Bethesda General Discussion Thread

[LESS T_T]

Speculation:

Dishonored 2 DLC
New Machinegames game (Wolfenstein: New Colossus)
New Tango Gameworks game
Other BattleCry Studios project
Probably new Bethesda Studios game?
And some mobile games

 

[anvi]

I assume they are going to announce the release of some shitty game on 17/17/2017.

 

[typical user]

I kinda hope they will announce something-New Vegas-something done with Fo4 assets. I mean they nailed fundamentals but fucked up execution and polishing.

 

[Iznaliu]

I had a dream last night where Beth announced an FO4 spinoff and for some reason RPGCodex was all over it.

 

[oldmanpaco]

I'm curious what Bethesda is worth. To a lesser extent what Todd is raking in. Bethesda would have to be at least a billion dollar company. Double-digit billions, even?

Double digit billions for the FO and ES licenses? No way.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

FO and ES, considering those series are bigger than ever, making billion dollar profits and also going to have a strong VR push in the future, I think a future valuation could be quite high. Recenlty the LA Clippers in the NBA sold for several times as much as their recent valuation, so I think a similar thing could happen if Beth were to ever sell. Not that they would or anything.

 

[LESS T_T]

Looks like Todd did a round of interviews recently: http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/02...te-on-bethesda-games-studios-current-projects

SKYRIM, FALLOUT 4 DIRECTOR TODD HOWARD OFFERS UPDATE ON BETHESDA GAMES STUDIOS' CURRENT PROJECTS

After previously teasing a few major projects in the works, Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard has clarified the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls studio's current development slate.

Speaking with IGN, Howard said that, adding up all projects in various states of development, Bethesda Game Studios, the in-house development studio at Bethesda Softworks, has "seven [projects] going," including a new mobile game, though he clarified that two of those projects have already been properly announced. Fallout 4 in VR was revealed at E3 2016, while The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the Nintendo Switch was confirmed earlier this year.

"So some of those things are obviously of different scales," Howard said. In addition to those two announced projects, the mobile project would follow in the successful footsteps of Fallout Shelter, which itself Howard pointed to as an indication of the studio's ability to juggle multiple titles.

"We're always doing a lot of things, and once we get good momentum on something, that's what we'll focus on," Howard said, noting Fallout Shelter's production in the midst of Fallout 4's development.

On the topic of Fallout 4, Howard also revealed that the game is currently playable "start to finish in VR."

"There's no content that we removed or changed [for VR]," Howard explained, noting that the current work being done on it is related to how players actually interact with the experience.

"It's interface work, it's other things," he said. "There are issues with locomotion, how you traverse that much space, and we're hoping to support as many modes as possible... It's not done yet, there's work to do, but the parts that are there, I'm biased but it's pretty incredible."

And like previously said, there are two bigger-than-any-BGS-game projects: http://www.glixel.com/news/bethesdas-todd-howard-hints-at-3-new-games-w467778

Bethesda's Todd Howard Hints at 3 New Games

We spoke with Bethesda Game Studios executive producer Todd Howard this week about what's next for the studio outside of The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim on Nintendo Switch and the upcoming virtual reality version Fallout 4. Though Howard was reluctant to give many (well, any really) specifics, he did confirm that the studio has three large projects in the works – two "classically Bethesda" games and a new mobile game.

"We've got a good number of projects on the go," he said. "We're bigger now and we do want to be putting out more stuff. We have two larger projects that are more classically the scale of what we do, but even bigger. We overlap the projects so we're working on them at the same time, but they're staggered," he teased. "I can't talk a lot about them, but I can say that they're bigger than anything we've ever done. They're a bit different, but definitely in the wheelhouse that people are used to from us."

Howard was similarly cagey about the studio's new mobile game, although he did mention that he'd learned a lot from the experience of making Fallout Shelter. "It was a huge surprise to us," he said. "Particularly how successful it was. We've got – what – 75 million players now? The one takeaway was that the game is somewhat unique, so for the thing we're doing next we wanted to continue to do that. We need to not look too hard at what's working well for other people. The game we're doing is very different style game, unique in the space. There isn't something else we're looking at for style."

 

[anvi]

Fallout 4 VR: Now you can be bored while also being sick!

 

[HoboForEternity]

this settlement needs your help simulator. now in glorious VR

 

[DosBuster]

http://kotaku.com/5442140/bethesda-once-pitched-singleplayer-star-trek-rpg

Found this article from 2004, remember also that in 2013 Bethesda registered a trademark for a game called "Starfield", so I'm willing to bet that's their next big game.

 

[anvi]

Poor Trek fans still never got a great game. Someone needs to make a big budget Trek game but unlike all the others, make it so it isn't total shit. It should be like Space Rangers but in 3d and first person like Elite, and you start on a little ship and build up to owning your own star ship, but in the Trek universe with good factions and bad factions and interesting missions. If I had Star Citizen's money and team, I would have shipped a great space game by now.

Also Starfield, and talk of star trek reminds me of:

 

[Red Rogue]

Does anyone think Bethesda will make a game similar to Morrowind ever again?
What I'm asking is will Bethesda ever attempt a character sheet rpg again.

I doubt we'll see it with Fallout and ES because they make silly amounts of cash with the "action game with an inventory" design, but I read the other day Beth has a bunch of unannounced projects in the works. Maybe we'll see a smaller budget game take up the mantle. Fuck, maybe they'll ride the Isometric CRPG train. Customers seem ready to buy them. Bethesda is also going forward with that Quake reboot, and that silly card game of theirs is PC only, so I don't believe cutting the budget and only releasing on PC is out of the question.

My reasoning behind this is that we have seen risk get rewarded in the AAA space. The soulsborne series is one example. I personally dislike the games, but they go against the grain of safe cash cow with their difficulty (it's at least a respectable level of difficulty) and strange aesthetic, yet it's quite popular. We're starting to see a genre of these to emerge.

tldr : AAA consumers seem to be craving fresh and unique games, AA studios have had success making these games, Bethesda has a ton of cash and could possibly throw some at a smaller, proper, rpg.

 

[anvi]

Never. Companies all go in the same direction, it has happened to 100% of games developers. Once they start chasing the mainstream lowest common denominator, they never go back. If you want real RPGs you have to support indie devs because they are only ones who will make them.

 

[Jaesun]

Until it starts to effect their sales of their games, Bethesda won't do shit, design wise. They will continue to shovel out the same garbage, and people keep buying it.

 

[Red Rogue]

Hmmm, maybe I was being naive. Thinking about Bioware as a comparable company makes me think you're both right.

 

[Morgoth]

Interview with Todd "I haven't aged in 20 years" Howard:
http://www.polygon.com/2017/2/22/14694678/bethesda-todd-howard-interview-elder-scrolls-6

Bethesda’s Todd Howard is reaching for the future of RPGs
Veteran developer says ‘there’s a long way to go’
by Colin Campbell@ColinCampbellx Feb 22, 2017, 7:00pm EST

Tomorrow night, Bethesda's Todd Howard will be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. It's a fitting honor for a developer who has steered two of the most esteemed game series, The Elder Scrolls and Fallout.

His most recent work — Skyrim (2011) and Fallout 4 (2015) — are highly regarded role-playing explorations of a fantasy world of dragons, and a post-apocalyptic zone of decay and dastardly conspiracies. Both were critical and commercial successes.

Skyrim particularly seemed to catch its moment. While RPGs were once a niche entertainment for relatively small numbers of adherents, Bethesda's dragon-slaying magical exploration game punched through to the mainstream media, and meme status.

He says the game's high profile success caught him by surprise. "I don't know how it happened," he says. “We could feel it when it crossed over to being referenced on television or other places. It's nothing we could ever plan for. It just kind of happened.

"Certain things came together. People's mood, timing, vibe, marketing, all of it. But it happened very quickly, almost as soon as the game was out."

Howard believes the elevated status of RPGs is due to the fact that so many games now borrow some of that genre's fundamentals such as NPC interactions, exploration, character upgrades and strong story. But the big breakthrough comes from freedom of movement.

"Video games put you in a different place," he says. "They do geography so well. We can put the player anywhere, and the player can do anything.

"Open world games have gotten more popular, so we have to think about creating the kinds of interactivity that make you feel like you're really in that world. We want to avoid activities that feel too 'gamey' and that take you out of the story."


While open worlds have been the engine of role-playing's growth, the genre’s continued success will rely on solving a much trickier problem: character interactions. RPGs can still throw up jarring encounters with NPCs who skirt the uncanny valley.

Howard says that Fallout 4's dog and robot were his favorite characters.

“I think we have a very long way to go in how the other characters act and react to you. That's the big issue we're trying to solve. We're pretty good at pushing technology and world building. We have a good handle on game flow, the rate you get new things, how you're rewarded over time. But we need to be innovating on [characters].”

Although Bethesda's RPGs do feature their fair share of fighting critters and clearing rooms, he's proud of the moral choices posed in Fallout 4, particularly in terms of the big twist, and the various factions at play. “We're pretty good at asking those [moral] questions. We need to get better at letting the player deliver answers to them.”

Todd Howard announces that Skyrim will be coming to the Nintendo Switch.
As far as future projects, Howard is tight-lipped. He says the company's next games will please fans, but offers few specifics, other than generally praising Fallout 4 on VR, mobile game The Elder Scrolls: Legends and Skyrim coming to Nintendo Switch. On the latter, he “can’t say” whether the original Skyrim or the 2015 remaster will be released.

We do know that Bethesda is working on two "bigger" new projects, but Howard offers no specifics. The Elder Scrolls 6 is also working its way through development, but is unlikely to be seen any time soon.

So far as the future goes, Howard says he just wants to carry on doing what he does. "There's a long way to go. We have so many ideas that we didn't think we were ready for. But given our size now and how the tech is coming together, we can do some of the things that we've talked about for a very long time. Now they are within our grasp."

 

[abnaxus]

 

[anvi]

Mmm diarrhoea covered in dogs sick in a warm plastic tub.

 

[Iznaliu]

Mmm diarrhoea covered in dog sick.

He's eating himself!

 

[Nael]

These Bethsoft guys are into some kinky shit main!

 

[Outlander]

I wonder if the Codex is ready for Fallout EE by Bethesda...

The butthurt, the drama...

 

[Iznaliu]

Fallout EE by Bethesda

Made using the Fallout 4 version of the Gamebryo engine with cinematic dilogue and Radiant AI

 

[wyes gull]

Does anyone think Bethesda will make a game similar to Morrowind ever again?

If only for the money, forget bethesda doing it. The question ought to be whether the amount of new RPGs we've seen of late is any indication that there is a possibility of "a Morrowind" being made by indies instead. Even if people are fearful of creating an open world in FP or TP (especially given what happened with ME:A) I can't see low graphical fidelity being an impediment when most of these games look like they were made 20 years ago. I wouldn't mind playing something that looks as dated as MW.

 

[LESS T_T]

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2017/04/28/bethesda-hints-at-two-new-reveals-at-e3.aspx

Bethesda Hints At Two New Reveals At E3

Around this time every year, publishers beginning sending out invites to their E3 press conferences and other events. Bethesda is once again joining the party, with a showcase planned for June 11th in downtown Los Angeles.

While this year’s invite included the expected request for an RSVP, it also included a curious picture. Within, the artist has drawn homages to several familiar Bethesda-produced series, including Doom, Fallout, Dishonored, Elder Scrolls, Quake, and Prey. In addition, you can see that two areas of “Bethesdaland” remained under construction, suggesting that we may be hearing about some new projects on that Sunday event.

Alternately, it’s certainly possible that the two unidentifiable areas are simply artistic license, to illustrate Bethesda’s nebulous future plans. To be honest, that seems less likely.

Make up your own mind; check out the full invite image below.

 

[pippin]

Wait, another e3? The last one was like 2 weeks ago!