Fallout 3 is famously green, but series co-creator Tim Cain didn't even notice because he's colorblind: "I was blown away"

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"The whole greenish tint thing didn't apply to me"

Fallout 3 screenshot shows a male character walking alongside a dog.
(Image credit: Bethesda)

Fallout 3 always has been and forever will be drowning in the color green – a visual hue that game director Todd Howard was very insistent on getting right – but co-creator of the series, Tim Cain, was none the wiser before the game came out because he's colorblind.

Bethesda has previously spoken at length about Fallout 3's "great green debate," and how if art lead Istvan Pely tweaked it at all in the middle of development, Howard would be "like, 'You changed the green.'" Producer Craig Lafferty previously commented that he "lost count" of "the amount of times we redid the color green" – which is pretty funny considering how controversial the ever-present hue was (and still is) amongst fans. But Fallout veteran Cain – for obvious reasons – didn't even notice.

Speaking in a recent interview with Game Informer, Cain recalls being invited by Howard to have a look at Bethesda's first Fallout game at E3 2008, and being impressed by the devs' take on Washington, D.C. and its landmarks. "I grew up right outside of Washington, D.C., so when Todd invited me up to see Fallout 3 at E3 2008 – this was before it shipped – I was blown away because I was like, 'Wow, that looks like the Metro station! And that there's the Washington Monument!'" He remembers, before adding: "And I'm colorblind, so the whole greenish tint thing didn't apply to me. [laughs]"

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

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