CanardPC Fallout 3 magazine Preview

Brother None

Brother None

This ghoul has seen it all
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French magazine CanardPC number 170 has an eight pages Fallout 3 preview and contains a a few new tidbits of information:
  • Teen age gives you access to a few quests which will have an impact on how you are perceived within the Vault
  • While travelling across the Wasteland, you can come across a few caravans, each heading to precise locations.
  • There are three difficulty levels, as well as an "autolevelling difficulty" mode.
  • A few new weapons : Cryolator allows you to freeze ennemies while you can hypnotize them with your Mesmetron. [these weapons were also mentioned in the NMA preview, though their functions unknown]
  • Also a new perk, Daddy's Little Girl, which gives a Science bonus to female characters.
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Additionally, the writer of the preview, O. Boulon, made some comments here. Amongst the comments is, by MrBumble's reading:<blockquote>It basically means that he's sorry he has forgotten to put it in the article but he really HATED the soundtrack because it is entirely orchestral, Call of duty style, very far from Mark Morgan's ambiant works. He advises players to replace it with Fallout 1 and Fallout 2's soundtrack as soon as they can.</blockquote>Spotted on NukaCola
 
It basically means that he's sorry he has forgotten to put it in the article but he really HATED the soundtrack because it is entirely orchestral, Call of duty style, very far from Mark Morgan's ambiant works. He advises players to replace it with Fallout 1 and Fallout 2's soundtrack as soon as they can. I don't know if you can lplace that in a potential newspost though...
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Yeah, I think most people can agree with this guy. I just knew they were going to screw the music up.

Just one of many things I guess, but an important one nonetheless.
 
This is really bad because Mark Morgan's music was at least 45% of Fallout's atmosphere...How could they miss that ?!
 
Brother None said:
There are three difficulty levels, as well as an "autolevelling difficulty" mode.
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Reminds me of Realms of Arkania.

With the note that this is the RoA skill list: unarmed, edged weapons, pointed weapons, swords, axes, pole arms, two-handed weapons, missile weapons, throwing weapons, acrobatics, climb, physical control, ride, stealth, swim, self control, dance, hide, carouse, danger sense, perception, convert, seduce, haggle, streetwise, lie, human nature, evaluate, track, bind, orientation, herb lore, animal lore, survival, alchemy, ancient tongues, geography, history, ritual, tactics, read/write, arcane lore, tongues, train animals, drive, cheat, treat disease, instrument, locks, pickpocket.

Yeah, no shit the game has a "please level up for me" option

SPECIAL is not that complex.

Brother None said:
A few new weapons : Cryolator allows you to freeze ennemies while you can hypnotize them with your Mesmetron. [these weapons were also mentioned in the NMA preview, though their functions unknown
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I love these. I hope the Mesmetron has some non-combat applications as well. They're very pulp 50's.
 
Fallout's music was one of the most memorable things about the game for me. Leave it to Beth to fuck that up too, eh?

I think we've all suspected this was coming, though, ever since they showed that trailer with the BoS accompanied by a blaring, pompous fanfare. Chivalrous Knights of the Wasteland, indeed.
 
Just one quick question about that PC mag. Canard PC, doesnt that mean Duck? Isn't that an odd name for a PC gaming magazine? Am I missing something?
 
stingray420 said:
Just one quick question about that PC mag. Canard PC, doesnt that mean Duck? Isn't that an odd name for a PC gaming magazine? Am I missing something?
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It's a satirical magazine.
 
Yes, true, but a "canard" is also a sort of common casual way to call a newspaper/magazine in french. I know it's a bit weird but it's true.

EDIT : and yeah, magazines which deliberately call themselves "canard" are usually satirical, such as the well known "Canard enchainé".
 
Brother None said:
A few new weapons : Cryolator allows you to freeze ennemies while you can hypnotize them with your Mesmetron.
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Sounds like some Bioshock plasmids or tonics or whatever they're called. But okay, I guess.

BIG thumbs down for botching the music, though. Orchestral music clashes with the atmosphere created in the originals with the use of ambient. Orchestral is loud and grandiose and intricate. Ambient is usually more quiet and tranquil, creating an aura of absence and emptyness which blends well with the whole post-apocalyptic wasteland thing.
 
I dunno, as 50s pulpy they may be, those weapons sound like they push it way to far for my taste. Furthermore, and this might be overanalyzing, it feels like yet another try to fit the magic into Fallout (like the healing ghouls). Yep, freeze spell as well as the classic "friend" spell.
Maybe it's old fashioned, but I only want weapons that straight up kill the enemy. :P

Given that we get the quests and that they seem to matter in some ways, I suspect it will not be skipable. I want quests to affect the way you're viewed and all, but I really want the tutorial to be seperate (and skipable) from the rest of the game

Call of duty style music? Ouch, that's a *major* hit to the atmosphere if you ask me. I wasn't expecting any Morgan style music, but still... *sigh*
 
How utterly predictable.

The guns sound interesting. Very pulp-50's indeed, but I fear that coupled with Radiant AI, we'll be seeing lots of 'epic lulz' clips on YouTube.
 
I can't believe they confirmed their addition of the Duke3d freezethrower to the game.

It may be 50's scifi inspired, but it still screams "blizzard spell!" to me, with a hearty helping of "wow another lame FPS with impractical weapons"

Whats next? the gravity gun or the friggin portal gun?

As long as they're jamming in ripped off stuff from other FPS games, I want laser tripmines, the devestator and the ability to shake cash at dancing hookers to see their tits.

:(
 
Even without these weapons, Radiant AI + guns = :?
Can't even imagine what would happen if you gave a NPC the Fatman...I also predict mayhem with Dogmeat while in towns. Jeez. Epic lulz are indeed to be expected.
 
I would bloody well hope so, Radiant AI was an embarrassment.

But they're pretty quiet about AI. There sure wasn't any to see in Fallout 3 either. Considering RAI's failure, I would've liked more to see 'em dump RAI wholesale and go with a new AI.

Still, much like the need better character artist, they need better AI programmers. That hasn't changed between Oblivion and Fallout 3, I'd guess.
 
I, however, liked the idea of NPC schedules and the fact that you could actually see them doing stuff like going from their home to the local tavern for some chatting about mudcrabs and then going back to their place. It seemed better than having them wandering the streets aimlessly for hours like in most rpgs. Other than that, Radiant AI pretty much sucked, it's true.
 
The thing is that there are plenty of games that have managed to sell the idea of NPCs doing activities without the whole random Radiant bit to it. I like a bit of life in games, but Radiant AI was really just a source of random stupid amusement, and not something that brought the game to life at all.
The Witcher for example does much better in this area and didn't use any fancy or innovative AI stuff as far as I know.

Radiant AI was sort of hailed as something that would really bring the game to life and be a complex thing. But they forgot about making the AI actually appear smart. So in a game that was supposed to feel all alive, you got NPCs standing around looking at walls and having stupid and disjointed conversations with each other.

It needs to be crafted with the base goal that NPCs appear to be intelligent, and have a "goal" in their life. I'd much rather have a simpler system if it makes the NPCs appear more intelligent, if less random. Radiant AI may be all complex behind the scenes, I don't really know. But the presentation of it really sucked. Unfortunately I think it will still such rather a lot in Fallout 3, even though it might be an improvement over Oblivion.
 
Brother None said:
I love these. I hope the Mesmetron has some non-combat applications as well. They're very pulp 50's.
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Sorry for my dissenting opinion but these weapons sound like total fucking bullshit.

Fallout's "pulp 50's" atmosphere was nowhere close to this contrived. The energy weapons in fallout looked like flash gordon weapons but the resemblance stopped there.

I mean, they were still somewhat realistic in a sort of Si-Fi way. If they had names like the "Atomic Raygun" or "Nuclear Plasma Cannon" beth's new weapons would fit right in. But they didn't, they had names like the "YMK2B Pulse Rifle" and "Winchester P34 Plasma Rifle". And they didn't do dumb shit like freeze or hypnotize people

whirlingdervish said:
As long as they're jamming in ripped off stuff from other FPS games, I want laser tripmines, the devestator and the ability to shake cash at dancing hookers to see their tits.
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Don't forget the shrink ray. No self respecting DN3d fan could forget the shrink ray.
 
Dweller, defend this mutant, over ! Dweller, RPG on rooftop, over. That's a kill. Mission accomplished. Dweller, get to the Vault, double-time, over.
 
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