By In April, Tim Cain, the brain behind Fallout, released a video discussing the obstacles impeding game preservation. In this video, he expressed that Interplay, the developer, had commanded him to obliterate his personal collection of the RPG’s development phase. He added that numerous original materials used for game creation got lost over time, except the Fallout source code. This detail was significantly misinterpreted as the news spread online.
Rebecca Heineman, co-founder of Interplay, tried clarifying the situation, stating the Fallout source code was never missing, and she had a copy of it – a fact led the Internet to misunderstand as “Rebecca Heineman has recovered the Fallout source code,” thereby deviating from the truth.
“Actually, [the Fallout source code] was never misplaced,” Heineman clarified in a recent *Twitch* live stream, “and I’m not the only one who possesses it. There are at least five others who have it. I’m aware of this because I’ve discussed this with Tim Cain.”
Before the Fallout release, Heineman had left Interplay and later started collaborating with MacPlay, a company developing Windows games’ ports for Macintosh back then, including Mac ports for Fallout 1 and 2.
“Since we had planned to publish Fallout for MacPlay,” stated Heineman, “I secured the source code, archived it, executed a Mac port, launched the game, archived the Mac source as well, and thereafter proceeded further.”
Heineman began archiving the source code she could access since her time at Interplay as she realized the company was “certainly not doing that itself.”
Heineman has currently resurrected the MacPlay brand and is working on porting the initial Fallout games for Mac once again – this time, for modern MacOS versions. She does caution fans, however, “Don’t anticipate a remaster. We will most likely initially release them in their present forms on the Mac.”
If the team could “somehow persuade Bethesda to consider a remaster,” then Cain “will be ready to assist us,” added Heineman. However, a Fallout remaster remains a lofty aspiration for the time being.
It’s uncertain whether Bethesda, currently owning the Fallout IP, has a copy of the Fallout source code. However, it certainly owns its rights. “Provided I’m permitted by Bethesda to release the source code, I definitely will,” pledged Heineman.
The underlying point of Cain’s video was about the difficulties threatening game preservation, showcasing Interplay as an exemplary case with these challenges. Interplay Management, of which Heineman, despite being a co-founder, was not a part, had directed employees to destroy any development materials they had because of non-compete clauses in their contracts, according to Cain’s video.
Interestingly, apart from Heineman, who acquired the Fallout source code under an external contract with Interplay, a few other employees must have disregarded their orders, as it’s now known that at least half a dozen individuals possess the code.
Most game publishers haven’t shown much interest in preserving their work. Frank Cifaldi, founder of the Video Game History Foundation, has always suggested developers interested in preservation “to take them from work and put them in one place.”
“Game preservation is occurring just because individuals who had it on their hard drives never erased it and are now stepping up,” noted Heineman, asking anyone who has access to otherwise lost source code to reach out to her for its preservation.
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