I also got a couple of answers for the questions beforehand so I'll share them here as well.
1. Will it be possible to finish the game using no weapons but only hand to hand combat? And when you level that skill up, do you just do more damage with the attacks you already have or do you learn different and more moves?
No. So you really think you will be able to kill something like the supermutant behemoth with only your fists? There is a reason we put the Fatman in the game.
2. Will the PC be able to crouch, kneel, lie down, and climb? And what are the benefits to that overall and in a combat situation?
No, no, no, and no. Well you can kinda crouch but all it means is that you are sneaking. The second question doesn't really matter since none of those are in the game anyway, but...um I guess they would make it less likely that you will get hit.
3.How will weapon reloading be accomplished during combat?
You wasted a question to ask this? Wow you guys must be all Xboys or something huh? This question is so unimportant that I'm not even going to bother answering it.
6. What can you tell us about the way Armor works, will it come as a full set or as parts, and how will it influence perception? Will there be a special HUD when wearing it?
I don't know, who gives a shit? If you are really going to base your decision of buying the game on whether the armour will come as a set or in parts then all I have to say is god help you. As for your other questions 1) we are in the tweaking stage so I can't say which armours may or may not influence your perception, 2) no.
7. Can you tell us more about the weapons that are going to be in the game and what they do?
Fatman, Cryolator, Mesmetron, Rock-It-Launcher, Flaming Sword, BB Gun, AK-47. Try reading some previews before you waste questions like this k?
8. Are children and otherwise non essential or non quest related NPC’s vulnerable or invulnerable to accidental or purposeful (deadly) harm? And how about quest essential people?
If they are non essential then you can kill them and if they are essential then they fall unconscious for a couple of seconds and then get up again, just like in Oblivion. Anyway with half a clue could tell you that.
9. Are there any non-hostile supermutants, ghouls, robots and the likes with which you can interact like a “normal” NPC? Can we use them as Companion NPC’s?
No. "When dealing with supermutants dialogue isn't really an option".
Although NMA's preview mentioned that you were able to interact with the Mr Handy robot. How did this work Brother None, was it done in a dialogue screen like the NPC's one or was it something different entirely?
10. What can you tell us about companion NPC’s? About their limits, their abilities, how everything works exactly.
You give them a follow package and they follow you and shoot at shit that shoots at you. You can also tell them to wait here or follow you if you have told them to wait.
12. How advanced will the AI of NPC’s be this time around? Are they really going to have a life? Speaking to other NPC’s in a logical manner, traveling and trading with faraway places, really appear to be real people? Thinking for themselves, possibly deceiving the player? Submitting to the player rather than him when they know they’re no match for him?
Individual NPCs are more detailed, the dialogue is more NPC specific so they look like they know each other (even though they don't) and so you don't get endless conversations about mudcrabs, the Fighters Guild, and how High Elves train goblins. There is also a new sanbox package that will probably mean some sort of random behaviour or something. Other than that: PR.
13. How much can you tell us about the stats, skills, traits and perks featured in the game? And what skills/perks were carried over from previous Fallout games? And why choose the ones you did carry over and why did you not choose the once that were dropped?
We aren't ready to talk about this yet although we've put a lot of effort into making it super awesome.
15. What can you tell us about the effort you’ve put into balancing SPECIAL?
We put a lot of effort into it. Did you really think that you would get any other than this?
16. One of the previews mentioned perception effects when you see enemies on your radar. What can you tell us about said radar? Should we think of something along the lines of Counter strike, or a quest compass like Oblivion had? And if the latter, are we able to toggle it?
It's going to be like Oblivion with different graphics. Making it toggleable would mean that we need to go back to writing directions and since our designers are lazy shits we prefer to just chuck a quest target onto it and force modders to do all the work if they do want written directions and no quest compass. So no, it won't be toggleable.
17. What will the Interaction between two agresive NPC's or creatures. in regards to each other. A possible scenario where a couple of ghouls and some mutants are at a close distance. Do they fight amongs each other. Do they ignore you. Do they both attack you? Just wanted to get it out of the way. Will they follow you until you reach the next town?
It's just like Oblivion. Some of the time they will fight you and some of the time they will fight with the other creature. Whichever one they have the lower faction reputation with. They'll follow you along for as long as they can see you and then some, so if you are slow then they will follow you along till the end of time, if you are fast you can lose them. Just like in Oblivion. I mean jeez guys, it's the same engine, the same design philosophy, the same team, probably a modified version of the construction set, do you really think that the gameplay is going to be so totally different from Oblivion that you need to ask things like this?
18. How much of a role does morale or fear play for an enemy? And how much difference is there in intelligence and combat tactics found in different enemies?
If we set their confidence level to 100 they will never run, if we set it to 0 they will always run. If we set it anywhere in between then it checks against a whole bunch of stuff and they might run. Each creature has a different combat style.
Again, just like in Oblivion.
19. Will crimes committed in one place, automatically be known everywhere and by everyone? Or is this limited?
Limited since we copped a lot of complaints about this for Oblivion. This question has already been answered in an interview by the way.
20. How advanced will the AI of NPC’s be this time around? Submitting rather then fighting the player when they know they’re no match for him? Making use of environment in combat? Using shops/dropped items to equip themselves properly for tasks?
See the response to the AI question above that started with the exact same words.
1. How much diversity will there be in the factions (and structures of factions) found in Fallout 3? And what can you tell us about the factions that will be featured?
Not many. Not ready to talk about it.
2. Which of the following, if any, will be featured in Fallout3; Romance, Sex, Homosexuality, Nudity, Prostitution, Slavery, Cannibalism, Children, Child killings, drugs, addictions? And of the things that won’t be featured, can you explain why they won’t be included in the game?
I'm not going to address any of those specifically but I will give you some spiel about how we are putting in what makes sense and what is in the spirit of Fallout.
3. Could you outline your thoughts on the matter of ensuring that choices and consequences provided by the various quests within your game are crafted so as to be more non-linear than simply the superficial choice between "good, bad and neutral"/"affirmative, negative and nothing?" Also, will there be other aspects to choices in Fallout 3? Political? Philosophical? Exactly how far will you go with the player's moral freedom, the "gray" solutions?
Another PR spiel about something that Bethesda has shown no capacity for doing.
4. Can the player fail to succeed in a mission without dying and thus resulting in a “game over”? For instance if the player becomes a mutant or is captured?
Bhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. No. What would our Xboy fanboys say if we did that?
5. Will there be a time limit for certain quests?
Another question so pointless I'm not going to bother answeing.
7. Is it possible to provide us with some examples for what a dialogue tree might look like? And what the actual dialogue looks like in game?
Don't you guys get it yet? No, stop asking.
9. What will the map travel look like? A dotted line that slowly crawls towards the destination on the map, or Oblivion type fast travel? And will there be random encounters during said map travel?
Oblivion style fast travel. This game is based off the Oblivion engine remember.
14. Does difficulty setting has any impact on non-combat and combat gameplay? If so, can we get some examples?
Only combat gameplay obviously. All increased difficulty means is that the enemy hits harder and you hit weaker. Just like every single game in existence.
15. What is the reason you chose not to go with the composer of the original Fallout music?
I'm not going to answer that since it isn't about the game. Who said anything about oil? Who you been talking to? *Todd Howard takes a quick look around the room, then along with all of the Bethesda representatives makes a break for the door*.
17. Can we skip the tutorial? If so, how have you gone about making sure it won’t feel stilted? If not, how have you worked to prevent it from becoming painfully repetitive?
Nup. More choices squeezed into a small period of time than the rest of the game put together.
18. What sort of weather effects will we be seeing and how much impact they will have on the game play
Sun, cloud, rain. They'll have jack shit effect on gameplay.
Hey I just answered 27 questions for you. We don't even need to bother sending the interview into Bethesda.
