Sequels

tim-cain sequels game-design temple-of-elemental-evil arcanum outer-worlds fallout original-ip

Abstract

Problem: How should developers approach making sequels, and why does Tim Cain prefer original IPs?

Approach: Tim reflects on his career making both original games and sequels/licensed IPs, sharing his philosophy on when sequels work and when they fail.

Findings: Cain prefers original IPs because they offer creative challenge and freedom from pre-established expectations. When sequels are made, they must deeply respect the source material — neither discarding what was established nor forcing modern sensibilities where they don't fit. Some of his games (Arcanum, Temple of Elemental Evil, The Outer Worlds) were explicitly designed with sequel potential built in.

Key insight: Good sequels come from respect for the source material; bad ones either throw out what was established or jam in things that don't belong. Original IPs remain preferable because they let designers explore freely without pre-established audience expectations.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFjjn8hBjJw

1. Why Tim Prefers Original IPs

Given the choice between making a sequel and creating something new, Tim would always choose an original IP. This isn't because he dislikes his old worlds — it's that after spending three-plus years building a game, he's already explored what he wanted to explore. His games tend to be large with many play styles, so by the time one ships, he's exhausted his ideas for that setting.

Making a sequel can feel "superfluous" — extending things past their natural closure, which risks feeling like a money grab rather than a creative endeavor. The main appeal of original IP is the challenge: it's fun, and it lets him explore things he couldn't do in previous games. With original IP, there are no pre-established audience expectations to navigate.

2. The Fallout 2 Experience

Tim shares that after finishing Fallout 1 (which took three and a half years), he didn't want to work on Fallout 2. For the first couple of years of Fallout's development, he'd been told he'd probably be moved to a D&D game afterward. But when Fallout succeeded in its final six months, the company wanted a sequel. Another team was originally assigned, but Tim eventually got put on it. After three and a half years on one game, he was simply tired of it.

3. Working in Other People's IPs

Despite preferring original work, Tim has made several games in existing IPs:

  • Temple of Elemental Evil (Greyhawk/D&D) — His first time making a video game in that setting. He'd played the tabletop module and run a party through it, but the video game was new territory. He was especially glad to consult with Gary Gygax directly on questions about the Temple. While it remains his lowest-scoring game, he's proud of how it honors the source material.
  • Vampire: Bloodlines (World of Darkness) — Exciting because it was his first C++ game, first first-person game, and first time in the World of Darkness setting.
  • South Park — Unexpected, but he immersed himself in the IP, watching countless episodes and collaborating on the vision.

In each case, it was his first time in that IP as a video game, which gave him fresh territory to explore.

4. Games Designed for Sequels

Some of Tim's games were deliberately built with sequel potential:

4.1. Arcanum

The team had many more stories to tell — the gnome storyline, other dwarf clans, elf groups, the continuing Industrial Revolution. Tim has discussed what would have been Arcanum 2: Journey to the Center of Arcanum. The game's opening (arriving on a new continent knowing nothing) was designed as a reusable structure.

4.2. Temple of Elemental Evil

Tim chose the Temple module specifically because he planned it as part one of the entire GDQ series — Giants, Descent Into the Depths, and Queen of the Demonweb Pits. Temple would take players to level 10, then the subsequent modules would carry them to level 18–20. If Temple had been commercially successful, he would have pushed hard for this.

4.3. The Outer Worlds

Designed "from scratch" to make sequels desirable. The team deliberately added descriptions of other colonies — who founded them, what the planets were like, their resources — sometimes just one line, sometimes a paragraph. Halcyon was intentionally unique (super distant, two terraformable worlds, unique fauna, the food-growing problem), but many other colonies and even Earth itself were seeded as future settings.

5. What Makes a Good Sequel

Tim's core philosophy on sequels comes down to respect for the source material. He identifies two failure modes:

  1. Throwing out established elements — Discarding things that were already canonical in the IP.
  2. Forcing in new sensibilities — Jamming modern ideas into an older IP where they don't organically fit.

Modernization is fine — better graphics, better UI, extending ideas into areas that weren't considered before. But it must be done respectfully. When it isn't, both creators and audiences end up talking past each other: audiences sense something is wrong but can't always articulate it, and creators don't understand the backlash.

Tim notes (without naming specifics) that recent TV shows have committed both sins, which makes him worried about future adaptations.

6. Summary

Sequels are never off the table for Tim, but they're never his first choice — especially right after finishing a game. He prefers to shift gears entirely. Even for Arcanum, they discussed moving from third-person to first-person for a sequel, which would have made it feel fresh. The pattern is clear: novelty and challenge drive Tim Cain's best work.

7. References