Fallout 3 at E3 - Gaming Trend

[Starwars]

The only one I don't have a problem is the sheriff comment. While it's cliché to have that "don't come into MY town and start any bullshit" approach for a sheriff, I don't mind it much for some reason. The profanity doesn't bother me either in that particular case.

The others are just... Especially the BoS comments and "Let us in motherfuckers" just feel so forced somehow, urk.

Someone calling you "stupid git" behind your back wouldn't be so bad, but it's Mr Handy... Starting to get concerned about how many robots there will be in the game, and how intelligent they will be. Intelligent enough to insult you it seems, eh. Screw that.

EDIT: The guy who was saw the demo for GamingTrend opened a Q&A thread on the Bethsoft forums. Head over there if you wanna ask questions. Here is a quote:

I sincerely doubt you'll see a Fatman unless you really go out of your way to get it. Bethesda knows better than to make these common. As for the Behemoth, given the music change I suspect that this was a 'boss' character and likely unique.

Does this mean we will get bosses and boss music...?

 

[Jiggly McNerdington]

I sincerely doubt you'll see a Fatman unless you really go out of your way to get it. Bethesda knows better than to make these common. As for the Behemoth, given the music change I suspect that this was a 'boss' character and likely unique.

Does this mean we will get bosses and boss music...?

I'm quoting this to point out silliness. It says that the "nukulur catapult" that you're bemoaning in your signature will be rare to the point of likely not finding it unless you're hunting for it/know where to go, which I would think you'd take as a good thing, you instead are upset that it has a big monster fight with a higher budget on music to make it more dramatic.

 

[xdarkyrex]

I love this.

I see nothing wrong in this article, as long as it's all left in context.

 

[Starwars]

The fact that the Fatman is rare doesn't save it from being a fucking stupid addition in my book. I certainly hadn't expected that you'd find one in every streetcorner.
And fact remains that he is still only guessing about it just like the rest of us, there is no confirmation whatsoever as to how rare the Fatman will be in his quote.

And no sorry, I don't particularly fancy having boss music in games. To often does it feel tacked on as, yes, an artificial way to increase the drama.
Personal opinion I guess, and I'm sure you'll think I'm a grumpy old man, but I don't want a game tries to raise my adrenaline levels through putting on more hectic music whenever I encounter a "boss". Maybe there will be a standard battle theme as well, wouldn't surprise me.

 

[aries369]

I don't think Bethesda take the Fallout franchise seriously. And by that I don't mean that they don't work hard and is making the best game they can. I know they are doing their best.

But let's examine Fallout's history and canon a bit: The premise for Fallout is a 1950's world spun 150-200 years ahead in time. It is a world fixated in stay at home moms, working dad's, smoking their pipes, a world in whicc it's always sunny (somewhat), and the friendly neighbour is´moving his lawn, and your and kids get together with the neighbours in the suburbs for barbecue party every sunday. This world then is spun forward in time - 150-200 years (or so).


It is therefore a world in which the word suggesting that you should go have intercourse with your female protagonist (the mf word) would never ever be used. And as such the word 'mother-fuckers' written on the walls of the Vaults breaks what Brother None defines as 'verismilitude'. Nobody from clean cut respectable american families would ever use that word in the 1950's, let alone in a future retro-setting, based on the 1950's Americana.

I guess Todd H. thought it would have been amusing for the player (of Fallout 3) to imagine people that have been pounding on the Vaults' doors to get in. But the thing is: I don't really think this would have happened. If we argue that Fallout is based on the retro-future americana of the 1950's America, then we need to consider that people back mainly just did what they were told. (sort of). If they were told to go to a cerian vault, then would do it. Not at least because of the many propganda films detailing what people should do in case of nuclear fallout.

Some may not have made it, but then again, I don't think they would have pounded on the doors to the Vaults. Even if they did, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have used the word that Todd apparently thought they used.

 

[xdarkyrex]

And no sorry, I don't particularly fancy having boss music in games. To often does it feel tacked on as, yes, an artificial way to increase the drama.
Personal opinion I guess, and I'm sure you'll think I'm a grumpy old man, but I don't want a game tries to raise my adrenaline levels through putting on more hectic music whenever I encounter a "boss". Maybe there will be a standard battle theme as well, wouldn't surprise me.

What's wrong with thematic musical elements?
That's odd, it works perfect in movies. A game is a very complex form of art, and it requires, for many people, the stimulation of both sounds and visuals.

I personally think a game with poor sound kills me.
Boss music doesn't mean it has to be in the same vein as Final Fantasy. Music can bridge the gap between emotional connection and strategic connection with a game, and is a brilliant tool to use. Are you honestly saying you've never seen a movie where the soundtrack mattered to you?

 

[GamingTrend]

Umm... because it's in first person 3D, a chair is always "there", "alive" and sort of in your face even when you feel like you have more important things to think about than chairs?

My point is that the grain of the leather is there, the thing squeaks when you spin it, etc. It is far more 'alive' than the 6 pixel chair in the original titles. Just attention to detail, that's all.

Was that sarcastic?

Nope, it's just an example. You'd have to hear it to 'get it'.

One for the Codex.

Taken in context perhaps - "Fighting in real time made me wince in fear that Fallout 3 could easily be Oblivion with guns. Todd allayed this fear by reminding us that our stats govern our weapon effectiveness, promising that he’d give us a better look at the combat system in action later on. "

... and as detail is added to the game, they will gradually slow down.

...and they'll get better at working their own engine to compensate. Why not reserve this sort of thing until you actually see the final product. I was talking about what we see now.

... Oblivion, where they allegedly had true 24/7 schedules.

Correct - his point was that they recognized the shortcoming and fixed it.

That's not how weapons work, but anyway.

The condition of the weapon affects your ability to hit with it. Visually representing this isn't important to you?

"When I was a kid we were lucky if they went down with less than 12!"

As I said on the official forums, I'm sure that this was primarily used to show the nuke effect and resultant particle effects. It is a little early to be crying about balance, yea?

 

[GamingTrend]

Even the loading screens are immersive!

So, have they varied at all in any of the playthroughs? Like, just a tiny bit? And what kind of sheriff drops f bombs?

The point is that there is something more to do than watch a Fallout logo spin while things load.

 

[GamingTrend]

Again, what the hell does Radiant AI has to do with dialog trees?
I assume they'll claim dialog trees is their invention too, like they did with other features Fallout already had.

Didn't see or say anything of the sort. How is anyone a liar (much less a shameless one) if this was never said? The point was that there would be plenty of dialog options and a properly built AI, not that the two were somehow married.

TEH FAT MANZ IS TEH AMEZING WEpON!!11
Tell us, Bethesda lovers, tell us how it is.

Pathetic. Fuckin' pathetic.

Screaming about balance a year before a game ships is a little bit of lunacy, yes?

 

[GamingTrend]

Everything appears tracked, just like previous titles, including corpses eaten, locks picked, Mysterious Stranger visits, and much more. Again, a great deal of detail is being paid to making this a faithful Fallout title.

I don't remember these things being tracked in FO1/2.[/quote] That would be because they are new. The usual suspects were being tracked too.

Tabloids strike back.

Eh? Not sure what you are saying here...

 

[GamingTrend]

I think he was talking about the dialog of NPC characters, you know, so there is no more "I saw a mudcrab the other day" "Horrible creatures". They mean, IMO, that the AI characters would have dialog trees when they are talking to each other, that way the Radiant AI has everything to do with the dialog trees.

Exactly!

 

[GamingTrend]

Walking past a two headed Brahaman cow...

Brahmin? Brahma? Brahaman..? Ah, Brahaman!

Spin off, 100%.

My bad. Corrected the spelling. Not sure what you mean by Spin, off, 100% though. *shrug*

 

[Tora]

... Oblivion, where they allegedly had true 24/7 schedules.

Correct - his point was that they recognized the shortcoming and fixed it.

Finally admitting to such a short coming NOW about a previously released game released a good while ago and was hyped a lot doesn't exactly give off an aura of honesty.

That's not how weapons work, but anyway.

The condition of the weapon affects your ability to hit with it. Visually representing this isn't important to you?

I think he was referring more of the "let's slap two broken guns together to make an excellent working gun with increased accuracy" part.

 

[GamingTrend]

I think that they placed the Fat Man with a lot of ammo for the demo only... at least I hope so. I know I'm probably be shooted for saying this but, I like the game so far, except for that stupid Nuclear Catapult.

Agreed. A demo is just that, a demo. Most likely on God-mode and stacked with tons of weapons to show off.

Exactly. Would you risk getting murdered or running out of ammo in your own demo? Wouldn't you give yourself uberweapons to show off new effects?

 

[GamingTrend]

Agreed. They got to put their dream play toy in the game and now it can't kill a mutant in one shot?
It's a freakin nuclear device, it should kill the mutant, the people around, the vault-dweller MKII, the person playing the game and radiate his neighbors. Why does the Fat Man sound EVEN more pathetic now

Let me club this horse some more. Balance a year out is nothing to complain about.

 

[GamingTrend]

Aside from the writing of various story-arcs, there are various examples of the general tone of writing in Bethesda's Fallout 3. A few examples, some old and some new, from this preview:

As you pass by, Mr Hand comments how the blue jumpsuit compliments your eyes, but then mumbles under his breath that you are a “Stupid Git”.

Much to the surprise of everyone guarding it, we deactivated the vault door via a giant mechanical ‘key’ of sorts. It unlocks and grabs the door, rolling it out of the way to clear your path. Stepping over a corpse clutching a sign that reads “Let us in Motherfuckers!”, you enter the bright wasteland of Fallout.

Given that this was the last day of E3, Todd was quite tired of playing the nice guy and remarked to the sheriff “Nice hat Calamity Jane”. Our sheriff turned surly rather quickly and warned “This is my town – you so much as breathe wrong and I’m gonna fucking end you.”

It was here that we met up with the Brotherhood of Steel. One yelled “That’s how we do it in Alliance Pride, you fuckin’ freaks!” as he gunned down mutants across the street from him. Moving about in power armor, the Brotherhood of Steel advises that you can stick with them as long as you keep your head down and out of trouble. We “released five more mutants from their torment”, as a Brotherhood Initiate put it, and moved into a bombed out school called Early Dawn Elementary.

That really sounds FOBOSish to me, I hope that's just the writing economy needed for a demo, and not a bad sign...

Hard to judge a massive game by only 50 minutes of play. I suspect that a great deal of tuning and re-recording will go into the game prior to launch.

 

[Seraphim Pwns U]

Hard to judge a massive game by only 50 minutes of play. I suspect that a great deal of tuning and re-recording will go into the game prior to launch.

Hopefully, not to the effect of mashing up Radiant-AI again, cutting all wisps of TB, and the utter removal of Megaton, in the process, right?

 

[Starwars]

What's wrong with thematic musical elements?
That's odd, it works perfect in movies. A game is a very complex form of art, and it requires, for many people, the stimulation of both sounds and visuals.

I personally think a game with poor sound kills me.
Boss music doesn't mean it has to be in the same vein as Final Fantasy. Music can bridge the gap between emotional connection and strategic connection with a game, and is a brilliant tool to use. Are you honestly saying you've never seen a movie where the soundtrack mattered to you?

Because games are not movies? Games do not need to borrow everything from movies. Otherwise we will end up with a bunch of "cinematic" games like Mass Effect, which looks basically like a movie.

And no, I'm actually a huge movie (and game for that matter) soundtrack buff. And you're completely right in that a game with poor sound can ruin an experience. But there are plenty of games that show that you don't need "the movie approach" to have an effective soundtrack, and the original Fallouts are two such games.

The soundtrack can have a huge impact on the pace of a game, though I guess it shouldn't be surprising to me that they wanna go for a more adrenalinepumping approach with their "twitchification" of Fallout.

Actually, to be honest I'm more afraid of the fact that we might get the "epic orchestra" treatment when it comes to the soundtrack (outside of the PIPboy radio) than if there will be boss music.

 

[Tora]

Let me club this horse some more. Balance a year out is nothing to complain about.

True, but a nuke launching device seems a bit unrealistic balance-wise regardless unless it pretty much wipes out an entire block... granted that may yet happen, but I do not have high hopes for such a thing. I may yet be proven wrong, but so far......

I mean look at the undetonated nuclear bomb that caused a giant crater large enough for a town to be built in. An _undetonated bomb_ just by falling or whatever could cause such a big damage while a mini-nuke that detonated won't kill you?

 

[GamingTrend]

It is therefore a world in which the word suggesting that you should go have intercourse with your female protagonist (the mf word) would never ever be used. And as such the word 'mother-fuckers' written on the walls of the Vaults breaks what Brother None defines as 'verismilitude'. Nobody from clean cut respectable american families would ever use that word in the 1950's, let alone in a future retro-setting, based on the 1950's Americana.

Look at our society now. We haven't been nuked into a horrible existence and yet our language is FAR worse than we hear in Fallout 3. You live a hard life of worrying about giant ants / radscorps / mutants / radiation / etc and see how cynical and rude you become. We don't know how long we've been in the vault, but I suspect we are a long way from 1950.

I guess Todd H. thought it would have been amusing for the player (of Fallout 3) to imagine people that have been pounding on the Vaults' doors to get in.

Nuclear fire raining down tends to change things a bit. One thing that this period was good at was 'good of all' instead of 'me, me, me!' so they'd seal people outside if it saved their little utopia.