Interview Feargus Urquhart interview at HomeLAN Fed

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Fallout 3 (Van Buren); Feargus Urquhart

<a href="http://www.homelanfed.com/">HomeLAN Fed</a> has posted an <A href="http://www.homelanfed.com/index.php?id=12135">interview</a> with <b>Feargus Urquhart</b>, the president of <a href="http://www.blackisle.com">Black Isle</a>. Here's a clip that made my morning everything I thought it'd be:
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<blockquote>HomeLAN - You recently announced that you want to get Fallout 3 under development at some point. Have you thought at all about what the general gameplay design will be like for the sequel?
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<b>Feargus Urquhart</b> - That's a tough question to answer without having a horde of screaming people at my door asking for my head. However, I can say what I've been saying for a while, which is that Fallout 3 will still feel and play a lot like the previous Fallouts. It will need to be a more modern game though in relation to how the game plays and the graphics engine involved. <u>What I mean by that is that we will be using a 3D engine and there will most likely be a real-time combat mode</u>. I know there are people out there that feel this ruins Fallout, but I think they will be surprised as to how well it works once they play it.</blockquote>
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See, <b>Feargus</b>, things like this is why I want your head!

 

[Rosh]

Still swallowing loads of marketing bullshit, I see.

Oh, yes. Turn-based is dead.

 

[Sol Invictus]

What I mean by that is that we will be using a 3D engine and there will most likely be a real-time combat mode. I know there are people out there that feel this ruins Fallout, but I think they will be surprised as to how well it works once they play it.

How does he know that? "I think they will be surprised as to how well it works once they play it." Seriously. Is this guy making predictions, or what? From the sentence structure one can only derive one of two possible scenarios:

a) that Fallout 3 is already in development and that Feargus is referring to its real-time combat mode, which he has been able to experience first-hand.
b) Feargus has difficulty speaking the English language.

Which is it?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Still swallowing loads of marketing bullshit, I see.

Oh, yes. Turn-based is dead.

Yeah, that whole REAL TIME IS NEW statement he made in there. That's tops.

It's not new, Feargie! There were real time CRPGs for the Amiga, and that was 15-20 years ago. You'd think he'd know this since Interplay published Dungeon Master 2.

 

[Markman]

I think Feargie should play Another War.

 

[Araanor]

Which is it?

Probably that he thinks the combat in the Jefferson engine r0xx0rz.

 

[Null]

<blockquote>...I know there are people out there that feel this ruins Fallout, but I think they will be surprised as to how well it works once they play it.</blockquote>

Surprised, eh. How does he know how it will play, unless he's played a similar game on the same engine?

-Null

 

[Sol Invictus]

They might use it in some other game (i.e. Jefferson) instead of Fallout 3 first, but if they ever make FO3 they'll probably use it.

 

[Den Fete]

I think Feargie should play Another War.

Hear hear!

There goes my beloved unarmed.

 

[Azael]

I seriously hope that BIS get their shit together and realize that Fallout + Real-time != a smash hit.

 

[ecliptic]

Real time really does kill any level of strategy involved, and turns it either into a disgusting pause/order fest, or a manic click fest. //shudder//

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

I guess I am a doe-eyed optimist because I really believed that FO3 would be made and that it would be good.
Real time.
Fallout is now imo officially dead.
Y'know I hope ToEE just sells like mad. Shove turn based right up the collective ass of BIS.

 

[Trash]

First they fuck up the combat model. Next thing they'll do is to get rid of all the gore, the swearing, dark atmosphere and drug abuse and we'll end up with.....fuck knows but it ain't Fallout.
Lets hope they'll at least retain the m rating instead of aiming for an "all" rating.
I hope I'm just being pessimistic but I just can't stand the thought of them fucking up fallout. Damn, I loved that game!
Oh well.....shit happens,

Trash

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

Given the comments in this interview and the fact that Feargus seems to have no sense whatsoever about canon I think you can rest assured that it will *not* have the "M" rating. so gore, sex and drugs will be gone but romances will be in!!!
It just makes no goddamned sense. Who is clamoring for Fallout 3? Fallout fans. Do Fallout fans want real time kiddy bullshit? uh no.
So what does BIS decide - lets make a Fallout game that won't appeal to Fallout fans. frelling brilliant.

 

[Section8]

I know there are people out there that feel this ruins Fallout, but I think they will be surprised as to how well it works once they play it.

Who says they're going to play it?

I don't get the whole push for real time. Behind FPSs, the most stale genre is RTS. There hasn't been much in the way of innovation since Herzog Zwei or Dune 2, and back in about 97-00 every motherfucker was making an RTS. Everybody is sick of them now. So why the fuck does anyone think it's a good idea to make RPGs more like something that is OVER. The market has been saturated with shitty RT games, so i's time to explore other avenues.

Making a RT RPG is like trying to market a card game about collecting them all, or some kind of fucked up japanese spinning top thing. You can't sell people something they are sick of, just because one or two people on your official messageboards occasionally offer up substandard and fallacious arguments in its favour. I recommend either losing the marketing dept, or at the very least getting one that understands that gamers don't buy clones. There is a subtle difference between a sequel and a clone. That difference is brand recognition. And as much as plenty of people recognise the Fallout brand, arguing that Fallout Tactics is part of that brand is like saying that P Diddy made Jimmy Page famous with that fucked up fake Kashmir.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I don't get the whole push for real time. Behind FPSs, the most stale genre is RTS. There hasn't been much in the way of innovation since Herzog Zwei or Dune 2, and back in about 97-00 every motherfucker was making an RTS. Everybody is sick of them now. So why the fuck does anyone think it's a good idea to make RPGs more like something that is OVER. The market has been saturated with shitty RT games, so i's time to explore other avenues.

I have to agree here. That seems to be the biggest problem with the games industry right now, they're basically trend chasing and they don't know that market saturation is a bad thing. At some point, peole get sick of playing the same thing over and over again, which is all BIS is offering people these days.

You know, you'd think that IWD2's rather lackluster sales would have been a wake up call, considering that Feargus said it'd be a slam dunk. Of course, there were problems with the release of that game, but still. If their whole trend idea was correct, it should have done better than it did.

 

[triCritical]

Feargus give Southern Californians a bad name sometimes.'

What really pisses me off is the use of modernization and RT. This is such Bullshit considering I was playing RT games before TB games. Was friiggin Warcraft TB, and that game is older then most of the weenies that FU is trying to market to.

BTW St. There is a similar thread at tbe BIS boards where you can rag on shadowpaladin again. I have already started.

 

[Jed]

Feargus Urquhart - I think they will be surprised with how the action aspects of the game and how the RPG system used in Fallout works well in the game. While many people often say that they don't like action RPG's because of what they have played before, I really feel that fans of our previous games will be surprised to find that they enjoy Lionheart just as much even though it is faster paced.

Nice. I like how Feargie puts the onus on the players in regards to the quality of the combat engine: if it sucks, it's not the design, it's the players who can't handle "fast paced." Considering the IE, I wonder how "fast paced" it will truly be...

Did anyone catch the line about Black Isle wanting to do a MMORPG? Maybe I'll buy three copies of ToEE...

Jed

 

[GreenNight]

I think that the main problem is Feargus's misconception about what the people liked from Fallout.

Ultimately, I think it is the feel of the world that really draws people to the Fallout games.

Well, for me it's not true. Yes, the setting is good, the rules are great, but it was the freedom that caught me. The freedom to wander arround, the freedom to act as I wanted, the freedom to kill, the freedom to spare lifes. It could have been with other rules, in another world, and it would have been equally good.
Troika has it right, BIS has not.

 

[triCritical]

Feargus Urquhart - I think they will be surprised with how the action aspects of the game and how the RPG system used in Fallout works well in the game. While many people often say that they don't like action RPG's because of what they have played before, I really feel that fans of our previous games will be surprised to find that they enjoy Lionheart just as much even though it is faster paced.

Nice. I like how Feargie puts the onus on the players in regards to the quality of the combat engine: if it sucks, it's not the design, it's the players who can't handle "fast paced." Considering the IE, I wonder how "fast paced" it will truly be...

Did anyone catch the line about Black Isle wanting to do a MMORPG? Maybe I'll buy three copies of ToEE...

Jed

Yeah that is why they went ahead and added a pause to the game, because the current system was unplayable in true RT.

I agree, I am starting to think that there is a complete lack in intelligence in management after reading that interview. He is talking about how what reflexive is doing is going to be revolutionary, when there last to game were an ultra-flop and the worst star trek game ever made. I get it, give them a year and half and then they will get their act together.

 

[Jarinor]

What I mean by that is that we will be using a 3D engine and there will most likely be a real-time combat mode.

This part is what I think you guys are overlooking - he says "A real time combat MODE", which suggests to me it might not be real time combat exclusively. Of course, it could mean that, in which case, Fallout is fucked I think.

 

[Spazmo]

Yeah, but even if they do keep some mor-or-less implied promise to have a turn-based option, that doesn't mean much. Look at Arcanum. It had real-time and turn-based combat options and neither worked really well for various reasons I won't go into here. It works best when a game has one or the other and is designed with that kind of combat in mind.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

BTW St. There is a similar thread at tbe BIS boards where you can rag on shadowpaladin again. I have already started.

ShadowPaladin is one of those cases where I believe that the internet is doing humanity a great disservice. He's really stupid and thick headed at the same time and it's really hard to accidentally off yourself while on the internet. Basically, every hour he's on the internet is one less hour free for him to experiment with what kinds of things go in electrical outlets, how long he can hold his breath with the aid of plastics, what he can and can't fit in his throat, what's edible and not poisonous, and so on.

Did anyone catch the line about Black Isle wanting to do a MMORPG? Maybe I'll buy three copies of ToEE...

Yeah, I saw that.

Fun Fact: They've already attempted to make one, but didn't have the cash.

Well, for me it's not true. Yes, the setting is good, the rules are great, but it was the freedom that caught me. The freedom to wander arround, the freedom to act as I wanted, the freedom to kill, the freedom to spare lifes. It could have been with other rules, in another world, and it would have been equally good.
Troika has it right, BIS has not.

What Feargus doesn't get is that part of what made Fallout a classic was the PnP style the game had. Tim Cain didn't HAVE to impliment the hex based, PnP style combat. It was more work for him and the artists. However, it is the PnP style combat that gives it that great tabletop vibe.

It's not just the world, it's also the mechanics of it. It's almost like MicroProse thinking that X-Com would work if they added real time or Dynamix thinking adding real time would help Cyberstorm 2.

Also, Feargus seems to hear what he wants to hear. When someone says, "It sucks to have to fight rats in power armor using turn based so late in the game where they can't hurt you.", he hears, "Turn based sucks". Instead, he should probably hear, "Don't ever put gobs of pissant monsters in late game areas because it sucks." or "Where the hell is the autocombat option for encounters I can't possibly lose?"

I agree, I am starting to think that there is a complete lack in intelligence in management after reading that interview. He is talking about how what reflexive is doing is going to be revolutionary, when there last to game were an ultra-flop and the worst star trek game ever made.

What's funny is, someone asked why they should be interested in Lionheart since Away Team was so awful in the middle of a developer chat. I thought it was a valid question, honestly, so I posted it. It was funny how Lars and Chris Parker reacted to the question. Basically, they didn't answer the question at all. Lars said something like, "I liked Away Team." and Chris Parker got rather mad saying it wasn't appropriate.

Basically, instead of high roading and saying, "Away Team had faults, and here's what I've learned...", we got, "It was a good game." or "Never ask something like that again!" Well, Lars may like it, but he's probably one of the only ones that did, because it was a disaster.

They couldn't handle a serious question about a fault they've had in the past and answer why people should look forward to what they can do. They could have taken a bad situation, Away Team's failure, and made it a good situation by saying it was a learning experience.

This part is what I think you guys are overlooking - he says "A real time combat MODE", which suggests to me it might not be real time combat exclusively. Of course, it could mean that, in which case, Fallout is fucked I think.

As pointed out, real time and turn based in one game just doesn't work because it wacks the balance. Also, you have to have design considerations for areas with combat based on how they work in both modes. It's not as simple as, "Just do both".

Every game I know of that's done it has done it poorly. The most recent game I know of that did it was Fallout Tactics, and for a great example of where map design has to be considered for each combat mode. Play the underground bunker mission with the timing turrets in turn based and you'll see what I'm saying.

 

[Rosh]

ShadowPaladin is one of those cases where I believe that the internet is doing humanity a great disservice. He's really stupid and thick headed at the same time and it's really hard to accidentally off yourself while on the internet. Basically, every hour he's on the internet is one less hour free for him to experiment with what kinds of things go in electrical outlets, how long he can hold his breath with the aid of plastics, what he can and can't fit in his throat, what's edible and not poisonous, and so on.

That kid has obviously been on the paint chips for YEARS.

Also, Feargus seems to hear what he wants to hear. When someone says, "It sucks to have to fight rats in power armor using turn based so late in the game where they can't hurt you.", he hears, "Turn based sucks".

A prime example of what apparently goes on in Marketing-Glut MacD'Hurrquart's head.

 

[chrisbeddoes]

Fallout 3 REAL TIME ?


My head hurts


Yet again i know 1 rpg yes just 1 that had real time but was good ( despite the use of real time it had other excellent qualities)

The name of that RPG is Morrowind.

So let not abadon all hope .


Fake sig
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SiD made CIV3
Why can't Tim cake Fallout 3 ?