Chris Taylor interview for Vault13.net

This interview with Chris Taylor was retrieved from the now defunct Vault13.net site. Date of intervew: February 27, 2001. We decided to preserve it because it contains some interesting lore information.

Interview

 * Saint_Proverbius (SP): Which vault number was the Master's base?
 * Chris Taylor (CT): The Master was in the Vault-Tec private vault. This was the demonstration model built for the federal government, it was also very close to the Vault-Tec headquarters.


 * SP: If the T-51b was the first mass produced Power Armor, what happened to the T-51a?
 * CT: No information is available.


 * SP: The Master seemed to be derived from three people, who were those three people and how did they become The Master?
 * CT: Richard Grey was an explorer who found the Vats, he is the primary Master. The other people were added to him over the years, they are nameless.


 * SP: The leather armor is actually padding for sports such as Motorcycle Football. How do you kick a field goal in Motorcycle Football? Do you think motorcycles would help the XFL?
 * CT: With your foot, naturally. I like the XFL, actually, but have never watched a complete game - so go figure.


 * SP: What happened to the Overseer after Fallout? It's mentioned there was a revolt that overthrew him in Fallout 2, was he banished?
 * CT: Dunno. In the "future" history that we wrote for FO1, he was killed by the Vault dweller. They must have changed that for FO2, or didn't know about it.


 * SP: Loxley, the head of the Thieves' Guild, was obviously English. How did he make it to The Hub?
 * CT: He's not English, that's the whole joke. He's pretending to have an English accent. He probably read a children's version of Robin Hood in his formative years. His real name isn't even Loxley.


 * SP: Was Vault-Tec an international corporation? Are there vaults made by them in other parts of the world, or were they strictly U.S. based?
 * CT: That information cannot be released at this time due to Vault-Tec and US Government regulations. Move along, nothing to see here.


 * SP: Where was the entrance to The Glow before the bombs made the hole in the roof? There didn't seem to be any access points, doors, or any other way in or out of that location.
 * CT: The exact center of the Glow. It was completely vaporized.


 * SP: Why are some Supermutants smart and others less than smart?
 * CT: It's a random quality of the FEV/Radiation mutation. The majority of "victims" will lose some intelligence.


 * SP: How were centaurs and floaters made? Centaurs obviously had human heads, were they part human?
 * CT: The Master was experimenting with FEV to try and make a "superior" human that would be better than Super Mutants of surviving the wasteland. These are his failed experiments. You can assume there are a lot more of these mutants, but they were never shown.


 * SP: 10mm pistols and SMGs were abundant in Fallout. Was 10MM ammo standard ballistic military issue at the time of the war?
 * CT: It was the standard ammo for the BATF. The military was into energy weapons.


 * SP: What pushed the vault doors out for the pulling arm to pull them in to that little garage?
 * CT: A hydraulic press.


 * SP: Who picked the theme for Fallout? That 1940s blues/jazz music really set the theme for the game. It was a great choice for the game, that 1940s music.
 * CT: Gary Platner, artist.


 * SP: Were all the survivors in Fallout from Vaults? How many vaults are there approximately?
 * CT: Not all, but the majority were. The total number of vaults is a government secret and has been lost. There are "public" vaults, which numbered around 100 and an undisclosed number of "private" vaults.


 * SP: What was the purpose of the forward claws on the plasma rifle?
 * CT: EM coils to help stabilize the plasma bolt on release.


 * SP: Why do ghouls live so much longer than humans?
 * CT: Some ghouls do, the majority do not. Harold, for example, is a rare example. It has to do with cellular level, and the ability for some ghoul RNA (or DNA, can't remember) to make more copies of themselves. Basically, cells only contain enough material to be duplicated X number of times. In a ghoul, sometimes, additional genetic material is added.


 * SP: Where did the brains for the brain bots come from?
 * CT: Criminals.


 * SP: Were pigrats rats or pigs? Were molerats bears?
 * CT: We tried to ask, but all we got were some squeals.


 * SP: Why did some supermutants have straps on their faces?
 * CT: To keep their face on, duh.


 * SP: The advertisement from Vault-Tec shows a five level vault. Are the vaults in Fallout bigger than they appear in the game?
 * CT: Yes.

Links

 * Interview on web.archive.org