IGN presents a large 8-page history of Fallout tracking from Wasteland to Fallout 3.<blockquote>Shock ran through the division. Almost as a survival reflex, work immediately shifted to a replacement project codenamed, as all Black Isle projects were, after a U.S. president. "Van Buren" was Fallout 3. Black Isle had their baby back, and started making grand plans as programmers converted their Baldur engine to serve the wasteland's needs.
Everyone fell in love with the story. It opened on a prisoner waking in a cell -- a different cell than he'd fallen asleep in -- making an escape as the prison came under attack. Hounded by his unknown assailant and robotic prison guards, the prisoner would roam the better part of Utah and Colorado searching for answers, helping or destroying a faded Brotherhood of Steel on the way. Quick travel was a matter of finding and repairing railway lines, and tough choices abounded. Eventually, a scheme to initiate a second nuclear holocaust from a pre-war orbital platform came to light and, in true Fallout style, the player would fail to stop it. Instead, they'd have moments to decide where the bombs fell... who lived, who died, and how the wasteland's future played out because of it.
Enthusiasm ran high. Everybody working on F3 felt every element clicking into place, a perfect fit. This would be something they could be proud of.
But lingering doubts remained over Titus' management ability, and Baldur III's sudden cancellation. The official word from the corporate office claimed TSR -- owners of Dungeons and Dragons -- simply took the Baldur IP off the table. While possibly true, Titus Interactive's shaky financial status went unmentioned, and combined with Interplay's poor returns in recent years and $59 million dollar debt, many at Black Isle decided the writing was already on the wall. Building, then abandoning a second dream project felt depressingly inevitable, and some chose to not go down that path. Urquhart tendered his resignation, taking four project leads with him to found Obsidian Entertainment. The mood at Black Isle shifted. They were a doomed ship.
Development continued for another few months, with team members regularly defecting to Obsidian. Sure enough, with the majority of the work done, Fallout 3 was canceled.
(...)
One month later, a playable demo of Black Isle's Fallout 3 made its way to the internet. That was fine with Bethesda. They weren't resurrecting Van Buren... they were resurrecting the wasteland they knew and loved. Their model stuck to the cornerstones of Fallouts 1 and 2: an open world, expansive role-playing freedom, a strong plot with frequent and amusing detours, and a pitch-black sense of humor. Even more encouraging, producer Ashley Cheng blogged his hatred of Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel during production, indicating this Fallout wouldn't repeat past mistakes.
It didn't. Bethesda's take might've been the first non-isometric, fully 3D-rendered Fallout with real-time combat and a strong whiff of first-person shooter, but it felt completely familiar to long-time fans. Istvan Pely brought Chris Taylor's cherished original designs into Oblivion's Gamebryo engine, then made the landscape dense with interesting clutter. Lead Designer Emil Pagliarulo also took on writing duties, returning to classic elements like the Vaults, the G.E.C.K., the Brotherhood, the Enclave, the PIPboy and Vault Boy, NPC companions, and much-missed Dogmeat. S.P.E.C.I.A.L. was back. Skills were back. Karma was back. Crazy side quests were back. Perks were back, including fan-favorite Bloody Mess. Ron Perlman narrations were back. Specific-area targeting was back and translated into V.A.T.S. (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System), a partial nod to turn-based combat that allowed bullet-time mayhem for the cost of a few Action Points, and rewarded players with the exploding body part of their choice.
(...)
Released in October 2008, Fallout 3 ended a ten-year wait for a true franchise sequel. It was ambitious on a scale matching its namesakes, scaled to seventh generation hardware, made by people who truly understood both RPGs and Fallout itself. While character animations and the requisite bugs took deserved criticism, it quickly became one of the best reviewed games of all time, and is on track to outsell all previous Fallouts -- including the non-canon spin-offs -- combined. </blockquote>Thanks Octotron.
Everyone fell in love with the story. It opened on a prisoner waking in a cell -- a different cell than he'd fallen asleep in -- making an escape as the prison came under attack. Hounded by his unknown assailant and robotic prison guards, the prisoner would roam the better part of Utah and Colorado searching for answers, helping or destroying a faded Brotherhood of Steel on the way. Quick travel was a matter of finding and repairing railway lines, and tough choices abounded. Eventually, a scheme to initiate a second nuclear holocaust from a pre-war orbital platform came to light and, in true Fallout style, the player would fail to stop it. Instead, they'd have moments to decide where the bombs fell... who lived, who died, and how the wasteland's future played out because of it.
Enthusiasm ran high. Everybody working on F3 felt every element clicking into place, a perfect fit. This would be something they could be proud of.
But lingering doubts remained over Titus' management ability, and Baldur III's sudden cancellation. The official word from the corporate office claimed TSR -- owners of Dungeons and Dragons -- simply took the Baldur IP off the table. While possibly true, Titus Interactive's shaky financial status went unmentioned, and combined with Interplay's poor returns in recent years and $59 million dollar debt, many at Black Isle decided the writing was already on the wall. Building, then abandoning a second dream project felt depressingly inevitable, and some chose to not go down that path. Urquhart tendered his resignation, taking four project leads with him to found Obsidian Entertainment. The mood at Black Isle shifted. They were a doomed ship.
Development continued for another few months, with team members regularly defecting to Obsidian. Sure enough, with the majority of the work done, Fallout 3 was canceled.
(...)
One month later, a playable demo of Black Isle's Fallout 3 made its way to the internet. That was fine with Bethesda. They weren't resurrecting Van Buren... they were resurrecting the wasteland they knew and loved. Their model stuck to the cornerstones of Fallouts 1 and 2: an open world, expansive role-playing freedom, a strong plot with frequent and amusing detours, and a pitch-black sense of humor. Even more encouraging, producer Ashley Cheng blogged his hatred of Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel during production, indicating this Fallout wouldn't repeat past mistakes.
It didn't. Bethesda's take might've been the first non-isometric, fully 3D-rendered Fallout with real-time combat and a strong whiff of first-person shooter, but it felt completely familiar to long-time fans. Istvan Pely brought Chris Taylor's cherished original designs into Oblivion's Gamebryo engine, then made the landscape dense with interesting clutter. Lead Designer Emil Pagliarulo also took on writing duties, returning to classic elements like the Vaults, the G.E.C.K., the Brotherhood, the Enclave, the PIPboy and Vault Boy, NPC companions, and much-missed Dogmeat. S.P.E.C.I.A.L. was back. Skills were back. Karma was back. Crazy side quests were back. Perks were back, including fan-favorite Bloody Mess. Ron Perlman narrations were back. Specific-area targeting was back and translated into V.A.T.S. (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System), a partial nod to turn-based combat that allowed bullet-time mayhem for the cost of a few Action Points, and rewarded players with the exploding body part of their choice.
(...)
Released in October 2008, Fallout 3 ended a ten-year wait for a true franchise sequel. It was ambitious on a scale matching its namesakes, scaled to seventh generation hardware, made by people who truly understood both RPGs and Fallout itself. While character animations and the requisite bugs took deserved criticism, it quickly became one of the best reviewed games of all time, and is on track to outsell all previous Fallouts -- including the non-canon spin-offs -- combined. </blockquote>Thanks Octotron.
