GameTrailers interviews Pete Hines

[Pope Viper]

From everything I've seen, it appears to be too late.

 

[Public]

Well, the fact remains that you can do a nonlinear game that sucks and a linear game that it is pretty good. For example baldur's gate had a story that was pretty straightforward but still had choices and was done in a pretty good way. I won't mind if they change fallout's style in the linear/nonlinear, but they better do it good. FO did have a unique way of handling it, but it is something i don't care, as long as they don't screw up!

Fallout's unique questing style was one of the main aspects that made this game unique right? Or just 50's feeling, violence and gore in Beth's opinion?

 

[Joervol]

Well, the fact remains that you can do a nonlinear game that sucks and a linear game that it is pretty good. For example baldur's gate had a story that was pretty straightforward but still had choices and was done in a pretty good way. I won't mind if they change fallout's style in the linear/nonlinear, but they better do it good. FO did have a unique way of handling it, but it is something i don't care, as long as they don't screw up!

Fallout's unique questing style was one of the main aspects that made this game unique right? Or just 50's feeling, violence and gore in Beth's opinion?

Don't try to twist what i wrote. Every single thing that fo 1 and 2 had was what made them unique. Fo1 and 2 remain to this day one of my favorite games. ONE of them. Like in my example, i liked baldur's gate too. Now, i don't want to see a Baldur's gate: Fallout game no more than you do, but to change the main quest to something more linear, if they do it in a good way i won't mind.

This doesn't mean that i want to see oblivion quests inside fo3. It doesn't also mean than i want to see the so called "story" FPS games have either. It just means that if they do it more linear or less linear or if they don't even put a main story there or they only put a trivial one, i won't mind as long as they get the overall questing system right.

I always played the fallout games for almost every other quest than the main one. I always left that for the end. The only parts i did before the end were in FO 1, the part with the water chip because i liked exploring and finding the hidden places without worrying if the time run out.

And to tell the truth, the non linear story wasn't the only thing that made the quests in fallout unique. It was the way they handled everything that made it unique in my opinion.

 

[thefalloutfan]

No new information, meh.

 

[rcorporon]

No DLC for PS3 makes me feel the rage.

 

[oihrebwe]

No DLC for PS3 makes me feel the rage.

because you were so impressed with the DLC for oblivion that you don't want to miss out on robot horse armor and themed player houses

 

[Texas Renegade]

The no DLC is old news, but that probably just means BETH will release it 6 months later when the exclusivity expires.

Again, it has been said and reconfirmed that you can skip entire sections of the main quest and solve it.

I don't see the problem with the design....but implementation is where the test will be.

By the way, Beth has already stated that the DLC will be more along the lines of an expansion then gimick items.

Though many suspect a car will be DLC

 

[Per]

I like the jazz. And the birds.

 

[oihrebwe]

I think what they said is that it'll be more like knights of the nine which is hardly encouraging

 

[TheSHEEEP]

I like the jazz. And the birds.

Birds?

 

[Per]

When the PC is approaching one of the settlements you can see birds wheeling in the sky on the right.

I think CA said something in the Bible to the effect that there weren't any birds, but this is contradicted by the appearance of the word in several dialogues.

 

[rcorporon]

because you were so impressed with the DLC for oblivion that you don't want to miss out on robot horse armor and themed player houses

No, but in terms of expansions, "Shivering Isles" wasn't too shabby. If they added something to FO3 along the lines of SI into FO3, I wouldn't be overly upset.

The no DLC is old news, but that probably just means BETH will release it 6 months later when the exclusivity expires.

I know it's old news, but it still pisses me off. I also recall reading somewhere that Beth has stated that this is an exclusive, NOT a timed exclusive...

 

[oihrebwe]

shivering isles isn't DLC though is it

 

[rcorporon]

shivering isles isn't DLC though is it

I guess...

Knights of the Nine wasn't horrible either, and that was DLC.

 

[Ad Astra]

shivering isles isn't DLC though is it

Well, it's content that can be downloaded, so it can be considered downloadable content, but the idea is that its an expansion above and beyond anything else for Oblivion and is best bought in a store.

 

[Kikseo]

i think linear means

you must go a->b->c->d->end. hence the term "railroading" because you can't leave the track or else you can't get to the end. or in other words, "you can't do d if you haven't done c and you can't get the end if you haven't done abcd in that order"

it wasn't about CHANGING the ending or not, it was about the order in which you could, or perhaps WHETHER you HAD TO in order to proceed. fallout never really required too much of a preset order beyond FO2's temple of trials or saving the world. even then though, you didn't have to do them any specific way.

don't get things mixed up! multiple endings doesn't mean nonlinearity!
look at chrono trigger!!!!!

also, concerning "altering" the main questline being nonlinear is like saying "getting on another track on a railroad" is not railroading. you're still on a railroad, dummy. fallout didn't even have a railroad. it barely had a road. it barely had anything. but then again it had everything

WELL... I believe a non-linear game lets us change in-game fate and allow us to free roam. As mentioned, there is no a>b>c>d in Fallout, more like

Aa>Ba>Ca>Da
>Bb>Ca>Db
>Bc>Da
>Db
>Dc

I think that makes sense. But basically, the choices you make alter your fate in game, which means that it isn't linear.. because a linear game has your fate predetermined.

I do understand what you're saying though, but then again, I look at "linear" as in Spiderman 1 linear - no travelling, just jumping rooftop to rooftop getting shot at in hopes of getting to the next level. However, Gauntlet is semi-linear because of the fact that you can go back and re-do missions, while in my termed "linear" games you keep moving forward. Then, Oblivion is completely non-linear because you can do basically anything you want.

I don't know, that just what I define linear as.

EDIT: Yeah, re-reading my last post, it doesnt make any sense. Just disregard it: sorry for double posting btw.

Edited in. There's an edit button, y'know - BN.

 

[Disconnected]

Then, Oblivion is completely non-linear because you can do basically anything you want.

I don't know, that just what I define linear as.

Perhaps you should just disregard the linear/non-linear thing entirely & think of it as adaptive vs. fixed.

The Fallouts have adaptive quests. The manner & order in which you do shit doesn't break the quests, it modifies them (in theory, at least). Another example might be STALKER. Its main storyline relies almost entirely gameplay emerging from the interaction between player and gameworld, so while quests are indeed fixed, the only thing about them that is fixed, is the desired outcome. Everything else is adaptive.

Oblivion doesn't have adaptive quests. There's only one way to do them, and if the order has any impact, you either do it the right way or the quests break. Oblivion and Baldur's Gate are equally linear. Baldur's Gate just happens to be unapologetic about it.

On a side note, if you ever come across a game with immortal NPCs, you can safely disregard claims to non-linearity & sandbox gameplay. Because if they had either, such tricks would be superfluous. Then again, you can probably also expect non-linear wannabes to have a whole hell of a lot fewer & less severe bugs than the real thing.

 

[Briosafreak]

Very well said Disconnected, my feelings exactly.