Bethesda General Discussion Thread

[tritosine2k]

I'm pretty sure this is a VERY close depiction of the actual Bethesda design procedure -

Todd waxing about "all new lighting" in '76 made my eyes open quite wide.

 

[Tehdagah]

But then you understand that Bethesda, at the time of Oblivion, was already just a rotten zombified body of what the company once was (not that I personally think they ever were anything impressive, but I know Daggerfal and Morrowind have some fans on Codex), without any creative ability to create a new IP. Fallout was a series with a certain reputation, a "cult classic", so obviously they would not only win all the lore to rape in any way they liked, but they would also win even more free press for the game than they already would have on a traditional release. It's a win for them in every way.

The answer is simpler than that. Fallout has great lore, and lore is something The Elder Scrolls has always been praised for. So Bethesda bought the IP to cater to their own fanbase with an open world FPS RPG.
I'm guessing Bethesda is far more troubled over FO76 because they didn't expect their fanbase to hate it, but they did. But when buying Fallout and turning it into Oblivion, they knew very well many fans of Fallout would not take kindly to it, but then again, if they cared they wouldn't have bought the IP to begin with.

So is this why their fans gave a free pass to all buggy Bethesda RPGs released before F76? Now the game has NPCs and story and they are happy.

 

[Sigourn]

So is this why their fans gave a free pass to all buggy Bethesda RPGs released before F76? Now the game has NPCs and story and they are happy.

It's more along the lines that Bethesda fans like TES and nu-Fallout is TES under a different coat of paint, so naturally they will like it too.

 

[DalekFlay]

If you put your fandom for 1 and 2 in a little box and think as a businessman, why the fuck would you care about fans of old CRPGs when you're making an open world FPS/RPG hybrid mainly for consoles? Bethesda's decisions have always been about making money, as are most company's decisions, and they did pretty well at that until 76. As much as I love 1 and 2 and don't think 3 lived up to them even a little bit, I find it hard to take business decisions personally. Maybe that's because I never feel like I need a sequel to anything, I dunno. In any case... don't get mad at the scorpion for stinging the frog.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

But then you understand that Bethesda, at the time of Oblivion, was already just a rotten zombified body of what the company once was (not that I personally think they ever were anything impressive, but I know Daggerfal and Morrowind have some fans on Codex), without any creative ability to create a new IP. Fallout was a series with a certain reputation, a "cult classic", so obviously they would not only win all the lore to rape in any way they liked, but they would also win even more free press for the game than they already would have on a traditional release. It's a win for them in every way.

The answer is simpler than that. Fallout has great lore, and lore is something The Elder Scrolls has always been praised for. So Bethesda bought the IP to cater to their own fanbase with an open world FPS RPG.
I'm guessing Bethesda is far more troubled over FO76 because they didn't expect their fanbase to hate it, but they did. But when buying Fallout and turning it into Oblivion, they knew very well many fans of Fallout would not take kindly to it, but then again, if they cared they wouldn't have bought the IP to begin with.

They didn't buy Fallout for the lore. Outside of the fact it just sounds like Todd really wanted Fallout so they bought it for him...I'd guess they bought Fallout because:

- Fallout is a cool name
- The SPECIAL system is a cool acronym for a stat system
- Vault-Boy is a good mascot.

So, marketablity reason.

Hell, the SPECIAL system is all but pointless as it is in Fallout 4, but the SPECIAL system is a known marketable things of their Fallout games so it ain't like they aren't going to have it there.

If Bethesda had wanted to they could have done they own original post-apocalyptic retro-futuristic game with Robby the Robot style robots, Mad Max leather, Pep Boys Big Boy Uncle Pennybags style mascots, power armor that looks like it's from XCOM and Appleseed and there wouldn't have been a god damn fucking thing Interplay could have done about it. Irrational Games did much the same thing when they created BioShock, which is a pretty fucking Fallout looking world; looked more like a 3D Fallout than Fallout 3. Bethesda could have saved themselves $5.75 million too. But then Fallout is a really good cool name for a game, Fallout, that's easy to market.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

They didn't buy Fallout for the lore. Outside of the fact it just sounds like Todd really wanted Fallout so they bought it for him...I'd guess they bought Fallout because:

- Fallout is a cool name
- The SPECIAL system is a cool acronym for a stat system
- Vault-Boy is a good mascot

Todd said the 50s retro futuristic aesthetic was the main thing they wanted.

 

[vortex]

Todd said the 50s retro futuristic aesthetic was the main thing they wanted.

So Starfield wil be retro sci-fi

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Todd said the 50s retro futuristic aesthetic was the main thing they wanted.

So Starfield wil be retro sci-fi

I don't see how that follows.

 

[Ol' Willy]

Todd said the 50s retro futuristic aesthetic was the main thing they wanted.

Make a comparison:

Spoiler

Spoiler

Fuckers didn't need Fallout moniker to create their green-tinted abomination!

 

[rusty_shackleford]

To be fair most games from the mid 00s aged like absolute ass. The extreme over-usage of bloom was especially bad, it was like when directors found out about lens flare.
Yeah, yeah, I know there's a few exceptions.

 

[Van-d-all]

To be fair most games from the mid 00s aged like absolute ass. The extreme over-usage of bloom was especially bad, it was like when directors found out about lens flare.
Yeah, yeah, I know there's a few exceptions.

Don't forget about the pissblur yellow filter on everything.

 

[Ol' Willy]

I wanted to post in the "Fallout" movie thread, but...

I'm tired to see my favourite franchise being raped in all poses, and this shit happens for a decade already! FNV, with all it's problems was the only ray of hope, but it was ten years ago, and all is lost. Fuck these people, they all deserve to suffer from explosive hemorrhoids and anal prolapse till the end of their miserable lives.

Look at this faggot Ontopoly whining non-stop because his favorite BG series is turned TB. He doesn't know real pain, not even the fraction of it.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

They didn't buy Fallout for the lore. Outside of the fact it just sounds like Todd really wanted Fallout so they bought it for him...I'd guess they bought Fallout because:

- Fallout is a cool name
- The SPECIAL system is a cool acronym for a stat system
- Vault-Boy is a good mascot

Todd said the 50s retro futuristic aesthetic was the main thing they wanted.

I know Todd Howard has talked about being a fan of Fallout, and liking the setting and whatever, (and I don't doubt that's true) but I highly doubt the aesthetic is why Bethesda actually spent the money they did to get it. The aesthetic is fantastic, but for what they paid for Fallout they could have hired some guys like Geof Darrow to create the same thing for them and had money left over.

But brand naming is a huge part of marketing, a big part of just getting eyes on your product, and Fallout is a very strong evocative name. The aesthetic is good, but the branding possibles of the series are even stronger. But nobody is ever just going to come out and say: That thing people like, we only really bought it for the name. The NoClips video on Bethesda has a bit where Todd says before they got Fallout (a year before) they were working on the idea of a post-apocalypse game (and it sounds like Fallout was an inspiration) called Apocalypse Road, which is not a good name.

 

[DraQ]

Todd said the 50s retro futuristic aesthetic was the main thing they wanted.

To be fair 50s retrofuturistic aesthetics meets Mad Max-y post-nuclear wasteland was the main uniquely Fallouty thing about Fallout.
Everything else (including the best stuff) wasn't particularly strongly tied to the setting nor the IP.

Maybe that's why I've never particularly cared about Fallout setting - it's never been that much of a big deal.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

It isn't to the extent of Fallout, but by Thunderdome even Mad Max itself is dipping its toe into '50s era iconography.

 

[Kazuki]

Bethesda Sued for $100 Million After Alleged 'Intentional Sabotage' of Rune 2 to Protect The Elder Scrolls

Publisher Ragnarok Game has amended a lawsuit against Human Head Studios, suing Bethesda for $100 million over its alleged part in an "intentional sabotage" of Ragnarok's Rune 2 in an attempt to protect The Elder Scrolls franchise.

As reported by PC Gamer, the lawsuit was originally filed in December of 2019 and focused on Human Head Studios, the original developers of Rune 2. Ragnarok claims that the developers intentionally abandoned the game upon launch and refused to turn over the source code, so the publisher is seeking damages and restitution. The reason Bethesda Softworks and ZeniMax Media are now involved in the suit is that Human Head Studios went out of business a day after the game's launch, only to be absorbed by Bethesda and re-opened as Roundhouse Studios on the same day.

You can read the amended complaint here, which notes that Ragnarok "seeks redress for fraud and the intentional sabotage of two video games, Rune II and Oblivion Song." Oblivion Song wasn't announced, but it appears to be an adaptation of the popular Robert Kirkman comic book series that was left unfinished when Human Head Studios announced their departure. "Rune II was maliciously torpedoed in a conspiracy between the game's developer, desperate for cash, and a large video game conglomerate intent on destroying threats to its own video-game franchises," the complaint reads.

The suit alleges that Human Head contacted Bethesda and ZeniMax about a potential acquisition without notifying Ragnarok, and later provided the publisher with keys to a pre-release version of Rune 2, which allowed Bethesda to "see for themselves the threat that Rune II posed to their hit franchise, Skyrim/Elder Scrolls." Then, two weeks prior to Rune II's launch, Zenimax allegedly formed Roundhouse Studios and used the company "to purchase all of Human Head's equipment and take over its leases," which Ragnarok alleges contained trade secrets, source and materials relating to the two games.

The complaint also mentions the PR troubles caused by the alleged sabotage, noting that in spite of the game's positive reviews, the next day Ragnarok was faced with headlines about the studio's departure and the wavering future of Rune 2 post-launch. For more on Rune 2, you can check out our preview of the game from 2019.

ZeniMax Media was recently part of a major acquisition, with Bethesda Softworks and Roundhouse Studios brought under the wing of Microsoft in September as part of a $7.5 billion deal.

https://sea.ign.com/news/165282/bethesda-sued-for-100-million-after-alleged-intentional-sabotage-of-rune-2-to-protect-the-elder-scro

 

[ADL]

The alleged connection to the Elder Scrolls franchise is nonsense but the handling of Rune 2 and Bethesda's buyout of Human Head was shady to say the fucking least.

 

[Wunderbar]

Humanhead are too blame.
They've made a shitty game and then allowed themselves to be poached.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Wonder if they dragged Zenimax in because they got bought out by Microsoft and they're hoping for a quick settlement

 

[Wunderbar]

Bethesda are using procedural generation for planets (not a real-time generation though, just a new tool for a landmass creation).

So be ready for ME1-style open planets to explore. No more "themepark design" with random locations being very close to each other

 

[Zombra]

Bethesda are using procedural generation for planets (not a real-time generation though, just a new tool for a landmass creation).

Cool. They did the same thing for Skyrim, right? Or was that Oblivion? Where the whole world was generated one time, then they finalized it. Instead of hand placing every tree and shrub.

 

[Wunderbar]

Bethesda are using procedural generation for planets (not a real-time generation though, just a new tool for a landmass creation).

Cool. They did the same thing for Skyrim, right? Or was that Oblivion? Where the whole world was generated one time, then they finalized it. Instead of hand placing every tree and shrub.

they were doing this since forever, this time the tool is more advanced.

 

[Avarize]

Bethesda are using procedural generation for planets (not a real-time generation though, just a new tool for a landmass creation).

Cool. They did the same thing for Skyrim, right? Or was that Oblivion? Where the whole world was generated one time, then they finalized it. Instead of hand placing every tree and shrub.

Iirc the main procedural generation in Oblivion was just Speed Tree.

 

[Bad Sector]

AFAIK the base terrain is procedurally generated in Oblivion (and later games) using some "high level" setup (so it isn't completely random) but it is edited after the generation is done. This is very common in large seamless world games nowadays and there is even middleware dedicated to that (e.g. World Machine), though i think Bethesda uses their own.

 

[Hellion]

Howard also confirms in the video that Starfield is created using "majorly overhauled Creation Engine".

It will also "be on Game Pass from Day 1, alongside TES VI".

There's a reddit thread with all major points from his interview.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Starfield/comments/jmtclv/new_starfield_info_todd_howard_interview/