GameBanshee's Jon "Buck" Birnbaum and Thomas "Brother None" ßеекers have interviewed Fallout 3 lead producer Gavin Carter.<blockquote>GB: The storylines of Fallout 1 and 2 are fairly basic, non-linear, and remain in the background of the game itself. Have you stuck with this approach with Fallout 3? Or have you chosen a more linear, narrative style for the main storyline?
Gavin: We want all of our games to have a compelling central narrative to drives the events of the gameworld along. To that end, the central storyline is a bit more structured than the rest of the game. The more linear structure allows us to build in drama and character elements, which suffer in a more non-linear arrangement. That said, we took great pains to make sure that the player is minimally constrained in their exploration of the world and pursuit of the plot. There are very few places that are off-limits until specific sections of the story.
GB: In Fallout 1 and 2, certain dialogue choices could potentially close off or open quests and dialogue paths. Will we be seeing this sort of thing in Fallout 3? If so, how often does it occur?
Gavin: Yes, we tried to implement choice as much as possible. Virtually all quests in the game have some branching aspect to them, and you can and will lock off certain quests and their rewards depending on the choices you make.
(...)
GB: You've talked about giving players "second chances" for a lot of choices. Other than game-changers like blowing up Megaton, does this mean the player can diligently move between good/neutral/evil during the course of the game without reprecussions? Additionally, can a player leave a faction to join another without consequence, or will the player wind up being alienated by either faction?
Gavin: The player is not locked into any course of action, so a good player can commit an evil act whenever they choose, or vice versa. It is up to the player to decide how their characters would react to certain situations. Each individual good, evil, or neutral decision can carry its own rewards or consequences. These all add into your karma level, which is an overall value that can also affect people’s reactions.
There’s no Oblivion-like factions in Fallout 3 that the player can join. The player is free to take quests and tasks from anyone they choose, though many choices (blowing up Megaton for instance) can cause repercussions down the line, locking you out of certain quests or rewards, while opening ones you may not have been able to obtain otherwise. </blockquote>
Gavin: We want all of our games to have a compelling central narrative to drives the events of the gameworld along. To that end, the central storyline is a bit more structured than the rest of the game. The more linear structure allows us to build in drama and character elements, which suffer in a more non-linear arrangement. That said, we took great pains to make sure that the player is minimally constrained in their exploration of the world and pursuit of the plot. There are very few places that are off-limits until specific sections of the story.
GB: In Fallout 1 and 2, certain dialogue choices could potentially close off or open quests and dialogue paths. Will we be seeing this sort of thing in Fallout 3? If so, how often does it occur?
Gavin: Yes, we tried to implement choice as much as possible. Virtually all quests in the game have some branching aspect to them, and you can and will lock off certain quests and their rewards depending on the choices you make.
(...)
GB: You've talked about giving players "second chances" for a lot of choices. Other than game-changers like blowing up Megaton, does this mean the player can diligently move between good/neutral/evil during the course of the game without reprecussions? Additionally, can a player leave a faction to join another without consequence, or will the player wind up being alienated by either faction?
Gavin: The player is not locked into any course of action, so a good player can commit an evil act whenever they choose, or vice versa. It is up to the player to decide how their characters would react to certain situations. Each individual good, evil, or neutral decision can carry its own rewards or consequences. These all add into your karma level, which is an overall value that can also affect people’s reactions.
There’s no Oblivion-like factions in Fallout 3 that the player can join. The player is free to take quests and tasks from anyone they choose, though many choices (blowing up Megaton for instance) can cause repercussions down the line, locking you out of certain quests or rewards, while opening ones you may not have been able to obtain otherwise. </blockquote>
]. It may not be perfectly made but seems a bit more realistic.
] like PC being head of all factions: Archslaver and head of Rangers at the same time; High Elder/Head Paladin in BoS and leader of Enclave [president?] at the same time. Suddenly organizations could become detached from world [like guilds in Oblivion vs Main Quest - Fighters Guild chases their own agendas and do not care at all about evil invasion that should attract skillfull fighters, shouldn't it?] and from each other [like Thieves Guild vs Dark Brotherhood - totally different principles and attitude towards killing yet PC can be head of both factions and nobody gives a damn]. Quest-lines/advancement seems to go only vertically: from lowest rank to highest top and from easy tasks to harder but that's about it. It doesn't seem very appealing.