Bethesda: "No one can match us"

[Per]

Bethesda's Ashley Cheng was interviewed by GameObserver. Among other things he said that Bethesda are heavily invested in their modified Gamebryo engine and thus unlikely to ditch it anytime soon.<blockquote>GameObserver: How does the Gamebryo engine differ from other engines, like Unreal, given the types of games you tend to make?

Ashley Cheng: We’ve been building on top of Gamebryo for the past 8 years. There is no replacement for the learning and iteration that goes into building technology for that long. An engine is simply a tool. Anybody can use a paint brush and paper – it’s how you use it to create your art. It is the same with game engines.

We are very particular with our needs and they are mostly related to our editor. Our editor is powerful, allowing our content folks to quickly create quests, conversations, cities, dungeons, landscape, etc... you name it -- we do it faster than anybody else in the industry. No one can match us when it comes to vast, open-ended beautiful worlds full of NPCs, quests and dialogue.

GameObserver: Are you planning on changing or updating the engine in future projects, and if so, what changes are we to see in future games from a technical point of view.

Ashley Cheng: Absolutely. While we would never start from scratch completely, we often redesign and upgrade systems between projects. The important thing is to properly scope your time, resources and priorities before you start the work. We also spend a lot of time in preproduction, trying new things out -- this is one of the most important phases of our development.

GameObserver: One of the biggest complaints about Fallout 3 was that it resembles Oblivion too much. What made your team decide to make it play like The Elder Scrolls game? Was it a marketing decision (to attract Oblivion fans) or a technical decision (easier to use the same tools and programming techniques)?

Ashley Cheng: Well, we mostly made a Fallout game that we ourselves want to play. We also wanted to leverage our strengths as a studio, and one of our biggest strengths is making big, open ended worlds ripe for exploration. So whether we’re making an Elder Scrolls or Fallout title (or any other title for that matter), you can be assured there will be a huge open ended world for you to explore. You aren’t going to get a Final Fantasy style RPG from us because we’re not interested in making RPGs that way (though we do LOVE playing Final Fantasy).</blockquote>He also assured PS3 owners that the GotY version of Fallout 3 for the PS3 will include all the DLC.

Thanks to Glovz.

 

[Ausir]

Well, Bethesda's editors are pretty good, aside from the dialogue editor.

 

[Black]

Ashley Cheng: We’ve been building on top of Gamebryo for the past 8 years.

Yes, and you're pretty bad at it. Maybe it's time to switch to something that's easier to handle, eh?

you name it -- we do it faster than anybody else in the industry.

But the name of the game isn't "speed"- it's "quality". Everyone can ctrl + c a small area and then just tap ctrl + v many times, just like you did in oblivion and fallout 3 but that doesn't look very nice, does it?

No one can match us when it comes to vast, open-ended beautiful worlds full of NPCs, quests and dialogue.

Are you kidding? Please tell me you're kidding. You can't be THAT stupid.

You aren’t going to get a Final Fantasy style RPG from us because we’re not interested in making RPGs that way

Obviously you weren't also interested in making a proper Fallout style RPG. What a shame.

He also assured PS3 owners that the GotY version of Fallout 3 for the PS3 will include all the DLC.

Wait, does that mean the poor suckers who'll want to play it with DLCs but already have FO3 will have to buy it AGAIN?
Oh wow. And the saddest thing is- many PS3 owners probably will.



Fast edit #2- ooooh, now I remember where I heard this name. Isn't that the guy who whined about Blizzard making SC II too similar to the first one, or some equally stupid shit like that?
Once a retard, always a retard.

 

[Ixyroth]

Open-ended except for the completely disconnected, non-contiguous areas which require loading screens every time you enter a building or change levels. Op Flash/ARMA and Gothic are much more open world.

 

[Ausir]

Fast edit #2- ooooh, now I remember where I heard this name. Isn't that the guy who whined about Blizzard making SC II too similar to the first one, or some equally stupid shit like that?

The very same.

 

[EnglishMuffin]

HAHAHAHA

Oh man this is so fucking funny. It's hilarious that they are not going to ditch the gamebryo engine, that of course is a given, but building on top of it for 8 years and it's still a piece of shit. Valve took their source engine and made it better where as bethesda actually made theirs a bit worse I think.

They probably have the worst fucking engine, well its a decent engine but they modified it into shit, and they are going to stick with it.

I figured after hitting bottom the only place for bethesda to go was up, but no, they won't stop till they burn in the core of the earth.

Instead of promoting the fuck out of fallout 3 they could have taken that money and bought a better engine. This just pisses me off to no end. This reminds me of the 'stay the course' bullshit that the bush administration was spouting out. And hey, they had 8 years in the white house. Coincidence?

I really don't care what bethesda does since I'm not buying any of their shitty games, but the sheer level of stupidity does piss me the fuck off.

Oh and they love final fantasy? That franchise hasn't been good since 7. This explains everything.

 

[Ausir]

Instead of promoting the fuck out of fallout 3 they could have taken that money and bought a better engine.

Actually, they (well, their parent company) now own the id Tech 5 engine.

 

[Seymour the spore plant]

ooooh, now I remember where I heard this name. Isn't that the guy who whined about Blizzard making SC II too similar to the first one, or some equally stupid shit like that?

Yep, that's him alright. While Blizzard has been making shit decisions one after the other (selling Starcraft 2 single-player campaigns as 3 different games, WoW-y Diablo 3, both games lacking LAN capability, etc), ragging on them for not making SC2 in first-person is so mind-boggingly narrow-minded and retarded it could only come from Bethesda. They have been remaking Arena for the last 14 years after all.

EDIT: oops, Ausir beat me to the punch.

 

[EnglishMuffin]

Instead of promoting the fuck out of fallout 3 they could have taken that money and bought a better engine.

Actually, they (well, their parent company) now own the id Tech 5 engine.

Great why don't they use that instead.

 

[Ausir]

Great why don't they use that instead.

Well, it's a choice between an old engine they know well and have modified to their needs vs. a new engine they'd have to learn how to use from scratch.

 

[TheGM]

You aren’t going to get a Final Fantasy style RPG from us because we’re not interested in making RPGs that way

Hell we haven't even got a good RPG from them. Though they do own the market in first person Golden Axe Clones that people Call RPGs.

 

[DoktorVivi]

Great why don't they use that instead.

Well, it's a choice between an old engine they know well and have modified to their needs vs. a new engine they'd have to learn how to use from scratch.

And seeing as how after all this time they've still got problems with it.... I'd hate to see how they'd handle a brand new engine.

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

And seeing as how after all this time they've still got problems with it.... I'd hate to see how they'd handle a brand new engine.

One example I can think of is if the player walks into a person, said person is launched into the air... all the time.

 

[Alphadrop]

Considering how buggy and unstable the engine is judging by the tech support forums, converting to an engine that will actually work on a lot of configurations would be a good idea.
Though I wonder if they will ever manage to fix the frame/animation stutter, random ctd on load and three day reset bugs (now a feature) that have been with it since the beginning.

 

[Brother None]

Once a retard, always a retard.

Less personal attacks and more sensible criticism, guys, this isn't the House of Spam.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

I am responsible for the overall schedule, making sure everyone is completing their work to a high quality and overseeing test cycles. I’m also responsible for voice recording and casting, localization and our relationships with outside entities like Microsoft and Sony.

This Ashley woman needs to be ashamed of herself. Need I list the litany of fuckups that occurred in those areas on the release of their last three games under her watch? Quality, testing, voice casting, and liasons with MS? Bethesda has reached watershed levels of incompetence in those areas.

Didn't she also criticize Blizzard for Diablo 3 not innovating enough? And in this same interview mentioning how Bethesda sticks to what they do best.

 

[Ausir]

This Ashley woman needs to be ashamed of herself.

Ashley Cheng is a guy.

 

[PlanHex]

Our editor is powerful, allowing our content folks to quickly create quests, conversations, cities, dungeons, landscape, etc... you name it -- we do it faster than anybody else in the industry.

Then why'd it take 4 years to make Fallout 3 when it's basically Oblivion with a paint job?

 

[Szeder]

Well, we mostly made a Fallout game that we ourselves want to play

Now we have seen it all. Why would they honor rpg traditions or take fans into account when they have the necessery skills and resources to make a game for themselves?

 

[pexxx]

Our editor is powerful, allowing our content folks to quickly create quests, conversations, cities, dungeons, landscape, etc... you name it -- we do it faster than anybody else in the industry.

Then why'd it take 4 years to make Fallout 3 when it's basically Oblivion with a paint job?

Obsidian is trying to beat them. They have only 1 year to finish New Vegas.