No Mutants Allowed

[Brother None]

Several Fallout 3 developers with varying levels of relevance have commented on some features of Fallout (note how none of them are developer. C'est la vie):

What do you think of child killing in fallout past games and what porpose it had (in you opinion) in those games?

Ricardo Gonzalez (interface programmer): To be honest, I never tried it out. Slaver-killing, check. Mutie-killing, check. Never crossed-off child-killing with any of my characters; even my bad-ass ones just ignored them, or at worst, stole back whatever those urchins in The Den stole from me. What do I think the purpose of killing a child was? Hmm..depends on why you did it, I guess.

Gary Noonan (character animator): I say anything goes. It isnt real. Isnt that the whole idea of games?

Dan Ross (QA): The only time it ever came up for me was because of splash damage. Children basically turned into a device to complicate my options in combat, since killing them wasn't really a viable option. "Oh I'm a bad dude... oh look the game isn't fun now."

What diffrences do you see between super mutants from fallout 1 and from fallout 3? Or what do you see (what makes them look original, color, eyes or so) that makes them look as they do in Fallout 1?

Ricardo: From the screenshots we've seen, I'd say the two big differences I spot are the lack of the endearing lip-holster and less bulky shoulders. Overall, I guess the new mutants are more anthropomorphically toned. Maybe they found some old Pilates holotapes?

Gary: Sprites vs 3d models? Large textures? Skeletal physics? The idea wasnt to make them "original" but to stick as close as possible to the Supermutants everyone has learned to love and to bring them to the 3d world. I think we have done a pretty damned good job of it so far and I hope you all agree when we are finished.

Dan: I have yet to actually check the old "how many heads" style proportions on them both, so I dunno. Ours are pretty cut though. I'm thinking that a hardened/underground 24 Hour Fitness musta survived the bombs.

Wich is your favorite settlement or organization of past fallout games (fallout 1 & 2)?

Ricardo: Any of the BoS centers, those bastions of sweet tech and swishing doors. I especially dug talking to the half-sentient ZAX in San Francisco that was starting to lose it a little and just beginning to figure out was "it" was.

Gary: I was always a big Enclave fan. Their armor always looked cooler than the BoS IMHO and they had no need to Boy Scout tactics like the BoS. Screw saving the world.... own it.

Dan: I really didn't like any of the organizations or settlements... none of them would do as I commanded immediately. I'm gonna have to go back and purge them for their impertinence.

If you were to add, change and/or remove anything out of Fallout 1 and Fallout 2, what would that be?

Gary: Add, change, or remove? Boy, I can smell a set up a mile away. Is there really a correct answer for this one without getting flak from any numer of people? How about if I just say nope, FO 1&2 were golden?

Dan: Having to open the skill menu over and over and over and over and over to use a skill repeatedly. (doctor, first aid, lockpick etc...)

Analyzing the weapons selection in fallout 1, why do you think the most common weapons of today (Like M16, Kalashnikov) were not included? (tricky one i know

Gary: My only guess would be that it was a design decision. Not much I can add there, especially since I wasnt part of it. Hunt down Tim Cain.... I am sure he would love to talk about it.

Dan: Is this one of those trick questions where there is a right answer that the old devs gave and I don't understand Fallout if I don't know it? I'm gonna go with more generic = less real-life detail to get wrong = fewer problems with suspension of disbelief.

What kind of simillarities do you see (when thinking back) between Mad Max movies and Fallout series (1 & 2)?

Gary: I never really saw much of a comparison. I wanted to, but I see different things. Besides a nuclear wasteland and a bunch of ragtag civilizations with the occasional damage control, thats about it. The Mad Max world is dull in comparison to FO.

Dan: You mean like the one sleeved leather jacket, or like how production progressed in real life and finding distributors etc?

Link: thread on BGSF.

Spotted on Fallout 3: A post nuclear blog.

[Briosafreak]

VXSS and Dan Ross also replied, and to other questions too, I'll post about it tonight.

[Brother None]

Oh, so they have:
"The idea wasnt to make them "original" but to stick as close as possible to the Supermutants everyone has learned to love and to bring them to the 3d world" - VXSS

lol

I'll edit my post a bit.

Ok, edited.

Now, seriously...

[SuAside]

[Mord_Sith]

[requiem_for_a_starfury]

[globbi]

[spadthebad]

this question made me laugh the hardest;

[Silencer]

[meatbot]

[Sorrow]

[Grotesque]

[xdarkyrex]

Wow, that Gary guy is pretty dumb. He must not remember the game very well.

Ricardo gave good enough answers though.
Also, I don't blame them too much for not answering the more loaded questions, that is just a headache waiting to happen.

[meatbot]

Ricardo seems like he played the game *somewhat extensively*, at least enough to remember some fairly specific characters and situations. Gary sounds like he played it once or twice but didn't "get" it really. Dan sounds like someone who never played it but was put there to refute any possible criticisms of the other two. Notice the only two fallout details he actually put in were the skill stats and the leather jacket reference?

Smells like another *no clue* project member to me.
_________________
"Eagles may soar high, but weasles don't get sucked into jet engines."

[))<>((]

[TheIdiot]

[Black]

[Ctaylor]

Two comments on the interview:

1. Interface & Hotkeys
I've been playing FO again and there are definitely areas of the interface I would re-design using the experience I've gained over the years. Skill use and Inventory are _way_ up there. Bummer the guy didn't find the hotkeys, it makes the game so much more enjoyable to play.

2. Weapons
The gun choices in FO1 were 90% mine. I felt that weapon technology would have developed differently in the Fallout universe after the split with our timeline, so I tried to make less of the weapons "real-world". The two exceptions (that I can remember) are the Desert Eagle .44 and the 9mm Mauser. The DE was my favorite gun at the time and I had to include it. The 9mm Mauser is an older weapon that I think has a very cool, unique look to it.

Others, like the .223 and the 10mm guns, were based on real-world weapons. (There are guys out there that make pistols that shoot rifle cartridges, like the .223. I applaud their insanity. ^_^)

The 14mm is pure speculation.

And the energy weapons are just plain out fantasy.

My only regret is not including a Colt .45. It fits in the same category as the Mauser. I think it was a question of trying to keep the number of ammo types down.

Nowadays, it's a more interesting question of what weapons to include because more manufacturers pay attention to how their products are used in computer and video games. You might (erm, probably) have to get permission from Glock, for example, to use their likenesses and marks in a game.

-Chris
_________________
Chris Taylor
Maker of Games

[Azrael-Arkangel]

[Atomic Cowboy]

They could have learned enough during a day of research on the Fallout wiki to fake this interview - and maybe even fake a Fallout game. But they didn't.

I'm beginning to think they just don't care.

Just for the record though, so I'm not mistaken for a rabid Fallout fan, I'll give them credit for some of the answers. I, myself, don't see a huge overlap with Roadwarrior, aside from a few design choices, and the skilldex critique has merit - even if it does involve admitting that he doesn't understand the concept of 'keyboard shortcuts.'