Amazon.co.uk Missteps

From Planet Fallout:

Amazon.co.uk has been sending e-mails for the people that pre-ordered the Fallout 3 Special Edition with some bad news:

Dear Customer,

We wanted to give you an update on the status of your order #XXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX. We are sorry to report that the release of the following item has been cancelled:

“Fallout 3 UK Collectors Edition (PC)”

This item has now been cancelled from your order and we can confirm that you have not been charged for it. Please accept our apologies for any disappointment or inconvenience caused.

If you took advantage of a promotional offer when placing this order, this cancellation may affect your order’s eligibility for that offer. If you discover this to be the case, please contact customer service so that we may investigate. You can send an e-mail to customer service from the following URL:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/502564/ref=cs_hd_cus_1

You can still pre order the game in all the stores in the UK that have the Collectors Edition. Bad Amazon.

Level Designer Diary

A new dev diary has hit the official site.  This time we’re talking level design.

Fallout 3 has been the first Bethesda Game Studios project with a dedicated level design team from the outset. With this resource, we were able to set our sights higher than ever before. We knew early on that one of our big concepts for the game was to challenge the traditional RPG divisions between towns, wilderness, and dungeon. With that mission in mind, we actively sought to blur the lines and create a world that was at once believable, unpredictable, and above all; entertaining.

It’s an interesting read, especially in light of the repeated criticisms of how tightly compressed the world feels.  Hopefully this is a topic we’ll be able to revisit once the game hits and we’ve all had a chance to judge for ourselves.

Emil Thinks We’re All Crack Addicts

Bigguns is looking for the groin shot.

Emil made an appearance at the BGS forums to defend his baby.  Some interesting comments in there about the inspiration for V.A.T.S. and the implementation.  Here’s one quote that tickled my funny bone:

It certainly wasn’t the case that we came up with a concept, put it into the game, and said, “There it is! It’s perfect” The road from paper design to implementation was loooonngg…. So regardless of what the paper design was, for us, that’s always just the beginning. The one thing you have to realize is that anything can look good on paper. Anything. In a written doc, you can justify your arguments, tighten any logic errors, dot your i’s and cross your t’s… but if you get it into the game, and it sucks (and it often does!) you have to change it. Most of the “bad’ games I’ve played are bad not because they’ve been crappy ideas, but because they haven’t been properly executed. It’s as if the developers were so blinded by the the awesomeness of their ideas on paper, they couldn’t accept that those same ideas just did not translate into fun gameplay. It’s an easy trap to fall into, and every developer has at one point or another, myself included.

Laughing with me yet?  Maybe sometime soon.  He also goes on to say that V.A.T.S. will please everyone, really!

We designed the combat balance with V.A.T.S. use in mind. Trust me, those who say they won’t use it will. If there’s one thing we learned throughout development it’s that people use V.A.T.S. It just feels natural, and the camera playbacks are a kind of visual crack. So V.A.T.S. is one part tactical, one part pure visceral entertainment. Chances are at least one of those elements will appeal to you, and you’ll end up using V.A.T.S.

And of course, later in the conversation, the sore subject of groin shots reared its ugly head.

Quick answers — no groin shots because it took long enough for us to get the other body parts balanced. And we were afraid the groin shots would instantly change the tone to “goofy” — so they didn’t make the cut.

Yes, it seems groin shots were the tipping point on the goof-o-meter.  Truly a fine line between the comedic and the dramatic that the designers had to walk.  Steel be with them in that endeavor.

Chime in over here.

CanardPC Hates Fallout 3

I think we’ve all suspected for a while that the fine folks at CanardPC are not huge fans of Fallout 3′s new direction.    They’ve recently rebelled against the BethSoft imposed review exclusivity by publishing a not-quite-a-review article summing up their feelings and criticisms on Fallout 3:

Even when you want to explore things and let alone the main quest for a while, it still tastes weird. Besides the cardboard sets, the feeling of emptiness suddenly goes away. Just like in Oblivion and Gothic 3, adventure awaits at every corner of the street. Literally, unfortunately. A two minute walk and you’re there! A design decision which probably has everything to do with the average attention span of the console gamer.

A similar theme from earlier reviews.

On the other hand, don’t expect to be able to convince anybody that originally does not like you. NPC reactions are determined by your Karma and even a professional liar won’t be able to convince someone who does not like him to become his partner. But have no fear: you can change your reputation just like you can switch clothes. You’re too good to obtain what you wish? Steal, kill generic NPCs (those with no name) and here you are: the incarnation of evil! But don’t worry: after three days, people forget about your deeds and you are forgiven.

Your karma is too low for a particular quest? Just kill bad guys and give water to hobos (it comes for free if you have your own house) and there you go: holier than saints. Where the first Fallout episodes where built around balancing your own desires and deciding what sacrifices you were ready to do in order to fulfil them, Bethesda sweeps this and allows you to switch styles at will. Nothing is important any more, everything becomes relative. Everything black. Everything white. No need for grey when redemption and condemnation are made so easy.

This is an interesting criticism.  I think we’ve all been a little concerned about the ‘gamey’ implementation of karma in Fallout 3 and the level of importance it has been given in NPC interactions.  It sounds like a system that was mostly broken in Fallout 2 is now completely broken in Fallout 3.  Progress!

Read the rest of his thoughts and comments at NMA.

PS – Many thanks to Xark for the header art.

Click! reviews Fallout 3

Polish gaming magazine Click! has published a review by Tymon Smektała of the PC version of Fallout 3. Here are some excerpts and a brief summary of the rest of the article:

This premiere was controversial from the very beginning – at least among those for whom Fallout is a legend. And there are lots of those, as the first two parts of the series are considered to be the absolute canon of RPGs. They set the standars when it comes to non-linear plot and freedom of gameplay. (…) A decade ago, when the graphics were relatively simple, it was enough to make up as many dialogue variants as possible to achieve impressive non-linearity. Now they also have to be recorded and shown with advanced 3D graphics. Which is why the fans of the original were afraid that the game would not meet their expectations, lose the atmosphere and destroy the franchise. Were they right?

• The main quest is ca. 10 hour long, with additional 30-40 for the side quests
• The most faithful fans of the series can be disappointed by the end of the story, less complex than in previous games – e.g. it doesn’t show the future fate of characters you meet throughout the game.
• There are five difficulty levels
• Most of the sidequests are interesting mini-adventures that succeed at avoiding typical RPG cliches, like e.g. having to kill 12 mutant moles. They are more atmospheric than the main quest.
• Traveling between locations is boring, the random encounters are pretty rare and not very interesting. Fortunately, there’s fast travel.
• Both main quest and side quest objectives can be achieved through a number of ways. However, they mostly depend on the player’s statistics, so mostly only one option has a chance of being successful for a given character and to know the other variants, you’d have to play the game again with a new character. Unfortunately, probably few players will.
• The stat-based real time combat feels more natural in Fallout 3 than in Hellgate: London and Mass Effect. However, the reviewer prefers the active pause-based VATS, which is a way of pleasing both old fans of the series used to turn-based combat, and new players who expect dynamic action. Curiously, VATS seems to play better with PC controls, while on the console the real time combat seems more natural.
• The graphics look dated. Some textures, looked from up close, are pixelized. There’s clipping and bad character animations.
• The general technical quality is not that great. After a longer gaming session, the computer tends to freeze.
• Access to many options requires the use of Pip-Boy 3000, which is not really handy.

To sum it up, Fallout 3 is not a perfect product and people will be as divided about it after the release as before it. The malcontents will harshly criticize Bethesda for simplifying the gameplay compared to previous iterations of the series, and the PC version will require a patch or two (one is reportedly to be released on day 1). (…) The most important thing is that the makers managed to keep the mature atmosphere of the series and its most important trait – the ability to shape the story yourself. The new game begins (and ends), just like its predecessors, with the legendary words: “War, war never changes.” The same can be said about Fallout.

Fallout 3 is a game different from its great predecessor, but it doesn’t mean it’s worse. It’s just a continuation of the series adjusted to an entirely new age of interactive entertainment – fortunately, it keeps the atmosphere of the originals. Despite minor flaws, it is a strong contender for being the RPG of the year!

Pros:

• A good recreation of Fallout’s atmosphere
• Freedom of play
• The VATS system

Cons:

• Somewhat simplified gameplay compared to previous games
• Slight technical problems

The general score is 8.75/10, broken down into several parts:

• Gameplay – 9.25 (Playability: 9.5, Longevity: 9.5, Variety: 9, AI: 9)
• Graphics – 8.25 (Appearance: 8.5, Animations: 8 )
• Sound – 9.5 (Music: 9.5, Effects: 9.5)
• Technical quality – 7.38 (Fluency: 7, Loading times: 8.5)

Gstaff succumbs to my whining!

After much begging on the part of many, many people.  Good ole Matty G’staff has come through with some new wallpapers for us culled from the recent series of ads at the D.C. metro station.  Included in the set is a striking photo of a Brotherhood Paladin standing guard in front of the Washington Monument as flags flap in the background.  See if you can spot what’s missing on the flags.

X-Play Fallout 3 Special

If you’re like me, you probably can’t even find G4TV on your television dial and luckily for us the good people at G4 know this.  They’ve posted up their Fallout 3 X-Play special on the internets for all to see.  Included is some great footage of Rivet City and commentary from Todd, Pete, Istvan and my personal favorite Emil (do moar interviews, plz).