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Odin · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 11:04 Post subject: Fallout tidbit in Oblivion preview

Vilhelm informed us of a new preview of Elder Scrolls - Oblivion where Todd Howard talks about Fallout in one of the questions:

GS: We have to ask--how, if at all, has Bethesda's recent acquisition of Black Isle Studios' Fallout license and confirmation that it will work on a Fallout 3 affected The Elder Scrolls IV's planning and design? How will the two games be different, or complementary? It seems safe to assume that Elder Scrolls IV will be Bethesda's next huge, sprawling role-playing game, while Fallout 3 will be a more-compact, self-contained adventure. Is this the case? Has Bethesda found itself forced to rethink or adjust its plans for The Elder Scrolls IV so as not to compete with its own plans for Fallout 3?

TH: Oblivion has been in development since 2002, so getting the Fallout license recently hasn't changed our plans for Oblivion at all. By their nature, I don't think they compete with each other. They will be very different games--not just in style, but in how they play. Also, for some time our plan had been to use this technology in other games, and Fallout is a great fit for that.

Hmm this could be good news.
Link: Oblivion Preview@Gamespot
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SumsoluS · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 11:27 Post subject:

good news? i just see this as another annoying scar that itches constantly Razz

PsychoSniper · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 13:18 Post subject:

It could indeed mean something good.

But as they insisted on saying before, its still to early to tell fore sure.

deadr4tz · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 17:20 Post subject:

Maybe it means Fallout will be more linear and action oriented? Twisted Evil

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Johnny Toxxic · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 17:42 Post subject:

Bet · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 19:47 Post subject:

Roshambo · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 20:15 Post subject:

DevilsAdvocate · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 22:35 Post subject:

"Different" and "good" are two vastly unrelated things. Until some reviewer I trust (all of whom, I'm sad to say, post on this message board) says "Fallout 3 is the best game I've ever played!!!11one" I'm not going to be even optimistic about the game. Still, Bethesda has a reputation for poorly-executed games; not outright crap like the "new" Atari and SquareEnix.
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Bet · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 0:23 Post subject:

The Vault Dweller · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 2:56 Post subject:

Hm..."different"? That could be very good...however like everything its all a matter of opinion as to what that means.

Has a nice ring to it though doesnt it?

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Roshambo · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 7:46 Post subject:

PsychoSniper · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 8:03 Post subject:

Admitidly he got quite a bit wrong, but at least he admited to fucking up. You gotta give a guy credit for admiting his fuckups, rather than claim it'll be cool (Like Herve and FOOL)

Course, it is 3 am and Im rather drnk, so if I missed something feel free to vat this post Rosh.

Gnidrologist · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 9:32 Post subject:

MrSmileyFaceDude · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 15:27 Post subject:

Gnidrologist, it simply means that we plan to re-use Oblivion code in other games. When you start talking about an "engine" it gets tricky, as Oblivion is comprised of a large number of SDK's, API's and game systems, and in some sense you could call some of THOSE "engines". It's a vague word that could describe all the mechanics of a game (such as the Doom 3 engine), graphical rendering only (such as Gamebryo), physics (such as Havok), or game systems such as AI. So Todd's just using the word "technology" to describe the collection of software components that make up Oblivion.

We'll use pieces & parts of this technology in future projects. It won't necessarily all carry over wholesale, and almost certainly not without extensive modifications for each game.

Ashmo · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 18:37 Post subject:

Well, the graphics would be the rendering engine, the composition would be the layout engine, the networking would be the networking engine and the collective term would be "game engine" or just "engine". Simple as that. If they don't work with such modules, they just have one big pile they refer to as an engine, but I doubt that.

I would bet that the rendering engine will be the same (or a modified version of it) and so will be the networking. Let's just hope that they'll rewrite the core engine so the game mechanics to support turn-based combat (and thus SPECIAL, which really screws up in real-time combat, see FOT) and such things.
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tre · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 22:53 Post subject:

MrSmileyFaceDude; Hi Mr. Bethesda Developer Man. Smile

Here's one question for you:

Can the different portions of what we could refer to the "Game Engine" handle an Isometric-sortof style?

Since this isn't related to Fallout at all, and just a question that regards the engine itself, perhaps you could share some insight?
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PsychoSniper · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2004 22:58 Post subject:

And to add to that, could whatever part of the game engine be redesigned to support a a ruleset and implement dicerolls for combat and other actions ?

Gnidrologist · Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2004 23:49 Post subject:

Yes, (un)support of TB combat is really the most important aspect of your ''technology''. Frankly, I don't care about camera viewpoint if it's possible to play in a full TB mode. I don't expect a crystal clear answer, but you could give us a hint whether it is possible at all to tweak your engine set to be at least not complete real time.
And wish you happy developing, MrSmileyFaceDude. Smile

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MrSmileyFaceDude · Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2004 15:14 Post subject:

Technical issues like camera viewpoint aren't difficult to implement. It has to be planned early of course -- because art assets, particularly interiors, need to be designed appropriately. But it's not outside the capabilities of ANY 3D graphics engine.

Everything else is primarily an issue of code design, and object-oriented programming techniques make it much easier to swap in things like different rulesets, etc. Basically it wouldn't take a 100% start-from-scratch rewrite to make a very different game.