IgnatzKrebs
First time out of the vault
I've been playing a lot of different games lately, including the Fallout series, and i have come to one horrible conclusion:
Developers/publishers don't really care about being true to the spirit of a series (Fallout included). They may have at some point in the past, when there wasn't scads of money in the computer entertainment industry (or huge behemoth juggernaut publishers and developing houses). But they don't now and likely never will.
With that in mind, the best option for people who really give a damn about making a great game of the RPG genre, the only way to ensure that the TLC such an undertaking deserves is given, is to DO IT OURSELVES. Maybe not the fundamental underpinnings of the game (eg the Xngine utilized by Elder Scrolls 2 Daggerfall and SkyNET/Future Shock) - there are many such engines to be found and used (or if you're a hard-ass code geek, which I am not, then fine, go ahead and build the engine yourself). But most certainly the writing of the plot, the character dialogue, the desired "flavor" (eg the 50's kitsch-tastic present in FO), the setting (PA New York could be fun, but then so could PA Rio di Janiero. Use your imagination), then you get down to implementing the system through which your character or character advances (ie the SPECIAL system and the skills that accompany it in the FO series which determine combat, social interaction and other stuff like fiddling with electronics, repairing jammed weapons, scrounging for food and drink in the wilds (maybe), and (my favorite) appropriating things that do not belong to you without the owner's knowledge, and getting various weapons and items of various degrees of effectiveness/size/type/whatever implemented, placed and working. Then you would deal with the cosmetic stuff, which really should already be laid out in the story which makes up the plot. Of course, I'm probably spouting what a lot of people know and believe, but with that in mind WHY ARE SO MANY OF YOU PUTTING YOUR HOPES IN A SERIES THAT HAS SEEN A STEADY DECLINATION OF ITS TRUTH TO ITSELF?! Is there a chance that Fallout 3 will be good, and will do the Fallout universe justice? Possibly. But I'm not a gambling person, and so I say TO HELL WITH THE BIG NAMES. With them your control only extends as far as being on the dev team/storyboard team, which is a really far shot, and being an Alpha/Beta tester, of which you could be one of a lucky (?) few. As of FoBoS Fallout is not what it once was, or what we feel it is supposed to be. The name of Fallout may be near and dear to our hearts. But many of us have relatives who we love and cherish, and who have died and are no more except in our hearts. I fear that by now Fallout is the same.
With that grim concept fresh in mind, I personally have to salute the "Do-It-Yourself" crews and cast my lot in with them. Bethesda hangs the idea of Fallout 3 over our heads like the man teasing the dog, saying "Maybe I have a dog treat in my hand, and maybe i'll give it to you. Nyah nyah, silly dog." I say we (being the dog) take a collective shit on Bethesda's (and just about every other major publisher/developer) shoes and go rustle up some good stuff elsewhere on our own terms.
Developers/publishers don't really care about being true to the spirit of a series (Fallout included). They may have at some point in the past, when there wasn't scads of money in the computer entertainment industry (or huge behemoth juggernaut publishers and developing houses). But they don't now and likely never will.
With that in mind, the best option for people who really give a damn about making a great game of the RPG genre, the only way to ensure that the TLC such an undertaking deserves is given, is to DO IT OURSELVES. Maybe not the fundamental underpinnings of the game (eg the Xngine utilized by Elder Scrolls 2 Daggerfall and SkyNET/Future Shock) - there are many such engines to be found and used (or if you're a hard-ass code geek, which I am not, then fine, go ahead and build the engine yourself). But most certainly the writing of the plot, the character dialogue, the desired "flavor" (eg the 50's kitsch-tastic present in FO), the setting (PA New York could be fun, but then so could PA Rio di Janiero. Use your imagination), then you get down to implementing the system through which your character or character advances (ie the SPECIAL system and the skills that accompany it in the FO series which determine combat, social interaction and other stuff like fiddling with electronics, repairing jammed weapons, scrounging for food and drink in the wilds (maybe), and (my favorite) appropriating things that do not belong to you without the owner's knowledge, and getting various weapons and items of various degrees of effectiveness/size/type/whatever implemented, placed and working. Then you would deal with the cosmetic stuff, which really should already be laid out in the story which makes up the plot. Of course, I'm probably spouting what a lot of people know and believe, but with that in mind WHY ARE SO MANY OF YOU PUTTING YOUR HOPES IN A SERIES THAT HAS SEEN A STEADY DECLINATION OF ITS TRUTH TO ITSELF?! Is there a chance that Fallout 3 will be good, and will do the Fallout universe justice? Possibly. But I'm not a gambling person, and so I say TO HELL WITH THE BIG NAMES. With them your control only extends as far as being on the dev team/storyboard team, which is a really far shot, and being an Alpha/Beta tester, of which you could be one of a lucky (?) few. As of FoBoS Fallout is not what it once was, or what we feel it is supposed to be. The name of Fallout may be near and dear to our hearts. But many of us have relatives who we love and cherish, and who have died and are no more except in our hearts. I fear that by now Fallout is the same.
With that grim concept fresh in mind, I personally have to salute the "Do-It-Yourself" crews and cast my lot in with them. Bethesda hangs the idea of Fallout 3 over our heads like the man teasing the dog, saying "Maybe I have a dog treat in my hand, and maybe i'll give it to you. Nyah nyah, silly dog." I say we (being the dog) take a collective shit on Bethesda's (and just about every other major publisher/developer) shoes and go rustle up some good stuff elsewhere on our own terms.
OS, and he and Chucky are representative of the clueless ego masses developing currently in the industry, who really don't have much of a clue but have their ego pet enough so that they believe they aren't doing any wrong. That kind of arrogance is why the CRPG genre is in shitsville right now with one title that is in no way a CRPG (TES - it's action/adventure); another title that is just so shitty, especially in the combat that you spent most of your time in, only the Star Wars setting could save it from being truly crap (or even more cliché crap, depending on how well you think they did in capturing every whining, sniveling Jedi moment), KOTOR; of course mentioning KOTOR means mentioning whatever uninspired new RTS BioWare wants to skullfuck into a stat system and try to call it a CRPG; then a passable action/adventure game by the name of Gothic. There really isn't much except from the shareware/indie developers..
I would really like to apologize for my whole semi-coherent rant, and the decidedly hostile reply to Rosh's initial response, though I am glad that it seems to have started an interesting discussion.