Jeff Gardiner/Inside the Vault

An interview with Jeff Gardiner as part of the "Meet the Dev" conversations. Originally posted on several threads on Bethesda's Fallout 3 forum.

Transcript
What's your job at Bethesda?

I’m a producer here at Bethesda Game Studios. I help over see the design department with direction, scheduling, and systems design.

What prior projects have you worked on?

I’ve worked on titles published by Midway & Activision including Marvel properties as a designer, lead design and design director. I helped here with Oblivion, and was lead producer on Shivering Isles, Knights of the Nine and all the downloadable content, including everyone’s favorite Horse Armor wink.gif

'''What have you drawn on for inspiration in developing Fallout 3? Books, movies, music, etc would be fine, if you don't want to name any games.'''

I draw inspiration for my games from many, seemingly at-odds sources. I’ve found that inspiration comes from the strangest of places, and often the best inspiration comes from mediums and genres that totally don’t fit within the typical cannon of inspiration for what you’re working on.

'''How is the work-environment? Is it competitive or co-op? Do the different teams talk together?'''

The work environment here is fantastic. Electric, focused and never dull.

What is your favorite type of game to play (RTS,FPS,RPG etc)?

I’m first and foremost an RPG fan, though I play everything. I was born and bred on Dungeons and Dragons (first edition) and I’ve never really grown out of it. For me a game doesn’t last long without a good narrative, whatever label you try to pin on it.

How long have you been playing Fallout, and how would you describe your feelings towards the franchise?

I’ve played Fallout on and off for years. I have to admit missing them the first time around as I was in college at the time, didn’t have my own PC, and was more interested in… Well… other things then playing games. I quickly got back to my roots though and you’d be hard pressed to name an RPG I haven’t played.

Considering that much of the game will probably be in a wild wasteland, do any of you spend much time hiking, camping, etc, and if so where?

I actually hike quite a bit outside of DC. I’m planning a trip up to Pennsylvania this summer to do some mountain hiking as well.

'''What's the last game you bought? Did you like it?'''

My most recent purchase was Catan on Xbox360 Live. And I love it. This year I’ve also played LotRO, C&C3, Warhammer Mark of Chaos, Gothic 3, Crackdown, Call of Duty 3, Burning Crusade, and Echoes of Faydwer. I play too many games.

What games are you looking forward to on the horizon?

Conan, Bioshock, Forza, NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer and Mass Effect.

'''Other than videogames, what are your interests? (Board games, reading, music, etc)'''

Mountain Biking, Wargaming (Warhammer and Hordes), Aquariums, my kids. I also read a fair bit of Fantasy, Narrative History & books on Western and Eastern Mysticism.

'''Have you played the VanBuren Alpha? If so, what were your feelings on it?'''

I haven’t yet but I’m sure I will soon. I have a ton of respect for all the Black Isle ex-employees, and their new team at Obsidian. I’ve had the pleasure of working with a few of their employees as well as several ex-Trokia devs.

Have you read George R R Martin " Songs of Ice and Fire" maybe?

Many of us are big fans of Martin, myself included. I just finished "Children of Hurin" last night - far different tone but an excellent read.

Which matters more to you, a game that sells a lot and makes a lot of money or a game that's great and will be loved, maybe even worshipped by its fans?

I didn't realize these were mutually exclusive.

What kind of education do you devs have and has it in anyway helped you as a game developer?

BA in English Creative Writing Arts (Focus Fiction/Drama); Masters of Information Technology. They've helped immensly.

Favourite quotes?

"...belief is the death of intelligence. As soon as one believes a doctrine of any sort, or assumes certitude, one stops thinking about that aspect of existence. The more certitude one assumes, the less there is left to think about…” - Robert Anton Wilson, Cosmic Trigger

"Pain or damage don’t end the world, or despair or [censored]’ beatin’s. The world ends when you’re dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man—and give some back." Al Swearingen, Deadwood

"In the crux of reality there exists two lies; one before the shadow and one behind the eye." Frater I.V.

What wallpaper do you have?

William Blake's Ancient of Days

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