Bethesda's Pete Hines spills the details on why Fallout 4 is so bright

[Mr Fish]

The good way of "hey, they did that! Let's do that too!" is when it is actually relevant to the game they themselves are making. For example, the first game that introduced iron sights, the first that introduced a sprinting mechanic, the first that introduced a grenade pathing system, these are things other FPS' could adopt as it could enhance their own FPS mechanics. And that's fine. If you're aiming to make a certain type of game then copying what others have done before that is successful to bring out the most out of FPS mechanics is fine. You're learning from others. Adopting what they created.

The problem of "hey, they did that! Let's do that too!" is when game B is doing something that game A has no reason sticking its nose into. Adopting successful ideas to bring the most out of certain genre's is a good thing (which is why I find it baffling that so many other cRPG's ignore the good stuff Fallout 1/2/T has done). Adopting mechanics that don't suit your genre in order to appeal to a broader base is a really bad thing.

 

[ZigzagPX4]

The good way of "hey, they did that! Let's do that too!" is when it is actually relevant to the game they themselves are making. For example, the first game that introduced iron sights, the first that introduced a sprinting mechanic, the first that introduced a grenade pathing system, these are things other FPS' could adopt as it could enhance their own FPS mechanics. And that's fine. If you're aiming to make a certain type of game then copying what others have done before that is successful to bring out the most out of FPS mechanics is fine. You're learning from others. Adopting what they created.

The problem of "hey, they did that! Let's do that too!" is when game B is doing something that game A has no reason sticking its nose into. Adopting successful ideas to bring the most out of certain genre's is a good thing (which is why I find it baffling that so many other cRPG's ignore the good stuff Fallout 1/2/T has done). Adopting mechanics that don't suit your genre in order to appeal to a broader base is a really bad thing.

I think the precise core of the problem with this is that publishers don't understand the fine line between adopting relevant mechanics and adopting mechanics for mass appeal, seeing as they haven't understood anything else about the industry so far.

 

[Mr Fish]

Well, I remember that a couple of years ago "innovation" was a really big thing. Gamers wanted things to be innovative, new, fresh. They wanted to see new concepts and mechanics or whatever. I think it was mostly just a meaningless buzzword but regardless I think that the developers and publishers took note of that. But what happens when there isn't any innovation in your genre? It seems like they started to look elsewhere. It isn't enough to simply create a damn good FPS or whatever, no, they have to create 'the' FPS of the year. And if there isn't anything new, mechanically, to adopt from other studios in the same genre then in order to make your game appear like a fresh breath of air you look elsewhere to other genres that are innovating or simply have become successful doing their own thing.

I mean, when was the last time we really saw a huge leap of a game mechanic in a strict FPS? The diamond in the rough has now been polished as much as it can be. What else is there to do if there isn't really anything innovative to adopt?

And I think that's a big problem when it comes to gaming. They can't be content with simply creating a damn good game that doesn't introduce anything new. Same old mechanics as the previous game but with a better story, better maps, better level design, more interesting combat encounters. That'd be fine to me. Once you reach perfection it is time to stop trying to reinvent the wheel and focus on other elements of your IP that has been lacking.

For example, SPECIAL in Fallout. Let's say that Van Buren had been release and Fallout had continued on its cRPG path. Let's say that they reached the perfect balance of stats when it came to SPECIAL; Why mess with a good thing? Why fuck with something that already works perfectly fine? If SPECIAL is perfect then they could focus their attention on whatever other game mechanics have been unpolished or lacking. And as we see with Bethesda, they didn't care for trying to improve SPECIAL, Skills or Perks with Fallout 4. No. They wanted to "innovate", they wanted it to feel fresh. Change for the sake of change.

They're so scared that if they don't innovate that the gamers will lose interest and move on. They completely forget why their audience came to them in the first place. Gamers demanded innovation without really knowing what kind of innovation they wanted. Publishers and developers knew that they didn't have anything new to unveil so they looked outside their genre and found innovation in other genres and figured "well, they wanted innovation..."

Just a hypothesis.

 

[Shade04rek]

I dont know the lore regarding night-time darkness, well besides bethesdas radiation nighttime glow reference (kid in a fridge), but ever since nv I always try to adjust lighting at night time to realistically dark levels. I have the console version so I have to use my tv to make it happen. This seems to relate because the brightness at daytime lacks any big contrast to night, so my daytime becomes not so bright and instead really grey looking with the sun out. Normally day is really bright and night is also pretty damn bright. only way to do anything is with tv settings, and still contrasts will be limited.

On a side note , from playing on dark tv settings at night Ive also realized that light sources arent really sources, they only make a small radius increase in brightness, but things outside it that should still reflect light doesn't, real easy to notice with the pip light.

 

[Francis H]

How about this - see how many games you can name off the top of your head when you think of "open-world action, optional stealth elements, crafting mechanics, skill tree"?

While I understand your point about there being a stagnation in the industry, this always happens. Before there were WoW clones, Doom clones and Mario clones. And this doesn't happen only in games. How many 80's movies with a badass buffed protagonist can you name? This will just blow over in a couple of years and then we will get tired of whatever the hell the next craze is.