- The lie didn't show a chance of success percentage as later dialogue options would (see conversation with Mr Burke on page 2), so it's possible this lie always fails.
Bad.
- the upper left corner, as the Oblivion pop up-style quest messages are apparently gone.
Good.
- It is worth noting here that the amount of on-screen NPC text never exceeded about 2.5 to 3 lines.
I'm not fussed by that. Good dialogue should be a back and forth question / answer type scenario rather than WAD OF TEXT TO EXPLAIN ENTIRE PLOT.
- Hines explains that the bobbleheads are easter eggs that boost your characteristics and that there's a Vault Boy bobblehead for every stat and every skill in the game.
Bobbleheads Good. Bobbleheads increasing Stats? Dumb.
- One interesting point here is that a large number of vault guards patrol the hallways, and during SuAside's demo one passed by the girl being harassed and completely ignored the situation.
Bad.
- Hines announces the PC's father, who was always there for him, has suddenly disappeared. This "is pretty jarring to me, because it's my dad."
LAME.
- A large, steampunkish robot arm with a pole/key extension is inserted into the upper-left corner of the door, and rolls it out to the right. As the PC leaves, the guards cry out "he's opening the door!" and call for someone to warn the overseer, draw their batons, but don't really do anything otherwise (not even moving).
Lame.
- Outside, the PC turns on his PipBoy flashlight, which has a kind of greenish light. Near the vault door are a few skeletal remains holding up signs saying "Let us in motherfuckers!" and the like
Now I'm all for some motherfucking swearing but this is just crass.
- Initially the light "blinds" the PC, making the entire world look blurry until your eyes adjust in about 5-10 seconds.
Brilliant.
- The sky was grey and dreary, which is how it remained all throughout the demo.
No trouble there. The sky in Oblivion was pretty much the same.
- Hines walks up to a pool of water and explains they're working hard at upgrading the Oblivion engine, including real water refraction and reflection.
Heavy focus on "ISN'T IT SHINY" syndrome, rather than real content.
- Taking a drink from the fire hydrant radiates [you] heavily at +150 rads per second
And then...
- These car explosions are noted by Hines to be "an effective tool in combat." Walking up to it, a warning is shown of +1 radiation per second, and Hines explains the radiation will disperse after a while.
Car explosion with nuclear material = +1 rad per second. Drinking radiated water = +150 rad per second. I THINK SOMEONE FUCKED UP.
Also, exploding nuclear car bombs = Lame. That'll get real old, real fast.
- Hines points out a new addition to their engine called "parallax occlusion mapping," a realistic per-pixel texture destruction model, which he shows by shooting into the concrete road, creating realistic bullet holes. He also notes it helps the artists create the look of ruined buildings and environment.
HEY MOM, ISN'T THAT NICE AND SHINY?
- Pete Hines explains that load times still need optimising but are already better than Oblivion, plus the game has load screens full of information
Yeah, that's what happens when you overload on the shiny.
- at least the sheriff had only one voice
Good.
- Turning the corner, the PC nears the front porch of an undesignated building, where some people are having a conversation. While I wasn't able to catch what they were talking about, Pete Hines explained that the new improved Radiant AI will mean that people carry on more realistic, personal conversations, referring to each other by name
"I saw a mudcrab the other day, Bob."
"Horribly creatures Bill, I avoid them whenever I can."
The improvements just keep on coming.
- He enters Moriarty's Bar, which has to load separately from the main area
They still can't figure that out. I would've thought they'd have this seamless by now but they just can't do it.
- Hines explains they licensed a number of 40s and 50s song for this purpose.
Awesome.
- After this the PC moves out and down into the subway tunnels, Hines explaining that "metro tunnels are, for lack of a better word, our dungeon-types for Fallout 3."
Dungeons? Cock.
- He points out that you can target the torso, arms, weapon, legs and head, each area having a different effect. Each area also has a percentage to hit which he notes is the same if you try aiming for an area in real time. The effects are also unique, headshots can blind, shooting someone in the leg can slow him down, etc.
Good.
- flipping through weapons in his inventory, which reveals the Vault Boy icon is shown with whatever weapon the player equips. The main stat here is DPS, Damage Per Second, which seems to be about 20-40 for the rifles
Damage per second? Let me guess, Bethesduh couldn't figure out how to make real guns so they just used the staff weapon code from Oblivion.
- later he enters a mini-game. In this mini-game you have a number of words, you have to guess which word is the password, and with each wrong pick the game will tell you how many letters were right.
LAME.
- Oblivion's style of level scaling is out.
YAY!
(Insert comment here about how Bethesduh leaving out a feature is a good thing).
- The supermutants were destroyed by the exploding car
Lamer.
- The BoS Paladins appear to have the behaviour of US army soldier clichés, swearing a lot and going "all right, now that's what I'm talking about!" and "that's how we do it Alliance style, you fucking freaks!" Very macho, very Rambo.
Bethesduh destroyed the Brotherhood of Steel? CHECK.
- He points out you're facing Megaton as he turns to a portable suitcase-remote detonator. Flipping the switch, you can see an enormous nuclear explosion in the distance, followed by a shockwave which hits the PC and Mr Burke. For some reason, no radiation is measured, and Pete Hines apparently forgot Bert's advice here: when blowing up a city with a nuclear bomb while inside its blast radius...Duck and cover!
So no matter what you do, Megaton explodes... AMIRITE? I mean, didn't the PC disarm that bomb?
- While a backstory is assured, Pete Hines also notes conversations with supermutants aren't an option
O'rly?
- We are in contact with those communities and they receive the same treatment as all the other communities.
You don't give a shit about us. That sounds about right for the treatment Bethesduh gives everyone.
