Fallout 3 interview and new screens

[Edward_R_Murrow]

http://fallout.bethsoft.com/images/art/fallout3screens/fanscreens/megatonbar.jpg

Why is Naked Snake in Fallout?

 

[Truth]

Damn fine looking graphics, though. Can't say there's anything wrong with that picture. Except for being from Fallout 3, of course.

Something about the pictures always looks off. Like objects don't blend in well with the gameworld like copy-pasted elements layered in a picture.

Some of my favorite player responses are simply "[Say Nothing]", and playing the silent type.

<...>

 

[Claw]

Different outfits also come with different stat boosts sometimes, and do more than basic "damage resistance". Like mechanic's coveralls that boost your repair skill, that kind of thing.

That's awesome! Not.

9) Will the PC version of the game include some sort of SDK or level editor like Elder Scrolls games have? If not, might one become available via download in the future? And how about the console versions, what have you done to give them the same options PC players have?

It will definitely not be included on the disk.

Rejoice! No "modders covering Bethesda's ass" this time around, hopefully.

We added a lot of animations, so people in town are doing more. They "seem" to be interacting with the world in a more realistic manner, but that usually means going up to something and playing an animation. It can be something really simple, like we added "lean against wall". It's funny how something that small can give life to a person. They walk into a space, and just lean against the wall, arms folded.

I can already see dozens of NPCs leaning wherever they can.

Most of these do not respawn, once they are cleaned out, they are clean. Some respawn for specific reasons, and some have a limited number of creatures respawn to keep it interesting if it's a huge area that we don't want to feel "dead" later on.

This actually sounds like a good idea. I wished Gothic3 would've done that.
Knowing Bethesda however, they'll certainly screw it up somehow.

15) How will the real-time combat skills work? Will the chance of missing be larger as the skill is lower, or does it affect the amount of damage done? Or will this be featured in weapons swaying and/or recoil compensation?

The skill affects both how well you aim (your hand wobbles on screen), and how much damage you do with a shot. Over the course of the project, we really dialed back the skill wobble, and dialed up the damage effect. It's really not fun to miss all the time, it just made the game feel terrible. You can also "aim", like many shooters. You use the right mouse button, or left trigger on a console, and your character aims at the target. You can't run while you are aiming, but it negates most of the skill wobble. Not all of it, but enough to compensate for a really bad skill. What you find is, as your skill raises, you don't have to rely on aiming as much, so it's a good balance.

Absolutely fantastic.

 

[Dark Matter]

Not sure what you guys are bitching about, maybe you should give a more constructive criticism besides "zomg no traits". There are a few very questionable things mentioned in the interview, but all in all, it didn't make me completely detest what FO3 is turning out to be. If anything, it seemed to create some new hope of FO3 turning out to be a decent, fun game after reading all those "omfg portable nukular launcher and grizzly bear deathclaws" shit from mainstream gaming sites/mags.

PS. Screens look great. Except that interface one, god that was awful. Is the PC version gonna use the same interface? What a huge step down from the great character info page from the original Fallouts.

 

[gc051360]

Not sure what you guys are bitching about, maybe you should give a more constructive criticism besides "zomg no traits"

Why?

Your post contained no substance about why you thought it "restored new hope"

 

[Darth Roxor]

6) Would you take us through a hypothetical dialog tree that demonstrates the typical choices made available to the player?

I don't have enough space to really do that. They are big. If you look at Fallout 1, it's deeper than that. To give you the scale, we have over 40,000 lines of dialogue, compared to a few thousand in Fallout 1.


I find this very, very hard to believe after oblivion.

90% of that will be advice/directions/rumours.

also:

7) What can you tell us about the way Armor works, will it come as a full set or as parts, and how will it influence perception? Will there be a special HUD when wearing it?

It comes as two parts, the body part and the helmet. So you can mix and match. And then you can also put on things like glasses and other items. Different outfits also come with different stat boosts sometimes, and do more than basic "damage resistance". Like mechanic's coveralls that boost your repair skill, that kind of thing. We wanted a reason that you might wear clothes as well as armor. There's a merchant's outfit that ups your Barter skill for instance. When it comes to armor, and in particular power armor, yes it does affect some stats (Power Armor lowers your Agility). There is not a special HUD when wearing Power Armor.

"Ooooo, after taking on this fine merchant's apron I understand advanced rules of economy!"

Ammo has zero weight, as we didn't want the player having to micromanage that aspect.

Go go 20000 power cells.

 

[Mareus]

Not sure what you guys are bitching about, maybe you should give a more constructive criticism besides "zomg no traits". There are a few very questionable things mentioned in the interview, but all in all, it didn't make me completely detest what FO3 is turning out to be. If anything, it seemed to create some new hope of FO3 turning out to be a decent, fun game after reading all those "omfg portable nukular launcher and grizzly bear deathclaws" shit from mainstream gaming sites/mags.

PS. Screens look great. Except that interface one, god that was awful. Is the PC version gonna use the same interface? What a huge step down from the great character info page from the original Fallouts.

Thats just it. It will turn one of the greatest RPGs of all time into a medicore shooter RPG. What do you want people to say? "Gee mister Todd, I think traits should not be merged with perks." Don't you know constructive criticism means nothing to companies like Bethseda, so all we can do is bitch around. Also there is more than few questionable things mentioned in the interview, no not questionable... fucking catastrophe! When Bethseda bought the FO licence I atleast hoped they would try to make a game for the fans, but... the more I read the more I hate Bethseda, and the worst thing is... knowing Bethseda, half of the things they are saying about the game are probably just lies!

As for why people are bitching, isn't it obvious? They turned their own serie to shit with nextgen crap, but like that is not enough, they go off and buy Fallout license and start turning to shit one of the greatest RPGs ever, and what can we do? Nothing! Fuck!!
I just hope no one buys this piece of shit!

 

[Seboss]

In regards to essential NPCs, it works like Oblivion, in that when they "die" they get knocked "unconscious" and get up a little while later. It worked well in Oblivion, so we kept that system ...

Right, using Martin and the other super secret spy priest as cannon fodder during the whole game worked pretty well indeed.

I realize that explointing that in Oblivion is stupid powergaming, but that should not be possible in the first place.
Unkillable characters is not good design, it's laziness.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Right, using Martin and the other super secret spy priest as cannon fodder during the whole game worked pretty well indeed.

I realize that explointing that in Oblivion is stupid powergaming, but that should not be possible in the first place.
Unkillable characters is not good design, it's laziness.

Given how suicidal they are, it's better to have them immortal than to reload every 5 seconds after all.

 

[Texas Red]

They included the retarded fast travel from Oblivion. WHY couldn't there be encounters during fast travel like in, you know, other Fallouts? The whole point of FO is the dangerous wasteland. If you go far south in FO, for example, you will be completely annihilated. If you travel around Gecko, you will be assaulted by ghoul bandits. etc.

Just tell me, why couldn't they put in random encounters during fast travels? Why do they go against logic?

 

[Darth Roxor]

How is it against logic? Tell me, what can randomly attack you when you are teleporting?

 

[Jasede]

Fast travel interrupts the smooth gameflow, leading to a less streamlined and sleek playing environment that fails to utilize the synergies of innovative, ground-breaking user friendly gaming concepts.

 

[Mareus]

Right, using Martin and the other super secret spy priest as cannon fodder during the whole game worked pretty well indeed.

I realize that explointing that in Oblivion is stupid powergaming, but that should not be possible in the first place.
Unkillable characters is not good design, it's laziness.

Given how suicidal they are, it's better to have them immortal than to reload every 5 seconds after all.

 

[Mareus]

How is it against logic? Tell me, what can randomly attack you when you are teleporting?

 

[treave]

WHY couldn't there be encounters during fast travel like in, you know, other Fallouts? The whole point of FO is the dangerous wasteland.

You can have imaginary encounters that happen during fast-travel, without being held back by the genius creativity of the developers. Far better than the dated, restrictive random encounter elements employed by Fallout, I'm sure.

 

[Herbert West]

How is it against logic? Tell me, what can randomly attack you when you are teleporting?

The Klingons I tell you, the Klingons!

 

[Gnidrologist]

 

[Fat Dragon]

Ammo has zero weight, as we didn't want the player having to micromanage that aspect.

I can see it now. 5 super mutants, 1 Fatman, and 5000 nukes. Brace yourself super muties, a 19 year-old boy fresh out of the vault is going to blow both you and half of the fucking continent away in less than 5 minutes.

 

[Mareus]

Ammo has zero weight, as we didn't want the player having to micromanage that aspect.

I can see it now. 5 super mutants, 1 Fatman, and 5000 nukes. Brace yourself super muties, a 19 year-old boy fresh out of the vault is going to blow both you and half of the fucking continent away in less than 5 minutes.

War never changes.

 

[Lumpy]

Damn fine looking graphics, though. Can't say there's anything wrong with that picture. Except for being from Fallout 3, of course.

Something about the pictures always looks off. Like objects don't blend in well with the gameworld like copy-pasted elements layered in a picture.

Yeah, those holey metal things don't look right. The rest is okay. What's very nice is how well they've created a decrepit-looking but still functional building.

 

[Shannow]

Some of my favorite player responses are simply "[Say Nothing]", and playing the silent type.

<...>

I like silent options. I wish an RPG that I actually plan on playing would implement that in a sensible way.

The non-hostile ghoul barkeeper was also positive.

I don't like the graphics though...

Ausir, is the Megaton quest less retarded than it sounds?

 

[Gerrard]

http://fallout.bethsoft.com/images/art/fallout3screens/fanscreens/megatonbar.jpg
Damn fine looking graphics, though. Can't say there's anything wrong with that picture. Except for being from Fallout 3, of course.

I looked at that shot and couldn't get rid of the feeling that there's something missing.
Then it hit me.

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/673/ ... ikegg0.jpg

Maybe we should start a petition.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Killing is bad, helping is good. Got it!

Considering into account all the idiocy from Beth and all i don't see what's wrong with this statement without eleboration. Unless it wasn't a sarcasm.
I think you should choose your punchlines more wisely.

Technically, there is nothing wrong with the statement in question. Killing people is, indeed, wrong. However, in the content of rpg mechanics, "killing - bad, helping - good" represents the simplest, least interesting and intelligent setup. Are you dying to play a game where most choices are kill/help/ignore? Does the Megaton quest sound interesting to you?

You see a town. You can nuke it. Y/N?

Now, let's take a look at the question:

Q: Are the choices deeper than the superficial bad/good crap?
A: *ignores the question and starts explaining what's good, what's bad, and that deep down everyone wants to play either a good and a bad guy.

 

[NiM82]

 

[Armacalypse]

I read long ago that Bethesda wanted to make selfish characters viable in the game. In most other games if you actually get a selfish option in the first place, the result is almost always less benificial to the character than the unselfish good/evil options.

This is the only hope I have of the roleplaying in Fallout 3.