

In 1998, Tim Cain helped start a new company called Troika Games. His next big game was The Temple of Elemental Evil. He worked on this game for 20 months. It was based on the Dungeons & Dragons game system and released in 2003. Even though he enjoyed making it, Cain was not fully happy with the final result.

In 2004, another company, Bethesda Game Studios, got the rights to make Fallout games. Cain was sad that Troika Games could not get the rights. He said, "I was hoping that Troika would get the license, but we were massively outbid. But in the end, they made a good game."

Cain had mixed feelings about Fallout 3. He liked how Bethesda understood the Fallout story. He also liked how they used the "S.P.E.C.I.A.L." system in a first-person shooter RPG. However, he thought the humor was off. He also felt it reused too many ideas from older Fallout games.

He also helped program Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines in 2004. This was a horror RPG. Cain also tried to get funding for another post-apocalyptic RPG. But no publisher would support it. Because of this, he had to let go of most employees. Troika Games closed in February 2005.

Working at Carbine Studios

Cain joined Carbine Studios in 2005. He became the programming director. He worked on a fantasy MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game. He was promoted to design director in October 2008. Cain left Carbine Studios in July 2011.

Joining Obsidian Entertainment

In 2011, Tim Cain became a senior programmer at Obsidian Entertainment. He worked on Pillars of Eternity, a game funded by fans through Kickstarter. He was also a co-director for The Outer Worlds. Since June 2020, Cain has worked for Obsidian on a contract basis. He is helping with the sequel to The Outer Worlds. He also works for two other companies.

Personal Life and Hobbies

Tim Cain has color blindness, which he inherited. This means he sees fewer colors than most people. He loves to cook, especially Japanese and Chinese cuisine. His favorite dishes are garlic chicken fried rice and chicken karaage.

Games Tim Cain Worked On

See also

In Spanish: Tim Cain para niños