DAC Interviews Todd Howard
DAC Interviews Todd Howard
Interview - posted by Exitium on Fri 4 February 2005, 14:38:41
Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Fallout 3The Fallout fansite Duck and Cover has gotten the opportunity to interview Bethesda's Executive Producer and the head honcho behind their upcoming Fallout 3 on the very subject of the upcoming post-apocalyptic themed RPG sequel. It is the first interview Mr. Howard has given on Fallout 3 since July 2004 on GameSpot.
Here's his response on the subject of the implementation of turn-based combat:
Whilst every fan tends to have a different idea of what precisely Fallout 3 should be, there are a few things that most of us are unified on. Are you aware of the strong desires for turn-based combat and the classic 3/4 top-down viewpoint? Do you think pure turn-based combat in an RPG is viable in today's market?
Yes, of course we've heard many of the old-school fans regarding the view and combat resolution. What's viable today? Certainly turn-based combat limits your audience to a small number, but I do find that audiences will come if your game is good enough and the presentation is superb. Ultimately we'll do what we think will be the most fun.Well, don't get your hopes up too high. Most of us know that this ultimately refers to a full implementation of real time combat, but the vague answer should keep a few people hopeful for a turn-based implementation. If you close your eyes and wish hard enough, maybe it'll come true. Teatime notes, "Let's hope that the positive direction for the game that I think this interview implies is not just talk."
Here's something a little more solid information on the game to sink your teeth into:
What, in your mind, are some of the things that differentiate the Fallout games (ignoring FO: Tactics and FO: Brotherhood of Steel, which didn't happen) from the Elder Scrolls series of RPGs?
Outside of the obvious flavor and setting, the number one thing is stronger characters. Fallout really set the standard for me on believable people, good dialogue, and character choice and consequence. With Elder Scrolls, we do aim for something enormous, and we simply can't focus on say - 20 to 40 really deep strong characters and just do them. With Oblivion, we're doing a much better job than we've done before, but the scale of game is so different that without sacrificing some of what makes The Elder Scrolls what it is, I don't think we'd be able to have the same level of characterization in NPCs Fallout did. So with Fallout 3, that's something we want to do well, a limited number of super-deep NPCs.
You can read the rest of the interview here.
Here's his response on the subject of the implementation of turn-based combat:
Whilst every fan tends to have a different idea of what precisely Fallout 3 should be, there are a few things that most of us are unified on. Are you aware of the strong desires for turn-based combat and the classic 3/4 top-down viewpoint? Do you think pure turn-based combat in an RPG is viable in today's market?
Yes, of course we've heard many of the old-school fans regarding the view and combat resolution. What's viable today? Certainly turn-based combat limits your audience to a small number, but I do find that audiences will come if your game is good enough and the presentation is superb. Ultimately we'll do what we think will be the most fun.
Here's something a little more solid information on the game to sink your teeth into:
What, in your mind, are some of the things that differentiate the Fallout games (ignoring FO: Tactics and FO: Brotherhood of Steel, which didn't happen) from the Elder Scrolls series of RPGs?
Outside of the obvious flavor and setting, the number one thing is stronger characters. Fallout really set the standard for me on believable people, good dialogue, and character choice and consequence. With Elder Scrolls, we do aim for something enormous, and we simply can't focus on say - 20 to 40 really deep strong characters and just do them. With Oblivion, we're doing a much better job than we've done before, but the scale of game is so different that without sacrificing some of what makes The Elder Scrolls what it is, I don't think we'd be able to have the same level of characterization in NPCs Fallout did. So with Fallout 3, that's something we want to do well, a limited number of super-deep NPCs.
You can read the rest of the interview here.
