Bethesda’s Pete Hines Fallout 4 interview

[Dr Fallout]

First time I mentioned him. Have you watched him?

 

[Walpknut]

I am talking to Djmani, he mentions him almost everytime he posts.

I have watched his videos, I found them dumb. That's kind of it. No reason to occupy my mind with the guy in any way.

 

[Dr Fallout]

Smart move. I don't really aim too much anger at him. I just pity his misguided way...

The problem with the town building is that you are THE Founder, THE Mayor, THE Builder. I bet you anything that you have NO political power in your town! The only thing you can do is build and... well that's it. Come on, you don't really want to handle diplomacy, inter-politics and boring shit like that? Do you? Nah, you just want to blow up shit and build shit!

 

[MercenarySnake]

Smart move. I don't really aim too much anger at him. I just pity his misguided way...

The problem with the town building is that you are THE Founder, THE Mayor, THE Builder. I bet you anything that you have NO political power in your town! The only thing you can do is build and... well that's it. Come on, you don't really want to handle diplomacy, inter-politics and boring shit like that? Do you? Nah, you just want to blow up shit and build shit!

Make a settlement and it just works is what they're trying to tell us, if there is no mayor then who the fuck runs it while you're gone? I wouldn't be surprised if they had repetitive mini raids on created settlements from raiders or creatures. What is the deal with people talking about that Matt guy, I watched one of his videos and sounds like a big Bethesda fanboy but I could care less about his misguided preaching.

 

[IrradiatedGarlic]

Why do people keep indisting robots aren't affected by radiation, of course they are.

The Glow points to it's effects on robots being minimal so it's fair enough to say that radiation in Fallout does not affect robots.

But I just don't know how Bethesda is so successful. They make mediocre, usually bad games and yet they sell millions!

I agree but I'm also not the target demographic. I think that there are a lot of people who love sandbox games and I just don't get the appeal. I enjoyed GTA3 back in the day and I enjoy Arkham City, but Arkham City is despite the sandbox world, not because of it.

I don't see validity in saying the androids' depiction should be 50s retro futuristic. Look at the ranger combat armor or power armor. Neither are retro futuristic in appearance or design. They are both modern ideas. A big part of Fallout that isn't often mentioned is this juxtaposition of modern elements in the largely retro futuristic world of Fallout. Another example are the original soundtracks for the Fallout games.

That's a good point, they did draw a lot of inspiration from pulp art and some from pop culture. That said, I do believe that one of the developers mentioned something about the Desert Eagle not fitting in hindsight and putting it in as a sign of the times, so that should be learned from rather than repeated too much. With special encounters being removed, it's harder to find a place for the wackier side of Fallout without being jarring. That said, the art style of the original games isn't the art style of Bethesda, who does focus largely on "50's retro-futuristic" or more accurately, what people now think of as 50's retro-futuristic with a bit of a steampunk flair. In either style, human-like androids are a bit out of place.

Thinking about this made me think of Metropolis and the idea of something in that style fitting. That said, I'm not so sure the android of metropolis makes sense in Fallout but with intelligence of the robots in Fallout 3 and New Vegas, it's not that far of a stretch. Note these androids are not the style of Metropolis either, they are pretty modern.

 

[Dr Fallout]

Smart move. I don't really aim too much anger at him. I just pity his misguided way...

The problem with the town building is that you are THE Founder, THE Mayor, THE Builder. I bet you anything that you have NO political power in your town! The only thing you can do is build and... well that's it. Come on, you don't really want to handle diplomacy, inter-politics and boring shit like that? Do you? Nah, you just want to blow up shit and build shit!

Make a settlement and it just works is what they're trying to tell us, if there is no mayor then who the fuck runs it while you're gone? I wouldn't be surprised if they had repetitive mini raids on created settlements from raiders or creatures. What is the deal with people talking about that Matt guy, I watched one of his videos and sounds like a big Bethesda fanboy but I could care less about his misguided preaching.

The thing I'm trying to get across is that NO ONE runs the town. It's going to be an anarchy where everyone relies on you to build and protect. Yet you still have no political power and the town has no structure of power.

 

[MercenarySnake]

Smart move. I don't really aim too much anger at him. I just pity his misguided way...

The problem with the town building is that you are THE Founder, THE Mayor, THE Builder. I bet you anything that you have NO political power in your town! The only thing you can do is build and... well that's it. Come on, you don't really want to handle diplomacy, inter-politics and boring shit like that? Do you? Nah, you just want to blow up shit and build shit!

Make a settlement and it just works is what they're trying to tell us, if there is no mayor then who the fuck runs it while you're gone? I wouldn't be surprised if they had repetitive mini raids on created settlements from raiders or creatures. What is the deal with people talking about that Matt guy, I watched one of his videos and sounds like a big Bethesda fanboy but I could care less about his misguided preaching.

The thing I'm trying to get across is that NO ONE runs the town. It's going to be an anarchy where everyone relies on you to build and protect. Yet you still have no political power and the town has no structure of power.

Don't know how any of that will work out unless there's something about the settlement building that hasn't been revealed.

 

[Dr Fallout]

Smart move. I don't really aim too much anger at him. I just pity his misguided way...

The problem with the town building is that you are THE Founder, THE Mayor, THE Builder. I bet you anything that you have NO political power in your town! The only thing you can do is build and... well that's it. Come on, you don't really want to handle diplomacy, inter-politics and boring shit like that? Do you? Nah, you just want to blow up shit and build shit!

Make a settlement and it just works is what they're trying to tell us, if there is no mayor then who the fuck runs it while you're gone? I wouldn't be surprised if they had repetitive mini raids on created settlements from raiders or creatures. What is the deal with people talking about that Matt guy, I watched one of his videos and sounds like a big Bethesda fanboy but I could care less about his misguided preaching.

The thing I'm trying to get across is that NO ONE runs the town. It's going to be an anarchy where everyone relies on you to build and protect. Yet you still have no political power and the town has no structure of power.

Don't know how any of that will work out unless there's something about the settlement building that hasn't been revealed.

The settlements won't work. That's what I'm betting for. All shine, no substance.

 

[Askorti]

I bet those settlements will just kinda be there and look pretty, with occasional raider attacks that you have to repel. Nobody will acknowledge that you have built a whole town on your own, that you defended it and made it prosper. Nobody will refer to you as "that guy who's build a new town in a span of a week". It will simply not matter at all and the world will be just as unchanged as it was in every Bethesda game so far. Or maybe you will get a newspaper article about you! Because it makes so much sense...

 

[Dr Fallout]

I bet those settlements will just kinda be there and look pretty, with occasional raider attacks that you have to repel. Nobody will acknowledge that you have built a whole town on your own, that you defended it and made it prosper. Nobody will refer to you as "that guy who's build a new town in a span of a week". It will simply not matter at all and the world will be just as unchanged as it was in every Bethesda game so far. Or maybe you will get a newspaper article about you! Because it makes so much sense...

Exactly what I was thinking. Oh add in a couple of merchants and... yeah that's it. Fun right?

The thing is settlements will probably have a low amount of actual uses.

 

[Crni Vuk]

I don't see validity in saying the androids' depiction should be 50s retro futuristic. Look at the ranger combat armor or power armor. Neither are retro futuristic in appearance or design. They are both modern ideas. A big part of Fallout that isn't often mentioned is this juxtaposition of modern elements in the largely retro futuristic world of Fallout. Another example are the original soundtracks for the Fallout games.

That's what I thought as well and I had that argument with Brother None once and it turns out that it DOES have its roots somewhat in the 1950s.
http://www.nma-fallout.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3429&title=science-fiction-cover&cat=102

Granted, what you see today in Fallout is moving further and further away from it, stylistically. It probably started already with F2.

But actually that is the point, see call me a purist, stupid, fanboy what ever. I don't care. But it is simply a fact that over time the canon, style an core concept of Fallouts design gets diluted. A lot since Fallou 3. Either because the leading figures at Bethesda don't care or don't know it better. Doesn't matter anyway, both is bad enough. See, Fallout 6 or 7 or what ever will be at this rate not more than Doom in a wasteland killing mutated stuff. Just like any other standart shooter out there. And you won't be able to tell Fallout apart from Rage or Call of Duty modern warefare or what ever.

 

[Dr Fallout]

I don't see validity in saying the androids' depiction should be 50s retro futuristic. Look at the ranger combat armor or power armor. Neither are retro futuristic in appearance or design. They are both modern ideas. A big part of Fallout that isn't often mentioned is this juxtaposition of modern elements in the largely retro futuristic world of Fallout. Another example are the original soundtracks for the Fallout games.

That's what I thought as well and I had that argument with Brother None once and it turns out that it DOES have its roots somewhat in the 1950s.
http://www.nma-fallout.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3429&title=science-fiction-cover&cat=102

Granted, what you see today in Fallout is moving further and further away from it, stylistically. It probably started already with F2.

But actually that is the point, see call me a purist, stupid, fanboy what ever. I don't care. But it is simply a fact that over time the canon, style an core concept of Fallouts design gets diluted. A lot since Fallou 3. Either because the leading figures at Bethesda don't care or don't know it better. Doesn't matter anyway, both is bad enough. See, Fallout 6 or 7 or what ever will be at this rate not more than Doom in a wasteland killing mutated stuff. Just like any other standart shooter out there. And you won't be able to tell Fallout apart from Rage or Call of Duty modern warefare or what ever.

That is a scary thought. Let's hope that won't happen. Does it seem to you but a lot of Fallout problems come from two major people? Todd Howard and Emil?

 

[Gnarles Bronson]

IF Bethesda can explain Androids in a lore friendly and detailed description of how thy exist... I could allow that. BUT my main problem is how they fit an AI almost as advanced as ZAX into the cranium of a Human size. The Dutch Ghost tried to explain it but Bethesda proved that wrong with Harkness.

All Bethesda proved is they have no idea what the original developers were going for.

Sadly it's true. Bethesda seems to have no ideas how to make a GOOD Fallout game. Well... since Oblivion they have also lost the ability to make a GOOD Elder Scrolls game, which is saying something since it's their main series.

But I just don't know how Bethesda is so successful. They make mediocre, usually bad games and yet they sell millions!

Same reason call of duties are succesful. They are simple button mashers that are fun for the masses.

Most people would rather watch honey boo boo than Shakespeare.

 

[Dr Fallout]

IF Bethesda can explain Androids in a lore friendly and detailed description of how thy exist... I could allow that. BUT my main problem is how they fit an AI almost as advanced as ZAX into the cranium of a Human size. The Dutch Ghost tried to explain it but Bethesda proved that wrong with Harkness.

All Bethesda proved is they have no idea what the original developers were going for.

Sadly it's true. Bethesda seems to have no ideas how to make a GOOD Fallout game. Well... since Oblivion they have also lost the ability to make a GOOD Elder Scrolls game, which is saying something since it's their main series.

But I just don't know how Bethesda is so successful. They make mediocre, usually bad games and yet they sell millions!

Same reason call of duties are succesful. They are simple button mashers that are fun for the masses.

Most people would rather watch honey boo boo than Shakespeare.

It's a pain how gaming is today. In my day it was... ehh... well casual gaming! Apart from me of course.

 

[Practicat]

That is a scary thought. Let's hope that won't happen. Does it seem to you but a lot of Fallout problems come from two major people? Todd Howard and Emil?

I don't think it will ever get that bad. It won't get to Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel levels. They are the lead designers, and they have control over the direction of their games, so how Fallout 3 was can be attributed to them. I don't know whether Todd sucked up to marketing suggestions after Morrowind, or he is an incompetent RPG designer. Regarding Emil, he is a bad writer, and considering he wrote the main story for 3, the many problems to the story come from him.

Looking at New Vegas, the other modern Fallout game, the lead designer was Josh Sawyer and the lead writer was John Gonzalez. Along with a few others, they were responsible for the direction of the game, and as we all know, it was all around great.

So who's in charge has a tremendous effect on how the game turns out.

 

[raynor009]

I don't agree with Androids. Look at the super computers! They have an AI but they're massive! And here comes Bethesda, claiming that Androids with a small cranium can house an AI so advanced. It's continuity error.

Yep, I agree. These don't exactly gel with the clunkiness of Mr. Handy, either. What's funny is a lot of this stuff they're pulling would probably fit better in the Wasteland lore than Fallout. The synth stuff, most obviously.

From what I understand in 200 years, "The Institue" focused on making human like robots called Androids. What I don't understand is: where did they get the resources to do all that research for 200yrs? how did they even survive the nuclear war lol?

The leap in technology seems a bit unreal to me, even for Fallout. Or maybe it will be some bullshit story of how the Enclave funded their research and bla, bla, bla... and that they are Enclave remnants themselves and so on.

 

[Askorti]

I really hope the Institute wont be the Enclave in disguise. If it is... Well, I wouldn't even be that surprised, it's Bethesada after all.

 

[whirlingdervish]

I bet those settlements will just kinda be there and look pretty, with occasional raider attacks that you have to repel. Nobody will acknowledge that you have built a whole town on your own, that you defended it and made it prosper. Nobody will refer to you as "that guy who's build a new town in a span of a week". It will simply not matter at all and the world will be just as unchanged as it was in every Bethesda game so far. Or maybe you will get a newspaper article about you! Because it makes so much sense...

You're probably quite close to the mark. The entire mechanic is strangely reminiscent of the Hearthfire DLC for Skyrim.

I'm envisioning that with multiple buildings, and maybe more options for hiring people to do useless things around the house and buy you chickens.
Either wolves or a giant mutant spawns in outside your front door as a "random encounter" ever 5th time you leave the house etc..

you know Bethesda tho.. they'd never just reskin something from a fantasy game and call it Fallout.

 

[Crni Vuk]

That is a scary thought. Let's hope that won't happen. Does it seem to you but a lot of Fallout problems come from two major people? Todd Howard and Emil?

I don't think it will ever get that bad. It won't get to Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel levels. They are the lead designers, and they have control over the direction of their games, so how Fallout 3 was can be attributed to them. I don't know whether Todd sucked up to marketing suggestions after Morrowind, or he is an incompetent RPG designer. Regarding Emil, he is a bad writer, and considering he wrote the main story for 3, the many problems to the story come from him.

Looking at New Vegas, the other modern Fallout game, the lead designer was Josh Sawyer and the lead writer was John Gonzalez. Along with a few others, they were responsible for the direction of the game, and as we all know, it was all around great.

So who's in charge has a tremendous effect on how the game turns out.

Well who would have thought 15 years ago that SPECIAL will be so butchered?

Or that worse things happend in the past with other franchises, lobotomizing games in favour of quick profit ...

I don't know whether Todd sucked up to marketing suggestions after Morrowind, or he is an incompetent RPG designer.

Without the intention to insult him, but it is interesting to take a look how Howard started in Bethesda. The project he more or less started his career with was a 3D shooter:

Terminator: Future Shock is a TRUE 3-D shooter that combines three types of action: walking, driving, and flying. Of course, in every scenario your main objective is to blow away hordes of mechanized horrors. The post-apocalyptic world you explore is filled with fires, half-buried cars, and incredibly detailed robotic enemies, including the dreaded Terminators. The game world itself is well thought-out; you can enter nearly every building to search for weapons, ammo, and med canisters as the familiar adrenaline-pumping Terminator soundtrack echoes in the background. As you face off against this army of the future you'll access an arsenal of weapons ranging from Uzis, plasma rifles, and grenades to the always satisfying shotgun.

Now I have no clue how great of a shooter Future Schock was, but it is kinda distinctive that the person responsible for Fallout today got his experience from making shooters rather than RPGs. And that Fallout and also the Elder Scrolls have today more in common with FPS games than Role Playing Games.

So who's in charge has a tremendous effect on how the game turns out.

Absolutely. And I fear the more time goes on, the more will Fallout become a First Person Shooter and unified with the Elder Scrolls development. Skill systems from future Elder Scroll titles simply "ported" to the Fallout universe - as how we see it with Perks right now.

 

[Hassknecht]

I always loved the graphical style of Commandos. That hyper-detailed isometric style was what I always imagined for the future of Fallout, really.