Fallout 3: Post Apoc Teasing

Some teasing from the Bethesda Games Fallout 3 forum, when asked about what’s behind the Chinese rifles Gstaff had this to say:

As mentioned before, at some point we’ll be doing another Fan Interview. I’ve seen this come up a few times, so maybe that’s one you could ask.

And this:

When the time arises, we’ll figure out a format…might be the same…might be different. When I have more news on this, I’ll give you guys notice.

More importantly:

There will be more information between now and E3…yes. That’s as much as I’m going to say.

So it can’t be easy for you knowing things and not being able to tell them:

Yeah, it’s not easy.

Bah, it’s harder not to know.

Inside the Gary: Vault Noonan

New Inside the Vault, on the Bethesda Blog:

Today’s Inside the Vault features Gary Noonan, one of our character artists. He does mostly animation, anything from creatures to weapons. However, he’s been here so long he’s done other work including creating character art, building levels, and cranking out sound effects.

What’s your job at Bethesda?
Character Animator. Among other things that involve being a Character Art shock trooper.

What other games have you worked on?
If Bethesda made it since ‘96, I probably have a credit on it. From Battlespire to Fallout 3, I have been a 401k slaving fool.

I just found the first time I heard of him, on a message to Fallout and TeS fans in July 12, 2004:

Being a developer at Bethesda, I am also a big Fallout fan. I played all of the titles from FO1 to FOBOS. Not so much a fan of FOBOs or FOT, but I did play them through. To this day, FO1 is still in my top 5 fav games, not just RPGs. The campy humor, the grotesque action, and the integrated pop culture, as well as Pip Boy (can’t leave THAT out!) are what allow FO to stand out from other titles. I agree, without these, it is simply NOT FO.

Now, the fact is, this news is just that…. NEWS. I have known about this for some time now, and I have been excited about it since the deal was still in the making. I AM a fan of FO. Who better to have working on a game than a FAN…. someone who knows the game, knows what it’s about, knows the mood, knows the setting and atmosphere. Now, as a new development even here in the office, it’s still quite a welcoming shock and we are ALL eager to be a part of it. I can’t put into words how much I am dying to be a part of it.

So, for all the existing Tes fans, welcome the FO fans. Everyone has their opinions about titles and developers.

For the FO fans joining us, give it a chance. Everyone (well, I really speak for myself) here is excited about this opportunity and it is talked about quite a bit.

And for all, let’s keep it cool. As everyone who has been here for a long enough period of time knows, we developers listen to what the fans have to say. The forums are our link to hearing your thoughts and input on aspects of the titles.

Different times I guess, still worthy to remember those words.

IGN XBox360 Editors Lists

First just a sidenote to wish a quick recovery to a reader that sent me a private message through Meebo when he was sick at home; I’m glad it isn’t the FEV virus though

So we’ve seen the IGN PlayStation and PC Editors 10 most anticipated games of 2008, now it’s time for the XBox360 lists.

One of the editors doesn’t talk about Fallout 3, but Hil Goldstein placed it in third on his list:

3) Fallout 3
Genre: Role-Playing Game
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Why?: When Bethesda gave an hour-long demo of Fallout 3 at last year’s E3, my first thought was, “That’s never coming out.” But Bethesda is holding fast to its promised Fall 2008 release. Think of it as a post-apocalyptic Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion with a more interesting story and a better combat system. It should be awesome.

Post Apocalyptic Oblivion?… Oh boy…

Let’s Have New Screenshots

Can we make a judgment on Fallout 3 based on the screenshots we have? Matt “Gstaff” Grandstaff replies:

I’d say it’s pretty tough. If you have ideas of what types of screenshots would help show RPG elements, send them my way. I can always make a suggestion.

So if you think of some particular shots of the game to show dialog, character creation, exploring and so forth that you would like to see, send the suggestions to Gstaff. In the meanwhile take a look on the new CVG Fallout 3 demo pics.

RadX And Radway!

From DailyTech:

Tour and his colleagues have been awarded a $540,000 grant by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to do further research on a carbon nanotube (CNT) based drug for the treatment of radiation sickness.

Radiation sickness is so deadly because the ionizing affect of radiation alters the balance between protons and electrons in molecules. The process often creates free radicals. Free radicals are highly reactive molecules and in the case of radiation poisoning, cause disruption in living cells. The disruption often triggers a domino effect, propagating widespread damage throughout the organism’s physiology.[...]

The carbon-sink anti-radiation pill was proposed in Tim Cain’s 1997 computer game Fallout. The third official title in the series will debut later this year.

Awesome! Dibs on inventing Buffout! Thanks Ausir.

IGN Playstation Editors Lists

From IGN Playstation:

To give you a glimpse as to what games we’re looking forward to on a personal basis, each of the IGN PlayStation team members have picked their top 10 most anticipated games of 2008. Keep in mind that these are all titles that have been promised to ship this year by their prospective publishers, so games with unknown release dates, like Final Fantasy XIII, couldn’t make our lists.

Without further ado, here’s what Chris Roper, Greg Miller, Jeff Haynes and Ryan Clements have picked.

Ryan and Greg didn’t talk about Fallout 3, here are the other ones:

Chris Roper:

5) Fallout 3
Genre: RPG
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Why?: While I’m not a fan of traditional RPGs, I’m a sucker for the works of Bioware and Bethesda. Fallout 3 looks to bring the humor, style and mechanics of the classic PC franchise to the current crop of gamers, and it should be a killer experience. I’ve seen the same demo twice now, and despite knowing exactly what was going to happen, I was still glued to my seat the second time through. This can’t come soon enough.

Jeff Haynes:
2) Fallout 3
Genre: RPG
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Why?: Finally, one of the best RPG franchises is getting a new installment, and with Bethesda behind the wheel, Fallout 3 is going to be one of the best experiences of the year. I’ve seen the E3 Demo at least twice now, and I’ve picked up new details every single time. The chance to explore a shattered Washington D.C. after the aftermath of the global nuke war should be a blast (no pun intended) and the amount of depth included will keep myself, and RPG fans, replaying this game for a long time to come.

You can see the IGN PC picks here.

Monday Is a Good Day

A few things that I saw on the weekend, first for the Brazilian Fallout fans (and Portuguese speaking world) news that Vault13, the Brazilian fansite now has a pretty detailed page about Fallout 3. Thanks for the heads up istrupador.

Also if you are interested in discussing the classic Fallout games mechanics head on to Twenty Sided, where Shamus has a very interesting article on the Fallout Character System. Thanks Jason Mical.

IGN PC Editors Lists

IGN asked all their editors to make their own personal games to watch in 2008 lists, first we have IGN PC editors Charles Onyett and Steve Butts lists, with Fallout 3 tidbits:

Steve Butts:

3) Fallout 3
Genre: Roleplaying
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Why?: Bethesda really knows how to make a gigantic roleplaying game filled with interesting choices, flexible morality and open-ended problem solving. But those who thought that the recent Elder Scroll games were a little too epic will be happy to hear that the developers have decided to tell a much more focused story with this post-apocalyptic RPG. Sure, some Fallout fans are upset that the game’s format is a bit different this time around, but I was utterly captivated by the idea of exploring the bombed out remains of Washington DC from a ground level perspective. It’s a great world with a great developer with a great design.

Charles Onyett:

7) Fallout 3
Genre: Roleplaying
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Why?: This is pretty much a no-brainer when making these kind of lists. It’s Bethesda, it’s the return of the Fallout universe, what’s not to get excited about? I’m not one of the Fallout hardcore that has an aneurysm whenever first-person and Fallout are mentioned in the same sentence, so I’m really looking forward to what’s being done here. Based on the 2007 demo Bethesda showed off a few times, things seem to be going well. It looks sort of like Oblivion in terms of how characters interact and animate, though better, and appears to have recreated to some degree the contrast of humor and horrific living conditions that made the franchise so memorable in the first place. The first thing I’m probably going to do, though, is look through all the little Pipboy pictures in the game. They’re usually good for a laugh.

More on other platforms to come.

CVG Brings New Fallout 3 Screenshots

I’ll get back to this later, since I have to go on a trip, but do check the CVG Fallout 3 preview with seven new screenshots.

Update: Images were removed from CVG, you can check them at NMA, I’ll upload them later today.

Eurogamer Coming Attractions: Fallout 3

From Eurogamer:

We’ve already presented roundups of this year’s most promising shooters, racers, action-adventure and sports games. Now it’s the turn of role-playing games or, as the professionals call them, “RPGs”.

Try not to get too cross, but this roundup also includes MMORPGs – there aren’t enough of them to merit doing a separate article. If you feel that strongly about it why not say so in the comments or write to your MP.

Speaking of MMORPGs, there’s Age of Conan and Warhammer Online to look forward to this year. Xbox 360 owners will get Too Human, Lost Odyssey and Fable 2 exclusively, while cross-platform titles will include Fallout 3 and Rise of the Argonauts. Square Enix will be cranking up the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest machines again too.

And here’s what they had to say about Fallout 3:

This PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 title is being developed by the makers of Oblivion and is set in a post-nuclear world. So you’ll be punching more radioactive mutants and fewer rats.

In fact, Fallout 3 is “a very different game” to Oblivion, according to Bethesda’s Peter Hines. “It’s EXP based, not skill based, it’s post-nuclear not fantasy, it’s guns not swords,” he told us last year.

Other features will include the option to choose a first- or third-person perspective and “unlimited” customer characterization. There are moral choices to make as you progress. An assisted targeting system, tip-top AI and pretty pictures are promised, and Qui-Gon Jinn has signed up to star.

“So far it’s looking true to its origins, while appropriately forward-facing,” John wrote last July. “It’s clear [Bethesda loves] Fallout. In a year’s time, we think we’re going to be joining them.” That’d be less than a year by today’s reckoning, as Fallout 3 is due to arrive this autumn.

Thanks for those that sent me the link to this through Meebo.

SuperMutants Vs. Batman!

What is perceived as the new look of SuperMutants continues to create a lot of heated discussions everywhere. This time on the Bethesda Games Fallout 3 forum Mazinger Z posted this sarcastic remark:

The original Super Mutants aren’t a product of Bethesda’s creativity, and ergo, are flawed.

Community Manager Gstaff replied with this:

Or it could simply be the fact that a different group of folks aren’t going to do things exactly the same. I’ve seen a lot of Batman in my life, and the only Batmobiles that ended up looking similar were the two that were in Tim Burton films — everyone else that’s done Batman (TV Show, Nolan, Schumacher) had a different take.

Ultimately it’s up to you to decide if you like the new models or not, but I don’t think it’s surprising that our power armor, mutants, etc. aren’t exact replicas of what’s been done in the past. It’s a different game with different folks working on it.[...]

Oy…I should stay away from those pesky analogies, especially since Batman Forever and Batman & Robin were crappy movies. Still, I’d argue that they were in fact sequels — whether they decided to tack on 1, 2, 3, and 4 at the end or not. (Michael Gough always being Alfred, Gordon being played by the same guy, the Bat Signal that was originally introduced didn’t need to be reintroduced…it was just there).

Getting away from Batman, in regards to Fallout 3, its got the “3″ because we consider it a sequel…that’s the logic. It’s continuing the story (albeit in a different place), but it’s by no means a reboot. As for why the mutants look different, well, my point was supposed to be that when different people take on a project, you can’t expect everything to be exactly the same.

Well some things should be almost the same though, saves everyone time and resources spent on endless discussions, I guess.

And Matt you’ll get in serious trouble with many TeS fans if you close the General Discussion forum, mark my words.

12 at P3Zine

From Gamerzines:

In the new issue of P3Zine, we reveal to you the top 20 PS3 games on the release schedule for 2008.
With big names inclulding GTA IV, Gran Turismo 5, Metal Gear Solid and many many more coming your
way, 2008 looks set to be the year of the PS3.
Don’t miss our full round up to see what you’ll be playing this year!

Fallout 3 gets the number 12 slot.

Fallout 3: To Know Or Not To Know

Do we need more info about the game or not? For the minority that is afraid of “knowing too much” about the game before they buy it Matt “Gstaff” Grandstaff had this to say:

[At tmo] Well I assume you’re okay with what we’ve put out because so far we’ve only released a few screens, diaries, and a teaser.

Without a doubt, we will be releasing more information about the game as the game gets closer to release — information that should be enough for most gamers to make a decision if it’s a game they’ll be interested in purchasing it. At the same time, we’re cognizant of the fact that folks don’t want us to spoil the game.

Of course, I also don’t think Bioshock went “too far” with what they revealed. Especially with a new IP like that, they definitely want to make sure folks know some of the features that make the game unique. Had they spoiled some of the game’s bigger secrets and twists…I might have a different opinion on the matter.

Afterwards Crni Vuk asked for “[...] some video that shows us CLEARLY combat and some random conversation”, to which Gstaff replied:

I hear ya loud and clear. I’ve let folks here know numerous times that you guys want to see those things.

You can see the rest of the discussion here.

Misc: The Cake Edition, Not a Lie Too

Cake by Summer and her granddaughter

Just a few notes to point out that Bethsoft now has a blog on IGN, nothing new in there for now.

Also if you own a iPhone then you can get some webclip icons on the Beth blog.

And also on the Bethesda Blog you can find their last Inside the Vault featuring lead interface programmer Erik Deitrick:

What’s your job at Bethesda?
I’m an interface programmer. So I work on menus and minigames.What other games have you worked on?
I started off at Ubisoft working on Tarzan Untamed for the GameCube, which was a platformer geared to a young audience. I then worked at a failed dot-com making small games for a platform that never made it to market, which is a shame because my head-to-head wackamole would have revolutionized all mole-based games. Then I got hired here at Bethesda and worked on Oblivion, and now Fallout 3.

VoodooExtreme and Fallout 3 Again

 

Top 10 Most Wanted Games for VoodooExtreme, Fallout 3 gets the number three slot:

Bottom Line: It’s a sweet ass Oblivion plugin set in a 1950′s era World War 3! Oh, just kidding, relax ladies. While the drastic change in gameplay philosophies have frightened more than a few Fallout fans (imagine if Half-Life 3 became a turn-based strategy game or something wacky like that), Bethesda has a pretty good track record. Before you eat that entire case of radioactive creamed corn, try the game out, you might like it!

That first sentence scared me for a minute… I’ve already talked about their Most Wanted 2008 PC Game poll.

Art With a Bang

Image sourcemn.org

Are games Art? Fallout 3 Designer Fred “fizzbang” Zeleny replies:

I voted a big yes on this poll, with the knowledge that games, like books, painting, or any other medium, can be art, but aren’t always.

The definition of “art” is in the eye of the beholder, and what inspires one person to call art can leave another person nonplussed or bored. But I’ve absolutely seen games that I’d call art – which is to say, experiencing them inspired my thinking on matters and changed my way of viewing the world.

There have been many of them, ranging from indie PC games like Passage to large PC games like Fallout, to console games like Rez or Portal or even Jet Set Radio Future, and even to games that aren’t entirely contained in the realm of the virtual, with ARGs like I Love Bees. Many of these games appear simple at first, and could be easily dismissed by the jaded, but in playing them, I found new ways to view the world and discovered new ways a story or a space could be experienced.

Of course, a game doesn’t have to be “art” to be a good game. There are many mature, quality games that I wouldn’t call “art”, just as there are lots of things I’d call “art” that I wouldn’t even remotely describe as “mature” – or sometimes, even as “quality”. And I reject the implication that games on consoles are automatically immature, just as I’d reject the assumption that a book sold at a major bookstore was somehow dumbed-down just because it was readily available to the public.

The game industry could certainly benefit from more artistic experimentation from developers, and more appreciation and acceptance of new approaches from fans. And I think this is happening: indie game development is gaining more and more momentum. This is particularly true with PC and web-based games, but there’s also a good variety of small-scale games being developed for X-Box Live Arcade or the like. Supporting the games you like on this scale makes it increasingly likely that larger versions of those types of games will appear.

Furthermore, the game-playing audience is expanding, and their tastes are becoming more varied and sophisticated: not only is the average age of gamers going up (even the average console player is over 18), but the variety of game-players has also been increasing, with gender ratios of gamers slowly equalizing, and with games being more widely accepted in mainstream culture. A lot of this is a direct result of the widespread nature of casual and console gaming – it has made games more common, and as people who grew up with console gaming have become members of society, they’ve brought their love of gaming with them.
The result is that games, as a medium, are exploring more territory today than they did in the past. Sometimes that leads to art, sometimes that leads to good gameplay, sometimes that leads to garbage, and most of the time it leads to something in-between all three. Just find the games you like and support them. And if you can’t find any you like, then make your own!

Interesting, this topic was started by stefix at the Bethesda Games Fallout 3 Forum.

Fallout 3 To The eXtreme

It’s all over for the VoodooExtreme Most Wanted 2008 PC Game poll, here are the results:

Starcraft II – 2490

Fallout 3 – 2214

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning – 1502

Spore – 1464

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky – 1279

Left 4 Dead – 1231

Age of Conan – 1031

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King – 923

You can see the rest of the list here.