Books

A

Arquebus

First time out of the vault
A lot of people here dont like morrowind , which I can understand, but it had one nice feature: the books. Most had a story in them and some was actually good.

This is a feature I would like in FO3. Not many, books are rear and has been (mis)used for toiletpaper but it migth be fun to pick a number of cats pawn and ... read through the articles :)
 
Morrowind's books were nice because they had stories from the Morrowind setting. Books from the Fallout setting shouldn't be to different from real world books, so why bother? Holodisks about the setting are enough.
 
They wouldnt be like real wolrld books because of the setting. A world in perpetual 1950 mode for a hundred years would whoop up some spetacular stories and a very interesting way of telling them, with fear of the Reds and salutation of the "new" and to us very backwards technology. A few books or holodisks should tell the chinese side of the story too. the pipboy can translate them.

Holodisk should take prevalence over books, to that I agree. Paper is to valuable (?) and silicone is forever.
 
I can't see how novels and stories in the Fallout setting could be that different from those from the real world. Keep in mind that those books would have to be written before the war.
But maybe, a few science books would be a good addition to the setting. What else is different from the real world, besides science?
 
Ah, books! Yes, yes, precious books, nice, nice, good idea.

I like the breathtaking amount of books and texts in Arcanum. It adds so much to the atmosphere of the game and it adds to the gameplay as well. Some quests need books for their completion, in the Tarantian you'll find hints for small quests that are otherwise hard or impossible to find, you find letters, pamphlets, poetry, treatises on this and that, diaries. That's neat. That's one of the things that makes me love Arcanum slightly more than Fallout (slightly, I said).

I think adding a variety of books to the Fallout setting is a nice idea. Saying that people used all of them just to wipe their arses with is kinda lame (although I remember one of the characters in the game saying something like that).
Comics come to mind. Magzines with articles about the red danger and advertisements for new technological marvels à la Mister Handy Man. It could work. It would certainly add some flavour.
 
Oh yeah, the (readable)books are a nice idea! - there are plenty of books in Fallout, but you can not actually read them (not that I would necessarily want to read a "big book of science" during the game). To limit the number of pages (and the charged overtime of the developer/writer) on a monster like that, it could perhaps be partly burnt, but would indeed increase your skill in some area (like books do in both Morrowind and Fallout) -> Real books/magazines from 50's could be used as source for such books (naturally considering copyright etc.) - would be interesting to read!
:D
 
Lumpy said:
I can't see how novels and stories in the Fallout setting could be that different from those from the real world. Keep in mind that those books would have to be written before the war.
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In Fallout, the war didn't start until the 2060's :roll:
 
alec said:
Comics come to mind. Magzines with articles about the red danger and advertisements for new technological marvels à la Mister Handy Man. It could work. It would certainly add some flavour.
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I like these two suggestions. I'd like to see a few books here and there but not too many, especially if they're going to be about the war and events leading up to it - I like that those subjects are kind of vague and left to your imagination. Magazines and a few comics would be great though and add a lot to the atmosphere.
 
Lumpy said:
I can't see how novels and stories in the Fallout setting could be that different from those from the real world. Keep in mind that those books would have to be written before the war.
But maybe, a few science books would be a good addition to the setting. What else is different from the real world, besides science?
Click to expand...
Oh, I don't know? Maybe the fact that Fallout takes place *in an alternate fucking universe*! Ergo, there *is* no "real world".
 
I like the idea but I have to say anyone who's ever played Baldur's Gate II, Neverwinter Nights, etc, can be just a little wary of books. I liked the Books initially but by and large all they did was copy, in some cases word-for-word, from the Forgotten Realms Sourcebooks. And I've read most of those. The stuff in Fallout should be interesting, and have a LOT of variety, because it was so funny in the wrong sort of way to find a zillion copies of the same book in a pre-printing-press society. Books were the ONLY Filler items in those games, I think, which made them pretty lame.

That aside I like the idea; it would be neat to look into a Cat's Paw and see some "Risque" pictures... (topless chicks was the extent of 50s "porn" but it would be a laugh to see hardcore presented in the 50s fashion, because, after all, it's an alternate universe and just looks like the 50s; from what we read in the first two games, real porn existed Then Again to have some hardcore just for one joke would probably garner an "AO" rating so better stick to the topless chicks 8) ).

Also with the books you benefit from, you could have each one be unique, because it's pretty silly to have them disappear after being "used" and then you have to find another copy of the same manual to read the same thing again and you learn more... But rather you should find several different manuals for more skills; I can see books like Grey's Anatomy building Doctor skills, and books about casino games helping the Gambling skill, and military gunner's manuals to help with Big Guns or such. It wouldn't be too hard to make almost every book unique, especially if the "Consumable" manuals don't need filler text beyond a back-cover description.

For Example:

You See:
Rockwell BigBazooka Manual

This is the Government user's manual for a Rockwell BigBazooka Rocket Laungher. It contains the directions for use as well as safety tips (2b: Never look down the launch tube when a rocket has failed to fire!) and directions for maintenance and care of the laucnher and ammunition.

You See:
U.S. Army Survival Manual

This well-worn volume contains information about surviving in every concievable climate and in all conditions. It also details first aid, field-expeint weapons, psychological survival, trapping, tracking, hunting game animals, and edible plants. You doubt the info on the latter two takes into account huge, hostile radiation mutant varieties, though.

You See:
The Card Shark's Guide to POKER!

A funny-smelling green book with a coffee ring on the cover, this book details all sorts of strategies for a variety of poker games. It includes full-color photographs and a section on strip poker. Sure to turn a loser into a card shark ready to take the house for everything they've got! Or at least make him think so.
 
Ratty said:
Lumpy said:
I can't see how novels and stories in the Fallout setting could be that different from those from the real world. Keep in mind that those books would have to be written before the war.
But maybe, a few science books would be a good addition to the setting. What else is different from the real world, besides science?
Click to expand...
Oh, I don't know? Maybe the fact that Fallout takes place *in an alternate fucking universe*! Ergo, there *is* no "real world".
Click to expand...
So which world am I living in then?
Alternate universe, yes, but as different from our world like a fantasy universe is. Not different enough that it would be noticed in a novel.
On the other hand, magazines and such would be a great addition.
 
Lumpy said:
Alternate universe, yes, but as different from our world like a fantasy universe is. Not different enough that it would be noticed in a novel.
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As Silencer pointed out the war happens in the 2060's, as Ratty pointed out it's an alternate universe one that split from ours around the 1950's. Over 100 years for different things to happen and different books to be written. Even the technology is different so technical books would be different.

For example if there was no Vietnam then no Heart of Darkness, since there's no microchip there's no Microsoft. So perhaps you'd find a Valvesoft user manual.

Lord 342 said:
Also with the books you benefit from, you could have each one be unique, because it's pretty silly to have them disappear after being "used" and then you have to find another copy of the same manual to read the same thing again and you learn more...
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It is a little bit silly for them to disappear, and what are the odds you find the same mag/book again and again. :)

It would be better if it's based on your intelligence and skills, perhaps like in VTMB when you've read a book and find another copy you'd get a message that you can't learn anything else from this. Or perhaps you'd read it once and that would advance your skills 25 points (whatever) but before you can get anything more from it you'll have to advance your learning above a certain level. Then you could get another 25 points on re-reading it. That way if you sell or ditch the book and then find another copy later in the game it would make more sense that you learn more from the same book/issue. But if you've found two copies of the same book you'd get nothing for reading them one after the other.
 
Of course novels are going to be different, novelists are just as much affected by the world around them as anyone else. If the events of their universe are different then the novels they write will be different. Not to mention that authors who might be here in this reality might not exist or at least write in Fallout's.
 
requiem_for_a_starfury said:
Not to mention that authors who might be here in this reality might not exist or at least write in Fallout's.
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Phew... that's a relief. No more Dan Brown. :P
 
alec said:
requiem_for_a_starfury said:
Not to mention that authors who might be here in this reality might not exist or at least write in Fallout's.
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Phew... that's a relief. No more Dan Brown. :P
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Hooray! But he may be real as he is now being sued for plagiarism or some shit.
 
This topic reminds me of a book I read by Heinlein: Farnham's Freehold.

The protagonist ends up running a survivalist outpost/trade centre, and he buys virtually every book that people can bring him. Both to save them for the future and to read them himself.

I would hope such sentiments would exist among SOME people in the FO universe.
 
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